Plum and black cherry Tart

It's not plum season here, we are in the middle of winter but I wanted to try out this recipe from http://torontolife.com/food/recipe-plum-tart-joanne-yolles/  I had gotten myself a new flan dish and was itching to use it. So I bought myself a can of plums and another of black cherry. The recipe is very easy to follow.

I drained my fruits from the can and set aside the liquid, This can cooked to reduce the liquid and used later as jus to serve. While I was waiting for my pastry shell to chill, I started to prepare the almond fillings. I think you have to chill the moulded pastry after handling it during kneading and moulding. I had watched on Youtube tutorial on making of shortbread pastry earlier and learned that chilling it before baking, gives it that extra crunch.

Don't forget the very important Step 5, OMG!! I forgot to put the weights down on the pastry shell, during the pre-bake and as a result, it ballooned up like an Indian bread :) Hahahahaha! Lucky I was able to rescue it by putting the weights in halfway thru baking. But I ended up burning it anyway when I removed the foil to allow centre to brown a little. Must watch the temperature..sigh!

Take 2 was done with the pastry in the pie dish. I was extra careful this time and was successful in not burning the pastry during prebake.

And here it is, my plum and cherry Tart... Pie whatever you want to call it :) You an eat it on its own or served with cream and the jus reduction.

P.S I think my next post should include bloopers :) hahahhaha..

Little Penang Cafe KLCC, Malaysia

I went back to Malaysia for a short holiday earlier this year. My sister and I visited Little Penang Cafe at KLCC for lunch one day. We went there early to avoid the long queue. This cafe gets very busy at lunchtime as it is frequented by KLCC office staff and visitors alike.

I ordered my favourite flat noodles, char kway teow. This was my first time visiting Little Penang Cafe and I am already thinking that this could be my favourite cafe in KL. They do street style hawker foods and it tasted as good as it gets for a cafe outside of the Penang Island itself.

This is called ABC or ais kacang. It is a basically shaved ice with fruits and syrup, topped with peanuts and drenched in sweet condensed milk. Similar to a Korean bingsoo, of Japanese Kakigori.

This dish is called Ju Huu char. It has shredded cuttlefish, cooked with julienne of vegetables like carrots, jicama (sengkuang), shittake mushrooms and onions and chives. Basically, you would put a small amount on the lettuce leaf provided, add a little chilli and wrap it up to eat. This is Nyonya Malaysian version of lettuce wraps.

Lastly is deep fried Lor Bak. It is traditionally mince pork meat marinated with chinese five spice, wrapped in beancurd sheet and then deep fried like spring rolls. It is normally a finger food or snacks. We ordered the chicken meat variant. 

More info 

Address: Suria Klcc, Suria KLCC, Jalan Ampang, 50088 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Phone: +60 3-2163 0215

Nyonya Achar Version 2

This is a modified version of Nyonya Achar to my previous post at http://www.yummystuffgoeshere.com/2011/03/nyonya-acar.html

Once again, I used peanuts, as I was unable to find candlenut in Regional New South Wales.

I used half and half , of white vinegar and rice wine vinegar this time, and it tasted a whole lot better. Sweeter!

I didn't boil them this time as I wanted a bit of crunch on the vegetables. So I gave them a salt bath instead, the veges had a spa day :)

You can choose to have as many or as little veges as you like. The main important ones are cucumber, carrots and string beans. I used green beans as I was unable to find long beans at this time. Telegraph cucumber was almost $5 each, so I bought a bag of 4 Lebanese cucumber for $5 instead.

It's better if you can use fresh tumeric, but nobody is going to be any wiser if you use tumeric powder instead. I have also added grinded lemongrass this time and omitted the dried shrimps.

I added 5 Habernaro chillies to the red ones for an extra punch and kicks. Don't let the yellowness fool you, this batch of pickles packs plenty of punch!

Lemongrass, shallots, garlic, red chillies, Habenaro chillies and tumeric powder

Sambal Brinjal and Okra

I found some okra and brinjal in my local vege store after work Friday, so I decided that I must buy some to cook. It's funny, growing up, I never used to like brinjal. It is also known as aubergine or eggplant in other countries. My mum would used it in curries and stir fries. It was the same feeling of distaste with okra, also known as Lady's fingers in the western world. I thought it was slimy and furry tasting and totally weird me out. Now I liked eating it because it takes me home.

Ingredients for 2 diners

• 1 large Brinjal 
• 200 gram of okra
• 1* piece of roasted shrimp paste (belacan)
• 6* large shallots
• 5* cloves of garlic
• 5* red chillies ( I use Habenaro for extreme heat)
• salt and sugar to taste

Method:

1. Grind the chillies, garlic, shrimp paste and shallots to make the spice paste, put aside.
2. Slice the okra, set aside.
3. Cut whole Brinjal into 5 cm length pieces and pan fry lightly on each side to brown. Set aside
4. Stir fry the spice paste in oil in a heated wok. Add in some sugar, allow to melt and watch the paste cooked and changed colour.
5. Tossed in the okra and cooked brinjal into the wok, stir to mix well with the paste.
6. Remove and serve with steam rice.