I was going through some of the pictures that I had shot recently (ALL CRAP! URGHS!) when I realised that I hadn’t gone through these.

Back in May, we headed to YC’s apartment for brunch where he fed us with eggs, toast, champers and cheese. It was a lovely, delicious spread but we were really hungry after that. Mr Thick likes his meat, not just the by-products from nice animals like chickens and cows. We headed to Aston’s after leaving his place to feast on steaks. Mmm.

But it was fun! We must do this again soon.

Eggs and toast

Array of cheeses

Bubbly makes me happy

Aftermath

Looking through these pictures makes me realise how much I love my prime lens. And how I need to get used to the weight of Mr Thick’s 30D pronto, if I go ahead and buy the 60D to replace my trusty-but-sold 400D.

More pictures on my Flickr page.

I did it! I finally cooked something from my Mastering the Art of French Cooking cookbook by the great Julia Child.

(By the way, did I tell you that I had bought the hard cover book for all of US$19? Score! It costs about S$70 in Pantry Magic.)

We had quite a lot of eggs sitting aimlessly in the fridge so an egg dish it was. And since I hadn’t put those new, cute heart-shaped Le Creuset ramekins I had gotten on sale to use, baked eggs it shall be. So one very fine Sunday morning – more like noon, really – I flopped out of bed, rather excitedly (and I NEVER get out of bed feeling excited), and plonked myself in the kitchen.

Of course, Miss Klutz here had to nearly ruin the meal by emptying the contents of a very hot, eggy ramekin onto the countertop. I was really pissed off with myself. In the past month, I had a) spilt Yakult all over myself and the sofa (it’s disgustingly sticky), b) dropped a can of hot, wet cat food all over the kitchen floor (looks like the can barfed) and c) smashed my plastic water bottle into smithereens in my kitchen.

Back to the eggs. Anyway, I had to redo the eggs quickly so that poor Mr Thick, who was as patient as he was hungry, wouldn’t starve to death.

Bain marie

Ignore my dirty stove. I used to clean it EVERY SINGLE WEEK and these days, I just cannot be bothered.

Baked eggs plus toast equals heavenly

Ouefs en Cocotte

• 1/2 tsp butter
• 1 or 2 eggs (I used 1 egg + 1 white)
• 2 tbsp whipping cream

Directions:
Butter the ramekin, saving a dot for later. Add 1 tablespoon (15 mL) of cream and set the ramekin in the simmering water over moderate heat. When the cream is hot, break into it one or two eggs. Pour the remaining spoonful of cream over the egg and top with a dot of butter.

Place in the middle level of the hot oven and bake for 7 to 10 minutes. The eggs are done when they are just set but still tremble slightly in the ramekins. They will set a little more when the ramekins are removed, so they should not be overcooked.*

Salt and pepper

Season with salt and pepper, and serve.

• The ramekins may remain in the pan of hot water, out of the oven, for 10 to 15 minutes before serving. To prevent overcooking, remove eggs from oven when slightly underdone.

Voila!

With a sprinkle of salt and freshly ground pepper

I finally had the chance to use the tea set that I had bought from the thrift shop. Invited a couple of friends over (or rather, they invited themselves!) and I baked two cakes to feed them.

The recipes were from Afternoon Tea by frankie magazine – which is one of the most gorgeous and beautifully styled cookbooks I have ever seen. When I was having tea with Dotz at k.ki, I had asked the owners of the little drom store to give me a call if ever they bring in the cook book. Imagine my surprise when they rang me up a month later to say that they had a couple of copies, would I like one? Zipped down to the store a week later and realised that they had reserved a copy for me. OVER THE MOON I WENT!

The plate says it all

The first cake my elves and I made was the Macadamia Beer Cake. It was an instant choice, my eyes wouldn’t budge from the word “beer”. We had a little mishap with this one – the recipe had called for one cup of beer (I used Chang beer) but Elf #2 had merrily emptied the entire can into the mixer by the time we remembered to read the recipe. I added more flour to even out the consistency and it turned out alright. Unfortunately, I had used a wider cake tin than was necessary so the cake came out of the tin a little stunted in the height area. Oh well, food is food, we devoured that cake pretty quick, accompanied by a pot of earl gray tea.

Tea with cake

By the time I started work on my second cake, the Lemon Hazelnut Syrup Loaf, both elves had abandoned me and moved off into the cooler living room. Tsk!

The so-called "loaf"

I know, you are thinking, Hmm, this does not look like a loaf. In fact, this does not look like anything good. Frankly, I was thinking the same. Well. I kind of didn’t grease my loaf pan before chucking the batter into it and this was the result: cake that clung on stubbornly to the pan. Bah. I had to scrape everything out.

BUT. It was fabulous! The loaf – or cake, really – was so light and fluffy, it was amazing. And I am not tooting my own horn.

Anyhow, if I ever start my own cafe, I should really call it Ugly Food.

Another gem from Bill Granger’s Sydney Food cookbook. I made this seafood stew for dinner one day and had enough for lunch during the week – which was fabulous! I must be PSYCHIC - I seem to have leftovers sitting in the fridge whenever I am stricken with some idiot bug.

Unlike other stews, this one does not have a robust taste and is, instead, very light on the palate. It’s tomato-based which makes me very happy because we all know how tomatoes and I have this crazy love affair going on. <3 TOMATOES. Nom nom nom.

Mr Thick gave this dish a thumbs up and it does not even have any chicken, beef or pork, species that he considers meat. Which means that he must have been really impressed.

I had adapted this recipe because the husband does not eat any mussels or clams. Can somebody tell him what he is missing out on? He also does not eat any raw fish. NO SASHIMI. Oh, the tragedy.

Seafood Stew
Adapted from Bill Granger’s Sydney Food

• Extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 small red chili, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons of parsley, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 3-4 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 15 prawns, peeled and deveined
• 12 scallops, cleaned and deveined
• 1 pack of mixed seafood (I got it from Cold Storage)

• Heat oil in a wok over medium heat. Add onion and fry for 5 minutes or until translucent
• Add garlic and chili and fry for another minute
• Add the parsley and stir for 20 seconds, and then add the wine before bringing to a boil
• Add canned and fresh tomatoes, and zest. Reduce to low heat and cook for 25 minutes under a lid
• Add prawns, scallops and mixed seafood and cook until prawns and scallops are opaque
• Spoon stew into bowls and sprinkle with some parsley.

Is this recipe healthy or what? Yums.

Fry fry fry

Tomatoes galore

In goes everything in the wok

Tucking in

Another day, another meal

The nice thing about working near a MPH outlet is that I can easily pop into the bookstore during lunch or when I am feeling zonked at work. One such trip found me at the cookbook aisles, where I picked up Australian chef Bill Granger’s Bill’s Sydney Food at a nice discount.

I’ve always wanted to check out Bill Granger if ever I go to Sydney. I love the unassuming, cosy and relaxed atmosphere of his eateries and I have heard so much about his famed scrambled eggs. This 2009 updated edition of his cookbook is so beautifully made: pictures of sunny skies and sunlight streaming into his cafe, a chalkboard menu, gorgeous looking food…sigh.

One of the first few recipes that I tried out was the Lemon Souffle Cake. I really, really have a thing for pancakes – I think it stems from the fact that it was one of the first things I ever learnt to cook back in our old flat in Bedok. We had a large kitchen with lots of light, and I enjoyed beating up eggs and flour and making a huge batch of pancakes for lunch during the school holidays.

The addition of lemon gives this pancakes a nice zing, and the beating of the egg whites makes this all light and fluffy. Very nice. We had it for breakfast on Sunday and oh, what a great start to the day.

And a sprinkling of icing sugar...

with a fat meaty sausage