Steak + Sprouts + Panzanella

We wanted to have a meal with my in-laws before their long trip to the US but alas, with 2 kids, it would be a challenge so we decided to prepare a meal for them instead. 

After hearing about their disappointing meal at Woolloomoolo, we decided to whip up some steaks for them. Of course, by "we," I am referring to KW who took charge of the meat. Yes, any excuse to cook up those Wagyu MB4 is much welcomed. Among the five of us, we did a pretty good job of polishing off close to 1.2kg worth of beef. 

I made a side of roasted Brussels sprouts dressed with truffle oil and scattered with Parmesan cheese. Turns out Brussels sprouts are one of my mother-in-law's favourite vegetables, while my father-in-law dreads them due to his days in England - hope these restored his faith in them. 

A vibrant and fresh Panzanella salad, loosely adapted from this Ian Garten recipe, provided some carbs and more greens for the meal. Hand-torn ciabatta bread, slow-roasted red and yellow bell peppers, chopped butter head lettuce, tossed in a mustard vinaigrette. 

Anemones

I first noticed anemones while watching E! Fashion Police (I wish could say I make better TV choices but I can't) and I couldn't help but notice the ironic beauty of these flowers. Don't they look like a bunch of eyeballs staring deep into your soul?

Beautiful yet creepy.

Random Wednesday

1. The first thing I thought of when I saw this peacoat was London. Maybe the Paddington bear has something to do with it. This just about seals my commitment to bring my boys to a place I visited many times when growing up.

2. This is a peacoat for a 5 year old. And it shows how risk adverse I am - if Russell doesn't wear it, I'm sure Lucas will get the chance of a lifetime.

3. I love the camo print but I don't have anything in my closet that bears this work-it-or-lose-it print. It's totally out my usual fashion palette. Other camo things I'm lusting after includes the Mulberry Mini Cara Delevingne Bag in Khaki Camouflage and Hypergrand Jungle Camo watch.

4. This is reason #52 why I love Cotton On Kids - crazy sale deal at $20. Back in the store, I saw reason #53, 54 and 55.

5. Dressing up boys is pretty fun since I'm not the princess-y kind of person and my wallet thanks me for it. Having said that, I still feel the pinch whenever I see something ridiculously cute for girls.

Wishing you all an awesome Goat year ahead!

I have always loved Chinese New Year and this year was no exception. Nothing much has changed, except we have a new member within the family and thus provided the chance for more family wefies. 

A lovely time spent with family, food and kitchsy festivities that you learn to appreciate more as you grow older. 

Sear - Not what it's cut out to be

For our family's reunion dinner, we decided to have a non-Chinese meal, in view of the heavily traditional meals that awaited us (looking forward to that, yo!). My younger sister suggested Sear as she loved her previous visits there and a steakhouse is always a thumbs-up option in our family.

I thought about withholding my comments since the company and happy occasion outweigh the food. However, ignoring the quality of the meal and saying that, "All is great in La La Land!" would be doing a disservice to paying customers.

The family tried almost everything off the set lunch menu but I only took pictures of the dishes that KW and I had.

As soon as we sat down, we tore into the complimentary herb bread, which offered a good start to the meal.

You don't need to be born with a silver spoon or travel far and beyond to know what a chopped salad is - just google and click on the "Images" tab. Sear's chopped salad was really more of a mesclun salad as opposed to a chopped-up chopped salad. While it might not seem like the most interesting option out there, with four days of intense feasting ahead, it wasn't the worst option as well.

I was more than thrilled when the waitress placed the steak tartare before me. Doesn't it make a pretty picture? After tossing together the pickles, shallots and chives and aioli, the very finely minced tartare was unfortunately overwhelmed by all that mambo jambo. The accompanying paper-thin toasts served little purpose as the slightest pressure caused it to shatter even before the tartare made it pass your lips.

Instead of the steak frites, I decided to do something different and had the Fish of the Day - a seared yellowfin tuna served on top of a stewed rice that resembled a paella. To say that I was disappointed is an understatement. Kindly put, it was serviceable - I was hungry and it was food. But five medallions of tuna as an additional cost of $12? Ouch! I feel the burn sear.

To be frank, the only consolation is the steak frites that my dad ordered looked pretty sad too. We have all truly been spoilt by our Valentine's Day meal.

Probably the only thing with raving about was the Sear burger. I felt the love when KW offered me a quarter of his burger. A juicy, gratifying stack of mashed avocado, wagyu mince and aioli hugged snuggly between a soft bun. Highly recommended!

I didn't have high expectations for desserts but they were above average when you take into account the entire meal.

The chocolate mud pie consisted of an intensely chocolatey mousse (yay for that), chocolate cookies crumbles and a creamy chestnut ice cream. Chocolate, crunch and ice cream, check check check.

The cinnamon donuts were dense and served lukewarm, but I loved the citrus curd and lemon ice cream for it reminded me of my childhood "Spilt" (now called "Solero") ice cream.

All in all, it was a decent meal and though I didn't try their steaks, I am not exactly motivated to try them out, especially since we stocked up on more Wagyu beef MB4. Woohoo!

Valentine's Day dinner with some Chocolat' N Spice

Valentine's Day. Hmm, many thoughts, one conclusion - thou shall not get suckered into overpaying for the hype.

If you have been reading this blog since the beginning of time, you will know I am a Valentine's Day cynic. I don't blame the florists, merchants and restauratuers who capitalise on people's emotions, but those who allow themselves to make a big deal out of a day that supposedly commemorates the patron saint of beekeepers and epilepsy.

You have every opportunity to show how much you love someone, why choose to do it on a day that is overtly commercialised? Flowers sent to the office on a Friday when V Day is on a Saturday? You know someone is feeding off your insecurity issues right?

KW and I had dinner with my folks that evening. Of course, we didn't set out to have Valentine's Day dinner with my parents (that would be w-e-i-r-d). We usually have dinner with my parents on Saturdays and didn't see a need to change plans just because it was Valentine's Day. On the contrary, we thought it would be fun to channel the love with a homecooked meal.

A surf and turf meal was in order as we had some Wagyu steak and lobster hibernating in our fridge. 

Forget flowers and chocolate, this, dear readers, was a traffic and showstopper. 750g worth of Wagyu steak MB4 pan-seared to medium rare perfection. To. Die. For. If this doesn't get your heart - and arteries - racing, you have my condolences. 

Bitter rocket leaves and sweet cherry tomatoes tossed in a mustard vinaigrette accompanied the cow in afterlife. 

I made a squid ink tagieltalle with Boston lobster and truffle oil. The recipe I have reads something like this: Boil 250g pasta (6 mins tops), drain pasta, add a handful finely chopped parsley and grated parmesan reggiano, drizzle copious amounts of EVOO, set pasta aside, gently heat chunks of cooked lobster tail in EVOO and scatter them over pasta, and serve. Easy peasy. 

For dessert, my mum bought some pastries from Chocolat' N Spice, as we had breakfast at Shunfu Market earlier in the day.

The oreo cheesecake boasted a creamy cream cheese layer, packed with large crumbles of oreo cookies on top of a sponge base. Though I liked the considerable chunks of oreos within the oreo cheesecake, I really missed the digestive base.

The creme brûlée tart and lemon meringue tart were lovely but I made the near fatal error of not refrigerating the pastries when we got home, and the humidity results in soggy bottoms tart shells - in fact, the "brûlée" even melted, thanks to the nasty heat.

Celebrating Valentine's Day with a homecooked meal? Yeah, I could get on board with that.

Dean & Deluca, Orchard Central

Dean & Deluca arrived in Singapore to much fanfare but today, you can easily grab a table during the scandalously-busy brunch hour on a weekend.

There were quite a few sweet options available on the menu and display cabinet but I was after something simple.

The raspberry tart here cuts a pale figure, compared to the glossy rubies that sparkle from the display cabinets of some patisseries. For $8, it was a pricey treat. Unadorned raspberries sat neatly on top of some light vanilla cream and a thinnish shortbread tart shell. KW commented about the lack of richness one so usually finds in a sugar-glazed fruit custard tart; while I agree, this wasn't entirely bad. 

The zesty, flavour-packed lemon pound cake agreed with my tastebuds for I so love lemony desserts. Though there are other prettier and more fanciful desserts, I would not hesitate to get this unassuming slice again. Points deducted for cringingly sweet icing though.