New Adventures!

Ha! I did venture into some new dishes these past months. First up, a chicken fricasse with leeks, cream and white wine. And a basil and semi dried tomatoes pasta dish. Very simple but goes well with the heaviness of the other dishes. Made a greek salad as well..now I know why they dribble the feta cheese when ready to serve, and not toss it all up, which is what I did! The feta cheese became a bits of wet cheese and well, didn't look too presentable but Hashim loved it anyway.

I am going through bouts of despair at my job and sprinkling moments of joy, delight and hope of training to be a chef. Who cares about bloody expats and idiotic jobs for equally boring engineers. My company is  absolutely the most boring place to work for...uninspiring products, poor talent and atrocious processes. I might be better off slaving in a hot kitchen surrounded by the things that I love and find inspiration from... My soul breathe and live from any form of creative spirit, be it music, art, food, fashion. I often beat myself up as to why I am where I am. I hate it to the core and find no joy in what I am doing. On the other hand, beauty inspires me, uplifts my jaded spirit and provide endless possibilities in my mind. Beauty in the shape of a beautifully crafted dish, a symphony of tastes, a colourful and well tailored garment, a painting that evokes emotions...stuff like that makes me want to live and be alive.

Oh man. My only solace is to keep cooking...and doing little things to keep my spirits alive. I made a beouf bouguignon again but due to a lack of time in the oven (need 3 hrs!) and wrong type of stock (only Jones the Grocer...), it didn't turn out as thick and robust as I would like. But its time to move away from this dish as I made it so many times. Should try doing a coq au vin or a veal dish. Or maybe a roast lamb from the Cumulus cookbook. Its a beautiful cookbook with very elegant ingredients. Very refine dining at its best. Not sure if it should even be replicated at home! I can't emulate the physical experience to match the elegance of the dishes....

We will be having a seafood lunch this Sunday. Thanks to my colleague's recommendation of a seafood wholesaler in Woodlands. Three large mackerel for SGD10? Unbelievable. Bought mussels, cod and salmon to last us for months. I will be making a mussel with pasta and white wine sauce, grilled mackerel with tomatoes and capers and maybe a black sea bass stew. Can't wait for the weekend to come. I don't give a shit for my work!

Help, anyone wants to hire a amateur chef, waiter, maitre'd for the same salary? Who will be that crazy? I am praying for a sponsor to send me to chef school....:-O