And My Arse Keeps Growing

Everytime I get any excuse to eat, I will grab that opportunity to do so. This week is no exception. Plenty of food (mostly good) and the 'permission' to cook more luxurious (read: expensive or at least too expensive to cook on a normal day).

Stuffed Pork Roulade with an Orange Sauce

World's Ugliest Picture of Boeuf Bourguignon

Char Siew

I think it's time I get a new camera. Mine (Olympus FE-5500 is 5 years old and was never good (not even at its prime...). I'm considering a Canon EOS. It takes great pictures but is a bit too bulky for my liking. Suggestions, anyone?

Christmas Dinner 2009

The Verdict

I think it went quite well on the whole! I was especially worried about the meat as I couldn't buy a chunk of meat and only a slice (last time I'm going to that butcher, I guess) so I didn't bother with a recipe but it worked 0_0. I asked Dutchman what his favourite course was, he said the beef. 0_0

Anyhoo, let me tell you what I served:

Italian Prosecco Cocktail (recipe below)

 

Trio of Amuses
- Sage, Leek & Onion Ball, Mousse of Duck Breast (bought), Deviled Egg

Wild Scottish Smoked Salmon with an Asian Dressing (sorry about the bad picture)

Roast Beef (served with roast vegetables and new potatoes)

Panna Cotta with Strawberry Compote

 

 

Coffee with Bon Bons

Happy Holidays!

Two Recipes

One to fill your home with a lovely vanilla-i aroma and the other for the festive season.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are not only simple AND delicious- they are also cheap to make. There is no need for Valrhona Les Féves and everything I used were completely non-premium (right up to to the Euroshopper flour).

Recipe:

170g unsalted butter, melted

16oz A/P flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8oz brown sugar, packed
4oz cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk

16oz semisweet chocolate chips

Oven temp: 180 degrees celscious

Whisk flour, baking soda and salt.

In another bowl, cream melted butter and sugars until well-blended. Then, add the vanilla, egg and egg yolk. Beat for about 2 minutes. Add in flour and mix until lightly incoporated. Stir in chocolate chips.

Roll dough into balls using either a very generous teaspoon-full or a very generous tablespoon-full  (depending on the size you prefer). They spread a little so don't place them too close together. Bake for 8-15 minutes(again, size). Since I like chewy cookies, I bake them at 180 degrees for about 5 minutes and then at 160 degrees until they're done (about 5 more minutes)

Enjoy!

Recipe #2

Sgroppino

500ml prosecco

100ml vodka

lemon sorbet

Optional: lemon slices and/or mint to garnish

Refridgerate everything (sorbet in freezer). Then, whisk everything. Serve immediately

The Trip

I can honestly say that the 10 days in SE Asia was the BEST holiday of my life! I had such an amazing time, with no obligations and got to spend time with people I wanted to spend time with!

2 of my best buds went to Phuket with me. Phuket is not a gorgeous place. Yet, this is one of those trips where company was so good that you'll always think of Phuket fondly.

The short trip to that infamous Thai island was an orgy of massages, facials, drinks and lots of laughter.

Our afternoons were spent lazing on these deck chairs.

Our balcony at Burasari

Burasari pool (where we swam and had cocktails after the beach )

Alex Gaudino !! FREE rave along Patong Beach and one of friend's favourite DJ's was playing

Thai Food (Gai Pad Grapow, Fish Cakes, Duck Curry etc.) We also ate at roadside stalls but no pictures as we didn't usually carry along a bag (camera/phone!).

We also had dinner at Keith Floyd's restaurant at the hotel. We went for the deal (20+ euro per person for 3 courses). Sorry, we totally forgot to take pictures until the main course arrived. Our appetizers were poached eggs in red wine etc., prawn cocktails and French onion soup.

Main:

Tuna Steak. This was so good and didn't taste like fish at all.

Friend's main. Chicken something

Dessert. Not only unremarkable- it was disgusting. Urgh

Would also like to add that we gorged ourselves with Thai satays and those crunchy pancakes sold on carts. Drinks (alcoholic) were quite cheap. The half-naked girls dancing with glazed eyes were disturbing. The facials (50+ euro each) were relaxing but no extraction so I had to pay for another facial when I got back to KL (luckily very cheap. Only 20 euro ^^ ).

Had a great, great time with my girls.

P/S: Thanks for your suggestions to my previous post!

An Update & Cry For Help!

Hi girls,

I'll be cooking a fancy meal for Dutchman on Christmas day and I need to know what you think of the menu below. Some things to take note:

* I don't want to be stuck in the kitchen all day
* Has to look pretty
* Not too expensive
* Ingredients not too difficult to obtain
* No shellfish or mushrooms (Dutchman hates them)

The menu

Amuse ( don't know, suggestions?)

Sage, leek & onion balls

Smoked Salmon

Roast Beef (again, suggestions on marinades and so forth, please? Tried & tested recipes online?)

Dessert (helppppp... no cakes/no tarts. Something light. Dutch people have cake & pies with coffee/tea either at teatime or at around 8/9pm. Dessert is usually something lighter )

Coffee & Bon Bons/ Petit Fours

Continuation

of our dinner at Sage, The Gardens

Forgot to say that we had a bottle of pink Moet & Chandon champagne

Quail Pate en croute with Foei Gras

 

Angus Beef

Gindara cod with Foie Gras

Wagyu Cheek

Lamb - star of the night.

Something to do with apples. I really should take notes next time!

Strawberry Mascarpone

Almond Tart (I think)

Valhrona Chocolate Tart

Dinner @ SAGE

Malaysia is awesome. I had such a wonderful time. I'll be leaving in 30 minutes and I'm missing it already.

The girls and I had dinner at Sage last night.

Short entry due to my trip home:

Salmon Tartare with Kanten Jelly

Hokkaido Scallops

Foie Gras

Wagyu Carpaccio

Smoked Salmon

Rest of the meal will be posted later! See you in The Netherlands!

Sinterklaas Dinner 2009

As mentioned before, Dutchman cooks a proper meal for me on December 5th every year. Dutchman never cooks (only about once every 3 months, mostly spaghetti from a packet or potatoes mashed with curly kale) but he impresses me every time!

Frisian roggebrood (rye bread) with applestroop (apple butter) and pate
Very good! I plan to make more of these when people come over. Simple and tasty

Smoked rainbow trout on a bed of peas mashed with lamb bouillon, creme fraiche and who knows what else. It was amazing. Went well together and the peas didn't taste like peas. It was very mild which is why it went wonderfully with the salty fish.

Ossenhaas Carpaccio. It was good but I prefer carpaccio with capers

Looks Polish, right!? Haha This was somewhat of a disappointment. Mind you, it was LOVELY but probably more suitable for another occassion as it doesn't look pretty. Dutchman ordered Texelse Lams (the best lamb you can get in The Netherlands. They're from Texel Island and quite difficult to find) which he stewed. He served the lamb with a potato omelette, salad and vegetables from the stew (awesome). The lamb was tender- absolutely beautiful, but I did think it was a waste of rib-eye. I mean it's Texel lamb for goodness sake! :P

Dessert was a trio of fruity mascarpone (peach, strawberry and mango). Light and full of flavour.

We finished off with coffee and bon bons.

All dishes were accompanied by:

We fell asleep immediately after the dinner because we were so tired. Great evening. Thanks, Dutchman!

Wow

Am I busy or what! Have to finish all my homework before I leave for Malaysia on Monday. I'm looking forward to it but... just knowing I have all these tasks lined up for me to complete today is stressful!

Although I've been cooking quite a few meals  (and eating lots of prawns at this lovely 'brown' restaurant. Very reasonable at 20 euro per person for as much shrimps as you can eat), I haven't been very good at taking pictures!

Some updates:

i) I paid someone to write Sinterklaas poems for me (shame on me:( )
ii) Pangkor Laut is out of the picture. Going to Phuket instead.
iii) I am so looking forward to dishes, curries, chilli garam, asam laksa and char kuey teow.
iv) Going to Sage with friends for dinner yum yum
v) Gonna have an awesome dinner tonight as well, it's a surprise so I'll have to wait and see
vi) My new favourite weekday dinner is penne with green pesto, smoked chicken, arugula and cherry tomatos.
vii) Malaysian Megal SALE!
viii) Can't wait for civilization (haha) again. Staying in a small town (only 100 000+ people) is not very convenient. Shops close at 6pm, aren't open most Sundays and there's never anything to do at night except drink yourself to death, watch an old movie (delayed 6 months-1 year here) or eat out (not really the culture so many people don't really want to spend money on it).

Some random homecooked meals in the last week or so:

Entrecoté with crunchy,curried potatoes and Italian salad

Rainbow Trout with Fennel

Roast Piri Piri Chicken with rosemary potatoes and boiled vegetables

If I have time, I'll be posting up photos of dinner tonight. Dutchman is cooking. If not, see you in a week!