It's been such a long time since I logged in to put up my last post. So much has happened since then. I've been to a few places, and tried a few nice things but I just didn't have a nice camera to take pictures of the food I've tried. That's changed now that I've just received a cool xmas gift from mrBoxes - a brand new camera!
Well, Chef Shaw aka mrBoxes was in action again at my parents' place this year... another great turkey dinner which the whole family loved. The turkey was moist and full of flavour, the cranberry sauce was absolutely amazing , and the roast potatoes were a hit!
To finish off, I made the Trifle, which was well-received too. Both the lemon curd and raspberry jam were made from scratch so it was really yummy too. Here's the recipe :-
(serves approximately 8 - 10)
Ingredients
1 packet Italian Sponge Fingers (approx 500g)
Raspberry Jam (see recipe below)
100g fresh strawberries, sliced into chunks
100g fresh raspberries
100g fresh blueberries
1 green cooking apple, peeled, diced and slightly caramelized with some sugar in a pan
Lemon Curd (see recipe below)
400ml whipping cream (not light)
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Shortbread cookies, crumbled
Sherry or Grand Marnier
Individual serving glasses for the trifle
Method
1. In a mixing bowl, whip the cream, sugar and vanilla essence until the cream mixture forms stiff peaks. Do take care not to overbeat the mixture, or you'll get a lumpy cream mixture.
2. To assemble, break up the sponge fingers so that they fit into each of the serving glasses, filling up approximately 1/3 of each serving glass.
3. Pour a layer of the raspberry jam over the sponge fingers.
4. Spinkle a tablespoon of the Sherry or Grand Marnier over.
5. Next, layer on the fruits, a little of each of the raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and cooked apples.
6. Top with the lemon curd
7. And follow with the Whipped Cream.
8. Repeat steps 2 till 7 until you're done.
9. Sprinkle the crumbled shortbread on the top
10. Cover each of the glasses with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 to 24 hours to allow the flavours to mingle, and the sponge fingers to absorb the flavours as well.
11. Serve with a slice of fresh fruit to garnish, or like what I did, add a little festive decoration on the top!
Raspberry Jam
Ingredients
570g fresh raspberries
120g granulated sugar
Juice from 1 freshly squeezed lemon
Method
1. Heat the raspberries and sugar in a pan over a slow heat.
2. Allow the raspberries to disintegrate, and let the mixture thicken into a jam, whilst adding the lemon juice bit by bit, until you acheive your desired thickness.
3. Take the mixture off the heat, and allow to cool in the fridge until you need it for the trifle.
Lemon Curd
Ingredients
3 large eggs (or 4 small eggs)
Juice from 3 lemons
2 tablespoons lemon zest
120g granulated sugar
55g butter, thawed and cut into small pieces
Method
1. In a glass or stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together the eggs, lemon juice and sugar.
2. Cook, stirring constantly to prevent the mixture from curdling, until it becomes thick like a sour cream or hollandaise sauce. This will take approximately 10 minutes.
3. Remove from the heat and immediately pour through a strainer to remove any lumps.
4. Add the thawed butter pieces to the mixture until the butter has melted.
5. Finally, add the lemon zest and allow the mixture to cool. The lemon curd will continue to thicken as it cools.
6. Cover the lemon curd immediately (so that a skin doesn't form), and refrigerate. The mixture can be kept for up to a week.
This post is long overdue - so many times we've been to the Sin Wah coffeeshop and procrastinated putting up this one. Now, I don't care what anyone else says, but this to us is just about the best wanton mee in Singapore. The noodles are springy, with a little bite to it. Each bowl of noodles is small, but the flavour from the chilli sauce, coupled with the springiness of the noodles is amazing!!! Don't bother comparing the wantons with the ones you'll get in Hong Kong - you'll be sorely disappointed. Just enjoy the noodles for what they are ... mrBoxes and I certainly do! And I'm glad we're moving back to the east soon... more wanton mee again... *burp* 
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... at least I've got Elmo right the first time round!! :o)
