Chinese New Year is coming!

Its that time of the year again!  I have to start packing up the red packets with money….  I am going to be really stingy this year when I give Ang Paos…. Too broke you see… :p

The hubby had mentioned that he may invite his friends over to our flat on the third day of CNY.  And I have been asking him day after day if it is confirmed!  If his friends are coming over, then I’d have to really clean the place up and also buy some food to standby when people pop over!  I have already planned to buy loads of frozen food to stock in the freezer, either to fry, bake or grille them if his friends do come over.  Maybe some packet of Chicken Nuggets, Fishball, Sotong Ball, Samosas, and whatever I can find in the frozen section of the supermarket.  I may also cook something simple or depending on my mood, may cook my beef stew… DAMN! I don’t have a rice cooker at the flat!  Note: To bring rice cooker from home…. Or maybe buy frozen french loaf from Delifrance, just throw into oven and it will be good to dip for the stew.

I’ll decide that tomorrow!  Better get to sleep!  Dreaming of the menu and what I shall bake for that day!

Browning My Pineapple Tarts

I tried making pineapple tarts last Monday.  It was a semi success.  Well, the pineapple tastes great, so did the pastry, BUT the tarts didn’t brown nicely and the pineapple was still very much in chunks!

I realise that making the tarts isn’t that tedious, its only the preparation like the scraping of the pineapple was the worst!  But once that is done, the rest just falls into place.  Thank goodness I had mum do the scraping for me cos I said that I had to work, so I’ll have no time to do that! :D  3 pineapples later, she was complaining of sore fingers and burning sensation on her fingers, despite using gloves!  Oops….

Cooking the pineapple took me close to half and hour to get the right colour and dryness.  Preparation of the dough, including chilling, took me another half hour.  I had a hard time getting the dough and pineapple into a consistent size too!  The recipe stated to glaze the tarts with egg, half and egg yolk and abit of water.  THAT was where the mistake was!  I baked for more than half an hour, and my tarts still looked so pale!

Its only after doing the first 2 batches that I confided in a friend about the glaze and she said, use only egg yolk!  SO… today, I will be trying it again and hopefully, this time, it will turn out much better.  I’ll also have to cut the pineapples again cos when I bit into the tarts, the whole chunk of pineapple came out!  Its not fine enough!  Besides that, the tarts tasted great!

Watch this space for my successful tarts!

Pineapple Tarts for CNY For Sale

Chubby Hubby is selling Pineapple Tarts!  So for those who would like to order, please do email me or call me to order!

21 pieces - $11 (pineapple balls)

24 pieces - $12 (pineapple tarts)

Rest assured that these are home-made!  I’ve just tried them!  They are full of flavour and very generous with the pineapple, looks almost over-flowing to me!

Yummy Seafood

Last Friday, 29th December 2006, a ’sista’ of mine brought 2 beautiful girls out for dinner (me included).  He told us to meet him ‘opposite the Mazda showroom’ at 7pm.  I was slightly late because of a traffic jam, but guess what? he was later!

To make matters worse, I found out that the restaurant was NOT opposite that showroom, it was way up the other way!  AND it was just in front of my aunt’s house!!!  OMG! I could have just parked at her house instead of parking MILES away!  In the end, I had to forgive him, because, to cut the story short, I had to say that the food was lovely! Wished that I had taken photos of it to show everyone!  The prices were reasonable too!  We had:

1. A plate of 4 scallops (not the normal puny ones. Humongous!)
2. Half a dozen of Oysters
3. A hot plate of frog legs with Chicken of Essence
4. A plate of vegetables
5. A plate of crab with bee hoon (THE FINALE!!!) - And that crab was HUGE!

All for SGD$137!  I find the meal totally satisfactory!  The garlic cooked with the scallops melted in my mouth!  The Oysters looked frightening huge and scary! But it was so fresh that it slided down my throat with ease!  I didn’t touch the frog legs (cos I can’t stand the sight of those ugly frogs!) but I did try the sauce, which had a slight herbal taste because of the chicken of essence, but oh so nutritious!  I dislike vegetables too, but this plate of vegetables was so crunchy and tasty that I almost ended up eating the whole plate!  The Finale! Oh Yes! We had to wait SO LONG for it, but let me tell you, it is oh so worth it!  The crab meat was firm and succulent! The bee hoon was cooked to perfection!  Darn!  I’m drooling now!

Now, you may ask, where is this fabulous place?  Well, I do not have the address of the place. Should have found out!  But if you know Singapore roads well, its along Macpherson Road, kind of opposite the Malayan Diary Industries.  Which is nearer to Paya Lebar Road.  If you turn into MacPherson Road from Paya Lebar, it should be the first stretch of shophouse on your left.  The restaurant is called Ming Kee!  Go early, cos its usually quite packed by 7+pm.

 And remember, its NOT opposite Mazda Showroom!

Have a yummilicious meal!