Day 3 (aka "The last post I'd like to write concerning my teeth extraction").

Current state: 睡飽吃，吃飽睡。
(Eat, sleep. Sleep, eat.)

Moonberry vs Soft Diet

Day 2, post-surgery.
MAD. STARVING.

And I woke this morning horrified to see a chipmunk greeting me in the mirror. Well, okay that was an exaggeration but my cheeks (esp. the left) were visibly puffy and swollen. Painful to the touch too. Thanks to all the lovely concern and well-wishes sent over FB, twitter, text messages, emails, calls. I am sincerely touched. :*) But that ain't gonna stop me from bitching about how HUNGRY I constantly am!!! ;p I've been eating congee for the last three and a half meals, and in between rinsing with warm salt water, I think my tastebuds have completely gone bust. I can't quite open my mouth very wide so I also have been relying on using a teaspoon to put food into my mouth. :( And in the middle of the night last night, I suddenly craved deep-fried food. Deep-fried food = goodness in my book. Boy, this is torture indeed.



Hello, teaspoon. You're my best friend this week.

I went out to the supermarket today to check out what's available in the "soft diet" department. Ended up picking up the usual suspects: instant soup, sweet potatoes (to make mash), fish. Saw a beautiful Japanese pumpkin (kabocha) and picked one up; I'm gonna make something for breakfast... serve it with poached egg + shredded ham and cheese (stay tuned!). Also got two tubs of ice-cream from The Daily Scoop - Chendol flavour and Coconut flavour, both my faves. :9 Check out my full loot in the picture below.



Assortment of instant soups, fish, roots to be mashed. I have taken care of the dessert department too. Ice cream, caramel pudding and Grass Jelly (涼粉). There's something majorly missing from this collection, uhm... let's just say I'll be constipated all week from the lack of greens + fiber. :[




The imitator.



The original.

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I really had to take a break from congee temporarily, so I whipped up a quick meal for myself consisting of Salmon Teriyaki and Sweet Potato Casserole. Definitely not an optimal pairing, but hey... can't be choosy at this point. Besides, I was so happy when the flavours hit my tastebuds that I almost slather the mashed sweet potato all over my chubby cheeks. :P j/k. The Sweet Potato Casserole kinda tasted like the one served at Boston Market (which I luuurrrv and always order), but without the mini marshmallows on top. Them sticky sweet things aren't really a good idea right now with my teeth situation and all, ya know? Whoooohooo~ digging into mashed sweet potatoes feels like Thanksgiving has arrived early for me. Sorta. :D

Here's the recipe for the Sweet Potato Casserole (adapted from AllRecipes.com). The addition of an egg is very unusual but it made the casserole really creamy. Try it!



Sweet Potato Casserole

Ingredients

* 4 cups sweet potato, cubed
* 1/4 cup white sugar
* 1 egg, beaten
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 4 tablespoons butter, softened
* 1/2 cup milk
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Put sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan with water to cover. Cook over medium high heat until tender; drain and mash.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the sweet potatoes, sugar, eggs, salt, butter, milk and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Transfer to a 9x13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle brown sugar on top.

3. Bake in the preheated oven 30 minutes, or until the brown sugar has melted.

4. Enjoy while hot. Teaspoon and drugs optional.



Here are the meds I have to diligently take, thrice a day. Two types of antibiotics and one pack of painkillers. I swear the painkiller (blue pills) SMELL and TASTE like durian. =:0 ?!?!? Weird.

Moonberry vs Impacted Wisdom Teeth

After deliberating for uhm, almost four years now... I finally made the decision to extract my double impacted teeth and had surgery this morning. It wasn't so much the pain or hassle which I'd been avoiding, but the friggin' COST!!! Man, dentists seriously make a shitload of money anywhere in the world. I consulted with three different dental surgeons (in three different countries even) and I would've gone with my regular dentist who also happens to be an excellent surgeon: Dr. Grace Lee-Hin, DDS (I HIGHLY RECOMMEND HER!). Except that I am away from NYC at the moment so I made peace with myself, and my savings account, to go under the knife at Specialist Dental Group in Singapore.

I gotta say the procedure went uneventfully - amen for that (!!!). I opted for sedation (who wouldn't?!?) so the anesthetist (extra grand right there, ouch) inserted a couple of fine needles into the back of my right hand and before I knew what hit me, I was out like a light. So *THIS* is what people refer to when they say they 'blacked out' or 'passed out'. Revived from the twilight zone and having neither recollection of what happened, nor sense of space, time and dimension - I managed to sober up afterwards, so to speak, and was merrily chauffeured home, with a small little plastic container of my extracted teeth. End of nice, deep, undisturbed nap. I was informed later that the surgery had taken about two hours.

The staff at the dental office was great. Everyone was courteous, kind, professional and I was made to feel very comfortable. I think I really appreciated that temporary 'time out' when I was totally unconscious. I was worried that once the anesthesia wore off, the pain would be intolerable but so far I'm managing alright. Frankly I'm much more distressed by the liquid/soft diet which I have to be on for at least a week, while the wound recovers. Arghhh!!! Liquid/soft diet. :| Uh huh, can you feel my true pain? Back when I had to endure orthodontics treatment for three long and painful years, I normally drank Ensure after my ortho appointment. It helped to curb my hunger when I was unable to chew for the first two days, after which I then fed myself lots of homemade steamed cod w/ garlic mashed potato. Sometimes mashed sweet potato or dried scallop congee, homemade as well. Fancy-schmancy Moonberry. }:) But hey, would you have expected any less from me? Anyhoo, I don't have plans to be cooking this week so I'll have to get myself out there and find me some worthy liquid/soft diet that can satisfy the tastebuds.

PRE-SURGERY VISUAL TRAUMA




Them ugly motherfuckers (circled in red) just hafta go! Kinda visibly messing up the result of my ortho treatment if they weren't yanked out pronto.

POST-SURGERY VISUAL TRAUMA




The 'souveniers' I got. They were pretty gross and had been cut up into pieces during extraction. There were a couple of pieces which still had like, gum stuck to them. YES, FLESH!!!! MY FLESH!!! *sick*

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Anyway, on a lighter note, while I'm riding on painkillers now (Yo, how come I didn't get those "designer" drugs that allegedly can make you high as a kite!?!?), I present you...

Conversation with a 6-yr old

(She had recently lost her milk toof.)

Me: So... do you think I should sell my teeth to the Tooth Fairy? You got money last time, right?

6-yr old: I put my tooth under the pillow and the next day you know what happened?

Me: You told me you found $2 under the pillow, right?

6-yr old: No, it was $10!!! The Tooth Fairy gave me $10!!!

Me: Hmm, my teeth are super bloody though. I don't think the Tooth Fairy will want to buy them...

6-yr old: Then you should wash the teeth first before putting under your pillow.

Me: Mehhh, I dunno... *feigning uncertainty* My teeth are kinda big-sized, I don't think she'll want them. I heard the Tooth Fairy only collects baby teeth anyway.

;p

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Hah, right on!

Boys and girls, this has been a grotesque post so I promise I'll write a much more visually-pleasing one next. And soon. Hope you and your teeth are well.

Adhoc Fried Chicken

Now, I must start by saying that I have heard so many raves and praises over this fried chicken, served at Thomas Keller's Adhoc restaurant in Yountville, CA. WHICH I HAVE NEVER BEEN TO. :| (The restaurant, I mean.) Incidentally, when I was at Williams Sonoma the other day with my bff, she picked up the kit and I followed suit, eager to try this at home too. I was already familiar with the recipe though (through reading many blogs on others' experiences making this in their own kitchens) so I decided to tackle this fried chicken tonight at home from scratch, following the recipe instead of using the kit. I reckoned I'd save the kit for another time and see what the difference might be.

The recipe I followed is adapted from the one published by Food & Wine website (here). I modified it to use only one 3 lb. chicken and generally slashed most of the ingredients by half. I also didn't have rosemary at the time, so I skipped it. My version of the recipe below.

Ingredients:

1 gallon cold water
1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons honey
6 bay leaves
1 head of garlic, smashed but not peeled
2 tablespoons black peppercorns
1/2 small bunch of thyme
1/2 small bunch of parsley
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
One 3-pound chickens
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspon paprika
1 cup buttermilk
Vegetable oil, for frying
Thyme sprigs, for garnish

Directions:



1. In a very large pot, combine water, salt, honey, bay leaves, garlic, peppercorns, thyme and parsley. Add the lemon zest, juice and the lemon halves and bring to a simmer over moderate heat, stirring until the salt is dissolved. Let cool completely. Add the chicken, being sure it's completely submerged, and refrigerate overnight.



2. Drain the chicken and pat dry. Scrape off any herbs or peppercorns stuck to the skin and cut bird into 8 pieces, keeping the breast meat on the bone.

3. In a large bowl, combine the flour, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and cayenne. Divide this into two shallow plates. Put the buttermilk in a large, shallow bowl. Working one piece at a time, first dredge chicken into the flour mixture, then buttermilk, then dredge again in the flour mixture, pressing so it adheres all over. Transfer the chicken to a baking sheet lined with wax paper.

4. (I used a deepfryer but if you do not own one, read along.) In a very large, deep skillet, heat 1 inch of vegetable oil to 330°. Fry the chicken in 2 or 3 batches over moderate heat, turning once, until golden and crunchy and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of each piece registers 160°, about 20 minutes. Transfer the chicken to paper towels to drain, and keep warm in a low oven while you fry the remaining chicken pieces. Transfer the fried chicken to a platter, garnish with the herb sprigs and serve hot or at room temperature.



Finished product. Hello, gorgeous!

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The verdict is: This is one really juicy chicken. I think the moistness and tenderness are spot-on! The skin also crisped very nicely, in a beautiful color — which I believe is a result of using the deepfryer*. I did not adhere to the usage of thermometers as described in step 4 above, because I didn't have any handy. I know my deepfryer pretty well and the heat is quite moderate (meaning, the oil doesn't get as hot as I usually like it to be), so it seemed to work perfectly in this case. Especially since other blogs have indicated how very quickly and easily burnt the batter gets. The only thing which baffles me is the flavour. I find that my fried chicken, no doubt flavourful, is lacking a bit of omph. I wonder if it's because I didn't brine it long enough; I did leave it in the fridge overnight, like about 12 hours... maybe not enough?!? Or maybe I should've added a bit of salt and pepper into the flour mixture.

Anyhoo, I'll be trying this again with the kit and I'll let you all know how that turns out. Has anyone tried out the kit? If so, how did that compare to the real deal served at Adhoc? I swear, one of these days soon I must pay pilgrimage to Yountville again personally. (I've only been to Bouchon; still no luck getting reservations at French Laundry yet.)



:D

* Oh, on the note of deepfryer.... I totally LIVE BY MY DEEPFRYER!!! Ever since I picked one up years ago, I realized what an amazing kitchen appliance it is to have. I am using a smaller, inexpensive version at the moment (which explains why the oil temperature doesn't go very high). I highly recommend everyone to get one (this one is pretty good) as it's inexpensive, convenient and super easy to clean up. I used to joke with all my friends that I consider my deepfryer as one of my prized possessions (the other one being my KitchenAid mixer). ;P