Deck the halls with boughs of holly,

Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Tis the season to be jolly,

Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Don we now our gay apparel,

Fa la la la la, la la la la…

I was greeted with Christmas carols softly setting the mood in the background, shiny Christmas lights blinking away and a Christmas tree amassing what seemed to be a great hoard of presents. My first ever Xmas in July was guaranteed to be a spectacular one with our gracious hosts Billy and The Pom having invited me and fellow foodbloggers Citrus & Candy, Chocolatesuze, Eat, Show & Tell, Grab Your Fork, One Bite More, Penguin Says Feed Me, Raspberri Cupcakes and The <3 of Food. However, there were some conditions for entry into this private party: one must wear thy daggiest jumper, prepare a dish to share with everyone and prepare a Secret Santa gift. Here Comes Xmas in July

Nothing says Xmas like drinking eggnog out of Santa’s head

To complete my first task of finding the daggiest jumper I raided my fathers wardrobe. My did they have taste in fashion back then! The hustle and bustle in the kitchen got busier as everybody put their final touches on their dishes and prepared for the feasting ahead.

Awwwww Pepe

While some KO’ed before the fooding?? (or just taking advice from the wise cat)

Others <3 french (and food) in the kitchen

Our host* displays his jumper proudly and sets off the feasting in high and fun spirits

[*may or may not have really been Billy and not Dame Edna]

Shez and VTB brought a variety of cheeses! Mmmm cheese platter. With their homemade citrus labna being the highlight!

Helen made some gorgeous chicken pate with a golden layer of butter on top. Irresistably smooth and creamy I could had eaten this by the spoonful.

Karen and The Captain brought some homemade meatballs and a creamy sauce to go with. These were very very tasty balls mmmmm balls.

Billy’s wreaths of homemade bread (one plain and one thyme) were soft and fluffy on the inside but a nice crust to hold onto while we spread on truffle butter. I love love loovee fresh bread!

Helen’s roasted pumpkin salad was a great combination of greens and soft warm chunks of pumpkin and sheeps milk cheese. Although it is hard to make friends with salads this one became a good friend immediately.

Billy’s caramelized onion and goats cheese tarts were wonderful bites of buttery short pastry, sticky sweetness of caramelized onions and creaminess of cheese. I sneakily kept stealing and popping them in my mouth since they were so tasty. Caramelized onions are so very awesome.

Shez and VTB presented an antipasto hedgehog which I took the liberty to dub ‘Sonic‘. Not because it could run very fast but because it disappeared very quickly, well the quills of antipasto goodness at least. Chunks of melon, cheese, olives and antipasto meats tantalized our tastebuds.

Billy’s brussel sprouts and bacon. I was surprised at how many people had not tried brussel sprouts before. I had never hated brussel sprouts but bacon just makes everything better so I would take this version over the other of plain with vinegar.

Simon fried up some crumbed angelfish along with a special sauce for dipping. Nicely crumbed and fried with a decent crunch to reveal soft and tender fish within.

Minh, aka the Queen of soup, treated us to a delicious sweet corn veloute based on Etch’s recipe. Very sweet and creamy, this soup had me asking for seconds… but alas there was none left (sad face).

Billy’s duck fat potatoes gave off the most satisfying crunch when I bit into them. The reserved fat from his roast duck was put to good use for these potatoes and boy were they a treat. Beautifully fluffy inside and crunchy outside.

Oh maiiiii…. gawd

I was quite tempted to pick this leg up and chomp onto it when it was just sitting on the kitchen bench…

Billy roasted up this awesome glazed ham

My photos do not do this ham any justice but it was really magical. The soft and tasty meat accompanied by a sliver of fat under the sweetly glazed skin. I really wish that I was Kobayashi at that moment so I could had eaten the whole thing myself. What made this even better was that even when it was cold it still tasted fantastic! Hence our next-day breakfast included beautiful cold cuts of ham!

Billy could not get his hands on a whole turkey and we actually ended up grateful that he couldn’t. There was already so much food but Xmas just isn’t so without a bit of turkey. This turkey breast roll was also awesome and got munched down very quickly.

Jacq and Sir D’s country chicken and mushroom pie. Warm with a gooey filling and flakey pastry, this pie was a huge hit and even though people were reaching their limits the pie was easily taken care of.

The winners of the daggy jumper competition. So very classy

We powered onto dessert

Dinner AND a show!

The Pom’s Christmas pudding

I am not normally a huge fan of Christmas puddings as I find dried fruits a bit too sweet for my liking but this pudding was gorgeous and well balanced. Just pour on and custard and it is good to go.

Steph, as usual, provides us with a delectable dessert and in this case in the form of a strawberry, rhubarb and pink moscato trifle. A soft sponge thirstily soaks up the vanilla cream and rhubarb jelly to create a very tasty dessert. Also, I love pink moscato!

Shez and VTB also brought a eggnog bundt cake that was dense ad cakey and with the addition of the eggnog cream it became absolutely divine. Boozy and creamy and cakey all at once, it was a brilliant way to finish off the great banquet.

After stuffing ourselves silly it was time for games and merriment. Lots of laughter and fun… something about a Mr November and a surprisingly sized hose. Big thanks to Billy and the Pom and everybody that went to make these pleasant memories! Merry Xmas in July everybody!

FFichiban

Disclaimer: Here Comes the Food Boozeday Toozeday posts are intended for responsible adults of the legal drinking age. If you are under the legal drinking age please cover your eyes and scroll down until all the ‘bad stuff’ has gone from your screen. We DO NOT smile upon underage drinking, drinking and driving and alcohol abuse unlike our mascot (but he smiles at anything -__-). Please drink in moderation and with caution and most importantly, enjoy ^^!

First off, I must say, I am against canned beer with a passion. The whole concept of wasting precious beer by canning it up where it gains a undesirable metallic after taste. Give me freshly drawn beer on tap or keg or bottle and I’m a happy man (The only exception for me is Guinness with their cool widget). However for this BT I had to go with canned beer and it was surprisingly worth it. Here Comes the Booze

I felt like the cheapest drunk buying just one can of beer…

Carlton Draught… pulled by horses… fermented in big metal things… made from beer. I always think of their memorable ads such as this and this. Although this is not one best beers ever it is a decent brew and much better than the other options I had in the canned beer section. I would only drink Carlton Draught when it is available on tap. She has a golden body with not much of an aroma. The taste is very mild and easy to drink with a slight hint of bitters near the end. Can be very refreshing on hot summer days otherwise it is a bit of an average beer.

However something special was planned for this particular can of beer… preparation complete

It was a coincidence that Billy posted this recipe and the next night my mother said she had free range chicken she wanted to roast. I jumped on this opportunity to try and replicate the sexy and delicious chicken that Billy roasted up.

“I would have to say… World Peace!”

Mine turned out to a model in a previous life striking a pose even with something as large as a can being stuffed where the sun-don’t-shine. I actually considered using a bottle for this but then in hindsight it would had been too tall and skinny to give it that nice snug fit. I have to say, giving the chicken an enema was quite an experience and I suggest others to give it a go.

Lucky my oven was tall enough for this haha

Beer Butt Roast Chicken

(from A Table For Two)

RECIPE CLICK HERE

Laziness ftw

Check out the tasty tasty breast

This roast chicken turned out pretty much perfect! Beautifully browned and golden with crispy skin and very (very!) tender and juicy meat. Even the breast meat was nice and juicy with the slightly hint of beer flavour to it which made it even better. We only decided on roast vegetables at the last second and only had some pumpkins but they turned out beautiful with a nice brown crust and soft and smooth insides.

Also check out the voluptuous thighs and ass

As I mentioned before, I am a thigh man and I snatched up one of these juicy thighs which were packed full of flavour with each bite. I thought the bottom half of the chicken would not get such a nice and crispy skin without the top being burnt but it turned out very nicely. A very simple recipe that yields in an exceptional roast chook.

FFichiban

Many of you may not know this but when we started Here Comes the Food there were a total of 5 eager young minds that were going to contribute and add their thoughts and opinions to our humble site. Howeveerrr, a few brief weeks after our maiden blog (oldskool blogspot yo!) 2 of them dropped out so it fell upon the hands of D, Cupcake and myself (oh and Skinnypanda our IT g33k). And, so, nearly 2 years later it is still us three powering on although one of us is busy and is never able to post. However this one makes up for this by being the best cook out of all of us. Here Comes Cupcakes Dessert Night!

Cupcakes Kitchenaid… I am yellow with envy

Cupcake is actually living out of Sydney so whenever we can get the chance to catch up, it usually results in a barrage of sweets and food. This time she was generous to cook up a storm over a 2 day period to catch up but also celebrate Pupus Bday. Personally, I think she spoiled her rotten by creating such feast of desserts that not all the dishes could fit on the table at the same time.

Start off with a spot of tea… or in my case I chose milk!

Brownies

To be honest, I don’t know why she is nicknamed ‘cupcake’ because as for long as I remember she has always been making the best brownies which we use as the Golden Standard. With a beautiful crust on top and soft and cakey underneath. The richness of these brownies are not overpowering but still hits that chocolate spot that we desire and crave.

Lemon Snowbar

This was my first time trying a Snowbar, that I recall, and I was very impressed with these. The lemon flavour was subtle and balanced out with a rich and gooey sweetness and with the crumbly pastry it was a all rounder of a dessert. The snow-white icing sugar gave this dessert a Christmassy feel to it. If only we could get a white Xmas here in Sydney.

Tiramisu

The Italian classic of coffee and rum meets again.

The delicate savoiardi biscuits provided a crumbly texture to contrast with the creamy and soft cheese/egg. This cake provided a good break from the other sweeter ones as it had a stronger coffee taste along with the rum.

Self-saucing butterscotch pudding

You heard me right, a pudding that self sauces! It’s like magic! Warm and gooey, perfect for this colder weather this pudding really warms you up and gives you a good fuzzy feeling inside. There is also a good textural contrast between the sauced bits of pudding versus the unsauced bits.

Cinnamon Chocolate chip cookie cake

This was actually my contribution to the dessert night (although as you can see it was clearly not needed hee hee). When I spotted this at Lemonpi I knew I had to give it a go. Nothing says ‘yummy’ like a giant cookie in cake form! I only have one size cake tin so the cookie cake was a bit more thinner but spread out. I also have an unhealthy obsession with cinnamon so I added some in to mix it up a bit and give it that extra aromatic and flavour goodness.

Rose Framboise Cake

Now for the pièce de résistance, this beautiful rose framboise cake wowed all of us when it was presented. All pink and pretty, Cupcake said shes was going for the Marie Antoinette feel to it and I think she hit it right on the mark. Incorporating rosewater to give it the subtle rose flavour and adding freshly picked rose petals (from her garden!) and sprinkling them with icing sugar. The cake itself was smooth, silky and luscious like a pudding or flan. I think it was easily agreed upon that this was the winning dessert of the night. But Cupcake had one extra trick (or dish) up her sleeve.

Apples and Bread?

You are probably thinking this isn’t so special but these are just for dipping into…

Fromager des Clarines

CHEESSSEEE!!! This French cheese is something I would eat all by myself if I could. We poked some cloves of garlic and layered on some thyme to infuse some of the flavours into the cheese as it was heated.

Then pour on some port (not too much like we did haha) and then heat in the oven for 20mins for some gooey and bow bow chicka bow action.

Cheesy prOn shot!

Oh em gee chheeesseeee yuummmmm!! Just be careful not to eat the cloves of garlic like one of the guests hee hee.  Hilarious for the rest of us but not so much for the unfortunate victim.

Say hi to Cupcake!

Thanks so much for the awesome dessert night and hope to do it again soon hee hee!! I think Pupu is now in a sugar coma…

FFichiban

Happy Birthday Pupu ^^!

Hope you had a fun-filled and tasty day! This is an obvious attempt at procrastination so I shall make this quick and simple. A little while back one of the many wonderful Sunbeams out there generously gave me a mixer which meant no more whisking by hand for me! A big thanks to her for making my life much easier (although now I don’t get the burning sense of satisfaction of hand-whisking egg whites heh). However due to busy exam period I didn’t have a chance to try it but when Pupus’ Bday came round it was the perfect excuse to whip it out!

Watching the mixer work is very mesmerizing

It also makes purdy patterns!

Pupu requested a pavlova on her Bday and since I had not made one before I thought I would look for a simple and easy recipe. I came across one of Nigella’s recipe and was instantly hooked in by the “chocolate”, naturally! Here Comes the Recipe

Chocolate Raspberry Orange Pavlova (serves 8-10)

(adapted from Nigella)

6 egg whites

300g (1 and 1/3 cups) caster sugar

3 tbsp cocoa powder (I used cinnamon sugar! This stuff is as good as crack!)

1 tsp balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar

50g finely chopped good quality chocolate (I used 100g Milk Lindt MWAHAHAH)

For the Topping:

500ml double cream

500g raspberries (I used 2-3 oranges)

2-3 tbsp grated dark chocolate

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Beat the eggs until satiny peak and beat the sugar in one spoon at a time until meringue is stiff and shiny. Add in cocoa (or cinnamon sugar like me), vinegar and the chopped chocolate. Gently fold in everything until thoroughly mixed.

Pour onto a baking sheet/tray and shape into a fat circle, smooth sides and top. Place into oven and immediately turn down to 150 degrees C and cook for 1 – 1 and a quarter hours. The smell of this is absolutely amazing! When it is ready it should be crispy on the outside and dry on top but when you prod it the centre there is still the promise of squidginess beneath your fingers. Turn off the oven and allow to cool in the oven with door ajar. This is very important as it would collapse if it cools down too quickly.

Before serving invert onto a flat-bottomed plate and spread and sprinkle on the toppings and ENJOY!

Sadly mine collapsed but it still tasted very very good! I believe my oven door does not like to be opened only ajar and allowed more air in than desired. As usual I changed up the recipe just for funsies. Oranges were used as raspberries are not in season at the moment and I used about half the amount of cream in the recipe as I am not a bit cream man. I found the cinnamon sugar added that beautiful aroma and spice factor to the pavlova and extra chocolate is always a plus!

I shall conquer you next timmmeee!!

Happy Bday Pupu, hope you enjoyed the flat pav XD

FFichiban

Disclaimer: Here Comes the Food Boozeday Toozeday posts are intended for responsible adults of the legal drinking age. If you are under the legal drinking age (it is rude to organize lunch plans then dog them Mr Ninja) please cover your eyes and scroll down until all the ‘bad stuff’ has gone from your screen. We DO NOT smile upon underage drinking, drinking and driving and alcohol abuse unlike our mascot (but he smiles at anything -__-). Please drink in moderation and with caution and most importantly, enjoy ^^!

Yo listen up here’s a story
About a little guy that lives in a blue world
And all day and all night and everything he sees
Is just blue like him inside and outside…

Doesn’t this song bring back memories!! I know this song is about being Blue, and I know that my guy is coloured green which is kind of not blue. To explain why I started with this song (apart from its catchy nature and awesome MTV) is because in the chorus instead of, “I’m blue da ba dee da ba die…“, I always thought they said, “I’m blue if I was green I would die…“. Speaking of green Here Comes the Booze

Midori Melon Liqueur

This smooth, green liqueur is like liquid honeydew melon and is probably equal with Chambord on the Drinks Girl-o-meter. It is a very versatile liqueur, going wonderfully in cocktails and adding that enticing sweet fruity hit or just mix simply with a soft drink on the rocks and you are ready to go. It’s fruity nature also makes it possible to incorporate into desserts and as a sauce.

The slightly radioactive luminescent green colour adds to the appeal. Who doesn’t like pretty coloured drink?

I like to keep it simple and Midori and lemonade is one of the most simplest ways to enjoy. Good to just chill and relax with, put on some beats or to a movie and enjoy with another fruit, like sayyy banana!

This is, without a doubt, the best banana cake that I have also made! Bananas work very well in cake form and they are healthy (or so i like to believe) just ignore all the sugar/butter you are adding into them but all the vitamins and minerals that the bananas are adding to the cake.

Banana Cake

(Adapted from Spicyicecream and Bourke St Bakery)

Cake

250g unsalted butter

335g raw caster sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 eggs

200g sour cream

300g (2 cups) self-raising flour, sifted

2-3 ripe bananas (I added extra bananas)

20g golden syrup or soft brown sugar
Cream cheese icing

250g cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup icing sugar, sifted

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Grease and baking paper up a 28cm round cake tin, with excess paper above the tin.

Whisk sugar, butter and vanilla extract in a bowl until pale and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, making sure each one is incorporated before adding the next. Add sour cream and flour in 2 batches to ensure proper mixing.

Lightly mash bananas and drizzle with golden syrup or sprinkle on brown sugar and fold into the cake mixture. Pour into cake tin and bake for 55 mins to 1 hr and 15 mins or until skewer comes out clean. Remove and cool on a cake rack.

To make cream cheese icing, place ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer and mix until smooth and creamy. Resist eating the icing by the spoonful and smooth onto the top of the cooled cake.

The cake was very tasty a moist although mine did turn a  little bit too moist (probably from the extra bananas I added?). The icing was quite sweet but I found that it balanced beautifully with the cake which wasn’t as sweet as I expected, which was good. Topping it all off with slices of fresh bananas just adds that extra bit of banana hit. An easy and very tasty recipe for all banana lovers!

FFichiban

The recipe is an appropriation on Chess Pie, a play on old-school and new-school with the main commonality of using ingredients that are readily available in your own pantry. When all the whipping, bags of sugar and blocks of butter are finally pieced together amongst other ingredients, the result is a pie that is molten gooey in the centre with the texture of a silken tofu and a rich buttery crust that encases it.

The pie is overbearingly sweet and so some may not like it. What I liked most about it was the crust, in the event that I were to make this another time, I would probably stop at the point where the crust had been made and just eat it like a cookie. The filling, which was like a fusion of caramel slice flavours and a taste that reminded of me a sticky date pudding was by no means inapt, it is a velvety mess of goo that fit in perfectly.

There are three parts to the recipe: Oatmeal cookie for the crust, Crust and Filling.

Oatmeal cookie for the crust

Ingredients
2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (3 ounces) flour
Scant 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
Scant 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter
1/3 cup (2 1/2 ounces) light brown sugar
3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) sugar
1 egg
Scant 1 cup (3 1/2 ounces) rolled oats

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit (190 degree celcius).

2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar and sugar until light and fluffy.

4. Whisk the egg into the butter mixture until fully incorporated.

5. With the mixer running, beat in the flour mixture, a little at a time, until fully combined. Stir in the cornflakes until incorporated.

6. Spread the mixture onto a 9-inch-by-13-inch baking sheet and bake until golden brown and set, about 20 minutes.

7. Remove from heat and cool to the touch on a rack.

8. Crumble the cooled cookie to use in the crust.

9. (optional) Eat some of it, but don’t lose your focus yet.

Crust

Ingredients
Crumbled cookie for crust
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 1/2 tablespoons (3/4 ounce) brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Combine the crumbled cookie, butter, brown sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse until evenly combined and blended (a little of the mixture clumped between your fingers should hold together).

2. Press the crust into tart pan shell to form a thin, even layer along the bottom and sides of the tins.

3. Set the prepared crusts aside while you prepare the filling.

Filling

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup plus a scant 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon milk powder
1 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup plus a scant 2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 egg yolks
2 prepared crusts
Powdered sugar to garnish

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degree Celcius).

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, salt and milk powder. Whisk in the melted butter, then whisk in the heavy cream and vanilla.

3. Gently whisk in the egg yolks, being careful not to add too much air.

4. Fill the tin shell.

5. Bake the pie for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325 degrees (160 degree celcius) and bake until the filling is slightly jiggly and golden brown, about 10 minutes.

6. Remove the pies and cool on a rack.

7. Refrigerate the cooled pies until well chilled. The pies are meant to be served cold, and the filling will be gooey. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Some additional points of concern:

- I added a little more butter than indicated in the crust recipe to get the mixture to hold better

- After I took the cooked pie out of the oven, I was curious to see what was under the golden brown top, so I removed a bit of it and found that underneath was a thick layer of oil with the filling floating inside the oil, this was displeasing at first because I thought that I had stuffed up somewhere, but after some research I found that other people who had made this recipe had a similar outcome. Don’t fret, simply leave it to cool on the tray (the oil will still be there regardless) and once it hardens (took about 30-40 minutes for mine) and sets, put it in the fridge for about 40 minutes and it will come out perfect.

- Perhaps toning down on the sugar next time, it was sooooo sweet!

Disclaimer: Here Comes the Food Boozeday Toozeday posts are intended for responsible adults of the legal drinking age. If you are under the legal drinking age (lol at Ninja in a skirt) please cover your eyes and scroll down until all the ‘bad stuff’ has gone from your screen. We DO NOT smile upon underage drinking, drinking and driving and alcohol abuse unlike our mascot (but he smiles at anything -__-). Please drink in moderation and with caution and most importantly, enjoy ^^!

Gunter: He stole it und now instead of Deutschland’s greatest beer we merely have fourth best behind Steinemarzen, Rottenburger, und… und…
Otto: Und Beck’s?
Gunter: Und Beck’s? Ja und Beck’s!

(quote from Beerfest)

This may have been one of those typical ridiculous low-brow American movies but it was about beer so I immediately enjoyed all the cheesy and corny jokes. Including this quote with good old Beck’s, which has been one of my go-to beers when I am browsing the walk-in fridge and see nothing new or special I want to try. A case of this and a good tasty time is ensured. Here Comes the Booze

In reality, Beck’s is actually the 5th best selling brewery in Germany (according to Wiki) which is pretty impressive considering all the great beers that come out of that magical place. It pours a clear beautiful golden yellow with a nice and neat white head. There is a good, decent amount of carbonation to this brew. The beer is crisp and clean with a slight bitter aftertaste but otherwise quite light and easy to drink. Perfect to relax and chill with especially with its slightly sweet aroma.

Also brewed in Australia but I try and get the imported one if I can

Beck’s still follows the Reinheitsgebot, German Beer Purity Law, which states that there can only be water, barley and hops used to brew beer

As with all German beers, they should be hearty and clean so they can match all the robust and porky pork foods. And thanks to Chocolatesuze I had craved some pulled pork, but the thought of waiting 6-8 hours makes me go FTS. Fortunately Chef Lex had a great cheat pulled pork method!

Pulled pork? photo taken from HERE

Lex’s 3 hour Pulled Pork

1x Smoked pork hock (or in my case 2kgs worth)

4x soft, sweet buns (and get some bread while your at it I kid I kid the buns will do fine)

100ml white vinegar

1/8th shredded white cabbage

Put the pork in a saucepan and submerge completely with water. Add vinegar and boil for 3 hours. How easy is that! The hardest, of course, is the waiting…

I actually recommend not covering as it tends to boil over, so I just kept topping it up with water as it boiled down.

MMmmmm pot of mmeeattt

Shred the meat up off the bone (be careful its hot!) probably a bit finer than I had but not too fine. Mix in the homemade BBQ if you did from Lex’s site otherwise just BBQ up the bun like I did.

Assemblage and ENJOY!!

These pulled pork buns were pure genius, and only taking 3 hours they are much faster than the other methods. They were soft, tender and juicy and with that hint of smokiness that just makes it extra tasty. The cabbage was refreshing and crisp and matches the pork bun perfectly. Add a bottle or two of Beck’s and it is a guaranteed good times ^^!

FFichiban

Disclaimer: Here Comes the Food Boozeday Toozeday posts are intended for responsible adults of the legal drinking age. If you are under the legal drinking age (Nobody thinks big of a raging Ninja…. unless they are a drunk raging Ninja) please cover your eyes and scroll down until all the ‘bad stuff’ has gone from your screen. We DO NOT smile upon underage drinking, drinking and driving and alcohol abuse unlike our mascot (but he smiles at anything -__-). Please drink in moderation and with caution and most importantly, enjoy ^^!

Due to increased workload I shall have to keep this post short and sweet; and by sweet I meant sweet sweet with the Irish touch of cream, whiskey and chocolate to form an ultimate girly drink of Baileys. Here Comes the Booze

Smooth, silky and sensuous is what comes to mind when I think of Baileys Irish Cream. That and alcoholic cereal breakfast. I do not drink as much Baileys as I did in the past but we fortunately had a bottle lying around which was perfect for kicking back and relaxing with while cooking up a cake! Also so I could do the Homer Simpson “One for you, one for me! One for you, one for me!….” hee hee. I think Baileys works very well as a mixer or in recipes but it is also quite smooth on the rocks, with the initial velvety texture and strong aroma of cocoa and cream. The vanilla also seeps through in the flavour and it ends off with a bit of a bite.

The accompanying cake was taken to a B’day bash so not the best of photos (apologies) but it is brought to us by the lovely Citrus and Candy. However, as per my usual, changing the recipe left right and centre (which is a big no-no for desserts I know but leave the noob alone )

Not-so-Flourless Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

(adapted from C&C)

200g good quality dark chocolate – roughly chopped

150g unsalted butter – roughly chopped

35g (abt 1/3 C) cocoa powder

80ml (abt 1/3 C) hot water

250g brown sugar

150 g hazelnut meal (I used flour luls)

4 eggs separated

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and line a 20-22cm round cake tin with baking paper. Melt butter and chocolate in a bowl in microwave (30 seconds bursts of lowest setting) or with double-boiler until nicely combined. In a large bowl, mix the cocoa and hot water and stir until smooth then add chocolate/butter mixture, sugar, hazelnutmeal (or flour) and egg yolks until combined.

In a clean, dry bowl whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form and fold into the batter in 2 batches.

Pour batter into cake tin and bake for 40-50 mins until the toothpick comes out mostly clean. Cake will rise when baking, and when it is ready allow to stand for 15 minutes before cooling on a cake rack (cake will sink when cooling).

Ganache

100g good quality dark chocolate – roughly chopped (I used milk chocolate)

1/4 cup thickened cream

1 tablespoon or more Frangelico or Kahlua, optional (I used Baileys)

Place chocolate in a bowl and set aside, heat up the cream and desired optional amount of liqueur to a gentle boil. Pour over the chocolate and mix until combined and then pour over the cake and enjoy!

I used milk chocolate for my ganache, which was more like a sauce, as I knew the 85% dark would make the cake a bit more bitter and needed the sweetness to balance it out. The cake was fudgey, moist and soft with the right texture and flavours. Although it is not flourless or hazelnut I did add a dash of cinnamon sugar (cos I love the stuff) for a bit of a cinnamon hit. I might had also gone a bit overexcited with the sauce but you can always do with more chocolate sauce, right? A very tasty cake with the touch of Baileys for that extra indulgence!

FFichiban

It’s on like DONKEY KONG! These were the first thoughts that came to mind when I read an invitation from Billy, Ellie and Linda. Although it may not have involved any throwing of barrels of collecting of magically hanging bananas, I was extremely excited in anticipation of all the creative dishes that the others were bound to come up with. Then the weeks went past, and I had not even thought about what I was to make and then that excitement turned into a frantic panic of googling and speed browsing cookbooks. For there were some simple laws that we had to follow:

1. Each person will be assigned one of two categories- Savoury or Dessert
2. For Savoury, you MUST use any form of “fruit” in your dish.
3. For Dessert, you MUST use any form of “vegetable” in your dish.
4. Each person will prepare their dishes at home and bring it to the party.

The groups were decided to be Savouriers:

Minh – Eat, Show and Tell

Myself

Simon – The Heart of Food

Ellie – Almost Bourdain

Helen – Grab Your Fork

and the Desserters:

Steph – Raspberri Cupcakes

Karen – Citrus and Candy

Shez – One Bite More

Suze – Chocolatesuze

Billy – A Table for Two

Linda – Eat, Show and Tell

Here Comes the Food

Pumpkin soup with port melon and vanilla creme fraiche (Minh)

A very smooth and silky start to the feast was this creamy pumpkin soup with a good tangy spoon of creme fraiche. The perfectly cut pieces of rockmelon and honeydew added a, gladly welcomed, sweet burst of juiciness to this dish.

Melon Triplets Salmon Tartare (Me ^^!)

I think the sauce was the saviour to an otherwise pretty ordinary dish. Fresh and zingy, I liked the contrast against the sweetness of the melons (watermeleon, rockmelon and honeydew) and the mix of textures between the salmon and the melons. I did get stressed about the presentation as it did not end up in a neat little pile as I had hoped but ended in a nice blobby mess instead.

Korean fried chicken - Twice fried chicken thigh pieces with a pineapple chili sauce (Simon)

Crispy chunks of deep fried chicken can never go wrong especially when it is from Simon of katsusando Simon. The sauce added a nice chilli flavour to the juicy and tender chicken, with the subtle hint of pineapple sweetness.

Twice-cooked orange salt rub pork belly with toffee-crisp crackling, potato and apple mash with smoked bacon, savoy cabbage with smoky bacon and…

Caramelised cherry and brandy glaze (Ellie)

I think we all expected a ‘wow’ dish from Ellie, the culinary Queen, but we eneded up getting a double ‘wow’ dish. The pork belly was twice-cooked to perfection with a beautiful crackling and the cherry and brandy glaze was soooooo good. Supported well by the potato/apple/bacon and savoy cabbage/bacon combination.

Pig on a Holiday – pork ribs marinated in lychee and soy served with lychee and green olives (Helen)

Loved the name, loved the ribs. Beautifully sweet and sticky ribs infused with the wonderful flavour of lychee and then blasted with Helen’s business-sized blowtorch to caramelize it a bit more just before serving. The red cabbage did a good job refreshing the palate and I ended up picking at these ribs while waiting for the desserts hee hee.

Trio of beetroot – Chocolate & beetroot macaron, beetroot chocolate brownie with beetroot ice cream and a beetroot lollipop with fizzy sherbert powder (Steph)

Desset started with a bang in the form of fizzy sherbert powder with Steph trio of beetroot. A tasting plate for all the senses! The homemade heart-shaped lollipop had brought out the inner child in all of us while the beautiful macaron, brownie and ice cream entertained our outer adult.

Rainbow Vegie Layer Cake- beetroot & chocolate, carrot, spinach with cream cheese frosting (Suzey)

I was waiting for Suzey’s dessert which she had decided to dub just ‘CAKE’ prior to the event but Rainbow Vegie Layer Cake also has a nice ring to it heh. The array of colours and flavours provided a feast for the eyes and mouth although the beetroot and spinach layers were not intensely flavoured, the carrot layer stood out for me.

Tasting plate of rhubarb – rhubarb financier, Rhubarb mousse gateau, lemon shortbread with rhubarb jam and rhubarb crumble (Karen)

Karen also went all out with a rhubarb tasting plate. A wonderful mixture of textures and flavours as each item emphasized another aspect of the rhubarb with my favourite being the rhubarb mousse gateau. The smoothness of the mousse with a soft and fluffy base won me over but the others were also very tasty in their own way.

Fennel Creme Caramel with fennel mousse & beetroot sorbet (Sheryl)

These cutest little creme caramel had the smooth fennel flavour which matched the caramel and fennel mousse wonderfully. The beetroot sorbet was very refreshing on the palate and worked well with the creme caramel while the brandy snap just added that extra sweetness and topped off the dessert.

Eggplant chocolate tart with candied carrot, purple carrot ice cream with citrus peels and roasted almond (Billy)
A very interesting combination with eggplant and chocolate which I found a little bit odd but quite tasty. The purple carrot ice cream came speckled with wonderful bits of citrus peel while the candied carrot twist was surprisingly crispy.

Caramelised onion panacotta with burnt butter ice cream and olive macaron (Linda)

I finally got to taste one of Linda’s famous macarons hee hee. It easily exceeded my already high expectations. The pannacotta had an intense onion flavour that it reminded me of onion dip while the burnt butter ice cream was perfect, I could had eaten the whole tub myself.

After stuffing ourselves silly there was only one thing left. Whose cuisine reigns supreme?

Savoury – Ellie!

Dessert – Steph!

Most Outrageous – Linda!

It was a great night full of fun, food and great company. Big thanks to the generous Ellie, Billy and Linda and everybody for coming up with wonderful and creative dishes! Hope we can Battle again soon ^^! Time for photo splurge.

Billy full and content

Such a poser hee hee

‘CAKE’

Hooray for complete pannacotta… nothing suss!

Mmmm glistening chocolate always looks so good

Linda’s pro presentation but ever-the-perfectionist, she did not use

Linda and Minh

Karen plating on all fours

Steph

Sheryl (too busy for photo) and VTB

Return of the b00b!

Billy

FFichiban

Disclaimer: Here Comes the Food Boozeday Toozeday posts are intended for responsible adults of the legal drinking age. If you are under the legal drinking age (Drinking kills; Ninja-robot-dancing skills) please cover your eyes and scroll down until all the ‘bad stuff’ has gone from your screen. We DO NOT smile upon underage drinking, drinking and driving and alcohol abuse unlike our mascot (but he smiles at anything -__-). Please drink in moderation and with caution and most importantly, enjoy ^^!

For those who don’t know already, I love everything Japanese (well almost everything) and I shout it loud and proud. I am a Japanese-wannabe. From their cuisine to their anime and manga and their extreme fashion trends to all their weird and wonderful inventions (Chindoogu). I think you guys will agree with me that whoever came up with butterstick is a genius! Then there is their world of electronics and technology… say hai to R2-D2s alcoholic twin – the Asahi BEER ROBOT! A robot that stores and serves your a cool and refreshing beverage on demand, I want one! Hee hee but this brings us to good old Asahi Super Dry. Here Comes the Booze

May not be as fancy as a beer robot but a 6-pack does look very enticing as well ^^!

Asahi has been a long time good friend who I visit every now and then. Although it probably is not the most exciting of beers it is very refreshing and smooth, easy to drink with just the right amount of bitterness. There is not much of an aroma but just the hints of malt and pours out a golden yellow colour. There is moderate carbonation with a good frothy white head.

They always advertise it as Superdry which makes me think of all the Japanese superheroes hee hee. It does pretty much sum up this beer quite well though. Ends off with a light hint of sweetness then a long and refreshing dry taste which is perfect for a hot day and just in need of cooling down. Although there is not much flavour, it is the type of beer that you can just sit and relax with in my opinion.

Pouring by hand seems so mundane now…

For the matching recipe I had to take a page or two from my favourite Japanese foodblogger, except he is always busy working, you all know him and you all love him.

Yas the insatiable

Potato Mochi

(from hungry.digital.elf)

4 medium sized potatoes

3 tbsp potato starch

Mitarashi Sauce:

4 tbsp sugar

2tbsp Mirin

2tbsp soy sauce

Boil or steam the potatoes until soft and then mash it up as desired. Add in the potato starch and mix well, this should make the mixture easier to handle and shape. Shape into a log and wrap in cling wrap, then fridge for at least half an hour. Once ready slice to your liking and then pan fry until brown. (I then added cheese and then grilled it until cheese melty mmm).

To make the Mitarashi Sauce, heat up the sugar and Mirin until sugar turns a light golden brown. Add the soy sauce and then thicken.

These make the perfect snack for anytime and much healthier than chips as they are not deep fried hee hee. These gorgeous slices of potato were crisp on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside with cheese and the sauce (although I think my sauce was a bit different to Yas‘). If I had to change anything was maybe season the potato otherwise it might be a bit bland if there wasn’t enough sauce, or maybe mix it up a bit with a bit of butter or cheese. My sauce ended up a bit too much of a caramel as I must have gotten the measurements a bit wrong haha. It was still very tasty, sweet and sticky caramel on soft pillows of potato.

Easy Teriyaki Chicken Wings

(from hungry.digital.elf)

Click here for recipe haha I’m so lazy…

Mine may not have turned out as aesthetically pleasing but they were sure delicious! The sweetness of the caramelized Coke (not cock) penetrated (I had to do it… haha) the meat to give it a wonderful flavour. I think the carbonation tenderized the chicken wings beautifully and they ended up very tender and fall-off-the bone. I also decided to add some lime to give it some sourness contrast against the sweetness. These were a very easy and tasty recipe so perfect for when you need to whip up something for dinner. Together, the potato mochi and chicken wings served to be a brilliant feast and with Asahi… かんぱい (KAMPAI)!

FFichiban