BREAD PUDDING

With some remaining bread in the fridge I made pudding out of them.

Cut the bread into squares and place them in the pyrex dish. Beat 4 eggs with 4 tablespoons sugar (subject to individual) in a soup bowl. Add fresh milk to egg mixture till 3/4 full. Add 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract to the mixture. Pour egg mixture over the bread and let them soak for 10 mins. Dot the top of the mixture with butter before putting them into the oven at 170 degree. Bake till the smell permeates the whole house. Before the pudding puffs up beat another 2 eggs with sugar and pour mixture over the pudding and bake till it puffs up and brown.

Serve the pudding, while it is still hot, with blueberry sauce. Yummy yummy!!

HIGH TEA BUFFET

We took the opportunity to shop during the big sale, with some high end brands offered at 60% off plus another 10% when purchased with certain credit cards. After shopping we adjourned for high-tea.

We made a reservation at Goodwood Park Hotel Deli for high-tea buffet. It is one of the few hotels who caters high-tea buffet during weekdays. The buffet starts from 2.30 to 5.00 pm and is held indoor and at the poolside. It is very popular amongst ladies. Reservation has to be made to secure seats.

The buffet came with a order of 2 drinks per person. We had a Darjeeling tea, vanilla Ceylon tea and a coffee latte for a start. The tea were served in beautiful porcelain tea-cups, with individual tea-pot, accompanied by a small jug of fresh milk and a canister of fine sugar.

The food offered at the buffet were delicious pastries, homemade cookies, scones and cakes. They were served in small individual portion include "crabmeat", sausage roll, pizza were tasty but salty. Halfway through the meal we had to ask for ice water.

There are many varieties of sandwiches and croissants filled with mayonnaise, cheese, ham, salami, smoke salmon, nuts, vegetables etc.

The pies and cakes were delicious. The mini eclair was filled with thick chocolate cream, which oozed out when you bite into the pastry. The lemon meringue tart tasted lemony combine with sweetness of meringue top. The fruit tarts were filled with custard and topped with fresh strawberries, cherries, pears and almond slices. The mango cakes were light and fluffy and topped with large pieces of mango.

The creme brulee was beautifully baked but too sweet for my likimg. It was coated lightly with a layer of  brown crunchy sugar. The mango pudding was appetizingly sourish.

We ended the meal with second order of drink - ice lemon tea.

DELIFRANCE

Went with eldest daughter to Tampines Mall to shop and had lunch at Delifrance. We both ordered soup, a lobster bisque soup for her and a mushroom soup for me, and shared a stewed lamb shank.

Baguettes with SCS butter were served immediately after ordering

The lobster soup, with a sliver of cream was not tasty but full of prawn aroma.

The mushroom soup was flavorsome and saturated with mushroom. The soup was not concentrated enough but could not ask for more as it was a complimentary $2 bowl.

Both soup were accompanied with a slice of tasty garlic bread.

The lamb shank was huge for 2 persons. The shank was covered in thick and tasty brown gravy served together with carrots and mashed potatoes mixed with bacon bits. The dish would be perfect if the texture of the meat was more tender. The gravy was a good compliment to the remaining bread.

PUMPKIN CARROT SOUP

This soup eliminates heat from the body and improves skin texture. No meat is needed for the soup as all the ingredients used provide natural sweetness - pumpkin, carrots, radish, anions (the most 2), sugar cane, tomatoe (use only 1 tomato so as the sourness do not overpower the sweetness of the soup) and potatoes.

Blend half of the ingredients (exclude sugar cane) if you prefer a thicker consistency. The soup needs to be simmered for at least 3 hrs to maximise sweetness and add salt one hour before serving.

FATHER'S DAY

We celebrated belated Father's Day on 16 June instead on the actual date due to the crowd and inefficient services in most restaurants. We went to Pu Tien Restaurant to celebrate. The food was delicious and the ambience comfortable. We ordered 5 dishes and pumpkin ice-cream but was sold off due to its popularity.

The first dish to arrive was the fried yam duck. A piece of duck meat was stuffed into the yam dough and fried still crispy.

The claypot sea-cucumber was choke full of aroma. The sea-cucumber was braised with lots of vegetables and the sauce was thick and flavorful.

The mee-sua is their signature dish and it was stir-fried without being soggy. As we were busy tucking in the food that I had forgotten to take pictures of the deep-fried chicken and the spinach which was cooked in chicken broth with three different variety eggs (century, salted and normal eggs).

The sweet-sour pork was quite a large portion for a medium size plate. The sauce was not overpowering and permeated a sweetish taste which lingered in the mouth afterwards. The pork still tasted crispy even though it was covered with so much sauce.


Pu Tien (Hin Wah) Restaurant
127-139 Kitchener Road
Tel : 62956358

DUTCH OVEN

The once a year big sale is on again. The Le Creuset is having a promotion of 50% off for certain products. Immediately I took this opportunity to go down to Takashimaya to shop for a dutch oven which I had set eyes on for a long time, as the prices for these branded products are hefty on normal days.

The dutch oven is a 24" wide burgundy-wine color round cast-iron pot. It is a good bargain with a price-tag of S$299.

Le Creuset has been the mainstay of French chefs since 1925. The skilled craftsmen at le Creuset had prefected enameled cast iron cookwares. The products are coated with the highest quality vitreous enamel and distributes heat more evenly.

The many good points about the oven is that it retains heat longer, which keeps food hot when serving, and ensure moisture and flavours are sealed in by the heavy, tight fitting lid. The enamel cast iron cookware can be used on the stovetop, in the oven and under the grill. The product is synonymous with style and are known for its bright colour which is a timeless classic. It is stylish enough to be taken straight from the kitchen to the table where its wide choice of colours coordinate with almost any home decor.

GINSENG SOUP

To build up the immunity of my family I would normally boil herbal soup depending on the weather. As the weather is so unpredictable nowadays, it is best to feed them with not too cooling or heaty soup. A person must have a balance of ying and yang to maintain good health.

Chicken ginseng soup is the favourite soup. As the weather is so hot and humid it is advisable to use white chicken rather than black chicken as the latter is more heaty and normally suitable for the weak and those who had just recovered from sickness.  American ginseng is used as complement which is bittersweet and cold in nature.

I bought a normal size white chicken and stuffed it with ginseng, red dates, woolberries and glutinous rice. Red dates promote blood cell formation and strengthen the body. To reduce heatiness of the soup, it is best to deseed the dates. The soup is boiled for half an hour and left to simmer for at least 3-4 hours before serving.