Potluck Posts 12/31

December started out chilly with a quick weekend in Montreal and ended back in San Francisco after a glorious week on Oahu. There was lots of good food in both places, stay tuned for more details!

Some of my favorite posts on the Epicurious blog were about cognac and brilliant (non-alcoholic) bubbly beverages. I also ran an interview with Elizabeth Andoh, author of the gorgeous book Kansha. One of my more popular posts was my best tips for making macaroni and cheese.

Speaking of tips, my somewhat controversial post on travel tips ran on Between Bites, there was also Dorie Greenspan's shopping guide to Paris (you'll want to bookmark it for your next trip!). Last but not least I also had a piece about the sweet treats you can eat in Louisville.

Finally I have some big news to share, as of January I will be the San Francisco editor of BlackboardEats.com. I hope you will poke around the site and sign up for great restaurant deals in Los Angeles, New York or San Francisco as well as the "everywhere" edition. I will continue blogging here and there.

Happy New Year!

Our Christmas

The few days after Christmas is always a little bitter-sweet isn't it. You start boxing up your decorations, cleaning out your fridge and reminisce over Christmases past. We just barely cleaned up from Christmas, including vacuuming about ten pounds of dead pine needles. It feels good to have our house back to normal, but there's also a small emptiness it leaves behind.

We had such a lovely Christmas this year. Normally we go back to Idaho to spend it with family, but this year we stayed in Philly and kept things fairly quiet. I was a little homesick, but ultimately it was really nice not to have to travel and we got to establish traditions for our own little family.

Once of those traditions has always been to eat nothing but appetizers on Christmas Eve and watch Christmas movies until we go to bed. It's a lot of fun and adds to the excitement of the upcoming morning.

Since I was too excited to dig in, my pictures are less then blogworthy, but here's what we enjoyed Christmas Eve with the help of some friends...

Mini Caprese Skewers sitting in a layer of pesto, one of my favorite combos of all time!

I tried my hand at another cheese platter this year. Brie, Gouda and a very pungent Stilton made for a very delicious cheese platter, along with fruit and crackers. The Gouda was by far the crowd pleaser. This was actually my first time trying it and it just might be my new favorite cheese.

We also had a veggie tray, green olives, cured meats, a shrimp platter and a french onion dip with potato chips.
Gotta have chocolate chip cookies for Santa, they're his favorite ;)

Homemade baklava brought by our friends. It was so delicious that my husband ate some despite his pecan allergy. He said it was worth it.


Cream puffs, so easy to pop in my mouth, which is exactly what I did.

These were easily the star of the show. Baguette with Brie and caramelized onions. My friend brought these and I ate about four of them. The onions are sweet and the cheese is creamy, making these an almost dessert-like treat. With the extra Brie left in my fridge, I'm pretty sure I know what I'm doing for New Years!

There were also bacon wrapped scallops and water chestnuts, but I'm pretty sure they were eaten too quickly for pictures. And while I think I'm still full a week later from this feast, what are the holidays without good food right? I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season too, enjoy your last two days of 2010!

Teochew Traditional Steamboat 锦记海鲜火锅 ........ "不好吃不收钱"

Soup Base has 17 ingredients that made the soup tasty

This is the season when waves of monsoon rain cools down the weather in Singapore and make it very conducive for the steamboat meal. Along Joo Chiat Road, near to the stretch where there are pubs and a "vibrant nightlife", there's an unassuming restaurant amongst the shop houses that served good Teochew steamboat. How good it really is? Well .... so good that they actually stake a claim on their business card, "不好吃不收钱", directly translated to "If the food is no good, don't take your money". The soup base was a milky white, prepared with 17 ingredients but the boss just wouldn't tell me what's in there that made it so tasty. Of course lah ..... who would. For steamboat business to actually "make it", a good soup base is one thing, the other important factor, fresh ingredients for the pot. 锦记 Jin Ji provides only fresh meat and seafood, coupled with the tasty soup base that made it such an enjoyable meal. There's one ingredient placed behind the counter that not really fresh though ..... Calmex Abalone.

Here's some ingredients that we ordered;

This beef was super tender. Of course we shouldn't cook it for too long.

US Prime Beef that well marbled. This beef was super tender.

Dip the beef into the bubbling pot. But don't over do it.

Pork Balls. These pork balls aren't nicely 
rounded but taste nice and tangy.

Yam Sticks

Squid Balls. This is the squid paste. The balls weren't prepared yet. Service staff will do that for you. Another tangy tasty dish.

Fresh Sliced Grouper. We were proud of ourselves for
ordering this. It's really sweet and tender.

Drunken Prawns. They were still kicking and alive
until they got too drunk.

Boss Recommended this fish paste thick noodle.
It was very tangy and delicious. Just cook this for a while.

The chilli sauce at the far end had a real kick.
This garlic, chilli soy sauce made the
food taste all the better.

With steamboat that taste so good, it's no wonder why they are so confident to stake the claim "不好吃不收钱". One tip to take note : The place outside the restaurant can be quite active at night. For our female friends who want to eat here, if you don't want to be mistaken, do take care to dress up more appropriately.

176 Joo Chiat Road (Near junction of Joo Chiat Place)

Tel : +65 6348 8924

Singapore

Paradise Pavilion 樂天閣 .... another Paradise Group creation in Marina Bay Link Mall

High back cushioned seats, chandeliers, obvious wine chiller, the restaurant's location (inside Marina Bay Financial Centre) were tell tale signs that this is a place set up for business meals. Another highlight of the restaurant as we walked in was the wood fire brick oven for the roast duck. All these are features of Paradise Pavilion 樂天閣, the latest addition to the Paradise Group of restaurants.

As we walked to our table, the restaurant didn't need to spell it out to let us know that Peking Duck is their specialty. Apart from the wood fire oven at the entrance, we can see that many tables ordering the dish and chefs busy cutting up the ducks right in front of each table. Service was prompt and I thought it's a must as folks that will frequent this restaurant for business lunches wouldn't have much time to wait.

The waiter serving us was quick to give a full introduction of their Peking duck, emphasizing that they serve the real Beijing style roast duck and even the 'popiah' skin (Chinese crepes) 薄饼皮 are imported from Beijing.

Chefs cutting up Peking ducks in the restaurant 

As we didn't pre-order the roast duck, we had to wait for 45 mins. Meanwhile, we ordered some dishes that I thought were pretty impressive. So far, my best experience with Paradise Group of restaurants is in Taste Paradise at Mosque Street (not there anymore). To rekindle that mouth watering experience, I had to order the Trio of Appetizers which is the same as what I had in Taste Paradise. We were told to attack the Pan Seared Scallop first to taste the sweetness of the scallop, followed by Foie Gras with its intense richness wrapped within a tint of savory and then finally the Wasabi Prawns. The wasabi washing away the richness of the foie gras and then the sweet juicy melon to refresh the palate. I would say it's a wholesome experience from these three little signatures. For this dish, I cannot expect a lesser experience than being brought to paradise as it has been their signature for a long while.

Trio of Appetizers - Pan Seared Scallops with mayonnaise,
Pan Seared Foie Gras and Wasabi Prawn

Close up of Pan Seared Foie Gras

Close up of Pan Seared Scallops with mayonnaise

Close up of Wasabi Prawns with Melon

HY didn't order appetizer. She had the Shark's fin dumpling soup, her favorite and which she thought was one of the better ones she had in Singapore. It's so good that I didn't have a chance to take a nice picture of the soup. All gone in a jiffy.

Before the roast duck arrive, we ordered some dim sum dishes and I would recommend the following .............

Deep Fried Yam Paste Dumpling have to be this standard. Crispy on the outside, soft moist yam inside and quite importantly, the presentation shouldn't be greasy.

Crispy Deep Fried Yam Paste Dumpling

The oozing flowing custard with the salted egg fragrance in a soft bun are evidences that this Custard Bun was delicious!

Custard Bun

I liked the indulging smell of truffle as I sink my teeth into the first bite of this Chicken Pie, urging me on to the next bite.

Chicken Pie with Truffle Oil

A bite off the pie revealing the fillings

It's revelation time when these familiar condiments were served to everyone on the table. We got our backs upright, perched our heads looking out if the next trolley with the Peking Duck was wheeled to our table.

Finally our duck arrived and the chef quickly cut up the first pieces of the crispy skin in deft movements. These first pieces of the skin were to be dipped with sugar only and be eaten while it's still hot.

Chef cutting up our duck

Subsequently, the tender meat portions with the skin were carved out to go with the other condiments. As the plate of duck meat were placed on the table, we got ourselves busy peeling off the thin 'popiah' skins off the stack, all the while careful not to tear them.

Aim for the piece with the crispiest looking skin and juiciest looking meat ......

My piece of duck was placed on the popiah skin that I had layered with a generous amount of char siew sauce. Strips of scallions and cucumber were then stacked over the top and I proceed to roll them up inside the popiah skin. Start chomping! No time to salivate.

The Peking Duck from Paradise Pavilion weren't the least inferior to the Imperial Treasure's Super Peking Duck. I thought they were on par but HY thought Paradise Pavilion's fowl taste better. It must be novelty of a new thing rubbing on her.

Another good recommendation by the waiter was the Fish Paste Noodles with Pan Seared Scallops. I was having a little friendly banter with HY and my SIL on what I heard of this dish from the mouth of the waiter. The noodles are made with fish paste. Some remarks similar to the effect of "Fat hope" was shoved at me. Alas! when it arrived, it's really noodles made with fish paste. The noodles were tangy and had a good taste of fish. Fabulous stuff here!

Fish Paste Noodles with Pan Seared scallops

Some creative desserts that looks good and taste good .....

Aloe Vera with Lemon Grass Jelly

Avocado with Coffee Ice Cream

As I was leaving the restaurant, I took a picture of the chefs at the wood fire oven.

Brick Wood Fire Oven at the entrance

With the high standards of cuisine and service here. I have no doubt that I would be back for a repeat.

8A Marina Boulevard

#02-01 Marina Bay Link Mall

Tel : +65 6509 9308

Singapore

Paradise Pavilion Website

A Very Bloggy Christmas

Initially I didn't plan to do this, I was just going to start fresh for the new year. But I just don't feel right about letting these wonderful treats go without giving credit and thanks to the bloggers who posted them.

I basically found all of my baking and treat ideas from the blogosphere this year, and while I didn't get to make near as many things as I would have liked, what I did make turned out ah-mazing! Here are some of the reasons my pants no longer fit :)




I absolutely could not go an entire Christmas season without making my all time favorite Christmas cookie, the Peanut Butter Blossom! So quick and easy, and when I say easy, I mean easy to stuff about ten down my throat at once! I know this recipe isn't much of a secret, but I always visit my aunts cookie blog, Sugarbliss for the recipe every year. Thanks Rebecca!




I found this sweet Holiday Chex Mix on Cooking with Cristine. Look at those adorable homemade Santa hats! So simply made by dipping bugles into red or cherry chocolate, and then into white for the trim. This was a pretty and delicious treat to pass out to friends. Thanks Cristine!




When I found these Creme-de-Menthe bars on Joanne's blog, Eats Well with Others, my oven was still broken and I could barely stand to wait to make this. Rich chocolatey brownies, with a creamy, minty, butter cream center, and a shell-like chocolate finish to this brownies from heaven, made for a very happy Teresa. No one else in my family is big into the mint-chocolate combo (crazies!) so I ate half the pan, and the other half is in the freezer just biding their time until I decide to cheat on my New Year's diet. Oh Joanne, how I love these bars!





And last, but certainly not least, Peppermint Thumbprint Cookie Cups from Barbara Bakes. Okay, so I did cheat a bit by just adding kisses instead of "thumbprinting" them, but I guarantee that either way you make them, you'll love them! Thanks so much Barbara!

And thanks to Blogland for providing us with SO many Christmas goodies, stories and heartfelt wishes. Even if I didn't make your treats, rest assured I imagined their smells and tastes and enjoyed a bit of the season with you! Enjoy the rest of your break and Happy New Year!

Kim's Place ..... where's the uncle with long sleeve shirt and Rolex cooking my prawn mee?

Kim's Hokkien Fried Prawn Noodles

When I searched for a venue to bring my parents for a X'mas eve dinner, I recalled a radio program visiting Kim's Place. Folks on that program sounds like they all enjoyed the food there. It's been a long while since I had Kim's Hokkien Fried Prawn Noodles so it's a opportunity to satisfy some nostalgia.

If you've actually live long enough in Singapore, you would have heard about the older Mr. Kim donning a white long sleeve shirt, folding the sleeves a little to reveal the gold Rolex. This was his attire for cooking one of the best Hokkien fried prawn noodles for you. Well in the corporate world, dressing well portrays professionalism and boost self confidence why not in the world of gourmet. Mr. Kim had been setting up is stalls in several places throughout the years and the last time I had Kim's Hokkien fried prawn noodle was in the S11 stal in Ang Mo Kio Central.

Now the younger Mr. Kim runs the business and have set up a restaurant in Joo Chiat Place under a conservation corner unit shop house. The restaurant is right opposite an open public car park with ample parking. Kim's Place doesn't only serve their popular fried prawn noodles but also fresh seafood.



We've ordered quite a few dishes that the waitress recommended but HY and I felt that only a couple stood out. Kim's Fried Hokkien Prawn Noodles is definitely one of the best around.  Kim's version is not too wet. It's served with crispy pork lard and sambal chilli that was place at the side and for us to mix in as much as want. From the glass panelled kitchen windows, I saw several cooks but didn't see anyone totting the long sleeve shirt and gold Rolex watch. Maybe that's why I felt that there was that missing magic touch for our plate of noodles. It was still very good though. There's the version which is cooked with oysters if you need the extra aphrodisiac factor.

Apart from the noodles, the Black Pepper Crab that we ordered was quite good although HY was quick to notice that it had a distinct buttery taste. Black Pepper Butter crab? I thought it was a tasty twist as I liked both the black pepper and buttery taste.

The rest of the dishes that we ordered like, Fried egg with shrimps, stir fried asparagus with scallops and Fried cereal prawns were just "run of the mill." Something that we thought should be much better from the look of the restaurant.

Deep Fried Cereal Prawn

Stir fried asparagus with scallops

Here's a snap shot of how the restaurant looks like at night while I was standing at the corner of the car park where we parked our car.

Even the dinner wasn't really very gratifying, all of us concluded that Kim's Hokkien Fried Prawn Noodles and Black Pepper Crab was good. HY and I made a mental note that this is definitely one extra venue for our weekday takeaway dinner ..... but only for the Hokkien Fried Prawn Noodles. 

*Kim has several outlets now check out their website for the other addresses.

43 Joo Chiat Place (Junction of Tembeling Road)

Tel : +65 67421119

Singapore

Kim's Place Website