Strawberries

Took half day from work last Friday to attend Chef Daniel Tay's demo class on "Strawberries" at Shermay's Cooking School. The Bread IV class was supposed to be my last, but I couldn't resist signing up for this class (and in fact, another puff pastry class by Chef Christopher in Dec :p).

Even though it was a weekday, the class was full with close to 40 pax, I think. That goes to show how popular pastries made with strawberries are, or rather, how popular Chief Daniel Tay is and his Strawberry Shortcake, Fraisier and Strawberry Tart desserts offered at Bakerzin. I guess everybody loves strawberry pastries, partly because of its visual appeal and partly because the tartness, sweetness and juiciness of strawberries paired very well with cakes and cream. I'm keen to attend the class so that I could bake either the Strawberry Shortcake or Fraisier for my close friends' birthday celebrations. Cupcake is good as giveaways or during parties but layer cake is always the essential for birthday celebrations.

4 recipes were demonstrated and these are very substantial recipes on their own which require multiple steps. The recipes are also found in his recipe book "Just Desserts". I guess the advantage of attending his class, he would share certain tips and knowledge not written in the book, and we could actually see the process of preparing the various components and finally assemble them.

• Fraisier - A cake made of almond genoise sponge, pistachio butter cream filled with kirsh-soaked strawberries (techniques for crème patisserie for pistachio butter and Italian meringue included)
• Strawberry Tart - A simple fruit tart made of sablé dough filled with almond cream, topped with fresh strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, finished with an apricot glaze
• Strawberry Shortcake - A classic cake made of a genoise sponge and chantilly cream, topped with fresh strawberries. Cake assembly and decoration technique included.
• Strawberry Ice Cream - Homemade ice cream using strawberry purée, includes how to make a basic custard

Seriously a lot of hard work goes into the Fraisier. Preparing the Pistachio Butter Cream itself requires another 2 recipes - butter cream and crème patisserie. Not to mention the almond genoise sponge. Assembling the cake itself is also tedious - almond genoise sponge, pistachio butter cream, neatly placed strawberries, more butter cream to fill all the gaps, sponge, spread with layer of Italian Meringue, caramelised the surface using blowtorch for colour, topped with a layer of apricot glaze and finally some fruits for decoration. Phew!

The Strawberry Tart requires 2 components - the sable dough for the tart and almond cream for the filling. Both are fairly easy, except that got to work very fast with the sable dough as the dough does not work well in our hot and humid weather. Just look at the amount of strawberries, rasberries and blueberries that go into just one tart. These fruits are not cheap, especially strawberries which preferably from Korean or Japan (even more ex) as they look nicer and are sweeter. End result, very lovely and vibrant and sure whets my appetite.

And now for the star. The strawberry shortcake remains one of the best seller and hot favourite of Bakerzin, according to Chef Daniel.

The key is making a very light genoise sponge, however requires experience in whipping and folding the batter, as well as ingredients (he uses Japanese flour) and oven temperature. We had tasting of just the sponge itself, and oh my, the sponge was light as feather and just the right sweetness and texture! Good to eat on its own.

Didn't have opportunity to see the full process of the strawberry ice-cream as the cake and tart recipes were really tedious and took up most of the time.

Everyone brought home a takeaway box (fresh from Bakerzin Factory) with a slice of Fraisier, Strawberry Shortcake and Strawberry Tartlet.

Even though lots of pistachio butter cream was used, the Fraisier was not heavy at all. Taste-wise, some may not like pistachio butter cream but I thought it was ok, not overwhelming at all. The butter cream paired well with the almond sponge and strawberries. The fruits balanced the sweetness and creaminess. But I reckon just one small slice with coffee or tea would be nice, not too much.

Instead of a big tart, can also make into tiny tartlets and top with one strawberry. Presentation-wise although not as appealing as the big tart, I think this is much easier to serve and eat. The tart retained some crunch even though kept overnight in fridge.

The strawberry shortcake was lovely, with the light as feather sponge and cream. With the combination of strawberries, it gave a 'fall-in-love" and blissful kind of feeling. I felt so tempted to finish the slice but alas, watching my sugar intake now so could just a bite or two :(

Nevermind, this shall be one of my top to-bake cake after I pop!

Koh Samui 1-4Oct 09: Day 3 & 4

Day 3 of my escape!

Woke up to a slow breakfast of Pad Thai. YUM! It felt good to have someone whipped up a perfect meal to start the day...


After breakfast, we strolled a bit before going back to the room to watch Transformer 2 DVD which hubby bought the previous night.

Thereafter, we decided to rent a jeep and drive around. Hubby wanted to find some fishing pond and do a little fishing. Most holiday-goers to Samui prefer renting motorcycles because it's quite cheap and hassle-free as compared to a car, which is more expensive and could hardly find parking space at Chaweng or most other places.

Our ride for the day! Advantage, faster than motorcycle, with air-con and not subject to weather conditions =D

We decided to head to Sabeinglae for lunch, a local restaurant which offered very good Thai food from our previous trip.

The restaurant looks so different in daylight (previous time, it was night time and the whole place seemed quite dim and secluded).

Pleasantly surprised to realise that the restaurant is so close to the beach and overlooks the sea. Really nice view.

The mixed veg was stir-fried to perfection, just the right crunch.

Hubby's favourite and he claimed it was even nicer than the one he had at Poppies. Very spicy and sourish.

Green curry chicken. Very fragrant aroma and taste of curry.

Another great dish, combination of fish and celebry is unique but very good.

Once again, Sabeinglae is the best!

After the satisfying meal, we drove around and decided to pop by some waterfall to take a look. Chanced upon a signage which says viewpoint. Luckily we had the jeep which was powerful enough to go up the hills. But still was kind of scary.

10 baht entrance fee to get to the viewpoint, which is just 3 mins through a dirt path.

Treated to a nice view, not totally breathtaking but still beautiful. Hang around a bit before going downhill in search of the fishing pond.

Found. Top Cats Fishing Resort.

Quite a large size fresh water fishing pond, the environment is very serene and well-kept.

Top Cats offers lodging and food for holiday-goers as well. Probably for those who enjoys fishing, wants to stay for a longer period and looking for unique experience.

There's pool table for some entertainment.

And even a swimming pool.

In the distance, Thai Teak Houseboat which is the lodging available for holiday-goers.

We took up a 4-hr fishing package which included fishing guide, bait and 2 rods. And we got our very own fishing hut as well. Cool. 2 fishing guides were attached to us on that day, probably coz there weren't any other anglers around, and 1 teenager, probably a relative also came to help out.

Basically, the fishing guides would prepare the bait and cast the rods for us. We didn't even have to get our hands dirty and wet. Luxury style fishing.

Hubby fighting with fish. One of the fishing guide standing by in the water to land the fish. Once the fish is landed, the guide would release the hook and nurse the fish for a few minutes before we took a photo. Then, he would nurse the fish again (even applying some iodine on the fish) before releasing it. They took very good care of the fish here as they are expensive to bring in for upkeep. They kept urging hubby to jump into the water to hold the fish for photo-taking (towels, showering facilities provided), naturally hubby won't do that! Haha. Apparently it's a norm to do so, especially for the foreigners.

The Giant Mekong, which hubby had already landed before in Bangkok, so he wasn't really interested. He was more keen in landing those species not landed before.

We started out pretty slow, but as the evening approached (usual feeding time of fish apparently), there were more hits.

Hubby happy with his Red-Tail Catfish, a first for him.

Some snacks from the restaurant.

Can see the almost full moon in the distance? The next day would be the notorious full moon party at Phangna Island.

Another new catch, the Red-Tail Tiger Catfish.

Yet another new catch, this time the Red-Tail Leopard Catfish. That's where we decided to call it a day. Although hubby was hoping to land an Arapaima, but well he was happy with his catch.

We tipped the guides before going off. Not an easy job, especially when he had to go into water everytime a catch was landed.

We drove back to Chaweng in search of a dinner place and came across a night market. Popped in to take a look but nothing suitable for dinner. Nonetheless interesting to experience the local night market.

Moving along, we saw many pizza places offering wood fire pizza along the main central Chaweng but couldn't find parking lot for car anywhere. The bane of driving in Samui.

In the end, no choice but to drive back to resort and park there, and settled dinner at an Italian restaurant near the resort.

Service was very very slow and food so-so only. Can't even recall name of restaurant. By the time we were done, it was quite late. Quickly went back to resort for a good bath and hit the bed after a long day.

Last day!

Our relaxing escape approaching the end. Ordered french toast with bacon and mushroom for breakfast. The french toast and mushroom was perfect but bacon overdone. Still a good breakfast.

Decided that we could with one more spa before going home. So headed to hubby's favourite Leelawadee Allure Mssage & Spa.

Naturally hubby went for his 1hr 'Tiger Balm' Back Massage, whereas I settled for a soothing foot massage to ease my tired legs from water retention. Bliss.

Soon, the bliss was over. We returned the jeep, went back to resort to pack up and check-out. It was still early to go airport, so we left the luggage with the resort and headed for lunch. Been eyeing this Ninja Restaurant directly opposite our resort the first day, as it seems to be quite popular.

In fact, quite a humble little eatery serving home-style thai food.

Tom Yum soup again. Not as spicy, very 'mum's place' style.

The omelette was nice, similarly, very mum's taste.

We love the stir-fried veg in Samui. Kana is actually Kailan.

The squid with chilli was good, spicy and sourish, very appetising and fresh.

With that, we concluded our last meal at Samui and headed for the airport and home.

Wonder when we would be back again. Next time, probably with Junior in tow. Till then.

Resources

• Top Cats Fishing Resort http://www.fishinginthailand.com/index.html

Koh Samui 1-4Oct 09: Day 1 & 2

So the saying goes, the best time to travel during pregnancy is during the 2nd trimester. Consulted my gynae and even got a certification letter for flight, we were raring to go =D Yes, the wanderlust.

To play safe and for hassle-free travel, we shortlisted a few nearby countries with less than 2hr flight time - places like Phuket, Langkawi, Bangkok, Bali, Koh Samui... thing is we have been to all of them already (read: boring!) but then again the focus of this vacation is to relax so familiarity isn't a bad thing so that we don't have to do the touristy bit of visiting places of attractions.

After much consideration (Have to make this count since it could well be my last flight before I pop!), finally settled on Koh Samui though we have only been there barely few months ago. Hassle-free is the key thing - short flight time, short transfer time to resort, shopping and eateries within walking distance from resort, very good food (we love thai food) and massage (the 'Tiger Balm' massage is worth every bit).

Day 1

Flight by Bangkok Airways, the one and only from Singapore (that explains the fare which could fly us to Hong Kong already) was at 8.10pm. By the time we reached Samui, it was only 9pm local time (Samui is one hour behind Singapore).

Our choice of resort this time was Buri Rasa Village, Samui, located at mid (a bit towards south) area of Chaweng Beach. Although we love Sareeraya very much from the last trip, its location is not ideal being the northern part of Chaweng and quite far from the eateries and shopping; and it's not convenient for me to ride scooter like we did the last time. Buri Rasa seems to be one of the best establishments along central Chaweng.

Made prior arrangement for airport pick-up by resort and in no time, we checked into Buri Rasa Village, Samui located at Chaweng Beach. Since it was still early, hubby made his way to his favourite spa for his Tiger Balm massage while I lazed around our room.

Here's my customary run-through of the resort and room (note, photos taken over few days).


Entrance to the resort by main street of Chaweng Beach, considered mid-south area.

Reception area. Staff at Buri Rasa are quite friendly, but not overwhelming. I booked a Deluxe Studio Room through email and got a promo/discounted rate. The entire reservation process was prompt and easy. Initially thinking of Deluxe Garden Court with Dip Pool so that we could swim in privacy but after reading reviews that the pool is way too small and visible from level 2 rooms (no privacy), we dropped the idea and settled for Deluxe Studio which is said to offer "stunning sea-view".

The spacious and cozy living room. Spent our lazy mornings and afternoons watching DVD and TV programmes. Only gripe, TV screen is too small.

Small pantry area beside the living room, with bar fridge (hidden) and coffee/tea making facilities.

Our balcony, which offers only partial view of the sea. But I guess our room is the one closest to having sea-view already. Seldom hang around at the balcony as there were lots of mosquitoes.

Now to the cozy bedroom. The poster bed with mosquito netting is most useful to ward off the mosquitoes. Bed and quilt are both very comfy.

Sofa and TV is bedroom which we didn't use since we prefer hanging around the living room.

Spacious and impeccably clean bathroom with separate shower and bath tub. I love the overhead shower.

Jacuzzi bathtub. Could soak in the bathtub while admiring the view.

Separate walk-in wardrobe area which is most useful for depositing our luggage and hang the clothes and stuff.

That pretty sum up our room. Next to some facilities around the resort, which is quite a small establishment, probably considered a boutique resort.

Beach is fairly deserted at this part of Chaweng Beach.

Very small pool, only 1.2m depth.

Betelnut Restaurant where we have our daily breakfast included in the rate. Didn't have chance to try other meals.

Day 2

On to Day 2, starting with a leisurely breakfast.

This is part of the self-service breakfast spread, consisting of assorted breads and pastries, jams and spreads, cereals and oats, yogurts, fruit juices and milk and fruits.

There is also a menu where we could place orders for various hot items. My order, omelette and pork sausage, which was fairly standard.

After breakfast, we strolled a bit and went back to the room to laze.

Lunch time soon, so we walked and shopped along the streets towards central Chaweng. I guess it took a fair 30mins. Most of the shops open late and the streets were fairly deserted. Probably most people were sun-tanning by the beach or out for sea sports or just snoozing in the comforts of their rooms?

Settled for a quick lunch at Will Wait Restaurant which we visited before. Food was so-so.

After lunch, we decided to go for some massage (yes, again for hubby) at a spa (Paragon Massage & Spa) we passed by that looks not bad.

I did a foot scrub, foot massage (not reflexology) and pedicure, whereas hubby did foot scrub and foot massage. The therapists were quite skilled and gentle knowing that I'm pregnant. It was totally soothing for me, whereas hubby still preferred his Tiger Balm body massage at the other spa.

Then it was back to the resort for more lazing. In the evening, I decided to go Poppies Restaurant at Poppies Resort (south of Chaweng) as it was supposedly a highly-acclaimed restaurant with very good reviews and we didn't try it the other time.

Tom Yum Seafood soup. Hubby's favourite and it is usually this dish that determines our rating for the place. It was ok only, not the best we tried before.

Pandan chicken. Meat was very tender, not bad.

Stir-fried morning glory (kang kong). Not bad as well.

I love this fish with tangy sauce which was very appetising. Fish meat was tender and fresh as well.

Overall, it was a good meal, but not overwhelming. Ambience was so-so as it was rather dark. Service though friendly, a tad slow. Food was reasonable but we could have equal or better thai food at fraction of the cost elsewhere (such as Sabieng Lae). So it is unlikely that we will be back again to Poppies.

After dinner, some shopping and then back to the resort. Slow but relaxing day :)

Resources

• Bangkok Airways http://www.bangkokair.com/
• Buri Rasa Village, Samui http://www.burirasa.com/
• Poppies Restaurant http://www.poppiessamui.com/uk/uk-samui-restaurant.html

Apple Muffin

It's Monday but no work for me as it's a mandatory off in-lieu of the Deepavali holiday. For once, no Monday blues :p

Since I'm trying to use up my ingredients, I shall bake! But what? Found a bag of over-ripe apples in the fridge which I totally forgot. Apple Tart (Crostata de mele) which I baked before is not a bad idea but didn't feel like making shortcrust pastry in such a hot and humid weather. I wanted something easy and hassle-free. So searched on the internet and came across Happy Home Baker's Apple Muffins, which is just what I need!

Modified the recipe very slightly, using the available ingredients I have at home.

Ingredients:
(makes 12 muffins using tall muffin cases, or 13 using short cases)

280g cake flour (original recipe plain flour)

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon powder (Optional. I added this as I love the combination of cinnamon and apple, 1 tsp is in fact barely distinct)

50g unsalted butter, soften at room temperature

100g light brown sugar (original recipe castor sugar)

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup low fat milk

1 cup red apples, peeled and cubed (about 1 - 1.5cm size)

Almond flakes as topping (Optional. I added this for a nicer finishing)

Method:

• Preheat oven to 220 degree celsius.
• Line muffin pans with paper cases.
• In a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon powder and salt, blend well.
• Using an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar, still creamy.
• Add in egg, gradually, mix well after each addition. Mix till mixture is creamy and fluffy.
• Add vanilla extract, mix well.
• Add flour mixture (in 3 additions) alternating with milk (in 2 additions), starting and ending with flour. Mix only until well combined. Gently fold in the chopped apples.
• Fill muffin cases with batter till 2/3 full. Top with almond flakes.
• Bake for 20 to 25mins, until muffins turn golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
• Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

As I have enough ingredients, made 3 batches in total so that I can bring them to office for giveaways the next day.

The muffin tasted quite light with a nice aroma of apple. Surprisely not very sweet, was it due to light brown sugar that I used instead of castor sugar? Could still see the cubed apples though they shrunk a little. If want bigger bite, probably could cut into 2 - 2.5cm chunks. One thing though, a tad dry, probably could add more liquid, or perhaps I over-mixed the batter or the oven is too hot.

Different types of muffin cases for different look (actually it's because I have many different leftover odd cases).

Overall quite a easy recipe and totally enjoyed the process. I love the aroma that filled the whole house!

I still have a few bags of bread flour, some cream cheese, Valrhona chocolate and cocoa powder... what shall I do with them?

Kukup Fishing Village, Johor Malaysia 25-26 Sep 09

It's been more than 10 years since we last visited Kukup, a bustling small fishing village in Johor Malaysia. We were contemplating a local chalet initially but couldn't book the bigger and better ones so decided to organise a 2D1N short trip to Kukup instead, together with hubby's relatives, 22 pax in 4 cars.

There are many chalets in Kukup for short getaways, typical itinerary:
Day 1
Morning - If self-drive, OTOT to Kukup (otherwise, transport can be arranged)
11am - Reach Kukup town, free & easy, shop for local products
11.45am - Seafood lunch (part of package)
12.30pm - Boat ride to chalet, check-in, free & easy (walk around, karaoke, mahjong, card games)
4.30pm - Afternoon tea (part of package), free & easy
8pm - BBQ Seafood dinner (part of package), free & easy
Day 2
Morning - Breakfast (part of package), free & easy
11.15am - Check-out, Kelong tour by boat (part of package)
12.15pm - Seafood lunch (part of package)
1.30pm - OTOT Departure

The families met at around 8.30am and set off at 9am. Surprisingly, traffic at Tuas Checkpoint was really smooth. By 11am, we had already reached Kukup. As it was still early for lunch, we hanged around the shops for local products, mainly the salted fish and dried goods.

Limited parking at the town itself. Cars were directed to a nearby sheltered and guarded car park (small fee chargeable) and shuttle service provided.
By 11.45am, all of us were famished and couldn't wait to tuck in to the sumptuous 8-course seafood lunch. Couldn't remember all the dishes now, there were prawns, squid, crab, fish, veg... not bad!
After lunch, we took a short 10min boat ride to the chalet (1/2hr to walk). Overall, the chalet is quite spacious and clean with 3 bedrooms (enough for 24pax), 1 living room, 2 toilets and 1 kitchen. Important thing, there is air-con.
Bedrooms with double-decker beds, which are not exactly comfortable and a little crikey, but well, can't have high expectations.

Spacious kitchenette.

After settling down, we walked around. A small fishing boat just returned and sorting out the shrimps.

Sunning small shrimps before fermenting to make Cincalok.
Cleaning up jellyfish.
Sorting out shrimps and small fishes.

For making dried shrimps.

Houseflies. Very common in fishing village.

Mobile hawker peddling some food.

After walking around, we went back to the chalet for a lazy afternoon of mahjong and games. And every other hour, mobile hawkers would come a-knocking to peddler some goods, ranging from ice-cream to coconut to agar-agar to local produce. Enterprising indeed.

4.30pm - afternoon tea. Fried beehoon with curry chicken was served. Then back to more mahjong!

Finally the highly anticipated seafood BBQ dinner. Best thing, we didn't even have to BBQ the food ourselves, there were local staff who did it for us!

Spread was pretty decent. The usual like chicken wing, fishball, hotdog. I love the tender satay and totally raving about the deep-fried prawn cracker with sweet chilli sauce, a local specialty apparently.

The most impressive was the jumbo-sized prawns, certainly giving the ones at Newton Circus a run for their money. Other dishes include homemade otah-otah, curry squid etc.

I guess everyone was satisfied at the end of the dinner and highly anticipating the highlight of the evening - fire crackers!

Various types of fire crackers are available for sale, like one-off rockets which could shoot up into the sky, 20sec-long types which are spectacular and colourful or simple ones like Harry Potter's magic wand which spat fire. Although these were small scale, it was already a treat for city-dwellers like us to release them on our own and experience the pretty sight at such close proximity.

After the fire crackers highlight, back to more mahjong, games and bedtime...

Next morning, everyone woke up to a late breakfast of nasi lemak, fried noodles and kueh kueh. Then it was free & easy till check-out at 11.15am where we were fetched by a boat to a nearby Kelong for a rather mediocre kelong tour, showcasing a couple of pathetic fish, sea star (poor sea star)... Then, it was back to the seafood restaurant for lunch. Spread was likewise not too bad. Finally, OTOT home sweet home.

Not too bad for a short getaway with family. I guess the BBQ seafood dinner and fire crackers were worth the trip itself. For those who are interested to find out more, google 'Kukup chalet' and you will find different packages and chalets. This time, we got the package from http://www.kukup.bravehost.com/ which provides quite good service.

Okashi by Chef Keiko Ishida

I'm so pleased to pick up a copy of 'okashi - sweet treats made with love' by Chef Keiko Ishida at Shermay's Cooking School yesterday.

Was anticipating this recipe book for a few months now as it was slated to be released in Jun. Doesn't matter, it's finally published much to the delight of all her fans, I believe.

Have attended some of her classes at Shermay's Cooking School these few years and she impressed everyone with her refined and elegant sense of style in the desserts she made seemingly so effortlessly.

I love the format of this book, with details that are very helpful to amateurs and home bakers.

There's a section to describe the type of baking equipment she uses, photos included. Photos are definitely useful so that it's easier for us to search for the exact piece of equipment with an idea in mind.

The section on types of baking ingredients she uses is informative as one can be totally clueless about the different ingredients listed in recipe books vs those available in the stores.

In the basic recipes section, besides ingredients and steps, she also explains how the basic recipes can be applied and includes tips on successful bakes.

In new creations (western pastries with a japanese touch) and all-time favourites, I'm excited to see the recipes from those classes I happened to miss. Great!

She even has 2 special sections - recipes which require no eggs, dairy, gelatine or refined sugar as well as recipes for pets. So cool!

For now, I'll spend my sweet Sunday reading from cover to cover before deciding which recipe to start first....