Saag Paneer

We make saag paneer at home all the time. I'm talking once a week or every ten days. Wayne started it when he cooked Merrill's saag paneer one night, and from there it became a regular thing. The recipe has evolved and meandered quite a bit, so I thought I'd share the version I've settled into with you. I try to make it exactly the way I want to eat it, and quite honestly I'm not particularly hung up on the authenticity of it. At some point personal preference trumps everything else, even when you're dealing with a classic preparation. To that end, I cook the paneer cubes until they aren't just golden, they need to go well beyond that. I like them crispy cornered, and outright crusty. Beyond that, I chop the mountain of spinach you need here into flecks the size of big confetti. This assures no slurpy, sloppy, un-chewable greens. And I always use fresh spinach.

This is a saag paneer that uses a truckload of spinach, gets tang from buttermilk and a finishing squeeze of fresh lemon, magic from a host of spices, and a bit of heat from ginger and chile flakes. I bring on a bit of crunch and contrasting texture where ever I can - paneer, toasted sesame seeds, and add a touch of decadence with a splash of cream (you can use yogurt if you like). It is the sort of thing that is even better the day after - spread on thin crackers, or inside this sort of quesadilla. You make your own spice blend here, but you can certainly experiment with your own or a good store-bought blend.

Continue reading Saag Paneer...

Salty Sesame and Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

Three (top notch) (totally awesome) (majorly job applicable) (important!) skills Id like to add to my job resume. (Yes this is a place my mind wanders.)

- Outrageous use of punctuation and constant abuse of sentence structure. While at first troublesome and awkward, the abuse does (over time) lend itself to a conversation and relatable tone.

- Able to catch any cell phone as it falls through the air towards the floor. Its a super power Ive got it.

- Adept at combining busy prints with colorful plaids in office wear outfits without causing serious blindness.

Bonus!

- Consistent cookies at work. I bring em. I mean, come on!

Wait do people still know how to write resumes? Is that still a thing kids learn in school, or is everyone just building the Internet these days? Whats going on and when did I start sounding like a kooky old lady!?

These cookies are full of everything you would expect: dark chocolate chips, pure vanilla extract, and sugars.

These cookies also have a few bonus ingredients: black sesame seeds and soy sauce.

I put soy sauce in cookies. Just a touch. I think it adds a really subtle earthy saltiness. Its the little thing in these cookies that make you go hm!!

Butter and sugar is where it all begins.

If you dont have a stand mixer, feel free to use hand beaters or just a bowl and wooden spoon.

Either way you mix it, youll want the butter and sugar to come to this creamy and fluffy consistency.

Add eggs and beat until thick and creamy.

Simple dry ingredients. Just flour, baking soda, and salt.

Sesame seeds and a toothsome and just slightly savory quality to these cookies. I like to add just a touch of coarse sea salt to the top of the cookies before they bake.

These cookies are chewy-salty chocolate-sesame studded-good times. Theyre different. Theyre pretty just like your shoes and your hair.

I have always been a major advocate of bringing fresh baked cookies to a job interview. Tell people they have soy sauce in them, but only if you want to show off.

Sesame and Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies!

makes 20 to 24 cookies

Print this Recipe!

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon soy sauce

2 tablespoons black sesame seeds

1 cup dark chocolate chips

about 1/4 cup black sesame seeds for rolling and coarse sea salt for topping

Place racks in the center and upper third of the oven and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside and well preheat the oven after we chill the dough.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape down the butter mixture with a spatula. Add the egg and egg yolk and beat on medium speed until mixture is fluffy, about 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and soy sauce. Stop the mixer and add the dry ingredients, all at once to the butter mixture. Beat on low speed until just combined. Stop the mixer, add the sesame seeds and chocolate chunks, and fold together with aspatula until well combined. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 45 minutes.

Just before youre ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place about 1/4 cup black sesame seeds in a small bowl.

Scoop cookie dough by the heaping tablespoonful into your hand. Roll into a ball, and toss around in the black sesame seeds. The dough balls dont need to be completely covered in seeds, just coated well. Place on prepared baking sheets. Bake for about 12 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges. Remove from the oven, allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack ! to cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container. Cookies will last for a day or two. The oils on the seeds can tend to go rancid. These cookies are best eaten within a few days. That shouldnt be much trouble!

Favola Italian Restaurant, Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur

Our first dining experience in Favola went well, so we had no qualms about returning to try more from their extensive menu. Once was for a food review and another time for dinner to celebrate our anniversary since Favola was open on a Sunday.

It was our first encounter with burrata (this was some months ago), a cheese very similar to mozzarella (it is afterall made of mozzarella plus cream) but creamier. We're definitely big fans of burrata now after trying it here. Simply prepared with sliced fresh Roma tomatoes, rocket leaves, Parmesan cheese and truffle shavings, it is one of our favorite Italian starters. It is slowly gaining popularity in KL, as I have seen and tasted it in several other Italian restaurants in KL this year.

Burrata with fresh Roma tomatoes

Bread at Favola

All sorts of olive oil

From the crudo bar, we also had the octopus antipasti, which has been blanched, sliced and marinated with garlic, chilli flakes, sea salt, olive oil and served with black olives, sprouts, radish and cherry tomatoes. What a beautifully vibrant dish!

Octopus (RM40)

Wouldn't have thought of trying the soup here at Favola, but Chef Antoine picked the zuppa di vongola (RM40) for us to sample. The soup is made from stock, chilli flakes, thyme, rosemary and garlic - it has a slight kick from the chillis and was very tasty. Plus love the fact that the soup came with fresh clams (which I like very much) and Merguez sausage. I wouldn't mind ordering this next time.

Ah can't go wrong with mushrooms. The garlic and thyme roasted giant portobello was topped with spinach and Lombary Taleggio cheese. YUMMMM!

Starters

Of course that was not all we had... we now move on to pizzas! Usually we would just go for meat or vegetarian pizzas, but ! the V enetian pizza (RM55) which was laden with seafood such as lobster, scallops, prawns, clams, and calamari turned out to be great. The pizzas are cooked in a wood fire oven, see how the crusts are slightly charred. The tomato base also not too overpowering and just went nicely with the rest of the ingredients.

Venetian pizza - 10 inches of goodness

The beauty of this lunch was that Chef Antoine picked all the dishes for us. I think a lot of it wouldn't normally be ordered by us as we are quite "safe" when it comes to eating out, usually sticking to what we know. We certainly enjoyed all the new things that we tried including the BBQ Cod Fish (RM90) and Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulder (RM90).

The cod fish is as it should be, the flesh coming off in flakes served with a tangy sundried tomato dressing. It is quite pricey though, especially if one does not have the Starwood card.

The lamb shoulder was slow cooked with tomato jus, olives, rosemary and garlic. I would have preferred if the meat was a little more tender, but Hubby enjoyed it and didn't have a problem finishing almost the whole portion.

For pasta, you can choose your pasta and mix and match with your favourite sauce. We had the spaghetti polpetta (RM40), one of Favola's signature items. The meatballs are made using Wagyu trimmings and cooked in a fresh basil tomato sauce. The meatballs were very good, tender with a nice bite. I certainly enjoyed this.

For desserts, Chef Antoine prepared a trio of dessert samplers for us. We had the chocolate mousse topped with strawberries (cant remember now if this was the zuccotto), tiramisu and raisin cake with oreo ice cream. Loved them all, and the tiramisu was much better than our initial visit to Favola.

Raisin cake - moist

Tiramisu

Chocolate mousse with strawberries - light

On our second visit, photos turned out a little darker as we were seated in the corner where it was quite dimly lit and am not a fan of using the flash (esp when I'm not doing a review as it draws too much attention).

We enjoyed the seared jumbo sea scallop (RM55) the last time we came, and proceeded to order one EACH this time. Yes, we had four scallops each to ourselves LOL. This time, it was served atop some grilled mushrooms which I much prefer since I love mushrooms and scallops! If you ever visit Favola, this is a must-order!

Since we enjoyed the risotto here the last time, we decided to order risotto again, but with a different topping. We had the risotto verde pisello (RM75) which is green pea risotto with seared Wagyu chuck flap tail. Have to say this was also very yummy, and the beef was nicely cooked.

The ravioli was decent, but did not really stand out for us. We did not really taste the black truffle (we had high expectations since it was mentioned on the menu) but the pasta itself could not be faulted. (couldn't access the online menu this morning, but will update name of this dish when I can)

Beautiful wall of masks

Opening times: Sunday to Friday: 12.00pm to 2.30pm (Lunch); Monday to Sunday: 6.30pm to 11.00pm (Dinner)

Service: A little slow during our 2nd visit, quite difficult to get the waiting staff's attention even to refill water or make our order for desserts.

Location: Favola, Level 8, Le Mridien Kuala Lumpur, 2 Jalan Stesen Sentral, 50470 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Directly opposite KL Sentral station and next to KL Hilton)

Tel: 03- 2263 7434

Parking: RM8 for the first 2 hours, RM5 for every subsequent hour.

GPS Coordinates: 3.135685, 101.686524

Website: http://discoverlemeridien.com/menus/

*Part of this meal was an invited review and the other was paid fully by us.

Jarrod & Rawlins @ Bangkung

Jarrod & Rawlins unveiled a Bangsar branch this month, making a prudent play for this neighborhood's meat-hungry clientele.

The food is reassuringly recognizable, the setting on Jalan Bangkung is perfectly polished; after all these years in the F&B business, these guys know what they're doing, so sit back & start a satisfying meal with this salad of streaky bacon, scallops & pumpkin seeds.

Fish pie, creamy & comforting. When we wondered what fish was used, our server didn't need to head to the kitchen to find out. She replied confidently, "Norwegian Emerald fish" (a breed of sustainable farmed tilapia).

Numerous touches kept this meal running smoothly. On the menu, these lamb-&-cranberry sausages with red wine gravy are partnered with mashed potatoes, but when we sought mushy peas instead, our request was met without reservation.

Crucially, everything emerges on the table exactly as ordered. We added this grilled prime tenderloin late in the evening, and again, our server impressed. Without taking notes, even though we also bombarded her with a new wine order, she got all the details right _ medium-rare, with baked potato & chive-horseradish butter.

Complimentary bacon, cooked in multiple ways, such as fried or prepared in brine.

Creme brulee, also on the house (thanks!). Can't complain about any of the food; everything's delicious _ not mind-blowing, but still clearly well-prepared.

House sparkling, offered by the bottle & the glass.

Three house reds & three whites are available by the glass (all around RM30).

Tanqueray & Bombay gin & tonic.

Port wine, also possible by the glass. Even though this is a watering hole, families can feel welcome, taking a table at the non-rowdy, non-smoking section.

Roaming around Bangsar, we also stopped at Moo Cow's latest spin-off at Telawi.

Oops! We gobbled up our fro-yo so fast, we forgot to snap a photo of it. This month's flavor is Winter Melon, a lovely treat, terrific when topped with melon seeds.

Moving on to see what Les Deux Garcons is selling these days. Can't help loving the L'aveline _ creamy hazelnut dacquoise cake, topped with noisette praline & berries.

Must have macarons, of course. We thanked heaven for the opportunity to snatch LDG&#! 39;s sol e table indoors, enjoying the air-conditioned comfort while nibbling on vodka lime & capsicum macarons.

Main entry on Les Deux Garcons: November 15, 2011.

Jarrod & Rawlins,

Jalan Bangkung, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur.