The Hungry Bunny

This was our first Lei Garden visit of 2015 (but not the last!), and we've noticed that the once-sleepy dining enclave cum drinking hole is slowly coming back to life. Refurbishments are still ongoing, but by and large, the place looks pretty sleeked up. A bonus of the massive overhaul resulting in extensive closures of the dining outlets at Chijmes: Lei Garden has taken to giving out complimentary parking to lure back prodigal diners. Yay to free parking! At the risk of jinxing myself, I think that there's no real need to do so though, as the consistency of their food and service is more than sufficient to keep regulars sated and happy. The Braised Beef with Homemade Sauce ($8) was an absolute must-try, with beef chunks melting into oblivion in a pool of mellow, cloved-infused brown gravy. The Braised Beef in Curry Sauce ($9.80) was a spicier rendition of the brown sauced one. Velvety and robust, this was incredibly sumptuous. The Panfried Beef in Japanese Sauc...

Plain Vanilla Bakery has the distinction of churning out miniature cakes shaped like cupcakes, so the little gorgeous confectionery are more akin to cake than cupcakes. A girlfriend brought over a box of these ($19 for 6) for one of our quarterly luncheons. From their stable of mainstays, the Cinnamon Brown Sugar , a cake frosted with cinnamon and dusted with cinnamon sugar, is both fragrant and delicious. Purely as a matter of preference, I wasn't a big fan of the Milk Chocolate Banana , banana cake dotted with chocolate chip topped with milk chocolate and a candied banana chip. Not a fan of banana. To round off the mainstays, the Strawberry White Chocolate , a vanilla-based cake piped with a strawberry compote center and frosted with white chocolate, was a smidge saccharine. The specials fared much better, like the Earl Grey , a bergamot-laced earl grey tea cake with lavender vanilla frosting and speckled with earl grey tea dust. Incredibly fragrant and balanced. ...

So, I recently hosted a luncheon with a distinctive Middle Eastern flavour. We had shashouka , and a Cumin Garlic Chicken Braise . I love how the contrast of the earthy cumin with the bright tang of lemons brings a wonderful balance to the hearty, cheery, saffron-hued dish. Ingredients (feeds 6 to 8 pax): 8 chicken thighs (apportion 1 thigh per pax) 20 cloves garlic (about 2 whole bulbs) 1 large yellow onion, minced 3 stalks celery, diced to 1cm lengths 2 large zucchini, diced to 1" cubes 1 bunch thyme (about 15 sprigs), tied together with butcher's string 1 tbsp cumin 10 saffron threads 3 tbsp tomato paste 1 cup white wine (I like chardonnay) 6 cups chicken stock Zest of 1 lemon Juice of 1 lemon Salt to taste Oil for frying (I used the chicken fat renderings from the browning process) Directions: 1) Brown chicken, salting liberally on both sides, about 4 minutes each side. Set aside and reserve. 2) Leaving behind 2 tbsp of chicken fat renderings...

At first brush, Tanyoto appears to be a cousin of the Japanese black pig tonkatsu specialist Tampopo . Similarity in monikers aside, the confusion is exacerbated by the fact that Tanyoto is located just a few doors down from Tampopo at Liang Court. Turns out, Tanyoto is an upmarket Sichuan steamboat restaurant not unlike the insanely popular Hai Di Lao . But unlike the famed Hai Di Lao, which arrived on our shores with much pomp, Tanyoto barely made a splash when it landed on our sunny island more than 5 years ago. Maybe Tanyoto doesn't offer the much-touted freebie snacks and services, but really, that's not exactly the yardstick by which I review restaurants anyway. And despite negative reviews of appallingly crass service, I found the service practically faultless, even if the wait staff seemed to only speak Mandarin. And we were dining on a peak-hour Friday night. The Hubs, being a quintessential ACS boy, didn't understand a word of the heavily-accented Mandar...

Butternut squash isn't all that well-known in these part of the world, but it should be. It's a cold weather seasonal produce that's mildly sweet and has a nicely rounded nutty flavour. And its bright orange hue means that it's bursting with beta carotene, so good for your eyes. And in this part of the world where 1 in 2 kids are bespectacled by puberty, butternut squash should feature in every household. I've contrasted the sweet butternut squash with sage for a hint of bitterness, and cut the rich bechamel with a little marinara for a light piquancy. Finally, I loaded up on gorgonzola for a luxurious pungency. Ingredients (makes a 5-layered lasagna tray 12" x 8" and feeds approx 6-8) : 250gm lasagna noodles (I used the instant, no-boil variety, 20 sheets of 7" x 3.5") 1 cup marinara sauce Butternut squash puree: 1.2 kg butternut squash, sliced half 3 tbsp butter 1 tbsp honey 1/4 cinnamon powder Dash of nutmeg 2 tbsp minced fresh...