A Baking kind of Day

After a hard day at work, I finally finished a birthday cake for Miss Abby for her party at school.  Her favorite is strawberries, so I created this cake with Fresh strawberry fillings, fresh whipped cream, and Strawberry flavored pink cake just for her.  For cake topper, I made these butter cookie stars with her name on it and decorated it golden sprinkles.  I hope she likes it! 

Today is also Kiana's birthday, Cayenne was invited to her birthday party so I prepared a "My Bouquet" for her.  "My Bouquet" is my new product line that combines floral arrangements with handmade decorative butter cookies and chocolate dipped berries.  For this bouquet, I used a cute little pot along with some fresh cut flowers.  I topped it off with some flower and leaf shaped cookies decorated in whimsical colors and sparkles and hand dipped chocolate covered strawberries.  I also added a small toy for her as a gift within the bouquet.  It is so much fun for me to practice my cookie decorating skills!  The bouquet was well received.  The host shared the strawberries with other guests and saved the cookies for later.  The cookies are quite shelf stable so if you don't want to eat it, you can keep it as a memory for a very long time!

Central Space

Today I went to Holly Brown Coffee on Stanley Street in Central to meet a friend.  I have been there at night to get some Gelato for Cayenne after dinner at Luk Yu, but never actually set down for a cup of Joe.  It is a really big place with almost about 1500sf ground level and another similar size upstairs lounging seating area.  It was around 245pm and it was quite busy with people coming in and out for coffee, ice-cream and a light lunch.  My friend and I set down upstairs for a about 1.5hrs, I had a sandwich and Latte, and he had a latte and muffin.  I cannot help but wonder, can a place like this survive in Central with such high rent? Each person that goes in and out of there will have an average ticket about $50 to be generous. With a little rule of thumb calculation, they will need to serve about 150-200 customer a day to make ends meet.  I really enjoyed the spacious and comfortable environment, quality food, good efficient service and freshly roasted Tall Skim Latte for $38.  I actually think that they have everything that you can think of for breakfast, Lunch, simple dinner Dessert and even some coffee beans to take home.  I think it is a nice break away from crowded Central, will they survive the cruel rent of Central,  I hope they do, cause I like it!

After some errands and meeting Jonathan for a wine tasting event, I decided to go find some dinner while waiting for Jonathan to finish up.  Walking along Wellington Street, thinking what I should eat and what I want to eat, I stumble into Wang Fu 王府 traditional Beijing dumplings and dishes.  Small hole in the wall about say 700sf dining space, seats about 40ppl max.  I ordered their special of the day Fennel and Pork Dumpling, a cold potato salad and pickled cucumber.   It was delicious and the whole dinner cost me about $90.  The older gentleman manning the cash register, looks like he is from Beijing, also speaks good English.  He was helping the French table next to me navigate the menu.  I think his English is almost better than the French.  They have been in this location for quite some time.  With an average check for about $90 per person.  Again with some simple rule of thumb math, they need to serve 40-50 people a day to make it.  I have seen their place at lunch, it is always packed with people dining and people waiting outside for take-out.  I think they are doing quite ok, I hope they do cause I like it!

Maple Soy Rosemary Rack of Lamb 迷迭香羊排

Rack of Lamb is always impressive to serve at dinner.  A little bit more special than steak and actually very easy to master.  I made this recipe so many times and everyone always enjoyed it.  It gives the lamb added flavor and punch. 

Maple Soy Rosemary Rack of Lamb

Ingredient:
1 Half Rack of Lamb, about 6-8 bone per rack
Marinade:
½ Cup Soy sauce
½ bulb of garlic, smashed
3 tbs of Maple syrup
2 stem of fresh rosemary, smashed stems and leaves
½ tbs of whole black pepper
1 gallon Zip Block Bag
1 tbs of water

Process:
Put all the marinade ingredient in the Zip Block Bag, clean and dry the rack of lamb and place it into the marinade. Remove excess air, zip and place in refrigerator for about 12-24 hours. Best to do it the night before you go to bed and cook for dinner the next day. Put a pan underneath the bag to make sure it does not leak all over your fridge.

Grilled Method:
Prepare your charcoal to about medium high heat. Remove lamb from bag and discard juice. Put lamb on the grill around the flame, NOT DIRECTLY on the flame or it will burn. Turn on each side every 5 -7 minutes. Using a meat thermometer, lamb is ready when it reaches 140-160F. 140 for medium, 160 for medium well!

Pan Seared Method:
Pre heat oven at 375F. Use heavy duty oven prove pan, the heavier the pan, the more heat it produce and the temperature remains constant. Cast Iron is idea for a crisp meat crust. Pre heat the greased pan until you see smoke. Place lamb rack on the pan and you should hear the sizzle. Turn on each side every 5 minutes until meat is nicely brown. Place Pan directly into the oven or place meat onto oven safe pan and finish it in the oven until desired temperature 10-20 mins. You can sear the meat first and wait when you are ready to eat and finish it off in the oven 140F(medium)-160F(Medium Well).

Cut Rack into chops and enjoy! NOT cutting it from the start seals in the juice, also because it has been brined (wet marinated), it is extra juicy so no sauce is needed. Serve with Oven roasted potatoes with garlic, truffle oil and fresh rosemary, some butter pan-fried asparagus, and a little mint jelly, I think your honey will love you forever!

TIPS. By smashing the garlic and herbs, you release their scent and flavor. You don’t have to chop them nicely since you will not eat it at the end, so release some stress and smack them good! This Marinade is also good with duck or pork. Use a serrated knife to carve meats for less tearing of the muscle. You can marinade more meat at the same time and remove the brine and place meat in the freezer for later use. You can also serve this at room temperature, for a finger food appetizer.

Table side at the Verandah

Having Jonathan in the F&B industry certainly has it perks.  With a week day off, we got a dinner reservation at the Verandah at Repulse Bay.

The Verandah at the Repulse Bay is a place where you can surround yourself with old world hospitality and classic cuisine.  Arrived early, we had our before dinner drinks at the bamboo themed bar, an Absolute Grasshopper seems to fit the bill.

We went into the dining room filled with candle lights, shiny silvers and the pianist playing.  The hallway was filled with table-side service trolley rolling back and forth like a mini highway, carrying Roasted Lamp Rack, Smoked Salmon, after dinner drinks, made to order steak tartar and their famous Caesar salad.  Most of their must have dishes were table side service.  With lots of goodies to choose from, we decided to go tartar style.  We first have the scallop and Ebi Shrimp Tartar, light and sweet with a hint of truffles.  Then comes the dozen French Oyster over ice, salty and creamy.  Our trolley arrived with all the ingredients to make our steak tartar.  It took the waiter almost 15mins mixing one or two ingredient at a time, it was such an experience that I was mesmerized.  Only a few place in HK will do these type of time consuming stuff.  Then came my Caesar Salad trolley, Romain freshly tossed with extra spicy dressing to my request, croutons were crisp and accompany with smoked organic Irish Salmon, define!

Call me old soul but I was completely tickled.  The classic sometimes gives you a sense of comfort and grounds you to the core.  It was not a fancy fusion dinner which kept you guessing, but it sure makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside.  We spent the rest of the evening talking about kids and life so far and it was definitely a perfect setting to bring back old memories.

Fusion Dessert Competition with US Eggs

American Egg Board hosted this competition today at Kwai Fong L'Atelier Du Gout Hong Kong.  It is a professional kitchen that you can rent out for events, cooking demo and Corporate function.  It was an eye opening experience, the equipment was state of the art, decor was simple but chic but it was a little far and Kwai Fong is not a place that people are willing to drive to.  The competition itself was pretty exciting.  There were 8 competitor, most of them trained from Hotels around HK.  It was an eye opening experience to see some of the dessert made in front of you.  For an amateur like me, I finally found out how some of these stuff is done.  It also gave me confirmation that pastry is really not my forte.  It requires so much attention to detail and steady hands.  I better stick with my cooking and bake some simple cupcakes on my pass time.  This competition also taught me there is a difference between formally trained chef versus self trained chef.  Their technique and attitude are so different.  It is really making me think twice to go back to cooking school.  There is always a part of me that is not confident about my execution just because I am not formally trained.  I do still think after your education, experience is what sets you apart but having the foundation is also important.  Well, another thing on my list of things to do in life!

SML...room for improvement

Last Saturday, we were looking for a meet up place in Causeway Bay for lunch with some friends and the kids.  Everytime I think of Causeway Bay, I think of the mounts of people, traffic and Jonathan getting into a fight with people who cut in front of him.  Where is a good place that is child friendly and relatively not as crowded?  Maybe Time Square?  Well, we thought of SML, always wanted to try it, decor seems nice and open.  We called at about 10am and got a reservation for 4 adult and 2 kids. 


When we arrived, the whole front of the restaurant was setup with 3 long table of 20 people for birthday parties.  Then at the back, close to the kitchen is where we were seated.  Quite roomy but very noisy.  The menu were very extensive, but not sure if they specialize on any cuisine.  I thought it was Spanish but there were lots of other stuff on the menu too.  We quickly ordered some pasta, salad, Paella, finger foods and some drinks for the kids.  As we sat and talked, it got more and more uncomfortable.  The restaurant was so busy and people were running around us.  I felt like I was in a fast food joint like Cafe De Coral.  Then our food start arriving.  When we ask what that was, the server had no idea even though she was the expediter.  Then two other dishes arrived at our table and it did not belong to us.  I thought the food was ok but the atmosphere made everything seems cheap.  At the end, we all became so restless that we ate quickly and left. 

The bill end up to be about $1000, it was not cheap but I felt cheap after dining in that restaurant.  

Pineapple Bun in Sai Kung

Sai Kung Bakery Café
Man in Charge: Ricky
Location: Shop 6-7, G/F, Kam Po Court,
2 Sai Kung Hoi Pong Square, Sai Kung, N.T.
Phone: 27923861
Famous for: Pineapple Bun and Egg Tart

Roaming around Sai Kung after taking my daughter to soccer practice, I cannot help but notice this bakery tucked into a corner behind the seafood restaurants roll. I enjoy taking my daughter there because she can safely run around without cars and I can relax with a cup of coffee and a huge Pineapple Bun. When I finally sat down with Ricky, I realize this little cafe is a classic example of how a local eatery in HK came about and why people love them so much.

If you are here during the weekends, you will see a huge line outside this café waiting for these infamous Pineapple buns fresh out of the oven every 20 minutes. Selling on an average 300 buns a day, the line outside the café did not come easy. It was lots of trial and error for 8 years along with the brains of the old-timer pastry chefs who keep trying using the best of ingredients to create this phenomenon.

In Ricky’s opinion, a true Pineapple bun should have a sweet crust that is crunchy, and a bun that is soft and moist. If consumed warm, the combination of the crunchy and chewiness is just why this bun is HK people all time favourite bun. Although Ricky said his bun is not necessarily the best in HK, he said they take pride in using the best ingredients from around the world along with the experience of top pastry chefs who used to work for high-end cake shop in HK. The one special thing about his buns is that they keep producing them through out the day and each batch is fresh and hot, you cannot beat that.

Being the first European Bakery open in 2002, cakes and breads were their specialty. SARS came shortly after their opening and thanks to Tung Chee Hwa, then Chief Executive of HK granted Sai Kung to have out door seating permits in promoting tourism in the area. Not only Sai Kung was not affected by SARS, it is the place for a breath of fresh air. As local customer base grew, so did the demand for variety of products. Pineapple buns were introduced despite objection from a few partners. Baking it on site through out the day with top quality ingredient slowly caught on by word of mouth. Now, it became one of my routines every time I come to Sai Kung. Next time you visit Sai Kung, besides from the seafood, make sure you leave room for these extra large buns and also give the egg tart a try! They are to die for as well.