I’ve had some request to post up my cooking experiments on my blog and so here’s my first. I’ve decided to call my experimental cooking series Singaporean Style, Western Flavour since I tend towards ingredients that are easily found in neighbourhood supermarkets. Looking for western ingredients can be quite a chore as these small supermarkets don’t carry such a wide variety. If the ingredients aren’t found easily, then I’ll use ingredients that you’ll find at larger supermarkets but can be kept for a long time (such as herbs and oils).
I ate Bruschetta in a restruant at Tampines today afternoon and decided to go home and give it a try. Ideally, Bruschetta is served on Baguette but I used a loaf of white bread instead.
Ingredients
- 6-8 slices of thick white bread or baguette
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 1-2 cloves of garlic, chopped in half (for rubbing on bread)
- 1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar
- 2-3 ripe tomatoes
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Basil, salt and black pepper
- Smoked salmon (optional)
Where to Get Them
- If you want to use baguette, Delifrance sells pretty decent ones.
- White bread, garlic and tomatoes can be had at any neighbourhood supermarket.
- Olive oil, balsamic vinegar and smoked salmon can be bought at Cold Storage or larger NTUC outlets such as those in Jurong Point. Buy a good bottle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar and keep them – they can be kept for a long time.
- I use dried Basil from MasterFoods. They come in small bottles that costs around $5 and can be found similarly at Cold Storage or larger NTUC outlets. You may use fresh basil but they can’t be kept for more than a few days.
- If you absolutely must, then buy pre-ground black pepper from MasterFoods. I use a cheap Ikea pepper grinder and grind the peppers when I need.
Preparing the Tomato Topping
- Optional – put the tomatoes in boiling water for about one minute and remove them. Remove the skin
- Cut the tomatoes in quarters and remove the stem, seeds and juice from the center.
- Optional – lighly fry the chopped garlic in some olive oil, otherwise it may taste too raw.
- Chop the tomatoes then put them in a bowl together with the chopped garlic, balsmic vinegar and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. If you have smoked salmon, add them as well. Sprinkle in some basil, then a little bit of salt and pepper to taste and mix. (I tend to use less salt and more pepper.)
Preparing the Bread
- If you’re using baguette, slice them as you normally would diagonally about half an inch thick.
- If you’re using a loaf of white bread, cut the slices in half to make them smaller.
- If you’re using baguette, toast the bread, then rub the garlic on the slice and drizzle half a teaspoon of olive oil on each half-slice.
- If you’re using white bread, it would be easier to chop the garlic and then fry them with some olive oil for about a minute on low heat, then place the bread on top.
- Either serve the bread and tomatoes separately or immediately before serving otherwise the bread will turn soggy.
Serving Size
- Serves 2 to 3 not-very-hungry adults busy playing Wii.
