Tim Ho Wan (添好運) @ Hong Kong Station Podium Level 1

Before visiting Hong Kong I have heard so much about their local food as well as one of their well-known dim sum restaurant; Tim Ho Wan which launched their first outlet in Singapore (Plaza Singaura) last year as well as a second branch at Tao Payoh lately. So when we happened to see their outlet at Hong Kong MTR Station (initially we intended to go to their branch at Sham Shui Po (深水埗) but it's too far out from our schedule as we only have limited time before departure), we decided to take the opportunity to try out some of their items since the queue there is definitely shorter than Singapore.

Our Thanksgiving Feast - Roast Chicken With Cranberry And Macadamia Stuffing plus Pumpkin Pie

Thanksgiving is a time of the year where everyone in the family to get together to have meal and give grateful for things like family, friends, food and etc. To be frank this is my first year preparing Thanksgiving feast for the family and instead of the usual baked “turkey” I decided to swap with something smaller. So for this year, I prepared Roast Chicken with Cranberry and Macadamia Stuffing together with medley of colourful vegetables. And I also made our all-time favourite Pumpkin Pie with buttery crust for dessert.

I am thankful that this feast was able to complete and we had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner as planned. It was because during the preparation (if you have read about the mishap (here) on my Instagram (@cuisineparadise)) my old build-in oven (12 years) actually fused off while I was preheating it for the bakes. But thanks God with my Samsung microwave convection oven I am still able to prepare the dishes with slight changes or else I won't be able to know what to do. 

Recipes Using Samsung Smart Oven (MC32F606) - Part II

I have shared Part I of my Samsung Smart Oven MC32F606 recipes last week, featuring some of its cooking features to prepare quick meals such as "slim fry" chicken mid-joints, baked pumpkin rice, grilled salmon, etc. And in this Part II recipes post, I will be featuring some sweet treats such as chocolate chips muffins, apple chips and homemade yogurt which utilises the Convection and Auto Fermentation features of the oven.

[Christmas Bake] Mini Fruit Cakes With Nut Topping

Fruit Cake is a traditional all-time British Christmas cake that is often made with butter, liquor (RUM/Brandy) and lot of dried mixed fruits and assorted nuts. This cake is best to consume a few days to weeks after baking for a better flavour. And if you prefer a strong taste of liquor, you can also bake the cake a few week ahead and brush it with RUM several times and allow the flavour to age before Christmas.

Out of all the Christmas bakes, fruit cake is one of my favourite and every year I will baked some for my family and friends as gift. And since Christmas is just less than a month from now, it’s will be a great time to start preparing some fruit cake to enjoy over the festive season.

[Day 3] Visiting The Peak @ Hong Kong

After settled our baggage at the Airport Express In-town Check-in, we walked over to Central Pier to take a shuttle service to The Peak Tram Station. The Peak is known as Hong Kong's most popular attraction with its stunning views, great shopping and dining options which is a must visit attraction during your trip to Hong Kong.

[The Entertainer app] One-For-One Deal Main Course @ The Disgruntled Chef

Located at 26B Dempsey Road, The Disgruntled Chef is a bar and restaurant which offers European dishes in a cosy environment that is away from the heart of the city. And while browsing through my Entertainer “1-for-1 main course” deals we decided to try their main courses where I called up to make reservation for their weekend brunch.

Before sharing our views at Disgruntled Chef, here is a quick run through of what I had mentioned in my previous post at Bedrock Bar And Grill on “How to use the Entertainer App”. This app is FREE to download from your mobile phone (available on iPhone, Android and Blackberry) and there is no charges to utilise their monthly deals too. But if you wants to enjoy the full version of the Entertainer App with more than 990 “buy one get one free” offers on food, travel and etc, you can purchase the Full App @ SG$57 (usual price SG$95) for a limited time of 40% offer price.

Pandan Flavour Steamed Egg Cake - 香兰口味的蒸鸡蛋糕

It is always a blessing to be able to enjoy one or two of your favourite childhood food and at the same time passed down its traditional value to the younger generations. Here together with my little one I have made a traditional Steamed Egg Cake aka Ji Dan Gao (鸡蛋糕) which is infused with Pandan (screwpine) flavour instead of the plain one that we normally made.

The reason why we made it pandan flavour is because my boy is a big fan of Pandan Chiffon Cake and in order to make him loves this steamed egg cake I decided to add in some pandan paste to enhance the flavour (cover up the egg taste) as well as visual effect.

Recipes Using Samsung Smart Oven (MC32F606) - Part I

I have been using my microwave and built-in oven to help me with my daily food preparations for the past 10 years. And just recently, I received a new Samsung Smart Oven from Samsung that comes with Microwave, Convection, as well as Slim Fry features. On top of that, it also has a range of pre-set smart features such as sensor technology, high-quality cooking performance and a sleek aesthetic, all designed to provide convenience for busy households.

5 Assorted Chiffon Cakes Recipes - Part III

This is Part III (Part I and Part II) of my chiffon cake recipe posts and I hope you still managed to follow and not getting bored with it. Although there are still quite a few chiffon cake recipes which I would like to try and share with you but I think I will just stop at this post and experiment the rest perhaps in the next few months or so.

In this post, my favourite recipe is Matcha Azuki Chiffon Cake because it consists two of my favourite ingredients such as matcha and azuki bean. I love the unique matcha fragrance plus it blends well with the sweetness of the azuki bean. What about you? Any of your favourite is this post.

[Day 3] Disneyland Train Plus In-Town Check-in via Hong Kong Airport Express

After our breakfast at Chef Mickey, we do an express check-out together with our belongings and took the park shuttle bus to Disneyland Resort Station which is located near the entrance of Hong Kong Disneyland. From here we took the Disney themed train to Sunny Bay station to do a transfer to Hong Kong City for our Airport Express Check-in.

Pezzo Launches Ho Ho Hola Hawaiian Pizza + Win A Year Supply Of Pizza

[Pezzo Pizza] Hot Chick, Fisherman's Favourite and Sambal Ikan Bilis (clockwise)

Pezzo, a home-grown pizzeria chain with 13 convenient pizza-by-the-slice kiosks and 6 delivery stores around the island of Singapore. With its fresh new look of bright red and yellow Carnival-themed storefronts and custom designed delivery boxes, Pezzo hopes to create the same happiness for their customers through its pizzas too. And thanks to the folks of Pezzo, we get to try some of their new creations plus their Ho Ho Hola Hawaiian pizza which will be available for this festive season till 31 December 2013.

[Pezzo Pizza] Sambal Ikan Bilis, Ho Ho Hola Hawaiian (top row), Fisherman's Favourite and Hot Chick

The pizzas are Pezzo are freshly made with hand-stretched dough that topped with freshest quality of meat and vegetables together with different types of cheese to enhance the taste of each creations. Overall we were quite satisfy with the taste of the four flavours that we had tried but the crust was not very consistent (perhaps due to hand-stretched) as certain portions were relatively thicker than the other which we think there is still rooms for improvement.

Below are some of our thoughts on each of the flavours that we had tried.

On Board RSS Endurance 207, Navy @ Vivo 2013

From 14 - 17 November 2013, Singapore Navy's RSS Endurance 207 will dock at VivoCity Promenade for members of public (those who holds the balloting tickets) to visit and has a chance to be on board the navy’s fast craft utility too. Thanks to Kee Onn and Republic of Singapore Navy for the blogger's invite on the Navy@Vivo Preview Event as we get the opportunity to visit the galley (kitchen) to see how the Naval Chefs prepare food on board as well as the ship tour before public visits.

Beside the ship visit, there is also an exhibition happening within VivoCity to showcase the Republic Singapore Navy (RSN) missions and operations. At the exhibition public also gets the chance to win some Navy's souvenir such key chains, ship caps, sticky and etc.

[Navy@Vivo] RSS Endurance 207

[Navy@Vivo] RSS Endurance 207

Just some quick inform, RSS Endurance or Warship 207 was the first Singapore Landing Ship Tank (LST) to be deployed to the Gulf. It is 141 metres long which is equivalent to the size of 3 Olympic-sized swimming pools put together in length-wise and it is as deep as an eight storey block of flats with width of half a football field.

[Day 3] Breakfast Buffet at Chef Mickey, HK Disney's Hollywood Hotel

[Chef Mickey @ Disney's Hollywood Hotel]

Chef Mickey Restaurant is located in Disney's Hollywood Hotel which offers international cuisines like Chinese, Japanese, Western and etc. And on top of their spread there is also a Greet-And-Meet session with Chef Mickey during the most of the buffet sessions where kids, individual or families can grab a photo taking opportunity with him like what we did. After which we had a hearty breakfast spread which I will be sharing with you on this post.

[The Entertainer app] One-For-One Deal Main Course @ Bedrock Bar & Grill

[Bedrock Bar And Grill] ONE-FOR-ONE DEAL with Entertainer App

While searching for a good weekend dining deal from Hungry Go Where (HGW), I managed to find a great saving offer from the new Entertainer App (shown below) recommended through them. And with this paperless interface application that provides great saving deals, we had an enjoyable dinner at Bedrock Bar and Grill last Saturday.

The Entertain App

Here is a quick preview on how the Entertain App works:-
Login ~ Select the Deal ~ Call to make reservation ~ Enjoy ~ Redeem ~ Saving

With the above if you are interested to find out more about this app you can refer to a detail walk though regarding this app after the Bedrock Bar And Grill review at the end of the post.

[Day 2] Dinner at Walt's Cafe (华特餐厅), Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel

After spending an enjoyable day at Disneyland Theme Park, we head back to Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel to have our dinner at Walt's Cafe (华特餐厅). It is a posh restaurant that furnished in 1950s themed with warm lighting, dark wood floor and furniture that brings you back to Victorian era. And if you prefer to have early dinners with beautiful sunset as backdrop do remember to make your reservation earlier in order to secure a good seat for viewing pleasure.

Blueberry And Lavender Butter Cake

A lovely slice of butter cake always makes great company for afternoon tea with friends or loved one. And at time when berries are in season I will also add in a handful of it together with some lemon zest to enhance the flavour too. Or when I am run off of berries then either Matcha or Cocoa Powder will be another great alternative to make different flavour of butter cake depending on what we are craving for.

Featuring Three One Pot Dish Recipes

Weekend is just less than an hour from now and here I am sharing 3 hearty one pot dish recipes which you might be interested to take a look. These are our all-time favourite dish and I hope it can help to give you some ideas while preparing a quick meal for your family during weekend or busy weekday nights. Moreover if you read through the recipe(s) the ingredients are pretty straight forward and I am sure you have most of them in your pantry to get you started with the dish too.

CLAYPOT CHICKEN RICE WITH SALTED FISH

I love Claypot Rice especially the burnt bottom of the rice which is crispy and flavorsome (but however it is very heaty to eat those) and I have also made a few version of claypot rice even with one using Happy Call Pan (recipe). The main ingredients are chicken pieces or chicken fillet seasoned with dark soy sauce plus preserved sausage and salted fish. Although we can make decent taste of claypot rice at home but it never beats those cooked using charcoal stove which gives it a better flavour.

Unicurd Black Soybean Silken Tofu And Tua Kwa

I love tofu especially those silken tofu that adds into soup or steamed with minced meat and etc. Tofu is such a hearty ingredient which can be used to create many different types of comfort food. And if you love tofu like what we do, here are some recipes for your read up. Besides that, in this post I will be sharing two recipes using silken and firm tofu (tau kwa) which might interests you. For those who residing overseas you can use any brand of the mentioned tofu that you can find in your local supermarkets.

Have you seen these new Unicurd  Black Soybean products on display at local supermarkets during your weekly grocery  replenishment? I happened to spot the Black Soybean Silken Tofu (SG$1.50) at one of the Fairprice outlet last week and it was recommended to me by one of the shoppers who tried comes with good feedback.

As you can see from the packaging it shows that these new products contains higher level of antioxidants which may lower risk of cancer as well as 25% more Calcium when compared to regular soybean products. Taste wise they quite similar to the normal tofu but it has a slight roasted flavour which resemble black sesame. We loves the silken tofu which can be served just on its own with some light soy sauce and spring onion as starter.

[Day 2] Exploring Hong Kong Disneyland ( 香港迪士尼乐园) - Part II

After our Greet-And-Meet breakfast session with Disney Characters at Enchanted Garden (Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel), we took the park shuttle service back to Disneyland to continue our adventure with the rest of the attractions apart from what we had on Day 1. And with some planning on the night before, I have already listed down the attractions that we are going to "conquer" with the help of the Disneyland FASTPASS to cut down the waiting time on those popular attractions.

Malaysia Boleh @ Jurong Point

Malaysia Boleh is one of food source located in Jurong Point Shopping Mall that offers local Penang street food such as Hokkien Mee, Char Kway Tiao, Chendol and etc. The interior of the place was renovated to look alike outdoor food street with small wooden tables, chairs and fake windows which are quite similar to the Malaysian Food Street at Resorts World Sentosa.

We visited this place sometime back to try out their "well-known" street food and below are some of our views.

This food place was opened sometime last year (2012) October at level 3 of the new extension mall but their space was rather small and the queues were crazy long especially during weekend or sometime even after lunch hours.

[Day 2] Breakfast Plus Meet-and- Greet with Disney Characters at Enchanted Garden Restaurant (翠乐庭餐厅)

Meet And Greet With Disney Characters

Although I have being to other Disneyland theme parks in Paris and Tokyo but this is my very first time having meal together with Disney Characters like Mickey, Daisy, Pluto and etc. And honestly we were all very excited about today's breakfast even way before we came to Disneyland, Hong Kong (香港迪士尼乐园).

Above is our family photo taken with Mickey during the Meet-and-Greet Disney Characters Breakfast Buffet at Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel and I am sure it will bring back many good memories of our Disney breakfast experience even after many year later.

Disney's Hollywood Hotel (迪士尼好莱坞酒店) @ Hong Kong

[Disney's Hollywood Hotel @ Hong Kong]

Disney's Hollywood Hotel is one of the two available within Hong Kong Disneyland Resort in Lantau Island, Hong Kong. It is themed to 1930s Hollywood with around 600 guest rooms, five restaurants and a gift shop plus outdoor pool area.

[Day 1] Exploring Hong Kong Disneyland - Part I plus Short Clip on Firework

Hong Kong Disneyland

Finally after a few hours of flight from Singapore, sourcing our way from airport to Disney's Hollywood Hotel (our first time to Hong Kong) plus an enjoyable Disney characters themed lunch at Crystal Lotus (晶荷轩) now it's time for the main highlight of our trip. From this moment onwards, we are going to explore the Magical kingdom - Hong Kong Disneyland to its fullest.

Between since we arrived quite late after lunch during the first day, I will featured and shared their 7 Main themed attractions, food and beverage as well as some tips to get around the park in two separate posts.

Steamed Coffee Sponge Cake Vs Almond Cheesecake With Berries

[Halloween Inspired Cake] Steamed Coffee Sponge Cake

For the month of November I have created two recipes using Bake King flavour essence and emulco to make baked almond cheesecakes and some lovely steamed coffee sponge cake for afternoon tea. If you are interested to find out more on the mentioned recipes, you can check out their recipes site at http://www.bakeking.com.sg/recipes

[Day 1] Lunch at Crystal Lotus (晶荷轩), Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel

Disneyland Themed Dim Sum @ Crystal Lotus (晶荷轩)

Our first meal in Hong Kong is at Crystal Lotus (晶荷轩) that is located in Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel serving award-winning Chinese cuisines with a unique Disney touch and Disney Signature Dim Sum. From what I Google through websites and reviews, the restaurant is always fully book during weekends or peak period so it will be advisable to make your reservation at least two days to a week ahead or book through the hotel when making your room reservations to avoid disappointment.

[Day 1] Weekend Getaway To Hong Kong Disneyland

[Hong Kong Disneyland - Disney's Hollywood Hotel]

Our recent trip to Hong Kong Disneyland during September school break was rather an impromptu decision but we did have a wonderful weekend there. And since it was our first visit plus free and easy trip in Hong Kong I was feeling rather insecure with things like our baggage and moving around in Hong Kong from one place to another.

But thanks God, everything went on smooth and it is much easier than what I have expected to explore Hong Kong with its efficient transport systems like Taxi, Airport Express and MTR and etc. So in my Hong Kong Travelogue posts I will share with you our itinerary to the Magical Disneyland together with transport, food and hotel details throughout the subsequent post which I hope it will help to ease your planning if you are heading there soon.

Fall Recipes Using Pumpkin For Halloween

Halloween is a yearly celebration observed in a number of countries which falls on October 31. Although we don't really celebrate Halloween through the traditional trick-or-treat party but for the past three years I have being sharing some Halloween Themed Recipes during this time of the year. For this year instead of the usual savory dishes I decided to bake some sweet treats (cakes) for our afternoon tea.

And since Pumpkin is one of the most common ingredients for Fall recipes, I decided to use it to make my favourite Pumpkin Cheesecake (mini version) and Pumpkin Chia Seeds Chiffon Cake.

3 Recipes On Quinoa Salad - Part II

Morning! It's Monday and here is Part II of my quinoa dishes which I would like to share with you. And if you have missed out Part I, here is the link. These super-grains can be used to make different food like salad, pancake, bread, cakes, porridge and etc which makes a healthy replace for our usual flours or grains.

In this post, I will be sharing how to use cooked quinoa and turn them into salad, fritters and risotto to create a hearty meal for the family. But if  you have any easy recipes on quinoa do feel free to share with us your post link or ideas on the comment box below too.

MUSHROOM AND BACON QUINOA SALAD

This Mushroom And Bacon Quinoa Salad was inspired by one of my friend, AiYen when we were chatting about Quinoa on skype last week. She told me she would like to try out her first quinoa dish with bacon and mushrooms so on that afternoon I loot back some bacon from the supermarket to test out her suggestion.

To our surprise this combination taste quite good with hint of bacon flavour and it's crispy texture hidden within the quinoa salad which blends well with the overall taste. But perhaps for next round I might add in a splash of extra virgin olive oil or lemon juice to lift up the taste.

[No Churn] Coffee Ice Cream

It has being more than two years since my last Eggless Dark Chocolate Ice Cream post till now. And recently I was motivated by some of my Instagram friends homemade ice cream posts which I decide to make this super easy "No-Churn Coffee Ice Cream" from Nigella Lawson site which you can easily whipped it up at home in less than 10 minutes.

In her website there are a few no-churn ice cream recipes and I have selected our favourite Coffee Ice Cream that used espresso powder and Kahlúa liqueur (instead of espresso liqueur mentioned in the original recipe) which satisfy the craving of coffee lovers like us.

COFFEE ICE CREAM
(No Churn)

I love this recipe mainly because it is eggless plus you don't even need an ice cream maker. What you need to do is whisk up everything in a mixing bowl using electric beater and freeze it in air tight container. For my case, I used my Bosch ErgoMixx Hand Blender where I pour all the ingredients into the tall beaker and blend it till smooth.

[Wordless Wednesday] Baked Pork Chop With Apple And Mashed Potato

BAKED PORK CHOP WITH APPLE AND MASHED POTATO

3 Recipes On Quinoa Salad - Part I

Many of you might have heard about this super-grains known as Quinoa(Keen-wah) which is consider as the "Mother of All Grains". According to the information that I Google online, quinoa is an easily digested grains with good source of fiber and it's also gluten-free too.

For the past few months I have being including some organic "quinoa" into our daily meals for at least 2 - 3 times a week on top of our usual white/brown rice. And in this post you can also take on reference how I make used of the red and white quinoa in our dishes together with other ingredients.

MOROCCAN CHICKEN QUINOA SALAD

Moroccan seasoning has an exotic flavour and it is usually used to marinade lamb, chicken or beef which is ideal for grilling, barbecuing or pan frying. You can easily grab a bottle of this Moroccan Spice (shown in the ingredients photo below) at your local supermarkets or you can mix your own using a few spices shown below too.

Weekend Champagne & Croissants Brunch At Ô Batignolles

To celebrate it's first year anniversary, Ô Batignolles; a French bistro located at 2 Gemmill Lane has introduced a brand new weekend brunch menu featuring a range of delicious new dishes typical of Paris. This new "Champagne And Croissants Brunch" offers a three-course (croissant, choice of bread and choice of main) menu served together with freshly squeezed orange juice, premium coffee or tea plus free flow Yveline Prat Brut Champagne at S$89++.

Alternatively for those who prefer a non-alcoholic brunch, the ‘Champagne And Croissants’ is also available without Champagne for only S$29++ or you can order other dishes from their A la Carte Menu (shown below) that suits your preference.

Baked Mini Matcha Donuts

Two weeks ago, I saw one of my blogging friend Nami (JustOneCookBook) she made some really  mouthwatering Green Tea Donuts that triggers my craving for baked donuts. So last week after getting a new bottle of Matcha (green tea) powder and digging out my mini donut tray which hidden somewhere in the storeroom. I made some matcha donuts too!

Assorted Mini Donuts (recipe) that I made 2 years ago using Blueberry Yogurt.

I still remembered a few years back when there was a donut craze in Singapore where you can find queues everywhere outside donut outlets like Donut Factory. And during that time I even followed the craze and baked donuts with assorted toppings like what shown above.

Celebrate Children's Day @ Swensen's

Last Friday, 04 October 2013 was Children's Day school holiday so I bought boy to Swensen's to have his favourite Fishy Chippy and Ice Cream. It was a fun day where we enjoy wonderful lunch and shopping trip around the malls to get some loot for ourselves. Also secondly my aim to visit Swensen's was to try out their Spanking New Dishes recommended by Singapore bloggers.

4 New Dishes recommended by Singapore Leading Bloggers

Swensen's has introduced four Spanking New Dishes across all outlets in Singapore for a limited period from 01 September to 31 October 2013. And these four dishes are recommended by Singapore Leading Bloggers such as Ladyironchef, DanielFoodDiary, Camemberu and Keropkman. After reading feedback from friends who tried these dishes over at IG (Instagram), I decided to settle my lunch with Daniel's recommended dish; "Spiced Maple Chicken Waffle" because mainly I am a waffle fans.

5 Assorted Chiffon Cakes Recipes - Part II

Good morning everyone! For those who follow my updates on Instagram and Facebook Page, you will release that I have being working on some chiffon cake recipes lately. It is such a quick and easy cake to whip up in about 10 minutes plus 40 minutes baking time in the oven (excluding cooling time) and you get to enjoy some lovely hearty homemade chiffon anytime of the day.

I had received some emails from readers regarding problems that they face while making chiffon cakes mostly because the cake sinks or did not rise as fluffy as expected. All these might due to  folding of egg whites into the yolk batter (over mixed), oven temperature or etc. But I am sure with proper guideline and hands-on once will eventually master the recipes. In this post, I will be sharing another 5 chiffon cake recipes apart from what I did in Chiffon Cake Recipes - Part I.