Ingredients

• 1 ½ tsp. Sugar
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 tsp. Active dry yeast
• 1 egg
• 1 ½ cups lukewarm milk
• 1 cup Self raising flour
• 3/4 cup buckwheat flour
• ½ tsp. Salt
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions

In a small bowl, dissolve ½ tsp. Of the sugar in warm water. Sprinkle in yeast and let it stand for approx 10 minutes until the mixture appears to be frothy. In a separate larger mixing bowl, beat egg, milk and remaining sugar. Add flours and salt (I like to sift this in) and beat for 1 minute. Beat in the yeast mixture and half of the butter. Cover the mixing bowl with glad wrap; leave it to rise in warm place until it has about doubled in size (takes around 1 hour).

Heat nonstick skillet over medium heat; brush lightly with some of the remaining butter. It’s really just like making tiny little pancakes. I find that it gets a little messy spooning small amounts of batter onto the pan so I used a piping bag. You can also transfer the batter into a zip lock bag, seal it and cut a small corner on the bottom to pipe with.

I piped ‘blobs’ of batter around 4cm in diameter. Cook until bubbles form on top, then carefully flip each one over and cook until bottoms are golden brown.

Makes around 50 blini. It may seem like a lot, but you’ll be surprised how quickly it goes!

Traditionally, you would serve these with caviar. Sturgeon roe is just one of the most divine flavours that make me weak at the knees. Unfortunately, due to illegal fishing, the numbers of wild sturgeon has dramatically decreased over the years. The Beluga sturgeon is currently considered to be endangered, causing the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to ban in 2005 the importation of Beluga caviar which originated in the Caspian Sea and Black Sea basin. Sterling, a Californian company, have started farming white sturgeon caviar that is almost similar to Ossetra caviar. Do not forget to handle caviar with a mother of pearl spoon, as metal utensils tend to impart an unwelcome metallic taste to the delicate and expensive roe.

You can purchase Sterling Caviar (pictured) from Simon Johnson for around $605.00 for a 125gm serving with your whole family on a special occasion. They also have 30gm servings at $163.00, which is a perfect size for two people. (Hint: Valentine’s day is coming up!)

My favorite condiments to accompany caviar on the blini are finely chopped hard boiled egg yolks, egg whites, chives, creme fraiche, capers, and red onions.

You can also serve blini’s with smoked salmon, making it a great canape at parties.

If you ever have chance to get your hands on Beluga – I would suggest not embellishing the flavour of the roe with anything at all. Known to be the largest sturgeon, it can measure up to six meters in length and consists of very large eggs, which makes it very desirable. Even though Beluga weighing up to 600 kilograms existed in the past, the endangered species rarely come in those sizes nowadays because of overfishing.

New Style Salmon
Serves 4-5

8 – 12 ounces sashimi (Atlantic Salmon)
2 Tablespoons minced garlic
Fresh gingerroot, julienned
Chilli, thinly sliced
Shallots, very thinly sliced
12 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 Tablespoons sesame oil
4 Tablespoons soy sauce
4 Tablespoons yuzu juice (may substitute with lemon juice)
2 Tablespoons white sesame seeds

Cut the fish fillet into paper-thin slices. Arrange on platter. Scatter some of the minced garlic and some of the ginger and scallion julienne over the fish; sprinkle with the sesame seeds. Sprinkle on the soy sauce and yuzu juice.

Combine the olive oil and sesame oil in a nonreactive small saucepan. Set over moderately high heat and bring almost to a boil (about 200°); the surface will shimmer. Remove from the heat and immediately pour one-fourth of the sauce over each serving of fish. The hot oil will sear the fish as you pour it on. Serve at once.

DOM PERIGNON WEEK 2008

EXPERIENCE MAGNIFICENCE

Dom Perignon Plenitude Experience

We are inviting you to experience the romance,

passion and luxury of the champagne that knows no compromise.

Accompanied by Dom Perignon’s Greg Williams, explore the three extraordinary expressions of Dom Perignon.

Dom Perignon Blanc, Dom Perignon Rose and Dom Perignon Œnothèque.

Enjoy these exceptional wines with expertly crafted delicacies which allow Dom Perignon

to express its seamless and sensual qualities.

This unique experience is available for 8 guests only

We did a series of three vintages:

Vintage 2000 – matched with Salmon Sashimi
Rosé Vintage 1998 – matched with acorn fed prosciutto
Œnothèque 1993 – matched with oysters in ginger and ponzu

The Œnothèque was beautifully complex, it is a volumptuous wine with a lingering creamy fullness. What makes it so special? Normal champagne vintages are only released after 7 years of aging. Though on top of that, a small portion of each vintage is kept on the lees even longer to continue the evolution and magnify its natural qualities. When a vintage is released for the second time, it merits the Œnothèque label. It indicates that a Dom Perignon vintage has reached either its second peak in maturity, with optimized intensity (15 to 20 years after harvest), or its third peak, with optimized complexity (after 30 years on the lees).

I’m officially Champagne’d out.

The Sushi Master Shaun

I recommend the sashimi pizza! View the menu here.

Rissoto Al Porcino e Zucchine Bianche Di Trieste
(Porcini and Trieste white zucchini risotto with Truffled butter) $19

Spaghetti Chitarra Allo Zaffrando Con Pesce Di Acquadolce
Saffron Chitarra spaghetti with Barramundi, prawns, chilli, capers, garlic and Pinot Grigio White Wine ($22)

Trota Salmonata Al Dragoncello Con Mostrarda
(Steamed ocean trout with Escarole, raddicchio and mustard fruit salad, Tarragon salsa and salmon caviar) $34

Zuppa Di Crostacei e Molluschi Veraci
(Crustacean and mollusc fish stew with half shell scallop, black mussels, clams, prawns, saffron potatos and Fregola) $36

Semifreddo Di Torrone Alle Mandorle
(Nougat, Ligurian Honey and almond milk semifreddo with candied Almond) $14

Affogato Tradizionale (expresso Coffee with Vanilla Ice Cream and Chocolate Liqueuer) $14

Poke poke poke

The “wagaya” Chef’s Salad

Mentaiko Spaghetti – nowhere near as good as Blue Marlin in LA, unfortunately…

Chicken Katsu

Agedashi Mochi – which I loved!

Grilled Salmon Wing

So this is the Salom Roulette – which is a great gimmick: There are 6 pieces of sushi, and only one of them is ‘booby-trapped” with a VERY LARGE amount of wasabi. Nervous laughs all around.

And of course, the fiery piece ends up in my mouth. Tear gas.

Dessert plates: The Mochi ice cream (bottom left) was to die for!

They have private rooms available too!

The Yuzu Shoju recommendation from Yas was delicious!

A tip: Row 80 on the upper deck on the new A380 – so much leg room I couldn’t even kick my seat pocket!

Roja @ The Wine Company Dempsey – a chain of wine bars owned by my friend whom I was staying with (so I went to ALL of them)

Chicken Rice @ Chatterbox Cafe, Mandarin Hotel

TCC - Rosewater Latte and Banana Curry Salmon (I ordered it because it was the weirdest thing I could find)

Bakerzin

Dessert Overload!

Tekong Seafood Restaurant near Changi – Shark’s Head dish (right) was amazing and not always available

Bakuteh!!!
 

Killiney Kopitiam

Mee Siam, Coconut butter toast, Chendol

Old Chang Kee (I was giggling at “K8″)

Partners in Gluttony – and my food coma face

“I can’t possibly eat anymore!” (and so I continued…)

So… I think I’m going to be blogging about new diet recipes again for the next few weeks..!

Scale, debone and Skin Salmon

Marinade fillet with 1 tbsp Tamari, 1 tbsp Fish sauce, dash of mirin, dash of yuzu in a bag, and refridgerate for 30 mins

Pan fry fillet for 2 minutes on each side

Immediately wrap fillet inside a foil “boat” and let it sit – so it slow cooks itself with the existing heat

Pan fry salmon skin, and throw inside oven with the grill on for a few more minutes

I served it with a side of carrot and zucchini ribbons (lightly blanched, dressed with sea salt, pepper and olive oil) and topped with thin strips of crispy salmon skin. I pan fried the rest of the zucchini (it was just leftovers from “ribbon making” that I didn’t want to waste).
The result? Really amazing, moist, medium rare flesh better than poached salmon, and topped with the crispy skin that we love so much from fried salmon. Thanks Woo Weeee

Robuchon a Galera at Hotel Lisboa – Joel Robuchon being one of my favorite chefs… this was one of the places I couldn’t wait to try! A lot of friends have commented that this restaurant is much better than its Hong Kong counterpart (which is probably over-trendy with less focus on the food).

Warm egg cocotte with spinach, truffle and parsley toast, Chicken soup jelly with Fois Gras, Onion tartin with Sliced black truffle

Papilotte of silver cod with black truffle and baby artichoke and leek - cooked to perfection in a paper bag, cream sauce dressed at the table, and the flesh of the fish just falls to the touch of the fork. mmmm

The mille feuille (my favorite dessert of all time) with very fresh pastry and vanilla cream, the floating island with chestnut ice cream

The Peninsula Spa

“Exclusive poolside lunch featuring Naturally Peninsula light and healthy cuisine” – Poached salmon in vegetable broth

H One @ IFC

Steamed White Asparagus, Italian “Sunny Side Up” Egg, Shaved Parmesan, White Truffle Oil

Agnes b – Le pain grille

High tea set – very cute, relaxing environment perfect for a girly chat over a hot cup. I went with my grandmother!

Da Domenico -10 Hysan Ave, 10-12, G/F Sunning Plaza, Causeway Bay

Their famous Lobster linguini – to die for. A cute trattoria styled Italian restaurant I visited with my boss. I snapped this photo during his smoke break!

Perhaps I will do a variation on the raw food diet along with a low carb intake. Now the challenge is for this to taste good!

today’s lunch: Baby cos lettuce, tuna, raw mushrooms, cucumber, tomato, handful of corn kernels, olives with balsamic vinegrette

Other ideas I’m currently thinking of:

Seared peppered tuna on a bed of wakame salad, ponzu dressing
Sashimi, sashimi, sashimi ($$$$$)
Vegetable sticks with organic hummus, paprika
Soft poached egg, asparagus, truffle oil, black pepper
Salmon carparccio, lemon oil, baby capers
Crab meat, mango and julienned cucumber salad
Edamame with sea salt and shichimi (Japanese 7 spice)
Shaved Turkey breast with… ???
Baby rucola, nashi and walnut salad with EVO and balsamic
Lightly grilled Shrimp with fresh tomato and basil salsa
Cold Tofu with paperthin daikon radish, soy and miso dressing
Sydney Rock Oysters with champagne vinegar

Borrrrring… but totally doable! What else tastes great with hardly any calories? It’s time to really discover the world of spices.

currently questionable foods:
Haloumi