High Tea at the Fullerton Hotel

I am no longer a High Tea virgin.

I popped my cherry at the Fullerton Hotel in fine style with a glass of champagne, some beautiful lavender and green tea, a delicious assortment of goodies and some excellent company.

Laura said the Fullerton Bay Hotel high tea is better... I'd better go and find out for myself.

How am I going to find room for dinner?

Dessert first?  Don't mind if I do!

Mini scones with jam and clotted cream

Cucumber sandwiches - naturally

 Delicious nibbley bits

Mini Roast Beetroot and Feta Tarts

When 'cheese' is the theme for dinner there are thousands of interpretations.  You can go the full monty with fondue, literal with cheesecake, or dance around the edges with a sprinkling of Parmesan as a garnish.

I decided to go somewhat down the middle with mini roast beetroot and feta tarts.

Mini Roast Beetroot and Feta Tarts

makes 6 muffin-sized tarts

Ingredients
1 beetroot
1/2 pack of feta
3 cloves garlic
2 eggs
100g spreadable ricotta cheese
salt
pepper
filo pastry

Method:  Heat oven to 200 C.  Rinse and scrub beetroot and wrap in tinfoil.  Don't worry about peeling because the skins will rub off with a paper towel after roasting.  Wrap garlic cloves in foil and roast both in the oven for about 1 hour.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool.  Keep the oven on.

Once cool, chop the beetroot into chunks and smush out the garlic pulp from the cloves. Chop feta into chunks a similar size to the beetroot Set aside.

In a bowl, whisk eggs and ricotta.  Season with salt and pepper.  Line a muffin tin with filo pastry and spoon a small amount of egg mixture into the bottom.  Fill the moulds with beetroot and feta, layering as you go until the moulds are about 3/4 full.  Spoon the remaining egg mixture into the moulds.

Bake in the oven until the filling is set (around 30 minutes for me).  Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before serving.

If preparing in advance, reduce cooking time slightly, cool completely and refrigerate.  30 minutes before you serve, allow to warm up to room temperature and reheat in the oven for 15 minutes.

Variations:  Any roastable vegetable, puff pastry instead of filo, milk instead of ricotta... get experimenting and let me know what winning combinations your discover!

Book Club: A Boy Called It

Autobiographical, A Boy Called It tells the first third of the life of Dave Plezer, survivor of the third worst documented case of child abuse in Californian history.

I'm not sure which disturbed me more - the stark portrayal of the systematic torture of this child at the hands of his mother (who has two other children who were not abused), the apathy of his father who allowed the abuse by doing nothing, that it is the third worst case documented therefore there are two worse cases reported, or the suspicion that there are far worse cases out there that go unreported.

I simply cannot believe this boy survived to tell the tale, let alone to grow into a seemingly well adjusted man with a son of his own.  The second two books of the trilogy must surely be a testament to 'breaking the cycle'.

A Boy Called It is a very quick read - I would never use the phrase 'easy read' though.  If you can stomach emotionally challenging material then I would highly recommend it.

Silent Singapore Streets

Early morning is the time to be out on the streets in Singapore if you want to enjoy the relative quiet. With shops open until 10pm, family-filled hawker centers humming towards midnight and 3am movie screenings you'll fall asleep waiting for the evening lull. The morning streets however are empty, and I would not be surprised to see tumbleweed.

You'd expect that, on a deserted sidewalk, the sound of my pavement pounding (not to mention my puffing) would be enough to alert stray pedestrians but apparently not.  Groups walking three abreast seem to be especially inattentive.  The number of times I have had to duck off the pavement or stop and say "excuse me" really loudly to avoid collision with single or group of pedestrians is staggering.

Perhaps they, like Singapore, are actually asleep. Sleep walking?

Or perhaps I need to invest in a little bicycle bell to ring as I approach people?

Silent Singapore Streets

Review: Quirky Cool Cocotte - Really Good. Almost.

My first impression of Cocotte was formed well before I walked in the door.  I'd heard great things about the Wunderlust Hotel and it's flagship restaurant, a beacon of flair tucked away amongst the vegetable stalls and backpacker watering holes in Little India.  Consequently, expectations were high and Cocotte lived up to them.  Almost.

The contrast between the street outside and the restaurant within smacks you in the face as you walk in the door.  This place looks cool.  Three old dentists chairs greet you in the hallway and ahead you get a sneak peek at the modern-industrial-French-countryside-bistro interior of the restaurant.  We're talking purple and white gingham checked napkins and bright yellow lacquered metal chairs, wooden wine box storage cabinets and neon signage.  Brilliant!

When we sat down a few of the 'almost' factors began to rear their ugly heads.  Firstly we had to request additional menus for the table - we were provided with two for a table of six.  Secondly, corkage.  Yes, Cocotte is BYOW but why bother when corkage is $30 per bottle?

[Running count - 2 'almost' factors]

We ordered our appetisers - a pickled anchovy and tomato salad, escargot pastries, a pear, rocket and blue cheese salad, and three onion and anchovy tarts.  The three unique entrees were delivered first.  We all admired the presentation of the escargot while we waited for the tarts to arrive.  The grumbling over our wait escalated as the escargot cooled, and eventually someone arrived to inform us that "the tarts were not to the satisfaction of the chef and could we please choose another entree?"  It's great to have high standards for your food, but why deliver half the entrees before informing us?  Three additional pear salads were ordered and proved a rather disappointing choice - more of a side dish or a menu lengthener than appetising.  My pickled anchovy salad was nice, nothing amazing, but nice.

[Running count - 4 'almost' factors]

Fabulously presented but rapidly cooling escargot

Just when I thought the entree service couldn't sink any lower, my pet hate of hospitality service came to the fore.  Almost all our plates were cleared before we had finished eating.  I say almost because, as this is my pet hate, I refuse to let anyone clear by plate while one of my dining companions is still eating.  This practice drives me absolutely nuts and I simply cannot understand why the absolute basics of Service 101 are continually flouted - especially in Singapore.

[Running count - 5 'almost' factors]

I crossed my fingers that the mains would improve my opinion.  They did.

Three fabulous pan-seared sea bass emerged at exactly the same time as a wooden board of marinated roast chicken to be shared by two.  The boeuf bourguignon was declared "good" and disappeared quickly.

Sea bass

By now I was really quite full, but intrigued by the sound of 'Strawberry and Lavender Sorbet' so ordered a ball. The sorbet was right up there with the best I have tasted.  The lavender was incredibly fragrant, wafting off the spoon, and the taste was summer in a mouthful.  Sander had lined up the Chocolate Royal while browsing the menu on line.  It was ordered with six spoons and proved dark, rich and quickly devoured.

So would I recommend Cocotte?  Yes, absolutely. It's cool, quirky, the food is good (not great, aside from the sorbet), portions generous and the patronage as culturally diverse as Singapore itself.  Just don't expect anything more than standard Singapore-restaurant service and be somewhat picky from the menu.

Oh, and request a table far from the bathroom - the absence of a door means that diners look into other patrons washing their hands, and touching up their lipstick in the mirror.  Not exactly charming.

[Running count - 6 'almost' factors]

Simple and Satisfying

Simple and fresh - food rules which are tough to beat.  This mantra is exemplified in the combination of buffalo mozzarella  tomato and basil.

Fresh from the oven, a fragrant and dense rye bread with a light layer of basil pesto

+

Layers of sliced buffalo mozzarella and fresh ripe tomatoes

+

A sprinkling of basil leaves plucked right off the stem

+

A sunny London balcony

+

A glass of ice-cold cider

=

My perfect afternoon catching up with my sister in London a few weekends back

When is a Muffin Not a Loaf? When It's Both!

We have stacks of over-ripe bananas in our freezer and were craving an afternoon sweet treat.  Banana muffins seemed the fastest, most obvious solution....until I discovered I didn't have a muffin tin!  When you go to make muffins and discover you don't have a muffin tin where do you turn? To a loaf tin!

This muffin (and now loaf) recipe is from Epicurious. I added about half a cup of yoghurt and the same if desiccated coconut, slightly more milk and whole rolled oats instead of oat bran. I didn't have pecans so I used sunflower seeds and sprinkled some chia seeds on top as well.  Cook slightly longer if you're adding yoghurt.

End result? Demolition in two days - we honestly tried to restrain ourselves!!

The recipe is really pretty healthy as far as muffins (and loaves) go, boosted with whole oats, yoghurt, sunflower and chia seeds. Serve it hot or cold (with more yoghurt, fruit, ice cream, lemon curd) or just eat it unadorned. It's delicious any which way.

Quick Oat Bran and Banana Muffins

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup oat bran
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ripe bananas, peeled, chopped
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease twelve 1/3-cup muffin cups or line with paper muffin cups. Combine first 5 ingredients in large bowl. Whisk milk, butter, egg whites and vanilla to blend in medium bowl. Add milk mixture to dry ingredients, stirring until just combined. Mix in bananas and 1/2 cup pecans. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle remaining pecans over each muffin. Bake until toothpick inserted into centers of muffins comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer to rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Restaurant Review: Kith - Disappoints Terribly

A premature breakfast attempt at new coffee joint Toby's Estate on Roberston Quay led me to Kith yesterday morning.

Toby's Estate is a new kid on the coffee block but has opened a week early to serve coffee only - breakfast service starts next week.  Great coffee (although the first one was luke-warm) means I will definitely go back for breakfast, but more on that at a later date.

Hungry, I headed two doors down to Kith.  I was looking for a light breakfast as I planned to run home, and muesli, fresh strawberries and vanilla yoghurt seemed to fit the bill.  Sander had no such qualms, ordering scrambled eggs on toast with a side of grilled tomatoes and bacon.

Oh how disappointing.  In fact if I hadn't been so hungry and in need of something before my run I don't think I would have eaten it.  Where to start?  The 'muesli' barely deserves to be described as such, heavy on the cornflakes and clearly poured straight from a supermarket-bought package.  The strawberries were barely ripe and the vanilla yoghurt far too sweet (natural/unsweeted/unflavoured wasn't available, I checked).

The scrambled eggs were equally poor.  Despite Kith displaying some lovely grainy bread, the scrambled eggs came out on two enormous slices of super sweet Singapore white bread and the tomatoes were distinctly sorry-looking.  The icing on the cake was a small ramekin of a runny substance our waiter identified as home-made strawberry jam - who serves strawberry jam with scrambled eggs?.  The jam was fortunately pre-identified for Sander, not so fortunate was the man next to us who mistook it for some sort of salsa and poured it over his eggs before tasting it.

The water dispenser was a plastic picnic container with a few flimsy disposable cups stacked on top.  It rested on a small stool and served a dual purpose of watering the patrons and filling the doggy bowl beneath it.  Only now am I wondering whether any thirsty pooches had licked the spout...

Yet the outside tables were jam-packed with people, little kids were playing and people were reading newspapers in the sunshine.  Perhaps they knew not to order eggs or muesli.  I've heard the toasties are good, and Sander's juice looked delicious but I won't be going back to try for myself.

Image from Kith's website

Roasted Buttercup Pumpkin with Sweetcorn and Polenta

Looking for a recipe to impress for your next dinner?  This recipe delivers visual impact, is tasty, healthy and filling.

The original recipe uses a buttercup pumpkin but I used individual red peppers for our book club dinner as we have a pumpkin hater in our midst.  I'm determined to make it again with the pumpkin because I can imagine how impressive it would be to bring a whole pumpkin to the table, only revealing the delicious filling when sliced.

Dish comments that the pumpkins can be roasted up to two days ahead then stuffed and baked on the day of serving.  I love a recipe which can be made in advance and popped in the oven to finish when I arrive home from work.  It's not often I have the luxury of time.

I'm going to faithfully share the original recipe, but note that I used red peppers instead of pumpkin and yoghurt instead of cream (typical me).  If you want to try the pepper variation, don't roast them in advance, just fill the raw peppers and bake.  The ingredients will look quite sloshy until the very end - I was worried that it would never set as my peppers were getting quite soft.  I removed the 'lids' towards the end so the filling browned slightly.

My red pepper version

Roasted Buttercup Pumpkins with Sweetcorn and Polenta

2 x 700g buttercup pumpkins
olive oil
butter

Filling
2T olive oil
knob of butter
1 1/2C sweetcorn kernels (canned is fine)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2t finely chopped rosemary
1t ground cumin
2 eggs
1/2C cream
1/4C milk
2T instant polenta
1/2C freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4C chopped flat-leaf parsley
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Cut the top third off the pumpkins and discard.  Using a  teaspoon, scoop out all the seeds, taking care not to pierce the skin.

Brush the cavity and skin with olive oil and place on a lined baking tray.  Put a small knob of butter in the cavity and season.  Roast for 20-25 minutes until just tender but not collapsing, as they will be cooked further once filled.

Filling:  Heat the oil and butter in a sauté pan and sauté the sweetcorn, garlic, rosemary and cumin with a good pinch of salt for 5 minutes.  Cool

Whisk the eggs, cream, milk, polenta, Parmesan cheese and parsley in a bowl and season well.  Add the sweetcorn mixture and combine.  Divide the filling evenly between the two pumpkins and bake for 30-40 minutes until the filling is set and golden.  Cover the pumpkins lightly with aluminium foil if they get too brown before the filling has set.

Serves 4-8