Watermelon Sorbet

I gotten myself a new toy recently but so far I've only used it twice so I'm still not sure how good this thing is to churn out delish cold ice-creams LOL. I haven't got the chance to get the ingredients for ice-cream yet.

Ok I've been playing with Kenwood Ice-cream Maker (IM250)... just a very very basic stuff where the mah farness (troublesome) is I have to freeze the bowl for at least 24 hours before using it. So far the instructions mentioned that it usually takes 15 - 20 minutes to churn but I've tried this Watermelon Sorbet last Sunday and it took me more than 1 hour. After 1 hour it's still watery so I have to freeze it a bit before it came out looking like this. I suspect the watermelon contained far too much water to obtain a thick puree. So far the texture sure beat my old method of blending the concoction every few hours, the ice is finer and smoother... well almost like 7-11's Slurpee!



I've used 2 1/2 cups watermelon puree (my handheld blender could blend it into puree without adding any water) and 1/2 cup lemon juice as my choice following Donna Hay's Sorbet recipe. Hmmm... I would have to make do with this first and see if my dream can come true one of these days!

Happy weekend everyone!

Basic Sorbet
Serves 4-6

3/4 cup caster sugar
1 cup water
fruit puree of your choice (see below)

To make the basic syrup, place the sugar and water in a saucepan over a low heat and stir without boiling until sugar is dissolved.

Increase the heat and bring to the boil for one minute. Set aside to cool. While the syrup is cooling, prepare one of the fruit variations below.

Combine the fruit puree and sugar syrup, place in an ice-cream maker and follow the manufacturer's instructions or the instructions below for a thick and scoopable sorbet.

If you don't have an ice-cream maker, place the fruit and syrup mixture in a metal bowl or cake tin, cover and freeze for an hour or until just beginning to set at the edge. Beat with an electric hand whisk and return to the freezer. Repeat three times at hourly intervals or until the sorbet is thick and smooth.


Variations:

For a Raspberry Sorbet, add 1 3/4 cup strained raspberry puree (700g fresh or frozen raspberries) and 1/4 cup (60 ml) lime juice to the cooled basic sorbet syrup and continue with step 3.

For a Peach Sorbet, combine 2 1/2 cups strained peach puree (6 peaches or 900g chopped peach flesh) and 1/3 cup (80ml) lemon juice to the cooled basic sorbet syrup and continue with step 3.

For a Mango Sorbet, combine 2 1/2 cups mango puree (4 x 400g mangoes or 950g chopped mango flesh) and 1/2 cup (120ml) lime juice to the cooled basic sorbet syrup and continue with step 3.

For a Strawberry Sorbet, add 2 1/2 cups strained strawberry puree (850g fresh strawberries) and 1/2 cup (120ml) lime juice to the cooled basic sorbet syrup and continue with step 3.

Ref: Modern Classics Book 2, Donna Hay

Technorati tags: sorbet

Review: Neroteca @ The Somerset

**Non-Halal**

Capt'n Hook and I loved Nerovivo but I've never posted about them here. Next in line, we loved it's sister, Neroteca which is the non-halal version of the restaurant that also have racks of wines, assorted hams and cheeses and ingredients for you to bring home. Across the restaurant, I spotted a deli. As it was quite late, I did not manage to check the place out.

My boiboi picked Spaghetti Carbonara With Bacon, Eggs and Parmesan (RM23), something I knew he will definitely order cos he can't resist the word eggs in the line. He slurped up the spaghetti and declared they were yummy. Then he said "Hmmmm... the bacon is nice, tasted like pork"... LOL errr he never asked before what real bacon is made from but my boy is becoming a porcine lover like his daddy. There was once we were at a hawker centre and he saw chicken rice stall, he told me to order the pork rice for him... pork means char siu for him here but sadly that chicken stall doesn't sell char siu. The next stall sells claypot chicken rice, so I ask if he would like that instead... he asked "got pork one or not??" *roll eyes* Coming back to the carbonara, the sauce was not overly heavy but great to slurp up when hot.



I ordered a Tagliatelle Funghi e Prosciutto, Ham and Mushroom (RM22) which came out extremely tasty. The entire plate is filled with loads of prosciutto, ham and mushroom slices! Just like the carbonara, the sauce texture is just nice, not overly creamy and I managed to struggle in almost the entire plate on my own. Capt'n Hook who was also enjoying a carbonara as well as keeping an eye on my order hehehe...



We have some juice and cocktails... BoiBoi's orange juice (RM11) was freshly squeezed type, I can't remember what I had but it has some fizzy drink mixed in (RM10) and Capt'n Hook tried a Rubino (RM20), an alcoholic cocktail. He ended the dinner with a grappa of Poli Torcolato (RM25). BoiBoi also had a vanilla gelato (RM6)... quite a large scoop which sees him struggling to finish up. Loved the creamy and light gelato. RM6 for such a large scoop, really value for money!



I guess Neroteca is one of the best outlet in Kuala Lumpur for some delicious and authentic pasta. A 10% service charge and 5% government tax are imposed here. Our meal came out to a total of RM161, I would say it's really worth spending here.


Neroteca
Ground Floor, The Somerset,
8 Lorong Ceylon,
50250 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-20700530
Business hours:
10.00am - midnight (Daily)
6.00pm to midnight (Tuesday)
Last order - 11.45pm


Technorati Tags: italian restaurant

Grilled Sesame Chicken

Another simple recipe which requires very little prep and cleaning up. I served this with roasted pumpkin, bell peppers, onions and potatoes. The flavours were all right but I think a little bit more salt would have been better.

Grilled Sesame Chicken

1 chicken thigh or half a spring chicken per person

Marinade:
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp honey
2 tsp sesame seeds
salt & pepper to taste

Wipe dry the chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Mix marinade together and rub onto chicken.

Preheat grill and when hot, place chicken under it. If you do not have a grill, roast it in your oven. Cook till golden brown, turning chicken over once and basting it with marinade occasionally.

Technorati Tags: roast chicken

Humanitarian Fund for Asian Disasters

I guess I don't have to elaborate on what and why but here are the few bodies that you can help our brothers and sisters in need.

MERCY Malaysia is collecting for Philippines and Indonesia.

Humanitarian Fund through MAYBANK (account name: MERCY HUMANITARIAN FUND, account number : 5621-7950-4126, ABA Swift Code: MBBEMYKLA)

or

CIMB Bank (account name: MERCY Malaysia, account number: 1424-000-6561053, ABA Swift Code: CIBBMYKL).

For more information, please contact Hana Kamaruddin (Media) at +6019-3140420,
G.Anuradha (Fundraising) at +6019-2215759, Noor Hayati (Volunteers) at +60193116196 or
Mohd Radzi (Volunteers).


NST/Media Prima - Vietnam, Philippines, Samoa and Indonesia.

Send your donation to:

The NSTP Finance Department
31 Jalan Riong
59100 Kuala Lumpur

0r by cheque in the name of The New Straits Times Press (M) Berhad (at the back of the cheque write "Tabung Bencana NST-Media Prima).


CIMB Group/The Star - Padang Relief Fund

The CIMB Foundation will match contributions from the public ringgit-to-ringgit up to a total of RM1mil.

Collection boxes have been placed at CIMB Group's 1,150 branches in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand and also Menara Star.

Besides the cash collection boxes, customers and the public can also make donations via cheque or online banking through two collection accounts, conventional and Islamic.

Details are as follows:

Payee name: CIMB-The Star Padang Relief Fund

Account numbers:
1408 1206 6620 56 (CIMB Bank)
1404 0000 4891 03 (CIMB Islamic)

Happy "Lunar" Birthday

Sorry darling for not wishing you here on your orang putih birthday :p since today is your lunar birthday, may your heart be filled with happiness and joy, may your deepest hopes and dreams come true for you. Happy Birthday!

Since we didn't celebrated cos we were busy nursing boiboi with his Herpangina, I just made a quick mee sua soup for Capt'n Hook just like how my mother would make for us on our birthdays. I boiled a chicken thigh in a saucepan with just enough water to cover the thigh for about 20-30 mins. Seasoned the soup with salt and pepper and add a wee bit of shallot oil. In another saucepan, I blanched some vegetables and mee sua separately. To assemble, just place mee sua, vegetables, 2 hard boiled eggs and chicken thigh in a bowl. Then pour soup over and garnish with some deep fried shallots.

Wishing All a Blessed Mid-Autumn Festival

Wishing all a blessed Mid-Autumn Festival. Enjoy your mooncakes with Chinese tea whilst admiring the bright round moon.



These mooncakes are from Fook Pan... the normal looking one is Butter Lotus Paste (RM10) which was highly recommended by SkinnyMum last year after she tried the Chocolate Mooncake which I highlighted. However, I don't find them any nice with the exception of a nice butter fragrant and the skin is very oily. The green one is the Golden Jade (RM10) which is pandan lotus paste where at least the pandan flavour doesn't tasted artificial, otherwise it was just normal. Seriously I think Fook Pan this year cut some corners which resulted sub-standard mooncakes including the chocolate ones. Very disappointing as I hardly buy mooncakes for own consumption.


Fook Pan Food Industries
274A Jalan Ipoh
51200 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 603-4042 7676


Technorati Tags: mooncake + mid-autumn festival

Review: Stuff Your Face Cafe

I've read about Stuff Your Face Cafe in Bangsar Shopping Complex but have yet to visit the place after its make over until recently. Since BoiBoi was with us we decided to check this cafe out which is located on the 4th floor where everything cater to kids are situated on this level.

I loved the clean look of this cafe and it's bright with natural lighting during the day we visited. The wooden white counter has cupcakes, cookies and cakes on display, very clever to tempt little ones. Since it wasn't that hot we sat outside. There was a tableful of cheerful tweens nearby with their mothers sitting at the inside air-con part of the cafe.



We placed our order and we waited quite a while for our food to arrive. Can't blame them as they only cook the dishes upon order to ensure freshness. There is no service charge as well.

Capt'n Hook had a Pink Lemonade (RM7) while I had a Lime and Lemongrass Spritzer (RM8) which is rather refreshing with lime and ginger ale, with a hint of lemongrass.

There are quite a number of items in the menu for kids ranging from mac & cheese, sandwiches, fish fingers etc. Each item comes with an orange fruit punch and ice-cream. BoiBoi had a ham sandwich which is basically 2 slices of bread spread with butter with a slice of ham in between served with a small portion of deep fried potato wedges. I tasted the orange fruit punch which tasted basically of F&N orange. Since my BoiBoi doesn't like fizzy drinks, the Alam Flora in the mommy drank it all... that's the worst part eh since they doesn't allow to change or upgrade the drink but it's all right since they doesn't charge for the warm water served for BoiBoi (YAY!!!). A card shaped like an ice-cream cone will be given so that once the kid is done with the food, the kid can bring the card to the counter in exchange for a scoop of ice-cream (choose from vanilla, chocolate or strawberry) with their choice of topping. The kid set cost RM12 which I feel a bit expensive for a simple sandwich.



Capt'n Hook had the daily special of Baked Salmon Perchik (RM20) where salmon is slathered with perchik sauce and wrapped in banana leaf served with a minty onion rice and a warm vege salad. I tasted the salmon which went surprisingly all right with the perchik sauce.



My Fettucine Mushroom Stroganoff (RM16) came last. This tasted totally unexpected cos it doesn't really tasted like normal stroganoff but it's like a riot of texture and taste. The mushroom stroganoff actually doesn't contained sour cream but instead the sauce is a grinded cashew nut base with slivers of mushrooms. Loved the fragrant taste of cashew nut.



I supposed this place is a great place for parents to chill out whilst waiting for their children to finish with their lessons or rollerblading or whatever at the same floor, not forgetting a fantastic place to have a children party here.


Stuff Your Face Cafe
Lot 4-09 4th Floor
Bangsar Shopping Complex
285 Jalan Maarof,
Bukit Bandar Raya, Bangsar
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 603 2287 3070
Business hours: 10:00am - 7:00pm daily


Technorati Tags: kiddy menu