Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup

This is the soup I suggest you eat this weekend after you devour three doughnuts at breakfast, and before you eat tacos and french fries for dinner.

It has broccoli and raw cashews in it. Its the picture of health.

Nevermind how much butter I put on that bread. Lets focus on our health. Health after doughnuts and before tacos and fries. French Fry tacos should be a thing. Is that a thing? It needs to be a thing.

This soup is gorgeously healthy. Its packed with bright green broccoli and cashews.

When raw cashews are soaked in water and blended with soupy ingredients, the nuts simulate cream. It really is a remarkable fact. Cashews blended with broccoli in this recipe makes a thick, flavorful and totally healthful soup.

The lemon and some bright inspiration. The vegan worcestershire sauce adds an earthy, animal-y roundness. Theres spice from pepper and smoke from cumin. Garlic and onions should be in everything so obviously theyre in this soup. Overall its a health win. Get at it!

Oh! Ps . Im really into soup.

Proof:

Broccoli Arugula Soup

Ginger and Lent! il Soup< /a>

Curried Sweet Potato Soup

Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup

Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup

adapted from The 3-Day Cleanse

Print this Recipe!

1 1/2 cups raw cashews, soaked in water for 1 hour then drained

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 heads of broccoli, chopped into bite-size florets

1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground mustard seeds

fresh ground black pepper to taste

3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoon vegan Worcestershire sauce

about 4 cups of water

Soak raw cashews in water for 1 hour. Theyll soften slightly. Drain.

Steam broccoli until tender. A fork should be able to easily pierce the flesh. Remove from steamer and set aside.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, add olive oil, and onions. Cook until onions are tender and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for one minute more. Add cumin, salt, mustard seed, and black pepper and cook for about 30 seconds. Add cooked broccoli florets, and remove from heat.

In a blender, add half of the softened cashews, about 1/2 of the broccoli mixture, and 2 cups of water. Blend until smooth. Pour blended soup into a large soup pan. Blend the remaining cashews, broccoli, and 2 more cups of water. Blend until smooth. Pour into pan. Heat over low heat. Add lemon and worcestershire sa! uce. Tas te and season as necessary. Add more water for a thinner consistency.

Serve warm. Soup will last, in an airtight container in the fridge for 4 days.

Update: Black Eggs Tofu

I waited until this morning to cut the second and third tofu jelly so that I'll take better photos. You know what, I prefer the first and second jellies. The third one was too soft.

This is a dang good recipe! The tofu has the smooth silky texture of almond tofu and eaten cold with the sesame oil, soy sauce and century eggs, I bet it'll be a hit with your family and friends! Only thing I'll change is make the soy milk myself next time I make this dish. Try it soon!

La Bire Restaurant Beer House

La Bire (the beer in French) is a restaurant with Indonesian and Western food, and more importantly, a late-night hangout spot in the Central Park mall (Tribeca).

I didn't try the food, but from what many food blogs are saying, it is rather good, though more expensive than average.

To have a beer, it is perfect especially on Friday and Saturday as it doesn't close before 3am. It isn't extraordinary, but you don't have so much choice if you live in the area anyway.

Opening hours:
Everyday from 11am to midnight (and 3am on weekends)

La Biere Restaurant and Beer House
Central Park Tribeca GF 09-10
Jl. Letjen S. Parman Kav 28
Taman Anggrek, Jakarta 11470

Phone number. +62 21 292 000 43

Facebook: La Bire Jakarta

Photo Credit: Budweiser Indonesia

Cengkeh Restaurant (Indonesian Cuisine)

I discovered Cengkeh while I was coming back from Pondok Laguna in Batu Tulis. From my taxi window, Cengkeh drew my attention with its elegant look, rare in this part of town. While South Jakarta has tons of similar restaurants, the kind you'll choose for a romantic dinner, the North has almost none: It may have great food, but most restaurant owners are not paying any attention to the atmosphere, and when they do, they try too hard (for my European taste at least).

Back to Cengkeh, I finally visited the place in early October 2011 to see if the food matched the setting, and I wasn't disappointed. The menu features mainly Peranakan and Indonesian favourites, more expensive than average but still affordable: A 2-course meal with drink should cost you Rp100,000. I ordered a plate of "gorengan" (Fritters) and a Sop Iga Sapi (Beef Ribs Soup) which were nicely presented and tasted excellent. Compared to street food, the quality of ingredients used is much better, and you don't have all the extra fat + the! weird i ngredients (like food acidifier). The only thing that bothered me was the service, friendly but quite slow and unexperimented.

Overall: I will visit Cengkeh again, and I will probably bring friends on holiday to make them experience quality Indonesian cuisine.

Operating hours:
Everyday from 10am to 10pm

Cengkeh Indonesian Cuisine
Jalan Juanda III no 31M (next to Dinemax)
Jakarta 10450
Phone number: +62-21 350 3115

Charcoal Grilled Kampung Chicken @ Kampung Batang Benar.

After we have done some business at Bandar Baru Nilai, Negri Sembilan we took the back road back to Kuala Lumpur.

Nilai is famous for it's numerous textile shops, Inti University, IIU, Nursing College and the famous Loong Sing restaurant.

The back road leads us through factories, housing estates, a quarry ,KTM station, Kampung Batang Benar and then to the Panjam / LEKAS Highway junction.

We stopped by a dilapidated shack at a tight corner of Kampung Batang Benar before the exit to the LEKAS Highway for some food and cool fresh coconut water for refreshment.

Business was brisk with the aroma of charcoal grilled kampung chicken and duck wafting the around the shack.

Parking is ample beside the shack.

Charcoal grilled Kampung Chicken-well marinated with finely chopped lemongrass, light soy sauce, salt and pepper-fragrant and firm meat with a smokey lemongrass flavor-served with 3 types of addictive sauces-Rm15/
Tel:019-658-1072.

cumin seed roasted cauliflower with yogurt

I do this dreary thing every October where I decide on the first day that requires a scarf and a hustle in your step to keep warm that the long, gloomy descent into winter has begun and soon the world will be brown, gray and frozen and this will continue until April or beyond and I might as well stock up on some farro and root vegetables and climb into my igloo because thats all there will be for a long time. I am clearly no fun at all, and also a little blind as I declare this while stepping over crinkly flame-throwers of leaves, while the sky is still fantastically blue and generally, without even have stepped through a farmers market. Because the markets? Are actually as pretty as they get all year, tables overflowing with everything from carrots to late summer squash, hearty greens, tiny pumpkins, marble-sized potatoes and great big globes of broccoli and cauliflower. Its now or never to haul it home.

In the early days of blogging, the phrase Cheese Sandwich Blogs was used to unkindly refer to blogs so dull that their authors would even describe what they had for lunch that day. What we learned, in theory, was that nobody cares what you had for lunch. And yet? Im going to tell you anyway, because its been abysmal: Twice this week already, its been cold cer! eal. Las t week was a string of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on the kind of bread that I purchased for its extended shelf life. Ive been passing lattes off as breakfast (its French and cosmopolitan, right?) and I think weve ordered pizza for dinner three times in three weeks (leading to three next-day lunches of cold leftover pizza). As it turns out, even people who love to cook more or less eat terribly when theyre working around the clock to meet a deadline. Or, ahem, have missed a deadline, not that anyone is counting. But today, today I had this for lunch and the world has so much brighter since.

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Durian Durian & Tong Pak Fu

Suria KLCC's concourse could soon become a real hub for sugar-seekers, thanks to an array of dessert specialists that are launching on this level.

One kiosk _ Durian Durian _ is a dream come true for fans of this fruit, serving a dizzying selection that includes delightful durian custard puffs, bursting with creamy decadence.

Durian mochi. Chilled satisfaction _ soft to the touch, pleasurably sticky to the bite.

It's fine to cut the cheese: durian cheese mousse (with a milky smoothness reminiscent of tiramisu) & durian cheesecake (with a freshly baked feel if you buy it in the morning).

Durian pancakes, made to order. A more Western approach to pancakes, less luscious than the paste-packed, pillow-like ones sold at Chinese restaurants & shopping mall outlets.

Durian ice cream. Terrific, thanks to its surprisingly subtle flavor & luxurious texture.

Durian kuih bahulu. If you're a lover of traditional sponge cakes, you might think this version lacks flair, since it tastes more more mass-produced & commercialized.

Also on this level of KLCC, check out Tong Pak Fu, which hails from Hong Kong & serves Taiwanese shaved ice creations.

There's more durian here! Tong Pak Fu's "Durian Snow Ice," made with Tracka durian pulp, is a delicate, melt-in-the-mouth beauty _ more agreeable than expected. Partnered with grass jelly & sago pearls, this truly is a princely portion.

Warm walnut cream. Alas, this one tastes a little too artificial to recommend.

Soon to come on this floor: Bruno's Gelato, Candylicious & Garrett Popcorn!

Durian Durian & Tong Pak Fu,

Concourse Level, Suria KLCC, Kuala Lumpur.

Get Your Jelly On! Day 20 - Root Beer Float Jelly

Ten more days to the end of this challenge....


It's becoming routine nowadays that I suspect I'll miss my crazy jelly moments or more like roller coaster ride.





It starts out with a high, that eureka moment where I start thinking how about capturing a certain memory in jelly form. Like this root beer float, a drink from the past.


The memories for each jelly is often sweet...like this one where I remember sipping from tall frosted glasses at the A&W drive in.





Then comes the actual engineering of the jelly, how to recreate it. After that comes the tinkering in the kitchen - the layering of the jelly where I'll curse myself and say I should have taken an easy way out.


Once it goes into the refrigerator, I kinda forget it until night falls.


Then the self doubt starts...what happens if it fails? I don't have a back-up plan. So I heat up the kettle, rummage through the refrigerator.


It's a small elation on my part when I see it had set properly. Then comes the dangerous dip with the hot wat! er, the shaking and of course, it comes out from the mould. Whew! It's okay and it wobbles beautifully.


Once the beauty shots are taken, then it is tasting time while I edit pictures and write it out.


Did it work this time? I reckon it did as I love the ice cream tip and the slight fizzy taste at the end. The Bundaberg root beer is rather faint in taste but it kinda feels almost like the real thing. All I need is some waffles with ice cream or a coney dog and I may think I'm back in the A&W drive in.


Root Beer Float (Makes two moulds)


vanilla ice cream layer
100g vanilla ice cream
2 1/2 teaspoons gelatine powder
50ml hot water


root beer layer
300ml root beer
50ml hot water
2 tablespoons gelatine powder


Sprinkle gelatine powder over 1 teaspoon of water. Leave to bloom. Add hot water to melt. Combine gelatine mixture with vanilla ice cream. Spoon 2 1/2 tablespoons of mixture into mould. Place remaining mixture in another bowl. Chill in the refrigerator to allow it to set. Sprinkle gelatine powder over 1 tablespoon water. Add hot water to melt. Mix with root beer. Slowly pour over set vanilla ice cream layer. Chill for at least 5 hours. Remove from mould by dipping in hot water.


Reminder:Support the cause by buying a Royal Selangor Nick Munro pewter mould as all proceeds go to breast cancer welfare association. Also, do remember to submit your suggestions to booliciouskl@gmail.com or leave a comment for the mould to win the Olympus camera VG-110. For more pictures, seethe Flickr setfor all the whole Royal Selangor! Jellyri ffic challenge. To view, all the jellies, see this link tothe Royal Selangor website.

Black Eggs & Tofu

"To fu or not to fu"

Cold appetizer of silky tofu jelly and century eggs with a dressing of black vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce, sesame seeds and coriander leaves. Served with pickled young ginger roses to cleanse and refresh the palate between bites.

This classic savory dish is made contemporary and elegant by using the Royal Selangor Pewter Jelliriffic! mould. My family loves cold tofu served this way, especially on a hot day. I thought of making silken tofu the traditional way, with coagulants such as calcium sulfate or citric acid but was worried that the tofu would be too soft to turn out, especially since the tip of the cone is rather narrow.

For most of my Jelliriffic agar recipes, I use 1 teaspoon of agar to 200 ml water to get a firm jelly. For this tofu jelly, I wanted a very soft jelly that could hold up its shape too. I made the first jelly with 1/2 teaspoon to 200 ml and the second jelly (we only have 2 moulds to work with) with 1/4 teaspoon to 200 ml. I like the second jelly better and will make another tomorrow and update the recipe if the jelly can keep its shape.

This is a simple but very yummy cold dish that you can make in a jiffy.It's great as a cold appetizer for a Chinese meal on a sizzling day.I bought the soya milk from the market but you can make your own for a richer taste and deeper flavor. Imagine your next Chinese-themed dinner party and a few of these tofu jellies as appet! izers...

A word about black eggs, better known ascentury eggs: they can be vile-tasting if you haven't eaten it before. But if you have, you belong to the group of people who know what the non-century egg eating people are missing.

So when tofu is made with agar, is it tofu or not tofu?

Peel and slice young ginger thinly (not paper thin; too soft), mix in white rice vinegar, sugar (I used brown sugar for a deeper color) and salt. To make roses, do not let ginger pickle for too long or it'll get too soft.

Black Eggs & Tofu
2 black eggs
some pickled ginger
3/4 to 1 tbsp Maggi soy sauce (to taste)
3/4 tbsp black vinegar
1/2 tbsp sesame oil
Garnish: toasted sesame seeds &coriander leaves/cilantro
200 ml fresh thick soy milk
1/4 tsp agar powder
1. Put 100 ml soy milk into a small pot and scatter the agar over. Leave 2 minutes to soften and swell. Put pot over a low flame and heat, stirring all the time, until milk begins to steam and bubbles form at the side of the pot. Remove and add the remaining milk. Pour into a rinsed Nick Munro mould and wh! en cool, put into fridge to set and chill. Chill at least 2 hours until very cold.
2. Turn tofu out onto a serving plate (drain any water away) and drizzle with the sesame oil, black vinegar and soy sauce. Arrange the ginger into rosettes, sprinkle with the sesame seeds and coriander leaves. Just before eating, cut the tofu (at the table) into chunks of about 1.5 to 2 cm and mix everything up.

CULINARY HUB

One is not enough...this luscious Red Velvet Cake is simply to die for!I'm no expert on the Red Velvet Cake but the luscious slice we devoured at T42 (GF, tel:03 2161 3581) has shot up to the top of my fave cake ranking!

Cakes for two or more...(front to back) Macadamia Cheesecake, Mont Blanc and Rose Macarons with Raspberry Lychee Cream
Thanks to The Intermark's recent Culinary Hop, I fell head over heels with the outlet's decadent Rose Macarons with Raspberry Lychee Cream and Macadamia Cheese Cake. Even the overly sweet Mont Blanc cake hits the spot when paired with a freshly brewed cuppa.

Feast your eyes on T42's pastel hued selection of macarons! A sight for sore eyes no?

I was surprised but pleased when the place card on my table had my name on it...until I realised 'Alice' actually denotes one of T42's set offerings (RM19.90++)! The plethora includes a House Salad, a choice of sandwich, savoury muffin, tart or quiche with dessert and coffee, tea or soft drink. Not a bad deal huh?

Anyway that merely icing on the cake as earlier we had descended on Kin No Mizu (Level 2, tel: 03 2166 2888), a modern Japanese restaurant that prides itself on serving classic and contemporary specialities.

The Ox Cheek with Special Sauce is hearty and deliciousRoll reversal...tempura prawn and grilled unagi (eel) rolled with seaweed, vinegar-accented rice, sliced avocado, tobikko (flying fish roe), lettuce and mayo come together in the Mizu MakiBeware of fiery bursts of flavour from the chopped bird's eye chilli sprinkled amidst the fresh slices of yellow tail carpaccio and globules of salmon roe Velvety smooth texture reigns in this signature dish of Foie Gras with Simmered RadishSweet and succulent...jumbo prawns and plump scallops bathed in earthy, peppery truffle sauce is guaranteed to reel foodies inAlthough I have been to this place before, nothing could detract from the enjoyment of its signature dishes: Mizu Maki, Yellow Tail Carpaccio with Chilli Padi and Wasabi Soya Sauce, Foie Gras with Simmered Radish, Braised Ox Cheek with Special Sauce and Sauteed Jumbo Prawns and Scallops with Truffle Sauce.

The outlet name which means golden water in Japanese boasts a glass, stone and steel finish with mellow lighting accentuated by flowing water features. Managing Director Simon Sangawa said his team takes great pride in infusing inventive touches to many of the house specials.

Then we were whisked off for a taste of Northern India delights at Royal India (Level 2, tel: 03 2161 3581). Dainty glasses of chilled Mango Lassi (rich and refreshing) heralded a parade of diminutive bites by Chef Rakesh Prasad: Mixed Tandoori Platter (a hit-and-miss affair), Dum Briyani Mutton (noteworthy), Murgh Makhanwala (creamy and aromatically spiced Butter Chicken), Palak Paneer (top notch), Mixed Bread Basket (fluffy and addictive) and Carrot Halwa (lovely delicate sweetness).

Rice and shine! Thumbs up for the aromatic and fluffy Dum Briyani MuttonTandoori to tantalise meat loversEnticing...the Carrot Halwa's subtle sweetness is just nice to round off your regal mealWarm hues and sleek accents rule the roost here with understated decor that leave diners in no doubt the type of cuisine Royal India specialises in.The restaurant is under the same group that runs the Austin Chase Coffee outlet one floor below.

!

Cosily furnished with plush sofas, Austin Chase (Level 1, tel: 03 2161 3581) draws those who yearn for a java jolt with its premium range of premium coffee and light bites. Complement your designer coffee drinks such as Caramel Macchiato, Mocha Chip Frappe and Signature Black Chocolate with nifty servings of Smoked Salmon Sandwich and Turkey Ham Sandwich.

At Hanare (GF, tel: 03 2164 2133/2633), it was Japanese fine dining with a twist where Chef Kenny San surprised us with his Omakase (chef's choice) selection. On the menu was Wagyu Tataki (slightly seared Wagyu with vinegar sauce), Ebi Shinjo Yasai Maki (rolled Chinese cabbage with minced prawn), Sashimi Moriawase (superfresh tuna and scallop), Anago Tempura (deep-fried sea eel in batter) and Macha Tofu (intriguing green tea beancurd with miso paste).

The interior is equally edgy with lots of stone, wood and slate finishing. Spartan chic is the order of the day here and seems to be well encapsulated in the culinary offerings too.

By the time we docked at Porto Romano (Concourse, tel: 03 2162 6799) I barely have tummy room left for its Italian-Mediterranean fare. Still duty bound, I managed to sample Pasta Nera con Calamari (Squid Ink Pasta) and Pizza al Pesto (Pesto and Chicken Pizza) washed down with a great cup of Italian coffee. Word has it that the Verdure alla Griglia (grilled vegetable), Ravioli with Lobster M! eat, Lam b Shank and Crema Catalana are scrumptious enough to satisfy hearty appetites.

It warmed our hearts to know that The Intermark and its tenants pitched in to host a group of underprivileged kids and seniors to a grand buffet feast that was sim! ilar to what we had savoured at the International Food Hall. They also went home laden with hampers and gifts presented by Patrick Liau, GM-Finance for The Intermark and tenant representatives. Definitely an afternoon well-spent celebrating The Intermark's 1st Anniversary!

Representatives from the underprivi! leged ho mes receiving a mock cheque from Patrick Liau and Ian Barrow, GM of DoubleTree by Hilton KL