Farewell to Summer BBQ

Another beautiful day, another reason to enjoy the outdoors. Get your BBQ kit packed and head to your favourite pits – be they in Shek O Beach, Lamma Island, or at your country club (Photos here were taken at Middle Island). Click here and here for site suggestions!

We had a wonderful spread of tiger prawns, corn, potatoes, chicken drumsticks, steak, and sausages. Don't forget wine and beer! For tips on preparation, hop over to Secret Ingredient's blog post on this little outing! If you're short on prep time, I recommend ordering a premade 'sizzle set' here.

See after the jump for more yummy photos!

Picnic in the Park

Well, there are worse things 

Than staring at the water on a Sunday

With the weather mild, this is the perfect month for picnics. You can take your pick of the perfect spot from the two lists here and here. For utmost convenience, well kept lawns, and a view of the water, we chose the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park in Sai Ying Pun. 

Max of Secret Ingredient prepared some sandwiches – Proscuitto, Rocket, and Roasted Pepper on Ciabatta, and a quinoa salad. Yum! I brought along some fruits (grapes are perfect for picnics), flavoured water (I added cucumbers, lemon and mint to mine and refrigerated it overnight for the flavours to infuse), and a nice bottle of Rose wine from Sancerre. 

Other items to bring on a picnic? A picnic blanket, some towels, the usual cutlery, wine glasses (there are disposable plastic ones from supermarkets that work just as well), and most importantly... a wine bottle opener (if your wine if not a twist-off)!

For these little collaborations between Secret Ingredient and me, go on ahead to their blog right here for the recipes and instructions. Look after the jump for a few more photos!

An Oyster Afternoon

“As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and to make plans.” 

― Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

A week ago, I was treated to a little oyster gathering at Secret Ingredient under the guise of a photo shoot.  We learned to shuck and taste 6 varieties of oysters paired with a crisp white wine (Chenin Blanc, Champagne, and Chablis all make excellent pairings). We slurped them down with a squeeze of lemon or a dash of Hog Wash (a mignonette variation close to my heart as it devised by the folks at Hog Island Oyster in my home-state, California).

Below is my and Secret Ingredient owner, Max's, favourite- the Kumamoto. These small oysters are delicate, creamy and sweet. It took a lot of self-control not to finish all half dozen of them myself. 

For more tips on choosing oysters and a brief introduction to the different types, head on over to Secret Ingredients blog here! Below is the recipe to the Hog Wash mignonette I was raving about. A bit of tang, a bit of a kick, a lot of yum.

HOG WASH (for a dozen oysters) 

• 1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar 
• 1/4 cup natural rice vinegar 
• 1 large shallot, peeled and finely diced 
• 1 large Jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced 
• 1/2 bunch of cilantro, finely chopped 
• Juice of 1 lime

Here's proof a good afternoon...