Paleis Het Loo Cafe

Saturday, December 31, 2016 0 Comments A+ a-

Het Loo Palace, The Netherlands

The weather was quite pleasant in the morning when I toured around the garden in Appledon palace. It started to drizzle in the afternoon and I decided to stop by the cafe for a cup of hot chocolate while waiting for the rain the stop. 
Het Loo Palace, The Netherlands

The Renaissance style surrounding of the cafe induced me to stay a bit longer as it was way too pleasant, plus I have gotten a window seat! 
Het Loo Palace, The Netherlands

Cakes and sandwiches sold in the cafe looked extra appealing here. Perhaps I was in good mood and was totally not being impacted with the weather. I ordered a slice of apple tart, an open sandwich with shrimps and cream fresh.
Paleis Het Loo Restaurants

I was blown away by the apple tart. The crust and filling was super delicious. The apple chucks were well baked with crust at the outer layer, moist and soft inside. The cinnamon taste is just right, not over powering the freshness of the apple chucks. It was indeed a thumb up for me as it suited my taste bud perfectly as it was not overly sweet.
Het Loo Palace Restaurant (Paleis Het Loo)

Despite the great look, the savory shrimps open-face sandwich did not wow me. The bread turned a bit soggy which I suspected it was in the shelf for quite sometimes and the moisture from the shrimps and creams has soaked up into the bread. Perhaps I should have requested the counter to heat up the bread in the oven for a few minutes before serving.
Paleis Het Loo (Het Loo Palace Restaurant)

The hot chocolate and apple tart did make my day. The rain started to stop and I have almost done with my afternoon tea. I did a quick tour around the garden in front of the cafe. The surrounding was breathtaking with flowers and fruit trees blossom in full. After a few photo snapped, I then walked to the nearer bus stop and headed back home. 
Paleis Het Loo, The Netherlands (Het Loo Palace Restaurant)

Paleis Het Loo, The Netherlands

Loco Moco - Juicy Hamburger Steak

Sunday, December 25, 2016 0 Comments A+ a-

Juicy hamburger steak served with steaming white rice and flavorful brown gravy is a popular dish in Japanese fusion restaurants. It is known as "Loco Moco". Because it is a rice dish, many may mistaken it as a Japanese cuisine, in fact LM is actually originated from Hawaii.

Yeah, today I am making a Hawaii dish - Loco Moco!!I have a pack of minced pork seated in the fridge. Since I've ran out of the ready-made gyoza wrap, and I am going to attempt on the homemade LM.

No fancy ingredients required and majority of the ingredients used (dry and wet) are those commonly found in the pantry. Roll your sleeves up and let's get started.


Ingredients
400g ground pork
1 large onion (finely chopped)
6 slices of graham cracker (crushed)
1 egg
1 tbsp soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste
cooking oil

Sauce (mushroom gravy)
100g button mushrooms (thinly sliced)
300ml chicken stock
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce or ABC sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste
Corn starch solution (1tbsp corn starch and 1 tbsp water)

Directions
Gravy

1. Heat up cooking oil in the pan and saute the onion until translucent. Dish out half of the onion for later use.
2. Add in the mushrooms to the pan and saute with the onion.
3. Once mushrooms turn soft, add in the chicken stock, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, pepper and salt.
4. Bring to boil and pour in the corn starch solution to thicken the gravy.

Burger Patties
5. In a bowl, add the minced pork, sauteed onion (set aside earlier), graham cracker crust, egg, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Mix well until everything combine.
6. Shape the mixture into 6 even size patties.
(Tips: Rest the patties in the fridge for 30 min for the shape to set)
7. Pan-fried the patties with some cooking oil over medium heat, for 5 min.
8. Flip over and pan fry another side for 3-5 min till both side turn nicely brown.

Top the burger patties on the steaming white rice. Drizzle generous brown mushroom gravy at the side. Complete the dish with the signature sunny-side-up egg. Voila, there you go the homemade LM! Delish!!
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