One-pot Creamy Chicken

This dish was taught by my MIL who often cooks this for the hubby. He loves it so much he could finish one entire pot of it.. and probably, he would eat it every day for every meal if he's allowed to do so. Her version was wetter and extremely delicious. However, when I cooked it, I added some touches of mine. Thankfully, the hubby loves it too! It's easy comfort food for the 2 of us.. (: We usually have it over a fluffy bed of rice. The Creamy Chicken consists of canned soup and lots of vegetables and mushrooms. 

It'd take about 30 minutes to prepare and cook (excluding cooking of rice).. I'd rate it a difficulty level 2 out of 5. 

Hokkaido Harvest at Triple Three

Last night, the hubby and I had a date. We were invited to the launch of Hokkaido Harvest at Triple Three, Mandarin Orchard Hotel. I've been wanting to visit this special event since I last heard of it and we're truly honoured to be able to visit. 

Hokkaido Harvest is a special season of 12 days starting from 21 November till 1 November 2015, available for dinner and Sunday brunch. Many special Hokkaido products are flown in and specially showcased. Let me share the spread with you! (: 

Daily Delights at Triple Tree Mandarin Orchard

2 weeks ago, the mil and I went on a date to Triple Tree for a dinner! We were blessed to be introduced to the series of Daily Delights that are available on the menu, changed on a daily basis. 

In short, their specials are as follow:

Monday: Robatayaki

Tuesday: Foie Gras

Wednesday: Wagyu Beef

Thursday: TsukijiThursday Seafood Market

Friday & Saturday: Lobster Mentaiyaki

Sunday: Family lunch

These Daily Delights change from day to day in addition to the extensive spread of great food they have! Let me take you on a tour! (: 

Lemon Curd Chiffon Cake

Yesterday, I had a slice of Starbuck's lemon curd cake. I was blown away. It was really tarty and refreshing. I decided to bake one, replicating it. I think I did it. It's not the exact same cake of course.. theirs has 2 kinds of curd.. but this is the bomb. 

The hubby ate his slice in 10 seconds and I had mine in a minute. It was just the right taste and texture, especially when chilled. 

Those layers! (: 

This recipe will take about 4 hours in all to bake and I'll rate it a difficulty level 3 out of 5. 

My new Joyoung Noodle Machine

I have a new noodle machine and it's making me extremely excited. I've been toying with the idea of one since like forever but I've never gotten to getting one. Now I do!! 

Having fun with my noodle machine!!

Posted by Cynthia Lim on Sunday, 13 September 2015

Yesterday, I had fun with it as I tried making some egg noodles! It was so much fun.. I played with the various attachments and was fascinated! 

Tonight, I made a batch of carrot juice noodles. I should have juiced my own carrot juice. However, I was just too tired after my very first day of Term 4. Didn't help that we had a super long and stressful meeting that ended close to 5pm! So... I decided to make some fresh noodles for my mason jar salads which I haven't made in quite a while. 

Tonight, I'm playing with some carrot juice noodles! Should have juiced my own carrots though! It's lots of fun.. I'm gonna use it for my mason jar salad for work tomorrow! BTW, this is a Joyoung noodle machine! (: got it from taobao!

Posted by Cynthia Lim on Monday, 14 September 2015

The noodle machine is fun to play with! The one I have comes with 7 attachments for noodles/dumplings/pasta. I'm excited to be trying more noodle recipes to come! 

The 7 attachments for various noodles! (: 

There's an attachment for penne, noodles of 3 thickness (thick, skinny [think mee kia!] and angel hair/mee sua), noodles with 2 widths (linguine and one that's really fat) and a dumpling skin mould! The noodles can be made fresh and cooked.. or made in advance and stored in the refrigerator or a cool dry place based on how it was dried. 

I'm excited to be sharing more recipes for it as I explore the different attachments for the machine. Do keep a look out for new updates! (:

If you're keen in the machine, here is the link! Do check out the seller's shop for lots of other great gadgets too! (What should I have next?) Btw, I usually use 4px.. (pppst, read my Taobao tutorial here!) I tried out the new Direct Shipping Method bypassing the warehouse bit (like in the case of 4px).. It saved me the hassle of having to do coordination of the consolidation of parcels. I shipped only this 1 parcel for the trial.. it works with multiple parcels too. 

However, you'd have to check out the entire order and choose the option. The fees will be auto calculated and the items go straight to your doorstep, bypassing the need for consolidation of shipping. I will be trying this service again with a larger parcel (consolidated) and I'll update with a little more information! 

In any case, happy Taobao shopping! (: 

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This Joyoung noodle machine was given by Joyoung (Taobao) for review. No monetary remuneration was given. Reviews are purely my opinions. 

Basic Sweet Buttercream

It's rather tough finding a good buttercream recipe.. I finally found one that I fancy just enough to share it (: It's a basic sweet buttercream that's easy to whip up.. Good for filling cakes, good for frosting cakes.. and even for piping designs onto cakes. I used it to pipe ombre roses onto the cake I baked today. 

It takes about 20 minutes to whip up a batch of it and I'll rate it a difficulty level 2 out of 5. 

Restaurant Week 2015

Earlier this week, the hubby and I had the luxury to be given a sneak peek of Restaurant Week 2015. We were excited to be on a date on a week night and even more excited to be sampling great food! Restaurant Week is an annual event from which many restaurants will feature a special menu for a great price of $35++ for dinner and $25++ for lunch. This year, Restaurant Week will run from 24 October to 1 November 2015. There are many restaurants participating in this year's event. 

For starters, the hubby and I went to Shisen Hanten at Mandarin Orchard Hotel. We enjoyed bubbles to start the evening! 

We started with a soup...

It was a Seafood with Bamboo Pith Broth with Chawanmushi. Yes you got me right, soup with Chawanmushi! At the bottom of the bowl of soup was a lovely layer of Chawanmushi.. It was indeed refreshing and I loved every bit of it! 

 

I then had Stir-fried Prawns with chilli. The prawns were so huge and juicy! The deep fried bun was great to wipe out the gravy! 

As the hubby is allergic to chilli, the chef whipped up a special tomato version for him! The hubby enjoyed it as much as I did. 

Chef Kentaro is a master in Szechuan and Japanese fusion dishes. He's the son of Iron Chef Japan! (: Such a young and capable chef!

After our starters, we were whisked off in style in Audis to Hilton Singapore for our mains! 

We visited Opus Bar and Grill to enjoy an Opus Grilled Dish Sous Vide Chicken Breast. 

I'm not a fan of chicken breasts as they're easily dry but the Sous Vide version was moist.. One of the rare chicken breasts that I'd glady eat again and again. It was accompanied by a deep fried chicken wing (super well marinated!) and deep fried chicken skin (super duper yummy)! The Scandinavian slaw was really refreshing. I truly enjoyed this dish! 

We were then whisked off to The Royal Mail at Ascott Raffles Place for dessert. Oh yes, we had no idea where the next course would be, making it truly exciting as the hubby and I were guessing where we would be whisked to next. 

We had Durian Croquembouche... I didn't quite fancy this though I'm a huge fan of durians. I wish there was a stronger presence of durian in my puffs! I loved the spun sugar lots though! 

The hubby doesn't take durians so the chef sent him an Eton Mess! The hubby was definitely happy with his Eton Mess. I took a mouthful and it delighted me too! 

We're truly blessed to have been able to enjoy the evening, courtesy of the organisers. I'm looking forward to The Restaurant Week and in fact, I've narrowed down a couple of restaurants I'd love to try/visit! 

To make your bookings/reservations for Restaurant Week, visit the official website. Bookings start on the 28th of September. If you're a American Express card holder, you can make priority bookings on the 21st to 23rd of September. Enjoy a great meal, or even meals at great restaurants all around Singapore! 

Salmon Baked Rice

I've been buying Salmon Trout by the whole from Giant lately and decided to bake a Salmon Baked Rice today, inspired by the baked rice I did previously.

The hubby and I loved it! I guess this recipe is here to stay! 

Essentially, this recipe is made up of a fried rice, canned soup, salmon and cheese. The fried rice can be cooked with whatever you fancy, or whatever you have in your kitchen. Just add in whatever tickles your fancy. 

This recipe yield 2-3 portions or even 4 (if you're small eaters) and it takes about 1.5 to 2 hours in all to whip up, of which most of the time you're just waiting for it to cook. I'd rate it a difficulty level 2 out of 5.