Jang Shou Charcoal BBQ

 

First time I managed to get a shot of fireworks with the CBD as a backdrop (not that our CBD is anywhere compared to Hong Kong). But this was not the highlight of the day...

  

We had dinner at Jang Shou Charcoal BBQ which serves Korean BBQ. Had eaten once here before and felt that the food was not bad. Menu was all ala carte, but we were served 12 side dishes although they were not refillable.

  

We ordered 2 kinds of meat - beef brisket and marinate beef ribs. The above you see is the beef brisket. It was not marinated and you had to dip into the sauce provided.

  

This was the marinated beef ribs. It was marinated in some kind of sweet sauce and was very tender.

  

We ordered a kimchi casserole, which contained cabbage, rice cake, onions, tofu, meat and sausage. The soup was a little sour but very tasty. Overall, a pretty heartening soup. Didn't had proper camera with me so did not bother to take close ups. It was more important to satiate my hunger anyway; for more detailed pictures, head to Sparkling or Still.

 

Ended the night with shots of the fireworks. I think CNY in Singapore is getting more and more boring by the year, especially since it was flooded with foods and items from East Asia, and I do not mean my beloved Japan! I foresee there will come a time when I will just go overseas during CNY.

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The Baker digresses: Fireworks & a Cute Gal

The first time I attended a New Year's Day countdown outside. It was packed to the brim with people. Lots of couples, but I was counting down to New Year's Day (and my birthday) with a guy (sorry WL!).

But our main purpose was to catch the fireworks at midnight! Fireworks have always been difficult to capture after the first couple of shots when smoke sets in, and these were the best I could get after 4 hours waiting for it.

Probably my best shot of the day! Cute little girl at the 53A performance we caught earlier.

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Green Tea Sable Cookies

Sable is a classic French butter cookies originated in Normandie. The name Sable, comes from the French word for sand, because of their crumbly texture

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Recipe:

Ingredients:

Green Tea powder 15g
Flour 240g
Unsalted Butter 150g
Icing sugar 130g
Salt 1/2tsp
Egg yolks 2
Egg White 1


1. Sift green tea powder together with flour and set aside.
2. Beat butter, sugar and salt together until creamy. Add in egg yolks and mix well.
3. Fold in flour and green tea powder with a spatula.
4. Refrigerate batter for about 15 minutes so that it is harder and easier to mold.
5. Shape into logs of about 3.5cm in diameter, wrap in parchment paper and refrigerate till firm.
6. Cut logs into 7mm thick slices and bake at 150 degrees C for about 25 minutes.

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My Macaron journey [Updated]

My first batch on Sat, using the Italian meringue method.

Turned into 3 failed batches; all of them flat and porous.

Undeterred, I tried a second batch using the French meringue and with cocoa powder added.

They managed to rise, but were a little over-baked, too big and had fissures. I kept this batch though, and added dark chocolate ganache and Bailey's cream which I made myself. Didn't taste too bad, especially the next day.

Unsatisfied, on Sunday, I tried again. I followed the recipe here to the T. The batter looked good and thick, and a shell formed after some rest.

Unfortunately, I was still trying to get the right oven temperature. At 200 deg celsius, it came out browned with a large air pocket.

Next, I tried another batch at 150 deg celsius. The low temperature caused the feet to ooze really badly with a large air pocket as well. And another batch, I forgot to add my other half portion of eggs -_-" , leading to a really thick and wrinkly macaron (no pics here).

After 2 more failed batches, my second last batch turned out pretty good at 180 deg celsius. The feet developed and the top was smooth. Unfortunately, the sides were a little brown.

Inside the macaron, the body was good. There was no air pocket and the inside felt full enough.

My final batch which I covered with foil in the last few mins to prevent browning. I reduced the time as well, which led to some collapsing after cooling. But I had some which turned out well.

Tada! My successful ones filled with dark chocolate ganache. Finally got these bastards right!!

Oops...collapsed as I took my shot.

Well, after approximately 6 failed batches, at least I know which batter works and the right temperature for my oven. But I will only know the real taste tomorrow when the flavours blend.

Maybe next week, I shall attempt it again until I get it exactly right. At S$2.30 a pop from Canele, I'll be rich if I get it right. After all 2.5 eggs, sugar and almond meal yielded me 16 macarons. The difficulty is in the preparation of the batter and baking it right, not to mention the wastage from failed macarons. Macarons all the way!

But I still have so many things in my mind I wanna bake...

[Update]: After taste-testing the next day, I conclude that my while the shape of my last batch was good and there were no air pockets inside, the texture of the inside was a little undercooked. It looked a little too wet and crystallised. Perhaps because I baked it on a wired rack. Shall try again this weekend without the wire rack; maybe the undersides will cook better. Also, I need to perfect my ganache; seems a little too hard and can be softer and smoother. Now, on to hunt more macaron flavour recipes...

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Raisin Bread

Managed to successfully baked my raisin bread. Used bread flour this time round and allowed the dough to rise twice. The crust was a little crispy and the inside is still fluffy and not too dense.

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Cinnamon Rolls

My new toy..a silicone pastry mat to knead my dough on. Cost me $38, but it's pretty cool.

My cinnamon rolls. I think I failed though and I'm kinda disappointed. The dough was too dense and not fluffy, and I think I should have rolled it thinner as it turned out to be a little to thick after rising. Didn't manage to achieve the gooey cinnamon sugar either. Found another recipe which prepared the cinnamon sugar mix differently. Perhaps that's the key to a gooey roll.

Conclusion: Failure. Maybe I should try baking a loaf of white bread first to get the fluffy texture right before I retry cinnamon rolls.

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スイートポテトケーキ

手作りスイートポテトケーキ。(Self-made sweet potato cake. Recipe here.)

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