Zespri Kiwifruit Fun Day in Bayan Indah

Greetings! Wow, I think its been a while since I blogged with photos from the camera (not from phone) and properly edited and watermarked in PS5. Slowly picking up the speed (hopefully, I always say that but always tak jadi wan la)

Anyway, I was invited to Zespri Kiwifruit Bloggers Day in Bayan Indah. I couldnt reject, Ive always wanted to go to Bayan Indah and I love the gold kiwifruit! Zespri is the worlds leading marketer of kiwifruit, currently managing 30% of the world traded volumes. Zespri is dedicated to providing the best tasting premium quality kiwifruit from more than 2700 current and past passionate growers. Zespri is a New Zealand based company that markets Zespri Kiwifruit to over 70 countries worldwide!

With just one serving (150g) of this amazing kiwifruit, it has over 150% Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) of Vitamin C, Thats 2x more of oranges. We know Vitamin C is a great immune booster, and it enhances the absorption of various important minerals in our body, namely iron and calcium.

Kiwifruit is also packed with fiber that encourages good digestive health. The fibre also enhances positive alteration in our intestinal enzyme which promotes the growth of beneficial bacteria in our guts. It is also low in Glycemic Index (GI) that helps moderate blood gloocose level- making it safe for those with diabetes. (and those watching their weight, like me)

Zespri kiwifruit is also a natural source of folate and potassium, low fat source of Vitamin E and is sodium free. Vitamin E contributes to the protection of cells from oxidative damage and potassium is important for the normal functions of nerves and muscles.

I was late in the morning so I missed some parts of the presentation of the kiwifruit, but I managed to catch a dietician from Sunway Medical Centre explain more about the benefits of this fruit. this small hairy brown fruit, has 5x the nutrition of apples per 100kcal consumption. Maybe now we can say, a kiwifruit a day, keeps the doctor away

After the short presentation, bloggers and media were moved to the main dining and kitchen for the next session of fun. Guess what it is!

Pole dancing! o.m.g!!! The session was conducted by Viva Circus core member, performer and choreographer, Nana (right). Pole dancing is not as easy as it looks! It requires hand strength and core muscle as well. I gave it a try (no pics lol) and oh my, it IS tough.

So after that, we adjourned to our cooking session with celebrity chef Rohani Jelani using kiwifruit creatively in everyday recipes. But before we head into the kitchen, Rohani showed us some tricks to cut the kiwifruit. You may think, aiyah just a small fruit, pick up a knife and cut it can edi la! But did you know theres a stem-like thing at the head of the fruit which is woody. You can cut straight down, but if you slice it, not all t! he way t hrough but circling it, it comes off really easily.

Yup it looks like that after you twist it out.

Chef Rohani Jelani showing us how to julienne cucumber. Which I thought was quite fun! I was in charged to make the salad in our group (of 4) so thank goodness I kept my eyes on the cucumber LOL. She then showed us how to cut more vegetables into strips and then after we proceed to our tables to cook!!

Sonia (Nasi Lemak Lover), me, Veron (Quay Po Cooks) and Evelyn (missyblurkit) were in Group 3. We are well, cutting kiwifruit for our fruit platter. After that, I went on to cut the vegetables for the salad, Veron and Sonia did the Asam Fish Curry with Kiwifruit and Evelyn did the kiwifruit jam!

Sliced vegetables and kiwifruit. PAcked with colours and flavour, Im going to post up the recipe next or you can check out Bayan Indahs FB page.

Toss toss! my favourite, Im all about making creative salads lately so this is definitely a winner for me.

Veron and Sonia and their completed dish! gotta say, smells goooood!!

Using kiwifruit in curry is quite interesting. Its somewhat like adding lychee into curry, or belimbing (starfruit) into curries. Kiwifruit has natural enzyme that can be used as a meat tenderizer (think, marinate) and in this asam curry, it gives it an extra tangyness and sweetness to what originally was a sourish dish.

Me stirring the last few steps for the jam over ice bath, then pouring into the bowl. Eh seriously I look quite slim edi right.. HAHAHA

Kiwifruit jam that Evelyn made. Not sourish at all. These were all made using the green kiwifruit. Maybe you can used gold and green and subsequently use a lesser amount of sugar since the gold kiwifruit is sweeter. Great on crackers or bread

After cooking 4 dishes, we were time for lunch! oh starving.. These 2 dishes were prepared by Rohanis kitchen crew, prawns with mango salsa and chicken cutlets with lemon and kiwifruit sauce to feed us all.

Lunch plate! vibrant colours, protein protein, fruits, fresh veg, spicy! yumm

After that we made our own Zespri Kiwifruit Yogurt stacks. Well they WERE suppose to be stacked like mille feuille but I was being creative so I decided to plate it another way. Well whatever works, as long as it taste yummehh!!

And, also managed to snap a photo with the amazing Rohani Jelani.

(photo from Sonias camera) group shot! Didnt had chance to meet and greet everyone but managed to see a few familiar faces during the event.

Now if youre a big fan of Zespri Kiwifruit, come join in the fun.

I will be giving away 5 pairs of bookmark and keychains to 5 lucky readers residing in Malaysia. All you need to do is be the first 5 to answer these questions correctly.

1. What are the benefits of Zespri Kiwifruit? (just 1 will do)

2. Which celebrity chef conducted the cooking session using Zespri Kiwifruit?

Comment the answers below and dont forget to leave your email address. I will contact you when there are 5.

Ends Sept 30th 2012.

Another special contest, the Zespri Kiwifruit Recipe Challenge.

Create the most creative recipe using Zespri Kiwifruit as the main ingredient and submit it by 24th September 2012.

Winners will be announced on 30th Sept 2012. Top 5 recipes will receive Zespri premiums worth more than RM100.

All entries will be judged by well known celebrity chef, Rohani Jelani.

Send in the recipe with step by step instructions and pictures of ingredients and the final product.

You can submit to hazel@world.com.my / adrian@world.com.my


I cooked: Garlic Buttered Prawns with Tomato and Coriander (MasterChef)

What is your favorite seafood ingredient in the kitchen? Other than the obvious scallops, *ahem* I also love cooking with prawns. We are fortunate that we can get fresh prawns quite easily in KL.Not only are prawns very tasty, theycook very quickly so they make a fast, easy meal. Depending on their size they can cook in under a minute - once the flesh turns pink after cooking, you know it's done.



Last week, I made this garlic buttered prawns with tomato and coriander for our lunch. It was easy to prepare, and very delicious. The addition of lime and tomatoes gave it a nice zing while the chilli gives it a little heat - I couldn't get enough of the sauce and mopped it all up with the bread. You can serve this as an appetizer or tapas-style dish if you're throwing a dinner party. The recipe suggests serving it with fresh bread or tortillas, but it works just as well with regular toast.






Garlic Buttered Prawns with Tomato and Coriander
R! ecipe ad apted from MasterChef Australia -Western Star
Preparation time: 5-10 minutes
Cooking time: less than 5 minutes
Serves 2-3 as an entree or tapas style dish


Ingredients
40g butter
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped / minced
200g king prawns, peeled and deveined, with tails intact
1 small red chilli, finely sliced (optional)
1 tomato, finely chopped
Finely grated zest and juice of 1/2 lime
1/4 cup coriander leaves, torned

1. In a large frying pan over medium high heat, melt butter until foamy. Add garlic and fry for 1 minute until golden brown. Add the chilli and prawns, tossing until the prawn are almost cooked through - about 1 minute.

2.Add tomatoes, lime juice and zest and coriander, cook, tossing for 1 minute.

3.Serve prawns immediately in the pan with fresh bread or tortillas and letguests help themselves.(I served on a regular plate with some toast)




*******************************

I am submitting this to the "Cook Like a MasterChef" bloghop which I am co-hosting with Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Anuja of Simple Baking. To join, simply cook or bake any recipe (from the contestants, judges or even sponsors) from any MasterChef websites or cookbooks (any countries) and blog hop with us for the whole ! month of September 2012.

Your post must be a current post i.e. posted in September 2012 - please do not link older posts.

Please mention Cook like a Star in your post and link back to Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids, Anuja of Simple Baking and Baby Sumo of Eat your heart out.

You can get the HTML code here: get the InLinkz code (Click on the link, copy and paste the HTML code into your blog post where you want the blog hop list to appear. Make sure you are in HTML mode when you paste in the code)

Happy cooking! Do check out the other bloggers recipe below:



Fall Means

Pick apples with friends, share an impromptu picnic, and have our three-year old girls holding hands.

Feeling they are young and innocent.

And happy to being.


8 Quick and Easy Halloween Party Food Ideas

Halloween is the time when our imaginations are let loose and our creativity tested. Most of us are trying to get new ideas about lawn decoration and even Halloween Party Food. When it comes to food, we have a lot of options to choose from.

Desserts are usually the best ones to start with. For this reason, we will be focusing on this course of the meal. I cant imagine Halloween without sweet party foods served. So, let us do our best to make our Halloween Party enjoyable by serving eye catching and good tasting Halloween Party Food.

Here are some Halloween Party Food Ideas that you might want to consider:

1. Bat-Shaped Chocolate Cupcakes

These tasty yet ghastly chocolate cupcakes using chocolate cake mix are decorated with creepy black bats on top. Make the cupcakes using a packet mix, then place two square chocolate mints edge pointing down to make the wings; dark chocolate in the middle for the body. You can use small white `round candies for the eyes

2. Spooky cookies

Make the dough with 4oz each of butter and sugar, a beaten egg and 10 oz plain flour, cook for 10 minutes at 350F. Then it is cut into ghostly figures and decorated as you like. Children will love to help -out in making these.

3. Magic marshmallow brownies

Chunks of marshmallows make this Halloween Party Food addictively good. Mix 8oz melted butter, 5oz melted dark chocolate, 2oz cocoa, 5 beaten eggs and 1lb caster sugar with 5oz chopped marshmallows, cook in a greased 12 inch foil tray for 20 minutes.

Halloween Party Food

photo credit: fkickr.com/tawest64

4. Curdled Blood crispy cakes

These crispy cakes are quick, easy and great for kids. Chop up your favourite chocolate bars such as Mars bars, me! lt with 5oz butter, 4oz rice crispies, 3 oz plain chocolate, spoon into cupcake paper cups and allow to set. This works great with Corn Flakes too.

5. Midnight muffins

This delicious Halloween Party Food takes no time to make and is perfect for baking with children, although you dont have to make them at midnight! Take 2 beaten eggs, 3oz caster sugar, 4oz melted butter, 11oz flour and 2 teaspoon baking powder, blueberries or raspberries, and a pinch of cinnamon. Fill muffin cases and cook for 30 minutes at 350F.

6. Black Magic Cake

Totally spooky dark chocolate Halloween Food suitable for all your Halloween get-togethers; this recipe makes 24 slices. Combine 10 oz flour, 14 oz caster sugar, 3 oz cocoa powder, 2 tsp bicarb soda, 1 tsp baking soda, 2 beaten eggs, cup strong filter coffee, 1.4 cup vegetable oil, 1 tsp vanilla extract. Cook in a greased 8 inch cake tin until form in the middle, at 350F. Decorate as spookily as you wish!

7. Wandering Soul Cakes

This is a traditional Halloween Irish recipe; take 15 oz flour, pinch salt, nutmeg and mixed spice, 7 oz soft butter, 6 oz caster sugar, 8oz sultanas and raisins, a beaten egg and cup milk. Rub in the dry ingredients with the butter, add the fruit and sugar, egg the egg and milk and make a batter. Cook in a greased tray for 15 minutes at 390F. Slice when cooled.

8. Magic Wands and Chocolate Dipped Fright Night Fruit

These magic wands make sweet but crunchy Halloween Party Food. Pretzel sticks are dipped half way into vanilla frosting, and then coated in sugar sprinkles. Serve in little jars so that guests can pick them up easily. Take segments of orange or tangerine, strawberries, sliced apple, or your other favourite fruit and dip half way in melted chocolate, allow to cool before serving with your other party treats.

>>Download the Free eCookbook here<<

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  • Into the Fall

    getting ready for fall

    I feel like I need to see where Ive been in order to figure out where Im going. I mean that in the most food sense of the phrase.

    I need to start thinking about apples instead of peaches, and caramelized onions instead of avocados. I can get there I can totally get there with time.

    Right now, I just want to hold onto these Indian Summer afternoons and gloriously late sunsets.

    Caramelized Mushrooms and Dumplings. Its like Chicken Pot Pie without the chicken and with extra mushrooms and biscuits. Its savory greatness.

    Book Tour Note: I have a feeling that VERMONT will get me into the mood for the Fall holidays. Ill be in Vermont celebrating the King Arthur Grand Opening weekend this coming Saturday, September 22! I would LOVE to see you!

    Ps. I hope to be signing books in Boston in early December. More details to follow!

    getting ready for fall

    The combination of orange and chocolate is my go-to December comfort flavor combination. Chocolate Orange Cream Cheese Pound Cakeis happy breakfasting.

    Chocolate Hazelnut Puddingis reminiscent of Nutella and indulgent as all heck!

    getting ready for fall

    Biscuits are one of the best reasons to turn on your oven. Mushroom and Onion Buttermilk Biscuits. Its time. Its time

    getting ready for fall

    Look at all this Fall flavor madness.

    Geez, Im just trying to prepare you because Im barely prepared myself.

    Vegan Pumpkin Walnut Bread.

    Dads Perfect Sweet Potato Pie.

    Honey Cranberry Cornmeal Quickbread

    Pear Spice Cake with Walnut Praline Topping. Maybe I just want to make the Walnut Praline Topping and serve it with a spoon.

    getting ready for fall

    I feel like these tacos are a bridge between Summer and Winter. Roasted sweet potatoes are combined with ! quick pi cked cabbage, keeping the flavors grounded but bright. Black Bean and Sweet Potato Tacos. I can see it now Im about to eat these for weeks.

    I hope you have the most lovely Sunday night. I hope theres good tv and lots of tacos. Tomorrow: fried guacamole. Saturday: VERMONT!


    Disappointing Stay @ Ri-Yaz Heritage Marina Resort & Spa, Pulau Duyong (Terengganu)

    Being one of the highest-star and highly rated hotel in Terengganu, I had big expectations for Ri-Yaz Heritage Marina Resort & Spa. It was our choice of accomodation for our recent get-away to Kuala Terengganu during the Raya holidays. Overall, the stay could be considered borderline unpleasant a far cry from what was advertised and expected. Ri-Yaz definitely has a number of things to improve on, some which are really just the basics.

    Anjung-Executive-Deluxe

    We booked the Anjung Executive Deluxe for about RM400 a night inclusive of breakfast it is an adjoining unit to the Royal Suite boasting stylish features and equipped with a huge, luxurious bathroom. When we were checking into the room we noticed some plates and utensils laying just outside the door, which we assumed were used by the previous guests and left there by the housekeeping staff. Well, guess what? No one bothered to clear them so they were there the entire time until we checked out the next day.

    Anjung-Room-Bed

    anjung-room

    A quick scan of the room does impress but upon closer inspection we found stains in the shower room, hair clogging the plughole and layers of dust and cobwebs on the air vent of the doors and windows. Even the water heater was malfunctioning the water felt barely warm when we tried to! shower later that day. All of these are not what you would have expected from a supposingly 5-star resort.


    Ri-Yaz-Heritage

    ri-yaz-heritage-resort

    Swimming-Pool

    Ri-Yaz-Swimming-Pool

    Ri-Yaz-Blue-Sky

    Pool

    For us, the only redeeming points of Ri-Yaz would be the privacy, serenity and gorgeous swimming pool. But just so you know, even though Ri-Yaz is located on an island there is no sea view here, just the river view. Facitilies wise I think they are OK but the staff should be there during the stated operating hours. When we tried to use the gym and sauna in the next morning, both areas were still closed (even though it was already almost 20 minutes past the opening hour) and no one was around! . We end ed up having to wait after walking all the way there, quite ridiculous if you ask me.

    verandah-restaurant

    We took our breakfast at the Verandah Restaurant. The food is not bad albeit lacking in choices and the river view is quite a sight to behold. But there is a stupid scene where guests are lining up just for coffee because Ri-Yaz thinks one coffee machine is sufficient to serve the entire resorts guests. Worse still, the machine is a small one and the ground coffee had to be emptied from the tray after every 10 cups or so. It baffles me how a 5-star resort could not identify this as a problem and fix it.

    Ri-Yaz-Reception

    Although we did not have many bags with us and the walking distance to the reception is not very far, we wanted to avoid sweating and feeling uncomfortable for the rest of the day so we requested for a buggy. But when it never arrived after waiting for almost 30 minutes, I just thought f*** it, carried our own bags and walked. At the same time I said to myself this would be the last time we will be staying here.

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