I Want to be a Domesticated Goddess (Part 2)

Baking isn’t hard, but the idea of buying all that equipment overwhelms me. What if I were to invest all that moolah into buying a mixer, measuring cups, pans etc and they end up as mere ornaments in my kitchen?

But I did like the idea of making my own bread.

So I did what I had to. I signed up for a baking class. Just to see how much I liked it. At $42 a class, I have to say the classes at Phoon Huat were a steal. Don’t expect very fancy pancy instruction though – the kitchen’s fully equipped yes, materials all provided, but think back-to-the-basics reliable heartlands education.

Half the class were housewives wearing flip flops and I felt a bit out of place all clad in office attire. They all seemed to know each other, so I was pretty glad Ann was there with me. At least the two newbies could look to each other for help.

Here’s the before and after of our “Mediterranean herbs pizza with tomatoes and tuna.” Heh I think I went overboard with the toppings. But I love how fragrant the herb and tomato mix was, and that pizza crust was seriously good enough to rival Mozza’s (in my opinion, anyway, but I’m biaised)! Tasty and chewy, I have since passed on the recipe to two of my domesticated colleagues.

And here’s a series of pics on the making of the “Cinnamon roll buns.”

Wow the caramelized fruit/nut combination with warm fluffy bread was to die for! This became the breakfast for the office. Reviews were good, woohoo! It was really fun, getting our hands messy with dough. We felt quite proud of ourselves, churning out creations like these.

I Want to be a Domesticated Goddess (Part 1)

I’ve never been much of the homemaker sort. My friends will probably tell you that is the understatement of the year. Even when I moved out to my own place this year, I still bring mum my laundry and she very promptly arranges a part-time maid to clean my house every week. I figure it’s time for a change.

I am still adverse to cleaning, of course. But cooking, now, that’s a different story. I love love love food. And I’m darned good at hunting down the best chow around. Surely that is a sign of talent? Haha. Cooking can’t be that hard, can it?

Well, there was only one way to find out. So a few weekends ago I invited some close friends over to the Shoebox for a roast beef dinner. I am told it is easy to prepare a roast beef. Invest in a good cut, marinate well, throw into the oven and pay it some attention while it cooks itself. This was my plan for my 2kg (serves 8) of meat:

5.30pm - Preheat oven to 220c, put beef with halves of onion, sear roast for 30min
6pm - Turn heat down to 160c, baste #1 Parboil potatoes in salted water for 10min.
6.30pm - Put potatoes into oven, baste #2
7pm - Baste #3
7.10pm - Remove roast from oven when middle is 50c. Turn up temperature for another 20min to crisp potatoes.
7.30pm - Let meat stand for 20min with foil over it. Remove potatoes from oven. Serve!

To be honest, I had Domino’s number on speed dial, just in case the roast beef experiment went wrong. But guess what, it was a tremendous success! Check out my perfect medium rare roast! Whoever invented the meat thermometer is a genius *grin*

The roast potatoes and onions were simply lovely too. Yellow onions taste fantastic when roasted. Keeping the potato skins on was a good decision too, everyone loved the contrast between the creamy insides and the crisp outside. All that time in the oven soaking up the fat from the roast imparted so much flavour into them.

I am so proud of myself. See, Liz can cook!

Of course, minor victories like these are best shared with the excellent company of friends, and of course, the special bottle of Rebourgeon-Mure Pommard 1er Cru "Clos des Arvelets" 2007 I popped open.

This is definitely something I would try again. A pork loin, perhaps, the next time?

Ice-cream Making at Tom's Palette

It was tough waking up early the morning after Beerfest, but boy am I glad I made it for the ice cream making class at Tom's Palette.

Located at Shaw Leisure Gallery, Tom’s Palette is a non descript shop space hiding a delightful Willy Wonka’s factory within. I knew they had been around for a while (since 2005) and won many accolades, but it was my first time there.

There were 8 of us in the ice cream making class. The class started with the instructor giving us a demonstration on making green tea ice cream, followed by our own hands-on effort to make chocolate ice cream. I was quite surprised by how easy it was – mix up the egg yolk, milk, cream and sugar to create the custard, infuse the custard with the flavoring you want, chuck it in the freezer for a bit, churn it by hand and return it to freezer for a bit more and voila – your very own traditional homemade ice cream!

While waiting for our custards to freeze, we were treated to an ice cream buffet. It was surreal – so many flavours to try, so limited stomach space! There were some incredible flavors at Tom’s – I especially loved the chocolate stout, salted egg yolk and onion, popping candy (melt ‘n’ sizzle) and salty yuzu flavors. I was stuffed but I couldn’t resist asking for one last scoop of Granny’s Favourite, packed with cookie dough goodness. Perfect hangover food haha.

TADA! The picture on the left shows our finished product. Very yummy chocolate ice cream. We were immensely proud of ourselves :)

The private class lasted from 11am till 1.30pm, when they opened the doors to the public. Wow, I never knew that there are so many people craving ice cream so early in the afternoon. Brisk business indeed.

I highly recommend the ice cream making class at Tom’s Palette!