Cauliflower-Bacon Gratin - French Fridays With Dorie

After all the calories laden food we had over the last few days, it is good to go for something lighter :p  ahem...I was delighted that FFWD recipe for this Friday is Cauliflower-Bacon Gratin...this is considered light compared to those red meat we had the last few days LOL!  Cauliflower and bacon plus those lips-smacking cheese and heavy cream.....baked till one's nostril  tingles with the aroma of the bacon and spices wafting out of the oven....awwww I have to walk extra miles to burn off the calories that I had been happily tucking in during the festive season .  

This gratin can be served as a side dish with a roast or as suggested by Dorie can be served as a brunch, lunch or supper with a salad...the last would be favored by me but I was too lazy to prepare a salad so I took this as brunch without salad.  It is like a quiche filling with extra flour and yet taste like a savory pudding with its rich, soft and creamy texture.  A classic no doubt !

Christmas Away From Home - A Jolly Good One !

This year we had to celebrate Christmas away from home and we picked Piggy Jo's place to meet up and her place is 30 km away from the Mid Valley.  Jo met us in MidValley on the eve and we had a wonderful bonding time shopping in Robinson , The Gardens.  I picked up some plates going off for 70%  to showcase my food :p  70% off  was a great deal and knowing this Elin, well , she just have to pick a few pieces to add to her collections !  :)  We had our Christmas eve lunch at Aunty Nat Restaurant - a nyonya restaurant. I will post that on my next post 

Today's post is how we spent our Christmas away from home...and looking through all the photos , I realized that I do miss my Piggies very much and even if it means I have to travel all the way to just spend some hours with them , I am contented and happy just the same.  They can't come back, we go to them LOL!   We had our Christmas eve dinner at Kajang country club aka mewah club to the locals. The name of the restaurant at the club is 21st Century Restaurant .  Situated at the hill top , the hidden gems of Selangor,  the night scene was magnificent....looking down , we could sight the twin towers from where we stood...lighted up so magnificient....awwww that was a heavenly sight to behold.   I am sure Kajang readers will agree with me :) it was magical !   " Thank you Piggy Jo for arranging this beautiful place for us to have our Christmas Dinner and Wild Boar and myself had a wonderful Christmas and I am sure Piggy Josh would want to bring Elaine to this place LOL! "  

This picture was taken after a heavy downpour or we could have had our  dinner outdoor instead of inside the restaurant.  I would love to come here again the next time I come to visit Jo :)

Sesame-Crusted Salmon With Ginger Lime Vinaigrette

I was telling Joanna how good this was when we went down to KL to spend Christmas with her . Salmon being our favourite fish and what more I discovered a new way to prepare the salmon other than pan seared them.  Salmon fillets coated in sesame seeds and wasabi paste are drizzled with ginger lime vinaigrette was the original recipe by  Stefano Fiata . I substitued the lime juice  with red wine vinegar for the the vinaigrette and it was superb !  It has a crunchy coating and  a burst of wasabi flavor with a scent of the sea and dip with the ginger vinaigrette ...mmmmm yummy ! If you are bored with the normal pan seared style...do try this recipe, you will love this !

Spicy Garlicky And Minty Tofu - Night Market Snack

Wow...this is an awesome snack that I would love to tuck in while watching movies or dramas at home.  This is something that I dont mind having everyday :)  I was first introduced to this night market snack by Piggy Jo .    "Mom you must try this.... "  and she brought me to this particular stall at the night market that sells  ' taiwanese snacks '  they have fried fresh mushrooms, fried sweet potatoes chips, fried fresh enoki and many veggies ( can't recall what they have :p) but the most delicious ones are fried enoki  and special taiwanese tofu  Deep fried the tofu , enoki or sweet potato and mixes with fresh chopped garlic, mint leaves , cayenne powder and chilli flakes and salt...gosh, the best finger food ever ! Watching them do it live was how I managed to steal  replicate the recipe  LOL!  Of course, I could not make the special tofu but the taste is more or less the same as the one sold at the stall :p   I told her, let me replicate this for you and I was succeeded ! Well almost 90 % * oink oink and the day before yesterday, I cooked this again for the craving was strong and drooling can be bad at times !  Homecooked ones are much healthier where the oil is concerned :)  Do try this out if you are a fan of tofu, garlic and mint !  

Potato Chip Tortilla - French Fridays With Dorie

This a fast , fun , and funny version of the traditional Basque tortilla made with cubes potatoes. Dorie explained in her book that the French would call this clin d'oeil , a wink , at the original ,and they'd surprised not only at the potato chips that stand in for the usual sautèed spuds, but at the creator , Jean-Franςois Piège , formerly  the chef of  Les Ambassadeurs, the Michelin starred restaurant in Le Crillon. One thing good about Dorie, she will play around the recipe and give us her best version of this french recipe. I love reading her short write out on this recipe.  It is indeed fast to prepare, fun making them and funny because not a soul had any  inkling that what they were savoring had been a  snack food of a type they 'd never eat ! She is so funny :)  I made this for my breakfast bento this morning and Dorie suggested it can be served as a hors d’doeuvre for dinner parties.  It can be made ahead and served at room temperature.  Love it !  You can serve this for your coming Christmas party and I am sure you will have your guests and family members licking their fingers for more ! 

Bento Banter - Bento # 5

I like my lunch meal served in bento boxes .  Interesting and food served in bento helps to control food intake in large portion * I know Claire will surely ROFL at this statement * She used to laugh at me when I ordered big portion of food to the table :p  I am a big eater and still is or better phrase it this way " I have good appetite " ahem..this sounds better LOL!  So eating meals from bentos will be good for me.  Food served in small portion looks more appetizing actually  :) Food looks more dainty and delicious and  a good way to control my gluttonous eating habit  * wink  .  I am a fan of Japanese food and what a good excuse to prepare Japanese meal  to take to office ! 

Meat Roulade With Cranberry And Croutons Fillings

Christmas is barely 3 weeks away and I am sure many of us will be either dining out in restaurant or slogging in the kitchen for hours preparing a scrumptious dinner for the family :)  For the Piggy family , meat is a must have item on the table. I am going to introduce you to this wonderful Meat Roulade  ( French term for ' rolled ' )with lots of fresh cranberries and fresh italian parsley as a finishing coat for the roasted meat roulade.  Roulade can be either savory or sweet.  Besides the fresh cranberries, I added a layer of ' turkey stuffing ' to give an extra flavor to the meat roulade.  I have two more packets of fresh cranberries in the freezer and I love the tang bitterish after taste of this berries and it is truly a great filling for this pork loin roulade.  A great dish to serve for the coming Christmas.  And if you are still blank as what to cook for the coming Christmas dinner...try this....flavorful and fragrant !  

Curried Chicken Peppers And Peas en Papillote - French Fridays With Dorie

Today's FFWD is cook's choice . We can pick any one of the recipes from  Around My French Table !!! and knowing me...I will definitely go for anything cooked  en papillotes.  I heart food cooked in en papillotes ...I can't even count the number of times I have cooked food in parchment paper.  Instead of roast turkey with stuffing for Thanksgiving, it would be a great idea to serve this in individual pouches to family members .  We can serve this parcel dish with white rice or cardamom rice pilaf or couscous or even quinoa as suggested by Dorie herself. I served this with a combination of Brown rice and Basmati rice cooked with screwpine leaves and garlic.  This dish is full of flavor, fragrant, colorful and each family member will have the pleasure of opening the packet and sniff the aromatic steam. And the best thing is , it takes just 5 minutes to assemble and needs absolutely none of my attention while it cooks . And that leaves me time to prepare dessert for the the both of us  :)  

Tortilla Pizza With Runny Egg And Sweet Basil

Sharing with you guys something simple and yet delicious and nutrituous for a light brunch.  I made this Tortilla Pizza With Runny Egg & Sweet Basil for Wild Boar on one of the days while resting at home ( medical leave for a week )   A simple and hearty brunch for him....I don't give him this everyday so don't worry about the sinful stuff in it.  I decided to pamper him something he enjoys much...bacon and runny egg and cheese loaded tortilla pizza !!!  don't worry, I make sure he sweat them out later :p

I have not been posting much lately ...reason being I was down with tonsillitis and followed by subconjunctival hemorrhage . I am much much better now after a week of resting at home :)  No exertion from now on as advised by the doctor but this Momsie is damn stubborn....how not to bake and cook...it is my life !!! * Oinking away *  well anyway, I did overdo my exercise at the Polo Ground....brisk walked as though I am a 25 year old lady LOL!  Okay !  " I heard you Claire...slowing down now but it is your birthday so I just have to bake something special for you "   I baked a lovely cake for Claire my close buddy yesterday and I shall share it with you guys in my dessert blog Elinluv's Sweet Delights ") 

Today is Claire's Birthday and I want to take this opportunity to wish Claire of Caring Is Not Only Sharing  -  " a  Joyous & Happy Birthday !!! Hope she enjoys eating the cake as much as I enjoyed baking it for her :)  "

Sorry for the digress.....and now back to this brunch I was talking about........

Thanksgiving & Christmas

The holidays are just peeking around the corner with Thanksgiving in the lead. It’s scary how time flies so fast sometimes, just slipping through your fingers and leaving shadows of memories of the year past. Soon, the halls will be decorated with boughs of holly, mistletoes and the quaint whaft of home cooking scenting the festive air. Whilst this is the busiest time of the year when the entire family gathers together to celebrate Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas or all three, it is also the busiest time in the kitchen if you’re thinking of entertaining and throwing holiday parties.

Fortunately, we all live in the age of technology thus granting us access to wonderful recipes all over the internet. At the simple click of the mouse, you open up a cookbook brimming with chicken recipes, casserole dishes, fresh garden salads, drool-worthy pies and mouth watering desserts. There are so many variations to a simple chicken dish that you’ll be blown away at the number of choices available to you for your holiday planning.

Planning for the holidays does not necessarily need to be stressful and dreadful. Plan well ahead of time so that you have an ample amount of time to prepare for any changes in your initial plan and still pull off fantastic gatherings. As you tuck into your Christmas puddings and fruit cakes, impress your guests with your excellent culinary skills as you swap funny poignant memories of the past year and welcome the new year with open arms. 

*           *          *

Recipes

Pan Grilled Cinnamon Flavored Red Wine Sauce Drumstick

I have some leftovers of homemade cinnamon flavored red wine sauce from making Red Wine Pear Cake. Instead of wasting the red wine sauce, I decided to use them for my  pan grilled drumstick for Wild Boar's dinner.  He is not a fisherman  fish man so this very aromatic pan grilled meat is a welcome for him.  He loves it especially the cinnamon flavored red wine sauce .  The flavored red sauce infused well into the meat and when you pan grilled it....wow...the smell is darn good ...believe me * drooling this thinking of it.  Arrrrgh...I wish I could have a piece for myself but NO ! I have to be satisfied with my piece of salmon  which I will share with you guys later :)  Meanwhile be happy with this Cinnamon Flavored Red Wine  Sauce Pan Grilled Drumstick !  There is no boundary for me where cooking western food is concerned LOL! 

Pan Fried Organic Pumpkin Tofu With Sour Plum Sauce

Each time I visit the organic shop, I will surely take home a few slabs of their organic tofu. There are two types , one is with seaweed and the other one is with  pumpkin.  I am sure whether the tofu is made from organic soy bean or the pumpkin is organic. I  assumed that both are organic since it is from the organic shop :)   Well, this is what I will cook for our dinner when I am rushing for time...like if I have a cake to bake or bread to bake...dinner will be simple and this is one easy to prepare dish.  Seriously , this is delicious and appetizing at the same time.  Can store them in the freezer for a month.  Thaw them first before cutting them in slices.  If I know I have to do some baking that night, I will thaw this tofu on bottom shelf of fridge so that by the time I come back from work, it is ready for slicing :)

Dinner @ Kok Thai Restaurant, Ipoh

Whenever we dine out at this restaurant, we will surely order this dish...Kok Thai's signature dish...sorry, I am a yellow banana and they give fancy name to the dish. Many times I had ordered this, I still can catch the name of this dish.....I have to describe the dish to the lady Captain.... " you know you have this dish with the roll meat cured in wine and served in slices with a layer of pickled jellyfish as base "  then the captain will nod her head and say..... " oh this dish is called .................. " till today I still cannot remember the name of this dish  "   LOL!  don't even ask the rest of the Piggies...they are worse than me when it comes to the Cantonese language.  We only know that we love this dish and I wish I could make this myself....then I can renamed it to a name I can remember easily :p  And we have to either go there early to eat or order this dish in advance. Once , we went there at 8pm and this dish was sold out !  This dish comes with this garlic, chilli and shallots in vinegar....beautiful sauce ! I don't think I can replicate this sauce....look simple but the taste is awesome ! I really dont know what vinegar they used...simply delicious with this awesome " rolled meat dish " :)   You can read on to see what we had for my birthday dinner :p   Birthday lunch at David's Diner , Greentown Business Center and a simple birthday dinner at Kok Thai Restaurant , Ipoh  :)   Thanks Wild Boar for a scrumptious birthday treats !!!!!  The Piggies and I were well fed on that special day :p   And you know what,  the apron was in the washing machine ! yea.....rest day for Momsie Elin ....she deserved the day off , sat back and rested her trotters LOL!

Fresh Cranberries !!!!

I could not believe my eyes when I saw a few packets of fresh cranberries at the fruit section at Tesco, Ipoh !!! I  was practically jumping up and down on my trotters   and  I must have oinked out loud coz Wild Boar asked me " what is wrong with you ?  " Seeing me...grabbing packets of  fresh cranberries  off the rack into the trolley , he thought I have gone crazy ...!!!  He is not a fan of fresh cranberries unlike me, I yearn for it most of the time ....When I can't get the fresh ones, I used dried ones for my bakes which lack the bitterish taste.  Dried ones are sweetened so they are not my cup of tea but fresh ones comes with a slight tang and bitterish...that makes me like it so much.  There were about 5 packets left on the rack and I wanted to take them all but on second thoughts where am I going to store them in the freezer...there is hardly space now that I am almost making fruit popsicles everyday :p  So I  grabbed 3 packets of them.....they came just in time for my Xmas cooking !!!  Cranberry sauce is good for roast chicken or turkey and now I am thinking of cupcakes, cakes and muffins with these  'hard to get' fresh cranberries .   Yay ! Fresh cranberries now filled my dreams...and I noticed that Tesco usually have them in the month of November nearing to Christmas and boy ! I am one lucky Momsie ! Ain't   I ???  And they were fresh and big too !  I will be watching out for great recipes that uses fresh cranberries in the next few weeks and if you happened to have a good one please share with me by leaving your link here for me :)  Thank you and I am so excited now...LOL!  I have to pinch myself a few times to believe that I really have them in my freezer !  And you know what, I regretted not taking the whole lot back home with me , then I could have fresh cranberries all the year through ! 

Watch out for more cranberries goodies in the next few weeks.......

and have a nice day  :)

^  ______________ ^

*              *               *

Walking Down Memory Lane - Elinluv's Tidbits Corner

I was tagged by Kristy of   My Little Space , to do this 7 Link Challenge....how true..I find it challenging for I love every single recipe found on my blog....of over 784 posts and each post was done with so much passion in it.  So to pick one for each topic is really heart wrenching....so many popular ones and so many that deserved attention yet not LOL!  Okay, the biggest reason being , I have been pretty busy lately and also procrastinating all the year :p So it is time to do this before the year ends.  My sincere apology to Kristy for taking such a long time to do this up :)

Let's reminisce some of my past posts that I think needs mentioning again :p

1)  The Most Beautiful Post......"Ferrero Rocher White And Dark Chocolate Cake" . It was hard ...really hard to pick one from the 784 posts but I think this is the most beautiful cake I had baked for my birthday with those mouth-watering white and dark chocolate !  Yummy  :)  

Ferrero Rocher White And Dark Chocolate Cake

2)  The Most Popular Post......" Fruits de le mer Pasta In Papilotte "  ...well, I guess I had many visitors for this particular post , so does this make it popular ? :p   This dish is popular not just with friends and readers and my family love this sinful indulgence :)  all those mouth watering seafood in the pasta and the aroma and flavor trapped in the papilotte....a wonderful one meal dish which I am sure will be popular with busy momsies or working people :)

Fruits de le mer Pasta In Papilotte

3) The Most Controversial Post......for the time being I do not have one that has a debate over it yet :)

4)  The Most Successful Post......" Salmon In A Jar " .  After joining French Fridays With Dorie, I have mastered many new dishes with a touch of french style cooking and have succeeded in making my first cured salmon chunks !  And I have make many friends from all  parts  the world. Cooking together the same dish on a Friday makes it fun and challenging besides the exchanging of reviews on the dish.  Sharing the same passion for a particular dish by Dorie Greenspan :)  A link to many food bloggers around the world !

Salmon In A Jar

5)  The Post That Did Not Get The Attention It Deserved..... " Apple Pannenkoek " . This is a light meal that is healthy and that I think many would love it but it did not catch much attention though.  For me , this is the most easy to whip up meal for the day...for breakfast , for supper or even for snack in between meals. Easy digestable and tasty and I would like to bring to your attention once again so that you may like it too and make this for your family for their breakfast or serve this for a light brunch :)

Apple Pannenkoek

6)  The Post I Am Most Proud Of  ......" Roast Chicken Breast With ' Turkey Stuffing ' " ...I think this is one chicken dish that I love and I think it is a successful one for I won  the 1st Prize  from Swee San     :)  a Nigella Lawson Christmas Cookbook was the Prize for the cooking competition.  Yay! my first participation and I won ! so I can consider this as a successful post :)   Xmas is just around the corner , so maybe you would like to try this recipe for this coming Xmas !

Roast Chicken Breast With ' Turkey Stuffing '

7)  The Most Helpful Post......"  Homemade Kimchi " . I realised that knowing how to my own Kimchi is an added plus point in my whole cooking experience.  I love kimchi and being able to make my own and sharing and teaching others how to make this korean kimchi a blessing.  I sincerely wish this kimchi post is helpful to those who wants to make their own homemade kimchi... I know Lena of Her Frozen Wings had made some herself after reading my Kimchi post :p 

Homemade Kimchi

Thank you Kristy for giving me this opportunity to reminisce on

all my old posts and once again being able to share with my readers and

friends on these few worth mentioning posts 

and thank you, my readers for walking down memory lane 

 together with me :)))

Have a nice weekend !

*             *             *

Roast Pork Ribs With Parsley Dijon And Chives

What would be nice to go with stuffed pumpkin with everything nice that I made for FFWD ? I asked myself this many times before I cooked SPWEN and suddenly I saw my Curtis Stone book among the stack of new cookbooks ...I got an idea ! How about Roast Ribs With Parsley, Dijon and Chives ? And guess who vouch for it....yea Wild Boar !  He took me to the market early in the morning and I bought back some his cousin's ribs back for roasting LOL!  Curtis Stone has this book titled " Relaxed Cooking With Curtis Stone " and I found this great Roast Rack Of Lamb with parsley, dijon and chives recipe from it :) I substituted rack of lamb with pork ribs :)

Pumpkin Stuffed With Everything Good - French Fridays With Dorie

TGIF....when Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan arrived at my doorstep some months back, I could not contained my joy for I really want to try out some simple french cooking and Dorie has complied all the the simple and delicious french dishes in one book.  I read through them the very night I received the book and have bookmarked some of the ones that I wanted to start off with and to my delight, Lizzy and a few of my blogger friends invited me to join FFWD group and can you imagine the joy and happiness...having Dorista friends all over the world cooking the same recipe and comparing notes....fantastic how food can bring people together :)   Today FFWD dish is Pumpkin Stuffed With Everything Good !  Well true to its title...it is really stuffed with everything good LOL!   Yummy..and we love it !   It goes well with my roast pork ribs which I am going to share with you in my next post :)  Meanwhile , let's look at this pumpkin goodness first :)  This is one delicious pumpkin recipe that Dorie shared with us in her AMFT.

Birthday Lunch @ David's Diner

We decided to have my belated birthday lunch at David's Diner after Wild Boar got well from his flu' that was yesterday. Wild Boar got sick on my birthday which fell on 20th October, so the celebration was postponed till he was fully recovered...and to make up for it, Wild Boar gave us a treat to a Western lunch ( David'sDiner ) and  a Chinese dinner at ( Kok Thai Restaurant )....the Piggies and myself gave each other a  ' Five ' with our trotters :p  Momsie was given the day off from cooking :p  Today's post will be on our lunch at David' Diner.  We love western food ..no, I think the best descriptione is..we love to eat no matter what cuisine it is...slurrp !   As usual we had some camwhoring time together before the food arrived ...so fun !

Tortilla ' Twister '

Tortilla ' Twister'  LOL! Why twister ? Tortilla with a Twist  - mine is a fusion one. Read on and you will know what I mean...fusion Twister.  Well, I was just trying to replicate those ' Twister ' from KFC. They are my favorites and each time, the Piggies order from KFC, they will  surely order ' Twister ' for me ...they do know what I like and what I do not like :p  Wild Boar bought us a sesame roast duck from the Kg.Simee market for the weekend and as you know both of us could not finish one whole duck , so I took some for making ' Chap Suey ' and I kept one breast part for making pulled duck meat  for these tortilla  'twister' .  3 type of preparation with just one roast duck ! Clever or not ?  :)   Tortilla with a Twist is so apt...chinese roast duck and mexican tortilla LOL!

Pissaladière - French Fridays With Dorie

The moment I knew that this Friday's recipe for FFWD is pissaladière, I jumped on board with the rest of the Doristas and made this for dinner . Looking at the photo in Dorie's lastest book  AMFT , I knew I would love it  :)   Each time I set my eyes on a mouth-watering food photo, I will just have to cook or bake them  ! 

This recipe comes from Dorie's friend Rosa Jackson, who teaches cooking in Nice, her hometown.  Pissaladière is what Rosa calls " a treasured Nicoise street food, sold in every boulangerie of Vieux Nice and at several stands specializing in quick eats. Actually it is not so quick to make, since the base is of a simple yeast dough that needs an hour to puff.  If both the dough and the onions topping can be made ahead, you can get your pissaladière into the oven with a snap of the fingers :) 

Pan Fried Organic Seaweed Tofu

I like to indulge in organic stuff once in a while. I frequent the organic shop quite often though because one of my colleague is very into organic food. So we will go together and for me it is just browsing through their shelves and see what they have that I really need and I will normally purchase some stuff back if they are not too pricey . I opened their chiller and found some organic tofu. I could not resist them for I  am a tofu person :)  I bought back 2 types - pumpkin tofu and seaweed tofu....ohhhh, I could finish a block of tofu by myself especially when I pan fried them and dipped with some Thai chilli sauce...one word  HEAVENLY  !

Japanese Pizza - Tortilla Base

I had this fusion pizza at a Japanese restaurant , Pasta Zenmai, at Mid Valley KL and I fell in  love with it the first time I set my eyes on it and when the first bite went into the mouth, I was ooo- ing over it . I told myself that I must  make this myself when I go back home to Ipoh  :)   Thin crust - tortilla was  used as the base - with fresh scallops and fresh button mushrooms with mozzarella cheese and japanese mayo...gosh... light and easy for the palate.  So to day, I am going to introduce to you the easy to whip up and yet delicious Japanese fusion pizza that will have wow you over :)  I replaced fresh scallops with shrimps :)

Olive Olive Cornish Hens - French Friday With Dorie

I am late again in submitting this entry for FFWD :p I wanted to try this week FFWD recipe on Friday but we had dinner with friends , thus I can only roast the chicken for our lunch today and to my surprised it was delicious. I thought it might not be that nice since I do not have the canned anchovies and cornish hens are not available here.  I substituted it with dried anchovies for the tapenade and chicken from the wet market . It turned out great just the same and I love the flavorful olive tapenade. I told Wild Boar that I am treating him to a french cuisine today and guess what ? He asked me this " today is Friday "?  French cuisine means it's Friday ! LOL!

Tribute To Steve Jobs 1955-2011

Steve Jobs - Apple Founder

1955-2011

Though you have left us today but

you leave behind a legacy for us.....
an incredible legacy that will live on....

I love my iPod Touch which I can't do without

and iPad to read all my e-books.

Thank you for leaving me such precious

things which I shall take it to my grave

when the time comes.

May you rest in peace... dear Hero