The Sugar Bar

It’s time – time for making new year’s resolutions. I haven’t made any lists or any resolutions (officially) for a while now. If I had, they were just kinda a rough ideas formed -sorta- in my head, or a mish-mash of old and new resolutions, easily forgotten, easily dismembered into something else completely. Not much substance, not much thought given to it, not much of an effort really.

Now someone tell me that’s so lazy?

2009 was one of the best years. The middle of it marked the end of my (and a fairly successful one at that) undergrad life, witnessed the most amazing graduation and grad ball, a little romance, crazy Spain holiday, sophisticated Parisian trip, lots of sun and the best tan I’ve ever in my entire 22 years achieved, a little heartache, lots of eating and birthday fun, etc. So much happened, and oh blimey! Lady Gaga was born; so much was learnt I can barely attempt to describe what I got out of the year, the crazy antics that occurred, the jokes that were told, the food that was cooked.

Everyone’s a little more mature, or more mad, more enthusiastic, a little more on their way to achieving their goals. Although it’s sad to turn around and look at your past selves, the ghosts of you, I can safely say I regret none of the things that I’ve experienced or done. The years and the selves that make you YOU are all bits of you. 2010 may mean I shall look back to see a younger Diva fussing and fiddling about to find her way; and sometimes the past self is just a little bit unrecognizable or embarrassing to acknowledge. Nonetheless, I am accepting all the ghosts of me and taking them with me in the back of my mind and heart to welcome 2010.

And with that, here are just some things I noted down as reminder to myself ~ 9 resolutions. A bit much? Nah. They ain’t too tedious so they’re all a bit of fun anyway. What about you, any resolutions for the coming new year? I’m sure you’ve got some. Now don’t be lazy and whip out your list!

2010 Resolutions
1. Learn to start brushing my hair. Beach frizz, bedhead, volumatic poofs are great but surely it wouldn’t hurt me to have a little sleekness next year?

2. Make more of an effort -the motto for all things: with keeping in touch with old friends, with cooking, with work, with my writing, etc.

3. As much as the big city sometimes upsets me, attempt to get to know London a lot better. I’ll start by eating through this city of smoke (and also shopping through its great vintage finds). And oh yea, don’t forget to take my camera out with me even if it’s for a little stroll. It’s the new fashion statement, hung around your neck or held between two icy cold bare hands.

4. Look after my health and fight off dehydration. Water’s your best friend and your only friend sometimes.

5. Promote optimism – I’m not mad and even if I am, it’s a good mad – it’s creativity. She says.

6. This is totally cringe-worthy and virtually everyone I know, when asked to write a list of new year’s resolutions, bangs this one out. Time management. You just gotta say it. Every year I’m fighting against time as I take on more things to do, as I refine my goals and dreams, this bugger’s gonna be stuck to me and to my list for years to come.

7. Visit more food markets; actually, no. VISIT FOOD MARKETS. I haven’t done any of that ever since I moved to London. Too busy for fresh food shopping, too tired to cook anything fresh. It’s a horrid lifestyle. Totally gotta change that.

8. Shop smart for train tickets. Book in advance (way in advance if I can) or use megatrain to get regular Virgin train tickets for embarrassingly cheap tickets.

9. Get more involved in recyclable fashion and chuck less stuff out. I’m getting used to scoring at vintage shops, Oxfam and ripping and re-tying old things for a new look. It’s fun and stops my brain going belly-up from too much academia.

•••

Serious stuff done, let me share some food eye candy with you.

Napolean Tea & Caramel macaron, Moroccan Mint Tea macaron; Sakura Sakura! Tea, Jade Blossom Tea at TWG Salon, ION @ Singapore

The Christmas holiday was well spent and our Christmas roast (prepared, executed and served by moi with some help from the sisters; grocery shopping was team effort with Mum; turkey carving was left to Daddee) a true 2009 success, topping all our other roasts from previous years. I think when Mum’s eyes lit up from the moistness of the turkey, I achieved my first shining Mama-chelin star. So chuffed.

Unfortunately, not many photographs were taken this time round. My camera battery was low and wallybrain me had decided to leave it in my flat – who does that?! But it was glorious and there couldn’t have been a better way to spend Christmas family time. At TWG Tea Salon, we didn’t take much either as we were literally quivering with fear as we’d heard rumours about a no-photography policy. When we did gather our courage to whip out the cameras, no one stopped us. The waiting staff were pretty helpful, offering to take photos of us too which was great! Shame we didn’t get to document our tiers of cakes, patisseries, macarons and finger sandwiches. They were as beautiful as they tasted.

I admit that I was a bit of a hermit, staying in and working furiously like Silas Marner at my essays. I’ve yet to complete the last one which has been a pain in the ass for a real long time but I’m pressing on. Nonetheless, having work to do over the holiday (a real bummer) has taken up loads of my time to meet up with old friends for coffee/catch-ups. A shame I know but I did manage to squeeze a little tea session with the best girl at TWG Tea Salon, movie with the sisters and a lovely lunch with the family.

Mitsu Bay Scallops, Lotus, Chicken, Grated Radish, Shiso Leaves and an Ume Sauce at Ootoya

The weather’s been pretty mild here. I was a little worried about getting totally roasted to death but somehow, the weather’s been so good – cool, not as humid as expected, with a little sun and wind. Not that the weather makes any difference on my sugar/sweet/desserts cravings! And there’s evidence that these cravings were satisfied…

Going out without my camera felt a little odd but knowing that my sister had her Canon D-SLR with her was thoroughly exhilarating. For the first time, I properly held on in my hands and fiddled about with the manual settings and focus. I ain’t good at it (I hope I can say ‘yet’). But it felt amazing. There was like a charge in the atmosphere when I picked it up – not that my own little Powershot G10 isn’t loved but having my eye up to the camera, as though it was some mad extension of my dessert-hungry face, was pretty cool.

Maybe now I’m one of those cool kids with the d-slr and who traipse about knowing they’re all cool and shit with their cameras? Damn ‘em. I’m envious. Oh well, Powershot G10, you’re stuck with me for a long while now. And you’ve never let me down so I’m not unhappy about that. It was just wicked to feel a d-slr in my hands. Kinda like being taken up in a helicopter over a big city by some fancy rich guy ~ something I dream about but don’t really need at the end of the day.

Beautiful Matcha Mousse, Shirotama, Adzuki and Vanilla Ice Cream

I was whipped. The mousse was so matcha-ey with enough bitterness to send me flying. This is one dessert I’ll come back for.

Matcha Parfait – what a classic! – concoction of brown sugar syrup, custard, sponge cake, whipped cream, adzuki, matcha ice cream, what else? mmmm…all good.

The parfait was delicious! I loved the brown sugar syrup at the bottom of the glass. Not a tall glass, so not much to consume but just enough to make you wish you wanted more although you’re totally full up.

My time at home included loads more desserts like kakigori, homemade carrot cake, cookies, biscuits, chocolates, etc. It was a sweet Christmas. And a lovely way to end 2009.

Now, hello 2010. I’m confident that there’s more good sweet things to come. And the next time you hear from me, I’ll be back in London with twice the cravings and hopefully zero jet lag.

A very long time ago, a dazed darling decided to make summer berry crumble (check the archives). But by some supernatural and unfortunate twitch of the hand, she bashed the crumb topping in such that it formed a flat surface with random nobbly bits and crack lines, that resembling the parched grounds of a desert. It was like she’d been hypnotized and only came to realize her mistake right before baking them. What a ditz. She never got to photograph or document the subsequent (and finally, geeez, took her a damn while – successful) crumble attempts.

But. WHEY! Here it is. Another successful apple crumble. And flip. Isn’t it one of the easiest, no brainer, no-recipe things to make? How the heck did I go wrong ages ago? Well – and here I’d like to add one of the longest sighs in the world – strange things happen to me. I’m a strange person of wacky circumstances. I take pride in my quirkiness. I can carry out intelligent conversations, hold my own ground when it comes to cussing and dirty jokes with the boys of my crew. But sometimes I’m just totally not with it. And pardon moi, but if I’m stressed in the kitchen too, things get awful. If I’m in a daze, the food begins to look a little funny.

Today’s a public holiday, it being Singapore’s 44th National Day yesterday; and it’s wonderful to see families out strolling about, shopping, slurping up cones of melting ice cream, etc. It’s awesome. Loving the relaxed state of mind I’ve been in all day! To match this lazy, rainy day, Mum decided to prepare quite the autumn dish: takikomi gohan (mixed rice) with one of my favourites – pumpkin and shimeji miso soup! Honestly, I was looking forward to getting away with not helping. I’d just had ice cream for lunch and a pot of very lovely dragon pearl & rose oil tea. The body was telling me to jump back into bed and get sucked into the seductive land of sleep. Damn those ideas to the darkest corners of a rottin refrigerator!!

Mum gave me the dessert task. But I was lazy so all the fancy stuff when flying out the window and I stuck with the all-time favourite, rustic crumble pudding. And yes, no other fancy fruit to marry with the apple. Just apples, cinnamon and some granola because Mum was kicking up a fuss about pudding being well plain. Women!

Everytime I think apple crumble, I think of Hannah’s mother’s crumble. She honestly makes the best crumble: apple, rhubarb, plum. They’re all good. I don’t know how she does it but she’s a crumble goddess. There must be some sort of weird secret or trick of hand or it might be spiked. But whatever it is, it’s love at first sight with her crumble. I’d like to, however, stand up for my own cute crumbles (is there a plural to that?) and declare that my own mother loved it. And that says a lot because she’s not a pudding person and definitely not a pudding-made-by-own-daughter sorta person.

So, yay. Happy birthday Singapore. And cheers to finally getting the dessert-spoon thumbs-up from my own mother. Apple crumble, I love you.

Granola Apple Crumble
Ingredients

2 medium cooking apples, cut into chunks (you may peel them if you prefer)
1/2 cup granola
50g brown sugar
1 tbs plain flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon

For the crumble topping:

1 cup flour
1/4-1/2 cup granola
1/4-1/2 cup unrefined golden caster sugar (depending on your preference)
3 tbs unsalted butter, cold and cut into chunks

I served these in ramekins but you can use a square baking dish.
Grease ramekins and set aside.
Preheat oven to 180d Celsius.

To prepare the crumb topping, sift the flour into a large bowl. Add the butter and rub into the flour. Lift and toss the mixture as you rub until the mixture begins to resemble crumbs. Don’t over crumb it as I like to have big and small chunks of crumb rather than an evenly crumbly one. Stir in the sugar and granola.

In a small bowl, toss the apple chunks with 1 tbs flour.
Spoon 2 tbs of granola into the bottom of each ramekin and even it out. Then spoon in the apples and pour over them the brown sugar and cinnamon.

Now top with the crumb topping. Just pour it on without fussing too much with it. Placing the ramekins on a cookie tray, bake in the oven for 40-45mins til the crumb topping is golden brown.

Serve with custard, fresh cream or vanilla ice cream. Delish.

Sugar, the weather, dehydration, the evil world…I don’t know…(something!) has unleashed its terror! A spot on my nose and a spot on my chin! As irrelevant to food or to anyone else’s concern as it is, I wish only to share with others my horror and how I dissipated this frenzied alarm with plenty of orange juice, water and a plate of loveliness. And if you wanted to know, even my golden cocker spaniel spurned me when she caught sight of these f***ers on my face. Tch! Talk about true love and fidelity. It’s probably about time I chucked her out and gave food and shelter to that stray black cat down the road. That’ll teach her a lesson for mocking her spotty mistress!Right. So, moving on from spots and the psychological drama of a 21 year old and her dog, I’d like to give you the Poor Knights of Windsor, otherwise known as french toast (or eggy bread) with a dash of sherry and prepared in a slightly different way. Honestly, I like to think that the Brits are finding (once again) reason to include alcohol into yet another dish. A pudding, a breakfast meal, a snack – these knights of windsor aren’t too much or too little if you get what I mean. Also, you can have them savoury or sweet just like French crepes or English pancakes; what could be more exciting than such variety?

If you’re wondering about the name ‘poor knights’, it’s probably metaphorical — due to the fact that stale or nearly stale bread is preferred. Take something gross, unexciting and bordering on poisonous. Give it a good making-over a la Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother, and what do you get? A well posh plate of yumminess. I mean, that’s just totally genius, isn’t it? Besides, it is apparently so, that the older the bread, the better it soaks up the prepared egg mixture. Convenient! But if you’re really intrigued, the poor knights (not the Knights Templar) were really the retired knights of Edward III who accompanied the Knights and Ladies of the Garter. They were given lodging at Windsor Castle and paid a pension – the King’s way of looking after his own financially ruined but loyal knights.

Thinking of setting up some sort of themed breakfast? Why not go all out. Egg it up with Soft Boiled Egg and Toy Soldiers too? The boys should have a field day and decorating the table spread should be exciting. Check out Gomestic for really cool contemporary egg cup designs!

It is common to find poor knights of windsor made with stale white bread and I mean really good bread, even brioche, that’s gone a little stale. But it doesn’t hurt to use pretty peasant-y breads. I mean, that’s the whole point of this. So I’ve used some dusty, grimey, ol’ multi-grain bread and it actually was, to me, better than just plain white. With sunflower seeds, flaxseeds, a bit of poppy and a touch of rolled oats, there was so much more going on than just egg and sherry. What a great way to start the day with all the fibre goodness, vitamins from egg, and a shot of sugar (and alcohol) to lift energy levels for a long day. So what I’ve been trying to say is, this is good. Like real good.

If you’re still unconvinced and reckon it’s just me being all posh and snotty, fine then, grumpy. Go back to your usual french toast and miss out on this creative spin of the regular french toast (and really, I’m not just saying this cause I like my alcohol)!

This recipe yields 4 slices. Please note, typical recipes use only egg yolks and recommend that this produces a finer, homelier result but I don’t like wasting the whites so here goes all.

Poor Knights of Windsor
Ingredients

4 slices stale white or multi-grain bread
2 tsp golden caster sugar
80-100ml semi-skimmed milk
1 tbs sherry
3 large eggs
1 tbs salted butter, for frying
1 tsp cinnamon sugar
maple syrup, for serving
selection of fruit, for serving (optional)
dollop of strawberry jam, for serving (optional)

This is really the simplest breakfast or brunch one could ever prepare. I highly recommend using a good non-stick pan (I use Tefal) so as to reduce the amount of butter you use for frying. It means less mess and less calories!

In a bowl, beat the eggs. In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, sherry and sugars. Place both sets of liquid each in a deep-set plate or bowl, enough to put the bread into to soak.
Place frying pan on low heat and add a quarter of prepared butter to pan. Soak a slice of bread in the milk mixture first, gently pressing down. Carefully flip it around and coat. I like it not completely soaked in milk so as to get more of the egg mixture in the bread. Remove with a firm hand and transfer to plate of egg mixture. Repeat the process and coat through thoroughly, giving it a proper soak. Once butter is melted in the pan, quickly transfer the bread slice to pan and allow to cook about 1-2 minutes each side (this means your pan has to be hot enough). Repeat the cooking process for the rest of the slices. This will be quicker as the pan gets hotter, so stay on your feet!

Plates up once your lovely toasts are cooked. Drizzle with maple syrup and serve with your favourite fruit or jam. If you’re one for the savoury like I am, serve your knights of windsor with a good helping of salted butter, freshly ground sea salt and black pepper. Heaven!