Gingerbread Man - Recipe @ Home

At time I'd like to get a little adventurous with food... and to avoid myself from feeling boring this Christmas I've decided to make Gingerbread Man!

- Ingredients -
3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1 large egg
2/3 cup unsulphured molasses

- Method -
In a large bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and spices. Set aside.
In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and molasses and beat until well combined. Gradually add the flour mixture beating until incorporated.

Divide the dough in half, and wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside while you roll out the dough.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. Use a gingerbread cutter to cut out the cookies. With an offset spatula lift the cut out cookies onto the baking sheet, placing the cookies about 1 inch (2.54 cm) apart. If you are hanging the cookies or using as gift tags, make a hole at the top of the cookies with a straw or end of a wooden skewer.
Bake for about 8 - 12 minutes depending on the size of the cookies. Small ones will take about 8 minutes, larger cookies will take about 12 minutes. They are done when they are firm and the edges are just beginning to brown.

Remove the cookies from the oven and cool on the baking sheet for about 1 minutes. When they are firm enough to move, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

If desired, you can press raisins, currants, or candies into the dough for eyes and buttons while the cookies are still warm. Otherwise, confectioners frosting can be used to decorate the cookies. You can also use the icing as a glue to attach candies, raisins, and sprinkles.

*note: It looks very dark compared to the ones you can buy outside cos' the molasses I used is very dark in colour and I added quite a lot to make sure it taste good! The Gingerbread Man of this recipe would turn out slightly softer, unlike cookie.

Enjoy! ;)

Christmas cooking @ Home

I've been having family gathering marathons for Christmas this year (*actually every year). So guess what? I FORGOT TO BRING MY CAMERA!!! T___T *sobs* so yea... I missed all the good photos of whatever-it-is during Christmas!

Oh well, I still stand a chance to take photo of food that was serve one of the days. Usually you'll get to eat during Christmas... or sometimes during special events such as Birthdays... or... uhm... that's all I guess =p

Chicken Pie
*Family's favorite!! Made by mum.

Roast Chicken Thigh
*with garlic & olive, seasoned with salt & pepper.

Baked potatoes in cream
*this is something no one would ever want to miss! it taste so good it worth every inch of fat gained =p

BBQ Chicken Sausage wrapped in Bacon
*Simple, yet great!

WAIT A SEC...!!

...............................
....................
.......

I FORGOT TO TAKE PHOTO OF THE DESSERT!!!
*Noooooooooo..........!!!!*

just ignore me for a moment while I get disappointed with myself *sobs*

Stay tuned!! Next update would be a baking recipe! Gingerbread Man!

Basic Aglio Olio - Recipe @ Home

Another day of being alone at home without anything to eat for dinner. It's raining and I couldn't go out! =(

Like what I'll usually do is just have couple of plain biscuit and that's it for dinner! Oh well, sometimes I do whip up something I can find it the kitchen. Hehe... since I've not blog often why don't I cook today?

Here's what I made~

- INGREDIENTS -

Garlic

Shallot

Nice Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Speghettini / Angel Hair

Salt & Pepper for seasoning

-METHOD -

Slice garlic n shallot and dump into "Cold" extra virgin oil. cook in very low heat for 15mins. While doing that, boil pasta too. Season the oil before tossing Hot pasta. You might want to add a little crushed chili for extra kick!

Tada!! You're ready to eat!

Enjoy! ;)

*Credit to my Chef friend Daniyal Goh for sharing me this recipe =)

Visit his blog here ---> Daniyal Goh

Merry Christmas Everyone!! *hearts*

Yay! I got rid of my previous blog header image and replaced a Christmas header!! ^^

Anyway... I hereby wish u guys a very Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!! Be sure to spend some time with your love ones or maybe friends... It's a get together season! Prepare your presents soon cos' Christmas is around the corner~ I don't mind if anyone of you wants to give me a present too *shy* Hehehe! just joking k... =P

Cheers! =D

Milo Ice Cream - Recipe @ Home

I bought an Ice Cream Maker!!! Finally ♥~ It's not very popular to use an Ice Cream Maker to make your own Ice Cream at home. Maybe cos' Malaysia is just waaaaayy too hot. Oh Well, I'm just too disappointed about the ice cream sold in the market right here. Flavor is limited... quality is hardly up to standard... *sigh* So I'm making my own ice cream~ Yay!!

- Ingredients -
1 1/2 cup Milk
1/4 Sugar
200ml Cream
3/4 cup Milo
2 Eggs

- Method -
In a medium saucepan, mix milk and milo. Warm until foam forms around the edges. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar until frothy. Gradually pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Return mixture to saucepan; cook over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until the mixture gels slightly and coats the back of the spoon. If small egg lumps begin to show, remove from heat immediately.

Pour the mixture through a sieve or fine strainer into a bowl. Mix cream into the custard. Cover, and chill for several hours or overnight.

Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to a sealed container, and freeze until firm. If the ice cream is too firm, place it in the refrigerator until it reaches the desired consistency.

Add any topping like almond flakes or chocolate rice as desired. And lastly ENJOY!! =D

Jalan-Jalan Cari Makan @ Melacca - Part 2

So... Malacca is just about eating~ especially for people from KL (let's say Malaysians are all gluttons k? XD)

Spent most of the time at Jonker Street where most of the good food are there. The crowds... the shops... not much on the historical attraction. I prefer hunting for food rather than visiting the historical places since we Malaysians have been studying their history in school since Elementary till High School (Yawn~)

What's next after Beef Noodles? Of course their famous gula melaka Cendol & Laksa lar!!! How can you miss that?!! Penang is not the only best place to eat Laksa k... but anyway I'll visit Penang soon for another Jalan-jalan Cari Makan session. Weeeee~ ^^ I'll let you know which Laksa I prefer after that. Ekekeke...

Look at the crowd!! It's already full house inside and people are still queuing outside. Btw, why is everyone in blue? Such a coincident.

Cendol Aunty very busy now

Hmmm... I felt like ordering almost everything in the menu. Too bad I don't have such a humongous stomach. Owh!! In the menu No.1 is the best!!

Laksa
*it was a lot more presentable before I messed it up becos' I forgot to take photo of it *shame on me* It was nice... better than KL of cos'! the soup was just right! not too thick nor too watery, no heavy stinky fishy taste, the fish they added was definitely fresh!

Cendol
*My favorite!!! I can't stop myself from loving sweet stuff! their gula melaka was SOOOOooo thick even when you mix the whole thing the sauce still sticks on to the spoon and won't melt so quickly! I don't mind having another 2 serving!

Inside the eating place still remains the old style. It adds the extra feel while you eat!

The good ol' days

Jalan-Jalan Cari Makan @ Melacca - Part 1

Tangkak Beef Noodle Soup

Who's up for beef noodle soup?????!

Here's a place in Malacca introduced by a friend who studies at Melacca for a couple of years already and visited this place many times. They serve good beef noodle specially the one in soup! I don't know about the dry noodles... in my observation there ain't much people ordering any others than their good ol' beef soup noodles... the soup must be their specialty then! =D


The soup has a nice beefy yet not too heavy taste that goes well with their noodles (Mee!面 Beehon 米粉 will suck up all the soup before you can slowly enjoy it!!)

Beef meatballs

I heard it was the original Tangkak beef noodle soup, and really famous too... look at all the reviews they have!

This is not the only place that serves good beef noodles though~ this place is good at their soup. There's one shop located at Petaling Street K.L. that serves really nice dry beef noodles! Hope I'll not forget to bring my camera there the next time cos' I missed it the last few times *shame*

Pavlova - Recipe @ Home (Part 2)

I'm into making cakes again!! Pavlova again this time! Since I weren't very happy with the previous one I made... cos' I didn't manage to get the *Must Have* ingredient that time, which is Blueberry~♥ Well, I bought it this time, am really please~ *big smile*

I made a smaller portion today due to the lack of ingredients, just too careless. I assumed that there's enough eggs at home while there's only 2! Sheesh... No worries! I'll make a smaller portion! =D


- INGREDIENTS -

Part A (Meringue)
2 Large egg white
8 Tablespoonfine castor sugar (the finer the better)
1 teaspoon vinegar (may be subtituted with vinegar, lemon
juice, cream of tartar)

Part B (Topping)
100ml Heavy Whipping Cream
2 Teaspoon of granulated white sugar
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Strawberries
Blueberry

- METHOD -
In the mixer bowl, start of with egg whites and vinegar, make sure bowl is CLEAN greaseless. Beat the whip attachment on medium low speed until it foams up till the meringue holds soft peak. Start adding sugar a tablespoon at a time and continue to beat medium-high speed until the meringue holds very stiff peak. Test whether sugar has dissolved by rubbing between your fingers. It should not feels gritty of sugar.

Gently spread the meringue inside the circle drawn on the parchment paper (baking paper, grease proof paper, or silicon paper) smoothing the edges. It doesn't have to be perfectly neat, but at least a nice flat top or with higher sides (you might want a slight well center to place whipped cream and fruits).

Put the meringue into the oven and drop the temperature to 120 celcius and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until outside is dry and takes on very pale cream color. Turn oven off and leave it to cool completely in the oven (about an hour or so).

The cooled meringue can be made and stored in cool dry place or airtight container for a few days.

Just before serving gently place the meringue onto a serving plate. Whip the cream in your electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, until soft peaks form. Sweeten with the sugar and vanilla and then mound the softly whipped cream into the center of the meringue. Arrange the fruit randomly, or in a decorative pattern, on top of the cream. Serve immediately as this dessert does not hold for more than a few hours.

Serves 4 to 6

Previous Post ------>> Pavlova Recipe @ Home (Kiwi & Strawberry version)

Almond Cake - Recipe @ Home

I've been away from my blog for too long... =( cos' I'm working at home, didn't have much time to go out hunt for more yummy stuff. So yea... I'll make my own food at home for awhile. Hehe ^^

Some time ago my aunt came back from UK for a visit and taught mum this recipe to make Almond Cake, without the use of flour AT ALL. Gawd~ It taste too good!! And it's Easy to make, Healthy to eat. So I decided to share with everyone of you ;)

Cooling the cake

Just before I'm about to indulge it =p

- INGREDIENTS -

4 Eggs
190gm Butter
310gm Ground Almond
180gm Brown Sugar (If you don't like it so sweet, u can always cut down)
2 orange zest

- METHOD -

Preheat oven to 180 celcius for 10-15mins

Put EVERYTHING (ingredients) into the mixer and mix well!
Pour into 7" cake tin of whatever shape you like, round or square is good. Make sure the mixture is even.

Drop temperature 160 celcius and bake for about 1 hour.

When it's done. Remove cake from cake tin and leave it to cool. You would like to try it when the cake is still warm! while the outer layer of the cake is slightly crispy! Awww~ taste good to the last bite!

if you eat it the next day, it's taste really moisty with a hint of orange zest. a total different experience u must try!

Enjoy! =)

Portuguese Grill @ Oasis, Midvalley

Anyone here likes spicy food? I bet there are!

Well, lots of local stalls serve Portuguese Grill, usually seafood. They'll wrap the seafood of your choice in aluminum foil with their own spicy sauce then take to grill. Not only the seafood freshness is important, the spicy sauce plays a HUGE role in this dish. Many I've tried, a lot of them don't keep their seafood freshness up to standard, and most of them did the spicy sauce very bland.

This particular one I had that taste great! Spicy enough, and yet very distinctive flavor. At all the strange places, can you believe that one of Midvalley's food court actually serves such good food? Haha! It's one of the stall inside The Oasis. Food was so good that every meal break people are queuing up to order. Gosh...

Prawn with Ladies Finger & Petai


Squid with Ladies Finger


Only Ladies Finger
*I know I know... you must be thinking I'm hell of a ladies finger huge fan. But NO! not me! it's my mum!


Look at the crowd!
*note: it's a public holiday where most people aren't here. you should visit during the weekdays then you'll know how PACKED it is.

In terms of price in these kinda places (food court), a lil' pricy though... but yea... it's seafood. So, it's pretty much expected.

Owh! Aside from Midvalley, there's another place that is very famous with this too. Petaling Street!! It's located at the center of the whole street, at where the famous "Longan Loh Hon Guo Leong Shui" is. It opens only at night if not mistaken. I'll introduce it more when I come to it ;)

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Midvalley Megamall
2nd Floor, Center Court.
Near the IT area.
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Ah Koong Eating House @ Jalan Changkat Thambi Dollah, KL

During hari raya, alot of shops are closed including those that are run by chinese (I really wonder what has it got to do with them?). So yea, we couldn't think of anything nice that suits my aunt's taste bud until we thought of this place, Ah Koong Eating House 亚坤纯正西刀鱼丸 at Jalan Changkat Thambi Dollah, nearby Shaw Parade & Time Square.

Fish Cake, Prawn Cake & Etc
*Like most reviews I heard, the fish cake is really bouncy! Taste very fresh as well, nice~


Noodles Soup with fish cake
*Even though it's clear soup, but it's tasty (hope it's not the MSG)
as for the noodles itself so-so lar... not homemade wut...


Mix Ingredients
*I ordered this, not that I fancy noodles so much =P
Did I mention they put mince meat into the soup too? Nice!


Dry Noodles
*Nothing much about this, noodles very soft.

Generally food is not bad here, anything made of fish paste are great! Oh...!! They even have oyster and abalone there as well, not sure how they cook that. They have curry mee, yong toufu... etc. I'll come back again next time =)

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Ah Koong Eating House
Jalan Changkat Thambi Dollah
Near Shaw Parade, behind Berjaya Times Square.
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Yum Char @ Sri Kembangan, Serdang

There's this kopitiam located right behind my aunt's shop, where all the working uncles around that area will go there for lunch or tea-time. It's a Hakka area, Sri Kembangan. This place serves really good drinks which anything you order it's already extra "KAO", where else can you find such place nowadays in KL?? Lots of mamak stall also milo not enough "KAO" even though you repeatedly said "KAO". Aisay... Cannot lar...

So far this is the best places I tried really "kao kao" milo, teh, kopi...etc. I usually order "3 colour tea" a.k.a 三色奶茶 (sam sik lai char), the best I had in so many other places. Accompanied by my all time favorite Roti Bakar... Ahhh~ Mum will order her favorite drink Kopi-O Ice Tarik! I know her kopi sounded weird, but trust me... it taste great!

3 color tea 三色奶茶

Kopi-O Ice Tarik
*Look at the foam on top? It's not milk, It's Kopi-O!

Roti Bakar
*Something I can never have enough

Anyone up for a drink there lemme know ya ;)
Btw, the kopitiam opens until around 4-5pm only, the other food store will be all closed by then as well.

Don't know what to eat @ The Garden, Midvalley

Mum had her lunch early before we decided to do some shopping at Midvalley, so yea... I'll have to decide what I'm gonna have for lunch, myself! Sheesh...

We were at The Garden at first, so what I had in mind? Italianese? Nyonya Colors? Alexis? Mum said that I should go on a budget meal... *sobs*... Okay lorr... I'll go for the food court then =/

I've always liked trying different food varieties other than the usual stuff we find in Malaysia. There's an Iranian stall inside The Garden food court, and that is what I always order when I happen to be there. Not that it is really "WOW!!", but I really liked it! They serve kebab with rice, lamb, beef & chicken (I think), I only go for the set with lamb & beef... Yummy~ ^^



Owh!! One more thing... It supposed to be a budget meal adviced by mum...but yea, just this set is about Rm20. Not a budget meal after all =P


Just before we head to Midvalley, I paid a visit to "Delectable by Su" again. They sell very cute, pretty looking, and of cos' DELICIOUS dessert there. Checking out anything new on the shelf... I just LURVE dessert~ Lookie what I found this time!



Gawd... I didn't check what's this called! But what's important is to know that this taste absolutely GREAT!! Soaked sponge cake topped with cream (custard?) & cubed peaces & pieces of chocolate too! Everything goes really well together, fruity... creamy~ chewy! I'll definitely go there and get 1 again! Can't wait!

What else I tried from their shop? Click here --->> Delectable by Su @ The Garden post

Wanna know more about them? Click Here --->> Delectable By Su

Xenri, Japanese Cuisine @ Old Klang Road *revisit*

During the 2 weeks stay at Perak, when we talk about food someone mentioned sushi!! Oh gawd... this kept me urging for Japanese food for 2 torturing weeks!!

Oh well, since I'm back for good *at the moment*... I can have Japanese meal whenever I want, right? =D

I visited Xenri the 2nd time. Food was still pretty up to standard *smiles* Check out my 1st visit experience!! ---> Here

Otcha
*a must have for a Japanese meal. Cleanses the oil and it won't make you feel too full!


Toufu
*lightly fried in flour batter, top with crisps of not sure whether it's made of squid or fish and soy sauce. You just have to eat it straight away while it's served! Remaining the nice crispy outer layer while eating with the soy sauce soup! *Mmmm*


Mushroom Chawanmushi
*steamed egg with mushroom. Soft & smooth texture with mushroom aroma makes it tasty and yet clear. Mum's fav ;)


Salmon Sashimi
*freshly sliced salmon , nicely presented and preserving the freshness on crushed ice. You just can't have enough of it! Better if served with fresh grounded wasabi instead of powder form ones.


Saba Shio
*Mackerel salt grill. I wouldn't recommend you to order this here at Xenri, fishy taste is a little too strong. Not sure whether does it have to do with the freshness of the fish? I tried better one at "Zen, Sunway Pyramid" (last time lar...)


Seasoned Jelly fish in vinegar
*My FAV!! this was really nicely done! not too sweet, the crunchiness of the jelly fish is still there. Serve with seaweed... perfect!

Axian Dim Sum @ Bandar Puteri, Puchong

I was woken up so early in the morning (to me) by mum, it's 9am and I was asked to go have breakfast. Ugh... I'm having insomia and I don't want to get up lar... @@~ Oh well! It's a good thing I tagged along! We went to Axian Dim Sum last week and didn't get to eat it due to the extreme good business and it's all sold out by 2pm. Gosh... madness...

So, here we are!!

see? look at the crowd!
*FYI* borrowed this pic from somewhere else due to my forgetfulness of not taking the facade of the shop.

Consider alot of people for a weekday at 10am... I wonder why aren't they working? *hmmm* Enjoying life is good anyway =D

Char Siew Pao 叉烧包
*a little too sweet for my liking. Avarage for this.


HAR MAI 招牌蒸虾卖
*instead of siew mai. prawns are fresh!


Crystal GAO
*i skipped this. can't stand the taste of corriander (x_x)


Spring roll 虾卷？
*don't remember how this taste. obviously not memorable...haha


Steamed Pork Ribs 蒸排骨
*my favorite! but it's still an average rating for this!


Crispy Salad Roll 沙律脆皮卷
*very crispy outter layer. NO bad oily taste as well. Not bad~


LAUSA Pao 招牌流沙包
*Looks good. Taste good! most youngsters will love it! One bite and the inner creamy slightly sweeten buttery sauce bursting out! Uwah~~~


WU KOK (Yam) 芋角
*Not too bad. but still not the best one I had. Anyone who likes this would try out the one at Bidor, Perak (*note : will update on Bidor)


Salad Prawn 沙律虾
*Prawns are fresh!


Shanghai SIU LONG Pao 上海小笼包
*The soup inside is not bad, taste is quite light compared to others like "Ding Tai Fung" or "i-dragon".


Crystal HAR GAO 水晶虾饺王
*corriander inside. skipped!

Food was quite good! Especially for the dim sum that uses prawns, it's fresh and crunchy! I guess this Dim Sum shop is mainly known for the prawn dishes. Among so many so called famous dim sum places, food is quite good. The way they designed the space is good too! Need not look high class or some sort, it's Simple yet presentable =)

Food : 7/10
Ambiance : 8/10
Service : 7/10 (don't forget I went there in the middle morning of a weekday)

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Axian Dim Sum
25-G, Jalan Puteri 2/3,
Bandar Puteri, 47100 Puchong, Selangor.
Tel: 03-8063 6866
Business Hours : 7am - 3pm
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Check out Axian's blog! --->> 阿贤人情味 Taste with Jason