Du Pain et Des Idées - Chistophe Vasseur

This video I'm posting is in French.  I don't understand a single word of it but I really enjoy watching it. Made me crave for croissants & sugar crusted brioches. I would definitely check out this boulangerie when I visit Paris!  

Portrait du boulanger Chistophe Vasseur - Du pain et des idées from be my prod on Vimeo.

Chipotle Chicken Wings

Hubby found this recipe months back from Esquire magazine whilst surfing the net for chicken wings recipes.   He showed me the recipe and hinted that I should try it out.   It took us a while to complete the ingredients as we cannot find celery salt.   So, we decided to just skip the celery salt & be done with it.   It came out pretty good but I always wonder what would it taste like if we added 2 tablespoons of celery salt in this recipe.   Oh well...I would only know until I find celery salt here in Singapore.  

The recipe calls for another ingredient that I don't have in my pantry which is  Mexican Chipotle Peppers in Adobo sauce.   But thanks to hubby, he found a Mexican stall that sells them at Kallang Leisure Park...only to find out later on that Cold Storage had it all along.  The recipe requires cumin, coriander, onion, garlic, paprika, cayenne & chilli powders which are expensive if you buy it in bottles (like McCormick's).  I regret buying the spices early on in the supermarket when I should have gone to Little India.   A bottle of McCormick's Chilli Powder will cost you about S$5.00 when you can only get it at S$1.30 in MUSTAFA!!!


This will be the fourth time I am making this recipe.  It became a favorite of my husband and requested it for his birthday (including a dish of Lasagna & Tiramisu).   It's pretty easy to make and will definitely be a hit on every party table.   I served mine with homemade deep fried potato wedges, carrot & cucumber sticks with sesame dipping sauce as well as my very own "lime ranch sauce" for the wings.

You need 24 pieces of chicken wings (I get mine frozen), a can of La Costena Chipotle  Peppers in Adobo Sauce, Chilli Garlic Sauce (Lee Kum Kee), & any kind of good strong beer (I use Carlsberg).  

In a blender, add 1/4 cup of Chilli Garlic Sauce & Chipotle Peppers.  Place your blended chilli mixture together with all the powdered spices & a cup of beer (adding more if the mixture is too thick). Whisk everything together. Combine chilli mixture to chicken wings & use plastic gloves to fully coat the wings in the marinade. Put in the fridge for 24 hours. Note: Do not marinate more than 24 hours as it will make the wings extremely spicy!!!

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.   Evenly space the wings on a cookie sheet or aluminum foil and bake for 15-20 minutes. To check if they're done, slice into a wing, right near the bone.  If it's still red, put it back in the oven. While the wings are in the oven, you have enough time to whip up a sauce...use your imagination.   

It's simple & fool proof.  Mouth watering goodness...spicy, tasty & it's baked!  No oil or butter was use in this recipe so I would say it's better than deep fried.  Goes well with tart sauces like lemon butter sauce, mild salsa with lots of lime juice...yum & you can also pair it up with blue cheese sauce.  Enjoy!

     

          

Marmalade Pantry

This is a continuation of "My Weekend Part 2" post.  I bought the cupcakes that same day.  I still have a lot of photographs pending to be posted but I have so little time.  So anyway, I finally get to try Marmalade Pantry's cupcakes! The last time I went there the cupcakes were all sold out.  This time hubby & I came early bought four of the bestselling cupcakes they have.  The Limonata, Red Velvet, Cloud Nine & Chocolate Deluxe.    

The cupcakes are bigger than standard cupcakes like the size of a muffin and will cost you S$4.20 each. Among the four cuppies, I fell in love with Limonata & Red Velvet. I would definitely come back & buy them again. I'm also excited to try their cake selections, I heard they are worth checking out.  

LIMONATA/Tart Lemon Glazed Cake - The tart but not too sweet frosting compliment the wonderful lemon cake underneath. The cake is moist & a bit crumbly and will make you want another helping.  

CLOUD 9/White Coconut Cake with Cream Cheese - I thought it was a vanilla cupcake until after my second bite.  I only realized that it was a coconut cupcake when I check the receipt.  Overall, it was a good cupcake but I can only taste a hint of coconut flavor to it. It's more of a vanilla-cream cheese flavor to me.

CHOCOLATE DELUXE CUPCAKE - Described by the Marmalade Pantry as the ultimate chocolate cupcake.  I was a bit disappointed as it's not really a cupcake, it's a brownie in a cuppie!  For a brownie, it's a bit dry & crumbly but I have to give it an "A" for the chocolate flavor. I guess it's best eaten warm with vanilla ice cream. I was actually expecting a moist chocolate cake underneath with yummy chocolate fudge frosting.

RED VELVET - For me is the piece de resistance.  Voted by hubby as the yummiest among four which I totally agree with.  Yummy cream cheese frosting with coconut shavings compliments the not too sweet & moist red chocolate cake underneath.  

The Marmalade Pantry is located at the 3rd floor of Orchard Ion Mall.  It's kinda hard to miss as it is right in the middle.  While you are there, you might want to check out what's on their menu.  It's a lovely & pleasant place to have brunch with family & friends.

My Weekend-Part Two

This perhaps was a weekend full of yummy food!  Our first stop was lunch at Shimbashi Soba.  A handmade soba restaurant located at Paragon Mall. If you haven't tried soba it comes in either hot (with soup) or cold noodles. If you can't decide which one to try, there's actually a set that comes with both.  I'm not a big fan of soba but my husband does!  He prefers the cold soba noodles which I think is a delightful meal.  

So here's what we had...

Hubby had the cold soba noodles.  I actually like it better than the hot soba.  It's very light and the noodles are firm but not hard. Many people think that the best way to experience handmade soba is to eat them cold.  I suppose if you try it hot the consistency and texture of the soba changes.  

I ordered a bento (Shokado Set B) which consists of a bowl of hot soba, salmon sashimi, grilled unagi, deep fried soft shell crab with agedashi tofu and slices of watermelon.  It was such a feast!  I was actually pretty hungry and left with a very happy tummy.  Overall, it was a pleasant experience and I would definitely come back just to have soba and try other things in the menu.  Did I mention we had desserts too!!!

This Japanese bowl of treasure made my day!  It's called Cream Anmitsu and it has an assortment of Japanese delicacies like soba balls, red bean, jelly cubes with some fresh fruits and vanilla ice cream served with brown sugar syrup.  Another inch on my waistline!

We kinda gotten overboard with the desserts.  I didn't know that hubby ordered another dessert and I thought that we were just gonna share the Animitsu.  Imagine my surprise when I saw this plate of Japanese dessert selections coming to our table.  It's a Shimbashi Special Dessert Set (crepe with light cheese cake filling topped with fruit & mango sauce, homemade glutinous cakes, soba balls, red bean, green tea ice cream & sweetened fried soba).  This is only lunch...wait until you see what we had for dinner!  I left the restaurant sugar high!

Do check out Shimbashi Soba at www.sobaworld.com.sg!  Also do check out the recipe books below.  I love Harumi's cookbook!  

   

My Weekend-Part One

I haven't been blogging for weeks since my transfer to a new department at work.   Nowadays I look forward to weekends as that's the only time I can explore Singapore for great food and shop.  I have two weekends of posts and photographs which I haven't gotten the time to sort out until now.  I'll most likely make my posting in 3 parts as I am 3 weekends behind.

A week ago, hubby & I watched Pirates of the Carribean 3D on IMAX at Lido.  It's the first IMAX in Singapore while Lido just recently opened its doors after six months of renovation.   But our usual haunts like Starbucks, Mc Donald's, KFC, Long John Silver's and the Bubble Tea shop I like were gone!   

So here's what we had for lunch after the movie.  Ayam Penyet (Smashed Chicken) at Ayam Penyet Ria in Lucky Plaza (popular & probably the best in Singapore).  Lucky Plaza is a shopping mall (probably one of the oldest buildings) along Orchard Road where most Filipinos and other foreign overseas workers hang-out every weekend.  It's a treasure chest of Philippines local food from "tapsilog" (marinated beef strips with garlic fried rice & egg) at Jologs and other Filipino dishes from over 5 stalls.  

Ayam Penyet is a fried chicken, lightly smashed and flattened, served with rice and sambal (chilli paste).  The sambal is not just a condiment, its a speciality on its own.  The sambal must taste just as good or even better than the chicken. Its a bit too spicy for me but the flavor is so intense, a little sweet & tangy that I still eat it with my chicken even when my lips has gone numb.

The chicken is crisp and tender.  I love the crispy bits they put on top!  Sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, blanched kangkong and deep fried tempeh as garnish.  Tempeh is fermented soybeans made into patties which originated in Indonesia and used worldwide in vegetarian cuisines.  So if you guys are anywhere near Orchard this weekend you might want to try the Ayam Penyet!  Caution: LONG QUEUE DURING LUNCH HOURS.

Ayam Penyet Ria

Lucky Plaza, #04-25/26/27

and #01-45/46/47

Tel: +65 6235 6390

After lunch, we stroll around Orchard Road and I can't help but took shots of these...