stuffs

random stuff...

i finally bought the blue faerie! from Jusco midvalley. they also sell in memory lane...i got the red one a few months ago and was so tempted to buy the blue one.

its so cheap. RM9.90 only. hehe. cannot resist

Had a two day holiday on thursday&friday cos of IMU staff trip

thursday..went for lunch with emz & evie for her evie's belated birthday in swenson's subang parade (post later, with a special dedication to the bday girl :) )

exams on friday. omg, so soon....
back to studying :(

Thursday night special dinner. Roast lamb & potato salad and Corn

Since Thursday was a public holiday and we had lamb in the freezer, we (mummy, sis and I) decided to prepare something special for dinner
Lamb was courtesy of my sister's bf's uncle. LOL
and recipe was from my sister's friend. and she learnt how to cook it while she was in UK.

the recipe is a little incomplete (no measurements, yet again!) so, just adjust accordingly.
Wash the lamb properly.
Then massage the lamb with the following ingredients:
butter
parsley
black pepper
salt
lemon juice
marinade overnight
fry with butter about 5-10 minutes till its no longer bloody
wrap it in aluminium foil.
grill for about 10-15 minutes.
serve with corn and potato salad (recipe below)
for the corn, lightly butter and sprinkle salt, wrap in foil and grill it with the lamb as well.





now for the potato salad
first boil 2 russet potatoes till soft, the fork should be able to pierce through (but not too soft or it will be mushy) cut into cubes
cut an onion and soak it for awhile.
grate a carrot
prepare two hard boil egg and mash them up
mix all the ingredients with mayonnaise, salt, pepper and some parsley
sprinkle some spring onion for colour!

for the final product!!!

roast lamb with corn and potato salad.

looks so good, even if i say it myself! muahahha

the verdict....

the lamb was a quite tough and chewy, but it tasted good. didn't have that typical lamb taste that makes it quite hard to swallow. nice lemon n herb taste. tough lamb might be due to the fact that we didn't "slap" the lamb..or it was overcooked or the lamb was an "OLD lamb" LOLZ! but some parts were nice and not too chewy. im not so much of a "lamb" fan. I'd prefer fish or chicken anytime.

potato salad was yummy. except that there were too much onion!

had fun cooking and even more fun eating! hahah

quick updates

I wish i had 36 hours a day. that would be nice.

Had food fair in IMU today, i cooked the sauce for 115 packets of spaghetti last night with the help of mummy. i cooked the mushroom cream sauce. and she cooked the bolognese. my wrist was so tired cos i had to keep stirring so it won't get burn. And i didn't have the correct measurement so i was like dumping in stuff randomly..hoped it tastes ok though. managed to sell everything off (phew) initially thought that we couldn't but luckily we did.

thanks so much tissy for helping us out the whole time and doing a good job promoting the spaghetti!

and James did something really sweet today. he made a song dedication to me.
our song. Thank God I Found You.
a simple gesture but it means so much to me.awwwwww ^_^

I actually have lots of stuff to blog about..

1. salmon recipes
2. marmite chicken recipe
3. Kar heong restaurant (one of our usual "haunts" for hor fun & chicken rice in subang jaya)

but i think i should be doing other more constructive things.
like PBL
or start some serious reading/studying for MSK exams
i am seriously so lost in MSK. every lecture there are new stuff to learn.
new concepts, new anatomical terms, and the stuff keeps on piling. sigh

*and some people can be so mengada. sheesh*

Paper Wrapped chicken (baked)

A new chicken recipe.
chee pow kai @ paper wrapped chicken
i have been bugging my mum to prepare this dish for so many weeks and she finally agreed.
my parents went to the Carefour morning market to buy the chicken drumstick (and also salmon fish which was super cheap- look out for salmon recipes later!)

here is the recipe (by Amy Beh)

Ingredients
750g deboned chicken meat, cut into chunky pieces
25g ginger, shredded
25g ginger, pounded and squeezed for juice
3 sprigs spring onion, shredded
13 to 14 pieces greaseproof paper

Seasoning (combine):
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp ginger juice
1/2 tsp chicken stock granules
1 tbsp cooking wine
1 tsp cornflour

Method
Combine chicken meat with seasoning and add 1 one tablespoon oil.
Mix well to blend.
Set aside to marinate for several hours.
Place a piece of chicken meat with some shredded ginger and spring onions in the centre of a piece of greaseproof paper.
Top with some shredded ginger and spring onions.
Fold into a packet.
Deep-fry the packets in hot oil for seven to nine minutes or till fragrant.

we did some alterations.
1. use more of each ingredient for the seasoning (extra can be brought to a boil and used a topping sauce for the chicken)
2. we baked the chicken in the oven at 180 Celsius for approximately one hour instead of frying it. much healthier!! and tastes really good too =)
3. added a piece of Chinese dried mushroom in each pack too! ^_^

remember to de-skin the chicken..


the marinade

wrapping up the chicken

yum yum!!!

charcoal bread

Just a short post about some interesting food we found in The Gardens Mid valley last Sunday...
Charcoal bread! its BLACK!
don't get turned off by the colour! my mum thought it looked mouldy! hahah
and one loaf of bread is.....
RM 9!!!
apparently bamboo charcoal is one of the ingredients, and its so called "black diamond" cos its
1. freaking expensive
2. its black. (obviously)
3. supposedly will be able to help digestion and some other stuff i can't recall.

Anyway if you are curious enough to find out, this is the place..

Sbread
LG 232B,
Lower Ground Floor
The GardensMid Valley City
Kuala Lumpur
Tel No: 03 - 2283 2929

its near the connection btw midvalley n the gardens, the same level as cold storage.
we were heading back to the parking when we came across this shop. and i remembered it being featured in a food blog (click here)
so we went to see whats so special about it.
and this guy (prob the owner) came and promote the bread to us. they have 3 variety, charcoal bread, sesame bread and normal bread. they serve toast and other stuff too.
he insisted that we try it. there were samples on the counter but he toasted one there and then and spread some butter on top.
and since he was so enterprising and friendly, we bought a loaf of charcoal bread for tea time!

well, it tastes like normal bread. but there are some sunflower seeds inside also. tastes really good toasted and spread with generous amount of butter and kaya. yummy!

its not bad, but its kinda of a "try once and that's enough" cos of the price!

Woo Pin Fish Head noodles

a food review...
last Sunday my parents decided to go all the way to taman desa to try this famous fish head noodles that was featured in this popular makan-makan series (5 meals a day) on Astro.

Woo Pin fish head noodle shop

A37, Plaza Danau 2,

Jalan 109F,

Taman Danau Desa.

*Call 012-201 3148 for enquiries.

click here for a write up on the Star..

The restaurant was big (its a corner shop) and it was SO PACKED!

there were people standing around waiting for seats! but they were very organized. they took our orders first and we got a seat pretty quick. efficient service!

Their specialty (and the only thing they serve) is fish head noodles. although you can have the option of fish paste (yue watt) which is of course much easier to eat! there is also a choice of mihun and yee mee.

even though I'm not a huge fan of fish head noodles, i was expecting this to be extraordinary (judging from the crowd and the huge publicity)

after about 5-10 minutes wait, our noodles arrive. quite fast, i must say. not surprising as they are 5 cooks dishing out the food. and yes, it was very good. coming from a "non-fan" this is a compliment =P

the soup is authentic with generous amounts of tomato cubes, preserved vege and ginger (eww) to reduce the "fishy taste". apparently they also us white Chinese cooking wine. and of course carnation milk (you can have an option of not putting this though)

and the yue watt is has a nice texture, its boneless. less fuss =)
the mihun..its home-made and its slightly thicker and coarser than the normal type and the best thing about it is that it doesn't get soggy after being in the soup.

oh! and the sambal belacan chili! its so spicy but i just kept eating it. it compliments the noodles and i was on "chili high" lol.

ok, the price of the noodles. A normal sized one (believe me, the serving is HUGE. i was struggling to finish my noodles at the end) is RM6.50 per bowl. and a large bowl is RM8.00. not too pricey considering that fish is after all expensive and it is so worth every cent ;)

according to my mum (who loves this dish) , its the best she has ever tasted! so 2 thumbs up!

and something else to try is the barley fujuk drink with ginko nut. its fujuk is soft and smooth and its not overly sweet, there were also about 4-5 pieces of ginko (which is quite a generous portion!) its RM2.00. but it would be nice to have something cooling while my mouth is burning due to the sambal belacan. LOL.

anyway, do give this place a try. all they hype about it is justified! Delicious n reasonably priced food & fast service! overall rating.... 8 out of 10!

Almond berry and yoghurt muffins

muffin marathon :) hehe
today's recipe is almond berry and yoghurt muffins

this muffin is moist and soft and quite healthy also

ingredients

185 g plain flour

3 tsp baking powder

115g ground almond

3/4 cup caster sugar (i only put 1/4 cup)

2 eggs
125g butter, melted n cooled
1 cup (250g) plain yoghurt

300g blueberries

METHOD:

1. sift flour and baking powder and stir in the ground almond and sugar. make a well in the centre
2. Put eggs, yoghurt and butter in a jug and whisk and pour into the well

3. fold gently until combined (batter SHOULD be slightly lumpy) lightly fold in the blueberries

4. Divide the mixture evenly among the well greased and lined muffin holes. top up with almond slices

5. bake at a preheated oven at 180 celcius for 20-25 minutes or until the muffins come away from the side of the tin. cool for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack.

no elaborate toppings this time. keeping it simple =)

enjoy!

tuna rendang pasta

another pasta recipe. this is something out of the ordinary.

TUNA RENDANG PASTA!

this dish is spicy and believe me, the tuna fits into this dish very well. kinda odd combination but its really yummy!

ingredients:
3 cups cooked pasta (penne or spiral)
1 can plain tuna, drained
2 tbsp oil
2 large onion
5 cloves garlic
2 stalks lemon grass
3 red chilies
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp tumeric powder
1 tsp black pepper
1 cup thin coconut milk
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tbsp tamarind juice
salt to taste

method:
1. blend an onion, garlic, lemongrass and red chili
2. In a non stick pan, heat oil and fry the blended ingredients in a medium heat until fragrant.
3. add thin coconut milk and spices and simmer till it thickens (can add water if it is too thick)
4. add tuna and cook on a slow fire about 10 minutes
5. add onion, sugar, tamarind juice and salt and cook till it thickens/ bring to a boil.
6. toss with pasta and serve!

ingredients to blend
spices! cumin, tumeric n black pepper (didn't use coriander)

didn't have enough tuna...so i added crabstick, chicken ball and button mushroom

button mushroom should be added in also!!! it adds texture to it!
the cooked pasta. i used spiral pasta

mix it together

final product =)
you need quite alot of ingredients but it is fairly simple to cook. ideal for a light lunch.


*now back to studying..sighhhhhh*

its the 4Th day of the first week of MSK.
and if i were to describe it in one word....

FREAKY!

yeah. during the first lecture i was so lost among all the anatomical jargon. and ridiculously difficult bone and joints and ligaments names. and the lecturer was going at the speed of a bullet train, which made my handwriting like "cakar ayam" and even that i only got about 60% of what he said. shesssh.
second day was packed, with pbl in the morning..csu in the afternoon n lectures in the evening! well, at least i can get all of it done in one day.
Wednesday was bones. bones and more bones. omg, so many things to remember! and so much anatomy to learn! arghhh
today i had my PBL and so now i have some free time (finally!!!) to blog!

and one thing different about starting uni is that i have to drive everyday!!
and i got round about induced palpitations when i was on my way home today. they should seriously GET RID of that stupid roundabout!

ok, i shall post up a recipe for a fusion food...Rendang pasta on the next post...

Dark chocolate muffins

my last baking project (with my sis, it was her idea actually) before the term starts.

gooey dark chocolate muffins!

ingredients..
150g dark chocolate, chopped
125g butter, chopped
215g self raising flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
30g cocoa powder
55g brown sugar (i put about 20 grams)
185ml milk
2 eggs
REESES peanut butter cups (optional) I'm not sure if you can get it here or not though...

method...
1. melt chocolate and butter, either over double boiler or in the microwave
2. sift flour, baking powder and cocoa powder.stir in the sugar
3. whisk milk and egg in a jug
4.create a well in the flour mixture and pour in the milk-egg mixture
5. pour in the butter-chocolate mixture in the well
6. fold gently until well combined. do not over beat or muffins will be hard!
7. spoon some batter in a lined muffin tray and place a REESE peanut butter cup. top up with more batter.
(or you could not put the peanut butter cup and just fill it 3/4 full with batter)
8. bake in a pre heated oven at 190 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes.
9. makes about 10 large muffins.
10. and decorating! muahahha.

*this muffin is light and fluffy and not too sweet. it might be a little bland if you use 20g sugar if you like sweet things. but then it will be balanced out by putting the peanut butter cup or any other chocolate with filling or with the topping*

enjoy the pictures!

and i like creating names of my muffins/cupcakes that are decorated!

my creation...this would be cappuccino. it has "froth" and all ;p our creation.this would be volcano! chocolate syrup lava.hahha
my sister's creation...this is frosty!
happy baking =)