Cotton Bleu - Bistro.Bar.Tapas

The Cotton Family, winner of last year FairPrice Family CookOff Season 1 has fulfill their dream of owning a restaurant whereby they setup a French-style family restaurant known as "Cotton Bleu". Their restaurant is located along Upper Thomson Road with varieties of choices from Appetizer, Main Course to Dessert. Below are some of their dishes that we have tried during the Press Conference of this year, FairPrice Family CookOff Season 2.

FOR APPETIZER:

Marinated Duck wrapped in French Crêpe is one of the finale signature dishes cook up by the Cotton Family, during last year FairPrice Family Cook Off Season 1. The slices of flavorsome duck are wrapped in thin layer of freshly made French Crepe, give it a juicy and smooth combination which is quite different from those popular Asian Peking duck wrapped in pancake wrapper.

Fresh Mozzarella Salad with Tomato, Prosciutto and Oriental Pears in balsamic vinaigrette with Mint serves as a great option for weight watcher as well as customers on vegetarian option. This is indeed a refreshing dish to start off before the main course.

Half Dozen baked Escargots with Fresh herbs, Tomato and Garlic Butter suits those who love the combination of herbs, garlic and butter. The texture of the escargots are nicely done and infused with the aroma from the seasonings. And if you prefer you can even dip the bread roll into the butter herbs sauce which gives it with a great finishing taste .

FOR MAIN COURSE:

Roasted Spring Chicken in Beer and Juniper Berries, on a bed of Tagliatelle is my choice for the day. I love the roasted chicken which is wrapped with a layer of bacon which adds an extra flavour to the moist and tender roast which sits on a bed of tagliatelle.

Grilled Codfish with French Beans in Provencal Sauce taste great with its special tangy Provencal sauce that help to ease out the greasy feel of Cod. But perhaps the french beans can be slightly under cooked to retain it's crunch bites which will be better in taste.

Rosemary Lamb Racks with Pommes au Gratin and Red Kidney Beans might sounds tough if the rack is not properly cooked. But to our surprise the lamb was juicy and tender pairing with an unusual addition of kidney beans that release a sweet flavour when eaten with the lamb. Overall this dish received quite a number of thumbs up for that day too.

FOR DESSERT:

Cotton Bleu FairPrice CookOff Winning Dessert: Floating Icebergs suits those with sweet tooth especially kids. I love the thick and creamy homemade custard base which top with generous scoop of poached egg white and drizzle of caramel sauce which give it 3 different layers of taste and texture. Indeed this is a very special homemade dessert which is pretty easy to make and it will definitely received well comments from most of guest. If you are interested to put your hand in trying out this dessert you can take a look at their recipe at FairPrice CookOff Official website Here.

Accordingly to Herve and Susan(owners of the restaurant), during some of the days or special occasions they do prepared limited set of "Special" menu to surprise their guest. So if you want to find out more about their menu or make any reservation, you can either ring up the restaurant directly or drop-by their official facebook page to check their updates on the daily menu too.

Cotton Bleu - Bistro.Bar.Tapas

205, Upper Thomson Rd
Singapore 574345
Reservation: +65 6252 5525
Facebook Page: Cotton Bleu - Bistro | Bar | Tapas

Opening Hours:
Mon - Fri: 12:00pm - 2:30pm(lunch); 6:00pm - 10:30pm(dinner)
Sat - Sun: 11:30am - 3:00pm (lunch); 5:00pm - 12:00am(dinner)

Singapore CookOff @ Palawan Beach, Sentosa

The hit cooking competition has made it’s way to the shores of Singapore and yesterday I am so honour and delighted to be given a chance to check out this event in person at Palawan Beach, Sentosa where they have the live filming of Singapore CookOff show.

Thanks Bryan, Priority Consultants and Talya from SIS Sugar for their warm invitation to witness the live filming of FairPrice CookOff and at the same time participating in their Family Fun Day events.

Since we have to reach the filming site an hour before the starting time around 10.00am. We have to wake up rather early and be at the Sentosa Express station at Vivo City to board the express train to Beach station to get to the Palawan Beach.

We reached Palawan Beach around 9.00am and due to slight drizzling; the audiences are advice to stay in-door at the waiting area till the weather is better for filming. So while waiting, I went around to the check out some of the stands where they are doing some set-up before the event starts.

Around 10.00am, the producing crews are busying getting everyone and things ready for before the filming starts. Although the sky is still drizzling and everyone seems a bit unwilling to sit at the audience seats, but the assistance AP is very sweet and patient to settle everyone down in order to smooth the filming process.

Although this is not my 1st time viewing live filming but it is indeed another good exposure to witness live cooking show on the beach area. And perhaps it is also another eye-opening events for us to experience the "secret side" of the hosts and producers where they have to take about 30 minutes to film 10 minutes of clips with all the NGs and etc. We are also shock to know that for a normal 60 minutes TV shows, it actually took about 4 hours of shooting time.......

This program hosts by favourite local artiste Pornsak and international host Asha Gill where all the participated families will be put to the ultimate culinary test, to prepare three dishes with only 20 minutes for each. This exciting new cooking show coming soon to Channel 8 in Mid-October 2010

Each episode is film in 3 different interval where the participants have to cook a dishes based on the specify ingredients on each session. And during filming, each group is required to cook a dish within 20 minutes including: - preparation, cooking and serving. Too bad, due to the filming restriction, I cannot walk around and take better photos of the dishes.

These are the only two food photos that I managed to get a shot of from the participants of the two teams. The 1st photo on top is a sandwich with kiwi smoothie by red team while the 2nd photo is deep-fried shisamo with kiwi dipping sauce by blue team.

Guess what, Dr Leslie Tay, a very popular Singapore food blogger whom blog on "ieatishootipost" appears to be one of the judges for the CookOff show.

Other than watching the CookOff filming, we also had a great fun at those stands such as SIS Sugar where kids and adults can lay their hands on cupcake decorating. And there are also some food sampling, candy giveaways and live performances of the SIS Jingle Jam Contest too.

Others such as FairPrice stand comes with some kids face painting, free popcorn and games. And there are some fun arts and crafts at the Lam Soon stand, PERFECT ITALIANO's and etc too. Joyce also takes the opportunity to do some temp tattoo on her leg too :)

Great Singapore Cook Off & SIS Fun Day

What are you planning to do during the coming National Day long weekend from 07 - 09 August 2010? Perhaps you might want to mark out 07th & 08th August in your diary for a fun-filled family day at Palawan Beach, Sentosa. With the new Integrated Resort (IR) that lines with many great activities and eateries, you can even take a break off to pamper you and your family by have a short stay at any of the resort hotel.

Remember a few weeks back, I have shared a post on the “FairPrice Family COOK OFF” and now the big day has come and they are going to have the live filming of this “Cook Off” program at Sentosa. There will be lots of free activities including face painting, arts and crafts, games, sand sculpting and many prizes and giveaways throughout the day. You can read up more on their official website HERE.

The organizer of this event would like to invite all readers and bloggers to join this upcoming event where SIS Sugar (click HERE for details) will be laying on lots of great activities for you and your family such as:-

10.00am
~ Icing demonstration: 10 – 20 kids can participate in this
~ Registration for Cupcake Decoration contest opens

11.00am
~ Cupcake Decoration contest begins

12.30pm
~ “SIS Jingle Jam” competition – live performance (spot prizes)
~ Candy floss
~ Giveaway Kids making sprinkle messages on Sticky lollipops

13.00pm
~ End of Cupcake Decoration Award for most decorative cupcake

13.30pm
~ “SIS Jingle Jam” competition – live performance (spot prizes)

14.00pm
~ SIS Trivia: fact-sharing session about SIS Sugar (spot prizes)

15.00pm
~ Kids making sprinkle messages on Sticky lollipops

15.30pm
~ “SIS Jingle Jam” competition – live performance (spot prizes)


So hurry! Plan your day on 07 - 08 August 2010 with your family to enjoy these interesting programs where you might take a glimpse on the filming of the "Great Singapore Cook Off". But for meanwhile, you can also participate with their online Jingle where you can show off your talent and creativity in design your very own jingle to stand a chance to win attractive prizes as such S$1,000 CASH.

For more details on creating the Jingle event, do hope by to their facebook website at:-
http://tinyurl.com/2f2n6r7

Till then, hope to see you around at Palawan Beach, Sentosa during the upcoming Events and Good Luck to you if you are joining the Jingle Jam too :)

p/s: All photos used on this post credit to SIS Sugar & Cook Off Singapore.

FairPrice Family COOK OFF

These few days if you are watching Channel 8, during some commerical break you might be able to catch up with this advertisement on FairPirce Cook Off. Their search is on for "Families of Four" to take part in the very first TV series of the FAIRPRICE FAMILY COOK OFF, an exciting new cooking show coming soon to Channel 8 in Mid-October 2010.

The "FairPrice Family Cook Off" show, created by Brand New Media and sponsored by FairPrice, will be a showcase of Singapore’s cultural diversity, and is designed for everyday “family” cooks, not culinary experts or trained chefs. It celebrates the talent and cohesiveness that everyday Singaporean families demonstrate in the kitchen.

Applications to audition for the first series of the FairPrice Family Cook Off are open from 01 June 2010, to midnight, 07 July 2010. Full details and entry are available at www.cookoff.com.sg Shortlisted families will be invited for an audition during the first two weeks of July to select the eight families that will participate in the programme that will be aired on Mediacorp TV Channel 8 in Mid-October. Furthermore, the winning family of the “FairPrice Family Cook off” stands to win an all-expense paid trip to Tasmania including complimentary lessons at a gourmet cooking school.

Brand New Media will be looking to cast a range of “family” units - the traditional Mum, Dad and two children; Great Grandma, Grandma, mother and daughter; groups of relatives who enjoy cooking together. So if you or any members or relatives in your family who loves to cook and have their very own "secret recipes" perhaps you would like to:-

Click HERE to get the application form today! Good Luck!