Banana Walnut Waffles

I dont have one single recipe memorized.

Actually wait. I have the recipe for a Bourbon and Ginger Ale memorized. Thats two ingredients. That doesnt really count.

I dont have one single baking recipe set to memory. Not my Dads Buttermilk Biscuit recipe. Not my favorite pancake recipe. Not the best Creme Fraiche Quiche ever. None of those are in my brain.

What I do have in my brain is: my best friends parents phone number, from 1988, the license plate number for my first car, and every single lyric to Blues Travelers Hook.

Wwwwhhhhyyyyy?

Can we erase these three useless pieces of information, and replace them with: a buttermilk biscuit recipe, the quadratic equation, and something awesomely conversational like the lifespan of the beluga whale. That would be better, dont you think?

Waffles for two.

You know just like every day in your house, right?

I know. Me neither. Its just that sometimes you need to make Tuesday special.

Maple syrup helps tremendously.

In real life, it was waffle for three, right next to the front door with lots of natural light. Whatevs.

Banana Walnut Waffles

serves 4

Print this Recipe!

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

cup packed brown sugar

2/3 cups canola or vegetable oil

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup mashed banana

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Set your waffle iron in a level, clean surface and turn on to preheat.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and brown sugar.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, vanilla extract buttermilk, bananas, and walnuts. Add the wet ingredients, all at once to the dry ingredients. Stir until just incorporated. Try not to over-mix the batter. If a few lumps remain in the batter, thats ok.

Cook according to your waffle machine instructions.

Serve with warm maple syrup. Waffles are best served immediately.

Note: Allow waffles to cool completely. Store them in pairs in ziplock bags and store in the freezer. In the morning, gently reheat waffles in the toaster or toaster oven. Best toaster breakfast ever.

Baking For Elizabeth Mah, and Thank You Aunty Choong

Those of you who follow this blog would know that recently I had run a "campaign" to raise funds for my dear friend, Liz's, cancer treatment. The "Baking For Elizabeth Mah" had a fantastic 2 week run, and in the process, so many wonderful and generous people have shown such concern. Cake customers who gave more than the stated price, friends who gave envelopes of cash with get well notes, customers who took time to dispense advice and suggestions. It really was a wonderful to know there are so many such people out there, and it restores faith in humanity in even the greatest of cynics.

I would also like to make special note of thanks to this kind, warm and generous friend of the family, whom we shall refer to as Aunty Choong. It so happened that Aunty was going to have a costume jewellery "show" with a tea party hosted by my mother, and for some reason or other, she decided to open my blog (which she hasn't done in 2 years) to see "what I was up to these days". It was then that she stumbled across the Baking for Liz thing, and she decided to donate ALL the proceeds from that day's sales for Liz's treatment. Praise God for her generosity.

Anyway, I know this is a food blog, basically, but I would like to show some of the stuff she sold, and the amazing thing is, all these creations are made by her personally, handcrafted lovingly, into the wee hours of the morning, fuelled by a passion, and creativity that is truly amazing.

Of course, I am not a jewellery or costume jewellery person, so I shall not have any commentary on the fine wares here....





You can also view the professionally taken pics of the stuff that was sold HERE.








Of course, refreshments are served to all the friends who came, and yes, there were cakes from Fatboybakes too.










































As of the time of this posting, Liz & husband Henry have managed to reach their targetted amount of RM250K from various sources. At the moment, Liz's right lung has collapsed, and she is breathing with one lung, with the help of the oxygen machine. She r! emains o ptimistic that she will be healed, and has great faith that the Lord Almighty will heal her. Our church and its members continue to pray for her healing, and recovery.

Specialty Noodles & Roast Pork @ Restaurant Kuala Lipis Noodle, Sunway Mas PJ

Kuala Lipis Noodle is the latest restaurant to open at Sunway Mas, PJ. It is a family business and their specialties are none other than their self-made specialty noodle, roast pork and char siew.

The dark minced meat specialty noodle @ RM4 is nothing like I have eaten before. It looks like a thicker version of laksa noodle but it feels more dense, doesnt break off easily hence the more Q texture. More importantly, it is free of preservatives, no additives and no funny alkaline taste just a plain good ol noodle. The non pretentious minced meat topping has a strong flavor with a hint of sweetness, which emits an inviting aroma when it is still hot.

But to be honest, the noodle is quite boring if eaten just with the minced meat alone. Thats when the special chilli paste comes into play. The idea is to mix a generous amount of the chilli paste into the noodle like chilli pan mee and taste a world of difference. But just to clarify, the chilli paste is not THAT spicy that it chokes you, so it is quite tolerable for most people.

To make the noodle even better, have it together with their roast pork (RM16)! What is worth mentioning is that the boss learnt how to roast on his own and improvised! based o n family and friends suggestions. So there are a couple of burnt spots here and there, which might be due to lack of experience but still manage to taste quite good. And you should also know that the roast pork here uses the very fatty pork belly, usually meant for char siew.
This style of roast pork is those juicy types that would melt in your mouth while it is still hot. Depending on your personal preference, you could either find them sinfully delicious or just an appetite turn off. As for me, I have to admit I am not that young anymore so indulgence in such food is more of a health concern to me rather than pleasure. Otherwise, I would have enjoyed it more with less reservations.

The char siew (RM16) is worth a mention but is not as great if compared to the roast pork, as it has a long way to go before reaching the standards of the heavyweights like Toast & Roast and Seaparks Flying Wantan Mee. Nonetheless, it is still better than many char siew out there that use dingy red food coloring.

The friendly and chirpy boss, happily chopping away his meat creations.

In short, order the minced meat noodle (enjoy it hot!), a small portion of roast pork (enjoy it hot too to feel it melt in your mouth) and mix them up with the special chilli paste (for the extra kick and level up in flavor! ) you c an hardly go wrong with this combo.

Restaurant Kuala Lipis Noodle
26-1, Jalan PJU 1/3B
Sunway Mas, Petaling Jaya
GPS Coordinates: N3 07.183 E101 36.016
Business hours: Lunch only (11.30am onwards for roast/BBQ meats)

roasted tomato soup with broiled cheddar

Lest you think I spend any part of my days doing Important Things preparing, and totally not at the last second or haphazardly, for my only childs second birthday, or for his first week of pre-preschool; assembling warm, wholesome meals for his lunch each day; meeting my manuscript deadline; dealing with the shoe bomb that went off in my closet, etc. its only fair and honest that I tell you that Ive spent a significant portion of the last year considering ways to merge grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup in a single vessel.

In a way, though, it relates to all of those things (well, not the shoes). Theres something very back-to-school-ish about tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, and because its still September, if youre lucky, you can still get some tomatoes worth eating, and if not that, at least worth cooking down. In my imagined intersections of grilled cheese and tomato soup, I dreamed of grilled cheese croutons in one-inch rounds but rejected it for being overly precious. I considered grilled cheese bread bowls, but never worked out the logistics. But it was when I revisited the ne plus ultra combination of cheese and soup French Onion Soup! th is past spring that I knew unequivocally that the very best solution would be to simply broil an open-faced grilled cheese sandwich on top of a bowl of tomato soup. The only thing left to do was to wait (and wait, and wait) for the slim overlap of tomato season, soup season and a gloomy, rainy week. And that, my friends, brings us to today.

... Read the rest of roasted tomato soup with broiled cheddar on smittenkitchen.com

smitten kitchen 2006-2011. |permalink to roasted tomato soup with broiled cheddar | 7 comments to date | see more: Photo, Soup, Summer, Tomatoes, Vegetarian

Pangat @ Suntec City

It was my first time here. At the counter, I'd ordered, firstly, curd rice. The attendant smiled but I couldn't understand it. Was it an approval of my choice? Or did I just order something regrettable? Next, a side dish. There were a few rare, interesting titles but I wanted comfort food that evening, so I asked for saag panir. None of those smiles or nods this time. In fact, I could feel her slight reluctance to input my order. She did, eventually.

I sat at a nearby table and waited eagerly for my curd rice. I really can't remember the last time I had it. It must have been a year ago. Or longer, even. On a hot and humid evening, the thought of creamy, cold, sourish rice spiced with mustard seeds, ginger, coriander leaves, onions and chillies was very, very enticing.

A smartly dressed man, perhaps in his early sixties, approached my table and introduced himself as the cook. He asked to confirm my order of both the curd rice and saag panir. Politely, he suggested that the combination might be too heavy and proposed that I consider replacing the saag panir with gobi Manchurian.

Blasphemy!

I've always prided myself for being knowledgeable in Indian cuisine and never had I been challenged this way. My credibility was at stake. I imagined my friends and neighbours from Sentul looking really disappointed with some gesturing the loser sign. And by recommending something with a Manchurian sauce was definitely rubbing salt to the wound. Here's the funny part - momentarily stunned AND confused, I'd somehow agreed to that change.

There's a lesson to be learnt here - that the ego has to be bruised to gravitate one down to earth again. The gobi Manchurian worked really we! ll the c urd rice. A sweet sauce like that provides a wonderful balance to the sourness of the curd. Such common sense that I'd failed to see! Imagine if I'd insisted on my saag panir. The richness of both sauces would have been too much to handle. So, thank you, uncle, for making the effort to enlighten this lost child. I shall be back to seek more wisdom and of course, your delicious vegetarian food.

http://www.pangat.com/index.htm

Announcement: New Photography Blog

Hi all! Just wanted to let you all know that I have a new photography blog which mainly focuses on nature macro photography. Why did I create a separate blog? I wanted to keep Eat Your Heart Out purely as a food / hotel review blog.

Anyway, do visit my photo blog when you have the time and leave a comment or two. Your support means a lot to me:

Baby Sumo Photography (http://babysumophotography.blogspot.com)

P.S I have added a link on the right sidebar, just below Contact Me for easy access. :)

MIGF 2011 Festival Menu @ Samplings on the Fourteen, Berjaya Times Square KL

Festival Chef: Chef Valmurugan Subramaniam

My comments: I have heard good things about Samplings on the Fourteen, and one of their USP is that Samplings is a restaurant that gives elegant dine in experience, and it is run by students accompanied with their respective lecturers.
However, for MIGF, the menu is prepared by the in-house Chef Valmurugan Subramaniam, so you can be assured that your meal is professionally & skillfully prepared.
I see Cloudy Bay on the menu; my favourite wine & both the mains of Roasted Australian Pistachio Crusted Baby Veal Rack & Cajun Spiced Black Cod seems worthy of a try.

***

Wine Pairing Menu

Appetizer
Combination of Seared Foie Gras, Tomato and Onion Tart &US Scallops with Yellow Mushrooms, Chive Salad
Wine: Cloudy Bay, Chardonnay

Soup
Light Smoked Duck Essencewith Ginseng Root and Raviolini
Wine: Cloudy Bay, Chardonnay

Sorbet
Celery Mint Sorbet

Main Dishes
Roasted Australian Pistachio Crusted Baby Veal Rackserved with Greens, Potato Comfit and Truffle Jus
Wine: Nicolas Catena Zapata, Malbec

OR

Cajun Spiced Black Cod,Seared Prawns, Vanilla Oil and Escarole Risotto
Wine: Puligny Montrachet

Dessert
Ricotta Cheese Cake,Chestnut Mousse with Raspberry Coulis and Almond Crisp
Wine: Peter Lehmann Barossa Art Late Harvest Frontignac

Coffee or Tea

Full Festival Menu: RM350.00++ per person (with wine pairing)
RM180.00++ per person (without wine pairing)

***

Light Version Menu

Appetizer
Smoked Salmon Balic Style Served with Fresh Dill, Potatoes Salad and Mustard Mayonnaise Sauce

Soup
Porcini Liason with Chicken Farce Stuffed Morel Mushroom

Main Course
Grilled Free Range Spring Chicken Served with Cous Cous and Tarragon Whole Grain Mustard Sauce

Dessert
Tiramisu With Coconut Flavored Mascarpone Cream And Cinnamon Lady Fingers

Coffee or Tea

Light Festival Menu: RM100.00++

***

Festival Offers

Door Gifts
A complimentary cocktail awaits your arrival for the Festival meal.

Block Bookings
Book more than six seats and enjoy 10% discount.

Wine/Champagne Offers
Enjoy 10% discount on selected wines or champa! gne orde red, plus discounts on repeat orders.

Beverage Offers
Festival diners are entitled to 20% discount on any beverage, plus mocktails and cocktails.

Special Offers
Enjoy 20% off the la carte menu. Hotel or Restaurant Membership Offers BCard Membership (with 3x points).

Room Night Offers
Stay at the hotel and enjoy 20% off rack rates.

Birthday Offers
Guests celebrating their birthday will receive a complimentary glass of house wine and 250g cake.

Honeymoon Offers
A toast to the newlyweds with a complimentary 500g cake.

Spa Offers
Receive a Jojoba Spa voucher worth RM50.

Future Promotions
Christmas and Year-end Offers
Enjoy priority booking and 10% discount for Christmas / year-end dining when you book a Festival meal. With five Festive Menu orders on a single receipt, receive a free bottle of House wine on your next visit.

For reservations:

Berjaya University College,

14th Floor Berjaya Times Square,

55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Phone

+603-2117 8000 ext 8131