Tuesdays at Modesto's

J was ranting about how Modesto's had 30% off on Tuesdays for OCBC card members. So naturally we decided to go, on a Tuesday of course.Modesto's Pizzeria is now located on the roof level of Vivo City, tucked beside Marche's.

I met J at Daiso and we walked out onto the roof to get to the restaurant. We were immediately hit with the haze. Choke choke, it was bad. We quickly covered our mouths and walked as quick as we could.

The restaurant's interior is dark and perhaps modern elegant would be the word to describe it. Mostly, dark timber, with warm droplights and cool grey tiles. At the entrance, there is an open kitchen with a wood fired pizza oven. Pretty cool to look at. We were then asked if we wanted an outdoor or indoor seat. Given the haze situation, we had to sit indoors but facing outdoors. Oh well, we still had a view.

Our indoor seat with an outdoor view

The Italian restaurants menu's is varied but divided into simple categories. There's starters, salads, pizza, pasta, risotto and desserts. Too many choices honestly. We took sometime deciding but finally settled on calamari rings, eggplant parmigiana and Buffla Pizza which was tomato based  with mozzarella and basil. We added pork ham to that. J of course had to have her Sangria. (Her homemade version was better)

The food arrived pretty quickly and the service staff  were friendly and attentive too. Perhaps it was because the restaurant was  not crowded at all. The calamari rings were  plentiful, nicely fried but still chewy. Some people enjoy that chewy texture, but I prefer the calamari rings that let your teeth glide into it like butter. Ahhh.

Calamari Rings and Pizza

The pizzas here are all thin crust. Really good flavour. Happy with the choice of adding pork ham as without it, I think the pizza would have been a bit too plain.

The parmigiana was really good too. Layers of crumbed and deep fried eggplant, a tomato based sauce, topped with mozzarella and grilled. Yum ! It was piping hot and oh so good. I took a massive spoonful before J reminded me to take a picture. Oops.

Eggplant Parmigiana

After our meal, it was time for dessert ! J had had their profiteroles and did not recommend it. And because I had just survived from Tiramisu (my mom made me do a big batch and we were having it over the week) So we had the Molten Chocolate Cake. We were told it would take 15 mins to prepare which was a bonus as we wanted to chat for a bit before having dessert.

Warm Molten Chocolate Cake

It was exactly what I thought it would be. Warm cake on the outside, molten chocolate lava on the inside. Good chocolate flavour. Not too sweet, not too dark. The vanilla ice cream was mediocre. Nothing special about it. It was the perfect dessert to share.

Oozing Chocolatey Goodness

Unless you're one greedy toot that wants the dessert all to herself. Which .... ahem ... I wasn't ... that evening anyway.

Our meal cost us $80++ after the 30% discount.

Modesto's Pizzeria
1 Harbour Front Walk
#03-11 Vivo City
Singapore 098585

Chocolate Souffle

I couldn't wait - had to dig in

Sunday morning came and the only thing on my mind was "I want to make a souffle now". Yes, I wake up with such thoughts in my head.

I've seen Souffles being made many times on TV and my mom had it once at Hoshino. But it was ridiculously eggy smelling and I didn't like. But somehow or rather, I wanted to give it a go. Browsed the net and found an easy enough recipe from Eugenie's Kitchen.

Chocolate Souffle (recipe adapted from Eugenie's Kitchen)

Ingredients:

1 T unsalted butter
1 T plain flour
1/3 cup / 80ml whole milk
1 1/2 oz / 43g chocolate chips
2 eggs separated
1/2 t vanilla essence
2 T caster sugar

Extra sugar and melted butter to coat the ramekins

Preheat the oven to 200'C.

Prepare two large ramekins by brushing the insides with the melted butter, all the way up to the rim. Then coat it well with sugar. Put sugar into one ramekin and tip the sugar into the other ramekin while rotating. If this is confusing, I suggest watching some youtube videos. There are countless online.

Preparing the ramekins

So I prepped the ingredients : butter, flour, milk, chocolate,vanilla essence, eggs (separated) and caster sugar.Prepped the ramekins as well. Brushing the insides with melted butter and coating with caster sugar.

It all starts with a roux. Melt the butter over medium heat and add the flour. Mix well and cook it till foamy. Then take off the heat and add the milk. Back onto the stove and stir until mixture thickens. Texture should be similar to wallpaper glue.

Take off the heat and add the chocolate. The mixture turns into a doughy like texture. Add in the 2 egg yolks and vanilla essence and stir vigorously. It should turn smooth and silky.

Smooth and silky chocolate batter

Now onto the egg whites.

Whisk the egg white till foamy and slighly soft peaks. Gradually add the caster sugar and continue to whisk. Whisk until glossy soft peaks are achieved. About 5 mins with a hand held mixer or forever by hand.

Whisking the egg whites

Next, take a large spoonfull and mix into the chocolate batter. This folding doesn't have to be too delicate as we are trying to lighten the chocolate batter. Then once incorporated, tip the chocolate batter into the whites and fold gently so as to not lose the air. Its the air that makes the souffle rise and be airy.

Mixing the whites into the chocolate 

Once well mixed, pour into prepared ramekin dishes and clean the sides of the ramekin, either with your fingers or a clean tea towel. This is to prevent the surface from catching onto the rim and stopping the souffle from rising.

Filled ramekins ready for the oven

Bake in the oven for about 15 to 18 mins.

Serve warm right out of the oven, dusted with confectioners sugar and a chocolate sauce or creme anglaise.

Careful the ramekins will be HOT !

Can you see the spongy texture 

The souffles were delicious !!! They were like hot mousses. Soft, firm, springy, light, airy - oh my god !!! It was soooo gooood !!! I'm so going to try out other flavours.