Macrobiotic Diet Cooking Class

Chef Simone finishing off the Seitan dish

Today we held our second Macrobiotic cooking class with Chef Simone Vaz. I love healthy cuisine classes and I think it's a real pity some people think healthy cuisine is boiled carrots and salads. It's certainly more than that.

Our participants made a really delicious meal today and I will be having the left overs for lunch tomorrow - yummy! I will be happy to eat like this every day although Simone says this is really a gourmet meal.

Corn chowder with basil pesto

Wholewheat seitan piccata with wilted vegetables

Millet and cauliflower with mochi gratin

Quinoa salad

Pink grated daikon salad

Tiramisu with tofu cream and grain coffee

Our next Macrobiotic class will be in October and it will center on making healthy desserts such as a Vegan Black Forrest Cake.

Hope to see you there!

Lynette

Hong Kong Eats..

I was in HK recently for one week and unfortunately, I must have chosen all the wrong food places to eat at because nothing really stood out while I was there. Still, I'm glad I tried different restaurants.

I went to Gitone again for dinner and this time, there were 11 of us. We had exactly the same menu as the last time we were there but since I came with an empty stomach, I was able to appreciate the food much more. It's mainly Shanghainese cuisine and this was probably the best meal I had on this trip. The private dinner is relatively cheap at SGD76 per person and it's a huge degustation menu.

We tried Sunday brunch at Spasso at Harbour Centre. Now that I can compare it to Pierside Kitchen, it just doesn't compare at all. Spasso's Italian brunch is simple and it's all buffet. The best part of the brunch is the entree which is all cold cuts and salads. The mains were basically non existent and we didn't touch it. There were no pasta hot stations and the cold seafood was quite dismal. I ate some dessert (the best was the tiramisu). Overall, it was not the best brunch I had. in HK, I still like Isola's brunch which is more in line with what I like - a buffet of entrees and desserts and the mains cooked to order.

For lunch, we tried Tonkichi Japanese Restaurant at World Trade Center. Their specialty is fried pork fillet. Although the food was quite good, I felt very full and bloated afterwards. This is definately a very heavy meal so I don't recommend it for those on a diet. My pork fillet was so tender it melted in my mouth. I wonder if they use tenderiser?

Another Italian restaurant which is very popular in HK is Pane Vino at Robinson Road. We met some friends there and the place was really packed. It's a bistro type restaurant with lots of pastas and the usual suspects. Again, I thought the food was very heavy. I ordered only a tomato based pasta with sausage but the pasta was over done and the sauce was loaded with cheese.

Luk Yu Tea House - interior

I always wanted to try Luk Yu Tea House at Stanley St so when a friend recommended it for dim sum, I agreed straight away. Considered the oldest tea house in HK, the restaurant is staffed with old waiters that seem to have worked there forever. They are also known to be extremely rude to non regular customers or non celebrities. That part they didn't get wrong. I was there early so I managed to secure a table for Honnus and I. The waiters were not friendly at all and if you ask for an English menu, they stare daggers at you so make sure you bring someone who can speak and read Chinese. Although the place is really ancient and it's great to be there for the atmosphere, I felt there were much better places for dim sum. The food itself was definately not the highlight of our visit. Coupled with rude staff that don't give a damn whether you enjoy yourself or not, I won't be in such a hurry to go back there.

Steamed cake
Fried dumpling

For my last dinner in HK, I decided to try M at the Fringe since it comes highly recommended. Its at The Fringe and the inside of the restaurant is to die for. I loved the interior immediately with its bohemian funkiness and it's intimate dining atmosphere. Our menu:

Reblochon Tartiflette
ripe mountain cheese melted into a crisp potato rösti,
served on a salad of silver onions, red radishes and dressed cress

Crab Soufflé
sitting on a rich crab bisque

Three Moroccan Favourites ~
Aubergine & Mushroom bisteeya,
Pumpkin & Olive tagine and Orange & Radish salad

Crispy Cod cakes & little crumbed Sardines
served with Gay’s tart parsley salad and a pot of aïoli

M’’s Pavlova

The menu was wonderfully varied and it was difficult to choose. I decided to try the vegetarian dishes. The verdict is that the portions are really too large so it's good for those who are starving but to eat a 3 course meal is probably not a good idea. I could have done with a one course meal there. All the food was very heavy and by the time I finished my potato tart, I could barely start on my Moroccan meal. I'm sad to say that M's Pavlova did not live up to standard. It was more cream than pavlova. I like mine better. M at the Fringe came with high expectations but I don't it really delivered for me. Maybe I chose the wrong dishes. The price we paid was SGD130 each and I thought that was enormously expensive.

So on my next trip in August, I think I will be going local. HK friends of mine are determined to give me a good dining experience so we are going to eat local delights like ngau lam mien (beef noodles) etc.

Till the next trip,

Lynette

Brunch at Pierside Kitchen, One Fullerton

Pierside Kitchen

I don't like brunches that serve a huge buffet and make us pay $150 per person. For me, it's not good value since I don't drink and I don't eat that much.

The brunch menu

I think Pierside Kitchen got it right when they launched their brunch menu a few weeks ago. It's $40+++ and only the entree is a buffet. They have an egg station and everything else is cooked to order.

The egg station

The buffet for entrees & soup & bread

We could order as much as we wanted and as many times as we liked and everything was served in small portions. For the 3 of us girls, it was ideal since we could order a portion of many items on the menu and share them all.

Pierside Kitchen recently opened again after the restaurant underwent some renovations. It's opposite the Marina IR so it's very well placed when it opens. The restaurant is very simple and the waiters were all very attentive and wonderful towards us. We sat outside and the weather was wonderful with a light breeze.

Chef Robin brought out a great big tub of French butter for us and there went the diet. It was his personal stash and it tasted so good next to his baked bread.

Chef Robin's personal stash of French butter which tasted oh so good!

Potato gratin with sliced sausages

Calamari rings

Sausages with onion gravy

Crab cakes

Corn fritters with roasted tomatoes & bacon

This is definately my kind of brunch. I loved the small menu and the small sizes. The food was really good and I am so happy to say that I walked away from this brunch not bloated and not drunk!

It's definately going to be one of my favourite brunch places in Singapore. I'm keen to go back!

Lynette

Japanese/Korean Classes - Module 1

I haven't written in the blog for a while so the in between gaps will be filled in the next few days as I find time to write about what I have been up to and what is coming up.

I had a busy day today, flying from HK and going straight to the office to do some work before heading to the studio to attend our first Japanese/Korean cuisine class with Chef Cheo. I love Japanese and Korean Cuisine so I am going to personally attend all these classes as a participant.

Tonight, Chef Cheo demonstrated all 3 dishes to us and then we all split into groups and made our own.

This is the Korean chili paste you need to buy to put as a finishing touch to the bi bim bap

Bi bim bap is quite easy to make but it taste better in a hot stone. You can then put all the fresh vegetables and egg in there and it will cook by itself. Since we didn't have the heated hot stone, we had to cook our vegetables and egg separately and then assemble them together. Bi bim bap remains my favourite Korean dish (apart from the kimchi of course)

The deep fried seaweed chicken is really easy to make. You marinate the chicken pieces in soy sauce and mirin for no more than 15 minutes otherwise it gets too salty. This dish was truly delicious!

This is Chef Cheo's omelet. Ours didn't look so good as we did not roll it tight enough. You have to cook the omelet first and then you roll it with the cooked prawns. We then put it in the fridge to cool it down and when it is ready to be served, you just slice them.

I can't wait for the next class next Thursday!

Lynette

Macrobiotic Diet Cooking Class @ Palate Sensations Cooking School

Mooove with the groove, and go with the flow! It is the hottest part of the year, time to take it easy.

As we are now well into the Lunar Year of the Brown Cow (according to Chinese astrology), it is too hot to rush about. We might as well adopt some of the cow’s placid nature by chomping our way through some luxurious whole foods.

Once again, Lusher Than Life will be teaching a macrobiotic cooking class at Palate Sensations, that engaging cooking school at Wessex Estate in the Portsdown Road area.

Join us on our second meatless culinary adventure, featuring an innovative menu with Mediterranean overtones and experience the joy of nature’s colourful vegetarian bounty.

Class menu:

Corn chowder with basil pesto

Wholewheat seitan piccata with wilted vegetables

Millet and cauliflower with mochi gratin

Quinoa salad

Pink grated daikon salad

Tiramisu with tofu cream and grain coffee

On the House

Fruity bancha tea will be provided.

Date/Time

July 5, 2009, 3pm – 6pm

Class Fee

$140-00

Registration

http://www.palatesensations.com

Click on the cooking class schedule tab in the top lefthand corner of the page,
and search via Chef’s name (Simone Vaz) to find class details!

For more information

Call Simone Vaz on Tel 9004 2645

or

Palate Sensations on Tel 6479 9025

Harry Potter Mania.. what did they eat at Hogwarts?

Recreate the magic of Hogwarts with the best of British cuisine. Here is your chance to throw your own Harry Potter party. We will be making:

Pumpkin juice
Mini cornish pasties
Shepherd's pie served with Yorkshire pudding
Treacle tart

treacle tart

When: Tuesday 7th July from 7pm to 10pm

Fees: $110 per person.

To enroll, go to our class schedule here.

Lynette

Southern & Indian Cuisine @ Palate Sensations

Join us as we introduce you to Southern & Indian Cuisine at Palate Sensations.

Both Northern & Southern Cuisine will comprise of 4 lessons each.

Each lesson will be held on a week day evening from 7pm to 10pm.

Each lesson is $120 or if you enroll in the entire series of 4 lessons each, each package will be priced at $400.


Northern Indian Cuisine with Chef Pooja Mohan

North Indian Cuisine is largely influenced by the Mughal style of cooking. In their nearly 500 years rule over India, they contributed a lot to India including cuisine. Since the Mughals were originally from central Asia, the cuisine bears much similarity to the central Asian style of cooking. North Indian cuisine includes the eleven Indian states cuisine:

Punjabi cuisine
Mughlai cuisine
Cuisine of Kashmir
Awadhi cuisine
Cuisine of Uttar Pradesh
Rajasthani cuisine
Bhojpuri cuisine
Cuisine of Bihar
Sindhi cuisine

Food from North India is characterised by its thick, tasty gravies. North Indians love chilies, saffron, milk, yoghurt, cottage cheese, ghee (clarified butter)and nuts. Their meals
are hearty and often include several dishes. The staple food of most of North India is a variety of lentils and roti(wheat based bread). The varieties used and the method of preparation can vary from place to place. North Indian cooking features the use of the "tawa" (griddle) for baking flat breads like paratha, tandoor (a large and cylindrical charcoal-fired oven) for baking breads such as naan and main courses like tandoori chicken is also cooked in the tandoor. Other breads like poori which are deep fried in oil, are also common.

Lesson 1 - 1 July - Intro and Appetizers

Introducing the North Indian ingredients so that all of you are all set to prepare a North Indian meal

Appetizers
Paneer Tikka Masala
Potato and dry fruit cutlet

Lesson 2 - 8th July - Curries and dry vegetable basic

Makhani gravy (rich gravy made with onion,puree,cashew paste, cream etc)
Basic gravy
Dry vegetables basic
Butter Chicken Masala
Mushroom,Cheese and Peas
Kadai Chicken
Tandoori Potato

Lesson 3 - 15 July - Rice

Chicken and vegetable pilaf
Spicy rice
Cheese and vegetable baked rice

Lesson 4 - 22nd July - Bread

Chapati (Indian bread)
Roti (home made chapati made out of wheat flour on griddle)
Puri (Deep fried)
Stuffed Pratha (paratha stuffed with potato,onion and cooked on griddle



Southern Indian Cuisine with Chef Aruna Rajan

Southern Indian cuisine refers to the cuisines from four states in South India – Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamilnadu. . The South offers so much variety with an exotic blend of aromas and spices to create delicacies that appeal to a range of palates. There are so many dishes to choose from with a spectrum of flavors, tastes, spices, colors, textures and consistency, thus giving the creator a lot of flexibility. The food is moderately spicy, and use of dry red chilies and fresh green chilies are common.

Some of the typical south Indian breakfast dishes include Idli (Steamed cakes made of rice and lentils), Dosa (Pancakes made of rice and lentils – the batter for idli and dosa is the same), Upma (Semolina cooked with vegetables), Pesarattu (Lentil pancakes). These dishes are usually had with chutney (grated coconut ground with chilies and spices) and sambar (tamarind gravy with lentils and vegetables).

Southern Indian cuisine has several types of gravies. Most of them are tamarind based and the taste depends on the choice of spices and vegetables used. Sambar is the most common gravy and goes well with breakfast, lunch or dinner. Vegetables are usually stir fried with mustard seeds and garnished with grated coconut. Steamed white rice is a staple in the South. Plain rice is usually had with a tamarind or yogurt based gravy, or is flavored with spices and garnishing. The most common herbs used in Southern Indian cuisine are curry leaves and coriander leaves.

Lesson 1- 11th August - Intro and Appetizers

Introducing the Southern Indian ingredients so that all of you are all set to prepare a South Indian meal

Appetizers
Vegetable fritters south Indian style
Potato bonda (mashed potato dipped in batter and deep fried)

Lesson 2 - 18th August - Gravies and Vegetable dishes (Coconut based)

Sambar (tamarind gravy with coconut and vegetables)
Chickpea in coconut gravy
Stir fried vegetables with coconut
Spicy potato

Lesson 3 - 25th August - Rice Varieties

Lemon rice
Mint rice
Tomato rice

Lesson 4 - 1st September - Dough and batters – Idli, Dosa and chutneys

Idli
Plain dosa and masala dosa
Lentil pancakes
Chutneys – tomato chutney, coconut chutney, coriander chutney, ginger chutney


To sign up, go to our class schedules.

Catch you soon!

Lynette

Henckels Foodie Gourmand Quiz Night

So do you know the answer to these questions?:

What fatty food has no cholesterol?

Garlic and egg yolks are high in what mineral?

If you fancy yourself as a foodie, do join us as we hold the first of our monthly Foodie Gourmand quiz nights on 14th July starting at 7pm.

Chef Dean will be serving Spanish tapas so come join us for some great food, a glass of wine and come and form your own team or be part of another team. Prizes will be provided by Henckels and Wine Masters.

Please note that each team will comprise of a maximum of 4 participants and there will be a maximum of 5 teams for the Quiz Night.

The $35 fee include a Spanish Tapas spread and a glass of wine. Subsequent glasses can be purchased by the glass from Wine Masters.

The quiz will start promptly at 7.30pm.

Enroll under our class schedules and see you soon!

Brandt Cooking Competition - win attractive prizes!

Brandt kitchen appliances make cooking easy & effortless. Show them how you can effortlessly whip up a wholesome & nutritional weekday dinner in less than 45 minutes! The top 4 shortlisted recipe contributors will pit their skills against each other at Palate Sensations by BRANDT, on Brandt’s kitchen appliances; & win up to $3000 Brandt product vouchers!

1st Prize: $1500 Brandt Vouchers
2nd Prize: $800 Brandt Vouchers
3rd Prize: $500 Brandt Vouchers
4th Prize: $200 Brandt Vouchers

Rules & Regulations

· Contest is open to all amateur cooks. Professional chefs are not allowed to participate.
· Recipe must be prepared on either an oven, steam oven, microwave oven or electric / gas hobs; and in less than 45 mins (includes preparation & cooking time).
· Recipe must use only fresh ingredients; no ready-made mixes / premixes or canned / preserved ingredients are allowed. Typical seasonings such as salt, sugar, soya sauces & fresh herbs are allowed.
· Recipe’s serving should be for 2 & suitable for weekday dinner (one dish meal)
· Only 1 recipe entry per participant. By participating in this contest, participant gives full rights to Brandt Asia for use of the recipe in future marketing collaterals
· Each entry must be accompanied with a photograph of the recipe and full personal details of participant.
· The results of the top 4 shortlisted recipes will be announced in the next issue of Treats! Shortlisted recipes contributors will be eligible to participate in a live cooking contest at Palate Sensations by Brandt in July 09 using Brandt’s kitchen appliances.

Judging Criteria will be based on:
· Time & effort of preparation & cooking (should be as effortless as possible!)
· Availability and cost of ingredients (should be easy to find and economical)
· Taste, presentation and nutritional value of the recipe
The judging panel will be made up of Brandt Asia & Palate Sensations’ management
teams.

Send your entries to cooking@palatesensations.com

Closing entries to be received by 30th June.

HK Magazine features Palate Sensations

Click on the images to enlarge

We were featured in April in HK magazine Weekend Weekly when Jacky Yu came to visit us and attended our Private Kitchen.

Wine & dine evening at Palate Sensations

Dean and I recently hosted a private wine & dine session at Geeleinan Art Gallery (one floor down from us) for a French client. It was dinner for 12 and Dean cooked the whole day to put together the meal for them. We got such a buzz doing that as it was not an ordinary cook & dine session and we ran up and down the stairs to serve the guests.

The set up at the art gallery

Canapes - chicken liver pate with crisp Parma ham on toasted French bread

Canapes - and smoked salmon with creme fraiche and chives

Entrée – trio of prawn cocktail in chicory leaves, baked figs and leek & onion tart

Main – choice of beef bourgouinon with potato dauphinois

OR Duck l’orange

Dessert – trio of fresh fruit, vanilla pannacotta and coconut & passionfruit pudding

We had great fun but by the end of the evening, we were completely dead tired! And all for 12 people!

So next time you want to dine in a different environment, let us know!

Lynette

Cooking demonstrations at Takashimaya for Staub & Henckels

As part of our contractual obligations with our sponsors, Henckel knives and Staub cook ware, we do monthly demonstrations at Takashimaya and we often use different chefs so that we can bring different cuisines to the table for the public to taste. Demonstrations are a totally different art form compared to hands on classes. As people's attention span are very short, we need to do demos of dishes that are quick, colourful and tasty. The whole point of the demo is to attract a crowd so that they can introduce their products and hopefully convert them into sales. We had Chef Pooja and Chef Aruna doing Indian cuisine and Chef Dean doing fusion Asian cuisine. Each chef cooked 2 dishes twice so each hour was divided into four 15 minute cooking segments.

This is the small Henckels cooking counter at Takashimaya. It's in Basement 1 and is at the Henckels section.

Dean demonstrating how to chop before cooking

Dean's tofu and eggplant dish

Dean's Spanish shrimp dish

Indian cuisine with Chef Pooja and Chef Aruna

So if you happen to be passing Takashimaya on the weekend, the demonstrations are usually in the last week of the month at 3pm.

See you there hopefully!

Lynette

Absinthe - Mr Wong was right! The clafoutis is pretty good!

Mr Wong got it right with the clafoutis. I dropped in to visit Francois yesterda evening after my dinner event. He served my friend Angela and I the clafoutis, the one that Mr Wong really raved about in The Straits Times. It's really excellent - soft in the center with a dollop of ice cream to go with it.

I have eaten at Absinthe quite a few times and I don't always agree that everything is all excellent. It's never terrible but many things can be tweaked to be even better. From my dinner companions who were dining there yesterday evening, they said they noticed an improvement in the lobster ravioli compared to their first visit. They now serve Spanish Jamon which is always delicious. I'm glad you can now get it in Singapore.

I don't always write nice things but I've got to say I've been a great fan of Francois since his Flutes days and that's not just because he teaches at the school. I guess in a way, my taste buds have been shaped by what he has cooked for me and what he has taught at the school because it's hard for me to taste someone else's bouillabaisse without comparing it to his.

Well done Francois and congratulations with what you have done with Absinthe. The food is wonderful and I think it's great that you take the time to go and greet every guest that comes to your restaurant. Good service is hard to find these days and I'm glad you understand that.

Lynette

Ricotta Pancakes

Ricotta pancakes at Bill Granger's cafe Bill's

Ricotta pancakes is the hottest item at Bill Granger's cafe. I wanted to try to make some for myself so I found a recipe for it in Donna Hay Magazine in the April/May 2009 issue. It's easy to make and definately tastes so much better when you use ricotta and blue berries and whip up the egg whites separately. So next time you think of Sunday brunch, do it all yourself because it's easy and rewarding when you make it yourself.

Here it is below:

Ricotta pancakes with maple butter

The recipe says it serves 4 but I think it can easily serve 8!

1 1/2 cups self raising flour (I didn't sift mine as I didn't have a sifter but it's better if you do so that the mixture does not get lumpy)
1/2 cup caster sugar
4 eggs separated
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (I didn't have buttermilk so I used skim milk. If you do, put less in as buttermilk is quite thick. It tastes better with buttermilk believe me so try and get hold of some if you can)
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g ricotta, crumbled (I just used the whole tub since the tub is 250g)
1/4 cup caster sugar, extra
1 tsp ground cinnamon
maple syrup and lemon wedges to serve

maple butter
80g butter, softened
1-2 tbsp maple syrup

To make the maple syrup butter, place the butter and maple syrup in a bowl and stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Place the flour, sugar, egg yolks, buttermillk and vanilla in a bowl and mix to combine. Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form and fold through the flour mixture with the ricotta.

Heat a lightly greased large non stick frying pan over low heat (don't use butter as it browns and blackens your pancakes too quickly). Cook 2 tbsp of the mixture in batches for 3 to 4 minutes each side or until puffed and golden. Combine the extra sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the pancakes. Top with the maple butter, drizzle over the maple syrup and serve with a lemon wedge.

For blueberry ricotta, add 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries to the flour mixture with the ricotta.

I found it easier to put the finished mixture into a jug so that I could pour it into the frying pan. Dont' make it too big otherwise it's hard to turn them.

Enjoy!

Lynette

Seafood & Vietnamese Cuisine in HK

The ferry terminal to Cheung Chau

We took a 35 minute fast ferry from HK Ferry Terminal to Cheung Chau island on Friday evening to eat a seafood dinner. Besides seafood, the island is also known for the highest number of suicides in the hostel area (??) and the annual bun festival where climbers scramble to the top using ropes and fill their basket with as many buns as they can lay their hands on.

The island is tiny and you can walk around it in about 15 minutes. Home to locals, the island is developed enough to have ATM banks, McDonalds and Park N Shop.

The seafood restaurants are all lined up at the sea front when you get off the ferry terminal. We chose one that Albert recommended further along the seafront. Cheung Chau is a sleepy seaside town and very laid back. It feels like time has stopped still. There are no cars on the island and everyone rides bicyles to get around.

The fish shop where we bought our fish, prawns, scallops and crab for dinner

The man at the fish shop gutting a piece of fish for us

We bought 3 large crabs, tons of prawns which were just steamed, scallops and fish for dinner. The restaurant next door cooked it up for us and served us dish by dish. The seafood was really fresh and we had it cooked very simply which I believe is the best way to enjoy fresh seafood.

On Sunday, we decided to go to Nha Trang which is located at Shop No 2, 2/F Wu Chung House, 213 Queen’s Road East, Wanchai, Hong Kong. This is the second and bigger, less stressful branch vs the original branch at Wellington St. We ate endlessly today with so many entrees we lost count. Here is just one photo I managed to take. We also ordered barbecue cha Hanoi which is fresh piper leaves mixed into pork patties and barbecued, using the stalk of a lemongrass as a skewer. We finished the meal with 2 large bowls of pho with shredded chicken & raw beef which we shared among the 4 of us. Now why can't Singapore have Vietnamese restaurants like this?

Prawn & sweet potato fritters

On Sunday evening, we decided to eat at home so I raided the fridge and cooked us a meal. I started with smoked salmon with a squeeze of lemon & extra virgin olive oil and a mushroom & cheese salad served with pita bread. This was followed by organic fusilli eggplant caponata. For dessert, I made ricotta pancakes with butter maple syrup and diced tropical fruits. The dessert was meant for breakfast but I didn't have time to make it this morning. The meal was very decadent and definately not something I would eat on a Sunday evening at 9.30pm! But it was yummy!

I am looking forward to my next trip back to HK in June. Where will I dine next? And what will I cook next? It's my quiet time to experiment and just do anything that I want. The only thing is that ingredients are so expensive in HK! I can easily spend $100 just on ingredients for 1 meal.

Lynette

Private Kitchen - Gitone, a hidden find in HK

Located on the eastern side of HK island at Sai Wan Ho, this little gem is a ceramic and art studio by day and a private kitchen serving Shanghainese food by night. I didn't take any pictures but you can see the lovely pictures of Gitone from their website.

There were 3 of us on Saturday night and there were 4 tables altogether. We were all served the same food family style and the portions were much too large for us to finish so we ended up packing it away to take home.

The set degustation menu costs HKD$380 per person and it's definately worth it compared to the French Michelin Star restaurants.

We started with 8 cold appetizers which were already so substantial I didn't need to start on the mains. The appetizers included such delights as pickled small cucumbers in spicy sauce, drunken chicken in wine sauce and eggplant with garlic in vinegar.

The mains kept coming until we had to ask the waitress if there were anymore so that we could pace ourselves. My favourite was deep fried garoupa with pine nuts in sweet and sour sauce and the braised pig knuckle in sweet soy sauce. The rice which was served slightly crisp at the bottom of a hot pot was delicious with shredded vegetables.

The simple dessert of fermented rice and osmanthus in a ginger broth with glutinous rice dumplings was a fitting end to an amazing meal.

The restaurant is very stylish, quiet and lots of space between tables. They use all the ceramics they make at the shop.

I want to go back when I am more hungry so that I can eat my fill. I felt like I was only picking at the food last night as I had come from a heavy lunch.

After we finished the meal, we went to Wanchai to a lovely spa called Let's Spa at The Broadway for a foot reflexology and foot scrub followed by a neck & back massage. A lovely and decadent end to a fantastic dinner in the company of friends I have not seen for a long time!

Lynette

Where did I eat in Sydney?

I tried not to eat too much but going out to eat with a bunch of students from Le Cordon Bleu is always tough because the main and only topic of conversation is all about cooking methods, dish presentation, dish composition and dissecting every dish that was served to us.

I returned to another successful dinner at Japanese Restaurant Yoshii. Awarded 2 chef's hats, it was as good as I remembered it. They only have 2 types of degustation menus and I chose the $130 menu. It was very reasonably priced given some of the degustation menus I had seen in Singapore.

I enjoyed the persimmon with fresh crabs so much I even ate the persimmon!

The highlight for me was the very simple but pungent smoked vanilla ice cream with fresh fruits

I only ate at 2 fine dining restaurants while I was home. The second was Claude's which received 3 chefs hat. As the owner is Singaporean, she infuses some Asianness into her cuisine which is really nice because it's not fusion confusion. She does know how to blend her flavours. Again, dinner was by degustation. My favourites were:

Cured ocean trout with zucchini flower (I can't get enough of zucchini flowers!)

Smoked lamb sausages with fresh okra and eggplant roll

The next day, we went to Bill Granger's Cafe at Darlinghurst - Bills for breakfast. I didn't think the food was all that great but this man is an icon in Australia.

My order was a dry corn fritters. It looked great but the size was too large and there was no sauce to go with it.

The ricotta pancakes with honeycomb butter was simply delicious!

So these were my big eats before I knuckled down on my allergies!

Lynette

Much ado about many things..

I realise I haven't written in the blog for quite a long time. I have been uploading the photos I take of the classes on our Palate Sensations Facebook Fan page so if you have access to Facebook, make sure you join our Facebook page to get the latest updates.

I went back to Sydney for Mother's Day so I was gone for the first 10 days of May. I love cold weather so it was great to be home and to spend some time with the family again. Going home always makes me feel nostalgic and as the years go by, Australia is tugging me to return home. Having left for 13 years now, it's almost time to go home for good. The decision has not been made yet but it's a decision that has been weighing on my mind lately.

As the years go by and I get older, I find that my immune system is not as stong as what it use to be. I just finished an allergy patch test and found out I am allergic to house dust mites, fomaldahyde, cobalt and rubber. This is in addition to my other food allergies which I have chosen to ignore for years: I am allergic to eggs, milk, butter, cheese, gelatin, pork, rye, apple, pear, chicken, cocoa, chocolate, yoghurt and pepper. If I want to be strict and not rely on anti histamines, I will have to change my life style and my diet dramatically. I've been thinking about going raw and organic for a while now as it's probably going to be my last defense.

I really shouldn't be working in a kitchen. I should be living on a farm in a wooden hut and not come into contact with cobalt and metals. If I go raw, I won't have to cook anything and if I can grow my own food, even better. I should wear only organic cotton and clothes that do not require zippers and metal buttons. Luckily I am not allergic to plastic!

So you can forgive me if I have not written in the blog for a while as I have been thinking alot about what to do with this situation. I had of course suspected for years but now that it's confirmed, it still surprised me and I'm stumped! How will I deal with it?

I'm afraid the tone of this e-mail is not all that up beat. I've also received 3 complains in the past 24 hours. I feel compelled to share it here because sometimes, it surprises me what people complain about.

A participant attended a class and was so totally happy when he left that he thanked us and shook our hands. Half an hour later, I received an e-mail telling me how disgusted he was that he had to endure 2 fellow participants who were sniffling away. He felt that it was very rude that I even asked him if he wanted to take any left overs home because he did not want to contaminate his family. This is a participant who never said anything and never gave us any idea that he was not comfortable nor did he feel disgusted as he happily participated in the class and chatted away with his fellow participants. It's very odd for me to receive e-mails like this. Chef Dean and I did not notice anyone sick in the class otherwise we would have sent the participant home. Due to the swine flu paranoia, we are also very sensitive to those who we think are sick. We are not required to take temperature checks or ask our participants to fill in forms etc when they come to class. We trust that anyone who attends our classes come in good faith that they are healthy and they would stay away if they are not. I was surprised given the strength of his feelings that he even ate any of the food he cooked. Some people's behaviour are just way too weird for me to work out.

I received another complaint today via e-mail about a participant who came late to class and then proceeded to complain that the chef did not go back and cover lost ground with her. Further more, she felt short changed because the chef only covered 2 out of the 3 recipes she gave out. She still did not understand after I told her that it was disrespectful to the chef and to her fellow participants for participants to show up late to class and that the chef was under no obligation to show her how to make the recipes she missed out on. Further more, when I tried to explain that the class only covered 2 recipes and that the 3rd recipe was an extra recipe given to all students for free, it fell on deaf ears. She insisted that we short changed her. This is the first time a participant has been ungrateful and unhappy to receive an extra recipe. From now on, I have told the chefs not to give out more recipes than they have promised to avoid this catastrophe. Quite frankly, I am baffled! Some friends of mine told me it's the Singaporean attitude - complain about everything as much as you can. I refuse to believe that this applies to all Singaporeans but if it's true, it's indeed very ugly!

Last but not least, I received an e-mail from another participant telling me that they heard from the grape vine that one of the classes held over the weekend was not satisfactory as the class size was too big and they were very unhappy in the class. They refuse to reveal their names (come on and be a man! Don't complain unless you can stand by your complaint!) Putting two and two together, I was able to work out roughly who it was who complained. The funny thing is, they were in a team of 4 and the other 2 members called me immediately after the class was over telling me how much fun they had and because of that, they are now signing up for the rest of the modules. They also asked me if they could bring more friends. So I don't understand. How can 2 members of the team be so unhappy and 2 members so over the moon. Something doesn't sound right.

Maybe it's a conspiracy. But anyway, let me not bore you anymore with bad news. It's not all doom and gloom. One piece of good news. We were once again included in the Best Cooking School category by Tatler Magazine for 2009.

Life continues. Our studio will be buzzing on Wednesday as we will be filming a KFC commercial all day. Will the Colonel pop by? Well you will just have to find out later when I take some pictures and write another blog about it!

Lynette

A quiet and peaceful Korean lunch at Sarang

I got up at 6am today to hit the gym (the first and probably last time for me) for a Body Pump work out because I felt so guilty eating non stop the past few days.

I liked Sarang straight away because it was within walking distance from the studio and it's not a smelly Korean barbecue place. It's located at Science Park 1 and the decor is very subdued and mellow. The restaurant has 8 Korean chefs to keep the food authentic.

I have been here twice and on both occasions, I ordered the set meal for lunch. I had the dolsot bibimbap the first time and on this occasion, the kimchi hand cut noodles. It came with 2 gimbap, some side dishes and some potato croquet.

Kimchi noodles in thick kimchi broth

I'm a noodle and kimchi lover so this second meal was better than the first one.

Potato croquet

Gimbap

Side dishes to compliment the set lunch

The meal is not too large so probably guys will go hungry if they are starving. It was just right for me and I went there starving.

Compared to the other Korean restaurants, this concept is a refreshing change since it's a proper restaurant and does not serve barbecue hot plates.

Is it the best Korean restaurant in Singapore? Probably not but for the convenience (real food within walking distance that does not cost an arm and a leg), what you get and the price you pay, it's good enough for me.

Lynette

A dinner to remember at Buko Nero

If you want to eat at Buko Nero, you have to play by the rules and these Italians don't bend the rules. In fact, they make it and if you don't abide by it, they will show you the door. It's that simple!

I've been to Buko Nero a few times and always with friends. It's very hard to get a booking as they only have 6 tables. If you do a walk in, you can forget it as they will almost always turn you away so do book in advance. It's gotten so bad that diners will book their next visit when they are there so as to be assured they can come back and dine again. There are 3 tables of 6 people each and 3 tables of 2 people each so take your pick. They do not allow any photography so don't bother bringing your camera.

I love this place for 2 things: the food which has never disappointed me and the cosiness of the dining room. I don't care about the service as they often come off as very arrogant and aloof so I only go there to eat and I only go with friends of mine who know Tracy so I am in a way protected from having to go through the hassle of getting a reservation.

Tonight's set dinner was good as always:

Momotaro & mesclun salad with anchovy dressing

Organic green lentils & crab meat soup

Plum & pomelo sherbet

Fusilli with porcini mushrooms & zucchini ragu

Fresh strawberry salad with yoghurt foam

I always order the set because whatever Oscar makes is always good. I won't say the food is authentically Italian but for Western cuisine, he executes the food very well and the taste is just exquisite.

If you can get a booking, I urge you to go and try it out for yourself. The food is very simple, fuss free, non heavy, not overly done, simply presented and the portions are just right. This is the type of cooking that impresses me the most. To do it consistently is also another factor that impresses me. Last but not least, the simplicity of the decor in the restaurant makes me feel like I am eating in my own dining room with a group of friends. I've always felt relaxed and I've always had great conversations and discussions while having dinner at Buko Nero. What more can one ask for really?

Lynette

Peruvian Cuisine @ Palate Sensations Cooking School

Ingredients for a Peruvian cooking class - lots of tomatoes and carrots and potatoes

Peruvian cuisine is rare in Singapore. In fact, I dont' think there is a Peruvian restaurant in Singapore. The closest South American food will probably be Mexican and there are only a few restaurants specialising in Mexican food in Singapore.

Therefore if you want to experience Peruvian cuisine, you need to come and do some classes with Chef Luis Martinez. Luis is visiting Singapore until August. The food in Peru is usually on the heavy side since it's cold and they are at higher altitudes.

Making spinach & basil soup with a blender

The soup has pasta and slices of beef. I could have eaten this as a one pot meal as it's already so hearty.

The chicken fricassee which is a chicken stew that is so tasty I could have eaten 2 bowls, after I ate the soup!

The dessert was a rice pudding which is cooked with sugar, cinnamon and raisins. This was like eating chinese porridge but sweet - a nice touch to end the meal if you keep the portion small.

Luis will be holding 2 more cooking classes in May in the evenings so do check out our class schedules for that. Also, he will put together a private dinner as part of our private kitchen series sometime in May or June. Watch out for that if you want to taste Peruvian cuisine without having to cook it!

Lynette

Pasta on demand

On Saturday evening, I sent Dean over to Howard's amazing three storey penthouse (with an enormous terrace) to cook for about 50 friends. He was hosting a last minute casual farewell party for his friend who will be returning to Italy soon. I love organising parties because I find them quite easy to put together. For this party, it was very simple since they requested for a fuss free menu. The brief was to have enough food to serve 50 guests who will be arriving at different times throughout the night.

Having a very large terrace helped as they it could easily fit 100 people. The views were amazing too.

Dean's simple menu consisted of:

A range of entrees: grilled vegetables, olives, artichokes
On demand pasta with tomato & basil sauce or mushrooom with cream
Roast beef with mustard
Mini sausages wrapped in bacon
Sliced ham
Sliced potatoes with salsa verde sauce
Salad leaves
Assorted gourmet bread such as walnut, rye and
Mini profiteroles & fruit tartlets

For drinks:

Prosecco, champagne, red wine, white wine, soft drinks, juices

I ordered all the flatware, cutlery and glassware from Steward's Solution and all the desserts and bread rolls from Deli France. The drinks came from Cold Storage and the ice and ice box from Tuck Lee Ice. All of them delivered directly which was great so we didn't have to bring very much.

The highlight was of course the on demand pasta. Dean set up a small table in the corner of the terrace and cooked his pasta as requested. We made a cream based sauce and a tomato sauce for guests to choose from but before too long, the guests were requesting for a combination of the 2 sauces. At one point in time, he had 40 guests queued up! It was a real hit!

The long buffet table was set up inside the penthouse. On one end, we set up the cutlery and plates

On the other end was the food

Some people stress out or get overwhelmed at the thought of organising parties but you don't have to. Depending on your guests, plan your menu carefully so that you don't have to cook all the food at the last minute. You can always cheat by buying some of the food so that you don't have to cook everything yourself unless you really want to. Get your guests to bring the drinks or desserts so that you can have one less item to worry about.

For large parties, cutlery, flatware and glassware maybe a problem but with Steward's Solution, you can just call and they can deliver what you need.

If all else fails, just call us and we can organise it all for you!

Lynette

Brunch at Spruce

Not everything at Spruce was good. The service for a start needed to be improved. We called to make reservations only to be told that no reservations were necessary. When we got there, they asked us if we had a reservation. We managed to get a seat outside which was fine with us. We met some friends who were also dining there. This is definately the hottest place in town (both figuratively and literally!). Sitting under a plastic roof, it got so hot after a while I just wanted to finish up and run away.

Banana pancake

I was quite greedy so I ordered a scone to start off with and he ordered the famous burger with hand cut fries. After I checked out the scone, I decided to change the order to the banana pancake instead. I was expecting scones like my mother use to make in Sydney but after seeing the square flat scones with fruits, I realised this was the American version and from the looks of it, probably tasted more like a biscuit than an English scone.

Home made lemonade & mint

Our home made lemonade drinks took ages to come and I had to prod them along before they finally brought them.

Hamburger with hand cut fries

The hamburger I was told was a real winner. In line with Travis' famous hamburger from the days of The Wine Garage, I was not surprised. My banana pancake came out quite dry so Travis decided the best thing to fix it was to send out some more blueberry sauce. I would have liked more sauce on the plate in the first place but I guess they are learning as they go.

Ahi tuna tartar with avocado

After I ate my pancake, I decided to try one more item on the menu - the ahi tuna tartar. I know, I was very greedy! The real reason I ordered it was because I wanted to try the home made ciabatta as I am a sucker for good bread and this one was really beautiful - crisp, delicious and holey! I should have just bought the bread which they sell on the front counter. The tuna was better left unordered. When I first tasted it, it was so salty that I couldn't continue. The saltiness stayed in my mouth for so long that I couldn't taste anything for a good few hours. I remained extremely thirsty. I had to call the waiter over and send the tuna back without any replacement. I was done. They didn't charge us for the tuna so I guess they agreed with me that the tuna was really not up to standard.

I would like to come back when they have sorted out their service problems and refined the kinks in their food.

Lynette

Obsessed with bread

After Chef Christopher's class a few days ago, Dean and I are obsessed with bread so Dean came in early to the studio and tried out his bread making skills.

Foccacia, the fat kind you can separate and put filling in between

Loaves of white bread

I haven't tried them yet. They are happily sitting in my cupboard at the moment. In the morning, I am going to have a slice with fig jam for breakfast. I am sure beyond a doubt they will be delicious.

For those of you asking me about bread classes, there will be some coming your way soon either from Chef Dean or Chef Christopher.

Lynette

Watching my pennies

I've been quite a scrooge lately. I figured out that if I go to Jasons at Fusionopolis between 12pm to 2pm, there is a 7% discount off my purchase so since my gym is located there, I try to go there during lunch time. I know Jasons is more expensive than elsewhere but heh, I can kid myself that I'm getting a bargain!

As Jasons and Fusionpolis as a building is relatively new, not as many people shop there so alot of the food ends up being discounted as they are close to expiring. That's good news for me as far as I am concerned.

I head straight to the fruit section after I pick up my basket and usually there are 50% discounted fruits. I pick these up whenever I see them, usually slightly bruised apples and pears. As part of my raw routine, I juice these fruits in the morning so they are perfect at half the price.

Next, I maneuver over to the meat section and I check the chicken, the pork and then the beef for any discounted products. They usually have 50% discounts here. For the chicken, I usually buy whole chickens as they are fresh and not thawed so I can freeze them. For pork, I usually pick up pork bones or pork mince since they are versatile and I can use them to make anything from chinese food to western cuisine. The beef is often the most suspect because I have to check carefully to see if any of the fat has turned grey or the beef meat has some discoloration. If it does, then I don't buy them because it's definately gone bad - 50% discount or not you won't be able to eat it. If the meat is still good, I often buy the thinly sliced beef so that I can use them in Pho noodles or for my stir fries.

Then I check in to the bread counter where the Swiss bakery is located. Luckily at Jasons, they let you pay at the main counter because I often don't have cash. I only use my Cold Storage Choice card to pay. I'm a cashless person. I can't take a cab unless it's Comfort because I can use my Nets to pay. Anyway, the best thing about the Swiss bakery is that they often have half loaves which if you do buy 2 half loaves, are cheaper than buying a whole loaf. I think it's because it's probably a day old but for me, I don't really care because I freeze my bread and then reheat them in the oven when I want to eat them. I'm a big advocate of freezing! The bread is fresh when I buy it so I often have a sandwich for lunch on the day I buy it. I end up buying 2 half loaves for $1.50 each vs a whole loaf at $6 or $7.

At Jasons, they have a whole shelf with a big sign that says "Reduced to Clear". I always check this out because sometimes they have some good stuff like mayonnaise, flour etc. I even saw Beer at 50% discount. I was very tempted to put a few into my basket. I stay clear of all the junk food and there's plenty of those. It usually means that the food is expiring at the end of the month so you need to eat them quick. I buy if I can eat them quick!

So whenever I go to the gym, which is almost on a daily basis, I always drop by Jasons and check out what they have in terms of discounts. I've been buying tons of Dole pineapple lately because they are so ripe and cost $3.95 for a whole one. I've been gorging on them. It's also great for losing weight but eat too much and it could eat up your entire stomach so do be careful!

So there you go - little scrooge me! I'm not a wet market person but I think I will go and check out our nearest one soon and see what I find.

Lynette

Making Tuscan sausages and bread

Chef Christopher Tung's class was really interesting last week as we made our own sausages, a loaf of bread and foccacia. I'm a real sucker for bread, especially crusty loaves so I was really surprised when he managed to make a crusty loaf with a domestic oven. His secret was to create steam by putting some ice at the bottom of the oven so that steam is created for the first 5 minutes and this helps crusts the loaf before it is baked.

We started off by making the sausages. We had 2 kgs of belly pork which was then ground using a special Kitchen Aid attachment

Then we put the meat back in so that the sausages could be created

The sausage stuffer doing it's job! We used pig's intestine for this

Creating the links in our sausages

The finished sausages - quite professional looking huh?

We made a cannellini beans & tomato sauce for our sausages

The loaf of crusty bread straight from the oven. Chef Christopher uses the same dough for making bread, foccacia and pizza

The foccacia which was thin and crispy and delicious. I really miss foccacia after Daniela left and this was a great replacement. You sprinkle the salt only after the foccacia comes out of the oven so that it retains it's shape and does not disappear into the dough

Ripe peaches in red wine. It was served at room temperature and with the mint and almonds, it was a refreshing and fitting finish to our meal

There are many more pictures of the class on Facebook so if you happen to have a facebook account, do log on to take a look.

Chef Christopher will have 2 more classes next week at $120 per person:

Wednesday 29th April from 11am to 2pm:

Crostini neri
Tuscan black toast with chicken liver topping

Pici ai funghi porcini
Tuscan hand rolled pasta with ceps

Tagliata
Sliced steak served on a bed of arugula

Wednesday 30th April from 11am to 2pm:

Bruschetta ai fagioli
Bruschetta with beans

Pappardelle al ragu
Fresh pasta with meat sauce

Zabaglione al Vin Santo
Zabaglione custard

Do join us for a wonderful Tuscan experience.

Lynette

Northern Italian Cuisine with Chef Lino Sauro

For our last cooking class with Chef Lino Sauro, we travelled to North Italy. Since it's our 4th class together, the class was very relaxed and Lino was totally hands off. We had to do all the work and he stood on the other side just calling out the instructions.

We made pumpkin risotto, beef stew with polenta and bounet (chocolate baked custard).

Hollowing out the pumpkings to fill with our risotto rice later on

Pumpkin risotto whcih was so fragrant and tasted delicious

Stirring the polenta for 40 minutes. We alternated among us!

The finished polenta resting on a wooden board

Lino testing the tenderness of the meat

The beef stew with polenta

Making the bounet which was very easy!

Bounet

I've really enjoyed these classes as Italian food has always been close to my heart. The food is always very simple and taste so good without adding too much of any spices. We will continue to hold monthly classes with Chef Lino so if you missed out, do watch out for up coming ones. They will be held on the weekends so that more people can come.

Lynette

My love of scones

I remember my mother always making scones for us on the weekends - plain ones, raisin filled ones and pumpkin ones. I loved them all. She would make dozens and dozens of them and freeze them so that we could enjoy them throughout the week.

I am sharing my mum's recipe because I can't find a good scone around here and it's so easy to make. If you can't make this in 8 minutes then you have definately failed!

This recipe makes about 8 small plain scones:

2 cups of self raising flour (sifted)
A pinch of salt
2 tablespoons or 61g of unsalted butter (cold and cut into cubes)
1 cup of milk

In a large bowl, add the self raising flour and the butter.

Use the tip of your fingers, rub the flour and butter together until it resembles breadcrumbs. If you like dried fruits or chocolate chip, now is the time to add a handful of them to the bowl.

Make a well in the center and pour half the milk into the well.

Use a knife and start mixing it together. If it is too dry, add more milk until the dough comes together. If it is too wet, you need to add more flour. Don't play with it too much.

Remove from the bowl and on a floured surface, quickly pat the dough flat to approximately 3cms in height. If you knead it too much, it becomes hard so the less you do with it the better it is. Since I pat mine down and I don't use a rolling pin, my scones look lumpy on top instead of smooth. It's your choice. If you want smooth looking tops, then roll them out with a roller but don't play around with them too long.

Use a round cutter and cut out the dough. Put them on a lined baking tray so it won't stick. Put the scones close together so that they can push each other up as they rise in the oven.

Brush the tops with milk and pop it into a non fan forced oven at 220 degrees C for approximately 8 minutes. Check to make sure it is cooked through.

Remove and wait for about 10 minutes before eating otherwise it will be quite doughy. Break the scone in half with your fingers and spread some butter and jam or whipped cream.

You can also freeze them so you can make ahead of time and just pop some into the oven when you have some friends come over.

Perfect with a dollop of jam & butter

Enjoy!

Lynette

Cakes for Charity

On June 21, we will be helping Tana River Life Foundation raise funds by holding a baking session and selling the cakes afterwards. All the proceeds will be sent to the foundation.

You can participate/volunteer in 2 ways:

Firstly by enrolling in our baking session from 2pm to 6pm. This will cost $20 for each participant to cover the cost of the ingredients. Each participant will be helping Chef Dean Fisher bake the cakes which will be approximately 1kg in size and we will provide recipes for you to take home. The cakes will be sold to raise funds for Tana River Life Foundation. If you'd like to take them home, you can purchase the cakes at $30 each. Support a good cause and sign up for the session on our website.

Chocolate mud cake

Treacle tart

Carrot cake with cream cheese & lemon frosting

Peach & almond slice

Secondly, by buying the cakes which will be sold at $30 each. You can purchase/order the cakes directly on our website under our class schedules by doing a search for 21st June. The pick up of the cakes will be at 6pm on the day itself.

So if you have the time, come and bake with us. If you don't have the time, please buy some cakes.

See you soon!

Lynette

8 Week Basic Skill - Western Techniques starts on May 16

We are have some space left for those who are interested in our 8 Week Basic Skills - Western Techniques classes taught by Chef Francois Mermilliod from Absinthe.

Chef Francois Mermilliod

These set of classes are very popular so if you are interested in gaining some cooking skills that will set you on your path to creating some great dishes, you should definately enroll!

We start from May 16 for the next 8 weeks from 2pm to 5pm. The class is hands on and you will be working in small teams. The class will involve both skills and recipes so you will go home confident you can cook at the end of each week.

The cost is $1200 per person which includes 2 Zwilling Henckel knives (chef and pairing), a chopping block and an apron.


Module 1 - Knife skills on vegetables and poultry, stock and clear soups

Module 2 - Creamy soups, meat and accompanying sauces

Module 3 - Meat braising techniques and savoury tart

Module 4 - Eggs and salad dressing


Module 5 - Pasta and risotto

Module 6 - Fish and accompanying sauces, shellfish and fish mousse

Module 7 - Cakes and tarts

Module 8 - Plated desserts

To enroll, go to our class schedules.

See you soon!

Lynette

Media article - Oswego (NY) Palladium Times Weekend section

Oswego (NY) Palladium Times Weekend section (April 2009)

Click on the article to read it

This is the article Sandra Scott wrote when she came to visit us a few months ago from NY. She is a journalist for a few newspapers. She will send us more articles as she writes them and they get printed.

Lynette

Cook, drink and be merry with Rubicon Wines!

It completely slipped my mind to send this update to all of you and it's happening very soon! So on a cool, rainy and very dark Good Friday afternoon, here are the details of our cooking class where we offer you some lubrication from Rubicon Wines while you cook yourself a 5 course meal. This class is great for those of you who missed out on our Paella class this month because it was already fully booked.

In conjunction with Rubicon Wines, we are cooking and pairing each course with wine so do come join us! We have priced it so that it's super affordable - 5 amazing dishes to go with 5 amazing wines!

Oyster's Kilpatrick - grilled oysters with Whisky, balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and streaky bacon.
Astrolabe Gewürztraminer, Marlborough, NZ

Scallop St. Jack - grilled scallops with chorizo sausage, tomato chilli and mozzarella cheese.
Three Miner's Riesling, Central Otago, NZ

Chicory leafs stuffed with walnuts, honey, blue cheese, and red grapes.
Auntsfield Chardonnay, Marlborough, NZ

Valencian paella - chicken, bacon, monkfish, mussels, squid, prawns, bell peppers and tomatoes all cooked in white wine, paprika, lemon and saffron Arborio rice.
Gladstone Pinot Noir, Martinborough, NZ

Almond, peach and vanilla sponge cake with white chocolate and Cointreau parfait.
Astrolabe Noble Riesling, Marlborough, NZ

When: Wednesday 15th April or 22nd April from 7pm to 10pm

Cost per person: $100

To enroll, send us an e-mail at cooking@palatesensations.com or call us on 6479 9025 or enroll directly on our website.

See you on Wednesday!

Lynette

8 Week Basic Skills - Seafood & Shellfish Techniques

This 8 week course is for those who would like to learn more about seafood & shellfish including how to select, prepare and store them. You will also learn all the different cooking techniques including grilling, steaming, frying and stewing. Our resident chef Dean Fisher is a seafood & shellfish expert.

Module 1 - Selecting fresh fish, filleting and frying

How to select fresh fish, information on all the different types of fish.

How to scale, fillet and pin bone fish and the different cuts and fillets.

How to prepare fish and shellfish stock.

How to shallow fry fish, mix fish platters with lemon garlic butter.

Module 2 - Soups, sauces, and baking fish

How to make Crab and shellfish bisque.

How to make fish white wine cream sauce.

How to bake flat fish with salt crust.

How to bake stuffed round fish wrapped in parcel.

How to bake cockles St. Jack ( baked scallops)

Module 3 - Grilling and steaming fish and basic fish sauces

How to grill a filleted whole fish.

How to grill mussels stuffed with lemon, garlic and parmesan.

How to steam whole round fish.

How to steam mussels mariniere.

How to make basic fish sauces, lemon hollandaise, bearnaise, mayonnaise and tartar sauce.

Module 4 - Smoked and Marinated fish and shellfish

How to make smoked haddock, crab, Icelandic prawn and fish pie.

How to make smoked fishcakes with creme fraiche and dill.

How to prepare smoked fish and shellfish salad platter.

How to marinate fish with saffron, paprika, red pepper juice and olive oil.

How to make smoked salmon chervil pate.

Module 5 - Grilling, frying and preparation of crustacean

How to prepare lobsters, brown crabs and blue crabs.

How to prepare and grill the lobster Thermidor.

How to cook lobster linguini pasta.

How to cook crab gratin.

How to cook Singapore chilli crab.

Module 6 - Stewing & preparing shellfish

How to beard mussel and how to clean clams.

How to clean and chop squid.

How to peel and butterfly prawn.

How shuckle oysters.

How to open scallops.

How to prepare and cook Valencian paella.

How to prepare fresh oysters with lemon wasabi and shallot.

How to grill oyster kil’ Patrick.

Module 7 - Deep frying and steam roasting fish

How to make and prepare English fish and chips in beer batter.

How to deep fry squid in light batter with fresh tartar sauce.

How to steam roast filleted skate with sambal sauce wrapped in banana leaves.

How to steam roast sea bass stuffed with salsa verde sauce.

Module 8 - Excursion day out

Day excursion around Singapore fish markets being shown all the different fishes.

Return to cooking school to prepare and cook the catch of the day.

Sit down and enjoy a 3 course meal in the dining room.

Starts on Saturday 2nd May until 27th June from 10am to 1pm

Fees: $250 per class or $1800 for all 8 weeks.

This is a hands on class so do be prepared to get your hands dirty.

Lynette

Girls just wanna have fun!

What do you get when you take a Friday night, 7 women, lots of alcohol and a male chef?

Lots of noise, fun and laughter of course!

The ladies working away

Pipping the chocolate mousse into the cups

What's a bit of fun eh?

Don't forget to lick all the left overs

And for some, a good rest is needed

I'm glad they enjoyed themselves!

Lynette

Knife skills

We held a knife skills class recently for our sponsor Zwelling Henckels and they sent some of their promoters over to learn how to use and take care of the knives they sell. They first learnt how to debone a chicken and then they learnt how to cut vegetables with various cuts and sizes. Using the chicken and the vegetables, they made minestrone soup and pan fried spring chicken with stir fried vegetables. This class is the first Module of our Basic Skills Western Workshop which will be starting in May. We have weekday classes in the mornings and also weekend classes on Saturday afternoons.

Dean doing the demonstration first. You can see the lovely knives on display

The participants then deboned their own chicken

The knives

Practicing what they have just learnt

The lovely cut up vegetables ready for cooking


Using the Zwelling Henckels frying pan, they stir fried their own vegetables

Lynette

Introducing Chef Patrizia Forlino, Italian Cuisine

Patrizia Forlino is the Executive sous chef at "Forlino" at One Fullerton. Patrizia is from Tortona Piedmont near Milan, the area of Barolo wine, white truffles, homemade pasta, beautiful mushrooms, bread and vegetables. Patrizia has attended some cooking classes with Michelin star chefs such as George Cougny, Claudio Sadler, Gianfranco Vissani, Gualtiero Marchesi and Lidia Alciati. At Forlino, she is in charge of all the pastas and desserts which are of course, all home made to Patrizia’s stringent standards of excellence.

Introducing Chef Luis Martinez, Peruvian Cuisine

Luis Martinez was born in Cusco, Peru. Since he was ten years old, he wanted to become a Chef. He comes from a food loving family: his father and uncle are both Chefs in their own restaurant “El Jardín” in Cusco, where he would watch and try to help at an early age.

Luis lived some years in Lima, Peru’s amazing capital, which was declared the “Gastronomic Capital of the Americas” by the Fourth International Summit of Gastronomy Madrid Fusión in 2006. In Lima, he discovered his love for Ceviche: citrus-marinated raw fish.


He finished his studies in Cusco, historic capital of the Inca Empire where the great Inca ruins Machu Picchu can be found and the city was declared a World Heritage Site in 1983 by UNESCO. It is a major tourist destination and receives almost a million visitors a year.

After finishing school, he immediately started to work at Inka Grill - famous for its traditional Peruvian dishes. After work he studied International Cuisine at the Instituto Superior Tecnológico Privado Americana del Cusco.


Now in Singapore until September, he hopes to introduce Peruvian Cuisine to Singaporeans. In South America, the Peruvian dishes are already very famous and in Europe, they are becoming more famous each day. Although the Peruvian Cuisine is a fusion of Indigenous Peruvian, Spanish, African, Japanese and Chinese food; in Asia it is still unknown and – until now - untasted.

We will be scheduling some classes with Chef Luis in the next few months so do watch out for a new cuisine coming your way soon.

Lynette

Central Italian Cuisine with Chef Lino Sauro

I love Chef Lino's classes and I always eat like a pig and undo all my good work I do at the gym! Yesterday, we made Central Italian Cuisine which covers the Tuscan region. Again, we had great fun but this week there was no fresh pasta to make which was just as well since Lino is always giving Nicholas a hard time when he makes the pasta.

Ribollita (Tuscan soup on the way to be cooked in our Le Creuset pot

Our finished soup which was really hearty and delicious! Turn up the air con please!

Saltimbocca (take a good piece of veal tenderloin, parma ham & sage leaves & some pepper & salt) and then dunk it in flour and pan fry it. Then you eat it straight away as it is tender and delicious!

Valerie doing all the hard work on the cheese cake, pounding the amaretti biscuits, butter and lemon peel together and then spreading it out as our cake base

Our finished ricotta cheese cake with raspberry puree

On the 10th April, we repeat the first 2 classes and on the 16th April, it is our last class where we cover the Northern Region of Italy. I can't wait to make Milanese risotto. I know Lino is very picky about risotto so we will have to really watch ourselves when we make it otherwise we are going to get scolded!

Lynette

Lunch at Zambuca

Dean and I took some time out to visit Bertrand & David at Zambuca today. We rushed from the Peranakan Cooking Class to The Pan Pacific Hotel and we got there as the restaurant was taking it's last orders. We tried out some of their signature dishes from their new menu:

Dean's steamed mussels which was tremendously delicious!

My seared Hokkaido scallops on a bed of barley & citrus juice was definately the better of my 2 dishes

My capellini pasta with crab, capers & olives. I thought the portion was slightly too big (although many people would not complain about their generous serving) and it was slightly too fishy for me.

Dean's seared barrumundi with purple cauliflower puree & steamed vegetables were wonderful too

Definately worth a visit as their food is well executed and their presentation is definately impressive!

Lynette

Ratatouille cooking class with Singapore Academy of Law

We held a cooking class recently for the Singapore Academy of Law. Here is the review they wrote about their time with us:

The tag-line of “Ratatouille” is that “He’s dying to be a chef”. While that is a cute tag-line, I doubt that is the underlying aspiration of any of the participants at the SAL Hands-On “Ratatouille” Cooking Class held on 17 Mar 09! Admittedly, most of us walked up the rustic steps of Palate Sensations’ quaint Westbourne Road premises with trepidation and/or excitement!

If truth be told, I guess most of us were lured by pseudo Cordon Bleu’s aspirations to wow our families and friends with our culinary competence in re-creating these dishes inspired by “Ratatouille” i.e. (a) Pumpkin Soup, (b) Seared Lamb Tenderloin Ratatouilles, and (c) Chocolate Cream Petit Pots. We expected to “slave” at the kitchen but we also knew it would be rewarding!

At the outset, Palate Sensations’ owner, Lynette Foo, definitely put us at ease with her warm hospitality. It also didn’t hurt that she readily offered caffeine and/or corona to relax us throughout the evening. Further, Executive Chef Dean Fisher’s easy-English style and willingness to “salvage” potential disasters also added to the very enjoyable ambience of the Cooking Class. I should also add that Palate Sensations’ open and spacious kitchen is well-equipped and well-stocked which facilitated the very “teachable” nature of such Hands-On cooking Classes.

Executive Chef Dean Fisher exampled organised culinary methodology by starting with “the end in mind” because our first order of the evening was to prepare the very decadent Chocolate Cream Petit Pots. Even the thorn among us roses admitted that this was quite a “slam dunk” in terms of preparation which yielded awesome velvet results. Hence, kudos to Dean for making such gorgeous desserts so accessible!!!

We next proceeded to prepare Pumpkin Soup (which also included butternut squash, sweet potatoes and roasted garlic). Although there was quite a lot of cutting involved, it helped that we were teamed up into clusters of about 3 persons each so we could divide up the workload. Executive Chef Dean Fisher also kept us on our toes without any boring moments whatsoever. In fact, we often scribbled on our recipe notes because Executive Chef Dean Fisher would often “spice” up his demonstrations with suggestions to improve our recipes with additional spices and/or alcohol! It was definitely a very interactive experience!

Last but not least, the main-course of Seared Lamb Tenderloin Ratatouilles had a unique homely cum Michelin taste to it as the comfortable vegetable stew was paired excellently with the sweet tenderness of the
lamb tenderloins. In particular, the honey, mustard, wine and mint marinade lured out the usual gaminess of the lamb and infused the lamb with a heavenly tangy flavour. It was truly scrumptious.

All in all, it was a lovely Tuesday evening that was capped off with a satisfying sit-down dinner and accompanying bubbly as we feasted on the fruits of our labours. We will definitely be back for more!

Article written by Ms Elaine Tan

Italian Cuisine Classes with Chef Lino Sauro - Southern Italy

Last Thursday, the menu was from South Italy. Again, our hand made pasta turned out quite doughy because we weren't very good at shaping the ears (orichette).

The ear shaped pasta

Our ear shaped pasta being cooked with brocollini

I thought the best part of last week's class was the fish soup which was made with olive oil, white wine and the freshest seafood. It was really so light you could taste the goodness of the seafood.

Fish soup

For dessert, we made Zeppole di San Giuseppe which is essentially deep fried dough. It's very easy to make like a choux bun and then we deep fry it and top it with some cream and gingered fruit.

Pipping out the Zeppole di San Giuseppe

The lovely Zeppole di San Giuseppe ready to eat

This Thursday evening, we will be making a menu from Central Italy (Tuscany) so do join us if you are free!

Ribollita
(Tuscan vegetarian soup)

Saltimbocca alla Romana
(Small veal escalope with sage and Parma ham)

Ricotta cheese cake

Lynette

Sunday Roast @ Palate Sensations Cooking School

We held a private Sunday Roast lunch for Patrick's 40th birthday today. The menu was substantial and poor Dean had to come in at 7.30am to prepare everything before the client came at noon.

The roast beef straight from the oven

Dean getting ready to carve more roast pork & beef

Roast potatoes

Sausages wrapped in bacon and served with roasted pumpkin & mushrooms

As part of our private kitchen, we are making Sunday Roast available on the first Sunday of each month. The next one coming up is 5th April from 11am. There will only be one sitting so do come on time. Lounge around with our Sunday newspapers and enjoy a glass of home made ice tea while you smell your roast being cooked for you. So do join us and make your booking on line at www.palatesensations.com under Private Kitchen.

See you soon!

Lynette

Irish stew and bread & butter pudding - ultimate comfort food

Dean pointing out that Irish Stew is simply the best!

The ultimate in comfort food for me is a good stew and bread & butter pudding. That is exactly what we did to celebrate St Patrick's Day. The class made:

Oyster Kilpatrick

Irish Stew with Guinness

Bread & butter pudding

With added butter scotch sauce & ice cream

If I eat too much in these classes, I will end up reversing all the good I have been trying to do to my body. But oh they are so good!

Lynette

Classes and more classes

Participants discussing what to do in Chef Lino's Italian cuisine class

Over the past week, we have been busy every night with cooking classes. On Friday night, we had a delightful time with The Swiss Association. They joined us for a Japanese sushi and tempura making session. We had 16 very rowdy and energetic Swiss members at our studio. They made and To see the photos, click here.

Earlier in January, we held a Thai cooking class for them. To see the photos, click here.

On Monday, we held a Ratatouille class for the Singapore Academy of Law. The menu was based on the movie so they made pumpkin soup followed by lamb tenderloin with ratatouille (of course) and chocolate petit pots. The chocolate petit pots were just delicious! It was very hard to eat more than a spoonful though because it was so rich.

Dean showing them how to prepare the vegetables

Making their own meals

Enjoying the fruits of their labour

For the first time since I started the school, I decided to enroll in a class. I participated in Lino's Main Southern Islands (Sicily & Sardinia) cooking class on Thursday evening. I love malloreddus & sausages so I was most enthusiastic in making my own pasta out of semolina flour. The menu was made up of fava bean soup, malloreddus with sausage sauce and watermelon sorbet.

Fava beans cooking in a pot

My fava bean soup about to be devoured!

Me making pasta in my Good Morning towel apron given to me by Denise Vivaldo from Food Fanatics

Malloreddus pasta (freshly made of course!)

Sausage sauce

Malloreddus pasta with sausage sauce

Watermelon gelo/sorbet

Next Thursday, Lino will be concentrating on Southern Italian food but the class is already full so if you want to join this class again, you can sign up for it when we run it again on Good Friday. Speaking of Italian chefs, Forlino will be doing some cooking classes soon at Palate Sensations. Osvaldo's wife who is a pasta & dessert chef will be holding her classes soon in the coming months. The class schedule will be full of Italian cuisine so there is plenty for everyone to choose from.

Lynette

La Cucina Toscana - the simple elegance of Italian food

During this four-module course Christopher Tung will share his passion for all things Tuscan with great recipes and stories from his life in Italy.

In 2001, Christopher left corporate life in New York to open a b&b and cooking school in the Tuscan hills. He started out in the kitchen of a Michelin-starred restaurant in Siena where he worked under the tutelage of renowned chef Michele Sorrentino while renovating a medieval parsonage. In 2004, he opened the doors to his own b&b and cooking school where he taught Italian cooking classes to an international clientele before moving his family to Singapore last year.

Christopher designed the following course to capture the restrained sophistication of Tuscan and Italian cuisine and to provide ample opportunity to go over basic technique and fundamental kitchen skills. Hope to see you in the kitchen!

Class 1 (Thursday 16th April from 11am to 2pm)

Panzanella

Tuscan bread salad

Ravioli Maremmani

Ravioli stuffed with ricotta cheese & spinach

Torta di pinoli

Pinenut tart

Class 2 (Friday 17th April from 11am to 2pm)

Pane Toscano

Tuscan unsalted bread

Salsiccie con fagioli all’ucelletto

Tuscan sausages & cannellini beans in tomato sauce

Pesche Sangiovese

Peaches in red wine

Class 3 (Wednesday 29th April from 11am to 2pm)

Crostini neri

Tuscan black toast with chicken liver topping

Pici ai funghi porcini

Tuscan hand rolled pasta with ceps

Tagliata

Sliced steak served on a bed of arugula

Class 4 (Thursday 30th April from 11am to 2pm)

Bruschetta ai fagioli

Bruschetta with beans

Pappardelle al ragù

Fresh pasta with meat sauce

Zabaglione al Vin Santo

Zabaglione custard

All classes are priced at $120 per person for a cook & dine session. Be entralled by Tuscany! Join us and enroll today.

Lynette

Wonderful home cooking at Forlino

Marron glaces (candied chestnut), a very popular dessert in Italy

I haven't been to Forlino for a while and yesterday, we decided to go and have dinner there. I stopped eating out at restaurants for dinner not only because I was conscious of my cash flow but also because of my diet of only eating a full meal at lunch time. I decided to make an exception for Forlino because I hadn't been to an Italian restaurant for quite a while and Forlino is known for it's home cooking in a fine dining atmosphere.

This is my favourite dish and I haven't eaten anything so refreshing for the longest time. If I could eat this every day, I think I would! It's swordfish carpaccio with blood oranges, tomatoes, salad leaves, giant capers and pomegranate seeds. Everything on this plate was really fresh including the tomatoes.

Home made spaghetti with cod fish and fresh tomatoes. So simple so why can't anyone else make it as good as they can?

I did not want to eat dessert but Patrizia (Osvaldo's wife who is also the Pastry Chef) made me a plate of chocolate mousse and mascapone cheese. This was really delicious too!

The food is not cheap but the experience is well worth it. The food is really top class and so it remains that Forlino is still my favourite Italian restaurant in Singapore. If your budget is abit tight right now, then please go for special occasions. You won't walk away disappointed.

Lynette

German bread making class

Breads! I love the smell of bread baking in the oven. Over the weekend, we held our German bread making class with Magma German Bistro. We made white bread, rye bread, wheat bread and sour dough bread. The process is really easy actually. Just mix the dry ingredients and then the wet ingredients and then knead. We left it to rest for only half an hour and then we scored the breads and baked it for 45 minutes.

Kneading the bread

The bread before going into the oven

The bread baking in the oven

This bread was good enough to sell!

In between, we made herb butter with parsley and garlic

This class was very popular because everyone knows that kneading bread is so theraputic and there is nothing better than making your own bread. You know exactly what goes into it and it has no preservatives. Our bread rolls came out crusty and with a dab of herb butter, it was just pure heaven. I'm so inspired I am going to make my own bread. It was so easy!

We will hold another bread baking class again sometime in the next few months so if you love bread, do watch out for future classes coming up.

Lynette

New York New York!

This article is written by Chef Delna Boyce who is now based in New York. Delna was living in Singapore and teaching Indian cuisine before moving to New York last year. We bring you articles from our chefs now based all over the world. Here is our first one:

New York is truly the place worth being called “the trend setter”. May it be fashion, food, technology or just life style. If you have a flare to dare then you can find purple cauliflower salad, sheep’s milk cheese, oxtail ravioli, jalapeno hush puppies, spicy cornmeal crunchies, maple flavoured butter, smoked tofu, sweet potato sorbet, popcorn pudding and more.

Purple cabbage

There is the Meat packing district which serves restaurants and food shops through out NY. Chelsea Market is a huge wholesale and retail complex which is called an ultimate indoor food paradise. Central Greenwich Village serves a variety of ethnic foods -Ukrainian, Russian, French, Japanese or just a hearty Diner meal, it’s all here. Here one will notice the popularity of beef more than pork and duck.

Soups are never eaten as entrees here. Hi Tea is more like an afternoon snack. Of course there is a lot of health consciousness involved. They eat whole grains and organic and stay away from factory processed canned and ready to eat foods.

Who said potatoes make you fat? That’s a fiction mostly in Asia. If you don’t fry them then they are highly nutritious. They come in lots of varieties and you can cook them in and with anything. Just use your imagination. I would strongly encourage you to give a twist to your regular food by expanding your horizons. Have you tried fish tacos, square pizza or whole grain burger with a dash of soy sauce?

It all depends on your mood and the occasion that sometimes one prefers to eat the rustic food or go for fine dinning. It’s all here. You are exposed to an environment which gives you an opportunity to expand your taste buds.

Delna Boyce

New York

Italian Cuisine Classes with Chef Lino Sauro

For a very limited time only, Chef Lino will share with us his recipes in 4 special classes taught over Thursday evenings in March and April. If you love Italian cuisine, share his passion and join us for a wonderful experience!

Lino will soon be opening his own restaurant Gattopardo with The Garibaldi Group. The restaurant will be located at The Legends at Fort Canning. Here is your chance to work closely with him.

Italian Cuisine - Main Southern Islands

Date: Thursday, 19 Mar 2009
Time: 7pm to 10pm
Price: $120

The menu will be:

Maccu
(Fresh fava bean soup)

Malloreddus with sausage
(Malloreddus is pasta from Sardinia. We will make this pasta from scratch)

Gelo di Anguria
(This is a typical Sicilian sorbet with watermelon)

Italian Cuisine - Southern Italian Cuisine

Date: Thursday, 26 Mar 2009 and Friday 10th April 2009
Time: 7pm to 10pm, 11am to 2pm respectively
Price: $120

The menu will be:

Mozzarella in carrozza
(Deep fried white bread and mozzarella)

Con le cime di rapa
(Home made shell pasta)

Pesce all acqua pazza
(Light seafood soup from Naples)

Zeppole di San Giuseppe
(Soft deep fried cookies with cream!)

Italian Cuisine - Central Italian Cuisine

Date: Thursday, 02 Apr 2009 and Friday 10th April 2009
Time: 7pm to 10pm, 3pm to 6pm respectively
Price: $120

The menu will be:

Ribollita
(Tuscan vegetarian soup)

Saltimbocca alla Romana
(Small veal escalope with sage and Parma ham)

Ricotta cheese cake

Italian Cuisine - Northern Italian Cuisine

Date: Thursday, 16 Apr 2009
Time: 7pm to 10pm
Price: $120

The menu will be:

Risotto with yellow pumpkin

Beef stew with polenta

Bounet
(Piedmont pudding)

Lynette