Yummy Malaysiana: 08/28/11

Rise and Shine

How about some yummy muffins to get your Monday started off right. These arent just morning muffins though filled with lots of melty, chocolatey goodness theyre great any time of the day.

Ive been going through my pantry the last few weeks trying to use up some supplies that didnt get any attention while I wasnt feeling well earlier this year. Oreos for cupcakes, three whole bags of chips for these cookies and now some chunks for muffins. For chunky muffins. And I still have several more bars and blocks of chocolate to go through before they expire much more than they are right now.

Not that it would really stop me from using them, but I want to use them before my stash gets out of control. Because I always seem to pick up more thinking I dont have enough at home. Then they stack up. Although I dont keep track, I usually have every type of morsel except the kind I want that day. If I need peanut butter, I have butterscotch. If I need dark, I have milk, but luckily today I had chunky.

Good, because I wanted some muffins filled with chunks of chocolate.

These are so simple to throw together. Stir flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together.

In another bowl, add sour cream, milk, eggs and vanilla.

Then melted butter. Stir that all together

Pour into your flour mixture and stir together until combined.

Chunks. Check.

You can fill regular size baking cups about 3/4 full or

Make your muffins feel special with these fancier tulip baking cups.

These are taller so youll want to fill each cup with more batter.
1/3 cup or more of batter so they wont be too short inside the wrappers.

Lovely.

Let me tell you how I like my muffins. Especially chocolate chip and blueberry muffins I like to eat them warm just out of the oven and with a little added butter tucked inside

so that it melts away making the muffins even more moist and yummy.

I love chocolate chunk muffins. I love muffins period. Well, except ones with raisins. Yuck.
Whats your fave muffin? Poppyseed, bran, cranberry, banana, savory, sweet? Do tell.

Chocolate Chunk Muffins

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup melted butter, cooled slightly
6 oz. semisweet chocolate chunks

Preheat oven to 350 de! grees.
Line muffin tray with 12 regular size baking cups.
In a medium bowl, stir flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together with a wire whisk until combined.
In another bowl, stir sour cream, milk, eggs, vanilla and melted butter. Stir until combined.
Stir in chocolate chunks and divide batter into baking cups.
Bake for about 18-20 minutes or until done.
Makes 12 regular or 9 larger muffins. Bake a couple minutes longer for taller muffins.

Eat them warm and enjoy every last bite.

Canton Village - Taman Prima Sri Gombak

When variety is premium, then Canton Village got the offerings! I will call it a Chinese Cafe with a long menu. Though not really over-priced, be prepared to pay more for the air-con, neat and tidy interior and of course the extensive menu.

Home cooked dishes, hawker's noodles, soups,all manners of desserts and beverages that come from the multi-dialect Chinese' staples. If you want a quick bite, this is the place. I recommend the noodles as it come hot and I feel that it is preparation is more consistent and most important it comes to me hot. For those who have the time to browse, they have a few shelves that stock local products from Bukit Tinggi, Bentong. It seems that Canton Village(s) are branches from the famous Foon Lock Restaurant in Bukit Tinggi.

All manners of noodles. Good stuff and satisfying!

Pan-fried Kembong - would have like it if they at least micro-waved it before serving. But still good.

Try their soups. The signature is the papaya soup which I presumed came from the farms of Bukit Tinggi.

Desserts - everyone favourite.

Address:
113 Jalan Prima SG3/2
Taman Prima Sri Gombak
Batu Caves, Selangor

6:30am - 1:30am

Over the weekend

Ive been meaning to put up another blog post today, but err.. kinda had my hands busy over the weekend.

I update more on Twitter tho, (follow me if you havent already!) and photo apps like Instagram, magic hour and Leme Leme. So, what have I been doing over the weekend??

Sweet Romance a Mandarin white chocolate cake with other surprises inside!

Earl Grey Macarons with blueberry compote buttercream

Kinda on a macaronathon here..

Rendang and Lemang, Popiah and Keropok Lekor from Ramadhan Bazaar..

Met up with Wendy (Table for 2.. or more), Sonia (NasiLemakLover), Ann (Pigpigscorner), Reese (ReeseKitchen) and Veron (QuayPocooks) yesterday as well.. Now since its the holiday season now, traffic will be smoother in the city (hopefully!!)

Heres to wishing all my Muslim friends and readers Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri and to the rest of Malaysians, Happy National Day ! Drive safe ya

guidelines

A homage to fine dining

The starter was Pan Seared Foie Gras... stunning.

LONDON, Aug 29 Not one to miss out on a good opportunity to eat well, and as I was going to be in London, I purchased two vouchers from online dealmakers Travelzoo which would allow us to see how the other half live: for just 70 (RM350), the pair of us could dine in style at the restaurant of the world-famous Waldorf Hilton in Aldwych.

The night we chose to eat there was, coincidentally, the eve of the Royal Wedding, so the evening was memorable not just because of this special treat, but also because the minicab (with strict UK drink/drive laws, this seemed the most sensible way to do it, particularly as the offer also included a glass of champagne aperitifs each) went down the very route that the soon-to-be Duke and Duchess of Cambridge would take the next day.

With its 58-metre (190-feet) frontage, the imposing Edwardian building is currently undergoing major reconstruction, so the entrance was slightly disappointing I had expected a grand foyer. But that was soon put right when we walked into the ground-floor Homage Grand Salon.

The other starter of hand-cut Iberian Jabugo ham.

Despite the understated elegance and the high ceilings from which hang sparkling chandeliers, it is surprisingly cosy, and you really get the feel of grand old-style European cafes, hence the name.

The menu seemed a scaled-down version of the normal a la carte, but offered enough choice to satisfy us to go with the bubbly (Piper Heidsieck, no less), my dining partner chose the Pan-seared Foie Gras with blackcurrant dressing, and I settled for the hand-cut Iberian Jabugo Ham, an entire hock of which was proudly displayed on a sideboard and beckoned to me enticingly. This red, cured, uncooked meat from Spain was tender and ju! icy, alt hough I do vaguely regret not going for their eponymous salad.

At 19 a pop for each starter, we were well on our way to justifying the tickets. And we hadnt even made inroads into the main courses yet, which cost up to 36, although anything beyond 28 had to be topped up.

Pretty swanky eh?

As I opted for the Dover Sole glazed with crayfish bisque and sauted spinach, the most expensive, and when it came apparently the largest item on the menu, it meant I had to pay extra.

The other dish was Veal Medallion with sweetbread (29) and it was excellent. Choices included Guinea Fowl, Pot au Feu of Winter Vegetables, and a selection of grilled items.

For afters, my Mille Feulle was disappointing; it didnt live up to my vision of layers of light-as-air crispy pastry interleafed with cream, but the Lemon Mousse was excellent, cold, tart and sweet.

Wines were, by Malaysian standards, remarkably reasonable: a bottle of Berri-Estates Unoaked Chardonnay cost a mere 29 (RM180). Service was excellent, particularly as French Maitre d Thibault Matherat took the trouble to show us round the rest of the ground floor, which included the spacious Palm Court, scene of many pre-war films, where they have just resurrected their famous tea dances: rather like a Noel Coward play, you can step back in time and partake of Traditional English Afternoon Tea whilst a live 5-piece band entertains you.

It was definitely worth money, and although Travelzoo no longer offers this special price, the experience is certainly something to try next time you are in London.

Salon Grand Homage

The Waldorf Hilton Hotel

Aldwych

London WC2B 4DD

Tel: +44(0)207 836 2400

www.hilton.co.uk/waldorf

Tukka @ West End, Brisbane

Whilst Modern Australian cuisine is making a scene throughout Australia, it hasn't reached the status of representing Australian cuisine. Ask anyone what kind of food they think of in the same sentence as Australia, I am pretty sure the answer would not be fine dining, just yet.

So it was a great task when my brother in law asked what is something representative of Australia (that you can find in Brisbane) that he could not eat back in Malaysia. That was when Tukka came to mind.

Specialising in game meats, this was the place to take someone to eat meats that were rather uniquely Australian; kangaroo, crocodile, emu and so on. I must say that suggestion definitely got myself a pat on the back because the boys were kind of intrigued while the girls were squirming at the thought of eating game meats.

Anyways, back to Tukka.

An amuse bouche of barramundi cerviche was light and bright, with a hint of sweetness. A good start.

When I first googled up on Tukka, it seems like everyone had ordered the tasting platter. In a way its a good choice because there is a lot of native meats, fruits and berries that is definitely not on your everyday dinner plate. The meats ranged from kangaroo prosciutto to cured emu, while an assortment of berries and fruits made their way in the form of! candied and dried and some damper and salad to finish it all off. The damper was a very dense bread roll but what made it so delicious was the macadamia oil and dukkah you eat it with.

Next up was the crocodiletenderloin cured in Daintree vanilla bean, served with fennel remoulade and lemon aspen puree. Its been yonks since I had crocodile meat, going back to the days of studying so it was a refresher to me. Looks like chicken but tasted more like turkey, you wouldn't have thought of anything more until you been told this was crocodile meat.

Kangaroo can be a very tough meat to eat and needs to be cooked perfectly well. Anything past medium rare and it is usually quite hard to chew and swallow. Served alongsiderhubarb and watercress puree, honey glazed parsnips and a lavender jus, this was a very simple dish that focuses on the main meat.

Slow roasted whole goat with a lemon aspen glaze, roasted almonds, seasonal greens and cauliflower puree was rather gamey, eventhough it was cooked to melt in your mouth textur! e. I gue ss despite the care they took in presenting their vegetables, I wonder if presenting the meat that way was a bad idea, making it look like it came out from a tin.

Overall, it was an interesting dinner at Tukka, the dishes looked simple with the focus on the protein and I guess there is always that novelty, especially useful if you bring overseas guest with an adventurous tummy. However, not exactly my cup of tea and definitely wasn't the Wife's too so returning here is rather remote at this stage.

Address and contact details:

Verdict: 3 stars out of 5 stars. I must admit the idea is rather interesting and definitely appeals if you got to find a place to entertain some overseas guests but apart from that, I can't see myself eating crocodile or kangaroo month in and out.

The Wedding of Khek Tjian & Sheryl Wee

27 August 2011 was an important date for Tjian & Sheryl and was a busy day for us too. We came in full force to attend the traditional Chinese Tea ceremony at Subang Jaya and later in the day at Bangi for the grand finale.