Tag Archives: 100gourmet

Pan Seared Scallops in Prawn Vegetable Veloute

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pan seared scallops in prawn vegetable veloute

my own pan seared scallops in prawn vegetable veloute

i did a homegourmet adventure 4-course dinner on 15.11.2015. ^^

one of the 4 courses was a pan seared scallops in prawn vegetable veloute. 🙂

had dinner with wife at stellar at 1-altitude on 9.11.2015.

one of the dishes was pan seared scallops with carbonara sauce.

scallops were good, but not comparable with disgruntled chef’s scallop dish which also had a wonderful sauce.

i do a good pan seared scallops myself.

pan seared scallops in prawn vegetable veloute

pan seared scallops in prawn vegetable veloute

i was thinking how to make a sauce, and decided to use the prawn shells from the prawn capellini dish.

i did the usual prawn bisque preparation. fried prawns shells with butter till fragrant, add vegetable stock (i had some in the fridge). then i cut & fried some chinese cabbage, added cut yellow onions, then added some prawn stock & stew the cabbage. then blended the cabbage/onions & prawn stock.

result was a really wonderful veloute. my daughter commented it was not really a prawn or shellfish bisque (i did not add brandy & cream).

but that combination was just superb! intense yet smooth combination of shellfish & vegetable sweetness. i would say one of the best soup i created mostly by accident! ^^

pan seared scallops in prawn vegetable veloute3

in fact i did not do the searing well this evening but the scallops were still very tasty & great texture.

the prawn vegetable veloute though was an accidental discovery. it was just so good! ^^

intense yet very smooth, and very tasty, and just the right body & texture. this really is an excellent recipe & among the best soup i have made.

i would say for myself, though the scallop itself was not comparable to stellar’s, but the overall taste experience including the prawn veg veloute was better than stellar’s, but not comparable with disgruntled chef’s 100gourmet scallop dish.

very happy with the new dish, principally the prawn & vegetable veloute, which was a very rewarding discovery for me. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

 

Homegourmet Adventure 4-course Dinner on 15Nov2015

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had great fun discovery yesterday experimenting several “first” for a wonderful 4-course dinner on 15.11.2015. ^^

truly a homegourmet adventure. 🙂

all 4 dishes had some new elements-

  • prawn veloute was an accidental invention.
  • gazpacho was completely first attempt.
  • prawn capellini was a new preparation &
  • slow-braised pork collar was my second try on a new preparation

in a sense, my recent dinner at stellar at 1-altitude spurred my interest, not so much an inspiration (excepting the gazpacho at stellar which was really good!), as i thought the food was expensive & not value-for-money. i thought i could recreate something similar. ^^

first course was pan seared scallops in prawn vegetable veloute. 🙂

i did not do the pan-searing well this evening. still the scallops were very good, plump & tasty & very good texture, not really the standard of disgruntled chef’s 100gourmet scallops, nor the stellar’s scallops.

the prawn vegetable veloute though was an accidental discovery. it was just so good! ^^

intense yet very smooth, and very tasty, and just the right body & texture. this really is an excellent recipe & among the best soup i have made.

i would say for myself, though the scallop itself was not comparable to stellar’s, but the overall taste experience including the prawn veg veloute was better than stellar’s, but not comparable with disgruntled chef’s 100gourmet scallop dish (above photo).

my second dish was entirely new.

gazpacho not my favourite & i hardly take gazpacho by choice but stellar’s gazpacho was just so good!

so i googled online recipes & produced 2 gazpacho just like stellar’s – a red tomato gazpacho & a white cucumber gazpacho.

& the result of my first attempt was a really wonderful gazpacho. so refreshing, smooth, & you could really taste the coolness of the cucumber & also tangy tomatoes.

not quite the standard of stellar’s (above photo) for sure, but almost there.

prawn capellini was done alio olio style. i also did not have uni & ikura (nor mentaiko).

still my own prawn capellini was a very tasty pasta.

i guess nothing so unusual, and may not be better than my usual seafood alio olio, but it was a different & drier style, adding butter like for my mentaiko pasta or squid-ink pasta.

king crab uni & sakuri ebi capellini

stellar’s king crab uni & sakura ebi capellini

didn’t have the top ingredients of stellar’s king crab, uni, ikura & sakura ebi pasta (above photo).

but just the taste of the pasta alone, i think mine was just as good though differernt (w/o the unique salty uni & ikura flavours).

the slow braised pork collar in red wine sauce was my second attempt, it was as good as the first, and a really great recipe i created myself.

the pork was very flavourful & so tender yet not sinewy & falling apart like the usual braised meat texture.

i think this is really an excellent recipe. ^^

c.h.e.f andy

Good But Expensive Dinner @ Stellar at 1-Altitude on 9Nov2015

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king crab uni & sakuri ebi capellini

king crab uni & sakura ebi capellini

celebrating an occasion & went with wife for dinner at stellar at 1-altitude on 9.11.2015. ^^

marina skyline

marina skyline

there was a roof top bar like at me @ oue & also at zafferano (1-altitude is much higher floor).

marina skyline, the panoramic view were of course fabulous.

stellar at 1-altitude rooftop

stellar at 1-altitude rooftop

nice place to have a drink, but it was a bit hazy this evening.

stellar at 1-altitude

stellar at 1-altitude

we were there at 6.30pm first seating, it was 1/2 full for the evening.

amuse bouche

amuse bouche

we were deciding between the regular S$95++ 3-course menu (full portion) or the 6,7,8-course autumn gastronomic (1/2 portions). wife decided to have the 3-course & i was advised that if i took the S$120++ 6-course menu alone i would have 2 desserts.

so we both took the 3-course. wife had 2 appetizers & i ordered a dessert.

amuse bouche

amuse bouche

we were served only 1 amuse bouche. so we missed the mushroom tea which other reviewers raved about.

this amuse bouche was ok but forgettable.

how i missed the incredible mushroom tea amuse bouche we enjoyed at jaan previously.

fin de claire & some pacific oysters

fin de claire & some pacific oysters

wife ordered the oysters. there were 4 in 1 order.

fin de claire & some pacific oysters

fin de claire & some pacific oysters

again it was ok but not those very creamy ones. we had better S$3 oysters at tess bar & of course the superb ones at the prime society (only S$2.50ea after palate 50% discounts).

diver scallops. parmesan. bacon. carbonara style

diver scallops. parmesan. bacon. carbonara style

i ordered the diver scallops carbonara style.

diver scallops. parmesan. bacon. carbonara style

diver scallops. parmesan. bacon. carbonara style

the scallops were wonderful, large, plump, tasty, & still have the slightly gummy sashimi bite. i loved the scallops.

but as an entire dish with the carbonara sauce, it was simply outclassed by the excellent scallops at the disgruntled chef 100gourmet dinner we had recently (above photo).

pan seared scallops in prawn vegetable veloute

pan seared scallops in prawn vegetable veloute

i decided to create a dish myself with my usual pan-seared scallops using a prawn vegetable veloute. my scallops were very good but not really comparable, however my veloute was excellent & the overall experience was much better, though just as outclassed by the scallop dish at the disgruntled chef 100gourmet.

gazpacho in 2 styles

gazpacho in 2 styles

wife ordered the gazpacho in 2 styles.

gazpacho in 2 styles

gazpacho in 2 styles

the cold soup was light, refreshing, tasty.

white cucumber & red tomato gazpacho

white cucumber & red tomato gazpacho

this was such a wonderful soup, i went home & recreate one myself, and a pretty good one at that. not quite stellar’s top standard, but pretty good la. 🙂

the main courses

the main courses

we ordered the king crab, uni, sakura ebi pasta & the rack of lamb.

king crab uni & sakuri ebi capellini

king crab uni & sakura ebi capellini

the pasta was tasty & i liked it.

wife though was not impressed. somehow the uni sauce tasted cheesy (same saltiness?). it was good but not great.

prawn capellini

prawn capellini

i went back & recreated a very tasty prawn capellini myself in the same style.

victorian lamb rack

victorian lamb rack

the lamb rack was i guess mediocre, at best above average.

it was done medium according to the server’s recommendations.

array of sauces & dips

array of sauces & dips

there was a nice array of sauces & dips, mustard, bearnaise etc& a butter which was very nice with the lamb.

victorian lamb rack

victorian lamb rack

the sides were good.

but actually for the lamb, though it was ok, it was also quite mediocre. there are countless restaurants here that does this better, and much better!

i would prefer my own pistachio crusted lamb to this.

almond croquant

almond croquant

overall, food was good, ambience was fabulous.

the dinner though was quite underwhelming for the price, quite below our expectations. purely on the matter of food enjoyment, we had much better at cheaper places like foc & tess bar.

wife was saying basically we were paying for the view. i guess we were.

c.h.e.f andy