Traveling Chopsticks

Casa Latina Mexican Restaurant in Singapore

One bite of Casa Latina (42 Waterloo Street) and I'm hooked. It's love at first bite, and I see myself lovingly holding its cutlery into my old age, spending tender moments savouring its fare and whispering sweet burps on every date. I wonder, if I eat here every day, will I start to spout poetry...

Aribba, Andale, dine here alfresco.

 At the door, "Ola," says Chef Mario.

We were the first guests at 12.30.

I wait patiently for food and admire the cutlery.

Adobo Chicken in banana leaf, all pomp and splendour.

I took a bite, giddy with wonder.

Fish flavoured with lime, and spices divine.

 

 

 

 

 

Wholemeal tortillas, with fillings divine.

I can wax lyrical, till the cows start to foam,

Come try, oh Mexicans, for the true taste of home.

Casa Latina Mexican Restaurant in Singapore

One bite of Casa Latina and I'm hooked. It's love at first bite, and I see myself lovingly holding its cutlery into my old age, spending tender moments savouring its fare and whispering sweet burps on every date. I wonder, if I eat here every day, will I start to spout poetry...

Aribba, Andale, juicy flesh

 

Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread

It's been a good morning. I made Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread.

I'm used to having Cinnamon Rolls but these look so pretty on Joy's blog that I had to make it. What's best is you can literally pull apart however much you want to eat each time. That's neat.

I thought it was gorgeous to have the bread arranged like the pages of a book...wow, my first bread loaf :)

The outside of the loaf was crusty but the inside was nice and soft. It tasted like the healthier version of the store-bought cinnamon rolls and sticky buns which ooze with syrupy glaze. My sister, nephew, husband and father-in-law thought it was just right.

My brand new rolling pin, only SGD2 from a store near Redhill market.  

In case my nephews don't like the taste of cinnamon, I made one half with cinnamon filling and the other with sugar filling.

This was how I had arranged the stacks of dough. In fact, I think I might make till this stage next time and leave it in the freezer or fridge and thaw the frozen / cold dough and leave to rise to twice its size before baking...for convenient fresh cinnamon bread in the morning.

 

Here's the recipe:

Materials:

9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan (Mine was 8 x 5 x 3)

Rolling pin

 

For the Dough:

2 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons (1 envelope) active dry yeast

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 ounces unsalted butter (about 60g)

1/3 cup whole milk

1/4 cup water

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

 

For the Filling:

Cinnamon sugar (I used the store-bought premixed version. Otherwise it's 1 cup granulated sugar and 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon)

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg (I omitted this ingredient)

2 ounces unsalted butter, melted until browned (about 60g. I melted mine but didn't brown it)

 

Procedure:

In a large mixing bowl whisk together 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast, and salt.  Set aside.

Whisk together eggs and set aside.

In a small saucepan, melt together milk and butter until butter has just melted.  Remove from the heat and add water and vanilla extract.  Let mixture stand for a minute or two, or until the mixture registers 46 to 52 degrees Celsius.

Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula.  Add the eggs and stir the mixture until the eggs are incorporated into the batter.  The eggs will feel soupy and it’ll seem like the dough and the eggs are never going to come together.  Keep stirring.  Add the remaining 3/4 cup of flour and stir with the spatula for about 2 minutes.  The mixture will be sticky. That’s just right.

Place the dough in a large,  greased bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel.  Allow to rest until doubled in size, about 1 hour.  *The dough can be risen until doubled in size, then refrigerated overnight for use in the morning.  If you’re using this method, just let the dough rest on the counter for 30 minutes before following the roll-out directions below.

While the dough rises, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg for the filling.  Set aside.  Melt 2 ounces of butter until browned.  Set aside. Grease and flour a 9x5x3-inch  loaf pan.  Set that aside too.

Deflate the risen dough and knead about 2 tablespoons of flour into the dough.  Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for 5 minutes.  On a lightly floured work surface, use a rolling pin to roll the dough out.  The dough should be 12-inches tall and about 20-inches long.  If you can’t get the dough to 20-inches long… that’s okay.  Just roll it as large as the dough will go.  Use a pastry brush to spread melted butter across all of the dough.  Sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. 

Slice the dough vertically, into six equal-sized strips.  Stack the strips on top of one another and slice the stack into six equal slices once again.  You’ll have six stacks of six squares.  Layer the dough squares in the loaf pan like a flip-book.  Place a kitchen towel over the loaf pan and allow in a warm place for 30 to 45 minutes or until almost doubled in size.

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 180 degrees Celsius. Place loaf in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is very golden brown.  The top may be lightly browned, but the center may still be raw.  A nice, dark, golden brown will ensure that the center is cooked as well.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 20 to 30 minutes.   Run a butter knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the bread and invert onto  a clean board.  Place a cake stand or cake plate on top of the  upside down loaf, and carefully invert so it’s right side up.  Serve warm with coffee or tea.

 

Here's a little fascinating tip about Cinnamon:

It contains the compound Eugenol which is anti-bacterial and anti-fungal, which makes it a wonderful food preserver.

I heated a few sticks of cinnamon in rice bran oil, mixed the oil with rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle and used it to clean wood furniture, wiping down with a paper towel. It gives a varnish effect and makes the house smell a little spicy. You might want to try it.

Lewu (Thai)

I walk past Lewu (551 Bukit Timah Road, before Crown Centre and Coronation Plaza) almost every Sat before church. It's funny - ""Lewu" in Mandarin means "Joyful House", but the service staff hardly smile. However, the food and coffee here made me smile :)

A laidback, alfresco dining area. I love the signboard. I prefer it looking aged and ancient. That will give it more character.

They sell an assortment of Thai and Western food. The drinks list is quite impressive with the typical assortment of Western coffees as well as a Hainan coffee (my perk-me-up at S$1.20 served in pretty cup) as well as Stella Artois beer. Hmm, that will go well with spicy Thai food.

The day I ordered this, I needed to wake up real bad for church (had to teach Math Olympiad in the morning and was only informed the night before and had only 4 hrs of sleep). The Hainan coffee did not work but this spicy Thai Beef Salad got me up and kicking. It was quite wonderful with a generous serving of tender beef slices accompanied by tomato and onion slices, carrot slivers, coriander and drenched in a mouthwatering spicy, sweet and sour dressing flavoured with lemongrass and mint.  
   

 

At one corner of the ground level seating area are these pots of herbs: (left) pandan, ginger, basil and (right) mint. After they took my order, a staff went to this little garden and plucked the mint. I believe it went into my salad! How cute and clever to grow your own spice right in the frontyard!

Molten Chocolate Lava Cake

I made the Molten Chocolate Lava Cake in church today. I can't believe how easy the recipe is and how we could possibly make something so "sinful" in church! :)

  A peek into the crater of this divine "active" confection, with a gentle thin crust encasing gloriously rich, yummy chocolate goo.  

I join the Culinary Arts Ministry's baking sessions in Adam Road Presbyterian Church, Singapore. They have the most amazing recipes by Shirley Wong, a home economics teacher with Beatty Secondary School.

What's great about these recipes is that they are so simple. It removes unnecessary steps and simplifies the ingredients, yet the results taste incredible, better than some very complicated recipes that I have tried and mind you, chefs have complimented the cakes I made at these sessions.

I've got permission from Shirley to publish her recipes on my blog.

Molten Lava Chocolate Cake

Makes 4

In this picture are the 5 ingredients, including melted butter and chocolate couverture.

Ingredients

120g dark chocolate coverture buttons (50%-70% cocoa). We used 56%.

100g unsalted butter

60g castor sugar

2 large eggs

40g plain flour

Optional: Rum, coffee/almond or Irish cream liquer

 

Topping

Icing Sugar

Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream

Raspberries or raspberry sauce

 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
2. Lightly grease four souffle cups/ramekins/muffin cases with some butter.
3. A: Melt chocolate buttons in microwave for 2 mins on medium power. Add butter and continue on medium power for another 1-2 minutes. Alternatively, use a bain-marie (double boiler)
4. B: Whisk eggs with sugar
5. Spoon some of A into B. Whisk well.
6. Fold in the chocolate mixture into the rest of B
7. Fold in flour carefully
8. Spoon batter carefully into souffle cups and place on baking tray
9. Bake for 9-11 minutes at 200-210 deg. The cake should be firm on the outside and some cracks on the top with the centre still runny
10. Remove from oven and leave to stand for a minute. Run a knife through the sides of the cases and invert onto serving plates.
11. Dust top of cake with icing sugar and serve with whipped cream or icecream and/or raspberry sauce

 

 

 

 

 

Left: Whisking eggs and sugar by hand. At this point, we carried on for a good 15 min till it looked frothy. If you have the electric whisk, that should be useful. Other recipes call for the egg yolks and egg white to be whisked separately, then combined. It just yields a more raised cake, which is not necessary

Right: The slightly runny batter prior to baking.

Shirley's Tips:
This recipe can be prepare up to a day before hand and kept in the refridgerator. Just bring it out of the fridge to room temperature before baking. If you are entertaining guests for weekend lunch or dinner, just pop in the lava cakes as you finish your main course, before you put away the dishes and make coffee and it will be ready in 10 minutes! You can also ‘play it safe’ and not tell your guests it is going to be a lava cake. In the case that the centre cooks and is no longer runny, you can pass it off as a super moist yummy chocolate cake! =)

Ingredients and condiments from Phoon Huat.

My nephew enjoying the cake. We plan to make some for his friend's birthday party this Saturday.

Stay tuned for more of Shirley's recipes.  You can even join us for a jolly good time. I sometimes teach magic tricks at these sessions, so you can have your cake and learn a trick or two. Click here to check on the next session (It should be on National Day, followed by another session in October).

Jonker's Nyonya Deli

Level 1 of Thomson Plaza feels like a nightspot when I enter...who shall I hit on. I set my sights on Jonker's Nyonya Deli - a local sweetheart with a dash of spice.

The assam laksa did not disappoint.  The stock was a harmonious blend of mackerel flakes with tamarind, chilli and prawn paste, set against smooth white noodles and adorned with fresh cucumbers, onions, pineapples and mint. Overall, it was a girl-next-door taste, milder than say Penang Penang's assam laksa, but very comfortable on the palate.

My companion had the kueh pie tee, fried crispy flour shells containing  shredded turnip cooked in stock and topped with beancurd, chilli and coriander. It was bursting with flavour with every pop.

I was spurned the first time we met when I think the ayam buah keluak was too watery for my taste.  This Peranakan babe has shown her better side this time.

Yes, my newfound love, I shall patronise you again.

Sumo Salad Singapore (Raffles City)

I had been bypassing by Sumo Salad in Raffles City basement for the longest time and yesterday, I got to try it. Not bad at all.

My husband made his own salad - S$5 for a small size (Otherwise $6 for large) and it's made with Spiced Lemon (Moroccan) dressing. Wow, I must say it's yummy.

I got the Spicy BBQ Prawns (97% fat free) at S$8.40 for a small size (Otherwise S$9.40 for large). The colours were lovely! It's got tomatoes, grilled red peppers, warm grilled prawns that tasted fresh and loads of rocket lettuce. It's spicy and sour and though it tasted good, it didn't quite sit well with my empty, almost "gastricy" stomach...so I had to go to Potato Depot after that to fill it up.  If only they had a small toasted bun or French loaf to go with it, that would've been great.

The interesting thing about this stall is they serve the salad in a chic box that is used in USA for takeaways + fork, spoon and serviette sealed in plastic and you've got to take it away...there're no seats for you.

I actually sighed in relief because I was worried that a good salad place like this might have to close down like what happened in Mescluns at Citilink Mall, which was a pity. I am sure rental has increased and by not renting seating space for customers, they get to cut down cost. This kind of makes sense because the clientele would likely by the office crowd that works upstairs who would pack and lunch in. Btw, on a Friday night, they had 3 saladsmiths + a cashier. That's alot for labour cost.

Just look at their tantalising array of ready made salads. You're spoilt for choice.

When I checked out their facebook page, I discovered they are planning to open an outlet in Shenton Way. That's bold, considering that part of town is pretty saturated with salad outlets. There's Munch and Fresh+ at Robinson Road as well as Salad Shop in UOB Plaza. I wish them all the best.

Mos Burger's Wagyu Beef

I had gone into Mos Burger for a sinful processed Chilli Dog and saw this ad for their new Wagyu Beef Burger. Then I was mortified.

It looks perfectly normal, right? Till you take a closer look...

It says the "Australian Wagyu cattle are grain-fed for the last 300 - 500 days of production".

This means the poor cattle were taken off the pasture where they would normally graze, nap, walk around and shit; and put in feedlots where they are fed a subnormal diet of grains, and not allowed to move as much in a bid to fatten them up.

Because of the change in diet and living conditions, the cattle get stressed and develop diseases such as Bovine Respiratory Disease. 

Grain-fed vs Grass-fed

Cattle are grain-fed in the last stage of production in feedlots to create a marbling effect on the muscles to make the meat juicy.

I read on Wikianswers that grains reduce the pH of the rumen from 6.5-7 (on grass-fed diet) to 5-6. This may create ulcers and lead to infection. In fact, I watched on the documentary Food Inc that in the US, cows are fed genetically modified corn (which is cheaper to produce) and this creates an infection of E. coli (Escherichia coli). Then imagine the cows shitting in crowded feedlot conditions and the shit (with E. coli) getting onto their hoofs and coats. One litle boy in the States died after eating a burger contaminated with E. coli.    

Then I read on Mercola.com post of how grass-fed and finished cattle have a healthier Omega 6 : Omega 3 ratio of about 3:1 vs grain-fed cattle at 20:1.  We are supposed to maintain a balance of Omega 6:3 ratio of 4:1. 

Is grain-finished feedlot management just about getting tastier beef to the consumer?

Maybe, if consumers prefer the juicier beef as can be read from the Chowhound site. Yet many attest to the tastier and fuller flavour of grass-fed beef.

It may have to do with the bottom line. A grass-fed scenario requires lots of pasture, and apparently cowboys are expensive to hire. Whereas in a feedlot environment, cows are miserable, but easier to manage. 

How does that impact our health

I can't help seeing the co-relation of the rise of "modern, industrialised" farm practices with the epidemic of obesity and heart disease in the States. Could it be the cheap but unhealthy beef or even cheap feedlot chicken meat that they have been consuming?

As I went about in Singapore this year especially, I can't help feeling surprised at how many more obese people I am seeing. Could it be that the unhealthy and mechanised farm practices responsible for ill health in the States is slowly creeping up our shores?

And back to Mos Burger's Wagyu Beef...300-500 days is a really long time to make the most miserable and "finest beef" in the entire world.

Bamboo charcoal bread

I had heard to bamboo charcoal pillow, but bamboo charcoal bread? That I had to try. It turned out to be surprisingly soft and tasty, filled with citrusy, aromatic bits of orange peel. The white bits atop the jet black dough were oatmeal.

Health claims of Taiwan Bamboo Charcoal Bread

Bamboo charcoal bread from Eastern Highland Healthy Cake House at 1 Rocher Road, #01-510 Rocher Centre. It boasts healthy vegetarian eggless confections.

Just when I was wondering if they made the bread from pounded charcoal pills (the kind you take when you have tummy upset), I saw this in a Phoon Huat store. My goodness, it was more costly than the collagen gel next to it.

Hmm, is this Bamboo Charcoal as effective as it is made out to be? A search on the internet yielded an interesting article by a Japanese health researcher and inventor Junji Takano: Medicinal Benefits of Bamboo Charcoal. It seems Wikipedia and this fella share similar info.  He even shows you How to Make Bamboo Charcoal

I think the air- and water-purifying effects make sense, but I am not all too convinced about its use as food. The only benefit I can see the part on bamboo charcoal having minerals, though I am not sure if the production process will affect the minerals. Maybe it is better to eat fresh bamboo as food for the minerals.

It didn't help when Taketaro's site tells you to be careful of poor quality bamboo charcoal powder that has dirt and toxins in it.

But I guess maybe the bamboo charcoal has properties related to activated carbon that is used when we have food poisoning to absorb and neutralise toxins. 

There is a by-product during the bamboo charcoal production phase where the black smoky condensate is collected and distilled as bamboo charcoal vinegar. It has been shown to have antiseptic properties. That's interesting, it means a new chemical was produced.

Kids say the darndest things

I was jolted into paying attention to my blog after a reader reminded me not to neglect it (yes, Dr Do) and another reader became my first follower (Hiya Evelyn). And new readers started leaving comments. 

Apologies everyone, I have been dutifully eating and taking pictures but was stressed up over work to blog. I have added a new Category "Seen in Singapore" about interesting things seen in everyday life here.

Work included some teaching assignments on speaking good English and I had the most stressful (never taught Primary 1s and 2s before) and 'funnest' times teaching them.

They were so little and fragile that I unconsciously treated them like my little nieces and nephews, paying attention to every little comment they had to make, so much so that everyone wanted to talk or answer questions or try to find the answer to a joke question (a good sign since they were supposed to do Show and Tells in class) but sometimes the class was in such mayhem with everyone talking and I didn't have the heart to tell them to shut up so I said, "Very good, all of you are using your brains!"

There were a couple of times when I was left dumb-founded though.

"Mrs Tan, you look pretty today...you look like a zoo-keeper" 

My friend Theresa had given me a safari dress by Polo Ralph Lauren. It was a decent dress to wear to teach, I thought, till innocent little Phoebe made the above comment. 

"How do you ask the teacher for permission to go to the toilet?"

The above was a test question to which little Jovan said, "But I don't really want to go right now."

Sigh, the assignment is over and I miss the kids. I told a couple of girls that I wanted to bring them home...to be my daughters. They burst out laughing. Kids are the sweetest.