[Giveaway] ToTT Launches Website and 'Best Brunch Ever' Cookbook

Chef Nicolas' Eggs 'a la coque'

Have you been to Tools of the Trade (ToTT) at Dunearn Road? It is basically what heaven looks like to anyone who loves to cook - a huge enclave of the most gorgeous equipment made for dinner parties of dreams. It is what heaven looks like to me, the kind of place I can spend hours, in the same way I adore supermarkets (Jasons is also right next door). And now, all this dreaming, and more, is available online - yikes (can you please believe that no one put a gun to my head to say all these?). As if that is not enough, they have also banded together chefs helming the coolest spots in town to put together a 'Best Brunch Ever' cookbook featuring 8 different cuisines! If you're itching for the giveaway, skip to the end!

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In the Kitchen: Simplest Chocolate Mousse

Chocolate Mousse

Only takes five minutes too, can you believe it? But let me digress a little - lately, someone tricked me into believing that chocolate's my favourite. I don't even know how it happened. Someone simply passed me a huge slice of chocolate cake, saying, "Here! Have a bigger slice! Chocolate's your favourite." And it wasn't even true. But it stuck.

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In the Kitchen: Fluffy, Fool-proof Pancakes

In my books, the best feeling in the world is waking up to breakfast made with love. The second best feeling? Watching that special someone tuck into the breakfast you've made. If it's home-made pancakes, all the better. And I've finally got the perfect, idiot-proof recipe in my pocket.

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12 Tantalizing Dinner Party Recipes to Mix and Match

At a lost for dinner party recipes? Here's what I've scored after scouring the web. I'll certainly be trying these out! Hopefully, these recipes will come in handy for you as well. Don't be afraid to mix and match!

Appetizer
1. Prawn Cocktail with three sauces. or with mango salsa.
2. Seared Scallops. A simple method here. A more sophisticated one here.
3. Deviled Eggs. Take a look at a basic recipe here. You can easily add a touch of luxe by topping it with caviar, prawn roe, salmon roe, or even slivers of smoked salmon. Have fun experimenting!



Soup
1. French Onion Soup via Smitten Kitchen. Doesn't it look fabulous? I can't wait to try it!
2. Cream of Mushroom. One of the simplest recipes I've seen.
3. Tomato Soup. Bisques are too much trouble? Try Jamie Oliver's recipe for tomato soup instead and serve it with grilled cheese toasts for an extra oomph.



Main Course
1. Roast Chicken, Christian Delouvrier's Way via Chez Pim. I don't think I've ever seen a roasted chicken this gorgeous!
2. Baked Ribs. I'm partial to just baking the ribs at 162 degrees for 2 hours with absolutely nothing at all then basking it with your sauce of choice. Find my recipe here.
3. Lamb Chops. This recipe looks fantastic. Not forgetting a drizzle of parsley lemon sauce... sublime.

Dessert
1. Justin Quek’s Crème Brûlée via Chubby Hubby.
2. Molten Chocolate Cake. Here's a simple recipe and video demonstration. Check out an even simpler recipe by Chubby Hubby here.
3. Peaches and Cream. Just because it's so easy... Here's Nigella Lawson's take and Rachael Ray's take.

Enjoy!

Images sourced here, here and here.

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In the Kitchen: Vietnamese Rice Paper Roll with Ham, Egg and Bulgogi Sauce

Vietnamese Rice Paper Roll with Ham, Egg and Bulgogi Sauce

I have been highly enamoured with the Vietnamese Rice Paper for the longest time. So enamoured I stowed one packet of rice paper into my luggage when I set off for Europe. It's so affordable, so versatile, so easy. Since my place in Germany had such a well equipped kitchen, I was able to easily satisfy my rice paper fantasies - I baked a whole goose leg and wrapped my rice paper roll with lettuce, juicy goose meat, asian noodles and Japanese tamago. That same afternoon, my Vietnamese rice paper roll was filled with lettuce, crispy battered prawns, asian noodles, home-made Vietnamese sweet chilli sauce and Thai-style omelette strips. As you can see, my fantasies were blasphemous but absolutely delicious. They were also fancy and time-consuming.

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In the Kitchen: Grandma's BBQ Ribs (and other Brilliant BBQ Ideas)

My friends and I had our first spring barbeque about two weeks ago by the river Rhein, and it was absolutely fantastic. Not just the food, but also the lovely river, the beautiful sun, the company and the little dog that harassed us in the most adorable way. The truth is, I was pretty obsessed when we were planning for it. I searched the web high and low for the best marinades by the best chefs (and painstakingly chose among them), brainstormed in my free time what we could possibly add to the barbecue, even brainstormed for dessert (cause we ought to end it on a sweet note, right?)... you get the idea. The only recipe I didn't get from the web was a barbecue sauce for ribs that my friend passed to me (scribbled on a piece of paper) and insisted we used. If he didn't, I would have found something on the web by some famous chef, corroborated by multiple sources, top-rated, etc. But boy, am I glad he did. The recipe, as you may have guessed from the rather straightforward title, came from a lovely Grandma, but not exactly his. He did an overseas exchange to US a few years ago, made this with his host Grandma, and scribbled the recipe down on a piece of paper because it was too good to forget. And it really is worth scribbling on a piece of paper. As it is, I scribbled the recipe down on another piece of paper, and am only typing it out now because it was the star of our barbecue (which was full of other amazing food) and I need to share it with you. The sauce was amazing and the ribs were falling off the bone. They were irresistible, really. Every time a batch was ready, the ribs were snatched up like hotcakes. It was such a sharp reminder that basic, down to earth recipes can often triumph many dressed-up, fancy ones out there.

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In the Kitchen - Creamy Chocolate Chip Scones with Lemon Curd

I've been thinking about scones for a few days now. Buttery and creamy scones, hot from the oven, paired with a tart lemon curd and a good cup of tea. Well, I ran out of tea, but the scones and lemon curd made for a much more perfect breakfast than I'd imagined. The lovely, buttery aroma that filled my kitchen was utterly irresistible. Did I mention that it takes only 13 minutes to bake? Yes, deliciousness can be a lot easier than it seems.

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In the Kitchen: Foolproof Caramelized Baked Teriyaki Chicken

My favourite recipes are the kind that uses the most basic of ingredients, but manages to wow the crowd all the same. This recipe for Teriyaki chicken is exactly that. The result is a beautifully caramelized, sticky, sweet and salty Teriyaki sauce coating tender baked drumsticks. It's not the most authentic Teriyaki recipe - there's no mirin, but you won't even tell the difference.

This recipe is based on a Caramelized Baked Chicken recipe I found on allrecipes.com, with a few tweaks to up the 'Teriyaki' factor. I omitted the ketchup, reduced the honey, increased the soy sauce and added a teaspoon of oyster sauce. A little unorthodox, maybe, but foolproof and absolutely delicious.


Foolproof Caramelized Baked Teriyaki Chicken
Adapted from Caramelized Baked Chicken, via Allrecipes.com

2 teaspoons olive oil
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
1/6 cup honey
1 small clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
(for 2 drumsticks)

Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius. Mix the olive oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce, honey and minced garlic in a small bowl. Taste the sauce as you mix, especially for the soy sauce and honey, since different brands result in different soy sauce to honey ratios.

Place the chicken in a baking dish, pour the sauce over the chicken, and bake in the preheated oven for an hour. Don't panic if the sauce doesn't stick to the chicken, use a spoon or brush to coat the chicken with the sauce every 15 minutes. You'll be amazed at how well the chicken turns out.

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In the Kitchen: Simplest Basic Crunchy Prawn Salad

Prawn Salad on Toast for Breakfast



I've always been intrigued by prawns with that much coveted crunch. What is it that gives them such great texture? Why do home-made prawn dishes always taste so different from those we get at restaurants? In a bid to finally answer the questions that have haunted me for the longest time, I set out to make my own crunchy prawns, did a fair bit of research and found what is possibly the single most interesting pointer: pH9 alkaline water is the secret to crunchy prawns. Following that most tap water tend to be close to pH9, and baking soda and egg white are both pH8, things do seem a tad clearer now, don't they? I found this secret via Rasa Malaysia, and they actually do have a more complicated method of preparing the prawns, but I decided to approach the matter the simpler way.

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