Recipe: Madeleines au Matcha
I love to buy baking hardware on the spur of moments but many times, they are left neglected in the kitchen somewhere, forgotten. Once in a while, I like to go through the kitchen cabinets and rediscover my kitchen tools and get inspired to bake.
These madeleines au matcha were the result of yet another (re)-discovery episode. Think of it, I had bought this 9-count silicon madeleine mould more than a year ago from a warehouse sale! Since this was my first attempt, I decided to just use the simple recipe attached to the mould.
These shell-like cakes were eggy and the matcha flavour quite mild. However the texture was slightly heavy. I would like them flufflier but they somehow did not rise much. I wonder if it was because this recipe did not use any other rising agent other than yeast. As I was surfing the web for other recipes as a reference, I noticed that baking soda is commonly used as the rising agent. The next time I make madeleines, I would try a different recipe and definitely add a little more green tea powder to intensify the flavour.
Nonetheless, these were pretty decent. I brought a few to my colleague’s place this morning when I visited her newborn baby and she loved it.
Ingredients
(I made about 14)
2 large eggs
75 grams fine granulated sugar
90 grams unsalted butter, melted but cool
90 grams all purpose flour
2 tsp green tea powder
pinch of salt
3 grams yeast
a few drops of vanilla essence
zest of 1/2 a lemon (I obmitted this because I didn’t have lemons on hand)
10 grams of honey
1. Whisk sugar with eggs until fluffy.
2. Add sifted flour, green tea powder, salt, yeast and zest until smooth and well-mixed.
3. Add melted butter and honey and stir thoroughly to mix.
4. Rest mixture in fridge for at least 30 minutes, or overnight if you are making it ahead.
5. Preheat oven at 160C.
6. Fill moulds with batter, almost to the brim.
7. Bake for 10 minutes, until lightly browned.
8. Turn out to cool on a baking rack.
By the way, the history of madeleines is a pretty neat story. You can read it from Wikipedia
Go here to read the rest:
Otto Ristorante
Regular readers will know I have a weakness for pasta and sushi. So when I read about the delicious lobster pasta from Otto Ristorante, an Italian restaurant that had been established for about a year or so now, I made a mental note to visit because the recommendation came from the , a lady whom I have never met before but am quite positive our taste buds more or less synchronise.
It made the perfect lunch spot when a girlfriend surprised me with her shout-out to meet for lunch. There, I found good service from Shar, a familiar face previously from Garibaldi Group, who was very accommodating with our various requests when placing the orders. In the end, I opted for the set lunch just so I don’t have to think too much given I knew I had to have the pasta as my main course. The regular set lunch costs a reasonable $35++ but I topped up some to make a switch.
Now, I shall not waste too much time talking about the appetizer and dessert, both of which were average at best. Onto the main course that I had been wanting to try, while I cannot proclaim the pasta to be the best that I had, Otto’s was quite well executed. I would have preferred it spicy as stated in the description, but what I was served, definitely had no heat at all.
Having said that, the al dente linguine pasta, a generous serving at that, was coated with a most moreish sauce and there were fresh lobster chunks dotted all over though I did find myself wishing there was more! I was stuffed after all that carb but I am already eyeing the other pastas on the menu!
28 Maxwell Road
#01-02 Red Dot Traffic Building
Singapore 069120
Tel: 6227 6819
Read the original here:
Saint Pierre can be affordable
On this occasion, we had:
main course: roasted cod, fennel salad
(loved the crispy skin and fresh firm taste of bream)
(my favourite is comte!)
.
Originally posted here:
Fiftythree
Once in a while, the ladies who keep me sane at work would cast their boyfriends aside and indulge in a day of eating and shopping together. We went to Fiftythree for lunch, first time for all of us.
Fancy potato chips served on a platter of charcoal was our amuse bouche of sort.
Following shortly was a little gunny sack bag containing the exact number of mini bread rolls as there were folks on the table. There were heated ball bearings at the bottom of the sack, keeping the rolls warm. Now, I am all for the novel idea and presentation effects but the bun, oh do I think it sucked. It had a too hard crust, a too dense innard and too salty in general. No amounts of good butter could save it.
The appetizer was chilled cherry tomato and watermelon, with horseradish, and mozzarella foam. This dish, I’m guessing, was trying to get this interplay going between temperature, texture, and flavour. If so, I think the idea was a great one but the execution fell short. I found the horseradish too dominating and the dish could do better without. That, plus the heavy cream sauce lining the bottom of the plate was quite redundant too.
The main course was barramundi with pear and blackcurrent jam. This was more palatable and the fish was fresh. The sweet jams surprising went well with the fish and the bits of fried shallots added delicious enthic flavours.
Dessert was apple risotto with rosemary foam and struesel of sorts. There was no rice in this dessert. The apple was chopped and diced finely to resemble risotto. Served warm, the cinnamon notes harmonized with the scent of rosemary pretty well, if not unusual. My palate could not decide if I was having a savoury or sweet course. Interesting dish that was easy to eat but I would not order it again.
Fiftythree remains an interesting place to visit once in a blue moon because I truly was not really impressed enough to come back again anytime soon.
Fiftythree
53
Tel: 6334 5535
Lunch: Tues – Sat
Dinner: Mon – Sat
See original here:
Las Vegas – Bouchon Bistro
It was not by chance that our second restaurant in the Sin City was also a French bistro. Because I could not get a reservation to The French Laundry and I was really keen to try Thomas Keller’s food, I made a reservation at the Bouchon Bistro at the Venetian. This is much more casual than Daniel Boulud as in they line the table with white paper and the menu is made of paper as well.
The restaurant, located in an unusual lobby on the 9th floor, was welcoming with its warm tungsten lighting through wrought iron wrapped ceiling lights and
beautiful, rustic blue tiles.
We were served a beautiful loaf of bread and butter very shortly. Oh my, the bread was such a joy to eat. I haven’t had such a good baguette since Paris and we chomped through another helping, which explained why we could not finish our food later.
We had ordered mussels and frites as our main course and a couple of appetizers and sides to share. Unfortunately all the food came at just about the same time.
The mushroom soup was unfortunately not up my alley. The soup was one-dimensional in taste and texture and the use of sour cream made it excessively sour for a soup. I did not like it one bit. The macaroni gratin on the other hand was really good. The cheese was generous, the pasta still had bite and I totally grabbed all the broiled parts. C-o-m-f-o-r-t food.
The mussels were alright. Sauce was pretty good and I remembered the portion was super huge. Both of us ate and ate and ate and still had left overs. I wanted to lay off mussels for the rest of my life after that meal.
Definitely no room for dessert. Oh well.
Venetian Resort, Venezia Tower Ste 101013355 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 414-6200
See original here:
Clear Restaurant & Bistro
I am writing about Plaza Mont Kiara again. Yup … after hanging here for more than 3 months (I rented an office lot in block B), I just discovered that there are more food eateries here that I don’t know about. So I decided to explore the surrounding area in Plaza Mont Kiara and this is what I found.
With that many restaurants near my workplace, I am going to have a good time visiting them one-by-one. And did I also mention that there’s a Fiesta Nite Market on Thursdays from 6pm – 10pm. You can find all sorts of food ranging from Nasi Rendang to Sushi. There’s also a Sunday ABC market that sells anything and everything, including FOOD too.
Anyway, back to my main topic … Clear Restaurant & Bistro, which is located on the ground floor of Plaza Mont Kiara … right next to Starbucks on block B. If you like chilling out with your colleagues after work, then you’ll like this place. Located right next to a fountain, it’s the perfect spot to have a drink and chat on a slow evening, while watching people walking by … busy with their stuffs.
Very relaxing.
Well, at least that’s what I like to do … especially when I have no choice but to have lunch, alone. They serve a pretty simple menu with a handful of choices, mostly western. Anyway, this is what I would typically order for lunch.
I usually begin with a starter, in this case .. Curry Samosa. Something light to chew on as I read my papers. (yes, yes .. bad habit. I like to read while I eat ESPECIALLY when I am alone).
Then I would proceed with the main course, nothing too complicated … Pan Seared Chicken Breast with mash and black pepper sauce. I love this dish, the chicken is tender and the taste, mixes very nicely with the sauce.
Once I am done, I’ll finish it off with a dash of ice cream, complimentary from the chef. Yeah, right … not! Actually, I just described one of their set meals which has all of the above mentioned, plus a drink as well.
This is what I can come up with in this article. Haven’t been writing for a while now … so I guess I am having a …. writer’s block ???
Well, if you are interested to check them out, here’s the address. Would I recommend this place to anyone else ….. yup. I would. Nice ambiance and surrounding, decently good food and not too pricey.
Here’s a quote from ExpatKL …
The interior is modern with a trendy slant towards elegance with a main dining area and a full bar. The contemporary menu is an eclectic fusion experience. There is a good selection of salads, appetizers, mains, pastas, pizzas, with an element of surprise in most dishes. Good selection of wines to accompany the food.
Address
B-0G-03 Ground Floor Plaza Mont Kiara,
2 Jln 1/70C Mont Kiara
Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
Tel : 03-6201 8406
Read more:
Hong Kong – Sushi Imamura
Josh, the owner of the famous HK food blog, Chaxiubao, readily agreed to meet up for dinner shortly after I contacted him.
“You are a fish person right? How about sushi?”
You can never go wrong with sushi.
With that, we were led to Sushi Imamura, located at this tall and non-descript building that amazingly houses nothing but levels and levels of restaurants and bars. As we stepped in to join Josh at the counter, I felt reassured to see a Japanese chef already hard at work serving a pair of Japanese ladies. I would later find out, he was none other than Take-chan, the chef/owner. Anyway, needless to say, I was excited about what the rest of the evening would bring.
We decided to save brainwork and go omakase. We started with some appetizers and then fresh sashimi, each kind served ala minute and piece by piece.
It must be the season for bivalves of all sort, because we got an enslaught of them. But because I am not a big fan of most of them, I could only remember the x-large oyster, which had just arrived earlier that day, and was huge that it could be cut into three sections. Served with a bit of lime and ponzu sauce, it was sublime and tasting every bit like the sea.
An interesting take on the geoduck sashimi was this version wrapped with crunchy cucumber and then with nori and sesame seeds. The latter ingredients lent their umami flavours to the otherwise tasteless geoduck and turned this “maki” into a tasty treat.
The most interesting item was definitely the shirouo. In fact, it is by far the most interesting thing I had ever eaten. These are very small transparent fish to be eaten alive. We were instructed to let them “dance” in the mouth first before finishing them off. They were surprisingly not very metallic in taste and the texture was a little bit similar to eating konnyaku.
We could not resist fresh uni when we found out they were available. Unfortunately, these ones were not as full of roe and not as creamy and rich as we had hoped for. I don’t mean to imply they were bad, because they were good, just not as satisfying.
The other highlight for me was the kuruma ebi. This black shrimp is not commonly available. The body was plump and slightly chewy with a bit of bite. Its big head was later deep fried to be enjoyed as “prawn crackers”.After our sashimi course, Take-san took over and made us our sushi. His sushi was beautifully made at just the right size. The rice tasted a little bit off balance, with the sour note a notch beyond my personal preference. Otherwise, they would have been perfect.
A couple of pieces were particularly memorable because of their appearance. One was this kohada sushi. I took a picture of Take-san plaiting the fish into this beautiful creation. He sauced it with his special house sauce before requesting for us to eat it as it was.
The other one was this shima aji sushi topped with a pickled sakura flower. The sourish flower contrasted with the fish, inevitably highlighting the sweetness from the fish.
The whole meal cost about HKD 1,200 per person, without sake or other drinks. Not cheap but certainly oishii deshita!
Sushi Imamura
523-527
16/F
Tel: (+852) 28360035
View post:
By Invitation: Karaikudi Restaurant at Market Street, Little India
My family and I eat regularly at , but we’ve never gone to the original outlet at Market Street. I’ve always enjoyed the food there which serves Chettinad cuisine and immediately said yes when the invitation came in from PenangTuaPui. I was excited to see what the original outlet had to offer! The menu for the night mainly focused on South Indian cuisine and we were told that the food is cooked fresh everyday!
First up to whet our appetite was a Chettinad style Vegetable Soup (RM3). It was a light clear soup with cauliflower, carrots and french bean. The soup was a great start to the meal! We were told that the soup had a yellow tinge due to the use of dhall.
Next up was Bitter Gourd Chips (RM6). This was a surprise as it was sliced really thin and crispy to the taste! I’m not a big fan of bitter gourd though cos I don’t like the bitterness and this was plenty bitter!
The Squid Fry (RM8) was dish I really enjoyed. Squids are very easy to overcook. But there was no sign of hard rubbery squids here. Even after it cooled down substantially from all the photography, the squids were still nice and tender.
Meanwhile, the chicken cutlet (RM6 for 2 pieces larger than the photo above) is easily my favourite appetizer of the lot. The cutlets were very flavorful thanks to the generous use of spices with a slight tinge of heat to it. And there were also very soft with a slight crisp edge. I would definitely order this again!
The luciously thick Mango Lassi (RM4 – comes in a bigger glass than the photo)
The Ladies Finger Pepper Fry (RM7) was an instant hit! The ladies fingers were finely chopped and had a surprising chewy texture. The generous but not overboard use of black pepper gives the dish its zing. I’ve never had ladies fingers cooked in such a delicious manner!
The Kadai Vegetable (RM9) was an assorted vegetable dish cooked in a rich slightly spicy gravy. I tasted beancurds, tomatoes and lots of button mushrooms in the dish. We were told that Kadai is the big vessel that is being used to cook the dish, hence the name.
The Mutton Chukka Varuval (RM18) is another one of Karaikudi’s specialities. This turned out to be the spiciest dish of the night. But I loved it! The mutton pieces were scrumptiously tender and very well marinated with spices. I wouldn’t hesitate to order this again as I found it paired very well with naan bread.
Next was the Chettinad Potato Masala (RM6) which was a mild dish. It would go well with the spicy mutton dish too! I liked the fact that the potatoes here were not too mushy so there was still a bite to it.
Continued here:
