Chewy chocolate chip cookies

Ah. What a beautiful science.

I’d like to dedicate this recipe to my puppy Celeste!

I’m quite picky whenever it comes to things like cookies or pastries. If it’s not mind-blowingly good, I probably won’t take a second bite. I’m horrible and snooty like that, and it’s one part of myself which is quite hard to change (tragedies). These were an absolute breeze to bake, firstly because the aesthetics of the whole method was ridiculously enticing, and secondly because you don’t need any schmancy kitchen equipment. Double whammy dear.

As you can see, these still have a bit of lift to them, but they did sink after a while as the ones shown were still warm from the oven’s belly.

Key points:

-Use crumbling, DARK brown sugar with a high percentage of molasses.

-Don’t use just baking powder; either use both powder and soda or just soda on its own. The ones here were made with just baking soda, but I think I’ll use a little of both the next time, for extra chewiness.

– If you have shortening and use it instead of butter, add extra salt to help give the flavour a boost.

– Watch those cookies. Any extra time and they’ll lose that golden density and chewiness. Once you observe a slight brown edge and almost-set middle, take them out. In this recipe, it takes about 15 minutes, for extra, extra large cookies. So if you’re looking for bite-sized ones, 8 minutes or so should do it. Then again, it all depends on the surrounding temperature and that of your oven. Did I mention this is a beautiful science.

Monster-large, with a ridged top. I think a little undercooked in the centre is just fine, yes?

RECIPE

– 2 cups all purpose flour

– 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

– 3/4 teaspoon salt

– 3/4 cup (171g) melted, unsalted butter

– 1 cup packed, dark brown sugar

– 1/3 cup white sugar

– 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract

– 1 large egg and 1 egg yolk

– 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (or chopped up 70% cocoa chocolate bars)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 165 degrees C (325 degrees F). Line three cookie sheets with parchment paper or grease them (if you don’t have three just use two first, then replace after the first batch).
Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
In another medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended, or just use a wooden spoon. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy.
Mix in the flour mixture until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough using a heaping tablespoon measure OR a quarter cup measurement at a time onto the cookie sheets. They should be about 3 inches apart. Yes. They’ll be huge. The batter will also be very soft and lightly sticky, especially if you live in the same damned sun-stricken place as me!
Bake for 15 minutes, or until the edges are lightly toasted and have a medium brown hue. Cool on baking sheets on a wire rack completely before removing.

Posted on August 14, 2013February 21, 2022 by alexcrumb 1

Symmetry

And funnily enough, this isn’t another one of my odd rambles (possibilities include facial symmetry, the symmetry of life and all it encompasses, how everything typically goes off the bend. Anyways.)

My camera received more than a few evil glares from unknowing passers-by.

I’ve read reviews on this place countless times and decided it was finally time to give this supposedly indie nook a go. ‘Hipster’, they called it. What could I lose, I said to myself, as I drew myself out of the bustling Orchard grounds. Eggs eggs eggs, my stomach chanted.

Portobello Benedict, with cheddar, hollandaise, hash and portobello duxelle

If I can take one word away from that experience this morning, it would be squashed. The first thing I saw, before the barista, before the lavish plates of eggy dishes, were human beings. All sorts, packing the little area to the brim. There, the ponytailed waitress pointed. I faced about 5 inches of wood; a skinny rectangular slab. I didn’t care, though. The seat was heavy but adorable, and my lashes fluttered at the menu. I always order some form of poached eggs at cafes because too, too many places serve rather mediocre or pathetic blobs of ivory, bursting with what? Usually not a golden river to set your heart aflame.

Portobello Benedict it was.

Took my breath away. Well oiled, plump ovals. Babies. The gentle prod of my fork unleashed an angry, tender flow. It energetically filled the crisp holes in the toasted, buttery English muffin, swamping a melting tang of cheddar. Complimented so perfectly with a hearty dose of duxelle, which is basically minced portobello and garlic. The cheese and hollandaise was the savoury cake’s icing, thin and slightly crusty around the edges. My palette was overwhelmed, but my heart was quite grateful. At $22, this is no cheap sacrifice, but every bite was absolutely worth it. Even the hash was beautifully crisp and golden, without being mushy in the centre.

That’s it. I’m trying the sur le pat, pain perdu and duck egg next time I come.

Rating: 4.8/5

Symmetry Cafe

9 Jalan Kubor

Posted on August 10, 2013February 21, 2022 by alexcrumb 1

Fat Cow

That’s the thing about personalised invitation cards. The epitome of real effort. My grandfather is still cool enough to do this sort of thing, even if, you know, he doesn’t quite know the name of the young woman beside me. Or such an example is common enough. You can’t expect the elderly to be superhuman too. Oh, but I do love him so. Charming and comely old man. Singapore’s No. 1 bowler back in the day, and with such a flying passion!

Anyways, no, this isn’t a Heston Blumenthal clone, or any cuisine of the sort. Japanese-inspired steakhouse right here.

Japanese leek with ponzu jelly and sesame dressing

That salad was a crisp concoction made by the Tangy Japanese Gods.

I was pretty scared to touch the carpaccio, which looked about 0.001mm thin and as delicate as my dad’s hairline. But I did anyway. It was still frightening on the tongue, as it close to evaporated once it hit the buds. Moist, a little bland, but the truffle made it boom with musk and sophistication.

The fried zucchini flower was a light break during the rage of courses that night. The batter was airy but separated a little too easily from the flower, and its thickness merged with the flower made it seem almost incongruous. But a joy all the same.

It’s easy to talk about meat, but the steamboat here was magical. Each chopstick slip of the red, raw stuff was a ticket to the most tender slivers of melt-on-your-tongue premium beef. Boiled in a soup which starts off tasteless but ends off sweet, reduced and wondrous. I can almost feel the bubbles tickling my throat. Dip it in the pastel orange-clad shabu shabu sauce, maybe a little more in the soup, add a hint of rice and off you go and enter another mental state altogether.

Repeat.

Porridge. I saw it on the menu and passed it as some filler idea. But then again, if it’s on this menu, it’s got to good, right?

Right. And I was. No really I swear. It’s the best savoury porridge you will try in your lifetime. There’s writing your will and then there’s coming here to have just one bowl of this. As they say here, it truly is shiok. Nourishing, warm, glutinous. The consistency of a wilted lemon curd, with soft, popping granules throughout, and healthy dollops of tender mushroom, shallots, garlic and chives. I need to stop here because my mouth is watering. Also, because I’m rather angry at myself for having the smallest stomach in the world, so by this time during the meal I could finish a paltry fraction of that small bowl.

I don’t like mochi on its own, but the little translucent cuboids here were paired with a sticky, gooey gula melaka to reinforce its glutinous texture. The matcha and peanut dippings helped a fair bit, too. My favourite was that yuzu, which reminded me of white angels for some reason. I receive strange and non-sequitur connections whenever I’m faced with beautiful or delicious plates of food.

Rating: 4.8/5

Fat Cow

1 Orchard Boulevard #01-01/02

Camden Medical Centre

6735 0308

Posted on July 31, 2013February 21, 2022 by alexcrumb 1

Open Door Policy

Impromptu meet ups at nice, tucked away corners with old faces may cost a lot physically, but I don’t put price tags on the reliving of old brother-sister moments. Brunch, you say? Hell yes. I’ll be there, 11.30am on the dot. I’d like to make a reservation for two please, sir. Oh, and in natural daylight if that’s possible (yes I did say that on the phone). I’ll wander all around Tiong Bahru if that’s what it takes to finally live in the moment of the cynosure of this adorned café.

roasted field mushrooms with wilted greens on toasted brioche with black truffle purée

Look at that. Basically, it was fantastic. The mushrooms were tender, unbruised little baby ones without too much oil suffocating their gills. You can see that after the knife cut, the brioche was yellow, sweet and fluffy, making it an angelic bed for the muted savoury tones of everything on top. The one thing I didn’t like was how when my plate came, the brioche was nowhere to be seen. And I prefer to observe and appreciate each component. Otherwise, it merely looked like a meat eater’s leftovers, neatly placed to the side for the rabbits.

What I really loved was that truffle purée. It looked like the liquid which you would skim off soft bricks of ebony sludge, but the flavour and texture was all right. The best thing to mush on top of the crisp, toasted sides of the skinny brioche wall, laden with a few mushroom stalks and set off nicely with the flat, forgiving greens. Fragrant, thick goop.

ODP pancakes with Grand Marnier and orange

And right here you may observe my tartan-clad self attempting to handle my friend’s gem of a film camera.

The pancakes were disappointingly dry coins. As if its spirit was sucked into a vacuum before they served it. Sapped of all life. The Grand Marnier itself could not suffice. Yes there was liquor and orange, and it didn’t look all that bad at first, but I took one bite and declined another. The other thing I could not stand was the woman next to us who wouldn’t stop scrutinising our every little moment. Hovering, waiting. The sort whereby whenever you looked in her direction, she was already looking in yours. But I may forgive her, because she was new and I was in a hey-I’m-not-an-odp-virgin-anymore sort of mood.

The next time I come, I’ll try the scrambled eggs and smoked salmon. I will, because I can, and well, salmon.

Rating: 3.6/5

Open Door Policy

19 Yong Siak Street

Posted on July 22, 2013February 21, 2022 by alexcrumb 0

Physiognomy

= the art of judging someone’s character by examining his/her facial features.

Do not lie. You have done so before. And even if you’re a God sent cherry-faced cherub living on Earth to witness and record all human sin to report back to heaven in preparation for the throwing of us all in a deep dark pit once we die, you know that such judgement is both ubiquitous and unforgiving.

Careless example right here. Look at the man above. I caught sight of him in a café the other day and took a sneaky picture, pretending to be fiddling with my cold brew and adjusting the aperture for the damn window lights, before I finally let loose my inner Warhol and started sketching his beard. Clearly, my life requires odd fulfillment. Because the thing is, if I didn’t draw him, I would have felt inclined to steal something from him, just to obtain some physical souvenir from this fascinating creature.Unshaven, almost bohemian, dare I say Australian. Rugged, pale lobster. Isn’t it amazing how these are my judgements and my judgements only? I don’t even know the guy and here I am thinking he earns a living painting portraits and riding horses. The Love Traveller with a Macbook.

Another one. Angelina Jolie is known as the most beautiful woman in the world. The chiselled rectangle of a face, pearl-like complexion, as if her face were set in stone centuries ago and emerged only now to separate true beauty from mediocrity. Sleek feline, killer jaw, ravishing plump mouth. Not that I disagree with the fact that she is considered such; I’m much more interested in the meticulous and fascinating science which established all this. What scientists call the ‘golden ratio’. Phrenology. Physiognomy. I read in an article today that we typically unconsciously fall victim to our surroundings, mentally suggesting preconceived notions on what lies beneath the human face. What a terrible world, you must be thinking. It’s so obviously wrong, allowing our egos to thrive or be bust with each turn of the head, with each examination. But everyone does it, and everyone does it without a conscience.

The human face is fascinating because everyone has a life and everyone has a story, yet we allow ourselves to make such rapid judgements, usually without even taking into account how others may perceive our own selves. Wouldn’t you love to walk up to a clone of yourself and get some conversation flowing? To see what it’s like outside of your precious set of organs, outside of the two holes on your face.

To really see you for the first time.

Posted on July 20, 2013February 21, 2022 by alexcrumb 0

alexcrumb

recipes, catering, creativity

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Tag: thoughts

Chewy chocolate chip cookies

Symmetry

Fat Cow

Open Door Policy

Physiognomy