Mussels Marinara Pasta

Few things to sit back and laugh about.. 

When I first cooked this dish, it was OMG- Epic disaster because I overcooked the mussels leaving it tough and chewy. Somehow 8 min cook time doesn't sound right so I left it in the steamer to happily steam its way to ultimate rockness. 

Secondly, I took alot of photos from different angles but somehow this picture was too hilarious, I had to post it. Notice how the 2 mussels at each end look like "ears" to the pasta and also how widely open they are to resemble " mouths". It almost like saying Come Eat Me NOW! 

Pesto Ravioli infused with truffle oil

Don't you just love the smell of truffles. Truffle Fries!! , Truffle Pasta, Truffle Sauce, Soup with truffle oil... A dash is all you need to bring the food to yet another level. As they can be quite pricey and rare to find at times, I suggest investing in a tiny bottle of oil or truffle salt. A little goes a long way! 

MY truffle crazy friend managed to get me a bottle of this truffle oil at the FHA fair ;) Best ever!! Forget about tv-dinners...It's time to whip up more truffle licking homemade meals. 

The next dish is basically ravioli with a sprinkle of pesto and truffle infused oil. 

If you're wondering where to get truffle products, you can find them at the far end of takashimaya basement beside Harrod, threesixty supermart at Orchard ion, Dean and Deluca at Orchard Central or any speciality store. Culina might have some as well.

Brioche with Truffle Scrambled Eggs and Vine Tomatoes

Brioche is a rich French pastry made with additional eggs and butter thus giving it that nice fluffy texture. You can have it together with poached eggs, smoked salmon, roast beef, ham etc the list goes on or simply indulge in a sweeter version with maple syrup and fresh fruits. I personally prefer to have it plain so I can pull-apart that fluffy interior and allow the bread to melt in my mouth. Bliss!

Whenever I’m feeling lazy, I tend to take the quick way out by making eggs. It’s the simplest yet most versatile thing to whip up. It also makes for a satisfying meal. I added in a dash of truffle oil to my scramble eggs and that I have to say brought the meal to another level. Forget about truffle fries, when I can have it in my eggs. It’s a healthy alternative too!

Cherry tomatoes on the vines as garnish for sides make it more balanced meal. Bon appétit!

Recipe makes enough for one serving

2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 tbsp butter
salt and pepper to taste
a dash of truffle oil

1) Heat a nonstick pan with butter until melted
2) Put the eggs in a bowl with milk, truffle oil, salt and pepper and whisk
3) Pour into pan and let cook for a few seconds and then stir gently until the uncook parts are cooked
4) Pour into plate and serve hot. Garnish with more pepper if desired :)

Brunches and Lazy Afternoons

Eggs Oh Eggs! What will I do without you. Gotta say that Singapore offers a pretty great selection of restaurants that offer Brunch/ all day breakfast to satisfy my all time cravings. Eggs Benny with Hollandaise sauce done right, Smoked salmon, sauteed mushrooms, Asparagus, Eggs florentine, Brioche, Pancakes and french toast. Seriously!? Could anything be more tempting than that. Answer is no ( Maybe chocolates.. ). Anyway I'm pretty fortunate that there's a group of crazy brunch lovers who are more than happy to indulge in this eggeciting food hunt for the best eggs benedict around town. 

Wild Honey   (@ Scotts Square and Mandarin Gallery) 

Been there a couple of times the past few weeks for dinner. So happy they serve all day breakfast! It's not one of the best I've tried but it definitely passes the average eggs benny. Beautiful poached eggs with runny filling. Only disappointment was the brioche was slightly burnt and service pretty slow. But then I couldn't blame them as it gets pretty crowded during the weekends.  

European Breakfast: Poached eggs. Sauteed mushrooms, Italian Prosciutto, and hollandaise sauce on home made Brioche.  ( If smoked salmon was added to it, this will be my all time favorite egg benny combi)

Aussie Breakfast: Rib eye Steak with onions, mushrooms, fried egg and potatoes. Definitely a meaty dish. You could choose between a 120g steak or 240g steak. Wasnt that impressed by the steak but I give many thumbs up for the fresh tomatoes on the vine! 

Mexican Breakfast: Burrito with scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes, black beans, chunky vegetable salsa, guacamole and sour cream. When the plate arrived at the table. My first comment was O-M-G. The serving or shall I say the scrambled eggs was overly generous. Overall, it was pretty decent. Can't go wrong with guacamole. haha 

 Santa Fe: Tortilla with sharp cheddar, zesty tomatoes, jalepeno, sour cream, corn, avocado and diced tomatoes. This dish was vegetarian. The salsa and jalepeno added a good kick to the dish but then again- WHERE'S THE MEAT!!. We need meat haha

Norwegian: Avocado, Grilled Asparagus, smoked salmons with poached eggs and hollandaise sauce on top of Brioche. Salmons+Runny Eggs = anytime. 

Skyve Elementary Bistro & Bar  (10 Winstedt Road, Blk E, #01-17)

We went there for a lazy afternoon tea. Skyve is well known for their Sous Vide technique of making their eggs benny and is located just next to ACS (junior) at Newton. No prize for guessing what I had- the sous vide eggs benedict. When the plate arrive, I was pretty amused by how wobbly the eggs were. We even took a video of how it wobbled uncontrollably and had a good laugh. 

This was the first time even I ate an eggs benedict with a spoon. Let's just say that the eggs were similar to those you can get at ya kun or any local coffee stall. Their hollandaise sauce was however amazing. Not too rich and it has that tangy taste to it that leaves me craving for more. But hmm Eggs + spoon = big nono for me. 

Till then Fellows. This is only the beginning :)

Porcini Mushroom Linguine

Cooking has sometimes been my secret "getaway" from my daily baking routine. It's rare that I have more savory than sweet cravings but the thing is I really do enjoy them both alot. 

Anyone who understands me well knows that I can't do without my carbs. Bread, Cereal, Pasta, beans, potatoes etc you name it all. They can really be unhealthy if taken in excess but c'mon we got to eat what we love sometimes don't we :) Anyway the rule of thumb is always to eat in moderation. That way you'll feel less guilty and happier ;) 

Looking at my extreme likes, I realize that most food I opt for all fall under the "brown category". I adore whole grain breads, nuts, oats, chocolates, mushrooms. Mushrooms are one of the staples of every meal and it goes superbly well with one of the easiest dish to whip up when you're in a hurry. 

Got my hands on the porcini mushroom Linguine (dried pasta) at the fair and instantly a caramelized onion and mushroom pasta came to mind ;)

Mushroom Linguine with Caramelized onions and brown/white Button Mushrooms  (For 4)

Ingredients

Pasta ( Amount depends on how many pax you are cooking for) 

5 Brown Button Mushrooms

5 White Button Mushrooms

1/4 cup chicken stock

1/4 cup fresh cream/ milk ( I opted for milk for a less fatty alternative to cream)

2 tbsp butter

pepper and salt (to taste)

Oregano/mixed herbs

2 onions

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup cheese

In a large saucepan, boil enough water to cook the pasta in. Add a little salt. When water is boiling, put pasta in. 

While the pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce:

Place 2 tbsp of olive oil in the pan and saute the onions until soft, transparent and caramelized. Add the mushrooms and saute for another 5 min. Swirl in the butter. 

Add the chicken stock, fresh cream/milk and cheese and cook until slightly thicken (gravy like). Add in the herbs and toss in cooked pasta. 

Top pasta with more cheese and pepper and serve hot ;) 

A New Beginning

My original plan was to restart a new blog and revive that blogging passion. That was initially the most viable plan, considering the fact that I had been blogging since 2008. Do the math and boy has it been a long 5 years! With over 300 posts, this has got to be my mid year resolution- the Massive Blog Cleaning Exercise.

Walking down memory lane, I realize that there's no easy way out. This blog has way too many sweet memories.  It first started out as a virtual journal to pen down my thoughts- You know those sweet sixteen days where you blog about school life, shopping, best friends and haha boys. And then as I grew older, food, photography and travel seem to have caught a hold of me. I wanted to be like those food bloggers who through their creativity and love for writing, are willing to share their passion for food to like minded people.

It has been a long journey in finding the time and patience to write an entry, design the webpage ( For a person like me who has utterly no clue about websites,html, CSS Codes and all that stuff that goes along with it, it took me many days trying to figure them out). Ultimately, the efforts paid off and I hope you find this a decent blog ;)

There's definitely alot of transformation to this blog:

Firstly, for those who were here with me before, you'll notice that the template is not quite the same. I have decided to opt for a cleaner, less cluttered and less is more kind of feel.

It will be the "Savory Side Of Life Food Blog" which means to say it runs separately from my other blog www.sherbakes.com that is solely meant for desserts.

I have painstakingly removed those personal posts and pictures that were made public before( Those entries still remain but are kept privately)

Lastly, I hope to post more quality pictures like the experts all do. Bear with me! I am still learning how to exploit the full functions of my camera as well as the advantages of Lightroom.


//Food is our common ground, a universal experience// James Beard

Dessert Blog!

Hi Friends,

I've Started a Solely dessert blog catered to all my Baked Goods" 

www.sherbakes.com.