Birthday dinner for the old boy

The man turned 31 early this week. To celebrate his big day, I decided to whip out his favourite pasta dish - Lasagne. A simple to eat dish, but trust me it's not very simple to make if you follow the traditional receipe, it can take quite a while and a whole lot of effort. In view of my aching limbs and big belly, I decided to cheat a little and used bottled tomatoe sauce instead of canned tomatoe and paste as requested by the recipe. It worked! Saved me quite a bit of time and and aches from heavy grocery shopping (Less weight cos less cans. It was a surprise menu, so the hubby wasn't there to help with the load).

It was my first attempt making this dish, it turned out funny looking as you can see here...


The top layer was cracking and turned up at the edges!!! Like an old book which has been dried after being out in the rain. Taste test: quite good...if u take away the top layer..hahaha....it really tasted quite wholesome and very hearty with the good among of minced beef and chopped ham and carrots I used. it just didn't score high on looks. There are definitly room for improvement...I will soak the lasagne sheets in hot water before use in future. I was fooled by the instructions on the pasta box which says you don't have to. Argh....

I also made two side dishes.

Invented a new dish...Fried wanton with stired fried portobello mushrooms and chedder cheese stuffings

Fresh salad with Honey Mustard Dressing & Chipolata Sausages. (Salad dressing from Donna Hay's receipe)

Closed up of the lasagne.

The Cellar Door

These pictures were taken so long ago that I have almost forgotten about them. They were taken in April when the hubby brought me to the Cellar Door in Bukit Timah for my birthday dinner. Then, we just found out about my pregnancy and the man was bursting with pride and joy...so much joy that he actually offered me wine to celebrate the new addition to the family. haha..he has since been briefed alchohol is a no no for preggie women.
Anyway, back to the food..I can't remember the exact names of the dishes we ordered anymore, except for the salad...(they say pregnant women have very bad memory...they weren't kidding). We ordered a ceaser salad for starters, which they very nicely offered to serve in 2 separate servings. It came with pouched eggs, one for each of us..jus the way I like it. Simple but hearty with the generous servings of cheese sprinkled over it, croutons and warm pouched egg.
For the mains, I ordered the steak which came with garlic mash potatoe which was very yummy! Or was it mash with garlic sauce? Darn...i really can't remember but they only have one such dish on their menu, steak with something garlic..if you are going there and in the mood for some beef, I don't think you will regret ordering this. For a non-beef lover, and as a picky mum-to-be with very selective taste buds, I liked it! The meat was done just the way I like it..medium well...the mash was creamy with the sauce...."drool"
The hubby decided to play safe and ordered the chicken cause he was worried I would not like my beef, so he wanted something which is fool-proof, something which I would surely eat. Again..can't rem the name of the dish but it was the chicken which came with fresh fruits...(i think it was mango and some citrus fruit) and baby potatoes and button mushrooms. It wasn't something to scream about. Nothing too interesting...but definitly safe.
For deserts, we ordered the ice cream which came in interesting flavours...we ordered the honey, the vanilla ( sorry i know this is not exactly very very exciting, but ever since The Line, which is the posh buffet at the Shangri-la, I have been having this thing for vanilla ice-cream but only the expensive type) and lemongrass. My favourite, the lemongrass but halfway through the treats, I developed a stomache...think i ate too much and the baby wasn't too happy with me....so I didn't really get to enjoy my ice....

The Cellar Door
619 Bukit Timah Road, Singapore.
Tel: +65 6463 5296

P.S.: It's better to make your reservation, this place seems very popular esp with expats and it doesn't seat too many.