Phileosophie

Food motivates me.. particularly during exam season when other pleasures in life result in a fair amount of guilt. Good food on the other hand - we all need that right? The healthier I am, the better I study? At least that's what I tell myself when I steal a few moments away from my computer. This approximates the salad I have in my mind! Taken from http://passionateeater.blogspot.com.au/2009/03/ka-pow-salad.html Yesterday I roasted a rosemary, lemon, butter & garlic half-chicken. I've also prepared some capsicum-dip rice to go with it but it needs a decent vegetable companion so today I figured I would try to whip up a warm salad. I haven't got a picture yet because I haven't decided how exactly I'm going to go about this but I'm thinking some fresh spinach leaves and soft boiled eggs with a hint of the Mediterranean - so some warm pickled capsicum, roasted eggplant, some fried bacon with a dressing of caramelised balsamic vinegar. I think some warm ...

Apparently Masterchef Australia has an actual restaurant in the Sydney CBD (click here ) which by the looks of it closely resembles parts of the cooking show in terms of both layout and menu. It's all booked out for lunch and dinner though so if you haven't already made a reservation then you've missed out. It definitely looks like something I'd have loved to take my parents to (assuming I can afford the prices). While there are some contestants I really don't care for, because their personal attributes rub me the wrong way or because I do not like their cuisine, there are others like Adam and Alvin whose food I would have loved to try. Okay, fine, so I like Asian food. LoL. Anyway, I still need to figure out where to take my parents when they come by for my graduation ceremony in December. I'm thinking Sails.. for the awesome view, and perhaps Guillaume at the Opera House because well, it's at the Opera House. Maybe just the Bistro though. since...

Chicken rice. Recipe by Adam Liaw . I prepared this for dinner. ;-) My cousin is a lucky boy. The recipe I referred to resulted in a very subtle flavour, closer to what you'd get in a restaurant rather than a hawker center. If you prefer hawker cuisine then you might want to double all the seasoning (garlic, ginger, salt, soy, etc). Addendum 22/07/12: I wrote to Adam about the seasoning and this was his reply: Hi *******, There should be enough flavour in the recipe as it is, but generally if you find that the flavour of a dish needs a bit more punch just check to make sure you’ve seasoned it correctly – that it’s salty enough. Salt intensifies flavours so that may be your problem. If you want a stronger flavoured stock (again, it should be fine just as it is if it’s correctly seasoned), I’d suggest adding more chicken to deepen the flavour. My grandma sometimes makes a “double boiled” stock, which is to say that she will cook one chicken in water to produce t...

Popped by the Boathouse today for coffee and a read. An 82 year old gentleman took the seat next to me and eventually we struck up a conversation. As it turned out he was friends with one of the attendings I work with. Anyway, he was very nice, bought me a drink - a Savignon Blanc (Kato), told me I'd be a good doctor and said the staff were teasing him because I didn't look old enough to have the drink he was getting me. Also had breakfast at Sarabeth 's today with Priscilla and Christina from Hillsong NYC. It was very crowded and the coffee was good. I've learnt to order lattes in America instead of cappuccinos because baristas here seem to think that cappucinnos mean you fill half the cup with foam.. Anyway, the food was good but to be honest, not quite as good as the Boathouse, which has similar prices. Sarabeth's is very popular though.. the girls loved it and Jose recommended it so I assume it is very good by any standards.. the bread Sarabeth serves on the...

I felt I should write about this before I forget.. I went to Le Caprice today. It is a 'new american' restaurant located along 5th Avenue on the Upper East Side... given that the boss is in India doing important things I decided to try a weekday lunch - a luxury I haven't yet experienced in New York. What can I say? The food was excellent of course - though so rich that it is impossible to finish the meal without feeling a little sick (unless you have many hours to draw this out). I doggy-bagged the Main because the entree and dessert were sufficient in themselves and because I really couldn't take in the wonderful risotto on top of the creamy duck confit soup and decadent, impossibly rich chocolate cake. Truth be told, I cannot fault the food itself - how can I when I know that to produce the meal I had today, one must have an incredible amount of skill. But the thing is, I don't like the taste of curry unless it's in authentic Indian curry. I don'...

Sometimes I have my doubts but most of the time I get this feeling that coming to New York was one of the best things that I could have done for myself. This city inspires you, as does its people. Tonight I went for a run down 5th avenue (97th-59th) and back up again.That's roughly 4 miles or 6.4km. It was surprisingly invigorating and not as uncomfortable as I would have expected. The new iPod shuffle has really helped this enterprise as well if you consider the last run I had when I couldn't bring myself to go further than 4.8km I am convinced this was out of sheer boredom. Runners at Central Park during the day. This afternoon I visited an Artist and Fleece Market at Brooklyn with Megan and Hamidah, two of the Echo techs from work, and my housemate, Stephanie. We also stopped at a corner store for pie and target for a short spot of shopping. Yesterday I bumped into Ludi and Lilo at the Plaza Hotel so we popped into Palm Court for afternoon tea. I love afternoon tea...