Fine Dining At Home 2/3 - Pan-fried Scottish Salmon

 Here's Recipe 2 from Chef Lee Bennett of Equinox Restaurant at Swissotel Stamford in Singapore:

Pan-fried Scottish Salmon with Warm Salad of Beetroot

I got my friends to plate their own dishes - you can tell none of us will make it to Masterchef, but it sure added much more fun to the evening.

If you think the list of ingredients for the first dish was too long, wait till you see this one, with an even longer list in the method. Ready?

Ingredients for citrus powder and olive dust
5 oranges
2 lemons
200g pitted black olives

Ingredients for pan fried Scottish salmon and warm salad of beetroot
2 Charlotte potatoes, large
2 sprigs of rosemary
2 garlic cloves
2 beetroot, large (note to self: just need one)
1 fennel, small
3 radish
1 bunch of wild rocket and frisee
4 x 150g salmon, centre cut

Ingredients for basil pesto
2 bunches of fresh basil
2 garlic cloves (I used 4)
150ml olive oil
100g toasted pine kernels
100g grated parmesan

Method for citrus powder and olive dust
1. Peel orange and lemon skin onto a metal tray.
2. Place in the oven at max 80C and leave overnight. (Totally dehydrate for maximum flavour)
3. Cut the olives into half on to a separate tray and leave to dry with the oranges.
4. Use a clean blender to blend the olives into coarse bits.

Old world charm vs new world food processor

Method for panfried Scottish salmon and warm salad of beetroot
1. Place potatoes to cook in gentle simmering salted water
2. Add some garlic and rosemary. (Optional: Leave in water for up to 2 days for flavour)
3. Once cooked, refresh in cold water and peel the skin off, then dice into 1cm cubes

4. Pour some rock salt on a baking tray, pierce the beetroot and place onto the salt.
5. Cover the tray with a layer of tin foil and cook in the oven at 150C for around 90 minutes. (I cooked for 120 min and they were still too crunchy. Note to self: will increase temp to 200 next time or boil to soften before putting into oven.)
6. Once cooked, remove skin and dice into 1cm cubes. (Store separately from potatoes as they stain.)

7. Thinly shave the fennel and radish into ice cold water using a mandolin.

8. Pick through the wild rocket and frisee, wash and pass through a salad spinner.

9. Put the beetroot and potato into a bowl together and season lightly, dress with olive oil, a pinch of the citrus powder and olive dust.

10. Mix the greens with the fennel and radish, then add a drizzle of olive oil.

11. Season the salmon with salt. (Oops, just realised I didn't do this and it tasted fine!)

12. Add a drizzle of oil into a hot non-stick pan.

13. When hot, place salmon on the pan and cook for 2 minutes. Turn it over and cook for another 2 minutes. (I did one minute on each side to avoid flaky salmon which I don't enjoy. At one minute, I got just past the sashimi stage.)

14. Remove salmon from the pan.

As a side tip, Chef suggested you can add crisp and crunch to the dish by grilling the salmon skin. 60C in the oven overnight. 

Method for basil pesto (key to this dish)
1. Pick the basil.
2. Blanch in boiling water for 30 secs then refresh in ice water.
3. Once cold, remove and squeeze water out completely
4. Place into blender with minced garlic, olive oil, pine kernels and parmesan
5. Blend to a smooth paste. (I blended to rather coarse so I could still bite on the little chunks of nuts which I love)

My pesto was a big hit that night. We ended up eating everything with the pesto, and my friend even placed an order with me! Expensive but oh so very healthy and delish.

The beauty of toasted pine kernels

My big hit that night - home-made pesto with fresh basil from the garden

Plating
1. Spread the basil pesto on a plate in a circular movement.
2. Add 2 Tbsp of the beetroot and ptoato onto the plate followed by a handful of the salad.
3. Top with the salmon then sprinkle the citrus powder and olive dust around the plate.
4. Ready to serve.

So, have I tired you out just reading the ingredient list? For me, I was inspired to try it and found it worth the colossal effort and every minute of my time, and highly rewarding to be feeding my friends good food, real food. Sick as it sounds, I would do this all over again.

Up Next: Recipe 3 Sage-scented Pork Tenderloins

Fine Dining At Home 1/3 - Chilled Tomato Gazpacho

I told you about the DBS Indulge MasterChef Class I attended and the recipes I would share when I attempted them myself. Well, this is the colossal effort dinner - to an extra virgin chef, this feels like a 100-step and a 100-ingredient recipe. I'll share everything with you but it probably needs to break into a few posts!

Not for the faint-hearted.

Ready? Let's go.

Recipe 1 Chilled Tomato Gazpacho with Lime Vodka Jelly and Spanish Olive Oil Sorbet (serves 4)

Ingredients for gazpacho
2 red peppers
1 shallot
3 Tbsp tomato puree
3 garlic cloves
1 cucumber
1 kg over ripe tomatoes
1 stick lemongrass
1/2 bunch basil
Few sprigs coriander
1 litre tomato juice
Salt
Sherry vinegar
Worcestershire sauce
Tabasco sauce

Ingredients for olive oil sorbet
100 ml EVOO
30 ml natural yoghurt
200 ml stock syrup
2 lemons (zest and juice)

Ingredients for lime vodka jelly
200 ml plain vodka
200 ml water
4 limes
6 leaves of gelatin

Method for gazpacho
1. Sweat peppers and shallot until soft, then add puree and cook for a couple of minutes.
2. Peel and chop the garlic and cucumber, as well as chop the rest of the ingredients and mix together.
3. Add the pepper mix, season well with salt, sherry vinegar and Worcestershire sauce.
4. Marinade overnight.
5. Remove lemongrass before blitzing and pass through a large-hole strainer at least twice.
6. Adjust seasoning, spice and ensure it is well chilled.
7. Serve cold on cold plates (my own notes).

Use the lemongrass as a stirrer! But remember to remove when blitzing.

Method for olive oil sorbet
1. Pour the olive oil, yoghurt and stock syrup into a mould along with the zest and juice from the lemons.
2. Churn to make sorbet and serve immediately or freeze (my own notes as his didn't make sense to me)

Method for lime vodka jelly
1. Place vodka and water into a vacuum pack bag along with lime rind and slices of lime.
2. Seal and place into water bath at 50C for 40 minutes.
3. Take out and leave to infuse for as long as possible (make in advance and leave for future use).
4. Soak gelatin leaves inside ice cold water.
5. Heat up 1/10 of the liquid and whisk in the gelatin leaves until all have disintegrated.
6. Whisk that liquid back into the vodka and leave inside the fridge for at least 5 hours.
(Own notes: I didn't understand steps 5 & 6 and basically just did my own jelly after the water bath.)

My sous vide machine came in handy. 

The flavour of the gazpacho was amazing, and I've decided this is my go-to recipe for all tomato soup! Bennett expressed surprise that cold soup hasn't taken off in hot and humid Singapore. Well, I'm a convert now, but I think most locals still prefer their soup warm if not hot.

The sorbet and jelly, while keeping the soup temperature down, also lifted the game, otherwise it would be just another tomato soup. There is enough in the recipe to keep for future use. It differentiates your dish from home cooking, and it's worth all the effort.

Up Next, Recipe 2 - Pan-fried Scottish Salmon with Warm Salad of Beetroot. Look out for the basil pesto recipe which was a hit with my diners that night. Plus how to make citrus powder and olive dust!

Da Paolo, you have mushroom for improvement.

Hubster got a sudden urge to buy this stuffed portobello from Da Paolo Gastronomia. You wouldn't believe how much he paid for this - S$22 for 2! I had to count to 10 under my breath before I calmly asked, What's in the stuffing, dear? He didn't know. What?? 

I couldn't tell much other than some shitake, cheese topping and chopped herbs?? There must be something special in it. Foie gras? Truffle cream? Caviar? 

I cut into it and wahla - nothing else other than some limp vegetable that looks like celery that looks like onion! How do these bistros look customers in the eye for such daylight robbery practices? 

No fancy packaging, it came in a cheapo plastico. I couldn't find fault with the taste but I couldn't enjoy it when I feel we've been ripped.

Da Paolo, you have mushroom for improvement.

Do you agree bistros these days are way overcharging or do you think you get good value for money from most of them?

Lunch at Bark Cafe

Yesterday, I had my lunch at the Bark Cafe along Upper Changi Road North, just next to the Changi Chapel Museum. They've been there a while now but it's my first visit, and I must say, overall, I enjoyed the food. Here are some pics to share.

Your standard Caesar Salad - so long as the ingredients are fresh, I'm not fussy on this. I eat my salad "kosong", ie, with no dressing. It puzzled me that the waiter offered us a chilli sauce with this.

Escargot - flavourful and beautifully baked but it would have been better to have some bread pieces to soak up all those cheesy goodness instead of having to use a spoon.

The Mojito was way too sweet for me - looks like I have to try to make my own. For a mint-adverse person, I actually found the mint way too mild. The sugar drowned everything. Too bad.

Now, with all my duck encounters, I almost feel anyone who wants to cook duck for me must be worthy of it! I have high expectations of any duck dish and will be anal and critical if they're not cooked to perfection. This is their roasted black pepper duck breast. First impression: looks like Chinese roast pork (char siew) so I was not particularly excited. I'm looking for a golden brown, not dark brown skin. On skin crisp, I rate it 7/10. While it was crispy, it lacked the extra crunch I was anticipating as I sank my teeth into it.

In the midst of my conversation on the sorry state of education in Singapore, I ran an entire taste review at the back of my head. On my first few bites, I could taste only black pepper and nothing else. It could have been pork or chicken, it wouldn't matter. The black pepper was overpowering and I wanted to taste duck, since that was what I had ordered. But the taste grew quickly on me, and I found myself forking non-stop one piece after another - I suspect the subtle plum sauce kept me going. An ounce of sauce covers a multitude of sins, so they say.

The mash potato was lumpy - not sure if that's the intent of the chef. So that was forgettable for me, especially after that irresistible pommes mousseline I had in Mozaic, Bali.

I chose an Apple Crumble for my dessert as I found out recently through my research that it has half the sugar content and double the apples when compared to an Apple Cake. I've also just bought myself a sauce bottle to do this chocolate zic-zag so I can do pretentious food at home as well.

Our bill came up to S$97.00 - I think it's relatively fair compared with many bistros where we've condoned their practice of blatant daylight robbery. I have my usual gripe on the lack of passion of the service staff at good restaurants, but overall, I would come back here to eat again.

Now, I was in the Changi area to visit Food and Hotel Asia, Asia's largest international food exhibition and conference. But the massive jam and utter traffic chaos outside the Expo Halls put me off and I made a quick about turn - I am allergic to crowds.

I already had a good day - good friend, good food, good conversation - and was happy to go back home to find more poppy seed recipes.

Bebek Bengil - Dirty Duck Diner

I was told by many the Bebek Bengil is a must-try in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia and since we already had a big Western meal last night at the Mozaic, one of Asia's top 5 restaurants, I thought this would present a good counter balance being local.

I have to say, my heart sank when I read the menu that the duck is first steamed then deep fried. I'm not a fan of anything deep fried and with my recent encouraging encounters with ducks, I was not at all in the mood for a deep fried duck. I anticipated that it would be such a waste of its lovely meat.

The presentation and plating further dampened my already lacklustre enthusiasm. Chef was right, plating IS important. This duck came across as dry as a bone and flat as a pancake. And placing a miserable piece of watermelon next to it clearly didn't help. I did not even feel like trying it.

Anyway, it tastes like KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) if you must read on. Not sure why the restaurant is able to pull such a crowd, local and foreign diners. I'm so sure my duck looks and tastes better and is much healthier. But the difference is they are a successful business and me, I don't even have a stall to call my own. Maybe I should set up a street sous-vide duck stall just outside their compound.

On my way out just half an hour later, I spotted a stray cat striding across the dining hall, a clear sign to me that there is food safety and hygiene problems in this kitchen. Hmm...a new meaning to "dirty duck". Many locals and travellers alike have recommended this place but I for one would not come back again. I didn't like it one beak.

Food to get you in the mood

During my weekend stay in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia, I ordered a roast beef salad at the resort restaurant. It's just another roast beef salad but it got me quickly in a holiday mood because everything about it was right. Colour, texture, freshness, flavours coming together. Whoever made this dish did not treat it as "just another salad". He took pain and care and I noticed and appreciated and loved. I could stare at my own pictures forever.

Beef strung on a lemongrass with freshly pound chillies dripping down my waiting fingers. Heaven.

It seemed the greens on my table conspired with the natural forest I was staring out into (one of the few remaining in Indonesia, may I add) to make my holiday one of pure culinary pleasures. Speaking of which, I am having my dinner at Mozaic tonight, rated one of Asia's top 5 restaurants for 3 consecutive years. I can't wait to be culinarily-educated and palate-trained by Chef Chris Salans.

Mozaic - French cuisine, Balinese flavours

Rated as a top 5 restaurant in Asia for 3 consecutive years, Mozaic is found in the least expected place, tucked in a corner of Ubud, Bali, Indonesia's resort island. Against all odds, Chris Salans has set up a successful operation and has even extended his restaurant business to open a professional culinary school imparting his knowledge of French cooking and sous vide to chefs in Bali. 

I was blessed with celebrating my 22nd wedding anniversary there this weekend. These are the wonderful food we ate. Apologies again for bad photography - it was just way too dark to take any good pix and besides, we had to be discreet about taking photos in a fine-dining restaurant.

Amuse Bouche or "mouth-teaser".  Salmon Cornetto.  A great palate stimulator and I was ready to savour my three-hour  long dinner.

My favourite for the night - Australian Hamachi (or Kingfisher) Carpaccio.
Finger lime, pressed watermelon salad (sous-vide and mixed with the fish), Shaved Radish and Andalima Pepper Sorbet. I had to restrain myself from asking for a second helping.

Butter Roasted Sulawesi Yabbies (Crayfish) with Fresh Wakame Seaweed Linguini and Dashi-Sea Urchin Emulsion (aka Foam!)

It was a 6- course dinner paired with wines from Domaines Schlumberger from Alsace, France (near the border of Germany).

I invited Mr Alain Beydon, owner of Domaines-Schlumberger who was present that night to our table so he could explain and expound on the wine that was served to us. Here, he explains the labels on the wine bottle. He is the 6th generation of his family's winery and his niece and nephew are also engaged in the operation, ensuring the heritage is passed onto the 7th generation.

Crispy seared Duck Foie Gras in a trio of mango: puree, candy, chip. Didn't feel the crisp but foie gras in any form is divine.

Cinnamon baked Quail Pastilla. This was not good - like an Old Chang Kee curry puff.

Slow cooked Veal Loin and Roasted Sweetbread, paired with a 2007 Riesling. I could not get enough of the sweetbread which you know is NOT sweet and NOT bread. It's an animal gullet or gland around the throat region. Sounds disgusting but tastes heavenly.  I think I could savage a whole bucket of them. It stole the show from the veal.

The potato puree was magnificient and though I was stuffed, I did not allow the waiter to take this away. I was prepared to suffer indigestion for this baby. As addictive as French Fries is to my teenagers. You can't stop once you start.

As it was alfresco dining under the starlight, we also had other companions at our table throughout the dinner...see below. Yiks! It bothered me that they were there all night and I had to check my plate every now and then to make sure there weren't additional undesirable ingredients.

Fresh Morbier - Fresh Quince, Candied Walnut, Truffle, Rosemary, Vanilla Brioche Croutons. Paired with a 2008 Pinot Gris which we later looked out for at the airport and bought a bottle home. Delish!

Warm Valrhona Dark Chocolate Fondant with Star Fruit Sorbet. It oozed out like a molten lava and I licked my plate clean, very clean.

An extra touch for us.

It was an awesome culinary experience and I could ask the knowledgeable service staff all my questions. I came home with his autographed cookbook - yes, there are recipes to try! It would have been great to have interacted with the Chef personally - I always like to talk to people who cook my food. A must-visit. Or even two.

Food cooked by students from Culinary Institute of America in Singapore

This was my lunch yesterday cooked by students from the Culinary Institute of America in Singapore. It's tucked in the corner of the Temasek Polytechnic campus, on the eastern part of town. I was delighted at this lunch surprise from a friend in church. In the menu booklet, the Institute invites diners to interact with the students and ask questions about the food - not that I needed that invite. I had 20 questions for every dish served out to me. 

Apologies for bad photography - blame it on the iPhone. 

I chose a cured fish starter - if you've been reading my blog, you know I'm an incurable cure-r, having done home-cured salmon and home-cured pancetta. My dish came with a cured red snapper paired with diced tomatoes, and cured mackerel with mango, served on a biscotti that had gone soft and retoasted, I think. The mackerel smelled and tasted fishy, like otah (fish paste). The red snapper however was lovely to the bite, and tasted very fresh and beautifully cured, just the right taste and texture for me, and I rushed home to research more about cured red snapper - with vodka! (Who's ready for the next private dining seating on this??!)

My main was an interesting composition of lentils wrapped in black crepes in a mixed garlic herb sauce, with honey roasted pumpkins, and topped with fried leeks. Vegan. I'm learning to wake my palate and taste in a deliberate fashion, always conscious of the effect the food and each ingredient has on my tastebud. This dish, I enjoyed, although half a portion would have sufficed for me. The lentils had a Middle Eastern-Moroccan twang, and the leeks were very flavourful. Even the green sauce was palatable to me, and seemed appropriate with St Patrick's Day round the corner.

 I asked our student-waiter what made the crepe black, making it look like a Japanese seaweed. He smiled and said, Today's crepe is darker than it should be! Essentially, it's blackened using 2 ingredients, black bean puree and bamboo charcoal powder. That word again. I had just blogged about it a month ago - see post on Black Bread.

Poor girl had to go into the kitchen to bring this out to show me.
At the rate I'm going, I may be "black"-listed and banned from
coming back to this restaurant!

And here's our trio dessert: 1. Coconut sorbet with dragon fruit cubes and candied parnsips. The parsnip took the limelight from the sorbet.

 2. Yuzu tart with raspberry sauce. It was ok, ok - know what I mean? Like, forgettable.

3. Warm apple cake with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. This was the most humble and heart-warming dessert. In my friend's words and with hand to heart and a peaceful sigh, he said, Eating this just makes me feel so happy. Soul Food. I want my food to have this effect on my diner! 

My curiosity still unsatiated, I asked if I could have a tour of the kitchen. They willingly obliged. (God, that woman!) The student-sous chef brought us round, boasting of their state-of-the-art equipment and a chill room for salad and cake preparatory work to ensure freshness. I unabashedly asked the Executive Chef from the States if she was open to sharing her recipes or if they were trade secrets. For my audacity, I was rewarded with the recipe for the apple cake, her father's recipe from her hometown back in New York. Will post when I get to test it. Overall, well done to the student-chefs and the service crew. I would really like to be back there soon. And this time, with a decent camera. Ciao for now!