The Simple Lunch

The Simple Lunch is for days when:

maybe youre nervous and possibly overwhelmed.

youve considered dipping your morning muffin in good olive oil.

you want to remember the days when you highlighted your hair with lemon juice and sunlight.

you need to sprinkle salt on your lunch aaaannnddd over your shoulder.

want day wine maybe two glasses. no judgements.

Take a moment to enjoy The Simple Lunch

its just like taking a warm morning walk.

its just like relaxing on your couch and just zoning out staring at your wall paper.

The Simple Lunch is happy and relaxed.

Grab a baguette, a ripe avocado, lemon, sea salt, fresh ground pepper, and a sprinkling of olive oil. Aaand go!

Real talk: I bring you this abbreviated post because Im bonkers busy right now. But but but! BUT! Avocado toast is majorly delicious and and AND, Im trying to figure out a way to put baked cheese things on a stick. Ill bring you those treats (fingers crossed) this weekend! I love you lets hug.

Tofu Hailam.

Tofu Hailam is a super easy dish to make in a jiffy.

A simple, refreshing and nutritious meal with sliced green cucumber.

A good dip or spread of chillies sambal belacan with a combination
of grounded six cloves of garlic, white vinegar, salt and sugar to taste.

An addictive appetizer to the main meal.

Tofu Hailam- Nyonya's style-either eat it with a dip or spread it over the tofu and cucumber.

Food Tasting For Company Annual Dinner @ Ah Yat Abalone Forum Restaurant, PJ

Well another year is about to complete and another annual dinner is about to come. This year the committee has decided to have it at Ah Yat Abalone Forum Restaurant. Braised Shark fin soup - a lot would disapprove this dish.

Members of the food tasting committee.Roasted crispy suckling pig would not be in the menu for the annual dinner, 4 seasons were opted and hopefully it's good.We will be blessed with "Blessedness Meal" at RM898 nett as budget is tight.Stewed w! hole aba lone with fish maw & broccoli.A record of the size of the abalone and hopefully the size do not shrink during the night.

Battered Tiger Prawns - the floss was nicely done and tasty.

Crispy roasted chicken Ah Yat style nothing really special about it.Steam Gaorupa fish which could be mistakenly as "Soon Hock" fish. It was yummy and we would aspect it to be the same quality during the function.What a lovely lunch.....Fried rice in lotus leaf.Double boiled papaya with white fungus & longan.And lastly some good looking pastries to complete the "Blessedness Meal".One for the album.

That's it and back to work.

Ah Yat Abalone Forum Restaurant

Lot 9B, Jalan Kemajuan
Section 13
Petaling JayaJalan Kemajuan
Seksyen 12, 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
03-2072-6688

GPS : 3.113852,101.642309

Ala Thai

This comfortable Thai restaurant looks pretty promising, but its food needs work.

We tried a trilogy of curries here, blasting off with chicken panang curry. The best praise we could offer this: it wasn't loaded with MSG. But it was otherwise bland & banal.

Seeing red (redux): Massaman beef curry with potatoes & peanuts. Disposable; the peanuts tasted second-rate, while the beef was distressingly gamy.

Curry fatigue sets in: roasted duck red curry with kaffir lime leaves, cherry tomatoes & diced pineapples. The worst of the bunch _ only the most skeletal cuts of a pitiably emaciated duck could be found, featuring scarce meat.

Claypot prawns with glass noodles. The saving grace, satisfyingly hearty & flavorsome.

Thai omelet with herbs & crab meat. Kinda like nasi pattaya, but without rice. Frankly, even the herbs & crab promised on the menu seemed missing.

Thai beer is available, but not wine of any kind, for now.

Teething troubles? Maybe; let's hope things take a turn for the better soon.

Ala Thai,

Solaris Dutamas, Kuala Lumpur.

Papaya, Snow Fungus and Red Dates in Pork Broth

Soup Name: Papaya, Snow Fungus and Red Dates in Pork Broth

Traditional Chinese Name: (m gua xu r zh zhn tng)

Introduction:

This is an easy to make, nutritious soup that is packed full of Vitamin C and beta-carotene. It is deliciously sweet and refreshing and ideal for autumn or winter days. You can use chicken to make it more warm and also add a variety of other ingredients to make it a meal.

What ingredients are required?

1 pound freshpork shank
2 largefresh papaya, cubed
2 whole dried snow fungus, cored and quartered
10 pitted red dates
2 L of water

How do I prepare it?

Rinse and soak dried snow fungus in a bowl of enough water to immerse it in for about an hour (or until soft)

In a separate pot of boiling water, blanch pork shank for 5 minutes, set aside and cool

Boil your soup water

Wash and cut papaya into large edible cubes

Using scissors, cut out the middle of the snow fungus (the hardest part) and cut the other portions into edibles pieces

When your soup water boils, add pork shank, snow fungus, papaya and dates

Boil on high for 30 minutes and reduce to medium heat for another hour

Serve and enjoy!

Any benefits?

• Excellent source of vitamin A, C and beta-carotene
• Excellent source of collagen (from the snow fungus)
• Not too much fat since pork shank is being used

Any precautions?

• Be sure to buy snow fungus from a reputable source
• The longer you boil the now fungus, the thicker the soup gets (because the collagen like substance slowly dissolves into the soup), this is really according to preference

An Enchanting Christmas @ Uncle Chilli's, Hilton Petaling Jaya

Christmas is less than 10 days away now -- have you decided yet whether you'll be cooking or not?

If you're too lazy to cook, then Uncle Chilli's Christmas Eve 4-course set dinner priced at RM120++would be a great dining choice. I was recently invited to sample this set dinner and I have to say, the food served to us that evening really surpassed our expectations.

Uncle Chilli's is a bar / restaurant serving a fine selection of drinks as well as Western cuisine. There is a live band playing after 9pm, so it can get a little loud.

Christmas tree in front of Uncle Chilli's

The table was beautifully set, with Christmas decorations and candles which set the mood for our dinner.

Lounge area in Uncle Chilli's

There is where the live band will start playing at 9pm

The menu for the evening

Red and green

Champagne everybody -- as Bubbles DeVere would say!

The set dinner comes with a complimentary glass of Gosset Grande Reserve champagne.

Alternatively, if you don't drink champagne, you could ask for a Christmas mocktail. This is a special strawberry concoction.

Warm bread rolls

Chef Denis Vecchiato who hails from Italy came out to present each dish to us. The amuse bouche was a delicate goose liver terrine with port wi! ne reduc tion. The whole preparation of this dish takes 48 hours from deveining, marinating cooking and chilling. A great start to the meal.

Amuse bouche

The next course was the ravioli filled with Alaska crab served with a lobster bisque and slow cooked leeks and fried basil leaf. Chef Denis explained that it was common to serve ravioli in Italy during Christmas. The fact that the chef is Italian gave us confidence that this was a winner.... and so it was! I especially loved the sweet, rich and creamy lobster bisque which complimented the ravioli very well.

Appetizer... "To Begin"

The porcini mushroom and truffle soup with melted camembert was excellent -- a favorite amongst many of us. Again, this was rich and creamy and the meltedCamembertdefinitely lifted the flavours of the soup. I definitely want more than a few spoonfuls :)

Soup... " A few spoonfuls"

When we first stepped into Uncle Chilli's, we thought that food here would very rustic in presentation simply because the venue is quite casual. I have to say, the food presentation really impressed, in particular the last two courses. Mains was turkey roulade with brussels sprout, baby carrots, and rosemar! y potato es. The turkey roulade was nicely stacked, somewhat similar to the Jenga fries Hubby is very keen on doing. Turkey could often be dry (the one here wasn't too dry), but the gravy (which was good) definitely helps mask the dryness of the meat. The portion is huge too!

Main Course.. "Harmony"

The prettiest Christmas dessert, definitely left a lasting impression.Lots of ooohs and ahhs as the plates went around.. adorable reindeers pulling a sleigh chocolate dusting was a very nice touch. The chocolate bomb itself was very smooth, and in the middle you will find a "surprise". A fitting end to a fantastic meal.

Dessert.. "Lasting Impression"

Chocolate bomb with wild berries

Chocolate mousse

At the lobby, you can also find a spectacular winter village display with two Christmas trains. This is a festive charity project to spread joy to the community during the festivities. The proceeds this year will go to Rumah Hope and the National Kidney Foundation of Malaysia. The display will be there until 8th January 2012.

Do your bit for charity

Verdict: Very well prepared set dinner, and good value for money.


Full set of photos available to view here.

Location: Uncle Chilli's, Hilton Petaling Jaya, 2 Jalan Barat, 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Tel: 03-7955 9122 ext. 4063

Website:http://www.zestpj.com/general/festive-season-celebration/

GPS Coordinates:3.102164, 101.640573