Cavalock and The Tiger Mom Complex

There's this new 'game' I like to play. Whenever I'm alone in the kitchen whipping up something new, I like to pretend I'm on Top Chef, the TV reality show. I'll try to cook a dish or a full meal as fast as I can. And yah, I get a kick outta it. Hey, when you are alone in the kitchen, you try to have as much fun as you can.

What you got here is a simple but yummy hot lunch for one, all done in a little more than half hour. Corn beef with shallots, boiled asparagus and rice.

One little mistake I made was cooking the corn beef for too short a time. I used to have corn beef quite often when I was a kid but not for some time now, so I figured I'll do something bout it. They started turning little too mushy, I got kinda worried so I tried some and they tasted damn good so I stopped cooking it.

Later I found out that I should have cooked it longer, the corn beef would have been dryer like the way I had it when I was a kid. But it all turned out rather good, the shallots added that extra crunch to the corn beef, the boiled asparagus was simple and nice, with just some salt in the water.

Now I'm sure most people here have already read or heard of the Tiger Mom article in WSJ and the subsequent fallout, controversy, hoohaa or whatever you wanna call it. As expected, you got folks who agree with Amy Chua, excuse me, Prof. Amy Chua, and you got folks who don't. And for those who don't, I'd like to say ... WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO CRITICIZE SOMEONE'S PARENTING AS HORRIBLE JUST BECAUSE IT DOESN'T FIT INTO YOUR PRECONCEIVED VALUES OF WESTERN PARENTING?

Ok, now that I got that out of the way, I suppose someone reading this would probably wonder if I was brought up by a Tiger Mom. Well, my mom's the best and greatest mom in the world and well, she did do some of those things that the Professor did. I did live through some of those 'child-rearing techniques'.

Let's see, I was made to take piano lessons cos every other kid in the neighborhood was either on the violin or the piano. Hated it but had to grin and bear it for like an eternity.

Was constantly compared to other neighborhood kids bout how they could boil an egg or cook instant noodles at an early age.

My mom did tell me that I was picked up from a dumpster as a baby or was she threatening to leave me in the dumpster if I was bad? I forget. Heh!

Was never the top student in anything. So you can guess how that turned out in the Cavalock household. <^;^>

Oh, the list goes on! But I don't mind it at all. Now as I look back, I know she did everything for me cos she loves me. I don't think I would change a thing. Also, don't forget to read this other take on the whole thing, it's funny and true on so many levels too.

Cavalock and The Miracle Mussels

Man, some days I really amaze myself. I been dying to whip up my own mussels meal ever since my London trip and then there was the visit to the local Brussels Sprouts. So when I started having more free time and doing my own stuff, I figured it's also about time I finally tried doing the mussels thing. Well OK, having a new saucepan in the kitchen also helped nudge me in the right direction. ;)

And how did it turn out? Damn! It was waaaay better than I expected it to be! I didn't follow any exact recipe. I just copied the technique, the ingredients were my own ...er...selection.

After getting rid of the mussels that were already opened and cleaning up the rest, there really wasn't much of the original 500g left, so I added in bout half dozen prawns. My little variation also used shallots instead of chives. The only thing that I think I did wrong was not chopping up the garlic really fine. I just smashed them with my blade.

The other secret ingredient was Japanese sake! I know some places use beer or whiskey, I figured why not sake then? I got a big bottle sitting in the fridge for like ages, yah, I was afraid that it could have gone bad or something but it didn't! Hah!

After adding like three big splashes of sake into the saucepan, I then toss in them mussels and prawns. Now I'm at that stage where I don't do no exact measurements no more, cos that's how I roll! (negative and negative and negative and positive equals negative, rite?)

Next comes the cream. I found this at a Cold Storage, I don't think FairPrice has it. Anyway, this is great and once again I just poured like a quarter of a cup in there. Then I turned up the heat for like three minutes. Once it starts bubbling, turn off it off, your kitchen ought to smell really, really good now.

The flavors were all there and the broth was fantastic, I think the cream made a huge difference. I almost cleaned it up with my multigrain buns. Everything was perfect, I was at first so afraid that the mussels would be bad or the sake would be bad, but it all turned out better than fine. I was thinking what made it taste so good, the sake? The cream? Good mussels? I dunno.

The whole thing took less than a half hour to prepare and I dare say it tasted better than the ones I had Brussels Sprouts but definitely not as good as the ones in the London. <^;^>

Cavalock and The New Year Champagne Lunch

Am I too late?!?

Well, Happy New Year!

2011 got off to a yummy start with lunch at Por Kee Eating House. It's apparently a pretty popular joint although it's my first time there. Situated almost in the middle of a Tiong Bahru carpark, it's a rather little nondescript zi char restaurant.

It's got all the usual dishes you would expect from a zi char but what you want, I mean really, really want is the 'champagne pork ribs', that's what it says on the menu. Geddit, champagne = new year?

Now I seriously doubt if there's any champagne in the preparation since I can't taste any booze but damn, the ribs are just heavenly. Tender with a sweet flavor that just leaves you begging for another piece. The ribs are served individually, one big chunk per small plate. Trust me, you would wanna order more than one plate.

Other stuff we ordered were like the asparagus, venison, steamed fish (don't ask me what kind) and of cos cereal prawns, all decent dishes but nothing compares to the ribs.

After lunch, we finally made it to the new and popular cafe 40 Hands, that's around a couple blocks from Por Kee. I have heard a lot of good things about it especially their flat white. So was it worth braving the afternoon storm for it? Yah, by that time, I was so wet and desperate for a cup of hot beverage, I would have settled for almost anything.

A very welcome cup of flat white although I would have preferred it to be freakin' hot, not lukewarm. Plus the orange Jaffa Swirl cake is very good too.

Cavalock and The Post Boxing Day Post

Post Boxing Day saw me meeting up with ex-colleagues in the media industry. Dinner was back at Food for Thought, next to the Singapore Art Museum. I was the only one who had the Garlic Prawns Linguine and I liked it. The prawns were cooked just right and not too garlicky. But not everyone enjoyed their food, the risotto didn't score very high marks that nite.

I know, the brown pasta doesn't look very appealing but it tastes way better than it looks. Anyway, as expected the conversation always veers towards who's cheating or sleeping with who, yes folks, the local media and advertising industry is that dirty.

Thought I'll just do a quick pictorial rundown on some new goodies in the apartment the day after Christmas. :)

Cavalock and The Christmas Day Post

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!!!

Geez, I thought that since I stopped doing a regular 9-to-5 gig, I would have more free time to do my own stuff but that sure as hell ain't the case.

I have been pretty busy this last couple of weeks, maybe I bit off more than I can chew by taking on too many projects, maybe it's the holiday season and everyone wants their stuff done first, or maybe I just suck at time management. Yah, I think it's the latter. I really suck at managing my time. Oh, and I blame my iPad too for all those magazine and TV show downloads. Hah!

Anyway I finally found time to check out Food For Thought, next to the Singapore Art Museum. Had the banana and walnut pancakes, with the oh-so-heavenly gula melaka. And of cos, a cup of flat white.

Had all the guys over at my place for an early Christmas dinner last week. I bought more stuff from the supermarket instead of making some of my own like I did before, cos I don't think I have time to make enough for like eight or nine of us. Well, there were some homemade Christmas gifts for them, hope they like it. ;)

And this is what they got for me for Christmas! The giant-sized Marvel Universe Galactus figure (with Silver Surfer)! I was totally not expecting this! You can't find this baby in any of the departmental stores here, you can only get it at one them specialist toy stores here.

Hope to get in some year-end posts this week before the new year! Look out for them or it!

Cavalock Eats Like A Food Blogger

I think this is how it feels like to be a professional food blogger! Free food, fine dining, your own personal little table and waiter, I mean the table that's little, not the waiter.

That's how it was when I went cruising the high seas earlier this month. Was my first time onboard a Royal Caribbean ship and every meal there was free, enjoyed all of them. I only paid for the cruise and the food was free and I'm not talking bout some cheap ass buffet spread here. Strange how everyone I spoke to or know never seemed to enjoy their cruise experiences. I had a blast! And I'm not even gonna start on this except to say it works!

Some meaty main courses , for dinner you got some steak and pulled pork sandwiches for lunch below.

And as much dessert as you like! Really, you can just keep calling them out. Like they say, there's always room for dessert.

My favorite meal of the day is still breakfast and this is something I always fix myself whenever I'm faced with a cereal bar. I mean 'bar' as in a cereal selection, not one them bar-shaped snacks. Heh.

My own creation. Sugar frosted cereal with prunes and pears. Followed by yummy banana pancakes.

Lots more cool food shots like my usual dinner glass of port, fishies, chicken and other neat stuff. ;)

Cavalock and The Hunt in Malaysia

Oh wow! I'm finally in front of my MacBook well, that's not entirely true. I been in typing away for a few days now but I'm back blogging.

Long story short, the official version is I took a boat ride to Malaysia to 'hunt' for food and action figures. Had a blast, the food was good, well, some better than others. Did I find the action figures I wanted? Not exactly, the ones a friend spotted in KL weren't there when I got there. I mean, it's a long shot to expect it to still be there but you know, you never can tell. But I did find a couple others that were on my to-buy list. And yes, I am fully aware of how lucky and blessed I am to be able to do stuff like that, as in drop what I'm doing, go places and enjoy myself. I was actually gonna write a little Thanksgiving piece last month but I digress...

First stop was a rainy Penang. Where the food was almost as bad as the weather. Alright, to be fair, I'm not saying all Penang food is bad, just the ones I had at an amusement park-turned-food-court. Sorry, I forgot the name of the place. I never remember bad places. ;)

Their versions of oyster omelette and popiah, not that good. But their famous white coffee on the other hand, damn good.

The next day and I'm in sunny Kuala Lumpur. This is only my second time in the city. First time was with the guys on a LOTR (Lord of The Rings) game tournament years ago. Luv the street food there. This time, no street food but I did try some of their best-of-hawker food that's under one roof in a mall kinda thing, not unlike our own Food Republic.

The food court is at the basement of the Lot 10 shopping mall. There were so many stalls I wanna try but I was there for only one meal. Hah!

Other quick shots of KL goodies that you may or may not find in Singapore. Great sweeeet french toast with condensed milk and from KL Isetan supermarket, Hershey's Japanese ice-cream choc nut balls and Ginseng Tongkat Ali in a can.

Next post, ship food in all its glorious colors! Leave a tick or comment to let me know what you think! Thanks a gazillion for reading!