What a lazy Vesak holiday we had at home – woke up late, tried to have lunch at Lingzhi (25% discount off the a la carte menu!) over at Liat Towers, but despite making reservations we were still in a queue (everybody else made reservations, too), and we gave up waiting. We settled for the Marmalade Pantry at Palais Renaissance instead. The food was pretty good, although dad’s pasta was a little too al dente for his liking. He prefers it softer, I know, but that’s really not the right way to eat it, sniff.
After which, mum went home, and dad and I got to spend some quality time together, walking around Orchard and Scotts Road. I showed him where the underpass was (I guess doctors are really busy people and they don’t have time to explore places like the rest of us).
And – the highlight of the day was when we finally learnt what we were doing wrong with the foie gras. See, we knew our kitchen fire wasn’t as hot as Justin’s over at Les Amis, but surely there had to be a way to sear the liver such that the outsides were crispy but the insides were soft and tender.
Ling, the (former) owner of Culina, happened to be on duty this afternoon and saw what we were bringing over to the cashier. “What do you use for seasoning?” she asked.
“Salt and pepper,” I replied.
“No flour?” she asked.
We discovered that we needed flour. Just a little bit. And we shouldn’t be using our thin-based teflon pan. We had to use a normal pan that was thick at the base, so the heat would be greater. Mum tried that today, taking out a new Le Creuset pan, and the result was excellent! We had a salad, and dad produced some fine slices of french loaf. And I’m onto my third (or fourth? can’t remember) glass of wine *hic* and we still haven’t finished all 1.5 litres of it yet, so please excuse me.