It is only a few more hours to the end of 2016 and we will soon welcome year 2017. Having a few days off between Christmas and New Year has given me time to reflect what a great year 2016 has been.
Looking back, I have managed to be more relaxed about my weekend routine. In fact, I now no longer have a routine on the weekends. There are no 'need to do's' or 'need to be's' on the weekend. It is whatever I want to do, wherever I want to be. I realised I can not do the groceries early in the morning each Saturday and cook in bulk each week to be able to have an enjoyable Sunday and week ahead.
I changed jobs, moved upwards. An opportunity fell on my lap for the move and I took it. Though the job has it's busy periods, I am thankful for the opportunity to learn something new and do something different.
Gaz and I were able to make our second Europe trip this year. We had a really good time touring England, Germany, Czech Republic and Austria. It was so much fun getting to know the culture, do the touristy things and meet friendly locals.
These are just some of the momentous events that occurred in 2016 for me and my wish is that 2017 will bring joy, health and happiness to all.
Saturday, December 31, 2016
Friday, December 30, 2016
BBQ Chicken Bun
Sometimes when I give home made food to the relatives, they ask me why
I go to all the trouble to make them when I can buy them outside at a
small cost. There are many reasons I make my own dishes, such as
creating a taste unique to me, or substituting healthier ingredients,
not just the cost. But if I were to calculate the cost of these char
siew baos (strictly speaking they are BBQ chicken buns), then I would be
in front. Each bao costs around $3 in the stores, and the total cost of
making them is less than $6. They are easy peasy to make too!
My
shortcut method to achieving smoky BBQ flavour for the bao filling is
to buy a roast chicken from the shops, dice up the breast meat and stir fry it with chopped onions, bottled char siew sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce and sesame oil, add some frozen peas and there you have the filling all ready for use.
The dough takes a little bit more effort:
3 1/4 cups bao flour
2 teaspoon insant yeast
1 cup water
2 tablespoons powdered milk
4 tablespoons icing sugar
2 teaspoons cooking oil
Knead until elastic and proof in greased bowl, in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Punch down and divide into 12 portions. Put filling in the middle of each portion and pleat close. Steam.
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| First attempt at char siew bao |
The dough takes a little bit more effort:
3 1/4 cups bao flour
2 teaspoon insant yeast
1 cup water
2 tablespoons powdered milk
4 tablespoons icing sugar
2 teaspoons cooking oil
Knead until elastic and proof in greased bowl, in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Punch down and divide into 12 portions. Put filling in the middle of each portion and pleat close. Steam.
Thursday, December 29, 2016
Mr Hendricks Cafe, Balwyn
Holiday times are the best when one loses track of all time. I am
happiest when the hours and the days blend into one time zone called
'holiday'. You can dress in pyjamas in the afternoon, eat breakfast food
at any time of the day, and be blissfully unaware of which day it is of
the week. Unless of course, it is the day before you are meant to go
back to work...
The happy memories of holidays is perhaps why I quite like the idea of brunch. When I can wake up late, potter around the house, have brunch and do nothing taxing on the mind or body for the rest of the day until dinner.
On one of these rare relaxing weekend, we went to Mr Hendricks in Balwyn for brunch. As it is every weekend, it was very busy at the cafe. Some of the customers had come from the gym, still in their exercise lycra. Some were having a catch up with their girl friends. Some were single diners, just enjoying their meal while keeping up to date with news. How about us? We were catching too, catching Pokemon. It was the height of the Pokemon craze and we were finding new places to go to so that we can kill two birds with one stone - enjoying a new restaurant and advancing on the Pokemon ladder.
We ordered the salmon, dark rye bread, poached eggs and bearnaise sauce; and pulled pork burger with honey glazed sweet potato.
Overall we enjoyed both dishes but with minor mismatches of taste - the sweet potato was coated with sugar which was unnecessary that made it too sweet for our liking, and the bernaise sauce in the salmon dish inexplicably tasted a little like plastic.
The happy memories of holidays is perhaps why I quite like the idea of brunch. When I can wake up late, potter around the house, have brunch and do nothing taxing on the mind or body for the rest of the day until dinner.
On one of these rare relaxing weekend, we went to Mr Hendricks in Balwyn for brunch. As it is every weekend, it was very busy at the cafe. Some of the customers had come from the gym, still in their exercise lycra. Some were having a catch up with their girl friends. Some were single diners, just enjoying their meal while keeping up to date with news. How about us? We were catching too, catching Pokemon. It was the height of the Pokemon craze and we were finding new places to go to so that we can kill two birds with one stone - enjoying a new restaurant and advancing on the Pokemon ladder.
We ordered the salmon, dark rye bread, poached eggs and bearnaise sauce; and pulled pork burger with honey glazed sweet potato.
Overall we enjoyed both dishes but with minor mismatches of taste - the sweet potato was coated with sugar which was unnecessary that made it too sweet for our liking, and the bernaise sauce in the salmon dish inexplicably tasted a little like plastic.
 |
| Pulled pork burger |
 |
| Salmon breakfast |
The BBQ Joint, Croydon
It seems like American style burgers and BBQ restaurants are popping up like mushrooms all over town at the moment. The discovery of The BBQ Joint in suburban Croydon was very pleasing, like receiving an ang pow during Chinese New Year even though one is married (married people do not receive red packets during CNY, no matter how young at heart they may be).
The BBQ Joint is located next to a small reserve and you can purchase your lunch in the restaurant and they will pack it in a picnic basket so that you can enjoy it with Mother Nature. This is a good idea during warm sunny days. The restaurant also offers outdoor seating for those who have missed out (I only saw one picnic basket during my visit).
Although it was warm and sunny when we visited, we sat indoors in the comfort of the air conditioned interior. We decided to order the lunch special and 250g pork belly on our visit. Besides meat dishes, the restaurant also serves their delicious smoky barbequed meats in wraps and in burgers.
I enjoyed all items in the lunch special but I loved the corn cakes! It was buttery and crisp on the outside. It was so delicious I almost ate all of it, none for Gaz! Also on the plate was grilled peppers, sauerkrat, smoky American sausage and pulled pork.
We also enjoyed the pork belly. It was not overly fatty which was good, but still had the tenderness of pork belly and a nice smoky flavour.
Another plus for this restaurant is it's long opening hours. It is not easy to find a non-Asian restaurant that is open late for lunch, but the BBQ Joint is open from 11:30am to 9:30pm on Fridays and weekend (to 9pm on Sunday). It is only open for dinner on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
The BBQ Joint is located next to a small reserve and you can purchase your lunch in the restaurant and they will pack it in a picnic basket so that you can enjoy it with Mother Nature. This is a good idea during warm sunny days. The restaurant also offers outdoor seating for those who have missed out (I only saw one picnic basket during my visit).
Although it was warm and sunny when we visited, we sat indoors in the comfort of the air conditioned interior. We decided to order the lunch special and 250g pork belly on our visit. Besides meat dishes, the restaurant also serves their delicious smoky barbequed meats in wraps and in burgers.
I enjoyed all items in the lunch special but I loved the corn cakes! It was buttery and crisp on the outside. It was so delicious I almost ate all of it, none for Gaz! Also on the plate was grilled peppers, sauerkrat, smoky American sausage and pulled pork.
Another plus for this restaurant is it's long opening hours. It is not easy to find a non-Asian restaurant that is open late for lunch, but the BBQ Joint is open from 11:30am to 9:30pm on Fridays and weekend (to 9pm on Sunday). It is only open for dinner on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
Rice Paper Scissors, Liverpool St CBD
On this ocassion, G has recommended Rice Paper Scissors located at Liverpool St in the CBD. This is a small restaurant with a few tables and bar seating but the food that is churned out from the kitchen is big in flavour.
The restaurant offers a deal of 5 dishes for $59 between two persons. We ordered the lamb ribs, fried chicken wings, crispy barramundi salad, pork belly and soft shell crab baguette.
The stand out dish among the five was the lamb ribs. It was so deliciously tender and full of flavour that we wished there was a bottomless plate of it. The portions of each plate is not big, but I would say that it is just enough for two persons (think two lamb ribs per person, 1 baguette per person, 3 chicken wings per person etc). If you were starving, then you would probably have to order another couple of dishes.
So what does G get for making the right recommendation? Nothing, it just adds to the pressure of continuing with the winning streak...
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| Lamb Ribs and Fried chicken wings |
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| Soft shell crab baguette |
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| Pork belly |
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| Crispy barramundi salad |
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