Hog's Breath Cafe

Natural Prime Rib ($34.00) My Favourite...

Other than the steak from West End, our 2nd favourite steak house has to be Hog's Breath Cafe at CHIJMES. Well, it used to be 2nd best, but now, Cobby and I are seriously considering to promote them to become our top favourite steak! Why??

Hog's Breath's Prime Rib main boast was it's juicy and tender meat, but it always lack that wonderful aromatic smoky char-grilled flavour that West End's Tenderlion Steak have.

But in the recent months, we noticed a change in Hog's Breath's steak. Not only is the meat as juicy and tender as ever, but now the steak has an enhanced char-grill flavour to it. (we suspect a change in chefs? :D) Also, even the sauce tasted different, better - so good, you don't need any ketchup or chilli sauce!

Of course, the side dishes are just as important. We always order our steak with their famous Hog's tail fries and salad. The fries are irresistably crispy and the salad is not your average boring iceberg lettuce. Perfect complements to the steak!

So you see lah, with the enhanced version of the steak and it's sauce, the unbeatable crispy curly fries and the refreshing salad, how can we not promote Hog's Breath Natural Prime Rib to be our favourite steak!?



HOG’S BREATH CAFE CHIJMES
Chijmes,
30 Victoria Street,
Block A, #01-26/27,
Singapore 187996
Tel: (65) 6338 1387
Fax: (65) 6338 6216
Email: hbchijmes@hogsbreath.com.sg
Open Daily 11.30am - Midnight (last order 10.30pm)
Bar Snacks and appetisers available till closing time

Dinner at Tung Lok Signatures

This year, we had our Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner at Tung Lok Signatures restaurant and it was absolutely divine!

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Tung Lok Signatures @ The Central
6 Eu Tong Sen Street
#02-88 The Central
Singapore 059817

Tel : +65 6336 6022
Fax : +65 6339 6483

Jam Drops

I got this recipe from Donna Hay - Modern Classics Book 2. I was a little bored one evening, so I wanted to do something simple, fuss free. This is a sweet, buttery and crumbly cookie with jam in the middle. Very easy to do, and a nice snack to nibble on. :)

180g butter, softened
1 cup caster (superfine) sugar
1 egg
2 cups plain flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Jam of your choice (I use rasberry)

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

2. Beat butter and sugar with electric mixer till its light and creamy.

3. Add egg and mix well.

4. Stir through the flour and baking powder and mix into a dough.

5. Roll into small balls with about 3cm in diameter. Place onto baking tray with non-stick baking paper, allowing room for the biscuits to spread a little during baking.

6. Flatten the dough slightly and make a little indent in the middle of the dough. Fill the hole with jam.

7. Bake for 10minutes or until golden brown.

8. Cool on wire racks.

Dad’s Pineapple Tarts

There’s 2 ways to make pineapple tarts. One way was to blend everything up using the mixer, and the other is the rubbing in method. Dad gave me this rubbing in method recipe for a more fluffy tart; basically you rub flour and chilled butter with your fingers to get a breadcrumb-like texture.

But if you have warm hands like me, you would probably end up with a overly wet dough due to the butter melting from the warmth of your hands. If that’s the case, you can use a pastry blender to cut the chilled butter into the flour. Works for me!



Warning! This dough is much more difficult to work with as it is SO SOFT!
Key points to remember:
1. Minimum hand contact – work quickly! The more you handle the dough, the softer it gets!
2. Dust! – Make sure your table, rolling pin and cookie cutter is well dusted with flour.
3. Plastic sheet – Cut out a clean plastic bag into a sheet and put it over your dough when you roll it, this would prevent the dough from sticking onto your rolling pin.

Tart pastry:
300g cake flour (sifted)
220g butter (cubed and chilled)
100g sugar
15g custard powder
1 egg yolk
Ice water

Method:
1. Roll pineapple jams into little balls and set aside.

2. Preheat oven at 180°C.

3. Mix the flour, sugar and custard powder together.

4. Using a pastry cutter, cut the chilled butter into the flour till it resembles breadcrumbs.

5. Mix in the egg yolk and gradually add in the iced water till the mixture forms a soft dough.

6. Cover up the dough and chill in the fridge for about 2 hours.

7. Dust the work area with flour before rolling out the dough till it's about 0.7 cm thick.

8. Dust the pineapple tart mould with flour and cut flour into shapes.

9. Brush sides of tarts with egg wash.

10. Bake in a greased, lined baking tin for 10 minutes.

11. Remove tarts from the oven. Fill centre of tarts with the pineapple jam balls.

12. Return tarts to oven to bake for a further 5 minutes, or until golden brown.

13. Cool the tarts on wire rack.

Pineapple Tarts

With the Chinese New Year coming, pineapple tarts are a MUST-HAVEs in every Chinese family. Being my favourite festive goodie ever, I never fail to buy some every year. This year, I've decided to take on the challange and learn how to make my favourite pineapple tart!

I got this recipe from Jo's Deli & Bakery, but I’ve reduced the quantity by half. As this is my virgin attempt in making pineapple tarts, I’ve decided to go easy on myself and use store bought pineapple jam for my tarts. :) (I bought from Phoon Huat)

Tart pastry:
150g butter
65g margarine
50g icing sugar
40g milk powder
½ egg
300g cake flour
15g custard powder

Method:
1. Roll pineapple jams into little balls and set aside.

2. Preheat oven at 180°C.

3. Cream butter and margarine in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy.

4. Add egg and beat well.

5. Sift icing sugar, milk powder, flour and custard powder into the mixture. Fold to incorporate all ingredients to form a smooth pastry dough.

6. To make it easier to handle, wrap up the dough with cling wrap and let it chill in the fridge for a few hours.

7. Dust the work area with flour before rolling out the dough till it's about 0.7 cm thick.

8. Dust the pineapple tart mould with flour and cut flour into shapes.

9. Brush sides of tarts with egg wash.

10. Bake in a greased, lined baking tin for 10 minutes.

11. Remove tarts from the oven. Fill centre of tarts with the pineapple jam balls.

12. Return tarts to oven to bake for a further 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

13. Cool the tarts on wire rack.

Takes abit of effort, but it makes a great gift!