Sunday, March 24, 2013

Buttermilk Raspberry Muffins

Yet another Joy of Baking recipe!

Needless to say, it was another resounding, no-sweat success! I do not even have to reduce the amount of sugar used in the recipe unlike most other recipes I got online.

Stephanie Jaworski, you are the best! :)

Sushi Airways Sushi Bar

I got to know of this Japanese restaurant from a friend's Facebook posting. An online search on this restaurant yielded good reviews on the food, the price (set lunch) as well as it's unique airline theme.

Armed with high expectations, a friend and I arrived at the restaurant punctually at noon - it's opening hour. The restaurant is at the second level of a shophouse along Baghdad Street and we were their first customers of the day.

Besides the flight attendant attire of the only waitress in the restaurant, it was not apparent to me that this is an airline themed restaurant. We were also somewhat disappointed that the lunch set menu is only available during the weekdays.

Nevertheless, with the recommendation from the waitress, we proceeded to order the mango roll, sesame soba, grilled fugu and black pork tonkatsu.

The grilled fugu was the first to be served. In layman's term, it refers to grilled puffer fish. It needs to be prepared in a special way in order to remove the toxins from the fish. So this might explain why we were only served a few strips on a tiny plate. It tastes like freshly barbecued pork or otherwise known locally as bak kwa. Just that it's thicker and stickier to the bite.



Next up was the sesame soba. This is genuinely good! The soba has a springy texture with a tinge of sesame aroma. Two thumbs up!

The black tonkatsu was a little on the tough side and if you are watching that waistline of yours, I would advise you to skip it totally.

Finally, the long awaited mango rolls. The presentation was good but unfortunately, the zucchini slice detaches easily from the sushi when we tried to eat it. As a result, we had to eat the top portion of the sushi (everything else above the zucchini slice) separately from the sushi itself. Would be better if the two stays together.



All in all, the bill came up to a whooping $90+. It is somewhat expensive considering the serving size and location of the restaurant. Nevertheless, I might be back again but probably on a weekday to try the more economically priced lunch set at $15+.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Kenny Rogers Corn Muffin

I have always liked the food served at Kenny Rogers. Whenever I'm there, I'll surely order the quarter chicken, macaroni cheese and mashed potato. And you know what's the best part? I get to have my favourite corn muffin for FREE! :)

I love the muffin so much that even when I'm just passing by a Kenny Rogers restaurant, I'll be sure to buy at least one corn muffin to munch along the way.

Therefore, I have totally no idea what took me so long to finally decide that I should try recreating the muffins at home!

Strangely enough, there seems to be only one recipe online when I googled it. I ammended the steps of the recipe because the online recipe only gave instructions to chunk most of the ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix them until creamy. Hmmm...suspicious...

So here's my own version of the recipe for all the Kenny Rogers corn muffin fans!

Kenny Rogers Corn Muffin

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter
1/2 cup (100g) sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup (195g) plain flour
3/4 cup (116g) yellow cornmeal
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup frozen yellow corn


Method:
(1) Preheat oven to 200°C
(2) In a mixing bowl, mix the butter and sugar till light and creamy
(3) Mix the eggs in one at a time
(4) In another bowl, whisk together the plain flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt
(5) Add the dry ingredients in batches to the wet ingredients
(6) In between mixing the wet and dry ingredients, add the milk in batches as well
(7) Add the honey and mix till it is incorporated to the batter
(8) Lastly, add the corns and mix well.
(9) Pour the muffin batter into muffin cups and bake for approximately 20 - 25 minutes or until the top is golden and a stick inserted into the muffin comes out clean


Verdict:
(+) This recipe is relatively easy to follow

(-) It can be quite a challenge to find yellow cornmeal in Singapore. Nevertheless, it can be found in the more upmarket supermarkets such as Jasons Market Place or certain Cold Storage outlets (such as Yishun).
(-) If you were to replace the cornmeal with polenta, the muffins will have a more textured taste to the bite since polenta is coarsely grained cornmeal.

(=) The muffins are best eaten on the day of baking. The crust is slightly crispy and it tastes almost like the real deal!

Irish Soda Bread

Yes! It is official! I am addicted to the Joy of Baking youtube videos! :)

This time, I decided to try my hands at making the Irish soda bread and it was a triumphant success! From preparation of the ingredients to having the piping hot loaf right in front of me, it took no more than an hour.

The bread has a crispy crust on the day of baking and there is also a tinge of sweetness in every bite.

I highly recommend this recipe for the ever-so-busy individual who loves the wholesome homemade bread loaf but couldn't afford the time required in most bread recipes which requires the proofing of the dough.