A Hot Bowl of Spicy Lentil Soup with Buttered Bread

Its time to ease up.

Its time have a cup of tea. Its time to play with the cat until he scratches you. Its time to sit on the couch and stare at the wall a bit. Its time to stand in the kitchen and eat Ritz crackers and chug orange juice.

Its time to make a giant pot of soup and sorta use a recipe but not really use a recipe.

Its just time to ease up just a bit.

Tomorrow we can finish shopping, plan big Christmas dinners, finish knitting mittens, and start wrapping presents. For now lets just ease.

This Spicy Chicken Sausage and Lentil Soup is a hearty winter soup. It was made for your heart and for your soul. It is a healer of all things. But!

Theres all sorts of goodness you could make on your plan to ease up just a bit.

Take in the scenery. Take in the soup!

a. Bright orangeCarrot Apple Ginger Soup. Sweet and spicy and so so healthy!

b. Kale and Sweet Potato Soup. Youre the picture of health. No biggie.

c. Theres Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup, all creamed up with blended raw cashews.

d. Ok Im a soup fiend. Would you believe me if I told you that this Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup is the best soup Ive ever made? Its major. Its bonkers. Its veganly beefy.

e. Roasted Garlic Soup I want to bathe in. It feels like old romance.

Spicy Chicken Sausage and Lentil Soup

makes a big pot of soup. serves 8

Print this Recipe!

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound spicy chicken sausage, uncased

1 medium yellow onion, finely diced

3 celery stalks, finely diced

2 carrots, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons dried ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes

2 cups uncooked French lentils, rinsed

8 cups chicken stock

salt and pepper to taste

parmesan cheese, olive oil, and bread to serve

in a large saucepan over medium heat, warm olive oil. Add the uncased chicken sausage and cook, breaking up with a spatula as it cooks. Sausage should finish cooking in small chunks. Remove from the pan.

Add a touch more olive oil if necessary. Add onions, celery, and carrots. Cook until the onions are transluscent, about 5 to seven minutes. Stir occasionally. Add the garlic, cumin, and chili flakes, and cook for one minute more.

Add the sausage back to the pan. Stir to incorporate. Add the lentils and chicken stock. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the soup, uncovered, until the lentils are tender, about 45 minutes.

Serve soup with a generous sprinkling of parmesan cheese, a drizzle of olive oil, and good crusty bread. Soup will last, in an airtight container in the fridge, for up to 5 days. Soup also freezes well.

Medusa Dining @ Paddington, Brisbane

I heard about Medusa a while ago from a fellow blogger, summarised as a nice place with whimsy and modern cuisine, foams and all too. It took us a voucher from Living Social to finally make our way there last week, venturing into Bardon, an area I actually haven't gone before!


The place looks classy but out of place in a block of shops which has Dominoes 2 doors away and a supermarket around the corner. However with all glass on 3 sides of the wall, you have one of the nicer views of the city skyline, making a good place to hold a function.


The deal that night was a 7 course degustation for two with 2 glasses of moscato for AUD 89, supposedly with a value of AUD230. However I consider myself a seasoned user of group buying websites and you learn to take the values with a pinch of salt.


Service was switched between an elderly Asian man and a young waitress. Attentive but we could have done with a bit more patience when describing dishes. The man was quick and I could barely catch more than 2 words while the girl was quite soft and I couldn't hear more than a word or two.

We were served a "surprise" from the chef, I am guessing the word is meant to be amuse bouche. However not catching what it was, it got us guessing and guessing. With a texture that was like tuna / beef, it was nothing too spectacular.

The fir st course was a salmon sashimi with a bed of salad, pineapple bits and pineapple emulsion. Slightly too sweet and lacking a bit of acidity to balance it. However as a first course, it was quite generous in portion.

Jamon Serrano with blood sausage dust and assorted mushrooms. Nothing wrong except we would have appreciated more bread for this or something sweet to balance out the saltiness.

The Chicken Breast was cooked to perfection, probably sous vide because it was so moist. Sitting on a bed of pumpkin puree, we started to see similar garnishing; the pineapple bits from the first course and the mushrooms from the second course. We loved this dish.

The garnishing repeats itself once again, the pineapple bits and the mushrooms appears in another role. There was nothing wrong with the carpaccio but nothing sparkled in the dish (including the quail egg). I would have also preferred this dish before the chicken for a better continuity.

The second and last hot dish of the night, the star of the night too; the pork belly. The sweet glaze, crispy crackling and melt in your mouth meat, oh why is the portion so small? What seemed like a weird combo, there was yoghurt with passionfruit along with a piece of sweet potato and a poached pear.

The cheese course was a small piece of soft cheese from Lyon. I could have easily finished that slice on my own but we had to share, boo.

Luckily we had a dessert each and got a pretty good rendition of the traditional indonesian layer cake paired with a scrumptious creamy butterscotch ice-cream. We loved this dish.

Was it worth AUD 89? Yes but could it have really cost me AUD 230? I don't think so. There were a number of recycled garnishes, only 2 hot dishes and small protein portions.

The plating was exciting at times but I didn't get the same impression that my fellow blogger had when they first visited the place. Turns out the head chef has already jumped ship to another restaurant but I guess not all is bad because there's plenty of potential from what we saw that night.

A pity we won't have the chance to return again.

Address and contact details:

Verdict: 3.5 stars out of 5 stars. Brilliant view, good food but missing the extra edge on some of the dishes to be a shining star.

Restoran Lim's Kitchen @ Bandar Menjalara, Kuala Lumpur

I wanted to eat Bak Kut Teh at this yellow sign board shop but it was closed (don't go on Fridays). So I ended up eating at the shop next door @ Lim's Kitchen.It was either after peak hour or it was rather competitive to run a eating shop at Bandar Menjalara. Quiet isn't it?I ordered a bowl of fish paste noodle with came with slices of fish cake and added-on 5 lovely fish balls.Though I did not indulge myself in any sinful meal supposedly to be at next door but I was happy that I ate here at Restoran Lim's Kitchen. My lunch was awesome. It was healthy with good bouncing moment with the succulent fish paste noodle & fish balls. I do not mind to come back again.

Lim's Kitchen

33, Jalan 3/62A

Bandar Menjalara

h/p no: 012-386-5033

gps : 3.195166,101.629671

BALSAMIC ROASTED ROOTS + SPINACH SAUCE

Our pastor was talking about his child with Downs Syndrome. He showed videos of him laughing and dancing even when there was no music playing, and in short, relayed what an unexpected source of joy he has been to their family. A child whose condition is thought to be a burden, has enabled every person in their family to take note of the little things. The difference he noted in his sweet three year old boy, is that he feels entitled to nothing and therefore can find joy in anything. My eyes teared, an easy feat actually, but anyone would have, with humility tugging on you throughout his story.

We hear the word joy this time of year and we can look right through it. Its a season of sparkly gifts and things, but I want to stay focused on what actually fills me up. It makes me so happy when I come home late from work and Hugh has remembered to plug in the lights around our front door. We dont have a timer and our eyesore of an extension chord is huge and bulky, but the sentiment that my sweet husband plugs them in just for me, fills me with joy. Its in the small things, the unexpected things. And while there will be dissappointment, sorrow and loss, there is also joy when you look for it.

Im sure youve caught on by now that I am not much for give-aways or product review, but when I was invited to try a few things from Gilt Taste, I made an exception to my self imposed rule. This website has some pretty fabulous artisan food products and is backed by a number of respectable names in the food world. They sent me a CSA-style box filled with some of the most gorgeous vegetables Id seen in quite a while. So the following is what I came up with from a few of the contents in the box,! assiste d by a few staples in my pantry and fridge. While theres plenty of flavor on this plate, as is, I could see this as wonderful base for a vegetarian entree, maybe with a tender whole grain added in, or a basic protein of your choice.

BALSAMIC ROASTED ROOTS + SPINACH SAUCE // Serves 4
As per any recipe I write, you need to trust your gut. The vegetable roasting timing may vary, and the sauce, because it is textured, is forgiving, so alter the flavors as you wish.

1 lb. Assorted Small Carrots
1 lb. Assorted Small Beets
2 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar, divided
1/2 tsp. Sea Salt
1/2 tsp. Black Pepper

1 Bunch Fresh Spinach Leaves
1 Large Clove Garlic, minced
2 tsp. Unsalted Butter
1/2 Cup Light Whipping Cream or Whole Milk
1/3 Cup Finely Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 tsp. Prepared Horseradish, optional
Squeeze of Fresh Meyer Lemon Juice
Salt and Pepper to taste

Microgreens for Garnish

Scrub the beets and carrots clean. Peel the beets with a vegetable peeler, doesnt have to be perfect. Lay them out to dry on a dishcloth (use a dark one, the beets bleed).
Preheat the oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. Toss the dry roots in the olive oil, salt and pepper to coat. Sprinkle half the balsamic and toss again. Roast the vegetables on the middle rack anywhere from 30-45 minutes depending on size. You want to be able to pierce a butter knife through the largest vegetable on the tray.
While the vegetables are cooking, m! ake your spinach sauce. Steam the spinach for just a minute or two to cook down. Remove to cool. Squeeze out any remaining water and chop well. You should have about a cup worth.
In a medium saute pan over medium low heat, add a drizzle of olive oil and the minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute. Add the butter to melt, stir it around. Add the chopped spinach and cream and stir to coat. Cook until the spinach absorbs most of the cream. Stir in the parmesan, few pinches of salt and pepper, horseradish if using and stir. Using a mini blender or immersion blender, give the spinach a few pulses to break it down. You dont want quite a puree, more of a texture sauce, some chunks are fine. Add it back to the pan and thin with milk/cream if you wish. Squeeze in a bit of fresh lemon juice to taste. Turn off the heat and cover to keep warm.When the vegetables are ready, remove to cool slightly and drizzle on the remaining balsamic.Plate each portion with a schmear of the spinach sauce, the roasted vegetables and microgreens for garnish. Round out the mealhowever you wish.

* The assorted carrots, beets, spinach, garlic and microgreens were sent to me by Gilt Taste while the text and recipe are my own.

Paradise Inn

The Singaporean invasion intensifies; our neighboring city-state has strengthened its foothold in the Klang Valley, launching Paradise Inn this month at Sunway Pyramid.

Befitting of Singapore's Paradise Group of restaurants, Chinese comfort food is this Inn's culinary cornerstone. Build the foundation of a fine meal here with some steamed minced pork (RM18+), laced with water chestnuts for extra texture & salted egg yolk for enhanced flavor.

Doubled-boiled sea whelk soup with spare ribs & yam (RM39.90+ per pot). The menu lists a host of health benefits for this broth: it improves the eyesight, maintains youthfulness & nourishes the lungs & kidneys. Taste-wise though, it's slightly too gamy for our liking.

Steamed "song" fish head with spicy bean sauce & crispy pork lard (RM29.90+). Expect to pay Malaysian prices here, not Singaporean (phew!). A meal for four could easily cost less than RM150 _ reasonable, considering the satisfactory quality of ingredients.

Poached Chinese spinach with a trio of eggs & minced pork in superior soup (RM16+). Quintessentially Oriental; Paradise Inn's forte consists of familiar favorites that feel like they could be cooked at home or served at a friendly neighborhood restaurant.

Braised vermicelli with pork trotters (RM19.90+). Carbs, protein & so much fat _ an axis of evil, tempting our taste buds while making our waistlines ever wider. Resistance is futile indeed.

Fried rice with Chinese sausages (RM16+). While we await Chinese New Year's 'lap mei fan,' this will do very nicely. The most well-executed fried rice recipe we've had in months.

Wine is unavailable at Paradise Inn, but that's OK. Just hop over to Jusco's supermarket & buy a bottle (or two! or gasp _ even three!).

No wine gl! asses ar e supplied, but on the very bright side, there's no corkage charge either.

Paradise Inn @ Sunway Pyramid,

OB3, LG1.7 & LG1.8 (near Jusco & Starbucks),

Oasis Boulevard, West Wing, Sunway Pyramid.

Tel: 03-5637-8822

Carlsberg Wheres The Party Part 2 exclusive invitations for my readers & Facebook friends

Holla!

Whos going for the most happening party in town this coming 17th Dec 2011? Yup,Carlsberg Wheres The Party Part 2 is back!

I am all ready to party it out, exactly like how I did the last roundat Golden Palm Tree Resort, Sepang Gold Coast! Read all about thatHEREand youll know what you have missed if you werent there!

And heres some pictures of what happened!

YOU! Are you partying hard enough?? the hip and happening MD of Carlsberg, Mr Soren Ravn touted! At the background was 3 of the hottest DJs that was spinning that night.

Here they are, upclose, with more cloth on them at the press conference.

15 buses for 500 guests, who were all warmly welcomed by skimpily clad babes. No one complained of course.

All checked in at the luxurious Golden Palm Tree Resort, Sepang Gold Coastwith each of us occupying a chalet to ourselves.

Ok, enough gloating! If you have missed the last round, so be it.

But make sure youre not going to miss it again this coming Saturday! Ive got invites to giveaway (YES, YOU READ RIGHT!)!!
Its not too late! There is still a chance for you to grovel, beg, charm and sashay yourself into the next party of the year!

So whats the catch?

Its very simple actually.

No. 1:

GO TO:

Carlsbergs Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/Carlsberg.MY

LIKE the Facebook page before Thursday, 15th December, 3pm.

No. 2:

Go tohttp://www.facebook.com/RebeccaSawBlog,LIKE the page, andwrite a wall post:I want to go for Carlsberg Wheres The Party Dec 2011!

- Giveaway ends on Thursday, 15th December 2011 @ 14.59pm.
Winners will be selected by Carlsberg Malaysia
Winners will be notifi! ed throu gh email after Thursday, 15th December 2011 once the giveaway ends.

YES! Thats all! The FIRST 100 people who LIKE both http://www.facebook.com/Carlsberg.MYand http://www.facebook.com/RebeccaSawBlog& leave a comment will be awarded ONE entry pass to Carlsbergs Wheres The Party Dec 2011!

Note: To those who have liked the page before or already has a pass, please do spread the word out to your friends! Dont be greedy ok! You wont get an extra pass as the names will be checked against the existing guestlist so please give others a chance!

Good luck guys and I hope to see all of you there rocking the party with me!

Muah!! XOXOOXOXO Rebecca Saw