[LCB] Intermediate Cuisine Week 6,7,8 & 9

Posted on August 15, 2012 by P

Hi everyone, in case you are wondering….I’m still alive 😛

Recent lack of updates attributed to…

1) Cuisine and Pastry Exams
2) Hillsong Conference
3) K’s fun-filled visit here in Sydney 😀
4) Start of the busiest school term ever
5) Parent’s grand arrival (whee!)
6) Multiple kitchen accidents
7) Fallen sick

…all packed in a span of 2 months!

This term, I am juggling Superior Cuisine and Intermediate Pastry – 6 days of 6-8hours/day. On top of this, quite a couple of irreconcilable clashes between my Cuisine and Pastry classes which I will just have to catch up on my own 😦 DISLIKE.

Nevertheless, I figure it’s time to pay off my blog debt before the busy-ness of the school terms hits me full on.

This post features the second part of what we did in Intermediate Cuisine.
Throughout Intermediate Cuisine, Chef Tristan has never failed to highlight to us how beautiful the recipes are (as compared to Superior Cuisine) – at that time, we readily (and blindly) agreed really because most of the dishes were french classics that everyone loved. Now that I have set foot into Superior Cuisine….I must say I can’t agree more with Chef Tristan!!!


[LEFT] The array of ingredients that goes into our bouillabaisse
[RIGHT] BOUILLABAISSE (by Chef Andreas)  – what used to be peasant food has now become a rich man’s broth. With so much fresh goodness used to produce this broth…how can it not taste good?


BREAD ROLLS with CRISPY SHALLOTS (by Chef Tristan) – lessons like this one never fail to amaze me how we can spend the entire lesson in Pastry lesson making the same bread rolls which we only spent 30 minutes in Cuisine class on….hmm.


[LEFT] LAMB NOISETTES with CORIANDER PESTO and WILTED SPINACH (by Chef Tristan) – I LOVE the coriander pesto…what a welcomed change from the usual basil ones!
[RIGHT] BOULANGERE POTATOES (by Chef Tristan) – this dish was invented by bakers who were hungry at work – I believe this is is how many dishes came about!


[LEFT] PAUPIETTES OF TROUT with BRAISED ONIONS IN RIESLING with CARROTS VICHY (by Chef Andreas) – This dish requires skill, in my opinion….definitely not my favorite BUT it turned out to be our exam dish – oh bummer!
[RIGHT] ORANGE SOUFFLÉ  (by Chef Andreas)


[LEFT] DUCK IN ORANGE SAUCE (by Chef Andreas) – A VERY AWESOME CLASSIC!
[RIGHT] GÉNOISE SPONGE (by Chef Andreas) My second genoise sponge this term – made one in Basic Pastry….not my favorite cake for sure – too sweet, too egg-y.


[LEFT] SNAPPER AND PRAWN MOUSSELINE with NANTUA SAUCE (by Me) – The nantua sauce is so good because it has infused so much goodness from the considerable amount of crustacean shells used.
[RIGHT] WHITE CHOCOLATE CREME BRULÉE (by Chef Andreas)


[LEFT] STUFFED SQUID Á LA PROVENCAL (by Me)
[RIGHT] POACHED VEAL FILLET with GLAZED VEGETABLES and LYONNAISE SAUCE (by Me)


[LEFT] RAVIOLI FILLED WITH SPINACH and FETA with TOMATO and BASIL SAUCE (by Me) – Can’t wait to make egg yolk ravioli at home, soon!
[RIGHT] FILLET OF BEEF with ROSEMARY and MUSTARD (by Me)


[LEFT] ALSATIAN SAUERKRAUT with TOULOUSAIN SAUSAGE (by Me)
[RIGHT] WARM SOFT CENTRED CHOCOLATE PIDDING with DOUBLE CREAM (by Me) – Ah, so making one of those choc fondant cake is simple? I thought so! But I managed to undercook it anyway 😛


[LEFT] TOMATO CONSOMMÉ with BASIL TORTELLINI (by Chef Tristan) – tortellini was made using wanton skin….great short-cut method!
[RIGHT] RICE FLAN with CREME CHANTILLY (by Me)


[LEFT] ROAST FILLET OF PORK with VIOGNIER WINE and PRUNES (by Chef Andreas)
[RIGHT] BAKEWELL TART (by Chef Andreas) – not my favourite…


[LEFT] PAUPIETTES OF SOLE with PRAWN MOUSSE and CHAMPAGNE SAUCE (by Me) – love this dish! The base of the sauce is somewhat similar to the nantua sauce we prepared earlier…except this is even better with the champagne!
[RIGHT] CHOCOLATE TART (by Chef Andreas) – clearly the greatest tart so far! However, the shortness of the tart made it really hard to work with and I ended up with a thicker crust than I desired. Nevertheless, it tasted great!

All in all, a wonderful school term with an equally wonderful menu. And as foe exams…it  went fine except for some minor screw ups, thank God!

It’s now midway through superior and I am bogged down with truckloads of assignments and revision….will find time to update as soon as I can! Till then 🙂

Posted in Le Cordon Bleu Sydney - Australia | Leave a comment

Wild Honey – A Love-Hate Relationship

Posted on August 9, 2012 by K

I have a love-hate relationship with Wild Honey.

HATES–
1. “No reservations” policy and long queues
2. Order & pay over the counter when paying premium price tags
3. Notorious bad service – You will never get the side of milk you need for your earl grey tea

LOVES–
1. Good food
2. Good food
3. Good food
I’m such a sucker for good food. 🙂

The good news is the management seems to correct all my “hates” in their new branch @ Scott’s Square. That’s where im heading to for my next Wild Honey meal.

AUSSIE – 120g Australian grass fed sirloin, sauteed mushrooms, tomatoes, fried egg, breakfast potatoes & Dad’s baked beans with signature brioche

What a beautiful plate of food – LIKE the juicy steak and runny egg! A very hearty portion as expected from Wild Honey. Do note that Aussie is only available in Scotts Square (and not Mandarin Gallery).

Overall – Wild Honey serves really quality all-day-breakfast. I guess i can live with the inconsistent service & pricey menu. 😛

Wild Honey
Tel: +65 66361816
Opening Hours: 9am-9pm, Daily
Add:  6 Scott’s Road, Scott’s Square
Spend: $40 per pax

Posted in All-Day Breakfast, Orchard, Restaurant | Leave a comment

#CookForFamily – P

Posted on August 6, 2012 by P

As part of the Cook for Family Initiative campaigned by Daniel, both K & I had some quality time in the kitchen whipping up a storm (ok, almost) and just having some plain good fun with our respective families.

Here’s what me and my family dabbled at this evening –

ENTRÉE

KONG BAK PAU (PORK BELLY BUN) – a joint effort between Mom and I. With Mom’s proven traditional recipe coupled with what I learnt from Momofuku…we “broke our personal best” (pardon my London Olympics mood) – a true example of how teamwork triumphs!

Now, this dish is definitely worth a pictorial summary how it came about –


[LEFT] Seared pork belly ready to plunge into braising liquid to be braised for ~2 hours (I insisted on the oven while my mom insisted on the stove – she won. I still disagree :p)
[RIGHT] Photo taken after we braised, cooled, cling-wrapped, fridged and then de-fridged, sliced. By wrapping and fridg-ing, it helps the pork to retain a good shape for slicing.


[LEFT] These white little soft things….were unfortunately not home-made (we did not have the space and time to do it from scratch this time round). However, I am glad the quality of the paus we got here was pretty good – very soft and tender, I LIKE!
[RIGHT] Pork Belly filled buns topped with spring onions. My parents like to top theirs with some fresh chilli while I like mine either plain or with a slight drizzle of garlic chilli sauce 🙂

This is my favorite picture of the lot because this photo speaks a story: My dad was getting very impatient with me trying to perfect my photography (I needed to get the right lighting/angle in order to bring out the best of the iPhone camera – am sure you know what I mean!!). He actually DID grab a pau before I could snap a picture…and of course I made him put it back onto the plate 😛

MAINS
PAN-FRIED DORY with CAULIFLOWER PURÉE, BROCOLLI and BURNT BUTTER (by Me) – a very simple yet awesome dish. From the pic, it is quite obvious I left out the burnt butter sauce (Buerre Noisette) as I was in such a hurry to serve up – now, I can almost feel my chefs shaking their heads in disdain *sheepish*. As a result, this dish is somewhat incomplete without a sauce to bind everything together – fortunately, the moisture in the cauliflower purée helped!

DESSERT

CREPE SUZETTE (by Me) – a very classic and simple french dessert. I added my own twist by topping it with some sweet potato chips to add some crunch in the texture (Crepe Suz purists are going to shake their heads at this…so I better rename this as Crepe Suzette de P).

Overall – My family & I spent a great Sunday evening preparing and eating this meal together – how priceless! It is something we haven’t done for a long long time given that I haven’t seen them for more than 6 months until a couple of weeks back 🙂

I strongly encourage you to do the same – date your family for an evening of kitchen fun…it will turn out way jollier than you think, trust me!

Read #CookForFamily – K
Read #CookForFamily Initiative

Posted in French, Home-Made, Random | Leave a comment

#CookForFamily – K

Posted on August 6, 2012 by K

ENTRÉE

GOI CUON (Fresh Spring Rolls with Shrimps, Pork & Rice Noodle) –  I learnt how to make this popular Vietnamese appetiser in Saigon cooking class. My family is very fond of this healthy snack so it’s an obvious choice for the #CookForFamily menu.



[TOP LEFT] Pan-sear the pepper and salt marinated pork and cut it into thin slices
[TOP RIGHT] Boil the prawns with a pinch of salt and slice them into halves
[BOTTOM LEFT] Prepare the other ingredients like rice noodle, beansprout, lettuce, spring onion and rice paper. I’m really happy to find my favourite rice paper brand (Safoco) in Saigon Sandwich
[BOTTOM RIGHT] Assemble the ingredients into tasty spring rolls and serve with a bowl of peanut sauce on the side

Please drop me a note if you are interested in the recipe – Happy to share 🙂

MAINS

HENG HWA LOR MEE – A staple in my household. My grandmother used to make lor mee for us every so often. This is definitely comfort food at best and a dish that is close to my heart.

This bowl of noodle is a collaborative family effort–
Dad bought the fresh noodles from a traditional Heng Hwa stall downtown
Mum cooked this. She is a great cook! 🙂
I garnished the dish (with the seaweed sent by my relatives from China) and served it

I’m getting more and more interested to learn how to make Heng Hwa dishes (yes, Mum is certainly pleased to know that). Perhaps, I will do a Heng Hwa series soon.  🙂

DESSERT

ICE CREAM MOCHI by King’s – An all-time family favourite.

Overall – My family & I had lots of fun making and eating this simple 3 course meal. Hope this post encourages you to spend more time cooking with/for your family.

Home-cooked meals are typically cheaper & healthier. Most importantly – you get to spend time with your loved ones. 🙂

Read #CookForFamily – P
Read #CookForFamily Initiative

Posted in Heng Hwa, Home-Made, Random, Vietnamese | Leave a comment

Happy One, Twice!

Posted on August 5, 2012 by K

So much has taken place within a span of 1 year —

K…
1) quit her job and returned from Saigon
2) landed her dream job in another corporate giant (Here we go again)

P…
1) quit her job and moved to Sydney
2) enrolled onto LCB to fulfill her culinary dreams

 One Year, 93 Posts, 40,000 Hits.

Much has changed but you, our reader, has remained consistently loyal – we THANK YOU for being part of our journey.

P.S: Watch this space as we unveil a brand new look soon!

Posted in Random | 3 Comments