365 Challenge : Saute green asparagus

2nd post of the 365 Challenge- Saute Green Asparagus

If youve missed what its all about, you can check out my first post here (The one with Mussels in Sauce Poulette)

This dish, uses asparagus (duh) and lemon thyme. Ive always wondered how lemon thyme would smell or taste like but I didnt want to buy it without know what to do with it (Though I do it ALLL THE TIMEEEE) Its kinda crazy coincidence to see the dish unpicked for the challenge. I picked it and bought some asparagus.

It requires cooking asparagus the non-usual-way-of-blanching-them, sorta like a stir fry but with lemon thyme. And you know, lemon and asparagus always worked very well together.. Like Asparagus with hollandaise sauce? or asparagus just as it is with lemon zest? But to my discovery, lemon thyme doesnt smell very much lemony. there is a hint, but a very faint hint.

Now I have to figure what am I going to do with the remaining sprigs of lemon thyme.

Maybe I got older asparagus, I do think blanching them then dip in ice water retains the colour of the asparagus best. Nevertheless, any vege is good for you.

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Cafe & Restaurant Sakura Kristal

In the neighbourhood of Ulu Kelang Taman Melawati stands an outstanding structure where you can find a good eating place serving good food called Sakura Kristal.

A pleasant ambiance of Sakura Kristal.

Crispy Wanton - it was a good starter warm with steam coming out of the wanton as you bite it. The ingredient of the wanton was fresh and delicious.

Fried Oriental Chicken Wings - Juicy & yummy in the inside of the wings.

Brinjal Special - one of the signature dishes at this eating place. Must try.

Fried Mixed Veggie- a good choice and combination for the lunch.

Sakura Butter Sauce Prawn - the prawns were fresh & tasty. I like it very much.

Indonesian Fried Rice

Strawberry Tower

Chocolate Buffalo

There will be a few new outlets coming up in the near future and if you are keen to start this business you can check it out the franchise opportunity.

Cafe & Restaurant Sakura Kristal
No.301, Jalan Bandar 11, Taman Melawati,
53100 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-4108 5897

GPS : 3.211417,101.746471

Dago Panyawangan (Bandung)

Dago Panyawangan is a Sundanese restaurant in Bandung catering mostly to tourists, who come by dozens in Pariwisata buses. This is the kind of venue that local people probably never visit.

The restaurant is a copy of what other touristic places in Bali are like, with bamboo walls, a small pond and gamelan music. If you ask me, it is too big and it definitely lacks charm.

Though I'm usually not a big fan of such venues, I was quite surprised to find that my food was very decent and presented nicely. It remains much more expensive than other similar restaurants in Bandung, but at least you don't eat garbage. The waiter also was very friendly and professional.

Overall, I think there are many restaurants in Bandung that are worth trying before even considering Dago Panyawangan. Yet, if you don't know where else to go, it isn't a bad choice after all.

Restaurant Dago Panyawangan (Bandung)
Jl. Ir. H. Juanda (Dago) No. 137
Cibeunying, Bandung 40132

Phone: 62-22-250 7551
Fax: 62-22-2502161

New Ilalang Caf (Bandung)

New Ilalang caf is a nice restaurant in Bandung, surrounded by a pretty garden. The whole place has a Balinese feel, with some (loud) gamelan music playing and a lot of wood furniture.

The menu is large, with a mix of Indonesian and international dishes. I recommend you to stick to the local food though since the standards for western food are usually pretty low in Bandung. I paid Rp80,000 for a grillet giant gourami (gurame bakar in Indonesian), which is more expensive than in another place I tried in Bandung, Daun Pisang, and not as tasty. The juices are excellent though and good-value (Rp15,000).

Overall, I still recommend Ilalang restaurant for its relaxing atmosphere, a treat in busy Bandung..

Also, be careful with mosquitoes, especially at sunset... Bring repellent or wear pants..

Opening hours:! From Mo nday to Friday: 10am to 10pm (11pm on weekends)

New Ilalang caf and Resto
Segitiga Bungur
Jalan Karang Layung No 24

Tel: +62-22 203 0336
Fax: +62-22 203 1277

The Goliath Burger Challenge @ The Frame, Sunway Pyramid

Just few hours ago, I was the kay-poh friend who went to support an insane dude Sam, who coincidentally is known as Sam Insanity for his quest to beat the Goliath Challenge at The Frames Cafe located at Sunway Pyramid.

Let me start by giving you the low-down of this burger.
Known as the Goliath this humongous burger pales in comparison to the one at EuroDeli (check that one out HERE . We had 10 contestants for that one!) as the Matterhorn was larger by size & weight alone. However, what made the Goliath burger deadly was the mound of 500g of fries, and the 1.5l rootbeer with 3 scoops of vanilla ice cream! I kid you not!
All that to be chowed down in 30 mins FLAT.

The Goliath Challenge:

Breakdown of the Goliath Burger.

Bun 3 slices
4 fried eggs
3 slices of processed cheese
500g fries
1.5l of root beer with 3 scoops of vanilla ice cream
300g x 3 patties chicken/beef (TOTAL 900g of meat)
Loads of mayo
Vegetables lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber

Bun layered with cheese, then egg, then patty, then.. well..it goes on

The deal is this:

Finish EVERYTHING within 30 minutes and you will stand a chance to win the RM500 cash prize & your friends/supporters you brought along with you will get a 50% discount of their order (F&B) if the challenger wins.

The contenders of the night: Sam Insanity & Mike Yip.

Check out the video of the size of the burger:

Starting the chowdown.Sam started on his burger with knife & fork. LOL!
Slow & easy, he said.

Mikes strategy was to eat part by part..starting with the top bun and working himself through the patty and so forth.

After 15 minutes.. Hahahaha!

Another 5 mins later.. ROFL.

Sams burger was pulverized after a whileso much for slow and easy huh.. ;p

But seriously, the burger wasmanageable, and it tasted much better than the Matterhorn at EuroDeli so it was much morepalatablefor both Sam & Mike.

Still, both of them nearly died from the Goliath.

So did they win? Did both of them finish their burgers??

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Sam was SO CLOSE. It was just the fries left! Another 10 minutes & he would have won!

Mike, however, still had a long way to goIm sure he could have finished it as well, but he had a very big lunch few hours before as this was quite a last minute & random plan. I guess both of them were not as prepared as they should be!

No waste of food, Id say. I started to help myself to the remainder of the burger! Hahahaa..!

Contest ends: 26th of April, 2011. Yup, contest period is over!

No worries though, for those who are keen to take on a similar challenge, check out Tony Romas Wagyu Burger contest!

Anyone up for it ? Do tell me! I want to kay-poh!

For our previous Matterhorn Challenge, check it outHERE.

Cape Gooseberries And A Spring Panzanella

Sometimes a simple aqua-colored paper box filled with golden gooseberries is enough to brighten my day.

"Oh I haven't seen these since my summer in Portugal!" I gushed as soon as I saw them. There they were. Cape gooseberries wrapped in their wrinkled, papery, brown-colored shell. "I have no idea what I will do with them, but I need them" I told Jody. I am still amazed of all the wonderful things she grows.



When I arrived home, the kids were intrigued by the little fruits. "Can I try one amatxu?" Jon asked. I loved his curiosity, although I had a feeling he wasn't going to be very keen on them. He squinted and shook his head. "I think I am going to cook them in a little bit of sugar" I told him. "That would be better, I think" he replied.

Cape gooseberries, also know as physalis, are closely related to tomatillos and other plants such as tomatoes, eggplants, and potatoes. It is full of tiny seeds and when ripe, it is very bright yellow and very sweet. Although it is often times used as a garnish for desserts, I think this doesn't really do it much justice. It makes great pies and jams and I have also seen many cakes recipes with them.



I decided to poach the gooseberries in a light sugar syrup as some of them were still not fully ripe. I made honey and yogurt panna cotta and served the poached gooseberries on top.

It was Easter weekend after all and I wanted something very Spring-like. Something with lots of greens and color.

Along with some of our neighbors, we put together a small egg-hunt for the kids. Lots of tattoos, stickers, mighty beans, and an occasional tootsie roll that Miren tried to hide in her shoe.

I had to confiscate a few.



I had some leftover gluten-free hearty bread that I rubbed with garlic and toasted with some olive oil. Perfect croutons for a spring panzanella salad. Shredded zucchini that almost looks like pasta, blanched asparagus tips, shaved fennel, garlicky croutons, and watercress made a perfect lunch.



Spring Panzanella Salad

Serves 3

3 slices hearty seed bread (I made my own)
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 plus 2 tbs cup olive oil, divided
1/2 cup green asparagus tips
1/2 fennel bulb, thinly slices
1 zucchini, grated into long strands
1 cup watercress
1 small spring onion, thinly sliced
1 Tbs lemon juice
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 325F.

Rub the sliced of bread with the raw garlic. Dice the bread into 1/2 inch cubes. Toss them with 2 Tbs olive oil and bake them for 10 minutes until golden and crunchy.

Blanch the asparagus tips in salted boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and shock them in ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain them.

Toss the bread croutons, asparagus, fennel, zucchini, watercress, and spring onion in a large bowl. Add the lemon juice, rest of olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss the salad and let it stand at room temperature for 10 minutes for all the flavors to macerate. Serve immediately.

Yogurt and Honey Panna Cotta

2 cups (500 ml) heavy cream
1/2 cup (100 grams) natural cane sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthw! ise and scraped
3 sheets gelatin
1 cup (250 ml) full fat Greek-style yogurt
1/4 cup good-quality honey (I used acacia honey)

In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla bean until it comes to a simmer. Remove from heat.

In the meantime, soak the gelatin in ice water for 5 minutes. Squeeze out excess water and add the gelatin to the hot cream. Whisk to dissolve. Pour this into a clean bowl and let it cool for 5 minutes. Add the yogurt and whisk well.

Spoon about 1 Tbs of honey into each glass jar. Pour the panna cotta on top and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or until completely set.

Poached Gooseberries

1 cup (250 ml) water
1/2 cup (100 grams) natural cane sugar
1 cup cape gooseberries, outter shell removed

In a small saucepan, heat the water and sugar together over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Add the gooseberries and cook for 2 minutes or until they start to lightly pop. Spoon them out of the syrup and cool them slightly.

Serve them on top of the panna cotta.

Ben's General Food Store

Ben's General Food Store: Round Two. Earlier entry: April 25.

Fittingly, the fiery color of crimson dominates this entry, reflecting our burning enthusiasm for the food at BGFS _ even this bringer of bad breath: a Tuscan summer salad of crunchy panzanella bread, capsicum, capers & basil with (hold your nose!) onions, garlic & anchovies.

We usually shun lasagna, a dish that often bears the scarlet letter of cheesy shame. But this luscious, not-overwhelmingly-tangy preparation is a nice reminder of the best moments in our mid-1990s love affair with bechamel-soaked sheets of pasta.

Roasted cod fish & pineapples with green chilli, cucumbers, tomatoes, coriander & coconut milk. Would work wonderfully with a pina colada (a less-than-subtle hint that we'd love to see cocktails surface on the menu here someday).

Moroccan lamb meatballs. Pleasantly mushy, with nary a hint of gaminess. This would partner perfectly with a Bloody Mary (or two, if you've had a bad day).

Roasted beetroot, walnuts & white beans. A terrific treat for beet-lovers, one of KL's most woefully neglected communities.

Finally, what could be redder than red wine? It's not on the menu so far, but customers can hop to Village Grocer, buy a bottle and drink it here (corkage is RM30).

Ben's General Food Store,

Bangsar Village, Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-2284-8790