last monday.. i went for a workshop @ fort canning park... we had to cook a 3-course meal with the ingredients provided... and the most interesting part was, we were taught how to do simple fruit carving... commendable enriching course i must say... here's what i did...
Garden Greens with Grapefruit & Caramelized Walnuts
Linguini & SeaBass with Citrus Glaze
Spiced Fruit Compote with Vanilla Ice-cream
Tomato & Carrot Roses with Green Apple Leaves
(as a 1st timer, it took me ALOT of patience to carve this... heehe..)
Garden Greens with Grapefruit & Caramelized Walnuts
200g baby salad greens
50g walnuts
30g powdered sugar
2 pcs shallots – chopped
1 grapefruit
2½ tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Oil (deep-frying of walnuts)
1. Blanch walnuts in boiling water for 2mins. Drain & toss in the sugar. Set aside.
2. Peel the grapefruit & divide the flesh into segments.
3. Make the dressing. Combine grapefruit juice (from core of fruit), balsamic vinegar, olive oil & shallots together.
4. Arrange the grapefruit segments & baby greens on a plate & set aside.
5. Heat oil for deep-frying & fry the walnuts for 1min. Leave to cool slightly.
6. Drizzle dressing over salad greens & grapefruit segments. Arrange caramelized walnuts on top & serve immediately.
Linguini & Sea Bass with Citrus Glaze
4pcs sea bass fillets / other firm white fish (2½cm – 4cm thick, with skin)
200g linguinie pasta
1tbsp oil
Salt & pepper to taste
Glaze:
480ml freshly squeezed orange juice
1tbsp butter (cold & cubed)
½ tsp light soyasauce
Dressing:
1pc bird-eye chili (chili padi) – finely chopped
3 tbsp lime sauce
1 tbsp brown / caster sugar
3 tsp fish sauce
1tsp young ginger – finely chopped
Garnish:
3 stalks pencil asparagus – blanched
1 tomato – skinned, seeded & diced
1. Cook pasta in a pot of boiling salted water till al dente, about 5mins. Rinse in cold water & set aside.
2. Make the glaze. Over medium heat in saucepan, reduce citrus juice by half until thick. Whisk in butter, add soya sauce & simmer. Keep the galze warm.
3. Prepare the fish. Season with salt & pepper. Heat oil in non-stick pan over medium heat. Cook fish fillets skin down first for 2 – 2½mins. Press down on the fillets with a spatula occasionally to help the skin to brown. Flip the fillets & briefly cook the other side. Remove from pan.
4. Combine all dressing ingredients. Reheat the noodles by plunging them into boiling water for 10sec. Drain & toss with the dressing.
5. Serve fish skin side up with noodles. Garnish & drizzle over with citrus glaze. Serve hot.
Spiced Fruit Compote with Vanilla Ice-cream
95g sugar
75g dried prunes – cut into quarters
75g dried apricots – cut into quarters
75g raisins
300ml water
4 pcs cloves
1pc 2cm ginger – thinly sliced
1pc cinnamon stick
½ tbsp grated lemon zest
Scoops of vanilla ice-cream
1. Combine all ingredients into a saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Simmer till fruits are soft (not mushy) and water has been dried up.
3. Remove from heat & transfer into a bowl. Let cool at room temperature.
4. Serve warm with scoops of vanilla ice-cream.
