Oatmeal Muffins

These muffins are a good-bye kiss from my workhorse of an oven. The last hurrah. Although, not much to look at, I have a lot to thank it for. We've survived two cookbooks together, a thousand meals, and unlike some other stoves I've lived with - this one was easy-going, not particularly temperamental. I'll miss it. I'm going to miss all sorts of things about this apartment, but now's not the time to get sentimental on you. There are more boxes to pack. The muffins? They're crazy-good-substantial-notlikecake. Crumble-topped with an oatmeal and yogurt base. They're a bit custard-y when hot, and not-at-all when cooled. Craggy, golden-topped - the perfect send-off.

I couldn't resist putting a crumble on these, the same one from the Tutti-Frutti Crumble in Super Natural Every Day. The muffins themselves don't come across as particularly sweet, but you get a nice amount of sweetness from the topping. Overall, I would say, the muffins might classify as lightly-sweetened, which is what I like. That said, you could add a drizzle of honey or maple syrup to the wet ingredients if you think you might want a slightly sweeter punch to these. Or stir in some sweet fruit.

I kept these pretty straight forward - rolled oats, yogurt, etc. You could take them in a thousand directions with different spice combination, or citrus zest, or add-ins like seeds, or berries, or dried fruit. The most important thing though is this - pop them out of the pan as soon as you can after baking. Let them cool outside the pan on a baking rack. In the pan they steam, and! it will impact the texture of the muffins. And not in a good way...

I hope you like them. And hopefully, the next time I post it'll be from a new address! Thanks for all your nice notes regarding the move. I can't believe how many of you are in the middle of the same thing. Hope you're having as much fun as I am ;) Oh - and a quick update. Books from the new shipments of Super Natural Every Day will be available any time now - fingers crossed. A bunch of places are sold out (thank you!!!), but that should be remedied soon. I'll give you all the heads up when it is back in stock. -h

Continue reading Oatmeal Muffins...

Rawang Steam Fish (Re-visit) @ Rampai Business Park

The kids were hungry and cannot afford to travel too far for dinner, they claimed they have missed lunch at home as the parent were out shopping. They deserved it. They preferred to stay back at home & play computer and refused to follow the old folks out.

Before the foods are being served we helped ourselves with the Chinese tea and our own concoction of garlic & cabai burung.

Steam herbal chicken was averagely palatable.! < /div>

The must try dish of Rawang Steam Fish of tilapia fish with lot of chopped ginger & cabai burung (mini chilli) to spice up a taste of good steam fish.

Deep fried pork ribs were tough to bite but the French beans were crunchy & nice to bite.

Egg Omelette an all time favourite for the family.

Restoran Rawang Steamfish

32, Jalan Rampai Niaga 4

Rampai Business park

Kuala Lumpur

GPS : 3.198773,101.728869

Learn About Coffee At Mbuji Cafe

Every morning most people will start it off with a cup of coffee. But do you know that a good cup of coffee includes a range of few single origin beans mixed together which called a blend?

Those that sold in Starbucks, Gloria Jeans and so on were already premixed ahead without telling you what beans goes in and drink as it is.

Rank #2 as the most traded items in the world after petroleum, coffee comes with a daily price fluctuation.

Coffee is very subjective to each individual. You either like it or dont like it. Some may say they dont drink coffee as they cant sleep later. I agree with that statement. However I am immured to coffee. I will have trouble sleeping if I drink a can of Coke before going to sleep.

Theres a place where I recently invited to learn about coffee which located in Carrefour Hypermarket Subang Jaya.

The place is called Mbuji Cafe (Pronounced as Boo Ji)

The name come after a place located in Africa where theres a nice hill portrait on the wall of this cafe.

The place were decorated in African Safari theme with all the cushion wrapped in Zebra/cheetah patterns.

The Coffee expert My Gus Savvas explaining the types of coffee beans from around the world plus how coffee were created in history.

We were fortunate enough to meet a special coffee expert Mr Gus Savvas where he travel around the world to buy coffee and also determine the value of the beans.

Before we go into the heavy coffee testing, we were having some foods that served in Mbuji restaurant which I find pretty good for a cafe.

A plate of fresh turnips with sweet sauce and crushed peanuts

Wild Mushroom Soups with crutons

Fragrant Onion Soup

Fresh Tossed Caesar Salad!

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Buffalo Wings

Nachos with cheese .. yummy! My all time favorite

Awesome quesadillas

Fresh baked bruchetas anyone?

After the light meals, we were heading for the coffee tasting session where we were served with fresh baked brownies and dates. These sweet desserts is used to neutralize the coffee after taste that stay in your mouth later.

Gokuraku Ramen

A cheerfully non-halal restaurant that we wanted to love but ended up barely liking, despite the briskly efficient service that's well worth a mention.

Ultimate Tonkotsu Ramen with char siew, egg, black fungus, spring onions, leek, bamboo shoots, seaweed & garlic oil. Had the vital ingredients, but we prefer the recipes at Fahrenheit 88's Marutama Ramen & Jaya One's Mai Ramen. The noodles here were chewier, like kolo mee, while the broth seemed to have pervasive overtones of pork liver (love it? hate it?). The eggs felt like ordinary hard-boiled ones, instead of the flavorsome seasoned versions.

Ishiyaki Rice, featuring garlic fried rice topped with raw egg & minced pork in a stone pot. Looked alluring, but we had mixed feelings about this too. Hearty enough for carb-lovers, but not particularly addictive. Paled in comparison to, say, paella or bibimbap.

Brea ded octopus tentacles. Crisp, but a little too starchy. Not our kinda thing, that's all.

Grilled skewered pork belly (somewhat stinky) & chicken skin (somewhat dried out).

No sake, shochu or wine is available, so Asahi beer is the sole recourse for booze devotees.

Goku Raku Ramen,

S25-S26, Level 2, North Court, Mid Valley Megamall.

Pork Noodles @ Bandar Sri Menjalara, Kepong

One late morning, I found myself at uncharted territory i.e. Kepong. With a grumbling tummy, I knew I had to seek for some sustenance hence I vaguely remembered reading about De Champion Duck before. I did make it to the place but it was just way to early for lunch that the place was quiet like a church mouse. Instead what grabbed my attention was the crowd surrounding the corner pork noodle stall just a few doors away from it. I decided instead to throw caution to the wind and give the place a try.
It was a lucky strike as this place specialises in pork noodles that came with everything in it...i.e. those spare parts including rare objects such as kidney and cubes ofpig'sblood. Since I was eating with an empty tummy, I did get a little greedy and ordered everything on the table for RM11. Just a little bit of something to give it a try. Hence I ended up with a huge bowl of minced pork, pork slices, liver, kidney, pig's blood and etc. The soup wasn't too sweet with not much MSG. Really wholesome food and I really enjoyed the mince pork they shaped into flat patties - very juicy and slightly sweet. I reckon the next time I'm here, it is the normal bowl of pork noodles for RM4.50 instead since it already contains my favourite minced pork patty. The stall also does pork balls served with bittergourd slices that sounds super yummy. I guess if you want to sniff out good food, just trust the locals to pick a winner.


Pork Nood! le Stall
16, Jalan 3/62
Medan Putra 3
Bandar Sri Menjalara
Kepong


Tel: 016-204 1276/012-671 2797


(Non Halal. Open from 7am to 3.45pm daily. The flickr set is here.)


*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. This review is time sensitive; changes may occur to the place later on that can affect this opinion. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from this place for writing the review.

Astrolabe Wine Dinner @ Senses, Hilton KL

Astrolabe Wine Dinner

21st May 2011

5 Course Menu RM 318++ per person

David Coleman of Rubicon Reserve Wines was in town a couple of weeks ago and he was introducing Astrolabe Wines to Kuala Lumpur. Id worked with David once before, and it was a fascinating learning experience. Mastering the art of sabering a champagne bottle whist being educated on the subtleties of pairing New Zealand Wines with local cuisine. I walked away that day a little tipsy as I got on the plane back to KL from Singapore, and a little more enlightened on the complex flavours of white wines.

Astrolabe Wines hail from the land even down-nee-er than the land down under. New Zealand. Jason Yank (General Manager, Astrolabe) enraptured us with both his knowledge of Astrolabe wines, as well as tales of how the wine came to be. Simon Waghorn, owner of the winery, apparently chose the name because the vineyards of Astrolabe are located the Marlborough coast. The name Astrolabe comes from both a navigation device, as well as the ship that discovered the region.

They chose Senses at Hilton KL as the venue to host the debut of Astrolabe wines to the KL dining scene. Who better than award winning Chef Michael Elfwing aka Lil Chef, to prepare the feast that would accompany award winning wines? A perfect match.

The company was sterling that evening, and I was so pleased Fatboybakes, A Whiff of Lemongrass, Masak-masak and Splashie Boy were there to keep me company.

Canap

New Zealand Pacific Oyster with passion fruit dressing

Szigeti Gru! ner Velt liner

The sparkling wine was not one of Astrolabes own, as they dont make them. Rubicon chose to tickle our tastebuds with an Austrian bubbly that hit all the right spots. Acidic, bubbly, tart. Perfect complement to the citrusy dressing that smothered the plump, juicy oyster. Lovely aftertastes of the sea lingered on my tongue, but not for long as I sipped the last of my Szigeti and we were ushered into the main dining room.

Terroir

Escargot, smoked duck, clay baked potato

Astrolabe Pinot Gris 2009

The Pinot Gris I found to be a little musky, yet citrusy It reminded me of the woods, in spring, when plants are busy growing and you stick your nose around to smell flowers and leaves, and start sneezing s a result. In a good way, of course! I thought it went beautifully with the earthy ingredients it was paired with.

In terms of food, how much more down-to-earth can you get than snails, smoke and clay?

Sauvignon v/s Seafood

Gurnard with sea garnish

Astrolabe Voyage Sauvignon Blanc 2010

Snow crab

Astrolabe Awatere Sauvignon Blanc 2010

Little neck clams, garlic & parsley

Astrolabe Kekerengue Coast Sauvignon Blanc 2010

Three outstanding wines lined up in unison with three outstanding dishes. All served up respectively, in a row.

It was difficult to choose my favourite wine, but I finally decided on the Kekerengue Coast Savignon Blanc. It just had a bit more character than the other two, and a bit more spice to every sip. I found it something a little unusual, and very pleasant to drink with all the seafood we had in front of us.

Gurnard is quite an ugly fish to look at raw, but when cooked it tastes so good the meat quite compact and slightly salty, beautiful with smoth parsley butter and fresh mussel. The crab was meaty and flaky, with a pleasant sweetness to the flesh. The clams, steamed and served in a transparent plastic wrap, were deliciously savoury, swimming in a garlicky broth.

NZ King Salmon

Horopito & Sarawak Pepper spiced NZ king salmon quenelle with sorrel beurre blanc

Astrolabe Chardonnay 2007

The salmon was exquisite! The sauce light and creamy yet rich in flavor infused from the roe. The crisp skin provided lovely bite to the smoothness of the pink flesh, while the velvety butter sauce just slid happily down my throat.

Im not a fan of Chardonnay, because it tends to be very oaky, but this one tasted more fruity, with a long, dry finish, and was well matched with the dish.

Quail & Veal

Boneless quail, veal & summer truffles

Astrolabe Voyage Pinot Noir 2008

I love quail. I love veal. I love truffles. And I especially love Pinot Noir!

Theres something very sultry about this particular type of wine, and Astrolabes Voyage Pinot Noir was every bit as seductive in taste as it smelt. Hints of smokiness and cherrys wafted out from the glass as I swirled it, and wait what was that I tasted? Orange peel? Im not sure, but this deep red wine was complex in so many flavours, yet easy on the palate. And, it enhanced the juicy, tender meats as well as brought out the woody, earthy tones of the summer truffles.

Love d it.

Pear & Cheese

Poached organic Beurre Bosc pears, brie ice cream & blue cheese puff pastry

Astrolabe Gewurztraminer 2009

Last, but not least, dessert. I usually skip dessert, dont like sweet stuff and normally go for cheese. This one though, I felt as if Lil Chef had made it just for me! The delicate balance of fruity sweetness from the fragile pears that were perfectly poached in two styles, coupled with the creamy, rich flavor of ripe cheese and the light, flaky, slightly salty and heady blue cheese pastry ahh.

A perfect savoury dessert washed down with the sweet, fruity wine.

A perfect end, to a perfect wine dinner.

Thank you so much David, and Jason, for the kind invitation!

All wines are available exclusively to Kuala Lumpur Hilton and American Express Platinum cardholders. For more information or to order, check out www.rubichonreservewines.com

For latest promotions at KL Hilton check out www.life.hiltonkl.com