Eat Out No. 50: Bedrock Bar & Grill

Wow, my golden jubilee Eat Out post!

And it lands smack at 313 Somerset, at the somewhat squeezy Bedrock Bar and Grill. It was our grand idea to blow a few hundred dollars on a romantic night out (without Eva) which necessarily had to start by feeding her to the gills, run off in a hurry, then aim to make it back by 2230 when she gets hungry again.

This place is apparently pretty popular.  Was thoroughly packed when we arrived at 2030 for our reservation.  Service was pretty efficient and attentive.  The ambience and decor was decent ... a bit like a Swensen's Plus.  But taking into account furniture and set-up, it wasn't really suited for a romantic night out, not really a Forlino or BLU.  I found prices a little bit steep as well.  Japanese beer bottles at $18 for two, starters for 20+ and house reds 20 to 30+.  But we still waited with bated breath for our food:

This was smoked tomato and French onion soup.  The tomato soup was a definite winner.  The smokey applewood flavour was clearly evident and this measured nicely with the tartness of the red fruit.  However, what was lacking was a bit of body in the soup.  A bit of sundried tomatoes (or perhaps a bit of brown sugar?) might have tied things up nicely.  The onion soup was no let-down either.  A nice thick layer of gruyere on top, just perfect for the salamander to make it a nice bubbly brown.  The stock was rich as well.  No surprise there, leftover bits and odds and ends of beef usually end up as stock products.  But slightly too salty for my liking.

I do need to mention the flat bread, butter and roasted garlic.  The bread came out hot and perfectly baked.  The baked garlic bulb was wonderful, with a subtle garlic flavour and the garlic meat goes smoothly onto the bread like butter.

This is the 100% grass fed porterhouse that costs 89++.  It looked a bit like a T-bone but we were assured it was not.  Still, a good 100g of it was bone (mental note to self: order striploin or tenderloin next time).  It had a nice charred flavour and the meaty portions were succulent enough.  But the doneness was a rare while we had ordered medium rare.  And there was a fair bit of tendons to give your teeth a good workout. Otherwise, a decent piece of steak but nothing to really write home about.

What was saving grace were the sides we ordered, especially the mac and cheese.  It single-handedly contributed to maybe 60% of our utility from the entire meal.  A nice and sublime cream sauce accompanied by tubular pasta (Ziti? al Ceppo?) topped with a dash of truffle oil.  Simple stuff and simply amazing.  The execution was perfect down to the consistency of the sauce and the doneness of the pasta.  PY noted that the use of longish tubes was smart as it picked up the sauce better than regular macaroni (which needed a heavier sauce).

The day's special included a milk-fed veal steak and it turned out to be the champion.  Though not as heavy as our porterhouse, the meat was fantastic.  I certainly need to pay homage to the calf that was slaughtered for this.  The meat was juicy, firm and flavourful.  Best of all, no tendons.  Accompanied with a truffle and mushroom sauce, clearly foodie heaven.  And the best part is that you get to use your hands and chomp on the bone afterwards.  Something I didn't do with the porterhouse.

 And of course, there needs to be dessert.  Their apple crumble for two is pretty well-known and we grabbed the last one. Nothing to complain about this one - the crumble was actually crumbly and not soggy while the apples tasted fresh and home-made without being overly tart or sugary-sweet.  And the ice cream had vanilla pods; can't ask for more.  Did you know that crumble originated in Britain during WW2 when there was a shortage of flour, sugar and butter due to food rationing? So people simply combined these ingredients to top off their jams instead of making whole pie crusts.  A bit like how people used to feed kang kong to pigs during the war and now you pay $8 for a sambal version at your zi char stall.

Overall, our meal came to $305 with two bottles of beer included.  It was certainly pricey considering that competition in the Singapore fine dining scene is keeping prices quite reasonable.  I could get a reasonable degustation menu under $150 and in a quieter place with more spaced-out seating.  So till then, I'll be saving up the pennies!

Bedrock Bar & Grill

Food 7, Service 8, Ambience 6, Value for Money 4

Eat In No. 48: Chilli Meat Balls

When the regular dinner party came over the other day, I decided to use Nigel Slater's spicy meatballs recipe.  But spicy is a subjective term, I prefer to call them chilli meatballs.  Chilli with double Ls because a single L tends to be more American and associated with jalapenos.  You can have a bit of nice chilli flavour without the spiciness if you use large red chillis.  These are real crowd pleasers and make great canapés and party food.

Ingredients

Smoked bacon or panceta - a handful or so

500g minced pork 

4 spring onion stalks or 3 medium shallots

3 or 4 small chilli padis or dried chillis (use regular ones if yu want to tone down the spice factor)

A bunch of coriander (leave some for garnish)

4 lime leaves or 2 thick stalks of lemon grass (cut off the green top portion, a bout a third of the length, peel off the outer layers till you are left with the white stalk)

4 cloves garlic

Peanut oil 

Method

-Get ready a food processor, throw in the chillis, garlic, shallots/spring onions, lemon grass/lime leaves, coriander and bacon.  Blend till a nice paste, use a bit of water to aid the process.

-Mix the paste in with the meat using a large bowl.  Season with salt.  Personally, I have no qualms tasting raw meat to gauge the salt level, just spit it out after that

-Get ready a pan on medium high heat with a good amount of peanut oil

-Shape the meat into balls somewhere between a marble and a ping pong ball.  Or if you prefer, little patties.

-Fry till surface is golden brown.  Make sure you discard carcinogenic black bits, especially toward the last few pieces.

-Garnish with left-over coriander or even some fried shallots?

How simple is that?! I used ketchup, honey and a dash of HP steak suace as a dip.  But you can use thai chilli sauce or even throw the balls into a broth to eat as a main.  Bon Appétit!

Eat In No. 47: Meatloaf

I'm trying to rush this entry out before the weekend.  It is because I'm uber confident you will not regret spending just one hour to churn this dish out for a chillax saturday dinner or lazy afternoon brunch.  Its so easy and so delicious that even I was surprised.  This is the classic American meatloaf.  Note that I deliberately joined the words 'meat' and 'loaf' because I thought it would mislead anyone thinking it only as a loaf i.e. bread-ish, in a rectangular shape.  It can come in any form or shape or size to be honest, thought I would recommend a baking tray, pie pan or indeed, loaf tin.  A certain depth, at least an inch, would ensure the meat doesn't dry out in the oven.

Ingredients (feeds 8)

1.5kg minced beef

70g of crushed Ritz crackers (use cheese flavour if available)

200g shredded cheddar 

1 large red onion minced / 1tbsp onion powder

5 medium eggs, beaten

180ml ketchup (reserve 2 tbsp for the glaze)

70ml steak sauce

-2tbsp honey

-Black pepper

-1tbsp Salt

Method

-Preheat oven to 180 degress C

-Mix in a large bowl (I used a pot), the beef, crackers, cheese, salt and onions.  In a separate bowl, combine eggs, ketchup and steak sauce until smooth

-Then mix the liquid into the meat until thoroughly uniformed.  If it seems too dry, add a little water.  Flavour well with black pepper

-Press into your baking dish or tray.  Combined the honey and 2tbsp of ketchup then use a brush to glaze the top of the meat

-Bake for 45mins

It is really that easy! Things you want to take note are to ensure your meat is a thick layer.  If not, use a smaller dish.  I used the disposable alum tray from NTUC.  Also, use good quality cheddar cheese and tomato ketchup.  I used Heinze and mature aged cheddar.

Try this dish with mashed potatoes, sedap!

Eat In No. 45: Otak-Otak / Otah

Mental note to self: When the damn recipe says soak 40g of dried chillis in hot water and then de-seed, wear some bloody gloves doing this freakin' dangerous task.

Second mental note to self: When you have capsaicin all over your hands, you're screwed.  Do not touch eyes.  Do not touch baby.  Do not pass go and collect $200.  Endure for two days.

I am now truly convinced that anyone who wants to be a navy seal or green beret needs to first prove himself by embarking on the making-otah-from-scratch selection test: To make a batch  big enough for 15 people in under 3 hours or less.  I obviously didn't make the cut.  I took 4 hours and another 2 to clean up.  It obviously didn't help that there is like a grand total of 2 credible otah recipes online...

So here's the test:

Ingredients

2-inch piece of galangal or blue ginger, deskined

4 stalks lemongrass, leaves trimmed

16 candlenuts aka buah keras

40g dried chillis, de-seeded (see mental notes to self above)

500g red onions or shallots, peeled and roughly chopped

30g belachan

2 tbsp ground turmeric

2 tbsp ground coriander

2 tbsp sugar

2 tsp salt

900g fish (Horse mackeral preferred) or you can use 80:20 fish to prawns for this 900g. 

300ml coconut milk

4 large eggs beaten

8 kaffir lime leaves, finely chopped

Lots of vegetable oil

Banana leaves, about 15 sheets

Toothpicks

A disposable BBQ set

Method

-In a food processor, blend the galangal, coriander, turmeric, lemongrass, candlenuts, shallots and belachan until a thick, smooth paste.  Add vegetable oil if the ingredients are not able to blend properly

-In a large wok or skillet, fry up the chilli paste and add salt and sugar.  Like all sambal-like pastes, make sure that the paste is well-fried and that the oil starts to seep out.  Smell should also be fragrant

-Once the paste is done, let cool for 15mins.   Then mix it together with the fish, coconut milk, lime leaves and eggs.

-Meanwhile, fire up the disposable BBQ.  I got mine at NTUC

-Unlike regular small otahs you get outside, I made mine up-size - like A5 paper size.  Make sure each banana leaf is well cleaned and well-oiled.  Put paste in center, fold up the sides and secure with toothpicks.  Remember: securely! As you will need to flip the damn thing over while BBQing.

-Prepare a large wooden spatula and tongs.  Once the coals are hot and the flames have died, place one otah on the grill.  One side will take about 5mins.  Flip carefully.

Ok, I'll admit it.  I actually forgot to put eggs in :( so it didn't turn out as custardly as I wanted it.  But I'd recommend using prawns (cut into big chunks) to give a little bite to your otah.  Using banana leaves and charcoal is the way to go, the charring and the aroma will do wonders for your otah.  But if you really can't, the paste can be shaped onto a plate and steamed.  Or, you can use aluminium foil to bake it. 

Enjoy! (Be wary of the dried chillis)

Eat In No. 44: Chicken Pot Pie

Did you know that the idea of condensed soup was first conceived in the mid 1890s and finally in 1897, some American smart-ass, named John Dorrance (a chemist by training) , invented it for the Campbell Soup Company.  It became so popular that 30 yrs later, the word "Soup" was added to the name of the company.  So to make condensed soup, the factory makes regular soup then starts to boil it down until a thick sludge (with the help of some thickeners) is formed.  Typically, you need to add about a a can's worth of water or milk to transform the sludge back to regular soup.  

But of course, some other smart-asses thought: "Aiyah, why waste time, just use the sludge like this lor".  So we have things like chicken pot pie.  A great American comfort food that technically you are supposed to fill into a pie shell and short-crust or puff pastry top.  But then of course, I thought: "Aiyah, why waste time, just use a big tray lor".   So here goes the recipe:

 Ingredients (feeds about 8)

-500g ready-made puff pastry

-1 bag baby carrots, 300g, steamed or boiled till tender

-300g sweet potato, cubed, steamed or boiled till tender

-1 head of broccoli, steamed r boiled till tender

-4 boneless chicken breasts

-500ml milk

-2 cans of condensed soup (cream of chicken or mushroom)

-200g shredded cheddar cheese

-Paprika

-salt and black pepper

Method

-Brine your chicken breasts by placing them in a tray or pan of water.  Submerge and add roughly a quarter to half cup of salt.  Let brine for 2 hours

-Then coat with pepper and paprika and pan fry with vegetable oil.  Use medium heat and do not move the meat once it is placed onto the pan.  Use tongs for this.  Pan-frying is essentially if you want a more robust flavour.  Skip this step is time is short.

-Once cooked, slice up your chicken breasts.  Mix the meat with the carrots, sweet potato, broccoli, milk, cheese, soup, salt and pepper in a large oven dish

-Roll out your puff pastry on a well-floured surface till it can cover the surface of the mixture in the dish. 500g of pastry will fit the standard large oven dish that fits most home built-in ovens

-Place the pastry on top. You can choose to brush the entire top with eggwash to give a nice sheen

-Into the oven at 200 degrees celcius for about 30mins

Make sure that your vegetables have been well-cooked before combining them.  They will not be cooking much in the oven.  I made the mistake of having my sweet potatoes too hard.  Also, you might want to add in a cup of white wine to liven things up.  And make sure to use black pepper liberally.  Feel free to use a pie crust, 2 X 9 inch crusts for this recipe as well.  If not the filling will go well down as a stand-alone stew accompanied by good country bread or rice.