World Gourmet Summit Gastronomic Jam Session

Recently attended the Jam Session by World Gourmet Summit, its a refreshing experience to meet up with visiting guest chefs from around the world and talented local chef and some who have won Michelin star. The jam session is about chef demonstrating and explaining the ideas behind their creations and their experiences in the industry.

The session is around 7 hours, sound scary right?, but time actually fly quite fast. You get some coffee break and lunch break in between, and little snacks and drinks are provided as well. For the foodthography, you will be too busy taking pictures of the perfect art pieces created by the chefs. Once in a while you will be able to sample the food but of cos only if your hand is fast enough.

The details of the event can be found here:
http://www.worldgourmetsummit.com/wgs2014/main.php/event/rendezvouswithchef/id/37

The pricing for the event is $70 for one full day and $120 for 2 full day. This time round I only manage to attend one day as I was too busy for the weekday. Hopefully I can manage to attend all session for next year. 

Let me share with you some of the pictures taken during the event..

<The Food Art>

Steamed Cod with Taiwan Fermented Soybean at 85 deg C.

A special syobean sauce 

 Roasted Marinated Australia Lamp Chop

 Fermented Vegetable

Korean style

 Fresh Squid Eggs

 Under the Snow
Guess what is under the snow? Truffle

 Canneles de Bordeaux

 Baked Brown Crab with Mull Cheddar

The brown crab is actually from Scotland and they are very tasty.

 Loch Fyne Salmon with Baby Squid & Pickled Cucumber Salad

The Salmon is also from Scotland and they were voted as best salmon in the world.

 Tarte Tatin

 Escargot Bourguignonne

Can you find the escargot? The chef is too creative to provide the environment 

  Tornado Rossini

 Slides of Fresh Scallops & Black Radish Smoked White's Egg, Grilled Peanut & Tarama

This is too pretty to be eaten...

 Red Raviole

Beetroot pasta with egg yolk

Foie Gras Satay

How can we not doing the local style? Foie Gras with satay peanut sauce.

<The Chef>
All the good looking chefs... aren't they?

Sang Hoon Degeimbre (L'Air du Temps**, Belgium)
--- A funny chef who crack lots of jokes

Ivan Brehm (Bacchanalia, Singapore)
Who loves to tell the history of food ingredients

A great chef from Mandarin Oriental
I am sorry I didnt take note of her name

Jimi Tegerdine (LeVeL 33, Singapore)
who love to paint his food

Bastien Jarry (The Vault, Singapore)
who can speak Singlish really well and make us laugh

Kenny Fu (My Humble House Beijing, China)
who tell us how to make ice balloon and has a grand exit

Alexandre Gauthier (La Grenouillère*, France)
who is very serious about food and prefer his guests to enjoy the food first than foodthography

CONCLUSION: 

COOKING IS AN ART, 

CHEF IS PAINTING EVERY DISH WITH FOOD INSTEAD OF BRUSH

visiting guest chefs and talented local personalities. This stage presents traditional to modernist cuisines a

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Chocolate Ice Cream Puff ~ Au Chocolat Glacee Puff

~ Eclair ~ We have eaten quite often, but have you ever tried ice cream puff? Came across this somewhere online and so decided to try it out when I saw the Jamie Oliver Ice Cream's recipe online...

For the Puff Recipe:

Ingredients

125ml water

60g unsalted butter, chopped finely

75g cake flour

3 beaten eggs

pinch of salt

Directions

1. Make the ice cream. Try other ice cream flavor if you want to.

     ~ For Chocolate Ice Cream

        I follow Jamie Oliver's recipe, however instead of putting them into ice cream machine, just leave it in the fridge and stir before you used.You can prepare this 1 day in advance as well.

       

http://www.jamieoliver.com/magazine/recipes-view.php?title=chocolate-ice-cream

please note this recipe has left over which you can just pour into ramekin and freeze it to make ice cream cup 

2. Preheat oven to 220 degree Celsius. Greece oven trays.

3. Combine the water, butter and salt in a pan and bring to the boil. Turn off the heat.

4. Add flour and beat with wooden spoon over medium heat until the mixture comes away from the pan. Transfer the pastry to a bowl and pour in the egg a little at a time until it becomes smooth and glossy but still hold its shape. 

5. Drop level of tablespoons of the pastry onto tray, around 5cm big and 5 cm away from each other.

6. Bake puffs for 10 min. Reduce the temperature to 180 degree Celsius and bake for 20 min. Leave the puff in the oven to cool down around 10 min and then bring out to cool on trays.

7. Fit a pastry bag with a round tip and fill with the ice cream. Pipe the cream into the bottom of the puff and freeze it overnight. Your ice cream puff will be ready.

And here is my leftover ice cream. 

Any comments please visit...
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Oriental Chicken Chop with Mushroom Sauce

Whenever I eat chicken chop with mushroom sauce, I always felt that the sauce is too little (because I love to eat mushroom sauce). Therefore I start to do my own chicken chop at home with lots of mushroom sauce... hahaha.. How kiddo I am..

When I saw these beautiful cherry tomatoes from Holland @ Isetan Supermarket.. I thought of doing the dish on this rainy Sunday... They taste really good with a slight taste of sweetness in it..

Why do I call this oriental chicken chop, because I used soy sauce to marinade instead of simple salt and pepper...
This recipe is for one portion of chicken chop... do multiply the ingredients for different portion...

Ingredients

Chicken Chop
1 debone chicken leg

Marinade
2 cloves of crushed garlic 
2 tbsp of premium soy sauce
black pepper
1 tsp Cajun Seasoning (optional)

Mushroom Sauce
100g of button mushroom (thinly sliced)
100ml chicken stock
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp corn starch
1/2 tsp salt
dried parsley
cracked pepper to taste

few cherry tomatoes
(drizzle the tomato with olive oil and season with salt and pepper and grill in the oven for 4-5 min)

1 mid sized potato
salt and pepper
italian seasoning/french seasoning

Direction
1. Pound the chicken meat with meat mallet or the back of your butcher cleaver.

2. Marinate the chicken for at least 1 hr or overnight. 
(Overnight will really makes the difference.)

3. Peel potato and soak in water to remove starch and will make the potato crispy when pan fried. Blanch the potato for 1 min and strain, let the steam get out of the potato. Add 2 tbsp of cooking oil on a pan and stir fried the potato, season with salt, pepper and italian seasoning. Stir well and pan fried until golden brown 

4. Heat a pan with 1tbsp of cooking oil. Always cook the chicken with the skin first (meaning the chicken with the skin side at the bottom) around 4 min for each side or until cook. Set aside.
(Option: You can pan fried the chicken 2-3min each side and then grill in oven for another 5min).
Cooking the skin first will give the chicken chop more fragrant as the oil from the chicken is used to cook the other side of the chicken later.

5. Used the remaining oil from the chicken chop to cook the sliced mushroom, add garlic powder and stir well. Dissolve corn starch in small amount of water, add to chicken stock. Gradually add chicken stock to mushroom and continue to stir and cook until the sauce is thickened. Add salt, parsley and pepper to taste.

6. Place the potato on a plate and assemble the chicken chop on top and spoon over the mushroom sauce over. Put the cherry tomatoes or salad at the side. Ready to serve!!!!

Any comments please visit...
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Spaghetti Aglio Olio with Fresh Clams

I have never been a fan of pasta until I found this amazing pasta brand Barilla.. It changed my mind that good pasta can only be eaten at Italian restaurant, now that I know why I didn't get it right ... its the pasta that I bought at the local supermarket ... from now onwards I will only try the Barilla (sounds like advertisement but I am not) ...

This time round I did the popular light flavor Aglio Olio... The spaghetti is so yummy and the fresh clams add the sweetness of the sea into it...

Let me share my recipe, but I believe everybody have their own recipe right? Who doesn't know how to do Aglio Olio ... its so simple and delicious ... and the cherry tomatoes is so sweet with the right taste of sourness in it

Serves 2

Ingredients
200g Spaghetti (1 person portion is around 100g)
4 crushed garlic cloves
2 thinly sliced chilli (add more if you like spicy)
250g fresh clams/fresh mussels or both
50g halved cherry tomatoes
Parsley
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

Directions
1. Soak clams in salt water to clean.

2. Bring a big pot of water to boil, once boiled add salt and drop the Spaghetti into the water and stir. Cook according to the time shown on the pack.
Note: Do not add any olive oil in the boiling water and do not rinse the pasta with cold water.

3. Add olive oil in a frying pan, add garlic and chilli and cook on medium heat until garlic turns brown. Add cherry tomatoes and cook for 2 min. Add the clams and stir. Season with salt and cover with a lid and keep cooking until all the clams and mussels have opened. Add 1-2 tbsp of the pasta water into the pan.
(As an Asian, I love to use fish sauce to season seafood, therefore instead of using salt I used around 1 tsp of fish sauce)

4. Drain the pasta 1-2min before the suggested time.  Toss the pasta with the clams in the pan until most juices have been absorbed. Add parsley and toss. Drizzle extra virgin oil and finish with cracked pepper.

P.s. I love my automatic pepper grinder 

Any comments please visit...
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Fussili with Eggplant

This is a super easy pasta I learnt from an Italian Chef, of cos I would like to share it with those who are too busy to prepare a healthy meal at home...

Its a 15 min 3 steps meal:
1. Cook
2. Combine
3. Enjoy

And all you need to have is an eggplant, cheese, pasta and sauce from Barilla.. of cos you can try other brand as well... but I love the texture of the pasta of this brand...

Serves 4

Ingredients
400g Fusilli
1 jar of Barilla Basilico Sauce (its a tomato sauce with basil leaves)
1 eggplant
100g mozzarella cheese, diced 1 cm
10 fresh basil leaves
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Directions
1. Wash eggplant and diced into 1cm. Soak them in salt water for a while and you will see the brown liquid surfacing. Rinse the eggplant to remove the salt and dry the eggplant with paper towels.

2. Bring a big pot of water to boil, once boiled add salt and drop the Fusilli into the water and stir. Cook according to the time shown on the pack.
Note: Do not add any olive oil in the boiling water and do not rinse the pasta with cold water.

3. Meanwhile add olive oil in a frying pan, once hot add the eggplant and cook until soft and golden in colour. Add around 8 basil leaves (torn by hands, do not use knife to cut). Add Basilico sauce and bring to a simmer. Turn off the heat.

4. Drain the pasta and save a small bowl of the pasta water for later use. Turn on the heat of the pasta sauce, add the pasta water (depend on how watery you want your pasta sauce to be) and toss the pasta with the sauce for 1 min. Add mozzarella cheese and remove from heat once it start to melt (do not let the cheese melt totally).

5. Serve with the leftover basil leaves and grated parmesan cheese. Season with cracked black pepper.

Note: Salting eggplant accomplishes two goals: it pulls out juices that carry bitter flavors, and it collapses the air pockets in the eggplant's sponge-like flesh, thus preveniting it from absorbing too much oil and getting greasy.Thorough drying is important; squeezing out excess moisture will give you a less greasy result.

Any comments please visit
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Eggs Benedict with Parma Ham

Too late to go out for brunch? Why not whip up a simple eggs benedict at home ...
Did this over the weekend... and enjoy it with orange juice...
My boss is enjoying his breakfast in bed with his DOUBLE espresso else he will not get out of bed ever...

Very simple... as long as you have the following ingredients..

3 tbsp white wine vinegar

4 eggs

2 english muffins (I found them at jasons market and mark and spencer)

1 batch hot hollandaise sauce

4 slices Parma ham/bacon/smoked salmon (your choice...) Hollandaise Sauce 2 tsp lemon juice 1 tsp white wine vinegar 3 egg yolks 125g unsalted butter, melted

salt and pepper

Directions 1. First make the Hollandaise sauce. ~ Put the egg yolks in a glass bowl and add the vinegar. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk until it has nice creamy texture. Gradually add the butter, whisking constantly else it will be splitting. Then whisk off the heat for a few mins and season with salt and pepper, the texture should not be too thick as long as it coat the back of the spoon that is fine. 2. Next, pan fried the parma ham on a hot pan with some olive oil until slightly crisp and fragrant then used the remaining oil on the pan to lightly toast the muffins halves. 3. Next, the poached eggs, bring a deep saucepan of water to the boil (at least 2 litres) and add the vinegar. The vinegar will help the eggs to hold together. Once boiled, lower the heat. 4. Work with eggs one by one, crack an egg into a coffee cup or ramekins. Swirl the vinegared water briskly to form a twirl and slide in an egg. It will curl round and set to a neat round shape. Cook for 2 mins, then remove with a spoon and place on paper tower to dry the excessive water. 5. Assemble the muffin, top with ham and then put a poached egg on top and pour some hollandaise over. Served with a good drink of your choice. Any comments please visit... https://www.facebook.com/NCashBakery/photos/a.480694015381874.1073741829.176023055848973/522174751233800/?type=1&theater

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Yu Sheng ~ A Tradition during Chinese New Year

Today is Ren Ri "人日", the seventh day of Chinese New Year, which according to Chinese customs was the day human beings were created. Therefore today is everybody's birthday!!!

And our practice here in Singapore and Malaysia is to eat YU SHENG, although nowadays we can eat it on any day during Chinese New Year, too many celebrations!!!

Usually its easier to buy them from restaurants or supermarket, however I did not eat raw fish and some other ingredients and I am always ended up eating only the golden pillow (deep-fried crackers). This year I decided to do my own version so I can finally enjoy them and not just looking at others.


For the fun of it, you can also recreate your own version....


Salad Ingredients

Abalone (鲍鱼) to replace raw fish 

Carrot, julienned and soaked in cold water

White raddish

Pomelo/mandarin oranges, peeled and separated into smaller chunks

Chuka Wakame

Chuka Kurage/Chuka Hotate

Strawberries

Green Papaya/Mango

Roast peanuts, crushed

Deep fried crackers (they sell at supermarkets nowadays)

Sesame seeds

1 tsp Chinese 5 Spice Powder
1 tsp Cinnamon powder
1 tsp pepper
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Some other ideas:
Red Coral Lettuce, washed and dried
Sundried tomatoes, sliced
Salmon Roe
Pomegranate, peeled and broken into segments
Crab Kani
Dried apricot
Sunflower seeds
Pistachio nuts

Dressing Sauce
3 tbsp Chinese Plum Sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp hot water, adjust to your liking

Method:
1. Assemble all the pre-prepared yu sheng ingredients
2. In a bowl mix the dressing well.
3. Start the YU SHENG (LO Hei) activity!!! You should know what to say right???

First:

Dash Pepper, Cinnamon Powder and 5 spice powder around and say 招财进宝 Zhao Cai Jin Bao
Meaning “Attract wealth and treasures”.

Second:

Pour the oil in circle and  say: 一本万利 Yi Ben Wan Li, 财源广进 Cai Yuan Guang Jin
Meaning “Make 10,000 times of profit with your capital” and “Numerous sources of wealth”.

Third:

Dust Peanuts on the dish and say: 金银满屋 Jin Yin Man Wu
Meaning “Household filled with gold and silver”

Fourth:

Dust Sesame seeds and say: 生意兴隆 Sheng Yi Xing Long
Meaning “Prosperity for the business”.

Fifth:

Drizzle the sauce generously over your salad and say 甜甜蜜蜜 Tian Tian Mi Mi
Meaning “May life always be sweet”.

Sixth:

Deep-fried crackers and say: 满地黄金 Man Di Huang Jin
Meaning “Floor full of gold”.

And Lastly:
Toss them around and say all the lucky wishes for the year... Toss them hard and well ...and just ENJOY!!!

FYI

Carrots indicate blessings of good luck.(鸿运当头 Hong Yun Dang Tou)

Pomelo or Mandarin Orange symbolize luck and auspicious value. (大吉大利 Da Ji Da Li)

Raw fish/Abalone symbolising abundance and excess through the year.(年年包有余 Nian Nian Bao You Yu)

Green Items symbolize eternal youth (青春常驻 Qing Chun Chang Zhu)

Any comments please visit

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