Roasted Artichokes with Melted Butter

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Artichokes are one of my favourite vegetables to have. They’re seasonal which means they aren’t always readily available, but when I can get my hands on them I usually buy a whole bunch to roast. They are the perfect accompaniment to a main meal, or if you’re like me, just perfect for a nice tea time snack.

Artichokes aren’t the easiest thing to prepare and have, but I do enjoy foods that require a bit of work. A whole artichoke may look intimidating to eat but it’s really fun to work your way through the leaves. Most restaurants will serve you just the artichoke heart, which is the fleshy bit of the artichoke, but there’s actually a ton more flesh in the leaves. Scrape the meat off the leaves using your back of your teeth. Anything that feels soft and fleshy can be eaten, and discard the harder leaves.

I recognise it’s a ton of effort for not a lot of artichoke, but working your way through the whole artichoke is all part of the fun!

Whole Roasted Artichokes with Melted Butter
Prep Time : 10 Min
Cooking Time : ~ 45 min
Total Time : 55 min

You’ll need :

  • At least 2 artichokes, I usually do at least 4 to make the effort worth it! ( Choose artichokes that feel heavy, and have leaves that are tightly bundled up)
  • 2 lemons
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • Bunch of rosemary and thyme
  • Huge chunk of butter

Prep :

  1. Slice your garlic and chop up your rosemary and thyme, this doesn’t have to be pretty, it just adds flavour to your artichokes
  2. Prep your artichokes by cutting off 2 inches from the stem and 1 inch off the top 
  3. Slice the artichokes in half lengthwise and remove the fuzzy choke with a teaspoon (the choke is located at the heart, right at the base of the artichoke stem). Artichokes oxidize very quickly once exposed. So if you’re working on more than one artichoke, pop the rest into a bowl of water and squeeze some lemon in there to to prevent your artichokes from turning black.
  4. Once all artichokes are prepped, use the garlic and fresh herbs you’ve prepped and push it into the center of the artichoke ( where you removed the fuzzy bits)
  5. Season liberally with olive oil, salt, pepper and a good squeeze of lemon.
  6. 3. If working with more than one artichoke, squeeze lemon over artichoke and submerge in lemon water while you work (this is to prevent oxidation)4. Chop up some garlic and fresh herbs(if you like) and push it into the center of the artichoke (the place where you removed the fuzzy bits)5. Season with olive oil, salt, pepper, more lemon!!! and place it on baking tray outer side up 6. Have your oven pre headed to 200 degrees celsius, bake for 15 min uncovered , followed by 30-35 min covered with aluminium foil. When the stem can be easily pierced through with the fork you know it’s ready. For dipping sauce : melt down butter, season with salt pepper and lemon juice

Cook :

  1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees celsius
  2. Lay out your artichokes on a baking tray, with the hard side of the leaves facing up. ( Yes this means turning your artichokes over, herbs garlic and all. Don’t worry, if some of the garlic and herbs fall out, the heat will still get the artichokes all fragrant.
  3. Bake for 15 min uncovered , then followed by 30 min covered with aluminium foil so it doesn’t burn. Getting the timing right is very tricky , and will be dependent on the oven you use. I recommend checking it from the 20 min mark onwards. When the base of the artichoke can be easily pierced through with the fork you’ll know it’s ready.
  4. While the artichokes are roasting, melt down your chunk of butter on low heat, adding salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste. This will serve as your dipping sauce.

Pan Seared Barramundi with Lemon/Parsley + Asparagus

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Fish in Singapore can be expensive, and there’s nothing more disappointing than paying top dollar for produce that’s mediocre. I recently ordered a bunch of things from The Meat Club , an independent online grocer that gets their produce directly from Australia, working only with quality suppliers with a focus on sustainability and animal welfare. Produce is frozen in Australia and shipped directly to Singapore. They’re known for their beef and pork products, being called the Meat Club and all, so I had little expectations on the fish front. Let me say upfront now that I couldn’t be more wrong. The Barramundi that I had was amazing! So fresh, so flaky, I was blown away by the quality.

I can’t take any credit for the recipe that I adapted from The Meat Club, original recipe here : https://www.themeatclub.com.sg/product/sea-bream-with-lemon-and-parsley/ . What I can say though, is that this recipe is so simple it only takes 15 minutes, but really does pack a punch. Of course when you have good produce, more than half the cooking battle is already won.

Pan Seared Barramundi with Lemon & Parsley, served with Asparagus
Prep time : 5 min
Cooking time : 10 min
Total time : 15 min

You’ll need :

  • 2 pieces of Barramundi ( Any firm white fish could work as well, such as sea bream)
  • 1 lemon
  • Bunch of parsley
  • 3 Chunks of butter
  • Dry white wine (100ml)
  • Bunch of asparagus

Prep :

  1. Slice your lemon in half, and roughly chop up half your parsley
  2. Squeeze half the lemon juice all over the fish, rub over with parsley, and season with salt and pepper

Cook :

  1. Start by sautéing the asparagus with 1 chunk of butter, being liberal with the salt and pepper. Do this on low heat, turning ever so often
  2. While the Asparagus is cooking, get a skillet ( cast iron/carbon steel preferable) and get it searing hot. If you don’t have a proper skillet, try to aim for a non-stick pan
  3. Add a knob of butter and sear your barramundi skin side down for 3 min, then carefully flip over and sear for another 2 minutes . Searing fish is an art and depends very much on the thickness of your fish and how hot your pan is . It comes down to practice but I usually eyeball my fish. When the flesh is no longer translucent and the meat flakes away easily, you’ll know it’s done. For beginner cooks, I’ll advise you to undercook your fish if unsure and use a timer. You can always pop it back on the pan otherwise, and you’ll soon learn from trial and error exactly how long you’ll need to get that perfect doneness. Sometimes I like to undercook my fish slightly, and finish it off in the oven as that’s more forgiving, giving it 2-3 minutes more at 160 degrees celsius.
  4. By now the asparagus should be done, so take it off the heat. It should be dark green and tender but still have a bit of a bite to it.
  5. To make the sauce, melt down your last chunk of butter on low to medium heat, add the other half chopped parsley to it, and when the parsley has been simmering for awhile, add your white wine and reduce down, around 5 minutes.
  6. Serve the fish with asparagus on the side, a wedge of lemon, drizzle the sauce over the fish and you’re done! Enjoy 🙂

xx Kerri

Perk Coffee Review

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( Scroll down for $10 off your first order)

I drink way too much coffee for my own good. I love it. Two cups a day is standard fare , three cups when I’m having a particularly trying day at work. It dawned on me that I should probably invest in my own kit, so when lockdown happened I took the plunge and got myself I a semi pro Gaggia espresso machine of my own, complete with a separate grinder. It’s been my pride and joy ever since and I’ve never looked back.

Sitting pretty on my table top

So naturally one of the first orders of business for me after coming back to Singapore was to find a supplier that had great beans. Easier said than done really. Coffee is pretty personal and everyone’s palate is a little different. However one recommendation that kept coming up again and again was

Perk Coffee : http://www.perkcoffee.co

Not great latte art, but very good coffee

I remember trying their drip bags a few years back when they just launched and it was pretty good but I had never tried their beans before. They have 9 different types of coffee, with beans coming from all over the world . I usually prefer a stronger more intense flavour of coffee and so I ordered the Ubranite (medium roast) and the Intrepid ( dark roast) blends to try.

As a rule of thumb I don’t keep beans for more than a month, and I take pains to store them in airtight containers, so having beans freshly roasted was really important for me. I was quite happy to find that Perk only roasts your beans after you’ve ordered which is great, because by the time it gets to you ( they deliver within 2-5 working days) it’s rested enough for flavour but still fresh enough that it won’t affect the quality of your coffee. They also have a very flexible subscription model. You can choose how often you want your beans delivered, the quantity, and even swap out different blends each time which works perfectly for me since I often forget to order beans and there’s nothing worse than waking up and finding that you don’t have enough beans left to make a cuppa.

First impressions : Packaging was excellent, and beans were delivered very quickly ! Took them 3 working days after the roasting date to be delivered. I like how they send you a little email heads up to let you know that your beans are going to be roasted so it’s a good reminder if you want to change the roast date, or make other selections.

Cute little sticker card where you can try out all the blends and send them a picture to enjoy a free gift once you’ve completed the card!

Taste test : The Intrepid blend was the clear winner for me. The blend had enough depth and I enjoyed the flavour profile of the beans. The Urbanite on the other hand went down smoothly, but didn’t provide enough of a ‘kick’ for me. If you like your coffee to provide a jolt to your system as I do, then go for the Intrepid. The Urbanite is more amiable but not for me, and might possibly go down better for coffee drinkers who prefer a lighter flavour. I have ordered the Timo next to try as well which is also a dark roast.

Price wise – I found Perk to be very reasonable. Two bags of 125g (ie 250g) of coffee costs SGD18.9 which is pretty much in line with market pricing . Also the free delivery to your doorstep and plus that it’s fresh to order really makes it quite worth your while.

Overall, I would recommend giving Perk a try to see if they have anything that suits your flavour profile. If you don’t have a grinder, they also do ground coffee, and have drip bags for filtered coffees as well. You can use the code ‘wenoms’ to take $10 off your first order, and if you try them let me know which is your favourite blend in the comments!

xx Kerri

Ishi Japanese Omakase Review

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If there’s one cuisine I could eat all the time and not get sick of it’s Japanese. For the longest time I resisted the urge to go for Omakase meals in Singapore. ‘It’s a slippery slope’ I reasoned to myself, ‘I shall save such decadence for a truly authentic experience when I travel to Japan’. And indeed I had the most amazing Omakase meal at Kanesaka in Japan ( served by Kanesaka himself). See review here : Sushi Kanesaka @ Tokyo Ginza.
However , my friend G insisted on bringing me to Ishi, claiming it’s one of the best Omakase places in Singapore for the price, and so I did and now I am hooked.

I would say the lunch Omakase is really great value – the Botan lunch set I had (SGD120) consisted of two starter dishes, 8 pieces of sushi, the crowd favourite uni/ikura bowl, and finally dessert. I thoroughly enjoyed my lunch experience there. If I had two small gripes, that would be that the Shari (the rice) wasn’t sharp enough for my liking, but that’s personal preference. The other would be that the fish is so well marinated that everything melts in your mouth. That’s great but I think it was just a tad overdone, andI would have preferred a bit more texture and bite in my sushi. That said, it was still a great lunch, and I would come back again.

I was served by Chef Suzuki and would highly recommend requesting for him if you do dine at Ishi. Part of the Omakase experience is interacting with the Chef, and he’s got the right balance of not being overly obtrusive but still interjecting at the right moments with the history of the food and explanations when you need them.

It must have been my lucky day because the first two courses started with Uni.

  1. Hirame/uni and 2. Uni Chawanmushi

Both were light starters to whet the appetite but I preferred the hirame/uni since the bite of the hirame went really well with the melt in your mouth uni. The chawanmushi was a bit on the firm side for me but the uni was so sweet it hardly mattered.

Then the sushi course began. We got a bit more than usual, courtesy of G who’s a proper regular!

  • 3. Hirame – I never used to like hirame but have found myself increasingly drawn to it. Great start to the sushi course. Clean flavours, good bite.
  • 4. Shima Aji – pretty standard in Omakase.
  • 5. Maguro – was surprised to see tuna make an appearance so early but regardless this was excellent. Maguro can be a bit tough but this was so well marinated it melted in my mouth
  • 6. Botan Ebi – Amazing sweetness to this prawn
  • 7. Spanish Mackerel – Another one of the surprise favourites in this Omakase.
  • 8. Iwashi – Usually sardines have a slightly fishy taste which I dislike but this was so well marinated it had none of that at all.
  • 9. Nodoguro – Never had this before. It’s sea perch and it was deliciously fatty. The chef also grilled it just slightly before serving which really just made this even better.
  • 10. Chutoro – ’nuff said. Always delicious. I actually prefer chutoro to otoro. chutoro has the perfect marbling for me.

11. The uni/ikura bowl
This is incredibly hard to get wrong if you have fresh ingredients. And boy was this good. I loved watching the Chef spoon out the uni and ikura

12. Dessert : Mochi!

I left feeling really pleased about the quality of the food. Will be back sometime but for now…. on to my next Omakase restauraunt!
–

Ishi Japanese Restauraunt
Intercontinental Singapore
1 Nanson Rd, #02-06, Singapore 238909
http://www.ishi.com.sg

xx Kerri


Silky Smooth Chawananmushi Recipe

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I often find myself a bit peckish after dinner and for a great midnight snack I love a good Chawanmushi (steamed egg custard) . I tend to make a few little cups at the start of the week so I have an easy snack on demand !

The key to a delicious Chawanmushi is all in the dashi, which is so easy to make. Link here: How To Make Ichiban Dashi !for the recipe. Otherwise you can substitute with chicken stock as well but I highly recommend making your own dashi!

Silky Smooth Chawanmushi recipe

The recipe gives you a basic Chawanmushi. You can layer on toppings as well, ginkgo nuts, mushrooms and bits of chicken are my go to.

Prep time : 10 min
Cook time : 20 min
Total time : 30 min

Makes enough for 4 small portions

You’ll need :

  • 3 medium to large eggs
  • 500ml dashi
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon Mirin
  • 1 teaspoon Sake
  • 1 teaspoon light soy sauce

Prep :

  1.  Beat your 3 eggs well
  2. Mix in the dashi with the eggs
  3.  Add your salt, soy sauce, mirin and sake
  4. Run the mixture through a sieve to ensure that the egg mixture is smooth
  5. Ladle into ramekin cups or any other small cups that can withstand high heat, try and ensure there are no air bubbles
  6. If you want to add toppings like crab meat, mushrooms, bits of chicken etc you can place them into the egg cups as well (optional)
  7. Cover your cups with lids or use aluminium foil

Cook:

  1. Prep your steamer by making sure the water is on high boil –  I add an inch and a half of water to my steamer and use a wire rack.
  2. Once the steamer is ready, carefully place the egg cups inside and steam on low heat for around 18-22min. Everyone’s stove top and heat distribution works differently. I recommend checking your Chawanmushi from the 18 min mark onwards, and you’ll be able to get your own magic number as to when the Chawanmushi is ready . You’ll know it’s done when you tap the back of a teaspoon lightly against the egg and it bounces back.

Pro tip : I make a few cups and steam them all at once. Once they’ve cooled, I refrigerate them. To enjoy, I just pop them in the steamer on low heat for around 5 min. Keeps well in the fridge for up to 3 days.

xx Kerri

How To Make Ichiban Dashi !

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When it comes to Japanese cooking, Dashi (fish stock) is a must have. It’s frequently used in Japanese cooking as a stock base and provides that umami flavour. Sure you could buy the ready made packets of dashi from your Asian supermarket but home made dashi has a ton more flavour, plus it’s so easy to make, so there’s really no excuse! I use dashi the most for chawanmushi , which is why I typically make a ‘ichiban dashi’ which is the first dashi, using a combination of Kombu and Katsuobushi. You can also make a ‘niban’ (second) dashi, using the leftover ingredients from the first dashi as a base for other Japanese dishes that require a lighter stock base, say miso soup for example. I typically make in huge batches and then freeze them in ice cubes for easy access.

Ichiban Dashi Recipe
Prep time : Minimum 2 hours
Cooking time : 10 min

You’ll need :

  • Kombu ( Kelp)
  • Katsuobushi ( Bonito flakes)

Prep :

  1. Prepare a pot of room temperature water ( filtered if possible).
  2. Cut your Kombu into strips (don’t wash your Kombu, if needed wipe gently. The whitish spots on the Kombu are glutamates which provide flavour.
  3. Soak the strips of Kombu in water for at least an hour and a half ( I sometimes leave it overnight in the fridge but generally 2 hours is good enough).

Cook:

  1. Simmer the pot of water with Kombu inside
  2. JUST before the water comes to a boil, remove the Kombu . This is very important as boiling your Kombu will cause your dashi to become bitter
  3. Add a handful of Katsuobushi, bring to a rolling boil and take off fire.
  4. Sieve out the Katsuobushi, let cool and there you have your dashi! It should be a nice golden colour.

*Pro tip – the ratio of Kombu to water is pretty subjective. The more strips of Kombu the more intense the flavour. I generally add 5 cut pieces to around a litre of water but play around with proportions and taste to find out what works for you!

xx Kerri

Suguru Home Dining

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One of the best finds of last year has got to be Suguru home dining. They specialize in Japanese home dining, and are one of many businesses that saw Covid as an opportunity to pivot and make something good out of it. They only have a couple of dishes available for order, and all quite simple but man is the quality of produce top notch.

I tried their Truffle somen with hokkaido scallops /uni and was absolutely blown away. I’m a huge uni fan and it can be really difficult to find good uni in Singapore that’s not crazy expensive but theirs was so fresh and sweet, and bursting with seafood flavour, really one of the best I’ve had.

For SGD 48, it’s not something you have everyday but great for a midweek WFH treat, or when you’re just in the mood for something a little decadent. The quality of produce is definitely worth it. To order, head over to their Instagram page for the menu, and order via whatsapp – 8893 0902 . They update availability of delivery slots through their insta stories. I’m definitely going to be ordering a second time, this time probably with some mochi for dessert !

xx Kerri

Roast Chicken Recipe ( slow cooked Dutch Oven style!)

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Okay so…. this is absolutely one of my favourite things to make. It is SO EASY, so delicious, and almost impossible to get wrong. Sure, you need to allocate some time to get this done right, but there’s very little active cooking involved, just pop it into the oven and off you go with your day. Roasting your chicken in a dutch oven ensures that you get a beautiful juicy roast chicken each time. Yes you’re not going to get the skin all crispy, but trust me this is way better. Slow cooking your chicken this way ensures you get the meat all moist, and all the juices drip into vegetables so you get amazing flavour out of it. I’ve experimented a lot with different herbs and spices, but the recipe below is what I’ve come to love. Given this takes some time, I usually make a larger portion on the weekend, so that I have enough leftovers for a second, (or third!) quick weekday meal.

Roast Chicken Recipe ( Slow cooked Dutch Oven style)

Prep time : 15 minutes
Cooking time : 3-4 hours, depending on size of chicken

You’ll need :

  • 1 whole chicken ( around 1.2-1.5Kg, adjust depending on how many people you’re serving, or how big your appetite is!)
  • 2 x yellow onion
  • 3 x carrots
  • 4 x large potatoes
  • Half a fennel (optional)
  • Half a squash ( optional but this cooks so well with chicken if you can get it)
  • 5 garlic cloves ( more if you love garlic!)
  • Cumin powder
  • Dried Tarragon
  • A few sprigs of Thyme and Rosemary
  • Butter ( 1 inch chunk)


Prep :

  1. Preheat your oven at 160 degrees celsius
  2. Melt down your butter on low heat in a pan and leave aside to cool
  3. Chop up your veggies and set aside
    – Slice your onions into quarters and smash your garlic cloves with the side of your knife ( no need to peel )
    – Cut your carrots into 2-3 pieces, and potatoes and squash into chunks
    – If you have fennel, slice it into thick strips ( save the fronds, the feathery things at the top)
  4. Now, take your melted down butter and massage it all over the chicken. Get it into the crevices, and if you can, slide your fingers between the meat and skin of the chicken and get some butter in there too. ( there’s usually an opening at either end of the chicken where you can, ahem, enter). Then, salt and pepper your chicken, and use a mix of dried tarragon and cumin powder to go all over the skin. Don’t forget to season the cavity of the chicken as well!
  5. Stuff the chicken cavity with one or two chopped up carrots, a quarter onion, 2 garlic cloves, your rosemary and thyme, and the fennel fronds. For the rest of the vegetables, lay it at the bottom of your Dutch oven, and place your chicken on top of it. Cover your Dutch Oven with your lid and ensure the lid is tightly closed.

Cook :

  1. Place your dutch oven in the pre-heated oven and let it cook for 3-4 hours, basting the chicken with its juices every 1.5 hours or so. You’ll know it’s ready when the meat is fall off the bone tender.

And yup, that’s it! Super easy to prep and so delicious. This is a real classic and I make it on the reg at least once a month. You’ll be surprised at how much flavour you get out of this. Any leftovers I save in the fridge and heat up in the oven or on the stove. It gets even more delicious 🙂

*Pro Tip : Once you’ve finished your meal you can also use the chicken carcass to make some stock. Throw all the bones into a pot of water, add two sticks of celery, one chopped up carrot, one onion cut into quarters, some rosemary and thyme, and half a bulb of smashed up garlic. Bring to a boil for 15 minutes. Then turn down the heat , and let it simmer for 3 hours. Strain and discard the vegetables, sieve out any extra oil and you have homemade chicken stock ready for a hotpot meal as a base or whatever else you might need chicken stock for! Freeze in fridge if you’re gonna keep it for longer.

Let me know in the comments how you get on!

xx Kerri

The Good Kombucha – Review & 5% off

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I’ve been drinking a ton of Kombucha lately, a habit I picked up in London. I wanted something healthy that I could drink that wasn’t water and Kombucha hit the spot. It has a crazy amount of health benefits, including good gut health, antioxidants, and also in general great for your immune system.

What is Kombucha you might ask. In its simplest form, Kombucha is basically fermented tea ( black or green). Due to the fermentation process, healthy bacteria forms, which is great for your gut health. The antioxidants come from the tea which also helps to boosts your immune system.

There are so many brands selling Kombucha now but one of my favourite local brands that delivers is The Good Kombucha. They only use fresh fruits, zero preservatives and has the right amount of fizziness ! I’ve ordered from them a couple of times, and my favourite flavours are their ‘Mixed Berries & Mint Kombucha’ as well as the ‘Lemon, Ginger & Rosemary’. Their prices are really reasonable as well, considering they offer free delivery to your doorstep.

Now you can also get 5% off your order by using the code ‘wenoms’ at checkout.
Order HERE to try it out!

xx Kerri

Easy Thai green curry dinner

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On nights when I run out of inspiration, my go to dish is a thai green chicken curry. I first discovered this recipe from Sanne Vloet’s – ‘what I eat in a day video” and have since made so many versions of this dish. I love how its so versatile and incredibly easy to make. You can change up the veg, swap out protein, make a completely vegetarian version, and it’ll still taste super delicious.

Easy Thai Green Curry
Prep time : 5 min
Cooking time : 15 min
Serving size : 2 pax

( If you want to have rice with this, you’ll need to cook the rice in advance)

You’ll need :

  • 2 x chicken breasts or chicken thighs if you prefer (de skinned and deboned)
  • 1 x yellow onion
  • 1 x zuccchini
  • 1 x eggplant
  • 1 x red pepper ( optional, but I like using this for the colours)
  • coconut milk (~ 200ml)
  • Thai Green Curry paste (2 tablespoons)
    I’ve tried a ton of brands but Blue Elephant is my favourite. That said it’s no deal breaker if you can’t find this brand.
    Available on Shopee here

Prep :

  1. Slice the onions, zucchini and eggplant into 1/2 inch slices. You want them thick enough so you get that bite, but thin enough to cook quickly .
  2. Chop up your chicken into bite size pieces – it’s all going into the curry so don’t bother making it look pretty!

Cook :

  1. Start by oiling your pan and heating it up to medium/high heat. Toss in the chicken and a spoonful of the green curry paste. Fry both together until your chicken is almost cooked (~10min)
  2. Add your veg and the rest of the curry paste into the pan. Mix evenly and pour in your coconut milk. Ensure that all the curry paste has dissolved into the coconut milk
  3. Thin out your curry by adding a little water bit by bit, till it reaches your desired consistency. Taste and add more curry paste if needed for an increased spice level. Bring to a low simmer and when your vegetables are cooked to your desired doneness (~5 min), dinner is ready!

Serve over a steaming plate of rice, garnish with fresh basil (if you have some)and enjoy immediately.

*Pro tip :

  • If you can’t finish the green curry paste, portion it out at the start and freeze. It’ll keep longer for when you can make your next green curry meal!

xx Kerri