26 Mar 10 (Fri) – SoEZ Lesson 4 (Western)

Clearing the last day of my leave and went for the Western Cuisine today at 2:30pm so that after that I could hitch a ride from my BIL to go to his place for the weekend. There were about three of us and the instructor was Chef Judy. She was rather fierce and asked us a lot of questions while teaching. She said it’s better to ask us questions so that we could remember better. Western Cuisine was another one that required a lot of ingredients though the cooking methods were not as complicated as the Paranakan one. Of all the classes, this was one that I didn’t enjoy much.

After lesson, it was only slightly after 5pm. So instead of waiting for BIL till close to 7pm, sis suggested that I made my way to her place myself. So in the end, I had to lug my big bag and my creations all the way from Great World City to Tiong Bahru Plaza where I then take a train to Tampines and then take a shuttle to her condo. My God, by the time I got to her place, it was as good as waiting for my BIL to drive back. Settled down, took photos of my creations and then Ry gobbled up most of the Chicken Cordon Bleu and all of the French Fries before giving them back to me coz he was very hungry after his NPCC activities. My sis and BIL were not a fan of today’s creations and so I ended up eating the rest of the food.

Chicken Cordon Bleu with Homemade French Fries and Green Asparagus

Traditional Gratinated French Onion Soup

Classic Caesar Salad

(One of the left is the sauce; One on the right is the salad with the sauce)

20 Mar 10 (Sat) - Chocolate Melting Moments and Braised Sea Cucumber with Mushrooms & Limpets

Found another recipe on Chocolate Melting Moments from Yochana's Cakke Delight and again psycho my sis’s SIL to make it together with me and M. Let M did most of the work coz on other days; she won’t have the chance to do it. Overall, the cookies were of the right texture but tasted a bit too chocolaty though, maybe we added a bit too much cocoa powder. Since it was mostly done by my niece and since she would be visiting her friend, AY, at her work place, so told her packed some for her friend to try.

Chocolate Melting Moments

Ingredients:

125g butter - softened

2 tbsp icing sugar

120g plain flour
1 tbsp. cocoa powder

Method:
1. Cream butter and icing sugar till light and fluffy
2. Add in dry ingredients and mix till soft dough is formed
3. Spoon mixture into piping bag fitted with a star nozzle and pipe out onto a tray
4. Bake at 170C for about 15min or till cooked. Cool on tray

Then for dinner, I made Braised Sea Cucumber with Mushrooms and Limpets as one of the dishes while M helped my sis with the other dishes. Scoped some of the Braised Sea Cucumber with Mushrooms and Limpets and put them in a container coz intended to bring them to Mum and Dad when we visit them the next day.

Braised Sea Cucumber with Mushrooms and Limpets

Ingredients:

1 can of Limpets

350g sea cucumber (cut into wedges)
6 small chinese mushrooms (soften in water)
1 can of chicken stock (or make using chicken cube)
1 tbsp oyster sauce
½ - 1 tbsp Hua Tiao Wine
A dash of pepper
½ tbsp light soya sauce
A dash of dark soya sauce
2 tbsp sugar (depend on taste)
Starch

Method:
1.  Drain limpets
2.  Wash mushrooms (optional to slice)
3.  Boil sea cucumber in water, drain and clean
4.  Rinse limpets, mushrooms and sea cucumber
5.  Boil chicken stock with limpets, mushrooms and sea cucumber
6.  Add seasonings, bring to boil and simmer till sea cucumber turns soft
7.  Thicken stock with starch

19 Mar 10 (Fri) - Assorted Japanese Sushi

Was on leave again and got my elder niece, M, to go to sis’s place to spend the weekend. We played cooking and she enjoyed it quite a bit. We prepared the sushi ingredients together and then sat down to make them and that ended as most of our dinner.

Ebi Sushi and Cucumber Small Maki

(Yaki Nori, Sushi Rice, Rice Vinegar, Japanese Cucumber and Fresh Prawns)

Japanese Cucumber and Crab Stick Mayonnaise Salad

Crab Stick Small Maki and Kani Salad Gunka Sushi

(Yaki Nori, Sushi Rice, Crab Stick and Mayonnaise)