Singapore -Simply Sensational

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You know you’ve landed somewhere pretty special when even the airport has a waterfall, monorail and butterfly garden.  It’s also amazingly well run, efficient and pleasant to travel in and out of.  It’s a no announcement airport so it’s surprisingly calm without constant intelligible “bing bong” announcements so it’s important to check your flight details.

If you haven’t visited Asia before Singapore is an excellent entry way.  As a former British colony English is widely spoken, signs and announcements are also in English (they also drive on the left hand side of the road).

The city itself is a beautiful mix of historic buildings and iconic skyscrapers.  It’s a lot greener and less frenetic than cities like Hong Kong and Bangkok.  It is also an important financial and business and hub, and it’s clear there is also a lot of money floating about the place. But the city also has a fascinating history and has been a crossroads for multiple cultures. 

The local indigenous population refer to themselves as Hainese.   Throughout the city you’ll find other communities like Arab Street and Hagi Lane where you can find the beautiful Sultan Mosque, where Muslim merchants originally settled and you can find multiple pretty little Turkish, Indonesian and Malaysian restaurants. 

Walk about 10 minutes and you’re in Little India, there is also a sizable China Town, with endless places to eat, a night market and beautiful ornate Hindu temple.

Hawker markets also play an important part in the food culture of the city, producing over 1 million meals daily, as it’s common for locals to eat out daily.  They are essentially food courts where you can buy everything from the local speciality of chicken and rice (poached chicken and rice served with a simple but tasty chicken broth and costs about £3.20), through to other dishes from all over Asia. 

The Lau Pa Sat hawker market was probably my favourite but is popular with tourists, it runs alongside what’s known as Satay Street.  As you’ve probably guessed you can find multiple vendors cooking and selling satay skewers with chicken and  prawn being the most popular, but frankly I thought it was overpriced, with food inside the hawker market being better value.  The Maxwell hawker market in Chinatown was probably more authentic but maybe less fancy.

Singapore is incredibly easy to get around, the airport is only 30 mins from the city centre, and it has an excellent underground railway system (MRT) with fares costing around £1, and you can just tap your debit card going through the turnstile, so no queuing for a ticket.  There is an option for a tourist pass depending on what you’re planning but I found it cheaper to just pay as I went.

The one thing I would recommend to anyone visiting Singapore is to visit the Gardens on the Bay.  It’s a huge parkland that is free to visit and contains the iconic tree structures that resemble something from an alien planet or Jurassic park.  There is an amazing light show each evening on the hour (this was honestly my favourite thing I did), and if you’re visiting during the day you can visit the Cloud Forest, an indoor botanical garden specialising in exotic plants and orchids, as well as the Flower Dome.  You’ll need to pay in to see these as well as the viewing deck for the large tree (not to be recommended if you have a fear or heights). 

Ask anyone who has ever been to Singapore and they’ll tell you how clean it is.  Chewing gum is banned and smoking outside is banned except for designated areas with a green bin.  On more practical considerations, if you need to use your phone  lots of companies offer online Esim cards that work in several different Asian countries if you’re travelling, but ordinary sim cards can be purchased everywhere if your phone isn’t compatible with Esim cards.  While the public transport system is excellent, I used the Grab transport app a lot when travelling  in Asia (they haven’t sponsored me, but if they’d like to I’m definitely open to it).    A bit like Uber you can book pick ups, there is a translate function and you can also take a photo of where you are, which was really useful if you’re in a busy street and makes it easier for the driver to find you, as well as knowing what the fare is up front and avoiding the need to haggle to agree a fare.

Singapore is a beautiful city, but very hot and humid.  The best piece of advice I can give apart from staying well hydrated is to get up early and to see things, it’s less crowded and cooler.  You’ll also avoid the torrential thunderstorms that happened every afternoon when I visited and were pretty cool.

Chicken with 30 Cloves of Garlic

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Yes, you read it right, 30 cloves of garlic.  Before you imagine that you will stink enough to scare off a small town of vampires I promise you won’t, the garlic mellows and becomes almost sweet. This is a classic French dish, and it’s a classic for a reason.  Traditionally it’s made with a whole chicken, but I prefer chicken thighs

The garlic cooks gently in wine and the chicken juices until they are soft and delicious.  Cook them with their skin on and when cooked squeeze the soft garlic onto the bread you serve with this dish., they taste amazing.

I used a dish that could be used on the stove top and in the oven.  If you don’t have one just transfer to an oven proof dish before putting in the oven.

The whole dish is incredibly tasty, serve the soft  chicken with salad and crusty french bread, to spread the confit garlic on and mop up the sauce with it.

Ingredients

1 Kg Chicken thighs (skin on and bone in)

30 Cloves of garlic (about 3 bulbs, remove most of the papery outside, but leave on the tight pink/white skin around each clove)

250 mil White Wine

2 Sprigs of rosemary

25 Grams Butter

1 Tbsp Oil

Salt and pepper

Method

  • Pat the chicken dry with kitchen paper and season with salt and pepper
  • Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (Celsius)
  • In a large oven proof dish heat the oil and butter together.  Over quite a high heat brown the chicken thighs on both sides (you might need to do this in a couple of batches, because if you crowd the pan the chicken won’t brown and you don’t want to lose the flavor)
  • When all the chicken has been browned add the wine and rosemary to the pan and scrape the bottom to release the yummy brown bits
  • Add the garlic cloves to the pan and stir well, before covering the dish with a lid (if your dish doesn’t have a lid, cover tightly with tin foil
  • Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes (maybe a little longer if the chicken thighs are large, just check they are cooked through)
  • Serve with salad and crusty bread, squeeze the garlic out of it’s papery cover onto the bread and spread with a knife, you can thank me later

Croque Monsieur Bake

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Stop throwing away stale bread and use it for this yummy unctuous comforting bake.  You can make most of it the night before and impress everyone with a super chic breakfast, but it’s great at any time of the day.  This is best if you can start it the night before but if not allow the bread to soak up the egg mixture for at least an hour or two

If you’re being totally authentic you should use Gruyere cheese, but I didn’t have this so I used cheddar and it was yummy too.

Serves 4

Ingredients

8 Slices of stale white bread

175 Grams Cheese (save about a third of the cheese to sprinkle on top before you put the bake in the oven)

4 Slices of ham

6 Eggs

350mil Milk

2 Tbsp Soft butter

2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

For the bechamel sauce

40 Grams Butter

20 Grams Plain Flour

4000 mil Milk

Salt and pepper

Method

  • Butter 4 slices of bread, and spread the other 4 slices with mustard
  • Thinly slice two thirds of the cheese, and with ham make 4 cheese and ham sandwiches
  • Cut each sandwich into 4 triangles.  Lightly grease an oven proof dish and arrange the sandwiches in the dish.
  • Whisk the eggs and milk together with a pinch of salt and pepper and pour over the sandwiches making sure they are all coated
  • Cover the dish with cling film and allow to sit overnight in the fridge (or for at least an hour or two)
  • Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (Celsius)
  • Make a bechamel sauce, melting butter in a sauce pan before stirring in flour to make a roux type paste and then gradually stir in the milk and heat until the sauce thickens and doesn’t taste floury anymore, season with salt and pepper
  • Grate the remaining cheese, and remove the oven proof dish from the fridge.  Top the sandwiches with the bechamel sauce and sprinkle with cheese
  • Bake for 30-40 minutes until deeply brown and bubbly.
  • Allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.

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I went away overnight and within 24 hours a bunch of bananas had turned manky and over ripe.

Never one to waste food, the recipe perfect for bananas that are past their best called to me.  I decided to add in some chocolate just to make it even yummier, but if you’re a psychopath and don’t like chocolate you can leave it out.

140 Grams Butter (soft/room temperature)

140 Grams Sugar

140 Grams Self raising flour

1 Tsp Baking powder

1 Tsp Vanilla extract

2 Eggs

3 Bananas (mashed)

100 Grams Chocolate (you can use chocolate chips, but i just cut up a milk chocolate bar)

Msthod

  • Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius qnd line a 2lb loaf tin wirh baking parchment
  • Using an electric whisk or stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together
  • Add the vanilla, eggs and bananas to the butter and sugar and mix well
  • Whisk in the flour, a third a a time until fully combined
  • Stir in the chocolate until its evenly distributed through out the batter
  • Pour the batter into the loaf tin, making sure the mix gets right into the corners
  • Bake for 45-50 minutes, you’ll know the banana bread is ready when you stick a cocktail stick into the middle of tbe loaf and it comes out clean.  Allow to coo in the tin foe 15 minutes before try to cut (best left to cool completely, but it smells so good you might not be able to help yourself)

Halloumi Meatballs

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I make a big batch of these and freeze them, so feel free to reduce the amount of ingredients if you want to make a smaller batch.

These were baked in the oven, but you could cook them in an air fryer or fry in a pan if you find this easier.

I used a mix of minced beef and pork, but lamb works well and you can also swap out the herbs for what you have (parsley and dill are nice combo to use).  Breadcrumbs soaked in milk help keep these moist, and I’m going to say it again, but always have a bag of breadcrumbs in the freezer.  It makes recipes like this super quick and easy.

These are great with sweet potatoes/rice and veggies if you’re doing meal prep, or in meatball subs.

Ingredients

800 Grams Minced Beef

500 Grams Minced Pork

75 Grams Breadcrumbs

150 Mls Milk

3 Cloves of garlic

1 Tsp Black pepper

1 Tsp Smoked paprika

1 Egg

2 Tbsp Mixed herbs (I used mint and oregano)

Method

  • Line 2 large baking trays with tin foil or bsking parchment
  • Add the milk to the breadcrumbs and allow to soak in
  • Add all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix with your hands until all the ingredients are well combined
  • Lift enough of the mix to make a meatball about the size of a golf ball and set on the lined tray.  Continue doing this until you have used up all the mix
  • Put the trays into the fridge and chill for 20-30 minutes
  • Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius
  • Bake meatballs for 25-30 minutes (or until cooked through).  If you are freezing some of these allow to cool complete before freezing

Cranberry and Hazelnut Muffins

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Trapped at home on rainy miserable Saturday with a shitty cold I wanted something sweet but couldn’t face going out and having change out of my oodie (if don’t have one yet, get one they are fantastic in cold weather (I’m not advertising, but if any oodie makers would like to send me one I wouldn’t say no).

Anyway, after raiding the cupboards this is  what I came up with and they were delicious. I used Greek yoghurt because I has some that needed to be used up but could also use milk instead.  If you’re lactose intolerant you could swap the dairy for the same volume of stewed apple or mashed banana.  I’d also recommend toasting the hazelnuts in a dry pan first.  Its not mission critical if you’re pushed for time (or just can’t be arsed) but it does make them even tastier.

Makes 12

Ingredients

200 Grams Self raising flour (or 200 Grams of plain flour qnd 2 teaspoons of bsking powder if you don’t have self raising flour)

100 Grams Sugar

2 Eggs

200 Grams Yoghurt

50 Grams Hazelnuts

50 Grams Dried cranberries

100mil Oil or Melted butter

Method

  • Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius and line a muffin tin with muffin cases
  • Add all the dry ingredients to a large bowl
  • Mix all the wet ingredients together and mix well until fully combined
  • Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well making sure that the fruit and nuts are evenly distributed throughout the batter
  • If you have one of those fancy ice cream scoops you can use it to evenly distribute the batter into the muffin cases.  I dont have one. So I just used 2 dessert spoons to scoop and then scrape the batter in the cases.
  • Bske for 20-25 minutes and allow to cool.

Spaghetti with Smoked Salmon

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I had this in a restaurant a couple of months ago and couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I had to make my own.  I originally had this made with tagliatelle, but I only had spaghetti at home, so use what you have.

Serves 2

100 Grams Spaghetti (dry weight, cook according to the instructions on the packet)

100 Grams Smoked salmon(roughly chopped, or many supermarkets sell smoked salmon trimmings, which is ideal for this and mucu cheaper)

1 Tbsp Tomato puree

1 Clove of garlic (finely chopped)

Knob of butter or 1 tbsp of oil

100mil Double cream

Black pepper

Method

  • Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet
  • In a large pan, heat the butter/oil and add the garlic, cook for 20-30 seconds (do not allow to brown)
  • Add the tomato puree to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes before adding a  ladleful of the starchy water the pasta is cooking in to the pan and stirring well.
  • Pour the cream into the pan and stir well, cook for another 2-3 minutes until the cream starts to thicken.
  • Stir in the smoked salmon to warm through, before adding the drained pasta and stir into the sauce
  • Serve immediately topped with a couple of grinds black pepper

Easy Autumn Granola Pots

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Spiced apple is the taste of autumn for me, but if its not your thing, you can swap it for other fruit.  If you’re vegan you can swap out plant based yoghurt for Greek yoghurt.

I’m always shocked at how much fancy coffee shops charge for those individual pots many of us grab for a quick breakfast on the way to work .  This recipe makes 4 generous portions for less than the cost of one of the granola pots you buy at well known coffee shops.  A bit of time at the start and you have tasty, healthy, grab and go breakfasts for during the week at a fraction of what you’d pay in a chain cafe

Make 4 portions

For the spiced apple layer

4-6 Dessert apples, (peeled, cored, and chopped into 2cm chunks)

1 Tsp Ground cinnamon

1 Star anise

For the yoghurt layer

2 Tbsp of Greek yoghurt per person

For the granola

50 Grams Porridge oats

15 Grams Desiccated coconut

15 Grams Pumpkin seeds

20 Grams Hazelnuts

1Tbsp Oil

1Tbsp Maple Syrup

25 Grams Dried fruit (use any type you like)

Method

Put the chopped apples and spices in a large pot with a splash of water and simmer until the apple starts to break down (I like to keep a bit of texture). Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees (Celsius)

While the apple is simmering, mix all rhe ingredients for the granola in a bowl (except the dried fruit, I add this when this when the granola comes out of the oven, or else I find it gets tough and can burn easily)

Transfer the granola to a baking sheet and bake for minutes, stir well as the outer edges will brown more quickly and return to the oven another 5 minutes.  When toasty and golden brown remove from the oven allow to cool.

To assemble each pot, put a quarter of the cooked apple in a jar/container, top with 2 tablespoons of Greek yoghurt and the sprinkle the granola mix on top

Extra Protein Chicken and Spinach Cannelloni

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This dish would normally be made with a rich bachamel sauce full of butter, which while super tasty isn’t the healthiest.

The sauce in dish is thickened with pureed cannellini beans which still provide creaminess but also adds more protein to the dish (you’ll need either a blender or food processor for this part).

Serves 6

Ingredients

350 Grams Cooked chicken (shredded)

150 Grams (Frozen weight) Frozen Spinach (thaw, and squeeze out as much liquid as possible)

400 Gram Can of Cannelini beans (drain off any liquid in the can)

1 Tsp salt

2 Leeks (finely sliced)

2-3 Cloves of Garlic (Finely chopped)

1 Tablespoon Oil

12 Cannelloni Tubes (buy the sort that don’t need pre-cooked)

150 Grams Cheddar Cheese (Grated)

750 Ml Milk

Large handful of chopped parsley

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees (Celsius)

Heat the oil in a large pan, add the leeks and cook over a gentle heat until they start to soften. Add the garlic and cook for another couple of minutes (don’t allow the leeks or garlic to brown)

Add the beans to a food processor or blender (if you have an immersion blender add them to a deep container), and half the milk. Whiz until the beans have started to break up, then add the cooked leeks, salt and garlic and the rest of the milk and whiz until smooth. Test the seasoning and add more salt and a little black pepper if you think the sauce needs it).

In a large bowl mix the shredded chicken and spinach together, add one third of the sauce to the chicken and mix well

Take a large oven proof dish and cover the base with one third of the sauce.

Fill the pasta tubes with the chicken mix. (You can use a teaspoon to do this, but thought it was easier to do it with my hands).

Lay the filled pasta tubes in the oven proof dish on top of the sauce. Cover the tubes with the remaining sauce and sprinkle the top of the dish with parsley and grated cheese.

Bake for 45 minutes until golden brown.

Cherry Scones

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One of my favourite treats while I’m at work is a mid morning cherry scone.

Ingredients

450 Grams Self raising flour (hold back 1 tablespoon of flour to use to coat the fruit)

2 Tsps Baking powder

50 Grams Butter (chilled and cut into small cubes)

50 Grams Sugar

300 Mil Milk

100 Grams Glace Cherries (you can swap this for dried fruit if you prefer)

2 Eggs (beaten)

Method

Sift the flour and baking powder together, and add the butter. If you have a food processor whiz the butter and flour together until it resembles breadcrumbs. You can also use the rubbing in method if you don’t want to use a food processor.

Toss the cherries in 1 tablespoon of flour as this will help prevent them from clumping together. Add the cherries and sugar to the flour mix and stir to combine.

Add the eggs to the milk and stir before adding the dry mix and stir well until fully combined.

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees (Celsius), and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Turn the scone mix onto a well floured surface and gently form into a ball (try not to handle the mix too much or you will end up with tougher scones, they’ll still taste good so you don’t need to be too precious about it).

Rub flour onto a rolling pin (or use a wine bottle if you don;t have one) and roll out the scone dough until it is about 2-3 cm thickness. Use a cookie cutter or glass to cut out the scones (how big you want to make them is up to you, I like a fairly substantial scone and this recipe made 8 scones, you can use a smaller cutter to make more dainty scones if you prefer).

Place the scones on the baking sheet and you can brush with a little milk if you want them to have a glaze (I don’t bother with this step, but you can do it if you a fancier scone). Bake for 15 minutes and then allow to cool on a wire rack.