Food overload...

2 weekends back, JJ and i went to visit his grandma at the hospital. she had fallen and broke her shoulder in 3 places. such a pity. u kno how long it takes bones to heal... esp so in older people... so since we were in the kajang area, i wanted to go to pla dib for lunch. i had read about it on blogs raving about the menu which was a wonderful balance of old fashion thai cuisine with a dash of modernity. u'll find things like fish ceviche and squid ink fried rice on the menu. i was pumped! i tried to look it up on the gps and nothing came up. i got hold of the number and it was out of service. determined, we made our way to the heritage village anyway. silently hoping for a miracle.

it was beyond hot that day.. as it has been for the past week, which did nothing to brighten my mood. and to make matters worse, the restaurant did close down. All we saw were the signage and a note pasted on the door saying they had closed down and will re-open indefinitely. INDEFINITELY...ckp je la tutup forever...i was crushed!! sedih giler!! we had come all this way and i was already mentaly ordering all the things i wanted to try.. but it was already wayy past lunch time and we hadnt eaten yet so we trudged to the nearest place we saw, a persian rest wich was devoid of people which to me meant mediocre food.

i wasnt entirely wrong. the food was just ok. when i asked for a recommendation all the waiter suggested was the lamb kebab. jj had already asked for that so i wanted sumtin else. when i asked for another recommendation, he gave me the same one. i think they were out of everything else on the menu. i settled for the beef lamb kebab coz everything else seemed to have beans in it. im not a fan of beans in savoury dishes so i skipped that.

food was just ok, a little light on the spices which wasnt very middle eastern-ish as they're normaly pretty liberal with their spices. kebab's were served with plain white rice, albeit fluffy rice sprinkled with saffron rice. and when i asked for dessert he told me they were out of it. they had 3 items listed in the desserts section and they were out of all of it. at the end of my meal however, i saw the caucasion gentlemen next to me nursing a dish of ice cream. it was pretty upsetting but i didnt feel like making a fuss, esp when i saw the dessert looked like plain chocolate n vanilla ice cream.

then i remembered that i've been wanting to try this mille crepe cake forever!! i read it on a few blogs and a mari sed it was to die forr!! a few taps on the gps and we were on our way!! it was a little tricky to find but we manage to locate it and sat down to omg the bestest dessert cake ever!!!

i love layered desserts!! esp such a delicate one!! its basically tissue thin crepes layered with custard creme. its so delicate and intricate and looked like it needed a lot of patience to do! sumtin im lacking in. and it was basically heaven on a dessert fork! we ordered vanilla and fell in love. then we ordered mango. on another visit we tried strawberry and both agreed that vanilla is still the best flavour. i loveeeeeee to sit and stare at the beautiful layers and savour the delicate thin-ness of the crepe on my tongue. sedap gilerr!!

if you're ever near pj. do drop by ok. but try not to do so on a hot hot hottt day as the rest does not have aircond. on a hot hot afternoon, with the fan spinning lazily above, i was transported back to my school days. felt like those days, after waktu rehat when it was burning hot and the fans offered little comfort, spinning hot air around us. but the mille cakes make it all worth it!! go ok!

Food Foundry
BG-8, Happy Mansion

Jalan 17/13,
46400 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor.


Tel: 03-79553885

Crazy baby lovin'

i am crazy in love with this little person

My 1st Foie Gras

so a couple of nights ago jj n i went to pressroom in bsc whr my sister works. she wanted to treat us to dinner for organizing my nieces bday party.
i was really xcited coz i was gonna taste foie gras for the 1st time! im a avid food lover so to not have tasted foie gras before is really an embarrasment.

on the said day, i had too much time on my hands while waiting for jj to wake up from his nap n come pick me up so i went a lil overboard with the eye make up.

i hardly dress up to go out in public nowadays, so for me to put on full make up was really sumtin.

kak in suggested a few dishes she thought we might like but i had my heart set on the foie gras with seared apple for my appetiser, she suggested i get the fish for my main n i obliged.

jj had the king prawns (of which i eventually had half of) for starters n fettucini with shredded duck and mushrooms.

wen my foie gras came my face was glowing with xcitement! n den the camera broke down on us. a few slaps and throws later (kidding :p) it was ok agn bt i had wasted too many precious mins letting it go cold i had to dive in (hence the poor quality photos)!

and my face scrunched up wen i did. like eeew? ok im a pretty adventerous eater. in fact id eat pretty much anything u throw in front of me bt this just made me nauseous.

the texture was that of pure fat, u know the white kind u find on beef? and the taste was, well it tasted exactly like wat it was, fatty duck liver but it tasted so gamey. it didnt have that rich livery taste which i love! it was fatty liver.. literally..

i love fat! i eat spoonfulls of butter while watching tv (i kid u not)! i rarely trim my meat and i really like fatty greasy chicken skin.

but this was a whole new league of eeww.

it spoiled my appetite for the rest of the night. which was a shame coz the fish was quite good tho i prefered his pasta over it n dessert was awesome-

but we forgot to take pictures cos we were so full we requested for only 1 dessert to share, and ended up fighting over it. seriously sharing food w jj is a nightmare, he's like a hungry lion all d time its scary.

i love my sister very much and she's a wonderful chef, but kak in, nx time we go la bodega ok? she handles both restaurants and i tink la bodega is much much kinder to the palate, not to mention the wallet.

Good butter = happy Janna

sceptical him.. he hates pretentious fancy meals. pftttt

my new nemesis



 

Moment of truth...



ehem ehem bluekk



eewww....

 

Barramundi fillet with bisque sauce and fresh asparagus







my sister the fab chef!

So i was browsing thru bangsar-babe's website when i came across her posting on the KL time Out Food Awards 2010.

I was scrolling down the list when lo and behold! wat do i see??

My sister is a chef there and she just did their dessert menu! how cool is dat! ok kak in! ill b there soon! siap kn foie gras ok!!

and Congratsss!!!

ok she doest read my blog, doesnt even kno i hv one, probably doesnt kno how to find a blog even.. working in a kitchen does that to u..

bt congrats anywayy!!!!

mwahhh!!

A friend like ben..

At this very moment, im wishing i was in london, at Covent Garden, looking at weird and wonderful but utterly useless things like a bottle cap (supposedly) from the 1920's while munching on these...

Strawberry Tart Recipe

Papa came home fr london the oth day and brought back 2 big boxes of strawberries. they were huge n was really juicy. as is always the case, it wud sit in a corner of the fridge, forgotten, and will eventually be tossed out all mouldy and stuff. so a few weeks back, i decided to make a strawberyr tart! having never made tarts before, i looked for measurements for the crust here.

It looked simple enough so i set right to work. so senang man!

165 plain flour

113.5 gm chilled butter

1-2 T iced water

pinch of salt

granulated sugar to sprinkle


Sift flour into a medium bowl. Add the salt and mix well. Grate the butter into the bowl. Just use your fingers lightly to mix the butter and flour up evenly.


I did not crumble the mixture until it became fine breadcrumbs because I wanted the pastry to be more flaky. Add iced water and stir the mixture and then using your fingers bring the dough together into a firm ball.


Do not knead so that the butter does not melt and the gluten is not worked up. Too much kneading will make a tough pastry.

Once the pastry comes together, chill it if necessary and then roll out in between 2 pieces of baking paper (*i didnt have this so i used cling wrap which works just as fine) to 1/8 inch thick. 


Cut a round slightly larger than the pie pan and then lift the pastry and line the pan. Cut the edges to neaten.


like her, also brushed my pastry with egg wash. i bake it in the oven for about 30 mins at 170C.
 For the filling.


20 large strawberries

2-3 tbsp icing sugar (according to preferance)


* you may subtitute with honey but be careful, it might burn faster


1-2 tbsp lime or lemon juice (depending on how tart you want it to be)


2 tbsp corn flour (mixed with water)

I cut up the strawberries and mixed them with the icing sugar. Place them in a pan and stir slighty (refrain from overstirring if you want chunky strawberries). 


When it starts to boil, pour in corn flour mixture bit by bit. stop adding when it starts to thicken and has lost that 'floury' taste. leave it aside to cool.


When the crust is ready, let it rest for 15 mins then pour in the filling.


The crust pastry might be a little difficult to handle to make the lattice, i added a bit more flour for the lattice part and rolled it again and cut into strips.


bake at 170C for 25 mins and tadaaah!!!

let it cool to a nice warm temperature and serve with vanilla ice cream.


welcome to heaven :)


love,


from Jane's Kitchen

Recipe: Roast Chicken

So a couple of weeks back i made roast chicken for lunch. I actually do a lot of cooking bt the hassle of running up the stairs to grab my camera is just too much for me sumtimes (all the time). but the last time i made it the camera was on d dining table from the last time i took it out so i snapped!


so here is my 1st recipe post!! weehooo!!! *que cheerleaders cheering my name*


so u'll need
- a whole chicken (i used 2)
- about 2 heads of garlic (ull repel edward cullen for sure)
- olive oil
- thyme and rosemary (preferably fresh)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp chicken stock
- potatoes
- button mushroom
- white onions
- tomatoes
- leek


Basting
*mixed
- 2 tbs oyster sauce

- 2 tbs honey
- 2 tbs bbg sauce

i love burnt garlic. its more flavourful and aromatic

1. first u need to clean the chicken. i clean chickens with a water mixed with flour. it gets rid of the gamey smell. u can also use the exess water u use to clean rice.


2. then insert a very sharp knife under the skin of the chicken. do this all over.


3. peel and slice a head of garlic and slice em up and stuff it in under the skin. do this with the rosemary n thyme as well. save some herbs for garnish and stuffing


4. take the other head of garlic and cut it lengthwise (skin and all) and stuff it into the cavity along with herbs.

5. rub chicken with some chicken stock and salt.


6. then brush the basting sauce all over the chicken and let rest for a while.


7. cut the potatoes and boil in water with a little salt added. boil till half cooked and drain.


8. cut onions (quarters), leeks, tomatoes and any other vegetables you may have and mix it all togather with the potatoes and place them into the same baking tin as the chicken. Brush them with the basting sauce. drizzle all with olive oil

9. cover with tin foil (shiny side down) and roast at 180 degrees celcius for 40-50 mins depending on the size of the chicken.
i like to occasionally take the chicken out and brush with more basting sauce for more flavour.


10. when it looks about done (juices run clear when poked), turn temp up to 200 celcius and let it roast uncovered for about 5-7 mins and turn it over.


11. when both sides have been browned. take it out and let rest for 15 mins for the juices to be redistributed.

Bon apetit!

i love this coz its simple to make and the aroma of the rosemary and thyme is gorgeous! and the best part is, leftovers can be made into sandwiches or a chicken salad! 


also the garlic doesnt really smell after all that roasting so u wont repel those hot hunks from twilight~ or ur boyfren. in fact he'd love u more for making such a delicious meal!


and u can mash the garlic and mix it boiled potatoes along w sum cream to make a superb mashed potato. bt lets save that recipe for another post ey?


~luff from Jane's kitchen~

apom apa?

last week after tuition we went out for a bite. i didnt intend to eat as id had my dinner earlier. in a bid to kurus, ive been taking my dinner early- 4 hours b4 bedtime. so far so good. cept for the occasional times wen i teman ppl n jst cannot resist snacking jgak. so we went out at 10 ish n he had indomee. to which i wen nakkkk jugakkkkk!! n i didnt just mkn indomee! no!! i also had dessert!! dis uncle had to bukak his stall nx to d mapley we were at la kan! n me being d glutton dat i am cud not walk away without trying it kan??

ive read about dis uncle a couple o times on various food blogs, but had nvr tried it myself. so i reasoned since i was in d area at dat time (i mean how often do i lepak at dt area mlm2 cam tu kn- so wat d heck) a couple of extra (n extra extra) calories surely wud do no harm kan?

                    
well it was well worth it!

d apom was crispy all the way thru. n im not talking crispy while its hot kindda thing. it was really really crispy!! so good!

thr was a lot o flavours to choose from. they had choc banana, sunrise sumtin2 which is egg w sumtin, n honey cheese and durian. they had sum oth flavs which i cannot recall.

i was torn between honey cheese n durian bt later dcided on durian. he was as always unadventerous and stuck w choc banana (i hate bananas)- xoriginal lgsg tau.

n omg it didnt disspoint! my durian i mean. sdap gilsss!! d durian topping was frozen so it had an ice cream-ish texture to it. im not sure if it was 100% durian or it had been mixed w cream but it was heaven! n they were pretty generous w it as well! a whole big scoop of it!! nyum nyum!!

                                                                  
jj hates processed durian of anykind. he's a bit of a food snob. klu mkn durian kne freshly bukak, kenot b kept in fridge, kenot be touched by other hands b4 he eats it. bla bla bla.

                                                             

                                                               

i tasted a bit of his banana choc. i only broke off a small choc covered bit but i felt dat d nutella was left on d heat too long n it was hard (burnt) and wasnt melted n ooey gooey like i wud hv prefered. choc spead burns really fast- i learned this wen i tried to mke a choc muffin w nutella centre.

he hated d smell of my durian. hahah!!

if ur ever in tmn tun at nite. look for devi's corner on persiaran zaaba. d stall is set on d sidewalk across the road from it.

the stall opens at 9pm till 2am.

-pics taken using my bb hence the compromised quality-

get dat needle awak from me u freak!!

im sick! feels like thr are 17 rats clawing their way up the back of my throat.. clawing clawing and clawing. beads of blood forming with evry scratch their tiny nails make. eeewwww!! ape morbid pagi2 nih!! gross!

but my throat does hurt. promise. so im all alone at work today. well not exactly alone la. but la has gone on maternity (adams finally here!!) and mari's on 'mc' :(

my head hurts.

so la gave birth last week. on d same day that he got sick and was forced by yours truly to go to d hosp. wat w all d crazy bugs flying around, im not gonna jeapordize my health ok- eh mine eh.

so he was hospitalized coz jeng jeng jeng he had dengue! ok thank u syg sbb suro i pg hospital or i wud have died by now n wud nvr get to grow old with u n watch our grandkids go to college- janna is the best gf ever. i know!!

so he was warded for 5 days n seemed like forever!!

he was poked n proded n had blood sucked out of him twice a day. ksian. im deathly afraid of needles ok. id b giving him words o encouragement while i hide behind d curtain. creepy. boleh x sape2 yg genius create machine yg can like scan ur body using sum infrared thingy or wateva instead of draining us of blood?? pretty pls? thank u

so he's ok now. tp dpt mc mcm 30 tahun yg best gile- ok fine 2 weeks. but wen im working n he's resting 2 weeks does seem like 30 years. no fair.

on another note

nazila n zaidi are proud new parents to baby Mohd Aaron Adam!! geramm!! nk gigit! he's bald now n along- la's super noisy sis reckons he looks a bit like austin power's mini me. agak la kn?? hehe aunty jane luffs uu!!

anddd im going to sabah w mama nx year. awal giler kn book. but a fren of hers has a travel agency n we got the airasia free ticket thingy. n ive always wanted to go to sabah coz i was born thr but ive never been back since we moved here wen i was a year old. so yeayy!!

p/s: sabrina tried to bite my lips as i tried to kiss her d oth day. makin hari makin mcm monster ok. haih

Radom pics

luff this pic

I made bread somtime back. This big one in the back is tomato bread

tomato bread egg sandwich. pretty colours kn?

and last weekend i made hot milk sponge cake from a recipe i got form here

substituted vanilla beans for essence coz the only beans i can find here are so dried up n doesnt yield much taste nor aroma

green eggs and ham

was diligently doing my job when i started thinking of this:-

my most favourite bfast in the world is eggs benedict with smoked salmon. m so craving it rite now...

please feel free to drool

kalau pg la bodega pls jgn balik until u have this ok

what a morning!

good morning all!

i dont kno wats so good abt it~ this morning has been crap.

i got up late coz my new phone's alram didnt go off, or maybe it did but i dont kno how it sounds coz i didnt bangun! well until papa knocked on my door at 7 wondering y my lights r still off. i got ready thanking god for making me so rajin siap kn my lunch n all lastnite so i xpayah rush. went down buat milo n dgn smangat bye bye papa.

meredah d jam in kj is not exactly fun but i survived and was still cheery. till i discovered i left my TP (think pad) aka laptop at home. wats d point o goin to work klu xde laptop!! nk buat ape kot? jd mak guard bole??

n i saw d oth side o d road was crazy jammed. ldp heading towards damansara is forever jammed up. tots raced thru my mind~ should i turn back n get it n b an hour late, but then ive gotta leave early today sbb tuition, or i cud call up my manager n tell her im working from home, but it seemed a little petty to me, mcm mengade, orrrrr i cud call papa up n ask him to send it over to kj!

so i called papa who panicked along w me. kelam kabut ok ok ok  i come noww!! n hung up b4 i even got to tell him whr my laptop was. called back to sort it out n 15 mins later tadaaaaa!! my knight in shining kereta!!! i luff uu!!

n theeeeeennn!! i was supp to isi minyak my car last nite but i forgot so lastnite i made a mental reminder to do it b4 i head for work. but of course lupe kn. n anyone who knows me knows that my tank is hardly ever empty. i get freaked out if its at half tank! im anal about things like dat coz i cannot stand (read: creeps me out) seeing the fuel thingy blinking!! ill cover it w a paper or sumtin if it blinks coz its just scary. i have a longstanding phobia of being stuck by the roadside on a hot hot hot morning sbb xde minyak n u get creepy strangers who come up to u trying to sell u super overpriced fuel in mineral water bottles. or so i heard..

i stopped by d station kt sunway toll. nk isi full n bole pulak thr was sumtin wrong w d nozzle or sumtin it kept jerking n id have to tekan again n again n again. im secretly afraid of d isi minyak thingy. i always think its gonna blow up in my face. i kno its silly but i am. pastu lambat giler nk pg keje! n all d kure kure in d world decided that today was d day dey wanna drive in front of me!! its called a FAST lane for a reason!! *treasure*

now im in d ofc ranting n fuming still pastu cam byk keje. buttt!! coming into d ofc td i bumped into letchumy my favourite cleaning lady who was transfered to another building but now she's back!! so hopefully this bad luck thing is turning arnd..

in an effort to loose weight im now bringing food from home either for bfast or lunch. today its  steamed brocolli and carrot w salad leaves n bit o smoked chicken n boiled eggs- yolk will be given away to vultures :)

tlg la kurus

have a great monday darlings!

Vietnam 2010

so i was in vietnam earlier this month. mama n i went along w a group o ladies (n 2 men-who accompanied their wives, ksian ok). we didnt really do much sightseeing. shoooooppppping je!! wat do u xpect,  w a busload o ladies. pantang nmpak kedai berebut2 nk masuk!!

i love aircraft food- lamb shank

anyway, we departed on the 9th o april at noon. n it was really hot n dry n dusty wen we arrived.

ok i cant rmember d choronology o d trip but basically we spent d bulk o our time shopping like crazy at ben thanh market.

we bought loads o telekung, n linen mostly, n laquer stuff.

im babysitting a feverish cakbina so ill let d photos do the talking ok

met this lady at d airport~ mama asked to take pic- comel ok pkai kimono

our room. cheap n clean

with d giant tea set bole buat bath tub

making egg shell painting using duck eggs

dats all egg shells

pretty

met myja kt ben thanh! have not seen her since last year!! she had a flight thr n we bumped into each oth n got so xcited menjerit mcm org gilerr!!

ok dah xlarat nk tunggu blogspot load pics. have a great weekend darlings!


~luffs

chocolate and chalk

hello loves.

2 minggu xupdate blog. in d past 2 weeks i:

1. went to vietnam and back

2. got 2 new baby hamsters

3. gained more weight then i already have

4. had my bank account deplete as a result of point 1.

5. cakbina learned to say mama na- tho it sounds like mama ma.. or nana which is banana

6. she can also say hippo- but jd popo..

7. and cat- jd cacat- as in cat cat.. so ca- cattt!! bkn cacat as in disabled ok.

8. n i have developed a love for coffee while in vietnam- tho it gives me a headache evrytime..

ok ade lg but xigt..

cofee sedap sgt

on another note.. i have both reached and passed the 50kg mark that once seemed so impossible. sum days i feel like killing myself.. sum days i tink.. wat d heck. im happy. today is one a d former days..

also i bought yummy weasel coffee in vietnam.. he doesnt kno d story tho. sedap yang??

random thot- i love d word chocolate.. i love how it rolls off d tongue. so sensual.. chocolate.. try it... i think its d sexiest work ever.. i mean really.. say chocolate... and feel how d word makes ur voice quiver n purr... den say chalk.. gross kn... like chalk must b d ugliest of words.. if it were a person it wud probably b a troll... n chocolate must be audrey hepburn..

i think i have too much time on my hands.. and mind.. its d long drives.. its making me nuts..

have a wonderful day loves

2jam nk choose gamba paling xobese.. dahi pulak jendul.. well.. nothing in life is perfect.. melancholic pulak..

ducky mama

we had a baby shower for la on sat. it didnt really go as planned... but it was fun nonetheless.

she's now almost eight months preggers.. sgt cepat ok!!

n we were with her thru it all.. from the time she got married.. smpai la skrg dh nk jd mak org ok!

how fast time flies...

anyway!

we were thr w cakbina!

kak in had to work over the weekend so she sent cakbina over sbb grandmama n grandpapa miss their only cucu so so much!!

n since my parents had a wedding to attend. i brought her along

she went quiet in d midst o d shouting and screaming... terjejut kejap.. normally dia org paling bising.. rupe nye ade org lg bising dr dia..

she went hysterical wen d clown came near..

n i iced my 1st cake!!

ive made a lot of cakes but never one dat was carefully iced n nicely made for a party.

its simple but im proud o it :)

in keeping w d duck theme i stuck sum rubber duckies on - washed w organic veggie wash prior to swimming on d cake. belum pro enuff to make my own ducks yet

ducks in a pond

mak itik whos about to pop in may

Food review: Kitchen Creatures

with its flashing lights depicting a toothy bug eyed monster holding a fork, kitchen creatures is hard to miss

located in centrepoint bandar utama- formerly manhattan fish market, kitchen creatures is a must try place

its main concept is no frills dining, ur even encouraged to eat w ur hands! but thankfully- the food dat came did not call for that

the decor was simple with a lot of huge round paper lantern-ey lights, u kno the kind they have in ikea? LOTS of it! so much that u could hardly see the ceiling

for starters we had  the baked stuffed mushrooms which was stuffed with crabsticks and shiitake flavoured cream cheese- this was good but got abit jelak o this towards the end

then we also had the baked mussels with bechamel n cheese sauce- i love shellfish of any kind so its kindda hard to go wrong but they could have done better w d bechamel, bit too floury for my liking

for mains i had the sizzling ribeye steak- it came drenched in its own jus which i loooove. ok jap mase nk order this- the creature (dats wat they call their waiters) who took my order was so bengap! i asked for bbq sauce pastu he was like b...b....q...?? erm... b....b.....q...?? yes yes yes bbq! ok seribu tahun ckp bbq smbil tunjuk menu pon xpaham2 lg. pastu ckp nk medium well lg la xpaham at all. ok sumpah treasure. den he called his manager. ok finally ada org pandai ber-communicate thank god.

ok tp steak was good

n he had chicken ala king- sedap sgt i swear! its chicken sauteed w mushrooms in light sour cream sauce gravy. it was mixed with heavy cream but the sour cream balanced it out so it was good without being overly creamy. this was served with buttered rice.

ok we had ice cream dessert at tutti frutti afterwards so no dessert pics.

kesimpulan nye- pls do try out kitchen creatures at centre point. good food, great prices, wonderful location- ill def be back!!

would u look at d size o those cheeks??? fuyoh!!