Le Pain Quotidien, Wan Chai

It was our last day in Hong Kong and we found place to have proper breakfast that I had been missing.

We had Coconut Berry Muesli and Fritata of the day. The staff that waited on us did not know what it was that she had to go in and find out. Later on, I also found another staff that also had no clue of the flavor of the Fritata of the day. I guess, they don't get any briefing before the cafe was open or they did, but they di not pay attention. Or simply it was not mentioned. I definitely will respect the place better if the employees have the knowledge of this sort of things. Anyway, Fritata of the day was spinach and feta.

We also had coffee and green juice (no picture).

Stir Fried Spinach Noodles

A long while back, I bought a bag of dry spinach noodles from a supermarket. I took me weeks before I cooked them and it took me more than a couple of weeks to post. Life. 

To my surprise, these noodles are delicious. I cooked them with spinach, julienned carrots, sliced red chilies and those yummy prawns.

Egg Breakfast

The sea is calm now, for now at least. I had a very draining end of the week, very unexpectedly and had to wake up to a crappy Monday, feeling so beaten up. What a way to begin the week! Life throws curve balls again and again. No matter how experienced you are, they are still curve balls and you don't anticipate the way they come. As they say, life goes on. It does go on, and I have to go on with life, whether I like it or not. Life goes on whether I am ready to move on or not. Life goes on whether I have to walk limping or crawl or cry a super heavy baggage on my back. Life does not care. Life does not stop and gives you a break, so just move on!

I had imagined this breakfast since my days in Shanghai last week. Grilled tomatoes, spinach with gorgonzola, sautéed garbanzo beans and fried egg with runny yolk. 

I was so glad to be back home and had them, they way I wanted them to be. They are filling and they are healthy. Just the way I wanted them to be. I guess some aspects in our life are quite controllable.

Spinach Galette

I had been thinking about making this galette for a long time and one day, I finally made it. 

I like making galette. It is rustic and it is free form. It can be sweet or savory. This one was for breakfast and I put in spinach and crumbled feta cheese with an egg on top. The crust was wholemeal. 

PS Cafe Petit Dinner

This was about three weeks ago, before Miss K returned to Berkeley. Summer holiday went by so fast and it's time for her to go back to California before classes start. She needed to move in to her new apartment and get everything she could use. It was a very busy Summer for her. 

PS Cafe is located very close to our place and they have reasonably good food. Just the three of us. DH's pick is never far from pasta and seafood, and if a restaurant have both of them one dish, he would select it. It's way too easy to guess. His dish is called Shrimp, Crab and Crumb. It is spicy spaghettini with sugar snaps, spinach, crab meat, shrimp and garlic crumbs. The size suits well for people with big appetite. I had a little bit of it and I thought it was a good one.

Miss K chose Panini Slim, called Truffle Cheese Mushroom. The name is very descriptive of what's inside the grilled sandwich.

Finally for me, I had Vegetarian Moussaka. I tend to try something new or something that I rarely or do not make at all at home. This dish seems to have good reviews online and I was curious to try. I actually am not a fan of pumpkin and pumpkin is one of the ingredients listed, aside from capsicum, celeriac, spinach, mozzarella and smokey tomato jam. Looking at the items that make the dish, I should have known that it is on the sweet side, which doe not suit my preference too well. The size was a bit too big for me as well. 

Lunch At Cracco Peck, Milano

Peck is one of the most recommended place to go to and to dine in when you go to Milan. It's located just near Duomo, but we had a hard time finding it because the GPS really messed us up.

We checked out their shop, carrying beautiful meats, goodies, cheeses and everything else that I wish I could buy and take them home with me. The restaurant is upstairs and their food is really superb. This was our first time having a meal there and we truly enjoyed every single bit of everything.

The above is amuse bouche provided by the restaurant. 

I had a dish called Piatto Unico Venerdi, which was basically mashed potatoes in the bottom of the plate with Cod fish. I can't remember exactly the description of how the fish was done. But it was really delicious.

 My company had Linguine al pesto above. As a side order for sharing, we had spinach.

We were really full but still attempted to  try their desserts and coffee too.  Fabulous!!

Culina Lunch Again

After Miss K visited the dentist, which I perfectly timed to have finished by lunch time, we headed to Dempsey Hill again to find a place for lunch. Sadly, a bit, our best option was Culina again. It was an easy choice for MIss K, she chose Truffled Macaroni and Cheese.

We also had Burrata to share.  It was no-brainer for DH that most of time, picked pasta with Crabmeat (again and again!).

I had salad which doesn't seem to be listed on the menu anymore. It had baby spinach, beets and quinoa with very acidic dressing. I did mention about the unpleasant dressing to the waiter, because it was so hard for me to enjoy the dish. Like in many other restaurants in Singapore, neither apology, nor explanation was offered.

Mini Spinach Tarts

Summer holiday is nearly over and we have to get back to our routines again. We are still adjusting to the local time zone after returning from Europe and I must say, we are doing quite badly. But when it comes to eating, we excel on this. 

I have been trying to clear old stocks from the freezer and I found the spinach and frozen mini cases. With a little help from www, I put together the filling that consisted of spinach, four types of cheese and some seasonings. I baked these little darlings until the pastry turned brown and crispy.  They turned out really well and tasted yummy too!!

Lunch At Paul

I still have no clue on what came to DH's mind that he wanted to eat in some cafe-style for lunch, it's really not his thing. I had three places in mind. They were Paris Baguette in Wisma Atria, Mayson Kayser in Scotts Square and Paul at Ngee Ann City. All of which tend to be crowded at meal times, especially on weekends and it was Saturday when we went out. After parking the car at Ngee Ann City, naturally the first place we passed was Paul. We saw a short line and quickly abandoned the options to look at others. 

Paul has been in Singapore for about a year and every time we passed by, there's always a long line for the table.  I saw a few things on the menu that I would like to try and all of them were very reasonably priced, IMO. We always wondered why this place has a long queue and we had the opportunity to try.

 

I had spinach quiche with salmon flakes (1st picture above) and DH chose Cod with some vegetables.  The food that we had was just reasonably good, not super, but I will be okay about coming back as long I do not have to wait long for the table.

The meals we had were rather small and I had space for dessert and coffee (this is so rare!). We ordered one piece of Chocolate dessert, Millefeufille Chocolat. It's bigger than I expected, but we were sharing anyway. Again it's an ordinary dessert, it was not as extraordinary as I thought would be. Coming here, my expectation was high. Paul is well known and have been around since 1899. I understand that Paul is boulangerie and we did not get to try their bread. Maybe next time.

Lunch At Mezza9 @ Grand Hyatt

It was public holiday last Monday and since had not dined at Mezza9 for quite a long while, we decided to grab lunch over there. I had Bratwurtz with caramelized onion and Sauteed Spinach as side dish to share with DH.

DH picked Seafood Hor Fun without bean sprout and squid. The size is reasonable for one person and the taste is just alright.

The part that I liked best was actually the Ciabatta that they served before the main course s were brought to the table. The two of us finished them and were offered to have more. We declined as we wanted to have enough space for the main entrees. 

Spinach Salad With Grilled Salmon and Caramelized Onion

Today, November 2nd, is the 40th anniversary of my father's death. He left when I was so young that I barely remember anything about him. I almost had no recollection of what I did with him, probably I have none. I only remember what was told by others about him to me as I was growing up. One of the few things was that occasionally, he took me on a bike ride to buy some food and brought them back home for the whole family to eat. I also know that he wore glasses when he was alive, thanks to the pictures that we keep. What I hope now is that he is in better place, reunited with my mother and my sister. May peace be with them!

What I had for dinner tonight has nothing to do with the significance of the date to my life. I bought a pack of baby spinach and have been working hard on finishing them with my little house mate, my only one at present. Tonight, I had them with a piece of grilled salmon and some caramelized onion. Miss K always loves to have teriyaki sauce with her salmon and tonight, I followed her way. We cleaned up well and left a little bit of onion unused. We also had ice cream for dessert. Delish!

One Tortilla....

I dislike wasting food, so when I saw one piece of Tortilla left for two days, I thought of using it for breakfast. I warmed it up using a pan, while I tossed some spinach with olive oil, salt and pepper. I cut the tortilla into four pieces and divided the spinach equally. I put four cherry tomatoes that were left in the vegetable drawer, after slicing them. I love avocado and I added some on every piece. Next, I topped them up with some light spreadable cream cheese that has been very slow moving too and yum..... the best part....., some bacon....!! Finally, I drizzled a bit of olive oil on top.

In case you wonder why there are only three pieces on the plate, let me tell you the reason. I put one piece on a smaller plate and passed to DH who was reading his newspaper and let him try one. Therefore, I would not have to eat all, it's a bit much, I thought. 

Puff Pastry With Spinach And Feta

This is basically puff pastry filled with spinach and feta cheese. There are many different combinations that you can add into the filling, it's all up to your imagination, put in whatever you like in there. There are plenty of recipes that you can follow too.

I made mine with cottage and parmesan cheese, sauteed onion, egg and some black pepper. Brush the top with egg wash and bake them in the oven until they turn golden. I like them this way, but I won't rule out different filling the next time I make them again.

On The Fourth...

It's 4th July here now in San Francisco. Most businesses went on as usual. Lots of sale. Lots of tourists. With Miss K being away already, we took our time to get ready. It was so late morning by the time we were ready and walked out of the hotel. We even stopped by at William Sonoma and headed to Scala's Bistro that has former Top Chef contestant, Jen Biesty as the Executive Chef. It's a block away. Everywhere is nearly a block away from each other. That's the best part of staying around Union Square. It's our second time there over the past three days. It's our first meal of the day. I ordered one of the least expensive items on the menu, Bistro Burger. I ended up with a large burger (to my measurement), with lots of super nice, crunchy and tasty fries.

My Contorni was Sauteed Spinach, deliciously prepared with garlic, grilled lemon and olive oil. It was a very filling lunch (or brunch), even though I was not able to finish them up.