27 December 2009

Christmas Cookies

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I mentioned in my last post that this Christmas has been rather unusual. Ever since I got started on throwing dinner parties for friends (read: using friends as guinea pigs for new recipes), I have had a Christmas party every year for my close group of girlfriends - the ones with voracious appetites. Except this year.

Perhaps it is because this year we decided to run away to Phuket for a quick weekend trip instead. Perhaps it is because I got lazy. Whatever it is, I didn't throw any party. I did however, help out with the raclette party I mentioned in my last post.

You would have thought I'd have become more proficient over the years, having thrown a fair number of parties (brunches, teas, dinners). I thought so too myself! But alas, from the raclette party, it seems I have not.

The plan was to have the party at my friend's new home in the east. However, her home was so new it did not have a refrigerator. Some of the preparation therefore had to be done in the day at my place. My friend, G, came over in the morning and we settled on the Linzer sandwich cookie and pecan pie recipes we wanted to use before doing some grocery shopping.

Somehow, the massivity of the project did not occur to me (even as I was trying to cream 1.36kg of butter in my kitchenaid) until I had to sieve and mix 12 cups of flour with all the other dry ingredients. Yes, you read right. 12 full cups of flour. G and I had multiplied the recipe, thinking we could bake a couple more for our colleagues, and had to whip out our muscles and mix the ingredients together in the biggest pot I had. By 3pm, we had only managed to roll them into balls of dough to rest in the refrigerator.

At that point, we had to make a call. We had to do another round of grocery shopping for the actual raclette party and quickly chop and saute the accompaniments. And we were far away from where we had planned to be at 3pm. We decided to split up - I'd stay to finish up the cookies, he'd leave for the party venue and start the preparations on that end.

To cut the long story short, I only finished baking at 630pm; the dough was given too little time to firm up and became tricky to handle. I rushed to Holland Village to pick up the cheese and raclette grill before heading to the east for the party. Somehow, thankfully, we made it and the party was a success. I'm glad to report, so were the cookies.

Even though we had to substitute the hazelnuts with almonds, they turned out very well. Incredibly crumbly and just the right amount of sweetness, they were well received. I had half the dough i.e. 6 round discs of dough left and decided to bake a few more for my mum's guests this afternoon. Here's the recipe for those who might be planning belated Christmas parties and are thinking of edible gifts for guests to doggie bag home.

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Linzer Sandwiches
Makes 16
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Ingredients
1 cup (or 150g) roasted, unpeeled almonds, ground
2 sticks (or 226g) butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups plus 2 tbpsn flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp table salt
icing sugar (optional)
raspberry/cherry jam
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Method
With an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy for about 2 minutes.
Add egg and beat until smooth for about 3 minutes, then beat in vanilla extract.
In a separate bowl, whisk together almonds, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
Add to butter mixture, beat on low until just combined - takes about 2 minutes.
Separate dough into 3 portions, rolling each between 2 pieces of plastic (I usually slice open an ordinary sandwich bag for one reasonably big piece of plastic. This also helps with mess management later on since it negates the need for a floured surface.) until 0.5cm thick.
Freeze each disc for at least an hour, or overnight, ensuring they are kept flat in the freezer.
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Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.
Have 2 baking sheets lined with baking paper ready.
Using a 5cm round fluted cookie cutter, cut out cookies from one disc and transfer to baking sheets.
Using a 2 or 3cm round fluted cookie cutter, cut the centers out of half the cookies. Repeat for the other two discs.
Bake cookies for 10 minutes or until edges are golden, rotating halfway through if the heat distribution in the oven is not even. In the meantime, combine the scraps from the discs, reroll, freeze until reasonably hardened and cut for subsequent batches.
Remove from oven and place on wire racks until completely cool.
Lightly sift the icing sugar over the decorative tops (optional); set aside.
Spread a scant teaspoon of jam on the bottoms of each cookie and sandwich with their punched out tops.

Christmas dinner

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From top left: Fresh oysters, baguette from Culina, brown button mushrooms with garlic and parsley, Habanero Tabasco sauce, pat of butter, lemon wedges, random spatula-wielding hand, and The Paella.




This year's Christmas has been... refreshing. It might be difficult to believe, but it is officially the 27th day of December and I have yet to lay my lips on any turkey since December started, unless you count the turkey ham I bought for a sandwich 3 weeks ago.


I organised a Christmas potluck for the office about a week ago, except it was a Teochew Porridge potluck party. It seemed to get my colleagues far more excited and I thought, what the heck, whatever rocks their boat. It made organising the party far easier than expected, although we did end up with a ton of canned and bottled food items like bottled olive vegetables and (my favourite) canned fried dace with black beans.


In the middle of last week, I helped a dear friend organise a raclette party. The cheese and grill were gotten from La Fromagerie, and my friend practically single-handedly prepared all the dishes to go with the cheese. The raclette was delish and thoroughly filling, and there wasn't a sliver of a turkey in sight.


When my mum suggested we have a small and simple family dinner at home, her suggestion didn't include any turkey either. Instead, she offered procuring live seafood from the nearby newly renovated Sheng Siong and preparing a seafood feast. Ed and my mum share a penchant for paella and I had always wanted to put my anodised Calphalon pan to the paella test, so we decided on an un-Christmas-like menu.


I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the selection of live seafood Sheng Siong stocked, which included lobsters and oysters. Their oysters, at SGD1.80, were not only reasonably priced, they were fresh (well, they were live you know)!


I'm happy to report the paella was a success. As usual, I cooked too much and had to spread out the paella to 2 more cast iron dishes. I'm just glad we managed to finish 2 out of the 3 pans I prepared, with the last simply waiting to be reheated and served to guests we're expecting tomorrow afternoon. With a platter of fresh oysters, some lightly sauteed mushrooms with garlic and parsley, and a couple of slices of baguette gotten from Culina, our family's Christmas dinner was complete.


So there, my Christmas experience this year, with no turkey. Nil, zilch, nada, squat. I'm somewhat happy there wasn't any of that dry, moisture-sapping meat to endure this time around. Yet, I do miss some of that amazing soup my mum makes with the leftover turkey bones. Anyhow, I hope you've all had relatively fulFILLING Christmas dinners!


Merry Christmas!
Ho ho ho!
Paella
Adapted from The Cook's Book
Serves 4-5
Ingredients
1.4 litres fish stock
2 good pinches of saffron
3 garlic gloves, crushed
90ml olive oil
50g chorizo sausage, thinly sliced
2 small bay leaves
1 white onion, finely chopped
2 red peppers, halved, seeded, and cut into 2cm squares
250g squid, cleaned and cut into pieces, including tentacles
1.5 cans skinned and chopped tomatoes, drained
1 tsp paprika
450g Valencian paella rice or risotto rice
300g fresh clams, scrubbed (ensure all clams are tightly shut or discard them)
500g large fresh prawns, shells removed (except the tail) and deveined
400g fresh mussels, scrubbed and beard removed
50g cooked French beans, cut into 2.5cm lengths
50g cooked peas (optional)
lemon wedges and tabasco sauce to serve
Method
Boil fish stock with saffron and 1 crushed garlic clove in a pot. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat half the oil in a paella pan (I used the Calphalon Everyday Pan).
Add chorizo, remaining garlic and bay leaves and cook over gentle heat for 1 minute.
Add onion and peppers, and cook for 5 minutes.
Increase the heat, add the squid and fry for 2-3 minutes.
Stir in tomatoes, paprika, and remaining oil. Fry for 4-5 minutes. (This tomato mixture is known as sofrito.)
Scatter in the rice, distributing it evenly over the ingredients in the pan. Pour over the hot stock, reduce the heat and cook gently for 10-15 minutes. Shake the pan occasionally but do not stir.
Add in prawns, clams and mussels, cover and continue cooking for another 5 minutes or until the rice is tender but slightly firm (it may be necessary to add a little more stock or water), and all mussels and clams have opened (those that never open may have turned bad).
Side note: The original recipe calls for the prawns, clams and mussels to be added with the stock, but I find this overcooks the seafood.
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The rice will form a golden crust on the bottom (called a soccarat).
When all the liquid has been absorbed, add the beans and peas.
Serve with lemon wedges and tabasco sauce.

26 December 2009

Woori Nara

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Some of you have probably been there already, heck, there's even a Youtube video taken of in it. But I'm guessing most of you have never even heard of Lorong Kilat. I wouldn't have myself, if not for a dear friend and colleague who, like me, enjoys sharing her love for food with others and pointed me in that direction for some kickass deep fried chicken.

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Who would have known that the Koreans would be the creators of such incredibly light, crunchy and delicious pieces of deep fried chicken? On our very first visit to Woori Nara, Ed and I ordered half a 'Volcano Yum Yum' chicken (ok, so their strength isn't in naming their dishes) and half a Soy Garlic chicken. We liked those very much, although we thought they might have overdid the sauce a little. Out of greed, we also ordered another serving of the 'Crispy and Mild' chicken and were henceforth sucked into the mystical world of Korean deep-fried chicken.


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We have never looked back. Sure, we have tried other items on their menu which were generally decent, but getting our hands on some of their chicken is a must for every visit. It is also the place we think of whenever we have a deep fried chicken craving. I recommend wash it down with some refreshing rice drink (similar to our barley drink, except with rice - top picture) to complete your meal.

Woori-Nara Korean Restaurant
19 Lorong Kilat 01-02
Tel: 6464-9282.

09 December 2009

Tea Bone Zen Mind Cafe

This place isn't one of my favourite places on earth to while away weekends. There isn't a small collection of books, especially not books with those cool, embossed covers. The grilled cuttlefish they serve is also rather tiring on the jaw.


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It doesn't have incredible 'tea eggs' with still-runny egg yolks and just-set egg whites.



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It doesn't have a wide selection of premium teas. I never order their Iced Pear Tea everytime I go there because its poached pear isn't the most yummy poached fruit ever.



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You shouldn't try this place, ever. Really, don't bother.
It is already crowded enough as it is.