My embarrassing Pandan Chiffon Cake

The plan was to bake a light, fluffy and tall chiffon cake but alas... that was not to be.....
There's no shame in admitting that something went wrong is there?

I know my Pandan chiffon cake is so not right as it's FLAT!!!! Not flat as a pancake but it's too flat to be a chiffon cake! :( Yes, the whole world would agree with me that it should at least be double the height, if not higher so something went very wrong though I don't really know what exactly however, I'll definitely be making again it till i get it right! and of course, any pointers will be greatly appreciated. :)

taken using the iphone

Bea's Diner and St John's Bakery

Having heard so much about the smashing american breakfast at Bea's Diner and the amazing Custard Donuts from St John's Bakery, a trip to the arches along Druid Street quickly worked it's way up the always growing list of places to visit in London! One thing I really love about London is that there are always new places to discover and even if you revisit a particular area, there most usually will be something new that's of interest. 


Bea's Diner and St John's Bakery, both open only on Sat, are a short walk away from the world famous borough market so it's definitely worth the extra effort to walk over here as your tummy will most definitely thank you for it!


The Brioche French Toast with caramelised bananas and walnuts, Buttermilk Pancakes with roasted strawberries as well as the Custard Donuts from St John's bakery were ohhhh soooo goooddd!!! Simply awesome!! One bite of any of the above and the only thing one can say is....OMG, OMG, OMG!!! Worth the calories??! OOhhhhh Yesssssss!


I will be going back to Bea's Diner really soon for the exciting Crawfish boil....all you can eat crawfish!!! It's gonna be another good day!!!

Bea's Diner

The diner

Menu for Bea's Diner

Brioche French Toast with caramelised bananas and walnuts 

Buttermilk pancakes with roasted strawberries

Custard Donuts

They don't skimp on the custard

Freshly baked bread

Cashew Asparagus Stir fry

I love quick and easy stir-fries for lazy days. Here's one that I came across at With a Glass and Mummy I can cook to add to the ever growing list of lazy days dishes! The texture of cashews compliments the crunchiness of the sweet asparagus. I've used tau chu or fermented soy bean paste to add a touch of saltiness to the dish instead of soy sauce and oyster sauce as horrors of horrors!!! I ran out of oyster sauce!! 

Adapted from Mummy I can cook

Ingredients

1 bunch of asparagus

Handful of cashew nuts

Thumb size ginger, peeled and minced

3 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced

1 tsp of tau chu or fermented soy bean paste mixed with some water to loosen it up

1 tsp cornflour+ 1 tsp water to make a slurry

Method

1. Trim asparagus by snapping off the tough ends. Chop into index-finger lengths. 

2. Heat wok or pan over medium heat and dry-toast the cashews, stirring often till they're golden-brown and release their nutty aroma. Set aside.

3. Increase heat, add the oil, and when the oil is hot, add the ginger and garlic, stir-frying for about 5 seconds till aromatic. Add the asparagus, stir-fry for 2 min, or till almost tender and still bright green. 

4. Pour in the sauce ingredients i.e. everything else, and cook until sauce thickens. Return the cashews to the pan, give a final toss to coat, and serve immediately with rice. 

Beef Rendang (Slow cooked Beef curry)

I just came back from a wonderful holiday in beautiful Slovenia and what's the first thing I want to do?! Have a beef rendang! Typical isn't it? Beef rendang is one of my absolute fave dishes. Beef slow cooked with spices and coconut milk until it becomes meltingly tender, whose aroma just wets the taste-buds in anticipation. It's always a good idea to cook a bigger batch since it's so enticing and you will definitely want to have it for more than one meal. Keeping it overnight also intensifies it's flavours to make it all the more enjoyable!

This is not my first time cooking beef rendang, I've made it before with another recipe but something went wrong with that. However, the recipe I've used today is from Jason, author of Feast to the World. I've only recently discovered this blog but am absolutely loving it as he always cooks very good South east asian food. Have also found out that he may be starting a Singaporean Supper Club in London so oh yeah!! Will keep lookout for that as it's gonna be spectacular!! 

I've made tiny changes to his recipe as i didn't have all the ingredients on hand but it turned out extremely tasty too so thanks Jason for this wonderful recipe! It's a keeper!! I also serve it with cucumbers as that's how my hubby had it while growing up. ;)

Update (28/01/2013)
I cooked Beef Rendang again, this time using a combination of Feast to the World and Mummy I can cook rendang recipe and it turned out better than when I first made it! I was also very happy to have finally found candle nuts  and they definitely made a difference as the rendang was way creamier than the first time i made it.

Adapted from Feast to the World & Mummy I can Cook

Ingredients (Serves 2 to 4)

1kg stewing steak, cut into large 3cm chunks
400ml coconut milk
300ml water
1 1/2 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
4 star anise
4 cloves
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Sunflower oil

For the Rempah (Spice Paste):
100g  desiccated coconut
4 large red chillies, deseeded and chopped
2 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 medium onion, chopped
6 lime leaves
6 candle nuts(or macademia nuts)
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh galangal
3 stem lemongrass, bruised and cut into 3 pieces

Method

1) To prepare the spice paste, fry the coconut in a dry frying pan over medium-low heat for 5-6 minutes, until lightly brown, stirring constantly to prevent burning. 

2) Put all the spice paste ingredients in a food processor, together with the toasted coconut and whizz into a smooth paste. Add a little of the oil if necessary to keep the mixture turning.

3) In a large heavy-based pot , heat up 2 tablespoon of the oil and stir-fry the paste over low-moderate heat for about 3 minutes, until fragrant and most of the moisture have evaporated. Add the beef along with the coconut milk, sugar, cinnamon, cloves and star anise. Bring slowly to the boil over medium heat. Cover and let it remain cooking in the oven for at least 4 hours at 150 deg C. Give it a stir every hour and top up with water if required.

4) The rendang is ready when the meat is tender and the sauce has almost dried up, leaving a thick consistency and is shiny with a thin layer of oil.

5) Season with salt/sugar to taste.
6) Serve hot with some steamed rice and sliced cucumbers.

Prague, Czech Republic

Opps! I just realised that I forgot all about posting photos of my Easter Holiday's Prague Trip!! So here they are!!! Enjoy!

View of Prague Castle and Charles Bridge

Charles Bridge

Prague Castle by night

Status of Jesus on Charles Bridge

Another Statue on Charles Bridge

Astronomical Clock

  

Old Town Hall

Memorial to the Victims of Communism

John Lennon Wall

Trdelník - A breadlink pastry baked over charcoals and coated with sugar, cinnamon and nuts

Prague Ham

Birthday lunch at Roganic!!

It was my birthday on Sat and my loving hubby planned a wonderful day out for me! The weather was perfect too as the sun was out with a cool breeze so it wasn't too hot. (Yes, thought I grew up in Singapore, I somehow can't take the heat! haha) First up was lunch at one of the most exciting restaurant in London at the moment, Roganic. This was followed by a musical, Dreamboats and Petticoats then dinner at the always yummy Bincho Yakitori. 


It was our first time at the 2 year London popup, Roganic and it's always exciting to visit a new restaurant especially after reading rave reviews about it!!! We also recently watched owner and chef Simon Rogan win the North West heat in the Great British Menu and he has been called the most innovative chef in the country at the moment so these all added the level of excitement!! They are still considered a popup at the moment at they are in the midst of looking for new premises so we may get to see an even prettier restaurant in the near future! 

When we first stepped into the restaurant, we were greeted by Richard, the smiliest Maitre D ever!!! I'm not kidding as I've never seen a Maitre D smile that much before and it feels as though he's your good friend. Throughout our meal, Richard and his team provided very friendly, quick yet non obtrusive service. Definitely a job well done! The restaurant, on the whole, has a very relaxed feel about it which makes for a very comfortable dining experience. 


There's a choice of 3 menus, 3 courses(£29), 6 courses(£55) or 10 courses(£55). As we had a musical to catch, we decided that 10 courses would take a little too long and so decided on the 6 courses menu. 


A few minutes after placing our order, we were served 2 amuse bouches. Rosemary crispbread with Goats cheese and Hay smoked Pork belly balls. I could really taste the smokiness infused into the Pork belly and that together with the goats cheese thoroughly excited my palette and prepared it for what was coming up!!

Rosemary Crispbread with Goat's cheese

Hay smoked Pork belly

 A selected of homemade bread rolls and sensational Roganic experience began..

The carrot 'soup' has combination of different textural flavours that simply dances in the mouth.

Carrot with ham fat, tarragon and pickled celery

Next up was a very intense mushroom broth, balanced with a mild tasting buffalo curd.

Mushroom broth with buffalo curds, salsify and water mint

Sea scallops cooked to perfection, combined with some very interesting tasting seaweed

Sea scallop, oyster, seaweed and watercress

One thing that Roganic does very well is to put together texture and flavours that compliments each other. Saltiness of the Lemon sole, creaminess of the bone marrow, tartness of the roasted tomatoes, chewiness of the buckwheat all works very well together in a single mouthful. 

Lemon Sole with smoked marrow, roasted bone sauce, nasturtium and buckwheat

The Herdwick lamb is another case in point. This strong tasting lamb is nicely mellowed out with the creamy sweetbread. I really enjoyed this dish, but my hubby on the hand felt found the lamb a little too intense as he didn't like the texture of sweetbread and rather not eat it. Without it, the dish wasn't as balanced as it should have been. Chefs put a lot of thought into every dish usually every ingredient, no matter how small, plays an important part in pulling a dish together. 

Herdwick lamb flank, sweetbread, hedge garlic and velvet caps

The dessert was superb, and definitely showcases the rhubarb! It was really refreshing and just right as it was hot outside.

Rhubarb with meadowsweet, cream cake and sweet cicely

And then we thought we were done but no.... they still had a little more up their sleeves. 
Along came the Douglas Fir milkshake and lemon curd donuts. I've seen Doughlas fir being used on TV before but have never tasted it so it was a very nice surprise to taste this fragrant pine flavoured milkshake.

Douglas Fir milkshake and Lemon curd donut

There was then the White chocolate coated chocolate bourbon biscuit parfait that brought the meal to a very sweet ending.

Even with the high expectations we brought along to Roganic, we were not disappointed and constantly amazed with beautiful plates of food, burst of flavours that was truly a sight and taste extravaganza! 

We'll definitely go back for the 10 courses when the menu changes and hopefully make it to his other restaurants, L'enclume and Rogan & Co in the Lake District in the very near future!

Roganic

19 Blandford St

London

W1U 3DH

Pulled Pork Heaven at Pitt Cue

Queueing... I really seem to like doing that recently. Did just that for 1hr 45mins last week to get my hands on a perfectly cooked lobster at Burger and Lobster last week and this week, am doing just that for some pulled pork!! Ok, I lie, I didn't exactly queue too much this week as we made our way to Pitt Cue 15mins before it's opening so technically, i waited just 15mins. :P There was a menu hanging by the window next to us so it was a good time to decide on our order.

Arriving early was indeed a very good decision as there were at least 30 people in the queue when the doors were opened! Being 2nd in the queue, we were immediately brought down to the tiny basement 18 seater dining area together with some other early birds. As for the rest, they either sat at the 6 seater counter by the windows available on the tiny ground floor or ordered a drink and waited by the bar counter.

Orders were taken and we didn't have to wait too long before the drinks and food arrived. I was very happy that A&W root beer was on the menu as it's not usually served in restaurants. They produced the best tasting root beer ever in my opinion and drinking it sure brought back some childhood memories of having A&W coney dog and root beer float! Ahhh...... so refreshing in hot and humid Singapore!

The stars of the show arrived shortly after and gosh! It was love at first bite for the pulled pork! Unbelievable tender,smokey and tasty shredded pieces of pork immediately put a smile on my face! The shoulder of pork is smoked for 8 to 10 hrs depending on it's size until it just drops off the bone and mixed with BBQ sauce. I ordered homemade baked beans as a side which was made up of a mix of cannellini beans and black beans, both smoked and cooked with bbq sauce too. The pickled cucumber and slaw made for a very nice accompaniment to the pulled pork as it cuts through the salty, smoky and sweet flavour nicely.

My hubby had the equally popular juicy, sticky, finger licking good, humongous piece of beef ribs which was a true winner as well! Best way to eat it was definitely with your hands!

Simple yet well done!


Pitt Cue
1 Newburgh St
Soho
London W1F 7RB