Reine de Saba et Mes Rêves

When I woke up this morning with an urge to bake and it's a wonderful feeling. The only trouble is deciding what to bake... I went through my 'to-bake' list, and for second year in a row, I am still (well, kinda) sticking to my new year's resolution. Do you still remember your new year's resolution? Or has it gone out the window?

I decided to bake this reine de saba from the legendary Julia Child's et al, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I have all of the ingredients at home except one. I ran out of butter. I was mortified and disgusted! I went to the supermarket and came back with two bags full or groceries. Few blocks of butter and also some stuff for tonight (my friend and I will be testing a new tiramisu recipe) and tomorrow night I have an army of friends over for dinner after watching Harry Potter.

Anyway, let's talk about this delectable chocolate and almond cake. The texture of both the cake and the chocolate-butter icing is simply wonderful. They just melt in your mouth. It's important though to bake the cake just slightly underdone otherwise the cake loses its special creamy quality. My only difficulty was waiting for the cake to cool before frosting it. This cake is definitely worth the wait.

Reine de Saba
Recipe by Julia Child, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle
For list of ingredients and instructions, click here.

Mes Rêves

Vanessa Kimbell has asked us all to share our dreams and are you already following your dream? Vanessa followed her dream and she is now officially a food writer with her own BBC radio show and a newspaper column among other fabulous things. Vanessa's story is very inspiring and I started thinking about my own dreams:

When I was seven I told my uncle that I want to be a comedian, then he told me "Michael, don't you have to be funny to be a comedian?!" Ouch! That's definitely the way to crush a child's dream. We haven't been in touch since. As I got older, I realised he's probably right. My best friend at high school told me that my jokes are mean and dry. Becoming a comedian is off the list... and to cut a long story short, becoming a rapper or a country singer are also off the list. I cannot rap to save my life.

My dreams became clearer, a couple years ago, not long after I turned twenty-one. The good times that came from cooking as a family, got me psyched about food, and I wanted more than anything to be a great cook. I was watching a re-run of Glee yesterday and there's a quote "if you can imagine it, it can come true". Can I imagine one day, oh I don't know, attending le cordon bleu or tante marie? and then working in a professional kitchen whilst writing a food column for conde nast publication? Actually, I can. My dad once said, "you can dream of success, but you also have to wake up and work hard at it". I have had several unsuccessful attempts and I am not giving up. Maybe the next one will be the one. One can only dream... right?

I also really, really want to do this:

Chicken Teriyaki + Question #2

I have been working on my dissertation this weekend and although the progress is rather slow, it is getting there... I hope.

I enjoy looking at what people are cooking and eating at their homes. I don't think that's a secret, I read food blogs after all. I also like looking at people's supermarket trolleys... Oh, come on, you know you have and enjoy doing it too :)

However, I am afraid to tell you that the truth about my nosiness is worse than that. I travel quite often by trains and travelling by train is truly an experience in itself. Whenever possible, I always ask for a seat with a table, even though this means sharing the table with three other people. You can most definitely close your eyes and ignore all the passengers around you, or concentrate on a good read, or playing with your gadgets.
I sometimes do or at least pretend to do all the mentioned, but I couldn't help myself from doing other things like overhearing people's conversation... but who could?! It's a public transport.

Anyway, peeking at what people are having for their snacks is what I enjoy most! On a recent train journey from London to Newcastle, I sat next to a lovely elderly couple and they had home-made sandwiches, cubes of cheddar, crackers, grapes, batons of carrots and cucumber, cherry tomatoes and a loaf of banana bread. Of course, I tried not to make it too obvious that I am staring at their packed lunch, even though I was drooling over that banana bread. To makes things worse, the table across from us were having cupcakes from the hummingbird bakery. I make an excellent secret agent one day.

I never bother really to make something for 'on-the-go'. I suppose that's probably because I would have eaten it before the journey and all I had were crumbs.

My friend introduced me to Japan Centre at Regent Street few years ago and since then, whenever I'm going on a train journey from London, I almost always stop by there to grab my food supplies, sweet or savoury, like onigiri, sushi, edamame, ramen noodles or my latest favourite thing, green tea tiramisu. Yum... and to drink, equally Japanese, I like pocari sweat isotonic drink.

On another journey, I was surrounded by a group of lads on their way to a football match, and all they had was beers. I like beers, but I also need the ham sandwich or at least salted peanuts or doritos.

Now my question for you is, "Imagine yourself going on a train journey, what would you have to eat? Do you prepare something home-made? or if you're buying something pre-made, what do you get?"

Again, this is part of my research for my dissertation. You can leave your answer by leaving comments below or you can email me. Any ways would be greatly appreciated. If you miss question #1, you can read it here.

Now, to food I cooked and ate earlier: chicken teriyaki. This is another one of Nigella's quick and delicious recipe. Just a few ingredients mixed for the brief marinating of the chicken thighs, followed by an easy stove-top cooking. You can serve it with sushi rice, but I like it with sticky Thai rice noodles and a scatter or chopped coriander leaves.

Chicken Teriyaki
Recipe by Nigella Lawson
For list of ingredients and instructions, click here.
If you want to watch the video, click here.

J'adore Paris

On June 10th 2011, I ditched my friends and I ate my way around Paris. It was a monumental day as I discovered I don't have a sweet tooth, I have about 32 of them. I know and you know that I can eat a lot, but I didn't know I could eat this much sweet things in one day.

The day began with a quick bite of chaussons aux pommes from a boulangeri not far from our hotel. I had an itinerary and my first destination is not far from the Louvre, at Rue de Rivoli, Angelina. I found this place whilst watching Lorraine Pascale's Baking Made Easy. The tea house was already busy that morning with people having breakfast, but if you're there for cakes to take away, the wait shouldn't be that bad.

cakes at Angelina

All the cakes look fantastic and deciding which one to have was not an easy task. But the two that caught my eye and mouth straight-away are tartelette Eva, one sinfully rich chocolate tart with perfect pastry base and smooth chocolate filling; and also the millefeuille a la vanille bourbon which is vanilla-bourbon crème pâtissière sandwiched between layers of buttery puff pastry... I have also been told to try the hot chocolate here, as apparently it's one of the best, but hot chocolate in the morning makes me sleepy and I need focus.

Tartelette Eva et Millefeuille à la Vanille Bourbon 

I then met up with my friends again at Arc de Triomphe followed by a nice walk to the Eiffel Tower. After taking lots of photos, I ditched them again at lunchtime and I went off to my next stop: Pierre Hermé famous for its macarons. No doubt, they make the best macarons in Paris. The same macarons are actually available at Selfridges in London, but I just had to visit the Paris shop for the experience. Unfortunately taking pictures inside the shop is strictly prohibited. As soon as the shopkeeper saw my camera, I was told to put it away. Be prepared to queue for a long time but the macarons are worth the wait... You might want to practise some Japanese too, as I was queueing with lots of Japanese tourists... such lovely people.

The macarons are so beautiful to look at and even better eat. Oh, and these little delights do not come cheap... My personal favourite are the rose and pistache (pistachio), but do try the mogador (passion fruit and milk chocolate) and eden (peach, saffron and apricot)... or get the selection box if you want and can afford it.

Not far from Pierre Herme, I then visited the famous Poilane bakery on Rue du Cherce-Midi. Lionel Poilane apparently sells the most bread in Paris. Poilane's signature bread is the large round rustic sourdough loaf with the big 'P' inscription.

The moment I stepped into this charming little bakery, I was immediately welcomed with the comforting aroma of freshly baked bread. Apart from sourdough, you can also get rye and raisin bread, walnut loaf, milky white loaf, apple tart, gingerbread, baguettes, croissants, cookies, jams, etc. It was like heaven. I used to get the signature loaf to take home, but found out sometime ago that the bread is now available in the UK. Hooray! They deliver abroad too, so check out the website.

photo courtesy of frogandprincess

The last bakery I visited, I promise this is the last, was La Pâtisserie des Rêves or in English, Pastry Shop of Dreams. It is located in Rue du Bac and I absolutely love the bright, cool design of the shop and the display cakes are presented so beautifully under bell-shaped glass dome. On the right hand shelves, there were piles of chausson aux pommes and pain gourmand a la vanille, but the three items I simply had to try were the Madeleine, the kouign amann, a round-crusty-buttery-sugary cake and this one is also flavoured with lemon paste...

photo courtesy of the taste of... Paris

and the chocolate éclairs... This is one serious éclair. Each one is wrapped in a tunnel of fine dark chocolate and then flecked with gold. It's beautiful and delicious. The wonderful thing about the chocolate tunnel is it manages to stay firm and keep its shape, but it just melts in your mouth. The choux pastry inside is so tender and the chocolate cream is smooth, smooth, smooth. I am craving for one now....

My friends and I met up again for dinner not far from Notre Dame Cathedral and I desperately need to eat savoury dishes... and I had moules marinieres, duck a l'orange and whilst my friends were enjoying their profiteroles and crème brûlée for desserts, fresh fruit salad for me.

Burgers at Bar Boulud

Continuing my eating adventure, just a little over three hours after a late lunch at Spuntino, my friends and I went to dinner at Bar Boulud. I do have a quick metabolism.

London's Bar Boulud is located in the heart of the exclusive Knightsbridge at the famous Mandarin Oriental hotel. Created by Daniel Boulud, a French chef and a restaurateur, this is the sister restaurant to New York's Bar Boulud. Chef Daniel brought over some Big Apple style and mixed it with classic French cooking.

This was my second visit to Bar Boulud and will certainly not be my last. The restaurant is cosy with great vibes all around. But most importantly for me, the staff are so friendly that made you feel like home which added to the dining pleasure.

At our table, we were greeted by Paulo, the Maitre D' of the restaurant. He asked for me and about the blog which was a surprise. I always check, out of courtesy when making on-line reservations if I could take photographs at restaurants especially when planning to blog about it. Paulo gave his permission and he even offered a complimentary charcuterie board. How very nice... See, it never hurts to ask.

Paulo explained that everything on the charcuterie board is made on the premise. I must say the selection of pâtés and cured meat were done flawlessly. A couple of my favourites from the board are nougat de volaille which is terrine of chicken breast, curried apple, hazelnut, pistachio and balsamic as explained by our knowledgeable waiter; also tagine dagneau, terrine of slow-cooked leg of lamb, sweet potato, aubergine and Moroccan spices.

When looking at the menu, I was tempted with many of the French classics dishes, but I must focus. The real reason I visited Bar Boulud was to try their burgers, one of my favourite food, which have been winning a lot of fans. So, to prove it we simply had to order all three of them. I had the Frenchie Burger - grilled beef patty cooked to medium, the way I like it and topped with confit pork belly, rocket, tomato-onion compote, Dijon mustard, morbier cheese, brioche bun... in one short word: Yum. 

The quality of the beef is superb... and beneath the charred exterior, inside is pink and juicy. The peppery bite from the mustard and rocket is nicely balanced with the sweetness from the tomato-onion compote. 

Frenchie

But wait until you hear about the Piggie Burger... This is my personal favourite of the trio. If you had a chance to visit Bar Boulud either in Manhattan or London, and you can only order one burger, this is the one you must try. 

This handsome burger consists of another flavourful grilled beef patty and this one is topped with tender, melt-in-your-mouth BBQ pulled pork, bibb lettuce, green chili mayonnaise, red cabbage slaw and cheddar bun... Oh yeah, this is the stuff. I'd eat this burger any day, any time... Each mouthful is filled with beefy/porky succulence, and the fatty juices with the green chili mayo lubricate the cheddar bun oh-so beautifully. It was love at first bite.

Piggie

The last but not least is the Yankee Burger which consists of grilled beef patty with iceberg lettuce, tomato, sweet onion, pickle and sesame bun. This may sound like a simple burger, and it is, but don't be fooled, this is one fantastic burger. The only mistake was my friend who ordered it to "well-done". Guess who's no longer invited to dinner. 

Unfortunately, I don't have a decent picture of the Yankee burger. I was 'high' on burger love and my hands keep on shaking (probably the wine too), resulting in blurry pictures.

To accompany our burgers, we had the super green spinach and some perfectly cooked pommes frites served in a silver bucket. Now, let's talk quickly about the fries: they're amazing! 

Honestly there was absolutely no need for dessert as we were already so full, but I thought a couple of sorbets to share between the three of us couldn't hurt... The passion fruit-coconut sorbet is ultra refreshing. The sharpness of the passion fruit will definitely wake up your taste-buds and combined with the smooth coconut... delicious. The coffee ice-cream... well, I could happily eat a tub of it.

If you still have some room in your stomach, I'd thoroughly recommend for you to head to the bar and have the champagne mojito... just saying...

I'm back! + Spuntino

That's right, I am back! and exhausted... but I have had an amazing past few weeks! Ah, the amount of food I ate is unbelievable. Yes, I gained weight, but not a problem... I was on holiday. I'm gonna start tackling these extra pounds tomorrow at the gym and will only be consuming the following in the mean time: miso soup, red wine, fruits and tranquillizer.

I missed all of you and I look forward to catch up. I also want to say a big Thank You for all of your wonderful comments on the previous post. They are very much appreciated. Next question is coming up soon. And to all my Canadian friends, Happy Canada Day to all of you!

Now that I'm back, I'm gonna tell you all about my trip, in chronological order and it began around three weeks ago with a late lunch at Spuntino in London. I was very excited to finally made my first visit to Spuntino as I have heard and read great reviews about this place. What was even more exciting, I went with my lovely friend Alex.

Located at the colourful Soho, amongst several sex shops and massage parlours, normally the easiest way to spot the restaurant is by seeing the queue of people waiting to get in. Though I suspect in the evening there may be several queues for other these businesses too... Anyway, back to the restaurant, it's first come, first serve basis only, no reservations. But that afternoon was quiet, Alex and I were seated immediately around the central bar on high stools. The waiter handed us the menu printed on brown paper which then doubles up as our place mats.

Whilst we were making our choices, we were given complimentary chilli popcorn which was nice, served in a tin cup.

Dishes comes in small portions and Alex had the ricotta, pea and radish crostini. I had a little bite of this and it was nice, but I must save some room as I greedily ordered not two, not three, but five dishes (some to share of course). Alex had been here a couple of times before and she recommended some of her favourites.

The next three dishes are the shoestring fries which was crispy and dangerously addictive; bite-size cheesy croque monsieur and eggplant chips with fennel yoghurt which I could happily eat all day long. The deep-fried aubergines were not at all greasy and the cool yoghurt combines with liquorish fennel works beautifully.

Next is the highly anticipated truffled egg toast. I absolutely love truffle and this toast is so, so good. The thick white bread is covered with melted cheese and in the centre of the bread is a pool of silky smooth egg yolk and truffle. Yum!

I was full but I couldn't resist the peanut butter and jelly sandwich especially that it's recommended by Alex. The bread part of the sandwich are actually peanut butter ice-cream, in between is raspberry compote and generously sprinkled on top and around the sandwich are candied nuts. Again, Yum!

I look forward to coming back to Spuntino again... You can also read Alex's review, here.