Good Morning!

Oregano, Lemon Rind & Garlic Lamb Cutlets on Bed of Mash

Christmas season is here and since I haven't been spending my time with my housemates, I thought of cooking a nice meal for them.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

Lamb:

24 Lamb Cutlets (seasoned with salt & pepper)

Bunch of Oregano (picked and the stems are thrown away)

1 cup of Lemon Rind (thinly sliced)

Half garlic (sliced)

Olive oil

Mash Potatoes:

6 potatoes (peeled and sliced into half)

Milk

Butter

Salt and Pepper

1. Heat pan with about 5 tablespoons of olive oil.

2. Pan fry oregano, lemon rind and sliced garlic till is golden brown. Scoop them up leaving the oil in the pan.

3. Pre heat grilled oven to 150 degrees.

4. Pan fry lamb cutlets on both side for about 3-4 minutes till golden brown.

5. Remove pan fried lamb cutlets and place them onto a tray. Leave oil in pan.

6. Grill them in oven for another 15 minutes till side crisp.

7. Return pan on the stove, place the fried oregano, lemon rind and sliced garlic onto pan and coat them with the excess oil.

1. Place potatoes into hot boiling water till they are soft.

2. Drain the water and mashed them accordingly.

3. Place mash in pot onto stove. While heating up, stir in milk and butter enough for them to be smooth and soft.

4. Season with salt and pepper.

I am surprised and glad it turned out. I am now figuring out my next recipe!!

Special thanks to my sous chef, Bryan Wong.

PS: This recipe is referenced from Donna Hay's cookbook.

Ab Alone

Ab Alone had some company tonight...


With my digestive system.

Thanks housemate for the great dinner!

Passionfruit Cake

Oh boy... one of my colleague's mother in Shepparton baked the best cake yesterday.


The cake was so fluffy and yummy. The cream was amazingly good!!!

P/S: I did 20 scripts in 20 minutes today! *beams*

Ikan Bawang Putih

The one of many things I miss...


I want garlic fish!!! *wails*

Cecconi's Cantina

Boyfriend has just updated one of our fine dining experience. I better update too before he starts complaining that I never update.

During Bean's short trip to Melbourne this year, we had another fine dining experience. This time was Italian. As usual, we heard about this place from Miss Vanity. She is some sort of walking food directory. Ask her and she can name you million of great places to dine. Of course great place comes with a great price tag.

Cecconi's Cantina has one of the best ambiance compared to all other great restaurants I had been to. The restaurant was quiet. So quiet that I felt like I should whisper when I talk in case someone else could hear me if I ever talk in my normal volume. With modern layout of the restaurant, directly looking into their clean kitchen with the aroma swirling out. Oh gosh, what a great way to stimulate the nose receptors! And perfectly dimmed with yellow lights bringing out the romantic mood in us.

PRIMI: Caramelised seared scallops, savoy cabbage puree, chives & ginger


After repeated episodes of watching Hell's Kitchen, I couldn't help but to order some seared scallops as appetizer. It was so damn freaking succulent. The ginger gave a bang in the flavours!

AUD 28

PIATTI PRINCIPALI #1: Duck two ways - pan fried breast, confit leg & lentil ragu with brussel sprout salad


My main course. What can I say about this? Little pink duck that tasted so succulent! Brussel sprout never tasted so good in my life! I would lick the plate if I could. But in a fine dining restaurant, I guess I better show some elegance! =P

AUD 39

PIATTI PRINCIPALI #2: Scotch fillet of beef, mushrooms, shallot jam & gremolata


Bean's main course. That came with a funny conversation!

Waiter: How would you like your steak?
Bean: Medium well.
Me: NO! MEDIUM RARE!
Waiter: Oh... that's a big difference!
Me: Medium rare!
Waiter: Oh... I guess you have to follow the lady's choice.

Poor Bean. =P

And while we were walking out of the restaurant, the waiter said, 'Medium rare! Not medium well!' Haha... wasn't the waiter funny?

Oh back to the steak, so it was perfectly grilled to medium rare. The mashed potatoes that came with it was smooth and creamy. Yum!

AUD 42

DOLCI: Chilled blood plum soup, yoghurt sorbet & pistachio tuille

I love this dessert! I love this dessert! So did Bean! So did Bean! I can't say much about this dessert... you really have to try it yourself! Yoghurt sorbet melting along with chilled plum soup... so damn good!!! Baby!!!! Faster come here again!!!!

AUD 16

Tip #1: Order a glass of wine or two. Goes well with the food. And certainly the environment. I have a thing with wine and fine dining. Those two come hand in hand.
Tip #2: Take picture! Of YOURSELF! Not the food damnnit. We were so shy, we did not take a picture of ourselves in the beautiful restaurant! =(

The end of our fine italian dining came with quite a heavy price tag. But the quality and service of the food made it so worth it. And I guess the most important is the company that made it all worth while.

Cecconi's Cantina
61 Flinders Lane,
Melbourne VIC 3000

Opening Hours
Mon-Fri: Lunch 12noon to 3.30pm
Dinner 6pm till late
Sat: Dinner only from 6pm

T: 03 9663 0222
W: http://www.cecconis.com/

How To Make Mushroom Soup?

I have so much time in the world nowadays, I started to have interest in cooking something from scratch. After a few attempts of making mushroom soup, I have finally perfected it to taste similar as those from the restaurants. The first few times when I tried to cook the mushroom soup, it either turned out not creamy enough or too watery or not tasting like mushroom soup at all.

The choice of mushroom soup that I like is the type with chunks of mushroom and creamy. Not those blended type that tastes like sand. *ewww*


Mushroom Soup Recipe (Serves 1)

Preparation time & cooking time: 20 minutes

• 100g fresh oyster mushrooms- thinly sliced (can be replaced with fresh button mushrooms)
• 1 small onion- thinly sliced
  
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2-3 tbsp thickened cream
  
• 1 small bowl of chicken stock in water (I used less than a quarter of chicken stock)
  
• 2 tsp corn flour
  

1. Heat the wok with butter.
2. Toss in the onions till they become transparent followed by oyster mushrooms. (somehow, water will ooze out from don't know where after some time of frying the oyster mushrooms. But just let it boil in there for a moment or so to soften the mushrooms.)
3. Pour the water in but make sure the chicken stock in water is just enough to cover the mushrooms and bring it to boil.
4. Add in the thickened cream.
5. To make the soup creamy and thick, stir in some corn flour in water to thicken the soup.
6. Sprinkle some pepper and salt to taste.

I realised the soup doesn't taste good if:
-oil is used instead of butter
-oyster mushrooms are not thinly sliced and if the stems of the oyster mushrooms are included in the soup. I usually throw it away. =P
-use too much of water.
-salt is not used.

How To Make Caesar Salad?

In an attempt of living healthier, I tried making Caesar Salad for my family and Bean. It tasted just the same as the ones you get from the restaurants BUT at a cheaper cost.


Caesar Salad Recipe (Serves 3)

Preparation & Cooking Time: 20 minutes

• 2 pieces chicken thigh fillet
• 1 packet Lettuce Cos (peeled and washed)
• 1 tomato (sliced into bite size)

• 100ml mayonnaise
• 46g anchovies
• 2 clove of garlic (minced)
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 3-5 tbsp red wine vinegar
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of pepper
• Parmesan Cheese (grated or shredded)

Chicken Preparation
1. Marinate chicken thigh fillets with a pinch of salt, a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce and some sesame oil for about 10 minutes.
2. Just before frying, add in a tablespoon of rice flour and mix well.
3. Pan-fry the chicken thigh fillets till the surface is golden brown with some olive oil.
4. Slice the chicken thigh fillets into cubes.

Salad Dressing Preparation
1. Firstly, drain off the olive oil from the anchovies can. Then, pour the anchovies into the mixing bowl and smash the anchovies into tiny pieces.
2. Add in all the other ingredients and mix well.
3. Add the peeled lettuce cos and sliced tomatoes into the dressing. Toss well.
4. Add in the chicken thigh fillets.
5. Drizzle the Parmesan cheese over the salad.
6. Serve.

* Add bacon and hard-boiled egg to your Caesar Salad if you like!
* Make your Caesar Salad a healthier one using organic lettuce cos!
*Anchovies are the main ingredients in making Caesar Salad! Don’t leave it out!

P/S: Flying off to Bali tomorrow!! Got to pack now!

How To Cook Curry Crabs?

This is my housemate and I first attempt in cooking crabs. Surprisingly the dish turned out to be good! Can't wait to have the next attempt because I secretly fell in love with eating crabs.

Recipe for Curry Crabs (Serves 2)

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

• 2 flower crabs
• 1 stalk of lemongrass
• 1 small packet of coconut milk
• 1 onion
• 1 packet of curry paste of your choice
• 1 cup of water

1) Scrub the crabs with a brush if you have one or just scrub it with the scouring pad that you use to wash the dishes. (Sounds crazy... but mum kinda advise me to do so... )
2) Lift the shell crab lightly to detach it from the body and chop it into two.



3) Heat 2 tablespoon of oil.
4) Fry the onions and lemongrass till fragrant.
5) Add in the curry paste and fry till fragrant as well.
6) Add the water and coconut milk. Bring it to boil.
7) Stir in the crabs. Fry the crabs till cook.
8) Serve hot.



Give it a try!

4 more papers. 2 more Sundays.

Sweet Tooth

Cupcakes are such hot stuffs right now, everybody is buying and eating one. My housemates and I tried not to lose out on this. So instead of buying it, we baked the cupcakes last Sunday. We had so much fun stirring the flour, beating the egg and scooping the mix into the paper case and every other surface around the paper case! Oh oh... and we found out that we all have a little art talent in us.


Decorating each of the baby cupcakes were so much fun. Not until we ate them. It was just so damn bloody freaking sweet!! All of us had to scrape off the icing and little decos on it off. All our effort in decorating the cupcakes kinda went into the rubbish bin!


Anyhow... baking is so fun! I can't wait to do it again next time!

Grilled Fish Wrapped With Bacon

Presenting to you Unit 1/521 latest recipe...


Emmmm.... yummylicious!

P/S: I think my picture looks fantabulous *self praise*! Thanks Bean's friend, Eric for teaching me how to use the 'flower' function! I know is called macro! =P

What Makes Me Happy?

Milk froth with cocoa powder!

Miss Marple's Teahouse

"Miss Jane Marple is an elderly spinster who lives in the little English village of St. Mary Mead. She looks like an ordinary old lady, dressed neatly in tweed and is frequently seen knitting or pulling weeds in her garden. Miss Marple sometimes comes across as confused or "fluffy", but when it comes to solving mysteries, she has a sharp logical mind. In the detective story tradition, she often embarrasses the local "professional" police by solving mysteries that have them stumped."

When I wikipedia Miss Marple, the above was what I read. Miss Marple is none other than a fictional character! Steewwpeet Miss Marple's Tea Room house put up so many pictures of her made me believe she is some real character in life!

During our journey back to Melbourne City from the tulip farm, we stopped by at the tea room for a short lunch break. I was awestruck before I even went into the teahouse!


So darn cute yeah the little cottage house/tea room? The interior itself is so cosy as though you have just entered a western home. Every piece of deco looks so antique. Every stretch of the walls are filled with pictures. Teapots are displayed all around the corner of the teahouse. The table is covered with flowery cloth. So sweet! Even the waitresses are dressed differently!


The clock barely even strucked twelve, the tea room was already packed with people! We were lucky to get a table right infront of us. Without wasting anytime, we read the menu as though we were studying hard for an exam. Just ordered only two dishes but enough to stuff us till death!



Miss Marple's Famous Fingers

Not her fingers lar okay... They are pieces of bread with toppings. We ordered the Fresh Chicken, Cheese and Asparagus Fingers. Not too fantastic in my opinion. I felt like it is something you can do it yourself at home. Just put the toppings on the bread and 'ting' in the toaster! I don't remember the price but I know is not cheap!



Devonshire Scones

There are two choices for the scones: plain scones or fruit scones. Being so greedy, we chose both! The scones come with delicious home made jam and lashing freshly whipped cream. Yummy yummy! Both the jam and whipped cream tasted sooooo good! The scones were still warmed when it served. The scones were as soft as fluffy pillows! Those scones were so darn filling I tell you! We could not finish it and ended up giving to my other friend who happened to be eating lunch there as well! Maybe cause the whole thing is carbo!



Teapot of Taylors

A traditional brewed 'Yorkshire Blend' cup of tea that claims to be the best cup of tea in England by the British Tea Council. Nahhhh... I reckon Lipton Tea Bag gives a better aroma! =P



Generally this place is worth for a visit. For a new fresh environment and just enjoy the coziness...

In the event of enjoying our cup of tea, my friends were trying hard to act as though they were very 'English'!




"Lovely..."

Miss Marple's Tea Room
382, Mt Dandenong-Tourist Road,
Sassafras,
Victoria 3787.
Melway Map 66 F9
9755 1610
Open Daily from 11.00am till 4.30pm

P/S: This is my last entry about the Dandenong Roadtrip.

Iku Yakitori

This is one of the bonding sessions I have with my housemate where only two of us go out for a nice dinner. When was the last time we did it? I honestly don't remember. Both of us have been really busy catching up with work and other stuff. I myself not too sure what we are so busy with... My housemate should *ahem* knows what she is so busy at *ahem* =P

Just yesterday we dropped by at this Japanese Restaurant near our house on Brunswick Street. We have always wanted to try out this restaurant but somehow we do not end up there. To my surprise, this restaurant looks quite good! I thought it would be some dodgy restaurant with a glamour name. As its name has suggested this restaurant is famous with yakitori (skewers). We just ordered a platter of yakitori for two.

The platter itself came with:-
2 beef skewers
2 pork ball skewers
2 chicken skewers
2 mushroom skewers
2 scallop skewers
2 bacon and asparagus skewers
2 eggplant skewers


The price for this platter is $32.00. Generally, it tasted okay. A bit too salty for my liking. I enjoyed the mushroom most. Okay... I am biased towards mushrooms coz I love them! So in love with it that I enjoyed eating it! =D Though the platter did not look a lot but both of us were stuffed by the time we leave the restaurant.


What I dislike about this restaurant is the table seating. It has the traditional Japanese style seating where you sit on the floor and your legs are under the table. Gosh... what kind of description am I giving? You know... under the table has a hole where you put your legs and then you plunge your ass on the floor which is supposedly a seat. Ah... I give up! I just want to tell you my legs were cramping at the end of the dinner session.

Pie In The Sky

If you are not going to a far place, 8.30am to start a road trip in Melbourne is a bit too early! With my *ahem* great *ahem* driving skills, we reached Dandenong before the clock even struck ten! We could not head to the tulip farm as it only opens at 11.00am. We ended up parking our car at a bus stop to decide where should we head to. My friend was so awestruck with the scenery outside, he was more excited to get down the car to snap some pictures rather than deciding.


Hmmm... a piece of green land and a little hut.

In the end we decided to grab a few bites. Being a newbie at Dandenong, I had no idea which restaurant I was supposed to pop by! I was lucky my two road trip kakis had been to Dandenong before and hence recommended this great place to eat. Honestly, I wasn't too keen on visiting this place as I do not fancy eating pie. But what made me agreed to go was the name of the restaurant. Pie In The Sky.


When we reached the restaurant, the clock just hit ten. Thank god the restaurant has opened! If not I had no idea where we should go. Probably sit in the car till the restaurant opens? I bet we were the first customers for the day. Ah... is not a norm for restaurants in Melbourne to actually open before ten!


This place offers a large variety of pies. From beef pies to chicken pies. From western style pies to Malay style pies! I am serious! They have Chicken Kurma Pie, Tandoori Chicken Pie and Thai Chicken Green Curry Pies. All carrying the Gold Medal 2001 titles! Heck, they even sell Beef Rendang Pie! Wow! A Malay word that is so internationally known! Guaranteed freshness as their pies are made daily.

A great selection of pies... Yummy... yummy...


Since we were just here for a light breakfast, we only chose two pies to share. We chose one of the 'Asian' style pies, the Ayam Chicken Kurma Pie with mashed potatoes. The chicken kurma is surrounded by crispy crust of the pie. The aroma of the chicken kurma smelt exactly like the one back home! It even tasted like the one back home! The crust of the pie was not too thick and not over burnt! Just nice and crispy! It tasted so good but I just wish the mashed potatoes were a little more creamy. And more gravy please!

Look closer to the picture!!! They have indicator for every different pies! What a cute way to sort out the pies! Club for Chicken Kurma Pie! =D

This pie cost $13.50 plus $4.50 for the extra mashed potatoes.

The other gourmet pie we took was the Pie Floater. It is their Gold Medal Winner dish. You can pick any of your favourite pie (we chose the Steak and Mushroom Pie) in a thick and tasty 'Ham and Pea' soup top with a scoop of fresh and creamy mashed potatoes. The Steak and Mushroom Pie was extremely delicious! Two thumbs up for this! The fillings are made of minced beef in an i-don't-know what-is-it-called but-tasted so-damn-good gravy with chunks of mushrooms! And seasoned with pepper too! I am not a fan for western style soup besides mushroom soup but this Ham and Pea soup did not disappoint me. However, I feel this pie floater will go better with a plain pie like a beef pie. This is because the soup kinda covered up the steak pie taste. This pie floater cost $13.50 too!

Heading to the drinks menu, we ordered Iced Chocolate, Iced Coffee, Vanilla Milkshake and Hot Chocolate. Besides the Iced Coffee, every other drinks tasted normal... nothing exceptionally special. There wasn't any sugar in the Iced Coffee. So it was a bit bitter. I would say it tasted filled with coffee aroma. Both the Iced Chocolate and Coffee had a scoop of vanilla ice-cream in it. The hot chocolate was great because I enjoyed the milk froth! =P

The overall rating for this restaurant is...


With such big grins on our faces, I guess I don't need to say further...

Pie In The Sky
43, Olinda-Monbulk Rd, Olinda.
9751 2128
Opening hours: Mon-Sat: 10am-5pm Sun: 9.30am-5.30pm

P/S: Thank you Miss Vanity for mentioning me in your blog.

It Ain't Dainty

Being so sick of all the common restaurants my friends and I usually visit, we planned to try something new the other night. Walking back and forth in Chinatown made us arrived at Dainty Sichuan Restaurant located at Corrs Lane. The word Sichuan has already suggested what I would be facing for our dinner. The first step that we took into the restaurant and the looks pictured on the customers gave us a preview of the food we were about to consume. I could sum it up with two words: HOT AND SPICY. Oh... is that consider three? In my thoughts, "What did I get myself into? Why didn't I just pick one of the 'normal' restaurants?"

I took a flip on the menu. Chillies were all I could see. We took our first bravery step by choosing Slice Pork with Chilli as appetizer. Followed by three main dishes, fried beans with minced pork, Kung Pou Prawns and the famous Chongqing Chicken. We could all foresee what was ahead of us. We prepared ourselves with bottles and bottles of Lipton Ice Tea. On top of that we ordered extra bottle of water and LOADS of serviettes.

Our appetizer arrived in less than 10 minutes. And all our four jaws dropped to the ground.


Slices of pork covered with PURE CHILLI OIL. When we ordered from the menu, I ONLY saw slice pork in the bowl and a bowl of chilli sauce at the side. No no I ever imagined this dish would be flooded by chilli oil! And mind you... this is only rated as 2 chillies. I actually enjoyed this dish. If you are someone who is a pork-lover and is okay with spicy food, I would say order this! It is not as spicy as it seems.

We have not even got our tongues back to senses the second dish arrived. Gosh... I wondered what kind of people were working in the kitchen! Work so fast one???!!! Work slower won't die one you know!


This dish is also rated as 2 chillies. When two dishes with the rating of 2 chillies, the sensation they gave were equivalent to the rating of 4 chillies! Generally, the prawns were not overcooked and I could still taste the sweetness. Thumbs up for this dish too!

By this time, I could see my friends having sweat running down their forehead and downing glasses of water to put out the 'fire' in their mouth. We could not stop scooping the hot steam rice hoping that it could mask the spiciness! I was so stress that every time a waiter walked out from the kitchen, I took a peep hoping that no one would carry the Chongqing Chicken rated 3 chillies (highest rating) to our table!

I was glad we had some mercy to ourselves when we ordered the dishes because one of it was not spicy. Yummy fried beans with minced pork!

Friend: We ordered the Chongqing Chicken. Can you help us to check?

Crap! What was he doing??? Oh no... the dish did not even take more than five minutes to arrive! I swear I saw a grin on the waiter's face when he was carrying the plate to our table!

My gosh... I did not even dare to touch my lips when I was eating the chicken. My lips were red! Grew bigger by an inch! And as though I had anesthesia! My friend kept mumbling, "Think of happy thoughts! Think of happy thoughts!!"

Look at the amount of dried chillies without the chicken! I heard from my friend they actually use SCOOP to take the dried chillies. SCOOP!!! Do you know how big a scoop is???!! Despite the spiciness, this dish was amazingly delicious. This dish did not taste any less than Kentucky Fried Chicken.

The dinner came to about $80.00 for four of us. I would say the pricing is comparable to any other Chinese restaurants. Melbourne eating is never cheap anyway! Well... an unforgettable experience is priceless!

I am glad I went home without having any difficulty going to the toilet! =P

Fried Baby Clams with Chilli

Anyone who has known me long enough knows I LUURRRVEEEEE Lala/Clams/Pipi! You know... the little tiny clam in a grey colour shell? My mum always says, "Hou sek meh? Dou mou yuk!" (Why is it so nice? There isn't much flesh!) I totally agree of what she says but I have no idea how this fella captured my taste buds. I love this ever since I was 9 years old? I frantically searched the WHOLE Kuala Lumpur for this the last time I went back for winter break. When I gave up my slightest hope, I found it in a place selling prawn noodle.

After I have finished the first bowl of clams,

Bean: You don't want another bowl?
Me: It's okay...
Bean: You sure?
Me: Hehe... OK LAR!

In the end, I ate two bowls of pure clams! Did not even share a piece with Bean! That is how much I like this mini fella!

Ever since I returned back to Melbourne, I did not have a single taste of clams. It is quite difficult to find it in Melbourne unless you are willing to pay a bomb for it in Chinese restaurant! However, Chinese restaurant serves those of a different species, the thicker shell which I less prefer.

Look what my housemate unintentionally found in an Asian grocery store in Melbourne yesterday!

Bless her for her good eyesight and the guy who manufactured this!

Let me show you the simplest way to savour this fried baby clam with chilli.

Fried Baby Clams with Chilli
Preperation time: 30 seconds
Cooking time: 60 seconds
Serving: 1 person

Ingredients:
1) A can of Fried Baby Clam with Chilli
2) A bowl of hot steaming white rice
3) An egg (optional)

Directions:
1) Open the can. (DUH! Well, just in case you chuck the can into the microwave. =P)


2) Pour the baby clams into a bowl.



3) Heat up the baby clams for a maximum of 60 seconds. Caution: Do not reheat the baby clams as it will turns out to be quite dry.

4) Get ready a bowl of steam rice. (optional: fry an egg)

5) Topple the baby clams onto the steam rice.

6) Serve immediately.

Okay... this might look not so appetizing but it tastes SO DAMN GOOD!
Quote from my housemate, "This is like an ugly duckling that turns out to be a beautiful swan!"

This can of Fried Baby Clams with Chilli only costs you $1.29 and the brand is Smiling Fish Brand.

Oh yeah... I am definitely smiling with you fish!

Go get it now from your nearest Asian grocery!