Monday 12 December 2011

{Prego Pasta Sauce} Deliciously Thick & Rich

These are my 2nd batch of recipe booklets with Campbell's featuring FOUR of their Prego Pasta Sauce apart from the 1st batch using Swanson Clear Chicken Broth(read more HERE). And our aim for these recipes is provide consumers with some quick and fuss free idea to whip up festive dishes for coming Christmas of New Year family meals or gatherings.

These recipe booklets consists of 4 recipes using 2 white and 2 red sauces from Prego Pasta Sauce range. You could find these recipe booklets available in major supermarkets such as FairPrice, Cold Storage island wide. And here I would like to share 2 of the complimentary recipes from the booklet with those who are interested to try it with the Prego pasta sauce.


CHEESY CHICKEN DUMPLINGS


This Cheesy Chicken Dumplings is a fusion of Asian Dumpling with Italian Alfredo sauce to cook up something similar to Ravioli. Instead of using egg pasta dough for the dumplings, I have replaced it with Chinese round dumpling wrappers filled with minced chicken meat mixtures.

As this could be a rich dish due to the cheesy Alfredo sauce I would recommend it to be served together with some fresh salad greens to balance the taste. And for some nutty flavour, you could also scatter some toasted pine nuts on top of the prepared dumplings before serving.


(serves: 4 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 15 minutes)

Ingredients:
1 Bottle 350g Prego Cheesy Alfredo
20 Round Dumpling Wrappers
150g Mince Chicken Meat
20g Carrot, finely chopped/grated
2 Shallots, finely chopped
3 Fresh Water Chestnut, finely chopped
1/2 Tablespoon Chopped Parsley

Marinade:
1/2 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Sesame Oil
1 Teaspoon Cooking Wine
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
1/4 Teaspoon Cornflour
2 Cloves Garlic, slice thinly

Garnish:
Freshly Grind Black Pepper
Dried Chili Flakes, optional

Method:-
1. Marinate mince chicken, carrot, shallot, water chestnut and parsley together with marinade for at least 10 minutes.

2. Wrap each dumpling wrapper with 1/2 tablespoon of mince meat mixture by wetting the edge of the wrapper with some water and fold it into half.

3. Cook the dumplings in a medium pot filled with boiling water and 1/2 teaspoon of oil.

4. Once the dumplings float on the surface, lower the heat and continue to simmer for another 1 minute. Remove, rinse with tap water and drain well.

5. Heat up 1/2 tablespoon olive oil in a pan, sauté garlic slices until golden brown remove and set aside. Pour in Prego Cheesy Alfredo, toss in cooked dumplings and simmer for 1 minute. Top with garnish and fried garlic slices. Serve immediately.



BAKED HAINANESE CHICKEN CHOP


If you love those Hong Kong style baked rice with red sauce that comes in either chicken, pork or seafood I am sure you would like this fusion version of Baked Hainanese Chicken Chop. You could replace the chicken chop with either pork or seafood and bake it together with rice or even spaghetti to create 1 dish with different versions.

The is a simple version where I use bottled tomato pasta sauce to replace our usual "Asian" seasoning and at the same time retain some of the ingredients like onion, pineapple, green peas and etc to create a fusion dish. To shorten the process you could also used frozen pork/chicken schnitzel which is available in the supermarkets too. 


(serves: 4 | Preparation: 20 minutes | Cooking: 10 minutes)

Ingredients:
1 Bottle( 680g) Prego Traditional Sauce
2 Chicken Breast Meat/ 4 Chicken Fillets
1.5 Cup Dried Bread Crumbs
Oil For Shallow Frying
2 Tablespoon of Olive Oil
2 Medium Onion, cut into wedges
150g Green Peas
2 Medium Tomato, cut into wedges
2 Slices Pineapple, cut into cubes
1 Cup Shredded Tasty Cheese

Marinade:
2 Teaspoons Sesame Oil
2 Teaspoons Cooking Wine
1 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
½ Teaspoon Ground Pepper
1 Tablespoon Cornflour
1 Large Egg


Method:-
1. Tenderise the chicken by flatten it with a meat mallet or the back of the knife for easy cooking before marinate it for least 10 minutes.

2. Pour cooking oil into a frying pan till about 1cm in depth and heat it up. At the meantime roll the marinated chicken fillet in breadcrumbs, pressing firmly.

3. Cooked chicken fillet for 2 - 3 minutes on each side until golden brown or cooked through on medium low heat. (do not use high heat or it will burnt the breadcrumbs)

4. Drain on absorbent paper, cut into 1cm thick slices and set aside.

5. Sauté onion till soft add in green peas and cook for 30 seconds before stirring in Prego Traditional Sauce, tomato and pineapple, simmer for 2 minutes.

6. Arrange chicken schnitzel on top of the cooked pasta or rice in a baking dish, top with pasta sauce mixture and shredded tasty cheese.

7. Bake in pre-heated 200 degree oven for 5 minutes until cheese turns golden brown. Serve.

Lastly hope you would like these 4 dishes that I have prepared using the Prego Pasta Sauce for this coming festive season. And for your information, there is also a "Holiday Giveaways With Campbell's" promotion where consumers could spent S$6.00 to quality for the festive draw to win travel vouchers up to S$3,000. Details can be found HERE or at major participating supermarkets. Cheers and have a great week everyone!

Friday 9 December 2011

Celebrate Life This Christmas With nydc's Christmas Menu‏

Christmas isn't a time just to receive but also giving out our best to those who is in need. Here at nydc, for every Hearty Christmas roast platter or Captain’s catch seafood platter you order means a donation of S$1.00 will goes to the children of M.I.L.K(Mainly I Love Kids) and that applied to a donation of 50¢ for every Christmas Log sold too.

And with their new range of hearty selection of Christmas platters, Christmas a la carte dishes, Christmas log cakes, Christmas drinks, the nydc 2011 Christmas Menu promises to satiate the festive appetite of fun, cool and hip party of for your friends, colleagues and family.


HEARTY CHRISTMAS ROAST PLATTER
(Serves 4 @ S$98++)


The signature of the Christmas Menu must be the Hearty Christmas Roast Platter For Four: with chunky strips of succulent Australian marbled sirloin steak that are seasoned and grilled to mouth‐watering perfection; juicy spring chicken marinated over‐night with an in-house recipe and slow-­roasted with herbs; luscious pork cheese cracker and spicy bratwursts (German sausage which is usually made with veal, beef or pork) resting on traditional sauerkraut (German, "sour cabbage"); crispy beer battered onion rings with a bold BBQ sauce; creamy cheese baked Idaho potato gratin and a bed of fresh salad.

Out of all the items on the platter, we love the herbal spring chicken which is so flavorsome, tender and juicy. Their baked Idaho potato gratin was incredibly tasty with soft, creamy and cheesy texture that we kept digging for more. For your information this Hearty Christmas Roast also have serving for two person at S$56++.

Price: Hearty Christmas Roast For Four @ S$98++

All Christmas Platters come with this Passionately Fizzy Drink which is an invigorating mix of cranberry juice, soda and orange crushed ice.This is a very refreshing drinks which you could either stir-up the mixture or leave it as it is where you could taste two different flavour in a drink. Love the orange crashed ice on top which give it a zesty flavour.

A la carte price: Passionately Fizzy Drink @ S$4.80++ per mug

To end the meal, this Christmas Platter Set also comes with 4 slices of log cakes which you could choose from either "Yule love it" or "divine white chocolate-cheese".


TEA-TIME SPECIAL
(Monday - Friday, 2.00pm - 6.00pm)


If you are looking for something light with Christmas feel, perhaps this "Cinnamon Mocha Elephanccino" serve with a slice of Christmas Log cake will be a great choice to refresh your soul before continue with more festive shopping. Each slip of the drink is tinged with cinnamon and raspberries taste lingering in your mouth and for a glance you might mistaken this drink as those Hong Kong style milk tea that served with vanilla ice cream in it.

Price: Cinnamon Mocha Elephanccino(iced/hot) plus a slice of cake @ S$8.80++
A la carte price: Cinnamon Mocha Elephanccino(iced/hot) @ S$7.80++ per mug


CHRISTMAS LOGCAKE


Remember to get your log cakes early so that you won't have to worry when Christmas parties or gatherings are on the list. Here at nydc, they have two delicious Christmas Log Cake which are available on either 500g or 1kg size.

If you are a chocoholic, I would recommend you to order their "Yule love it" Chocolate Christmas Log Cake which is a decadents chocolate truffle log cake covered with Belgian couverture dark chocolate and twirled with velvety chocolate mousse.

Price:  500g @ S$32++; 1kg @ S$51++

If you don't fancy dark chocolate, maybe you can try their "divine white chocolate-cheese" log cake which is covered with a layer of smooth layer of white chocolate cheese plus a Philadelphia cream cheese center. Eat mouthful is filled with smooth and luxury chocolate cheese plus hint of savory taste.

Price:  500g @ S$37++; 1kg @ S$56++

For more detail on ordering the log cake, you could refer to their website or print out the order form HERE. Enjoy 5% early bird discount for orders placed by 12 December 2011.



nydc FACEBOOK EVENT


In order to join the Santa's Missing Stockings (a weekly draw by matching the serial number given during purchased of the Christmas Log cake) or redeem the "1-for-1" voucher (for Christmas Platters or Christmas a la carte items), please visit and "LIKE" nydc facebook fanpage before clicking the "Santa's Secret" link on the left panel shown above to "JOIN" or "REDEEM". Have fun and good luck.


nydc, New York Dessert Cafe
Bugis Junction
200 Victoria Street
#02-­‐47/48
Singapore 188021
Telephone: +65 6333 3161
Website: http://www.nydc.com.sg/

Operating Hours:
Sunday – Thursday and PH: 11.30am – 10.00pm
Friday - Saturday and Eve of PH: 11.30am – 11.00pm


GIVEAWAY - SINGAPORE READERS ONLY
(nydc's S$20 gift voucher)


For this coming Christmas I would love to Giveaway my 2 complimentary gift vouches (worth S$40.00) plus another 2 more (S$20.00 each) from the goodwill of nydc to 3 Lucky Winners so that each of you could bring your loved ones or friends to have a hearty Christmas feast or purchase the Christmas Log Cake at any of their 6 outlets at your convenience. (vouchers expired on 30 June 2012)

To participate:-
1. Leave a comment stating ONE of the Christmas items available in nydc's a la carte menu (answer can be found HERE) together with your name and a valid email address.

2. To double up your chance, you could also pop over to my facebook page HERE and "Like" this photo together with a comment stating "a main item that is found in the Hearty Christmas Roast Platters".

Closing date for this giveaway will be on Sunday, 11 December 2011(Noon).


Lastly I would like to say thank to Terence and Jackson from Calean And Sage together with nydc New York Dessert Cafe for the invited tasting.

~~~~~~~~~~~
(updated on 11 December 2011)


GIVEAWAY WINNERS


Once again thanks everyone for your participation and congratulation to the 3 Lucky winners. I would contact you shortly for your mailing address. Thanks.

Thursday 8 December 2011

Prima Taste Kitchen At Centrepoint, Ochard

Prima Taste Kitchen is a quick-service restaurant which located in Centrepoint Mall, Orchard. They serves a selection of authentic Singapore favourites such as Bak Kut Teh, Laksa, Hainanese Chicken Rice and Singapore Curry Chicken. The restaurant features a modern ambiance accented and diners can also enjoy 'live' cooking demonstrations through their showcase kitchen.

For beverage we are recommended to try their Calamansi Juice and Lychee Sensation where they used preserved sour plum in the drinks to create a unique flavour. Love their Lychee Sensation which is fizzy 7-up drinks with a few seeds of canned syrup lychee and preserved sour plum.


SIDE ORDER


First to serve is this all-time favourite local snack known as Vegetable Popiah which is richly stuffed with egg slices, turnip, vegetables, shrimp, minced pork, mushroom and etc. The crisp and refreshing sensation of the juicy fillings and intense flavour definitely leaves you longing for more. We simply love the taste of this Popiah as the ingredients are well combined without overpower taste of this dish.

Price: S$4.80 per roll

Rojak is a common local dish/appetiser which could be easily found at most hawker centres or coffee shop stalls. Prima Taste's Rojak is very flavorsome with toasted youtiao, cucumber and fresh fruits without being overpowering by it's prawn paste sauce. On top of the tasty coating sauce, we also love the generous amount of crashed peanut which they used to garish the rojak as it definitely add bonus points to this dish.

Price: S$5.90 per plate


RICE DISHES


Chicken Rice is one of the all-time local favourite which you could have it anytime of the day. I still remember vividly during my 3 years overseas stay I would always bring back at least 1/2 a dozen of these Prima Taste, Hainanese Chicken Rice sauce kit to easy our preparation on this dish.

Here at Prima Taste Kitchen, their poached chicken is very tender and juicy with a thin layer of jelly-like skin which makes you always wanted to top up for extra portion of meat. The chicken rice is very fragrant and the texture of the rice is just cooked to perfection where is it not too hard or soft too. For the chicken rice set, you could choose from either Hainanese Chicken, Soya Chicken and Crispy Chicken.

Price: S$6.50 per plate

The chicken curry for that day was a bit too thick on the gravy which makes it taste a bit powdery rather than those smooth and flowing texture.  Personally this is not my preference of curry but for those who perfect this type of Hainanese style perhaps you could give it a try. This curry set comes with a bowl of steamed rice but you could also request to change it to chicken rice instead.

Price: S$9.40 per bowl

With Prima Taste Bak Kut Teh Sauce Kit you could also cook a pot of this tasty Teochew Style peppery soup at your own convenience at home. And moreover what you required is just minimum fresh ingredients such prime/pork ribs together with their prepacked stock mix. Love the taste of the soup but it would be even better if more peppercorns are added.The texture of the prime ribs are just nice for our liking as it is not over/under cooked.

Price: S$10.70 per bowl


NOODLES


When we first taste the soup broth from this prawn mee we were kind of surprised that these actually was prepared from their Prawn Mee Sauce Kit (detail HERE). From a glance above you could see the decent amount of ingredients such as sliced pork, fresh prawns, bean sprouts, veggies and flat yellow noodles which is pretty reasonable for it's price.

Price: S$6.50 per bowl

Out of all the main dishes that we have tried, their Fried Hokkien Prawn Noodle has definitely out shine the rest  of the dishes and won our heart. I love the wok taste and texture of the noodles which is just nicely cooked and fully adsorb the taste from the prawn broth. According to Vangelynn, the chef actually fried individual order plate by plate in order to maintain the standard of this dish. For your information you could use the Prawn Mee Sauce Kit to cook either Prawn Mee Soup or Fried Hokkien Prawn Noodle.

And since I am in love with their Fried Hokkien Prawn Noodle, I have bought a packet of the Sauce Kit from supermarket which I am going to try cooking it at home soon.

Price: S$6.50 per plate

The gravy of Prima Taste Laksa is smooth and rich which is prepared from its pre-packed laksa spice. In this way you could easily prepared your favourite laksa without much trouble on grinding your own laksa paste and enjoy a bowl of decent laksa anytime of the day.

Price: S$5.50 per bowl

Apart from the above Authentic Laksa Spice Kit, Prima Taste also has another "Singapore Laksa La Mian" which you could easily purchase from their outlet or local supermarkets. You could read more about my review on this product HERE at my recipe blog. 


DESSERTS


Vangelynn mentioned that this Glass Jelly with Longan in Gula Melaka is a new dessert on their menu. And for a light and refreshing dessert with hint of gula melaka syrup to sweeten the taste, I am sure this would come in perfect as dessert after a hearty meal.

Their Chendol dessert consist of rich coconut milk, a worm-like green jelly made from rice flour, red beans and etc served together with shaved ice and fragrance Gula Melaka(palm sugar). Although the taste is great but however we find that the shaved ice was rather rough which could have being better if it is much smoother and fine texture.

Price: S$3.50 per cup

For a lighter and smaller portion of dessert, you could order this Longan with Almond Beancurd. The beancurd is very smooth and silky with hint of almond flavour that does not overpower the taste of the whole dessert.

Price: S$2.90 per bowl


TEA-TIME PROMOTION


If you are looking for some tea-time snack during your festive shopping trip around Orchard area on weekday, perhaps Prima Taste Kitchen tea-time special would have something "local" that you prefer.

For twin sharing you might consider to get their "2 dishes + 1 drink" @ S$4.50 which I think it's just nice to fill up your tummy before the next meal.


SPICE AND SAUCE RACK


Apart from serving array of local dishes at Prima Taste Kitchen, they also have a corner selling different varieties of their cooking sauce ranging from:- Singapore favourites Sauce Kit whereby you could whip up local dishes such as prawn mee, char kway teow, mee sim and etc to Authentic Asian Sauce such as garlic chilli sauce, Sambal Belachan Paste, Premium Black Pepper Sauce and etc to prepare authentic Asian dishes at home.

For your conveniences, you could also order these sauce kits via their website HERE or through any supermarkets in Singapore. And for those regular or big users you might wish to save considerably through their party packs which only available in certain popular products such as Bak Chor Mee and Lor Mee. Cooking instructions can be easily found on the packaging and online plus they also have cooking classes for those who intend to pick up some cooking skill using their ready paste and products. You could register for their Cooking Workshops at a reasonable fees(S$20.00) via their  website HERE.   


PRIMA TASTE KITCHEN
176 Orchard Road
#01-63/64 The Centrepoint Mall
Singapore 238843
Telephone: +65 6887 3786
Website: http://primataste.com.sg/kitchen.aspx
Facebook Page HERE

Lastly I would like to thank Vangelynn and Prima Taste for the invited tasting.

Wednesday 7 December 2011

CoCoICHIBANYA Curry House @ 313 Somerset

Located at the Basement of  313@Somerset which is just opposite Cold Storage entrance there is this Japanese curry rice restaurant known as CoCoICHIBANYA Curry House. With over 30 years of experience and more than 1,250 outlets in countries such as Japan, Korea, USA, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand I am sure it will spice up some sparks in our local food trend.

Last week while doing some Christmas shopping around Orchard area, we decided to drop by CoCoICHIBANYA Curry House to have our lunch since I have heard some good reviews on their curry rice.

With 2 Adults and a kid we decided to order two rice dishes plus a mini salad to share among ourselves. Here we have Pork Cutlet Curry With Cheese as mum prefer pork rather than chicken or seafood.

And one good point in CoCoICHIBANYA Curry House, customers get to style their own dish(s) according to individual preference. To begin:-

Step 1: Select the Curry (Main Rice Dish)

Step 2: Select the Quantity of Rice
  • 150g (- S$1.00 off)
  • 250g (Standard serving)
  • 350g ( + S$1.50)
  • 450g (+ S$3.00)
  • 550g (+ S$4.50) 

Step 3: Spice Adjustment
  • Mild (For Children)
  • Level 0 (Standard)
  • Level 1 (Medium Hot)
  • Level 2 (Hot)
  • Level 3 (Extra Hot)
  • Level 4 (Super Hot)
  • Level 5 (Crazy Hot)

Step 4: Select Toppings
Tuna, Corn, Boiled Egg (+ S$1.00)
Cheese, Eggplant, Kimchee, Bacon, Spinach, Tomato, Clam (+ S$2.00)

Since my boy is having parts of his share from this Pork Cutlet Curry With Cheese, we decide to get the "Mild" Curry which is a non-spicy vegetable curry together with a boiled-egg as extra toppings. Although we order the standard(250g) portion but the serving size was just nice even for two sharing.

Overall we find the pork cutlet a bit tough which is toward chewy side but the pipping hot curry and melted cheese makes a perfect pair for this dish. And we also love the crispy crumbed crust which makes the other half of the cutlet.

Price: S$14.00 for standard serving

Before I ordered this, I have read a few good reviews on this "MUST TRY" Creamed Mushroom Omelette Curry. With the fragrant long grains rice wrapped in the soft and perfectly cooked omelette sitting in the pool of pipping hot Curry Sauce(level 1), I am sure no one could resists the temptation of this dish.

For your information these Japanese Curry is sort of peppery hot compared to our local sweating hot curry, and most importantly these curry do not contain any coconut milk.

Price: S$13.00 for standard serving

To go with the meal, we also order a Mini Salad (S$2.00) which comes with some salad greens, sweet corns and cherry tomato together with some thousand island sauce.

So if you want to try some decent Japanese Curry with and custom your preference on your own dish, perhaps you would like to drop by CoCoICHIBANYA Curry House and pick up your choice. Average spending per person including bervage would be around S$20.00.

CoCo ICHIBANYA
313 Orchard Road
#B3-25/27 313 @ Somerset
Telephone: +65 6636 7280

Opening Hours:
10am – 10pm (Mon–Fri), 10am – 11pm (Sat–Sun and PH)

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