Baked eggs

The first time I heard of baked eggs was when reading blog posts about breakfast at Lantana Cafe in London. Their version had chorizo in it and was topped with rocket salad - not bad!

I love how easy it is to make baked eggs - you can pretty much throw whatever you want in your creation. You don't even have to bake it in a dish - back in my superlazy days I would crack an egg on top of toast, sausages and pasta sauce from a jar...

It's like how you can splatter paint onto a canvas and call it abstract art, except unlike Pollock I ain't winning any awards with this mess.

Then I stopped living by myself and figured I didn't want to scare people off with my food; luckily it's easy to make baked eggs look half-decent.

Here I just used avocado, cheese, ham and mashed potato, anything I had in the fridge really.
Just bake at around 350 F until the eggs are done and you're good to go!

-S

Puff pastry, 2 ways

Lobster bisque in puff pastry pops up a lot in my childhood memories. I LOVED the stuff. Perfect comfort food for when you're still young and don't know the price of things.

Fast forward around 10 years and I've come to realise that it's not commonly served in restaurants. Sure, everyone sells a lobster bisque... but why not add a magical layer of fat on top? Hey chefs, does it seem tacky to you? Do you think it looks ugly? Because it's not and it doesn't! It makes everything better.

Well, I finally bought some puff pastry to make my own. Of course I wasn't going to risk making a failed lobster bisque (read: laziness and apprehension took over) so I got some ready made soup from the supermarket. I didn't buy the cheapest one. Oh no. I got the one that looked the most gourmet and cost the most, because you know packaging and marketing is 100% honest.

I just plopped the pre-rolled pastry on top, spooned some beaten egg onto it (not fancy enough to have a brush) and baked it at 200 C / 400 F for 10-15 minutes.

Voila! An abundance of unctuous soggy bits to accompany the lobster bisque.

After this trip down memory lane, I still had some puff pastry left over. I was inspired by Luxirare's simple breakfast tart - it's not so simple by peasant standards, but I tried making my own anyways.

I just added whatever there was in the kitchen. Some leftover homemade onion marmalade, blue cheese and canned chopped tomatoes. And lastly, some egg spooned onto the edges. Honestly? It turned out surprisingly tasty.
x

Fresh basil pasta

We recently bought some basil from the farmer's market to grow ourselves.

Now I can pretend to be Jamie Oliver and pluck things fresh from the little patch of soil in front of our house! SO gourmet, daaahhling.

I've always used dried basil for the Easiest Pasta Ever, but I wanted to try it with fresh basil.

The Easiest Pasta Ever is made with heavy cream, shredded parmesan, lots and lots of basil, salt and pepper. I just dump the freshly cooked pasta onto everything else and let it sit for a while before mixing.

Verdict: I didn't use enough basil! But by the time I'd realised this I couldn't be bothered to get some more.

Yea I'm lazy. Why am I so lazy? I don't know.

I tried to pick some fresh basil again a week later, but there was a wasp outside so I resorted to dried basil. Oh well... there's always next time!
x

Yellow Tail Moscato

I'm a dessert wine sort of person.

Since I can't just hop on a plane to Santorini and drink their Vinsanto, Yellow Tail's moscato is my new favourite cheap booze for weeknight drinking. It's light, fruity and a little bit fizzy.

It's also great for cooking with. White wine, heavy cream and minced garlic is a threesome made in heaven. I like to bake salmon with this combo sauce and lots of sauteed onions.

Can you tell? I'm super hungry!
x

Healthy Strawberry "Parfait"

One girl versus the world.

Or 2.5 lbs of strawberries. Same thing.

WHO will win???

It was a intense race against time as they began to show signs of rotting... but humankind prevailed in the end!

This version of the humble parfait uses greek yoghurt and honey for a healthy spin on things.

I think I need to take a break from strawberries for a while.

x

Good morning, saturday

It's been a long week...

It started out on a high after I went on a spontaneous skydive at San Marcos last Sunday, but trouble in the workplace and upcoming exams have left me exhausted.

Poached eggs with parma ham, garlic and basil butter on toast and danish blue cheese were the perfect pick-me-up. Here's hoping the next week will be better!
x

Single Valentine's

When you're single, valentine's day is really an excuse to treat yourself right and indulge in the things you love... sometimes it may be more meaningful than having a boyfriend rush to the supermarket to buy flowers at 7pm because he'd look like a jerk if he didn't conform to social norms and spend his money on overpriced pink and red consumables.

Well... I hope that didn't sound like a bitter rant! Vday can be well spent with a lover too. But I think my flatmate and I did a good job of making ourselves happy for the night, which included strawberry cocktails, steak with potato/ sweet potato mash, and an apple pancake cake.

My flatmate was even sweet enough to buy me chocolates... she's had to quit eating chocolate as it triggers her migraines, so I've ordered some carob powder and carob chips to try as a chocolate substitute. Can't wait to receive them!

x

Pancake mix, two ways

I just moved in January and I love having a flatmate again... especially when you wake up to find her stirring a pancake mix.

Living with someone else who also obsesses a lot about food is soo bad for my waistline though. Take this apple pancake cake for example: a totally spontaneous idea that my calorie budget just did not save room for... but what the heck, we made it anyway. It's just too easy! Apple slices are placed at the bottom of the pie tin, cinnamon, sugar and pancake mix is poured on top and the whole thing is baked until firm.

It looks pretty ugly fresh out of the oven, but deceivingly decent when it's all dressed up with syrup and some extra cinnamon. Maybe this would be good for impressing a future boyfriend with minimal effort...
x

Graze

I don't know why it took me so long to try Graze out. It's just so convenient, it's like getting a little gift in the mail every few days. After waking up at a totally lazy hour and thinking that I can't be bothered to make lunch, I realise that there's a box waiting for me and I can happily munch on it. Well what can I say? I'm on a diet.

I love that the nutritional info for each box is included in the little booklet.



There is one problem though - I finish them way too quickly! Most boxes are less than 50g.

Using this code: 6WFWVD9F will get you your first box free. And I'll have my next box discounted - win-win : )

x

Pierre Hermé

If I'm the one buying macarons I'm not awfully experimental.

But I received a box of Pierre Hermé macarons lately as a thank you gift, and I was able to try a wider range of flavours.

Now I'm really not a fan of Turkish Delight as they always taste like soap to me, but the Rose macaron was amazingly delicate and fragrant. Other memorable ones were mint and matcha. Okay, now I'm officially hooked to Pierre Hermé! I can't really compare to Laduree as the last time I had those was over a year ago in Tokyo (from what I remember they were lovely too). But obviously they're much better than supermarket versions. Guys, do yourself a favour and get the real deal! 

I have to say though, the Paul macaron on steroids is in a league of its own...

I know I probably shouldn't, but I love it too.

x

Pedo Smile & Lola's

It was obsession at first sight when I showed my friend the pedo smile, and it has been an integral part of our friendship ever since. So I thought it was only appropriate that, for his birthday, I ordered Lola's cupcakes with his pedo face on it.

I have loved Lola's cupcakes for a while now, especially their peanut butter cupcake... These ones with the edible image on top turned out amazingly well. Needless to say, he was ecstatic. Yet another reason to love them!

When you collect your order from the store you also get a free mini cupcake and coffee. It was quite a task balancing a fragile box of cupcakes with a cup of coffee but I left feeling very happy about the whole experience.

Yea I've been away for a long long time.. but my final year exams are finally over! It's so weird to have my life back, I have no idea what to do with it. x

Hotel Chocolat & ... healthy food for once

Creamy vanilla white chocolate with vanilla seeds, from Hotel Chocolat

I'd already eaten half of it by the time I took a picture, apologies. It was hard to resist. And I just love the cute imprint of what looks a lot like the Union Jack (I really hope that's what it's supposed to be, otherwise I'd feel incredibly stupid)!

After my chocolate binge, I went on a Sainsbury's shopping spree. I was actually in a mood for healthy food!

Caeser salad with smoked salmon trimmings
Ciabbata with extra virgin olive oil & balsamic vinegar

I know, I bought the cheapest smoked salmon oil and vinegar. It'll do for now... I'll refine my taste buds when I'm no longer on a budget.

There's a little insect flying around me. Being a lazy mofo I always try to catch them single-handedly, sort of kung fu style, then squash them dead with the fat lobules of my hand. It makes me feel very asian indeed. I wonder if anyone else does that??

On a random note, I got stuck in a lift today. It was much better than the last time I was stuck though, because
a) the lift was bigger,
b) I wasn't alone, and
c) we got out pretty fast, compared to the 45 minutes I spent sat on the floor last time.
However, there was also an elderly, weak patient who was also with us (I have lectures at a hospital). She was so panicky and trembling, I offered her my water. The pretty carton of water from Joe & the Juice, to be exact (see last post). This means I shall have to go and get one again! Cause it's cute : ) We got out of the lift on ground floor again... so we walked the patient up one floor. She was so frail... Anyways, I was just happy to help out. It feels good to be of use to the world.
xxx