A Kitchen Assistent

Ive been playing with something new in the kitchen.

Have you seen one of these before?

Its unique looking dont you think. And big. Its hard to tell by this photo, but its quite large. Especially the bowl. Over seven quarts Could be good for big batch baking.

Its called an Assistent Original.

And its been made in Ankarsrum, Sweden for decades.

But I just saw it for the first time last year, when a sweet reader that works at the company in Ankarsrum emailed me and asked if Id like to play with one. I was fascinated by the look of it, so I said sure.

I love that it comes in pastel colors. That kinda sold me on wanting one.

And these double beaters are cool, too.

I used the roller and scraper function though to make a cookie dough.

I was ! trying t o decide what to make with it the first time, and it only seemed right to go for a Swedish influenced recipe.

After searching online for Swedish cookies, I found recipes for Pepparkakor, Sandbakelser and Drmkakor Or these Swedish Dream Cookies.

So cute. Theyre like light airy sugar cookies, but not really soft. That didnt stop me from eating them one after the other though. Theyre kind of addictive actually and I had an immediate desire to dip them in coffee like I do with Biscoff cookies when I fly Delta. I think theyd soak up beautifully and dissolve in your mouth.

This machine works different than my Kitchenaid. Here the bowl spins at different speeds. And the scraper and roller interact with the ingredients as the bowl rotates. Very interesting.

Gotta say, the scraper was mesmerizing.

And fun to watch as everything gets combined. You can move the roller closer or farther away from the edge of the bowl as needed.

The bowl stayed pretty clean. At least until I added some wet ingredients. Still very interesting.

Im not sure how often Ill use it because it will take a little getting used to, but I definitely want to make room for it on my counter because it looks so cool.

Heres theAssistent website in Sweden and heres a site where you canfind them in the US.

After the cookie dough comes together, roll it into small balls and bake.

Heres a slightly amended version of the Swedish Dream Cookies recipe on Saveur.com. (I didnt have corn oil or regular flour on hand.)

Drmkakor

1 2/3 cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
• In a small bowl, whisk flour and baking soda and set aside.
• In a mixer, beat butter and sugars for a couple of minutes until light and fluffy.
• Add oil and mix until smooth.
• Add dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
• Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place on parchment paper lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart.
• Bake one sheet of cookies at a time until cookies are just set and crack on the top. About 20 minutes! for me.
• Cool on a wire rack.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Enjoy! (or Njut in Swedish) At least thats what Google Translate says. : )

And If anyone has any traditional Swedish Recipes youd like to share, please do. Id love to hear your favorites.

I know some of you guys will have good ones.

I cooked: Sarawak braised beef soup

My blogger friend, Sharon of Feats of Feast is hosting the Malaysia Food Fest (MFF), Sarawak Month in September. I'm not familiar with Sarawak cuisine, however I'm all game for cooking up some Sarawak dishes in my kitchen. I did some research and though mee kolok, Sarawak laksa, and kampua all looked really good, I was missing crucial ingredients such as the Sarawak laksa paste or noodles to make the dish.

Sarawak braised beef soup

Then I came across this Sarawak braised beef soup recipe on Kuali by Chef Rossham Rusli- I instantly bookmarked it since I could easily source all the ingredients plus the idea of a hot warming soup is very welcomed since my kids are suffering from a cold.I managed to get a piece of Australian chuck steak from Jusco supermarket, which is ideal for braising, stews or soup. Chuck meat is like brisket, and when slow cooked with time and care can produce a tender and flavorful dish. The original recipe calls for 1kg of beef, however I made 700g and scaled down the measurements for the rest of the ingredients accordingly. The original recipe could supposedly serve 10, but 3 adults (the kids took some) in my house managed to finish the whole pot of soup - either we're very hungry or it was really good! ;P

Since I used chuck ! steak, i t took slightly longer to cook (an approximate time would be 2 hours at low heat). However, it requires very little of your actual time, you can just leave it to simmer while you do other things. The resulting soup was very delicious, filled with spices, the most prevalent being the pepper. If I was to liken the taste to something familiar to me, it would be one of my favorite soups - soto!

Slow cooked til tender.. YUM!

What makes this uniquely different is the addition of sweet potato in the braised beef soup, which I initially thought would be weird since I often associate sweet potato with desserts but it turned out to be a great match and I really liked it! I chose to use the orange sweet potato from Indonesia since I was worried the purple one might give the soup a funny colour!The soup is good as a meal on its own, however we chose to add meehoon to it since we were having it for dinner. Even the kids enjoyed it (both of them love mee hoon) - it was so nice seeing them feeding one another! My parents loved it too (my father said "so nice lah, when you gonna make for me again?" LOL.. I guess next time I'll have to make a bigger pot.Btw, any Sarawakians know what this dish is called locally?

Sarawak braised beef soup

Adapted from Kuali - Chef Rossham Rusli
Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 2 hours

Ingredients
700g beef, cut into large cubes (I used Australian chuck steak)
2.1 litre water

2 1/2 tbsp cooking oil
3/4 tbsp salt

3/4 tsp sugar (I omitted this)

Ingredients (A)
2in cinnamon stick (kayu manis)
4pc star anise (bunga cengkih)
4pc cardamom (buah pelaga)

Ingredients (B)
7 shallots, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 inch of ginger, finely chopped
1 1/2 tbsp rempah sup powder (I used Adabi brand)
3/4 tbsp black peppercorn
3/4 tsp white peppercorn
3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed (approximately 600g)

Garnishing
Local celery (daun sup) or coriander leaf, sliced

Spring onion, finely sliced

Red chilli, finely sliced


1. In a large pot, boil beef with water until tender. Using chuck steak, this will take approximately 2 hours.

2. Around 1 1/2 hours into boiling the beef stock, heat the cooking oil over medium high heat in a separate pan. Add Ingredients (A) and fry for 30 seconds.Then add ingredient (B), and saut for 5 minutes until fragrant.

3. Then pour the spice mixture into the beef stock. Add rempah sup powder, black and white peppercorns and bring to the boil.

4.Lower to! medium heat and add sweet potatoes, leave to simmer for about 15 minutes until sweet potatoes are cooked.

5. Finally, season with salt to taste. Garnish withwith local celery(daun sup), chilli and spring onion.

6. If adding meehoon, then soak and cook the meehoon in a separate pot. Then place in a bowl, and pour soup, braised beef and sweet potatoes over the meehoon. Garnish and serve immediately.

I am submitting this dish to Malaysian Food Fest,Sarawak Month hosted by Sharon of Feats of Feasts.

The Belly Fat Diet

Most of the people who would like to go on a diet are primarily concerned about their belly fat. Interestingly, losing those love handles and extra flab in the belly area does not only result to achieving the figure that you have always wanted. There are studies which have also shown that people who manage to lose belly fat are able to stay away from other health concerns like high blood pressure, heart attack and diabetes. The good news is that belly fat diet can also do the necessary trimming.

For most people, the easiest belly fat diet is to increase the frequency of eating while dramatically cutting down the amount of food to ingest. Yes, this may sound like a crazy idea because you would need to eat about 6 to 8 times a day. However, the key in effectively doing this is in eating much smaller portions. By going through this method, your metabolism will sky-rocket which allows your body to burn more fat without causing starvation. Of course, it is important to be picky with what you eat too. Meals should be limited to lean meat and high protein food. When snacking, it is best to opt for fruits or raw vegetables instead of bread and chips. Peanuts are great too since this have whopping amount of protein and can easily make you feel full.

You do not have to opt for drastic dietary changes or extreme workouts when trying to lose that muffin top. Yes, working out would help a lot, but proper belly fat diet will already enable you to achieve your goal. One important aspect that you should pay attention to is the amount of calories that you take in each day. The total amount should only be within 800 to 1500 calories a day, depending on your body type.

Foods which have high amount of carbohydrates is a big no no! Forget about pasta, pi! zza, bre ad and rice for a while. Instead, substitute this with whole grain food which has lower amount of carbohydrates. Soda and alcoholic beverages also have high amount of calories so it is best to switch to fresh fruit juices or water. Keep in mind that your body will automatically store excess carbohydrates as fat because it instinctively reserves it as future source of energy. When you lower your intake of carbohydrates per day, there will be no additional fat to store and those which have accumulated in the past will also be burned and used up.

Eating food with high amount of fiber helps a lot in belly fat diet. The best ones are vegetables and fruits. This will keep you feeling full for hours. Even if you eat only a small amount, you will feel that your tummy has already had enough. The best part is that fruits and vegetables would not add more fat in your body.

Do not forget about drinking plenty of water. The belly fat diet works much better when the digestive tract has sufficient amount of water to use up. Eight glasses of water daily might not be enough. It should be raised to at least ten glasses or more. That way, toxins and excessive sodium will also be flushed out much easier.

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Lewisgene Espresso @ Solaris

Coffee lovers, let's hear a warm welcome for Lewisgene Espresso, which has the potential to become a favorite hangout for many.

It's easy to imagine spending a leisurely afternoon at this Solaris Mont Kiara cafe, munching on house-made cheese sables and Oreo mille crepes ...

... as well as warm waffles topped with peanut butter (would be even better with ice cream).

Liquor-laced brews, intoxicating in their potency, range from whiskey-infused Irish coffees ...

... to gin-gentrified Irish hot chocolates.

Regular lattes are available too of course, pleasant enough to please.

Lewisgene Espresso & Tea,
2-1, Jalan Solaris 3, Solaris Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur.
Open daily, morning through late night.

Bacardi Oakheart Cocktail Recipes

Bacardi Oakheart Cocktail Recipes

Two cocktail recipes using the newly released Bacardi Oakheart Rum. Bacardi Oakheart? Its new according to the press release:

Bacardi turns 150 this year and as part of the celebrations it has added a spiced rum to its rum family. The Bacardi familys Master-Blenders spent five years developing Oakheart to ensure they got the recipe just right and trialled it in key UK regions before launching it nationally this month.

What does it taste like?
Straight from the heart of charred oak barrels, BACARDI OAKHEART is a smooth, oaky spirit with a hint of smokiness. The unique velvet-like smoothness means it tastes great on its own or mixed with coke.

How is it made?
Bacardis Master-Distillers use a unique blending process that begins with the mellowing of rums in charred, American, white oak barrels to give the base an oaky flavour. Once they have created this perfect base they add a range of expertly chosen flavours, including cinnamon, nutmeg and honey before filtering the liquid to ensure that only the highest quality rum makes it into the famous BACARDI bottles. The result? An exceptional spiced rum spirit drink that brings a new twist to the spiced spirit drink category.

Bacardi Oakheart Cocktail Recipes:

The Smoking Rum

• 50ml Bacardi Oakheart rum
• 50ml Apple Juice
• 50ml Ginger Beer
• squeeze fresh Lime Juice

Build in a highball over ice, garnish with a wedge of lime

Two Smoking Barrels

• 37.5ml Bacardi Oakheart rum
• 10ml Southern Comfort
• 25ml Apple Juice

Pour over ice, stir to mix

Spittoon.biz - A UK Wine Blog - We Spit... So You Can Swallow

Samira by Asian Terrace at KLPAC Center Sentul West

The last time I went to Sentul West where KLPAC resided was during my pre wedding shoot for Chris and Christine . The private owned land house a well taken care luscious green gardens and a Koi center. Next to the Koi center, theres a Thai restaurant with the name Samira. It was from the same management of Asian Terrace which I introduced few years back.

Though the name is different but I would vote this one as my favorite in terms of ambiance.

Located next to a pool filled with fishes plus the open air dining area does make some impression here. This is the view from the parking area or walking from KL Performing Arts Center (KLPAC).

The entrance already is interesting enough as theres a mini maze that you need to get thru and once you past that, youll see a nice Japanese style restaurant with a big lake surrounding it. However theres a restriction here where you are not allowed to take photos here where the land owner prohibit you to do so. I am under the invite of the restaurants owner so exempted. So shoot all the way!

This is the inside look of the restaurant. Lovely isnt it. The restaurant is giving you a relax and luxurious feel to din! e here.< /p>

A perfect place for couples to come here talk lovey dovey.

For me, the main attention is the FOOD! I just got back from Bangkok and their foods taste are still lingering in my mind. Perfect to write about the authenticity and quality of Samiras food.

Thai Pomelo Salad

The combination of fresh pomelo bits, onions and squids giving it a sweet, tangy and slight spicy shapes the Thai Starters. It is a MUST order here together with the mango salad with catfish below. This 2 are the perfect combo to have a great start here at Samira. These were their all time best sellers.

This new Yam Salad is the latest addition to their Vietnamese line ups. A comparable and worth a mention starter vs the Thais. The crispy yam strips mixed with other tangy vegetables and herbs made it a great starter.

Tom Yam Goong (RM30)! You dont call it complete if you didnt order Tom Yam when you dine in a Thai Restaurant. A thick broth, that made me wonder if there was coconut, but there wasnt. I liked the sourness and heat of the dish, but it wasnt piping hot enough for me. I would usually add more of the Thai Gun Powder (Their red hot chili powder) to spice it up. Then thats the real Thai level of enjoying Tom Yam. Here they usually tone down the level of spiciness. For the past 5 days in Bangkok, I had at least a bowl of ! Tom Yam from different place ranging from hotels to streets to study further the real Tom Yam taste without being localised. Samira pass with flying colors in terms of authenticity. If you wanna try the REAL thing, tell them you want THAI level. You will be sweating like mad .

Grilled Fish Fillet in Banana Leaf. A first bite in it giving me a hint of otak otak but I believe is the Thai version of it. Still it is good.

River Prawns with Lemongrass Sauce (RM35). The prawns were battered and deep fried then laden with chefs special lemongrass sauce. The prawns were still juicy and succulent. Tell me aboutcholesterolafter I suck the prawns head. Delicious!

Grilled Norwegian Salmon With Basil Leaf. Another rather unique method of preparation, and I believe is more Vietnamese than Thai. Despite being embalmed in sauce and herb, the salmon was not overcooked and remained moist. I like the sauce by the way. It can goes well with a bowl of white rice.

Southern Thai Masaman Curry With Beef Introducing to you world voted #1 dish by CNNGO. A perfect soul mate for rice. Not too spicy and the sauce just perfect in terms of gravy richness.

Steamed Squid with Chilli and Lime Juice

Instead of Baramundi fish, we had this all time favorite steam style with squids. The squids were fresh and do not taste like rubber at all. It only happens to not fresh squids where you are biting rubbers. Look simple but the combination of all the t! aste nev er fails.

Traditional Thai Tom Kha with Chicken

This is another version of Tom Yam that has coconut milk. I like the one without.

Spicy Chicken With Chefs Special Sauce.

This taste like ayam percik though. I wonder do the malay copy Thai or Thai copy them but heck care. This chicken taste really good.

Pad Thai

The Thai style Char Koey Teow. The main difference is the sauce that used to fried the koey teow and the taugeh is eaten raw. Chilli powder and crushed peanuts with a squeeze of lime upon served really spice the plate of pad Thai up. Not to mention it is blanket with anomeletteto keep it warm.

Pineapple fried rice. A hint of curry powder and tumeric.

Ginger and Lemongrass drink perfect to dispel some winds after so much food.

My Lemongrass drink a cooler for all the spicy foods. To enjoy the dinner further, we were offered a bottle of Primus Chilean Wine where it goes perfectly with all the foods. If you open wrong bottle, it will further enhance the taste or break it. Like opening Shiraz paired with TomYam? Fire in the hole baby! I wou! ld recom mend you to get a bottle here unless you are wine experts.

SAMIRA BY ASIAN TERRACE
Lot 268 Sentul Park
Jalan Strachan
Off Jalan Ipoh
51100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel : 012-9213880.