A Weekend Of Orgiastic Home Dinners

Who says you've to eat at a restaurant to have a gourmet feast!!!!

These is the massive spread we had at my fellow gym member's abode, cooked by the man himself.

Kylie Kwong's Styled Steamed Cod fish. Perfectly done. Not your conventional style of steamed fish.

Signature chicken in some sauce, that is meant to be dipped with thick slabs of hainanese coffee shop bread.

Sauteed Spinach on Steamed Bean Curd. Didn't even get around to trying this, there was so much food.

Oxtail Stew. Ooooh, bovine heaven. Hmm, a lot of meat.


Vinegared Pork Trotters. Confinement food, but great stuff. (and I'm not even a fan)

Bourbon chocolate mud cake....made by me. It went very well with the hostess's homemade vanilla ice cream with a hint of bailey's irish cream.

Durian cheese cake. Still don't know how to really capture this cake in pictures. Help!!!!

On Friday night, we were at another friend's house, but we were all so hungry, I forgot to take pictures. However, I did manage to take pics of my latest experiment, Delia Smith's Molten Chocolate Puddings.






It turned out pretty well for a first attempt, but I couldn't achieve that molten centre that was in the recipe. It could be attributed to the fact that I forgot to check the temperature for cooking, and brought the batter in the pudding bowls to friend's house to bake. So I hazarded a guess, which was a hazard. I estimated 150C, but in actual fact, recipe called for 200C!!!! I guess it's meant to quickly cook the outsides leaving the insides uncooked and hence, molten. iI forgot to take pic of the finished product.

Okay, let's see if I remember the recipe.

Beat
4 eggs, plus 4 yolks with half a cup of sugar, until quadrupled in volume, leaving a ribbon trail when you lift the whisk.
In a separate set up, melt 200 gm of chocolate ...oh shucks, I forgot the recipe. I'll put it on tomorrow.

A Simple Man's Simple Breakfast

I think one of God's greatest gift to man is eggs. Culinary wise. If it were not for the potential cholestrol hazards, I'd eat eggs EVERY day, (as opposed to every alternate day), and eat LOTS of it.
The above combination is my idea of a heavenly breakfast. Crispy preferrably freshly made Yau Char Kwai, a cup of ice local coffee, and two half boiled eggs. No, I don't eat like this everyday, for YCK's are not that easy to come by, and I got to detour a fair bit to get them in the morning, so usually its replaced by toast. But this morning, I was in a good mood, so I thought, why not.

Cheese Puffs aka Gougères

Oh dear, I cant remember which blog I got this recipe off, but it sounded like the the author was an Asian woman married to a French man.

Anyway, yesterday, I was relatively free in the baking department and since it was Tuesday, and the household is filled with kids, (my sister's and my own), I thought it would be a good time to experiment with these cheese puffs, that really sounded quite idiot proof.

Ingredients:
60gm butter
1 cup milk
pinch of salt

1 cup flour
4 eggs

100gms grated cheddar or any other strong cheese

Basically follow the same method as making choux pastry. Melt the butter, milk and salt in a pot, remove from heat, stir in the flour and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon. Place back on low heat and stir until the dough forms a ball and doesn't stick to the sides of the pot.

Let mixture cool a bit. Add eggs one by one, while beating on low speed with a handmixer. (can do it in the same pot, and save washing one extra bowl). By the 2nd egg, you might be thinking, this looks terrible as the dough breaks up into little lumps. Fear NOT, by the time you add your 4th egg, the dough becomes a cohesive, satiny silky batter...well, not a flowy one.

Add 3/4 of the cheese into the dough and mix well. Drop tablespoons of the mixture onto a baking tray. I lined mine with my silicone sheet from pantry magic. Drizzle the rest of the cheese onto the top of each puff.

Bake in hot 200C oven for about 15 minutes. Makes about 18.

Takes all of 10 minutes to make, including grating the cheese, and within half an hour, you have the perfect snack for a group of hungry kids. My son declared that it was even better than Welsh Rarebits.




Actually they kinda remind me of our cekodoks, except they're baked, and therefore, probably healthier.

El Cerdo, Porcine Paradise

You know when you enter a place, that even the door knobs are embellished with pictures of cute little piggies, that it is an establishment not kosher. When wall upon wall are filled with more portraits of those cute pink babes in all shapes and sizes, you know that these slitty chinese eyes, that were made to gaze upon char siew and siew yoke, light up like when one shines a torch into a dumb blond's ears.

El Cerdo, on Changkat Raja Chulan, same row as Frangipanni is one such establishment. There's so much pig QI in the air, I swear I'd grown a curly tail and grunted to the wife by the time we left.

I only saw one non pork item on the menu, which was oxtail. I guess fish would be quite safe here, if they wanted to live. The place was packed, for a Monday night, with pockets of large crowds. All oldies lah. Fortunately for us, Young Lawyer in our party, being quite the gourmand, has eaten extensively in the area, and was no stranger to the place, and knew exactly what to order. There is something indescribably wonderful when someone takes over the ordering, its like a sudden release of pressure from an over inflated tyre. Suddenly the mind switches off, and enables us to focus on the other aspects of the dinner, such as the gossip about a high profile murder trial. I suspect this is why some women love it when a man takes over during a date, and does the ordering.

Anyway, to start, we had a little cup of mushroom soup.... I'm not sure if it was on the house or not. (oh oh, we had this fiasco with mineral water...I am one of those strictly against paying RM18++ for a bottle of imported mineral water....so voiced my objection loudly to the manageress, but soon enough, we were served ice water in carafes. (but not before two bottles of Panna had already been opened).

That was followed by the most sublime thin slices of parma ham and rockmelon. I have to say it was a first for a jakun like me, though I have seen many pictures of parma being served with rockmelon. The saltiness of the ham marries with the sweet rockmelon, making it a match like Thelma and Louise. Plebs that we were, all asked for butter for the bread, which was actually meant to be eaten with the ham.





Next was a pork medallion kinda thing, with some saurkrautish potato, which was nice, but not outstanding. Very yummy was the bacon wrapped around some paste with anchovy. A trite salty, and bad for the blood pressure, but what the heck. Tasted gorgeous.



Then came the piece d resistance, imho. The paella. Now, nothing like good old PORK to really add taste to a dish. Not normally a paella fan, (to me, its like soggy fried rice...maybe coz I've never tasted better), I was wowed by the burst of flavours in this particular one. Large succulent prawns, pork sausages, saffron arborio rice, what's not to like.



With that outstanding carbo out of the way, we could now refocus on their specialty, roast suckling piglet. They're even smaller than the chinese ones, but let's not go into the whole issue of when and what age is it humane to slaughter an animal. Very interesting dish, because the owner comes around, with a plate, and uses the plate to chop up the piglet into slices. Then, in some european tradition, he smashes the plate. (into a bucket).


The meat was tender and perfect. The skin could have been crispier, but overall, it was a gastronomic pigging out feast.

Then came my favourite part, dessert. Actually I have no idea what the stuff was, but it was a lovely mixture of summer berries, ie, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries in a thick cream, which I wasnt even sure was ice cream or just cold cream, but it was divinely good. It was served as below at first, doubling as a "birthday cake" for our friend.


The one above was a rum and raisin pancake, with vanilla ice cream. Also very good. The pancake was thick, and had lots of body. I would have preferred more taste of rum, as my own raisins are perpetually soaking in a tub with rum. (now now children, by raisins I meant the real thing, ie, dried grapes).

To finish off, we were given these shot glasses of something that vaguely resembled a margarita.


What a lovely meal, thanks to our three gracious hosts.

On a separate note, my dear insurance agent dropped this off for me yesterday. A very superb range of corn that can be eaten raw. I was a bit sceptical at first, but yes, it indeed can be eaten raw, and tastes very sweet. But halfway through one cob, I felt very jelak. I think I prefer mine cooked. Can anyone tell me what species of corn this is? Probably GMO.

Alaskan King Crab

We're no strangers to Pantai Seafood, in Sg Ara, but despite the fact that I've eaten more salt than a lot of young bloggers have eaten rice, I've never before sampled the Alaskan King Crab. At RM248 per kilo, this mother here, weighing 2.3kg, was a whopping RM570!!! Not something you get to eat everyday.

Anyway, since there was an occasion yesterday, (and it wasn't only just Father's Day), I am finally an alaskan king crab virgin no more.




So what is the big deal, you ask? Well, for starters, all those legs are filled with luscious, chewy crab meat. It is a bit like a cross between a lobster and our mudcrab actually, incorporating the best of both worlds. The meat is wonderfully succulent, and it's easy to deshell. And the superior stock in which it is cooked was absolutely delectable.

Another first for me, at Pantai, was this fried glass noodle. (tong fun). Well, it warrants a picture coz it was something we havent ordered before here at Pantai.


On the baking front, I have been experimenting with cheesecakes. Below is a pic of a baked blueberry cheesecake. Have also been dabbling with chilled durian cheesecake, but haven't managed to take a decent pic.

Fab Abs

Finally, after reading so much about the legendary six pack, I opportuned to witness the spectacle for myself last night, at the attic. You can find more pics of this in other blogs, and rumour has it the compilation is going towards forming a coffee table book.





However, more interesting than that (by a toss), was meeting this Budapest lass, (actually she's Msian)...with whom I clicked faster than an adulterous woman would click her door locked when hearing her husband's car pull up in the driveway. Fabulous, absolutely fabulous. A toast to you, dear Jaded Poetry, .....!!!


Earlier on in the day, WMW, PP, Unkaleong and I met for lunch (my inaugural meeting with Bangkok Bachelor) at Ah Sang. I shall leave the professionals to post better pictures of the Bak Kut Teh.

And by the way, further radio silence from me, until Thursday, as I will be away down south in the republic with the kids.

Hello Ha Noi....Vestiges of Vietnam Part 2

Ha Noi, apparently means city at the river bend. Now, lest you think me some food snob, who only eats in aircond places, I would like to clarify that we did partake, with no ill effects, of the roadside PHO, sitting on very low stools and tables, and it was EXCELLENT. I am quite surprised by the pricing though, it was VD15,000. (= RM3.75). I mean, we can get a bowl of noodles here at that price without having to squat by the road. And like it or not, Ha Noi is light years behind us in terms of developed status. So, I dunno if we kena ketuked royally, OR, the cost of a bowl of PHO IS really that expensive.

Anyway, one of our travelling companions, who is accustomed to the life of royalty, (speaking of royalty, I bumped into Sultan Azlan Shah and Tunku Bainun at a Silk Shop in Han Gai, the shopping area of Ha Noi....it was the row of S classes parked on the street that made me peer in with nose pressed up against the glass), was getting very "3rd world out", so insisted I followed him to the Sofitel Metropole, while the ladies continued their shopping spree of lacquer and stuff. So, we entered the Sofitel, me a tad sloppy, having just spilt my fruit smoothie all over my shirt... where we were veered away from the ladida French restaurant, and directed to the Vietnamese Restaurant. To my pleasant surprise, I didn't have to sell my soul, and whatever other sellable commodity on me, to afford a meal there. Anyway, the King (my friend) was paying. It was USD 15 for a Sudu KL Hilton like buffet. Buffet starters and dessert, and a choice of mains.

These handcrafted spring rolls were absolutely deevine. Its a bit like making hong kong chee cheong fun....the covers freshly made from a batter, over a steamer. The meat filling was yummy.

A scent of green papaya? Funny how I used to think such titles of movies or books sounded so exotic. Now, I am inclined to think that the gwai lows seem to be so gullible, that everything with a dash of coriander, lemongrass, basil, fish sauce, ...sounds exotic. Probably explains the proliferation of fusion cuisines abroad, and its dismal failure here.

Dainty little starters, wrapped in exotic sounding leaves.... rather delicious though, I have to say.


For the mains, I opted for the traditional vietnamese fish balls with rice and vegetables...which was a mistake...they accidentally brought another main, prawns with noodles, which looked a whole lot more delectable.


Sponsor had the bamboo chicken....which was very good. They are very generous with their greens.


Desserts were pretty interesting. The thing in the urine sample bottle is creme caramel. Lovely mangoes they have. The opera cake was like a local musical, ie, forgettable.


Our next culinary treat was dinner at BOBBY CHINN'S. I've honestly never heard of him, though all my western educated friends did. A trendy restaurant located at one corner of the something something lake, the interior is lavishly decorated with spools of red cloth, and rose petals that makes wedding confetti look like a balding man.

The restaurant itself is very dark, and for old folk like us, they even provided illuminated magnifying glasses to read the menu. I kid you not. It did help though. Without it, I read the foie gras terrine as POLE GRASS URINE in the dark light...



Honestly, I can find NO FAULT at all, at this place, from the service, to the ambience, to the quality of food and to the fabulous owner, Bobby Chinn himself. No airs, this man has.

Seared scallops on edamame beans.

Seafood Salad with White Bean and Truffle Oil - mine, and absolutely fabulous.

Wifey's crabmeat salad on green papaya. Absolutely divine.

Fish cakes? My memory (and lips) is like a goldfish these days. Anything longer than 10 seconds, I go, "huh?"

My meat craving, after all that Pho, resulted in me ordering this piece of cow, Fillet Mignon. Excellent stuff. Creamy mash that slid down the throat like lubricants down a engine.

Seared Salmon on wasabi mash. Perfect.

Lamb shank with apple risotto

Seared prawns with a semi glutinous rice which was absolutely sublime. The rice was a bit sweetish, and went together like rama rama lap dingie ga dingie dong...

Wife's platter of signature dishes. Okay, prize for whoever can guess what that thing is at 3 oclock. I actually blogged earlier, but the autosave didnt seem to be working at the time, and I lost half my post.

The inimitable Bobby Chinn himself. Half Chinese, Half Egyptian, and credentials long enough to reach the moon. Great fella. One of our party was throwing herself shamelessly on him.

Complimentary glutinous rice pudding dessert from the man himself.

A La Carte Lemongrass Creme Brulee.

Here are a few more shots of Hanoi. At the bottom is the opera house and Hanoi Hilton, where my friend was looking to recreate the scene from the Quiet American, but couldnt locate the spot where Michael Caine had his daily drink.

And you wont be getting anymore food reviews from me from awhile, as my colleague just walked in and said, "wah, sudah tembam la".