the hungry chef

So as I alluded to in my last post, B is not eating.  Literally.  Not I-am-not-eating-carbs or I-am-not-eating-after-9pm but literally not eating.  For 42 days.  He's half-way there.  Well, almost - he's on day 21 tomorrow.  It's been tough, and I am constantly amazed at his resolve and spirit. I won't go into detail because he does it much better, but suffice to say that I think he's just cleared a major hurdle recently.  The obsession about what his next meal will be (even though it's three weeks away) seems to have gone.

He obviously still thinks of food - I don't see how you can't when your entire existence at the moment revolves around the fact that you are not eating,  especially when you couple that with the reason why you're not eating (to lose weight as opposed to it being a spiritual fast for instance) - but instead of obsessing about the fact that he wants to eat these foods and when he can eat again, he has started channeling that energy into doing something constructive - and that is to MAKE those foods for US to eat!!!

I think it has helped that J is here visiting from HK - it's always nicer to cook for 2 or 3 people than just one person (i.e. me).  So yesterday we had a lovely beef stew that he apparently stewed for 9 hours.  He used up most of the stuff in the fridge that was slowly rotting away (I've not bothered cooking much lately either - like I said, it's just not as satisfying to cook for one person) and the results were rather delicious.

Today he's made us a couple of quiches - one with prawn, scallops and capsicum and the other one with salmon, stilton and onion.  Here's a picture of the prawn and scallop quiche -  (the salmon and stilton one is still in the oven).

And just to compare it to A's efforts, this is what the kitchen looked like after:

 Do you hear me complaining?  Absolutely not!!!

this is why you're fat

B has started blogging about his crazy weight loss efforts, and in doing so, has insinuated that one of the contributing factors of his fat-ness is me.  See his reasons for blogging.  According to B, I compound the problem.

So, just to corroborate that statement - here is what I made him - from the leftover meringue that A made for his a bag of food challenge.

The ingredients are:

1. meringue
2. cream
3. icing sugar
4. frozen raspberries

I  had intended to make him a pavlova, but I didn't have whipping cream.  Nor did I have an electric whisk.  So I whisked (by hand) the cream with the frozen raspberries and icing sugar (because, again, that was all i had) and the results were a sort of lovely raspberry ripple ice-cream.  Served with the meringue, it was, according to B - "delicious, and please may I have some more."

So - yup - that's really the reason why you're fat.  Because I feed you.

And if ever we needed more reasons about why we're fat - The Daily Telegraph has a delicious article about it.

a bag of food

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery they say.  It was a slow weekend.  We had no plans, and we didn't want to make plans either.  On the Saturday afternoon, in between watching Sherlock and the battle of the shriekers, I came across Henrik's and Hazel's latest adventure on Facebook.  Excited, I showed it to B, who promptly got off the sofa and drove to the supermarket to get A the following bag of food:

In the bag, we had:

1. tortillas
2. passion fruit
3. beef
4. asparagus
5. strange looking mushroom
6. corn
7. cream cheese
8. sunflower sprouts
9. cream

We also asked him to use the egg whites I had accumulated when I made the hollandaise sauce.

To be fair, A had no idea this was coming.  And he performed spectacularly.  Oh, did I say B gave him an hour and 45 mins to cook a supper of three courses?

Anyway, this is what he produced:

a tortilla bake filled with beef, peppers, rice in a cream sauce

a passion fruit meringue cheesecake

we had a lovely meal, and with lovely washing up to follow.  it took some effort, but this was what the kitchen looked like after:

I think after that we'll leave the bag of food to the the experts...

jimmy's little tuscan enclave

our friend jimmy has invested in a restaurant that is opening next week.  we were invited (well, we invited ourselves, but that's mere detail) for dinner there last night, so that the staff and chefs could "practice" and we could see what it was all about.

the restaurant is called "Bistecca - A Tuscan Steakhouse", and it is located in a charming shophouse on 25 Mohammad Sultan Road, Singapore.

it is essentially that - a steakhouse alla fiorentina.  big, fat fiorentina bisteccas.

A bistecca alla fiorentina is essentially a T-bone or porterhouse steak, grilled over a wood or charcoal fire, and seasoned with salt and, sometimes, black pepper, and olive oil.  They are thickly cut and very large.  The portions served last night were between 1 to 1.2kgs.  They are meant to be shared, although B and AVP did contemplate having one each! Greedy, much?

We were a (hungry) party of 6 (i was taking the photo).

To start we were served some italian cold cuts, bruschetta with burata and chicken liver pate.

for the pasta course, we had a chef's special risotto and a homemade fusili with fresh tomato sauce.  as you can probably tell from the photos below, they were rather good.

the steaks were next, served with these sauces:

 apart from the two enormous fiorentina bisteccas, we also had a fillet steak, which was very fine.  it was full of flavour and had fine texture. it was firm and yet melted in your mouth.  it was also grilled perfectly (the picture doesn't actually do it justice).

did i say we were hungry? 2 types of potatoes (duck fat chips and sambuca laced mash) and a creamed spinach seasoned with nutmeg (no photo) as sides.

and then pudding to finish:

all in all a very pleasant evening, with a great host:

great company:

a great chef:

It opens officially in February 2012.  Go! Not just because Jimmy is a friend, but because it is a great steakhouse.  25 Muhammad Sultan Road - the red door will lead the way!

And enjoy!

 

hollandaise sauce

thank god for the internet.

the local supermarket was selling whole Norwegian salmons at a reasonable price, and because B loves poached salmon, i bought one. a rather large one in fact, and poaching that big fish is a different story.  anyway, after i had won my battle against the big fish and the small oven, B then said, oh-so-matter-of-factly, that we must have hollandaise sauce. "oh, but you can't have poached salmon without hollandaise sauce. you know that.  you'll have to make it."

Make hollandaise sauce?! I don't even know what goes in a hollandaise sauce.  I know what it's supposed to taste like, but no idea what goes in it. egg yolks? what else?

and what do you mean you can't have poached salmon without hollandaise sauce? you've managed so far...

so thank god for the internet.  and google! what did i do before google?  i found a Reluctant Gourmet who gave the clearest instructions on what ingredients i needed and what i needed to do with those ingredients.

you need:

7oz salted butter
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons lemon juice
½ teaspoon fine grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar.

the Reluctant Gourmet explains the process clearly, and I won't try and reinvent the wheel.   I followed his instructions and the results were, according to B - "fantastic. as it should be."  B the gourmet has spoken y'all...

Here are the results:

and here's what it went with: