Chef Edward Lee Hennessy XO Appreciation Grows Dinner 2012

*Dinner was in April. Post was requested to be published only after the video is ready.
Heres Hennessy X.O KL Travelogue with Chef Edward Lee Ep. 1 of 4, provided by PR 3 weeks back.

One of the most celebrated gastronomic events of the year is the Hennessy X.O Appreciation Grows dinner series, which was meticulously orchestrated by Chef Edward Lee last 18-21 April 2012.

As a foodie, events like this gets me all giddy with excitement; mostly in anticipation of the menu, where diners palates are bound to be teased and thrilled.

I loved Susur Lees menu during the previous Hennessy X.O Appreciation Grows dinner and admittedly, my expectations ran sky-high for this particular session.

Perhaps that was why I was underwhelmed, way underwhelmed as a better part of his menu failed to leave a memorable impression.

But heck, who am I to criticisean Iron Chef?
Chef Edward Lees impressive accolades are as below, and Im sure if I dined at his turf in 610 Magnolia,Louisville, Kentucky, I would have been suitable blown away.

We forgivingly excused the rubbery scallops, the lacklustre beef and the well prepared but ordinary dessert. Equatorial Hotel, already vacant and silent, was the venue of this dinner. We figured that working in an unfamiliar kitchen without his trusted staff plus the possibly ill-equipped kitchen could be the cause.

Anyhow, someunordothox dishes like MOSAIC and PIQUANT did elicits murmurs of approval.

Dinner started at an almost Malaysian-wedding- dinner -hour of 9pm and most of us were famished beyond comprehension. I picked up my fork even before the first dish touched the table, but thankfully still remembered to grab a quick shot.
For Mosaic, Chef Edward said he was inspired to match the produce of the ocean with the fruits of earth. Beautiful laid out tiles of fish and fruits alternated their space on the plate. We were uncertain of the pairing or sequence of consuming this, and my famished self just greedily lapped up fish first, then fruit. ! There we re mango, dragonfruit, papaya with bits of lychees on top. The fruity sweetness didnt seem to gel somehow (personal opinion here) with the fish and while the rice vinegar worked well for the fish, the same cant be said for the fruits.

This, on the other hand; was admirably excellent!

A few of us did mention again that the lobster seems overcooked but all was well because the

cream corn soup was ambrosial! Everyone slurped up every drop and some asked if they could have second servings. Jokingly of course.

It was luscious, but didnt leave a heavy feel in the stomach. I never thought chilled corn soup could taste so good! Somehow, I detected a slight nutty aftertaste as well. But it was rather difficult to pinpoint the ingredients; as the corn flavour wasnt heavy either.

These were the famous overcooked scallops.

The Duck. I only managed to steal a bite of the foie gras thanks to Wei Zhi and it was nice, though much firmer compared to the melt-in-the-mouth texture that we are more accustomed to.

Its no secret I love my beef so this was my choice of main for the night.

It has a lovely pink center and I had hoped that the chocolate and jalepeno glaze was as intriguing as it sounded on paper.

Unfortunately it was rather faint.

Anyhow, its time for dessert. Brioche-crusted dark chocolate genoise cake with pistachio and walnut sprinkles and a dash of crimson red beet syrup.

That night also saw the unveiling of the new Hennessy X.O bottle.

Just like the Susur Lees dinner, guests were kept captivated with extraordinary performances. Replacing the previous sandart show is a sketch artist.

Last but not least, a toast to! MHD, th e PR team and Chef Edward Lee for making this possible! Thank you!

I wonder whos next featured chef forHennessy XO Appreciation Grows Dinner??

How to Cook the Perfect Poached Egg (MasterChef)

I love havingpoached eggs for breakfast. If I see Eggs Benedict on the menu in a restaurant/cafe, I would order it without fail. Same goes to when we're on holiday and the hotel breakfast offers poached eggs or Eggs Benedict, I would have that everyday during our stay (for example, when we were staying at Cameron Highlands ResortI had it for breakfast both days).

For me, poached eggs has this magical allure - I love poking the egg yolk and watching it run down the sides. Mmmmm, foodporn indeed!

Last year, when I was in the Malaysia Blogger MasterChef competition, I learnt how to cook my first poached egg using the whirlpool method. After the competition, I got back in my kitchen and started making poached eggs more and more often, but using the Delia Smith method. This worked for us - but what you get is one that looks like a soft "fried egg".

The theme for September 2012's "Cook Like a Star" which I am co-hosting is MasterChef.So, for my first Cook Like a MasterChef post, I will be sharing with you the methods of making the perfect poached egg! This method is used by former MasterChef Australia contestant, Alana Lowes (post here).

The perfect poached egg!

Alana uses the whirlpool method - using a whirlpool helps the egg hold its shape when it first enters the water. The resulting poached eggs looks just like the ones you get in the restaurants and hotels. I practiced everyday, until I got the perfect poached egg. And boy, was I delighted!

Practice does make perfect.. ;)

The key here is to use really fresh eggs. It is hard to tell how long the eggs have been sitting in the carton on the supermarket shelves. Just to demonstrate how important it is to use fresh eggs, look at Day 3's photo - I used eggs which I have just purchased and these were the ones that turned out really perfect! The eggs also need to be at room temperature - believe me, cos I tried it with eggs that came out straight from the fridge and it didn't hold its shape properly when it hit the whirlpool.

So for my dear readers who have been asking me how to cook the perfect poached eggs, do try this method and remember, the more you practice the better you get at it. (I ate poached eggs for a whole week for breakfast just because I wanted to get it right!) If you do try this at home, do let me know how it goes for you.

My most loyal guinea pig customer can't wait to eat his poached eggs

The perfect poached egg
Adapted from MasterChef Australia

You need:
A fresh egg
White vinegar
Water
Slotted spoon
Saucepan

1. Crack the egg into a small ramekin or small bowl. It is easier to slip the egg into the simmering water later.

2. Fill a small saucepan with approximately 4 inches of water and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons of vinegar to the water, it will help the eggs whites set.

3. Using a tablespoon, swirl the water making a whirlpool (as if you are drawing circles in the water). Gently tip the egg into the centre of the whirlpool and watch the magic of the swirl work. As the egg hits the whirlpool, the egg white will enclose around the yolk and form a neat tight round. (If your eggs are not fresh or not at room temperature, then this is when it will fail and won't enclose properly)

4. Allow the egg to cook for 2-3 minutes or until the yolk is cooked to your liking. Gently lift out the egg using a slotted spoon and give it a little wobble. The egg white should be just cooked (no more translucent white). Remove with a slotted spoon and rest the spoon on kitchen paper for few seconds to absorb any excess water.

5. Serve immediately. I like serving it with toast and asparagus for breakfast or topping it on my pasta for lunch. Once you can do the perfect poached eggs, you can put it on almost anything and everything!

Poke..

And watch it f! low, wat ch it flow, watch it flow..

Perfection!

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The theme for September 2012's "Cook Like a Star" is MasterChef. To join, simply cook or bake any recipe (from the contestants, judges or even sponsors) from any MasterChef websites or cookbooks (any countries) and blog hop with us for the whole month of September 2012.

Your post must be a current post i.e. posted in September 2012 - please do not link older posts.

Please mention Cook like a Star in your post and link back to Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids, Anuja of Simple Baking and Baby Sumo of Eat your heart out.

You can get the HTML code here:
get the InLinkz code

Happy cooking!

Handmade Story Cafe

Handmade Story Cafe. I'm not sure what Handmade Story means exactly but it sounds like some signboard you'd read on a street in Taiwan or Japan so I guessed that HMC must be a Taiwanese or Japanese-style cafe and I think I'm right becauseHMC is quaint, cute even, and definitely young because the owners and chefs are people in their mid-twenties, and the menu offers simple western and Asian dishes.

I have this soft spot for young people starting out and although the cafe's menu is very limited,I think you should give this place a shot because the owners are very open to suggestions and I always think that food business people should always have that attitude.You wouldn't believe how totallystubborn and defensivesome restaurants and cafe owners are. One of the strange things about Sabahans is that they don't bother to give feedback because they are shy/indifferent/really taste dead/afraid of the saliva-in-my-food-next-visit counter action by the chefs. I just went to a kedai kopi today that serves great fish and pork noodles but the floor was littered with used tissues and everybody seemed happy and blind to the dirty floor. I gently told the lady in charge that the place was too dirty and she said they sweep before and after, like it's fine if the place is dirty during. I really want to start a new blog called The Blog Of Grouses. It'll be all about the crazy things you see here, like people opening their car doors and spitting, people throwing rambutan skins out their car windows (because the skins are biodegradable/their parents have always done it) and people driving up the road dividers just because the car in front of them is trying to back out. Oh, and motorbikes parked right in the middle of 5 foot walkways on a busy weekday morning. Are we really in the year 2012? Is kk a city or a big kampung (village)?

Anyway, HMC. This review is based on the few dishes I tried a couple of weeks ago, before they officially opened.


A pretty good bowl of curry laksa but slightly mild in flavor. If I were serving this, I'd give more soup, a couple of good fishballs or fishcake slices, bean sprouts and half a kasturi lime with a small dollop of sambal chili sauce. Perfecto.


Spicy noodles. This just tasted of bottled spicy hot sauce and the serving of mince can be larger rather than just cute. A dish that needs a lot of tweaking.


A small circle of a pizza with a topping that tasted good but the soft, underbaked and floppy crust would be bane to the Italians. Or discerning Sabahans.


If you haven't yet noticed it, the tables in HMC are very rustic and pretty. The tables are handmade from ordinary planks and given a glossy shine, making the place look casual and homey. The tables also give a nice warm backdrop for photography and I was about to offer to buy one when I realised that I should make my son make one for me. They also havethe prettiest handmade menu booklets I've seen in KK and I wish I took a photo.


This was a very dry piece of brownie, so dry it broke up and scattered all over when cut with the fork. I have tasted the brownie at La Fetta and it was awesome and I expected HMS' brownie to be the same because the same people in HMC ran La Fetta.


Better than the brownie but not exceptional.

I can't remember the prices but I think it was regular cafe prices, meaning more expensive thankedai kopi and cheaper than hotels. They may have opened officially by now so do drop by when you are in the area. I hope they have improved on the menu selection and dishes and added to their staff strength. The service was very slow. Parking is a bit of a problem but you can park at the hotel nearby.

Handmade Story Cafe,
behind Yoyo in Damai