Little & Often

It has been absolutely ages since the last post, which is shameful, and I apologise to anyone who may actually read this. I would like to blame the baby, because he is the world's best excuse for anything (late to meet friends? Last minute poo. Unshaved legs? Have been spending time with the baby, who gives back more harumph. Late to work? Baby pooed in my hair), but this time it's all on me. I've been working hard at getting my life back to balanced, which means more of these:

Malteser and Toblerone martinis at V13 (photo is Resident Froggie's)

Dinner parties at Casa JamTam

Dinner at my favourite HK restaurant

Time at Angel's Share (photo is Resident Froggie's)

It feels good to get life back on track, even if in a compromised fashion. I can't bear to be away from RJ for too long, and only manage to survive work thanks to the wonder that is the ipcam. When I go out for a drink, I'm a two drink girl these days. After the time I had one whisky and RJ threw up after he was breastfed five hours later (surely unrelated), I haven't really felt the draw of a night on the tiles. Though there are times when I'm relieved to get away. Apart from breastfeeding being akin to being flayed (no joke), I've had some fairly strange low points. These have included poo in freshly washed hair following a projectile moment. Warm vomit into my mouth when I was playing with him after a feed. I am almost totally inured against bodily functions now. So goes parenthood.

Professionally speaking, things have been going positively. I had been concerned that losing braincells through my breasts would mean that I would struggle at work. Thankfully not, though it was touch and go for a little while when I seemed to be employing baby talk in meetings. In fact, my brain has recovered sufficiently well for me to look to further my education. If all goes to plan, I will be starting school just after RJ does. In fact, if all goes to plan, we will be relocating to Singapore and then starting school mid 2012. Finally! The Hong Kong waiting game is almost over.

In fact, I'm in Singapore at the moment. One of the advantages (?) of decent cable and television is that there is more inane television to choose from. My parents are currently obsessed with a particular show called "India", which is potentially worse for my braincells than breastfeeding. It is a Brazilian soap opera (apparently now referred to as telenovellas) that is set in India. The cast wear saris and say things like "arrey baba". It may well be the worst thing for India since poverty. Still, at least I get to watch X-Factor and speculate on Saula.

Good Girls Bake Cake

It was my father's 60th birthday on Monday, and all he wanted was a meal cooked by his women (the wife and daughters). What a classic Indian father. We split the effort, with me taking on the asparagus mimosa, beef wellington and birthday cake. Those who read this blog may have realised that I apparently married my father, since the Hubs requested the exact same things for his birthday. I decided that their taste in birthday cakes would probably be similar, so made the same cake I had made Hubs (that is, the second cake, since he had two) - a ferrero rocher cheesecake. I adapted the recipe from the Fig Tree. The cake needs to be made a day in advance but is otherwise easy as, well, it's a piece of cake. A very rich, very decadent cake.

I keep my oven at 180 celcius or so

Step 1: The base Mix together 120g digestive crumbs 30g of ground hazelnuts 20g light brown sugar 30g melted butter 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.

Pack this tightly into the base of the cake tin (ideally springform, lined with baking paper) and bake for 5-10 minutes. This should bake till golden but can quickly burn, so it's worth keeping an eye on. Leave this to cool completely. I like to put this into the refrigerator before step 2, so it goes in cold.

Step 2: The cake Chop 180g of chocolate and mix this with 90g of nutella (approximately two large tablespoons). Place this in a bowl. Heat 450ml of whipping cream over a medium to low heat till it simmers. but don't let it burn. Once it's simmering, pour it over the chocolate and stir it till it's smooth and fully melted. Leave to cool.

Beat two packs (the standard 250g ones) of cream cheese till fluffy. The cheese needs to be at room temperature for this to work. Once it's fluffed (ha!), add 60g of sugar and beat well. Once mixed, add a tablespoon of cornstarch and combine. This shouldn't be mixed too much since air makes the cheesecake crack.

Beat two eggs and then quickly blend them into the cheese mix. Add in the chocolate slowly. Add 9 chopped ferrero rocher chocolates into the batter and pour into the pan. I quite like scattering this along the bottom of the pan. It's worth noting that the wafer can go soggy in the cake, so the pieces should be reasonably small.

Bake for 30 minutes and then turn off the heat and leave the cheesecake to sit in the oven for 40 minutes. Then let the cake rest on a wire rack, outside of the baking pan.

Step 3: Refrigerate overnight.

The recipe actually calls for Nutella icing. I've never been able to cope with this - the cake is so rich. For my father's birthday we topped it with whipped cream. An alternative would to be serve this with a dollop of mascarpone (there is no better accompaniment for cheesecake).

Brace yourself, this guy is HEAVY.

Trust Him, He's Italian

It's been awhile since I put anything up about a restaurant. There are so many food bloggers in Asia who do it better than I ever would (or could, given that I am a little like a goldfish and may explode). Once in awhile though, I find places that don't seem to have as much blogtime as I think that they deserve, and so I feel that I ought to contribute something. No Menu, in Singapore, is one such place. Prior to our date there, I only found one decent article about it. Resident Froggie had gone there for her birthday though, and her recommendation was more than enough for me.

No Menu is located reasonably centrally in the business district, where it attracts a fairly affluent crowd of adventurous local foodies and homesick expats. It's a family-run affair and typically Singaporean in its informality, though it still retains white linen and generous leather seating.

While No Menu offers an attractive a la carte selection encompassing buratta ravioli, squid ink risotto and other dishes I would ordinarily be hard pressed to resist, there was a clear decision to be made this time. The off-menu, no-menu option was a no brainer. For S$98++, the No Menu family would bring out taster plates of antipasto, primo and dolce. The secondi was described only as "meat or fish?", and, naturally, the Hubs and I decided have one of each and share them. Given that I'm now a two drink girl, we jumped straight in with prosecco and valpolicella. Here's a glimpse of the meal we had:

This plate of mortadella was given to us with the introduction (in an Italian accent) "this is todays amuse bouche", which I found hysterical for reasons I'm not entirely sure of. Is there even an Italian equivalent of amuse bouche?

The antipasto plate: (L-R) coppa and steamed vegetables, caprese, parma and melon, bruschetta. The caprese and bruschetta were clear winners on this plate. I've always struggled to make good bruschetta. The best I've ever had was in a neighbourhood Italian in Chiswick, where the chef told me rubbing the bread down with garlic was an absolute essential. Sadly, there must be other essentials, since I never seem to perfect the balance of tang, sweetness and crunch. No Menu's bruschetta had that to a T, and you could taste the extra-ordinary virginity of the oil. Yum.

I've never had a fried egg with truffle before, and it's a toss up (ha) as to whether it's better than with scramble, though there is something very decadent about dipping into yolk and come up with a sliver of truffle attached.

The primo plate: (L-R) spinach and ricotta tortellini in a butter and sage sauce, wild boar ragu, buratta ravioli

Meat: Beef cheeks and mash

Fish: Sea bass

The dolce plate: (L-R) tiramisu, meringue and whipped cream, chocolate mousse and mascarpone cream All that, plus coffees and two glasses each, came to S$330. I'm definitely going to go back.