La Forketta

Once in awhile we like to visit Dempsey Hill and try out the restaurants there. One evening we decide to try out this Italian restaurant. It looks good and we sat outside in the cool evening air. We were off to a great start as the bread basket they put down was absolutely delicious!

It was SO good with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar! The problem was that we had to fight the bread with our 2 year old girl, who insisted that the bread was hers. -_- We also ordered their minestrone soup, which was like the most chunky minestrone soup I've ever seen. I think they should just call it vegetable and tomato soup. Duh. I prefer that the vegetables in my minestrone to be boiled to death and unrecognizable. Haha...

Cobby ordered a cured beef with wild rocket pizza and I wished that I've ordered that instead. :P

The naughty girl ate so much bread, she couldn't eat anything else.

I ordered the tagliatelle al ragu, which was alright, but it was a little too salty and the pasta was a little too soft for my taste.

I would probably not go back for their pasta, but pizza's pretty good. Go check it out.

Pasta with Cheese and Sweetcorn

As a stay home mom, I'm starting to go crazy just thinking of what to cook for the next meal! So one day I thought I sought some inspiration from the library, and found this recipe.

Interestingly, the Caucasian idea of a meal is a little different from what I was taught as an Asian Mom. Nothing wrong, I guess it is just quite enlightening. Maybe we Asian moms need to lightened up when it comes to meal times. Does bread only can to be eaten at breakfast? Does rice always need to be our staple at every meal?

I grew up in a family where a "proper" meal equates to a hot meal consisting of rice, soup, vegetables and meat. But in this day and age, I think as long as the child is receiving all the necessary nutrients and eating healthy, it doesn't really matter what constitutes as a proper meal. Right?

So I broke away from tradition and tried instead of what my baby likes, and this recipe seemed perfect. More importantly, it is easy and quick to make, which I think is vital to all mothers out there.

1. Cook pasta according to packet’s instructions.
2. Stir in the sweetcorn a few minutes before the end of the cooking time and cook until both are cooked.
3. Drain and return to pan. Add cheddar cheese, ham, parsley(optional) and butter and stir everything together.

As expected, my 2 year old daughter loved it, even I was savoring every bite! I tried a few more recipes from the book, but I think this one is a keeper.

Bel Mondo - South Italian Cuisine

Accidentaly came across this Italian restaurant at Millenia Walk on the way to the PC show a few weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised! So we went back again with an appetite.

We started out with Italian beer. Interesting, we have never had Italian beer before, and it was quite nice! Very fruity, nice.



We ordered a bruschetta, which was absolutely delicious!



The bread was warm and crusty, the tomato topping was great. Even the little accompanying salad was filled with good stuff! It's got lettuce, rocket(my fav), parmesan cheese, little picked onions and sweet cheery tomatoes.

We wanted to test how authentic is this Italian restaurant, so we ordered Pomodoro pasta. We wondered how it would fair against the ones we had in Rome. :)



Unfortunately it didn't really make the mark. Well, it's unfair to compare with the unbelievably delicious pasta we had in Rome, but it's really not that bad. The sauce was a little too runny though...

OK, starters aside, here comes the main dishes. I ordered the rack of lamb.



It's quite good, the meat is nice and browned, so it's very flavourful. It's cooked to a nice medium done-ness, so it's still quite tender and moist. Love the salad and the potatoes too, I cleared my plate except for a few slices of pickles and some bitter purple lettuce. :P

Cobby ordered the pork belly, which was like a giant piece of 烧肉. The skin was delightfully crispy and the meat was quite tender!



By then we were really stuffed! But a hot cup of cuppacino really help to wrap up the while meal. :) We'll be back! And next time I'll try their pizza, which looked really good too... YUMS...



Millenia Walk, 9 Raffles Boulevard, #01-09/10, S(039596)

Sapphire

When to the Sapphire on Saturday for dinner. Surprisingly, the open air restaurant was quite empty even at 6.30pm. Were we too early?

We started with their French Onion Soup - $10.80. Very rich in flavour, but wished there were more cheese on the toast. And why were there spring onion on French onion soup, I would never know.



I ordered their Chicken Pasta - $24.80, which they indicated was their specialty. It was basically chicken meat aglio oli pasta with olives, sun-dried tomato and some herbs I think. But they put SO MUCH olives into the pasta, it turned out a little too salty. All the black stuff you see in the photo, yah, it's olives. But overall, it tasted quite ok, just a little too salty.



Hubby ordered this Moroccan spiced chicken - $32.80. It's quite delicious really! It tasted like those smoky Indonesian BBQ chicken. A little charred on the outside, but juicy on the inside. Interestingly, their vegetables included xiao bai cai. Fusion cooking? Haha...



Dessert was what they called Jewel Peak - $15.80. It's actually ice cream, but it was quite disappointing to me because I find the ice cream not rich enough. The chocolate ice cream is just not chocolate-ty enough! Obviously they used cheapo brand of ice cream to make this "peak". Sigh~



Overall, it was an average tasting meal. If you want something better, I can easily name a few. So why do we still go there? For the ambiance of course. Located at the highest point in Singapore, there's no sound of the busy traffic or shopping crowds. Just birds chirping, insects humming and the soft music playing in the background. Of course, everything taste better with a fantastic view of the city and it's sunset.



Sapphire @ The Jewel Box
Mount Faber

Cheese Burger Pasta

The original recipe was from the Rachel Ray's Show, but I used the twisted pasta (I don't know what's the name) instead of macaroni and those Kraft sandwich cheese instead of Cheddar and Parmesan cheese. Well, basically I just used what I have, and that's the beauty of home cooking isn't it? But more importantly, it's that it really tasted like cheese burger and it's yummy! Definitely will do it again. :)

Let some minced beef and chopped onion brown in a frying pan while you boil some pasta according to the instruction on the packaging.

Hint: I always use a bowl to measure how much pasta to cook. For one serving, it's about one rice bowl of pasta.

When the meat is browned, add one tablespoon of ketchup, one teaspoon of mustard, about half a cup of chicken stock and stir fry it for awhile. When the pasta is cooked, add it onto the meat sauce and stir till incorporated.

Pour it into an oven proof dish, cover it with cheese and pop it into a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 10 mins, or till the cheese has melted and browned.

Serve with a nice crisp salad. Enjoy! :D

Steak Pasta

Cobby (My Hubby) made this dish, he was inspired by Jamie Oliver when he made those delicious looking steak sandwiches. But instead of sandwich, he used pasta, cause it's more filling for our dinner.

We used ribeye steak, added some salt, pepper and oil and pounded it flat. By pounding it, it cooks faster and it also tenderised it. Grill the steak on a VERY HOT grill, or frying pan. There's no need to add oil onto the pan as there's oil on your meat. Let it grill for about 1 and a half minutes on each side (for medium), remove from pan and let it rest.

Meanwhile, the pasta is boiling in the pot, cooking according to the packaging instructions.

While it's boiling, stir fry some anchovies with chopped onion till the onion is soft and brown. THEN you add the garlic, cause if you add too early, the garlic would be overcooked, turns brown and bitter!

Add in the cooked pasta and a little bit of the pasta water into your onion mix and add in a little chicken stock. Stir fry for awhile till there's a little bit of sauce left. (the pasta will continue to absorb in the liquid even after you dish it up)

Slice your rested steak and place it on top of the pasta, serve with a freah green salad on the side. Presto, perfect steak pasta. Enjoy.

Trattoria Lafiandra al Museo

Found a nice Italian restaurant next to the Singapore Arts Museum.

Here's the blog entry.

Trattoria Lafiandra Al Museo
171 Bras Basah Road
Singapore Art Museum
Tel: 68844035

Salmon Spaghetti Aglio Olio

This was one of my first few recipe entries at my original blog. Back then, my Salmon aglio olio pasta was very simple, but abit bland. Later I learnt from Jamie Oliver that the key ingredient in aglio olio was actually something smoky. Which is either bacon, anchovies, or both.

I've also been more adventurous in adding herbs and spices instead of just garlic and chilli padi, and I found that a little parsley and dried chilli flakes makes it even better! I used to add tomatoes and capsicum in it, but one day we just stopped adding and found out that it taste just as good anyway. So this is a bah-getarian dish. :D

You will need:
1 tbsp chopped garlic
3 pcs of chilli padi chopped
1 large onion chopped
2 tsp dried chilli flakes
1 tsp Parsley
Pasta
4 pcs of bacon chopped
2 Salmon fillets
Canned chicken stock

Boil spaghetti with a pinch of salt

Pre-Heat the oven (200°C Roast option for 10minutes)

Pat the fillet dry with some paper towels and salt the skin of the fillets

Using a non-stick frying pan, without oiling the pan, sear the skin side of the fish for a minute before searing the other side for another minute before popping them into the oven for about 5 mins. (Tip: Line your baking tray with aluminium foil to save on cleaning up!)

While your fish is roasting, fry your chopped bacons till brown and crisp and remove them from the pan.

Fry onions till soft, add chilli padi and garlic.

Add in your pasta and stir fry them in high heat. (Tip: Be generous with the oil or else the pasta would be very dry)

Add in your chilli flakes, parsley and some stock and continue frying. Pour you bacon back in last, so that it remains crispy. Add salt to taste.

Serve the pasta into two plates. Place your salmon fillet on top of your pasta.

Bon Appetite!

Braised Chicken Spaghetti

Most homemade pasta dishes involve a jar of pasta sauce from the store, honestly I have nothing against that, and they make quick and fantastic pasta dishes! But sometimes I just like to have something different, and this recipe is an easy and delicious alternative to the usual tomato based pasta.

Serves 2
1 pc of boneless chicken thigh - diced
5 pcs of large button mushrooms - sliced
1 large onion - cut into large slices
a few slices of carrots
2 pcs garlic - roughly chopped
Chicken stock
1 tsp of dried Oregano
pinch of salt
1 small knob of butter

Spaghetti - a bunch with circumference of about a 50cent


1. Using a deep pot, brown the chicken pieces in oil. Remove from pot.

2. Stir fry the mushrooms, onions, carrots, garlic in pot with the remaining oil with a good pinch of salt.

3. Add in the chicken, oregano and add stock till it almost covers all the contents.


4. Put the lid on the pot, lower fire, and let it simmer while you prepare the pasta.

5. Cook the pasta according to the instruction on the packaging.

**while waiting for the pasta to cook, keep busy by washing dishes and clean up the kitchen!**

6. About 5mins before the pasta is done, add a knob of butter into the chicken and let it continue to braise. The butter would make the sauce rich and velvety!

7. Drain the cooked pasta and pour into the pot with the braised chicken.

8. Stir well and serve with a nice salad!

Super Yummy Braised Chicken Spaghetti

CoCo's Aglio Olio

This recipe is tried and tested and is currently Cobby's favourite. He claims it's restaurant standard, but the best thing is... it is SO easy to make!


The key is the ingredients so try to get them in the supermarket. Especially the anchovies!



For 2 people, you need:
A handful of spaghetti (about the circumference of a slightly bigger 50cent coin)
3 slices of bacon – cut into small piecesAny type of meat – can prawn or chicken. Or just have it by itself.
3 pieces of anchovies
4 cloves of garlic - chopped (if you are not a garlic fan, you can use less)
1 capsicum – chopped
1 tomato – remove the seeds and chopped
2 small onions – chopped
3 chilli padis – cut into big pieces


1. Add some salt and oil into a pot of water and prepare your ingredients while waiting for it to boil.

2. Put in the spaghetti only when the water boils.

3. Fry the bacon in the pan with some oil. The oil would crisp the bacon faster.

4. When the bacon is just slightly brown, put in all the vegetables and the anchovies.

5. Add a pinch of salt to sweat the onions

6. If you want to add any meat or seafood, now is the time. Stir fry it till it is cooked. The stir fry should be quite moist and oily now.

7. The noodles should be ready now – try eating a strand of the pasta to make sure that it is the right consistency for you. When you are satisfied, drain the noodles and pour it into the pan.

8. Stir fry! Main objective is to coat the pasta with all the ingredients, sauce, oil, everything! Add in another pinch of salt and stir again till it’s incorporated.

9. Always remember to taste your food! If it is bland add more salt. The anchovies and salt should be enough for taste, but generally pasta is very bland and we did not marinate the meat/seafood. So flavour according to your liking.

10. Serve!


Bon Appetite!