Chocolate Chiffon Cake with Multigrain & Mixed Fruits

I have almost forgotten this yummy chiffon cake that has being hiatus inside my half-drafted post section since late August till now. As regular readers of this blog, I am sure you knew we love anything that is made of chocolate. So for this chiffon cake I used some cocoa powder, mini chocolate chips and dark chocolate chunks as main ingredients. And in order to enhance it’s outlook, I sprinkle generous amount of store bought Multigrain mixture and dried mixed fruit for that extra texture and colour.

Official Launch of the National Art Gallery Open House

The National Art Gallery, Singapore is organising a special open house event for the City Hall and former Supreme Court buildings during two weekends of October. The event offers a rare and exclusive glimpse at the buildings' unparalleled history and distinctive architecture. It will feature eye-opening guided tours, exhibition displays portraying the future galleries, film screenings, photo exhibition, activity corners for children, flea markets and a snack fair. (you can refer to the admission details at the end of the post)

Thanks to Omy.sg Blog Club and the team at the National Art Gallery, I got to attend the Launch Of National Art Gallery Open House and preview tour earlier. Below are some photos and short write-up of the Open House on Friday, 08 October 2010. If you are interested to find out more details about these heritage buildings before they are transformed into the furture National Art Gallery till 2013, remember to drop by to their weekend Open House on the two weekends (dates and times shown below) that is open to public access from 11.00am - 9.00pm.

Official Launch of the National Art Gallery by Guest of Honour, Mr Lui Tuck Yew.

Media together with Guest of Honour taking group photos at the City Hall steps.

Stairway entrance to the second level of the various Court Rooms.

Main Corridor of the near the Court of Appeal and Rotunda Library.

This is one of the Court Room in the building known as Court of Appeal.

This is the underground pathway for the prisoner to be brought to the Court Room stand.

The Chief Justice's chambers are served by their own private lift and the Y-shaped table you see int he Chief Justice's office is the only one in the building.

The Rotunda Library was once used to hold the law library till the collection outgrew the circular space, the library was moved to the City Hall buildings and this room was converted into a police post.

At the Supreme Court Balcony, if you look up at the tympanum you would notice that the depiction of Justice there is not blindfolded as it usually is (on the United States Supreme Court). The sculptures on it were carved by Italian Cavalieri Rudolfo Nolli, who was also responsible for moulding the internal columns of the building.

City Hall Building and steps have served as the backdrop for many national events. Example the surrender of the Japanese forces in 1942 was announced by Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten on these steps and also the proclamation of self-government in 1959 by MM Lee Kuan Yew whom was then the Prime Minster at the time.

The newly set up Special Exhibition space and registration counters for guided tour at the ground level of City Hall building.

Note:

~ Limited 500 pieces of Goodie Bag per day on a first come first serve basis.

~ 8 Chances per day to win an iPod shuffle each day from 12.00pm - 7.00pm.

~ 2 Pairs of tickets to Cheong So Pieng: Bridging Worlds Exhibition to be given out every hour.

The National Art Gallery Open House Event
City Hall and former Supreme Court Buildings
1 St Andrew Road


ADMISSION IS FREE
First weekend
9 & 10 October 2010; 11.00am - 9.00pm daily

Extended weekend
16 & 17 October 2010; 10.00am - 6.00pm daily

Note:

For more photographs on the above mentioned post, please click HERE.

Smooth & Silky Beancurd @ Rochor Beancurd House

Sometime, rather or how I would get mixed up by all those names of the beancurd store such as “Rochor Beancurd House - 梧槽豆花水“, “Rochor Original Beancurd You Tiao - 梧槽豆花油条.” or “Beancurd City - 豆花城”. But no matter which stall you prefer, I am sure there is always one that captures your heart and makes you go back for more. Out of three beancurd stalls mentioned above, I have only tried the two, which are Rochor Beancurd House and Rochor Original Beancurd You Tiao.

Through the recommendation of my best friend Joyce, who always frequent their stall I decided to drop by their one of their outlet at Upper Thomson area. Despite of the normal beancurd with sugar syrup, I added some chewy pearls topping for my beancurd and surprisingly the pearl are so soft and chewy. Personally I would prefer Rochor Beancurd House’s beancurd which I feel is much tastier and silky smooth that it can just glides down through your throat.

After trying we also bought some extra beancurd with lotus seeds and a few other toppings to share with other family members at home.

You can easily spot their shop along Upper Thomson Road with its ‘huge” blue signboard that is at the opposite road near famous LongHouse food center. Other than their signature beancurd and soya bean milk, you might also want to try some of their local snacks and kueh such as You Tiao, Portuguese egg tarts, Crystal bun and etc.

Rochor Beancurd House
232 Upper Thomson Road
Singapore 574363
Delivery: 8288 7020
Facebook site: Rochor Beancurd House

Operating hours: 11.00am – 3.00am daily.

Stir-fry Dual Broccoli Flower

You might have notice that I seldom or I only blog about vegetables dish once in a blue moon. It is not that we don’t eat vegetables at home but usually we just had blanched choy sum with a bit of oyster sauce, stir-fry broccoli or Chinese cabbage which I think there is nothing fancy to write about. But today, I would like to share with you this “new” all-in-one seasoning from Knorr. You can use it to season chicken wing for deep-fry or grill, add a teaspoon or so to your vegetables and etc.

This is our Dual Broccoli flower dish that I used to cook for my family. Why dual? That’s because, I love the green broccoli where my family only eats the white cauliflower so usually I would mixed them together into one dish. If you don’t prefer to use these instant seasonings, you can replace it with salt or oyster sauce. Add a few medium prawns or mushroom to this dish will make it taste even better too.

Ingredients: (serves 2)
80g Broccoli, cut into florets
80g Cauliflower, cut into florets
2 Medium Tomatoes, remove the seeds cut into wedges
2 Cloves of Garlic
1 Teaspoon of Knorr HaoChi All-in-1 Seasoning
30 – 50ml Water

Method:
1. Trim the broccoli and cauliflower into florets soaked them in a basin of water with 1/2 teaspoon of salt to remove dirt and worms if any for about 5 minutes.
2. Remove, rinse and set aside.
3. Heat up the wok with ½ tablespoon of oil, sauté the garlic till fragrant, add in the cauliflower first and let it cook for about 1 minute before adding the broccoli and tomato.
4. When the broccoli turns to brighter green in colour, drizzle in the seasoning, give it a quick stir and add in water.
5. When the mixture comes to boil, let it simmer for another 30 seconds before switching off the heat.
6. Remove on plate and serve.