Monday, June 28, 2010

Potato Salad

Potato Salad
Learned of this recipe from cookingwithdog.

Ingredients (Based on agaration):
-1 to 2 Potatoes
- Small pieces of Carrot
- Pinches of Salt
- Half a Japanese Cucumber
- Half a Sweet Corn
- 1/2 tea spoon of Vinegar
- A pinch of Sugar
- A pinch of Black Pepper
- 2 table spoon of Mayonnaise

Directions (Refer to the cookingwithdog for video instructions):
1) Boil the sweet corn in a pot.
2) Cut the cucumber, potatoes and carrot into quarter slices.
3) Add a pinch of salt to the cucumber slices and rub the salt evenly.
4) Put the potatoes and carrot bits in a pot of water that is filled with salt and bring the pot of water to a boil.
5) Remove the sweet corn from step 1) and cut out the corn bits.
6) Drain the potatoes and carrot bits from step 4) and put into large bowl.
7) Lightly mash the potatoes and carrot bits while adding in vinegar, sugar and black pepper.
8) Use kitchen towels to squeeze dry the cucmber slices from step 2) and add it into the bowl.
9) Add in the corn bits and mayonnaise and mix the ingredients.
10) Serve the potatoe salad.



Experience:
Mr. Robotic thinks the potato salad is one of those dishes that can't go too wrong. Mr. Robotic totally did not follow the portions in the original recipe and just added the quantity as he deemed appropriate.

The best part though is it can be kept in the fridge and used as a side dish for the next meal. Mr. Robotic had it as a side for his eggs and sausages and pan seared salmon fish.
The colors are nice too! :)

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Sing... sing a song...

Kbox is having a promotion for its members on week nights from Mon to Thurs between 7 to 10pm. It's only $8 net compared to the usual $18++. Of course, with the lower price package, you are only served 1 drink, shorter singing hours and you don't get free flow of snacks...

But Mr. Robotic still thinks it is a good deal for anyone who just wants to sing! It's like the budget airline concept... cutting away the frills!

La la la...

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Mr. Congeniality turns 3...

Mr. Robotic and Ms. 大眼妹 decided to throw Mr. Congeniality a mini birthday celebration in view that he is at in their opinion a new stage in life. Mr. Congeniality is now 3 years old!!! Well at least that is what the candle on his cake says. haha..

If you
are wondering why is the cake amateurishly decorated... that is because it was decorated by Mr. Robotic and Ms. 大眼妹. The duo met up earlier at the shop Icing Room in the basement of 313 at Somerset (same management of Breadtalk) and was given a plain white cake with 3 icings and decorative stars. Using the icing to draw is no easy feat which explains for a not so "handsome" caricature of Mr. Congeniality.

However, if you want to give a personalised gift to someone and is good with icing drawings, then
this shop will be the one for you. And the bonus is... the cake actually tasted good!
Hoped that Mr. Congeniality enjoyed his mini celebration!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Jelly jelly...

Konnyake Jelly
Followed the instructions on the packaging.

Ingredients (serves 8 to 10):
- Konnyake Jelly Powder
- Fruits of your choice cut to bits size
- 500ml of water

Directions:
- Fill the pot with the 500ml of water. Upon turning on the flame, pour the jelly powder gradually into the water. Keep stirring till it boils.
- Upon boiling, remove from stove and stir till bubbles disappears.
- Add fruits to mould. Pour mixture from step 2 into mould.
- Chill for 3 hours before serving.


Experience:

Mr. Robotic chose the pineapple flavored jelly and used apples as the garnishing for the jelly to give it a little crunchiness in texture. Apples however are not meant to be kept for long so it is advisable to consume the jelly the day itself once it is chilled nicely. Each pack actually can serve 8 to 10 people so you may want to cut down on the quantity. Mr. Robotic is going to try this jelly thingy again but with a clear colored jelly instead. The rich yellow overshadows the garnishing.

PS: Mr. Robotic bought the small little turtle pick from Daiso. Daiso just have some things that are irresistible at $2 (there are other picks in the pack for future use). Haha...

Mango Sago Pomelo w/o sago and pomelo...

Mango Sago Pomelo (better known as 杨枝甘露)
Learned of this recipe from Noob Cook.

Ingredients(Serves 4):
- 400ml Mango Juice (substituted with Marigold
PeelFresh)
- 150ml Evaporated Milk
- 2 large ripe Honey Mangoes, cubed
- Sugar Syrup by mixing 2 table spoon caster sugar with just enough hot water to dissolve
- 80g Pearl Sago, soak in water for 20 minutes till white and enlarged, then rinsed
- Pomelo, peeled and sacs separated, about 50g or more

Directions:
1) Boil a pot of water, add sago and boil for a short while till the sago is transparent. Run the cooked sago through a fine sieve and running water to remove excess starch. Set aside.
2) Reserve one quarter of the cubed mangoes for garnishing. In a blender, blend the rest of the mangoes and the evaporated milk for a short while till well mixed.
3) Mix mango smoothie prepared in step 2 with mango juice. Add sugar syrup to taste. Add cooked pearl sago prepared in step 1 to the mixture. Chill in fridge.
4) To serve, portion out to individual serving bowls and garnish with pomelo sacs and cubed mangoes.

Experience:
Mr. Robotic had been warned by Mdm. Agaration that sago is a hard thing to get right and was she right on the money for this. Mr. Robotic didn't manage to get the sago to boil to the right texture. It turned out all squishy... nothing like sago. To ensure that the dessert don't turn out to be a disaster, Mr. Robotic decided to throw the failed batch of sago away which is definitely a right decision. Pomelo is an ingredient that is hard to get (Mr. Robotic didn't manage to get any from the supermarkets) so that was left out too.

Fortunately, notwithstanding that ingredients are missing, the dessert still came out nice. Those who tasted it said that it was Mr. Robotic's most successful dessert to date. It is a tad on the sweet side so Mr. Robotic wouldn't recommend having it everyday. But it is a simple dessert and serving it chilled makes it a most suitable dessert for the warm climate in Singapore!

Yummy!

The Fastest Burning Candles ever....

Mr. Robotic never liked his birthdays cause it is a constant reminder to himself that yet another year had passed in his life and he needs to evaluate his past achievements. For machines especially, this is a big no no cause they would have depreciate in value with each passing year. Lucky for Mr. Robotic, his friends were there each year with their warm wishes to make the transition easier.

This year marks the last year in his twenties for Mr. Robotic as Mr. Trust Me "brutally" reminded him. The next year would be the big 3 for Mr. Robotic. The numbers again sunk in when the mango cake presented to Mr. Robotic contained so many candles which more or less crowded the cake. And as there were so many burning candles next to each other, they burned so fast that Mr. Robotic and friends had barely enough time to take photos with the birthday cake. It was hilarious trying to capture a photo before the candle burns out! Got to be a first!

Another first for Mr. Robotic was that it was the first birthday where the friends celebrated with a BBQ. Lots of laughter and fun. Thank you Ms. Molly for being the host and organising the whole event!

While the day ended, it is kind of surreal for Mr. Robotic as he took it all in. He is approaching the next stage of his life. A little clueless, maybe a little scary... but its alright. Cause he can count on all his friends to make the journey forward, interesting, exciting and memorable!

Thank you all!