Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Goose Fat Exploration ::: Sauté Thinly Sliced Potatos & Baby Carrots in Goose Fat

We finally found Goose Fat. Yea, it's that tough to find it. We manage to find this at Park Way Parade Cold Storage, Singapore!

Goose Fat has higher temperature than other fats and is naturally liquid at room temperature. Cooking with Goose Fat will produce perfect roast potatoes, roast vegetables and make great fried bread. It also brings a dish to another level of flavour when butter is replaced or cooking oil is replaced.

Come with us on our cookery journey of exploring goose fats recipes. This is our very 1st recipe.

Goose Fat


There are instructions and advice behind the bottle information about Goose Fat and a extremely popular recipe to make bake goose fat potatoes which we can't currently till we get our oven.

Goose Fat


As a side dish for dear lovely home cooked steakhouse steak. Even Chiaki & Natsuko agrees the steaks are delicious too!

Saute Sliced Potatos & Baby Carrots with Goose Fat


Ingredients:::
2 teaspoon of Goose Fats
2 small Potatoes Sliced Thinly
1 hand full of Baby Carrot
Salt & Pepper to taste

Heat up a non stick pan and add Goose Fats. Put in Sliced Potatoes and Baby Carrot. Let it sauté till a little golden brown on both sides. Salt & Pepper to taste. Then it's ready to be served.

It took us 10mins to sauté these till it's lovely sides browns.

Saute Sliced Potatos & Baby Carrots with Goose Fat


Enjoy this recipe!

Click here for our blog page Cooking Classes for more recipes. Hope you will be inspired~

Monday, January 30, 2012

Fine Dining on a Budget at Dozo Fine Modern Japanesque

Dozo has many usages in the Japanese language but for the context of this restaurant it could possibly be taken as "here you are, please go ahead ... and EAT!"

Located on the 2nd floor of the Valley Point Shopping Centre, Dozo, like it's sister establishment Tao, offers up a 6- or 7- course set meal with a half-dozen choices for each course. You get to then play a mini game of mix-and-match, pairing up each course with what your taste buds (and tummy) feel like having for the day :)


Initial perceptions are that the decor is nice and classy without being pretentious; however upon sitting down and looking around it's painfully obvious that all the small stuff has very obviously not been sweated. Cheap tables, wobbly, chipped tableware, faded & scratched wallpaper & months-old dust on the window sills and floor corners - things that most definitely do not belong in a fine dining restaurant.

But then again, at SGD39.80++ for the 6-course lunch / $59.80++ for the 7-course dinner, perhaps I'm nit-picking a little too much. We'll see whether the food justifies us overlooking these shortcomings as we browse the menu while nibbling on these delightful mini bread sticks (or not ... I'm not too sure what they actually are. They did sort of taste like some variation of pasta as well).


Having conveyed our choices to the waiter, we cleanse our palettes and whet the appetite on the Yuzu Sorbet. It's the same sorbet as served in Tao, except it's more artfully presented here.


Moving on to the oddly named Chef's Selection of Assorted Platter, which comprises of three separate amuse bouche-type dishes of Scallop with Yuzu Foam, Foie Gras on Bread with Raisin and Smoked Salmon with Cream, listed in the chef-recommended eating order. Our favorite by far was the Foie Gras; the natural taste of the liver went very well with the crunchy mini crouton and a hint of sweetness from the raisin.


Moving on to the side dishes: more foie gras with the Foie Gras Chawanmushi topped with Black Truffle Slice and Stewed Beef Tendon with Puff Pastry. The Chawanmushi was silky smooth, with a foie gras aftertaste throughout the entire bowl, but I'm not so sure of how the mini slice of Truffle ties in to the dish.


No such identity problems with the Beef, which comes beautifully presented with a puff pastry circle and mashed potato croquette. Beef was well stewed and flavored, too!


Moving on to the soups: The darling's Crab Bisque Cappuccino is served with a warning that the crab claw is for purely ornamental purposes - no doubt to avoid any recurrence of patrons trying to chew on an inedible claw. It's even more interesting when you drink - the soup is served in a cup and is meant to be sipped like a coffee. Thick, and foamy and bursting with crab flavor; however for non crab eaters it does overwhelm a bit towards the end.


My Infusion of Cepes Mushroom with Truffle comes with yet another mini slice of truffle on the side (which I didn't care much for), and a generous dollop of truffle oil in the soup (which I did). I thought that the truffle oil added a wonderful taste and aroma to the soup without overpowering the mushrooms.


The first of our main courses, the Beef Tenderloin on "Pu-Ye" and Granite Hot Stone comes immaculately presented with a horseradish sauce and garnished with (edible) tempura pasta. It's tender & flavorful & is served a beautiful medium rare. One slight problem though - because the stone is hot, the beef continues to cook while you're eating, so those of us who spend an hour taking photos of our food before digging in will find that the last few slices are close to medium-well by the time we're almost finished :)


The Kurobuta Pork Cheek with Onion Jam was nowhere near as well presented, but possibly tasted even better. Flavorful kurobuta pork so tender that you can easily eat this without a knife, given a wonderful crunchy texture courtesy of the cheese/bread crumbs/random herbs/mayo topping. And maybe some tempura bits. Heavenly.


The second last "course" served are the drinks - we shared a pot of Iced Fruity Refresher (a little on the sweet side) and Hot Lavender Tea (with mint). Can you really consider drinks as one "course?" Hmmmm ...


Final course of our lunch was the dessert - for which I chose the French Cream Cheese Cake. It's served on half of a floor tile (I'm not kidding - this isn't a fancy plate that happens to look like a floor tile. It is a floor tile), which may or may not bother you. Oh, the cake was rather nondescript.


Final Dish: Dozo's Freshly Baked Warm Chocolate Cake served with Ice Cream, nicely crusted on the outside with a warm runny chocolate centre. Solid end to a great meal =)


Overall, Dozo doesn't disappoint. The ingredients used, as you've noticed, aren't really that premium, but the chefs have worked well within the pricing confines to put out a solid fine dining lite menu. Dinner comes with an extra "Cold Dish" course with some tempting choices like the Beef Tataki with Shaved Parmesan and Truffle Mayo Mosaic or the King Crab Claw Salad drizzled with Sesame Vinaigrette, at $20 extra.

Dozo is located in the Valley Point Shopping Centre. It's easiest to get there by taxi or car, but if you're looking to save a few dollars on transport, take the MRT to Outram Park, exit at the Outram Road exit, walk across the street and take bus #970 (about 7 stops). Non halal.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Keisuke's Crab Broth and Tonkotsu Ramens.

Ramen Dining Keisuke Tokyo, part deux! My previous (solo) visit was on 22 Jan, where I commented that the Shoyu Ramen was a little too salty for my tastes. I've got the darling with me for a second opinion, though, as we snack on the chili oil bean sprouts while waiting for our noodles.


Green Tea at SGD3.80 a pot seems a bit expensive, no? Love the guy/girl tea mugs though.


On the the noodles! My Tonkotsu Ramen Premium (SGD14.80) had a nice, strong, porky flavor, and the cha-shu was more tender and juicy this time round, but our opinion is that it suffers from the same disappointment as in my previous visit - too much sodium! It's bearable with the noodles, but once you've polished them off, the remaining soup is just too salty to slurp up.

I mean, I needed one and a half cups of green tea to wash away the lingering salt aftertaste!


We also tried the Crab Stock Ramen with Egg (SGD15.80) is ... different. For starters, it's more like Lam Mee than Ramen, since the broth is a lot thicker & starchier, and the noodles are closer in size to udon. It's unique and actually pretty good, with a nice crabby flavor and aroma.


Overall, we feel that it's worth taking a trip down to Millenia Walk at least once to try Keisuke's Crab stock Ramen. If you're not a fan of crab the tonkotsu is pretty tasty, but unless you've got a high salt tolerance you should perhaps choose to have your soup "light" instead of "normal." Non-halal.

Our Ramen Rankings:
Superb!: Ippudo & Santouka
Delicious!: Nantsuttei, Tampopo & Keisuke Tonkotsu King
Solid: Shin-Sapporo, Keisuke, Gantetsu, Gensuke, Riki, Ikkousha & Bario
Below Average: Marutama, Menya Musashi & Menya Iroha

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

CNY Cookie Recipes List.. Happy Chinese New Year!!

I know I should have posted this a week or more before CNY started.. I only got to realise how expensive are CNY cookies are nowadays when I went shopping with my mom! Chinese New Year cookies are nowadays sky high!
2012-2013 Prices: RM37 per average box. S$17 per average box! oh my~~~

From 2 recipes in 2012 our cookie list have grown to 4 recipes in 2013 that we currently have in this blog. Keeping to our promise to post more because we got our oven!

Pineapple Flower Tart
Click here for Pineapple Flower Tarts recipe
Pineapple Flower Tarts Project

Cranberry and Walnut Shortbread Cookie (Sweet)
Click here for Cranberries Shortbread Cookie and other Shortbread Cookie Compilation

Hong Kong / Taiwan Square Pineapple Tarts / Shortcakes
Click here for Hong Kong / Taiwan Square Pineapple Tarts / Shortcakes recipe

Kueh Bangkit (with step by step details)
Click here for Kueh Bangkit recipe

Cornflakes Cookies / Cereal Cookies
Click here for Cornflakes Cookies / Cereal Cookies recipe

Macadamia Chocolate Chips Cookie Recipe
Click here for Macadamia Chocolate Chips Cookie Recipe

Cranberries Shortbread Cookie (Sweet)
Click here for Cranberries Shortbread Cookie and other Shortbread Cookie Compilation

Monkey shaped German Cookies
Click here for German Cookies and other different varieties of flavors and shaping ideas Compilation

Almond Cookies Recipe Compilation
Click here for Almond Cookies Recipe Compilation

Melty Pineapple Tarts / Balls / Golf Balls Recipe
Click here for Melty Pineapple Tarts / Balls / Golf Balls Recipe

Giant Chocolate Chips & Peanut Butter Chips Soft Cookie
Click here for Giant Chocolate Chips & Peanut Butter Chips Soft Cookie Recipe

Viennese Biscuits a.k.a. Danish Butter Shortcakes Recipe
Click here for Viennese Biscuits a.k.a. Danish Butter Shortcakes Recipe

Plain Lotus Paste Shanghai Mooncake 上海月饼 Recipe
Click here for Plain Lotus Paste Shanghai Mooncake 上海月饼 Recipe

Matcha Viennese Biscuits a.k.a. Matcha Danish Butter Shortcakes Recipe
Click here for Matcha Viennese Biscuits a.k.a. Matcha Danish Butter Shortcakes Recipe

Chocolate Viennese Biscuits a.k.a. Chocolate Danish Butter Shortcakes Recipe
Click here for Chocolate Viennese Biscuits a.k.a. Chocolate Danish Butter Shortcakes Recipe

Butterscotch Chips with Pecan Cookie Recipe
Click here for Butterscotch Chips with Pecan Cookie Recipe

Giant M&M's Soft Cookie
Click here for Giant M&M's Soft Cookie Recipe

Triple Chocolate Cookie Recipe
Click here for Triple Chocolate Cookie Recipe

Almond Sardie Cookie Recipe Recipe
Click here for Almond Sardie Cookie Recipe

Chocolate Chips with Pecan Cookie Recipe
Click here for Chocolate Chips with Pecan Cookie Recipe

Chocolate Chips with Cashew Nuts Cookies Recipe
Click here for Chocolate Chips with Cashew Nuts Cookies Recipe

Chocolate Chunk Cookie
Click here for Chocolate Chunk Cookies recipe
Homemade::: Chocolate Chips Cookies

Nestum Cereal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Click here for Nestum Cereal Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe

Chocolate Chips Cookie with slight hint of Coffee Flavour
Click here for Chocolate Chips Cookie with slight hint of Coffee Flavor recipe

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Recipe
Click here for Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Recipe

Cranberries Almond Cookie Recipe
Click here for Cranberries Almond Cookie Recipe

Chocolate Chips Coconut Cookie Recipe
Click here for Chocolate Chips Coconut Cookie Recipe

Chocolate Chips Oatmeal Cookie Recipe
Click here for Chocolate Chips Oatmeal Cookie Recipe


It's still not too late to bake some with your love one. :)

Happy Chinese New Year to all our readers... *with loves*

Click here for our blog page Baking Classes for more recipes. Hope you will be inspired~