Everything Cooks Fresh

17 March 2011, Chatsworth, California

It is my 6th day in California, life is started to get a bit bored. I attended training in the daytime, and return to the hotel to have a good rest as I still suffered from jet lag. That day the training ended at 3pm and I have time to do some grocery shopping. So I decided to cook tonight.

The dinner was Angel Hair Pasta with Seared Pork Chop. First I seasoned my pork chop with salt, black pepper and garlic. Then I seared the meat in the hot pan with extra virgin olive oil. I also added some butter to the hot pan and baste.

After I seared my pork chop, I poured most of the oil from the pan and I will use the remaining oil for my angel hair pasta. I cooked my angel hair pasta around 9 minutes in a boiling water. I removed my angel hair pasta from the boiling water and cooled it with cold water to stop the cooking process. I added a bit of extra virgin oil in the pasta to prevent them from sticking to each other. I reheat my pan and the remaining oil from the pork chop, I sautéed my mixed vegetables and added in tomato sauce to my pan. Once I saw my tomato paste was boiling, I added in my angel hair pasta into the pan and mixed them together with the tomato sauce and mixed vegetables. Last but not least I plated my pork chop on top on the angel hair pasta in the plate to make it more presentable.

The dish was delicious, the angel hair pasta was cooked till perfection and the pork chop was seasoned correct. The outer layer of the meat was crispy. I fall in love with this dish and I recooked it for more than six times in California.

On the way to LA

12 March 2011, Singapore Airlines flight to Los Angeloes

Thanks to my new company, I have a chance to fly to LA by business class. I heard that I should able to taste Gordon Ramsay's dishes in the flight. However due to the popular responds from the other passengers on the same flight, his Seared Black Cod with White Bean-Lobster Stew with Fish Veloute and Aparagus were "out of stock". 

The starter was Prawn with Nicoise Salad. It was sauteed prawns with potato, green beans, olives, quail eggs, cherry tomatoes and marche lettuce served with citrus vinaigrette. It was fresh, refreshing, colourful and appetizing. It was definitely a good way to start a meal.

The entree was Braised Chicken Thigh in Shiraz red wine, sauteed spinach, roasted baby carrot and garlic meshed potatoes. The thigh was well seasoned, moisted and delicious. The only thing I did not like was the presentation of the dish was a bit dull. The dish was tasty, but the presentation of the dish was a letdown. Brighter colours of ingredients should be used to make the chicken "alive" again. Probably mixed vegetable should be used instead of carrots.

The desert was the Vanilla Caramel Brownie Ice Cream. Simple, yet absolutely delicious. It was a prefect way to end my lunch.

For my dinner in the flight, I had Antipasto plate with marinated scallops, parma with endive, and tomato mozzarella. Again the dish was colourful, fresh and appetizing. Nothing less from Singapore Airlines.

The entree was awesome. It was Chicken Roulade in Hot and Sour sauce, Spinach Tofu with mushroom and steam rice. It was created by one of the very best chef from Singapore, Chef Sam Leong. The spinach tofu was moist and delicious, both tofu and spinach complemented well together. The chicken roulade was crispy from the outside, yet wet and tender from the inside. The hot and sour sauce was definitely the sauce for the roulade, both ingredients definitely matched well together. However it will be nice if SIA could changed the steamed rice to angel hair pasta.

Last but not least was Baked Cheesecake with Cherry Compote. Again it was delicious and end the meal perfectly.