Peanut Butter Cups!

These treats are crazy expensive in Malaysia. Reese's that is. I first tasted it when my best friend got them from me from the States, and was amazed at how well peanut butter and chocolate tasted together. So, since it's been a good week of baking, I thought why not give this a try..and so i did. :)

It's really not that difficult. All you need is peanut butter, chocolate, icing sugar and some cookie (crumbled, so you'll get the crunchy texture in your peanut butter cups). I used Marks & Spencers butter shortbread. :P I knowwww..It's such a waste. I didn't have any digestive biscuits with me :(...But yea, you should just use any plain biscuits.

Mix peanut butter with icing sugar, and then stir in the cookie crumbs. Let it cool in the refrigerator for a couple of minutes. Melt your chocolate and pour it into your candy mould, and immediately drop in scoops of peanut butter mixture into the melted chocolate. When you're done, pour another layer of melted chocolate. Remember to tap your candy mould to let out any air bubbles. :)

Chill and FEAST! :9 Remember to take it slowwww. These babies are addictive, you'll feel sick if you have one too many :P

Leftovers

Like Nigella, I too love leftovers! :) Here's what I did with my meat-fest BBQ leftovers.

I had some Hungarian sausages, pork sausages, Taiwanese sausages, yellow peppers and bacon (god-sent!) and sweet potatoes.


I boiled half a pack of penne. Cut the bacon into small bites and stir fry it with sweet potatoes for about 5 minutes, over high heat. Add yellow onions and some chopped olives (it's really not necessary, but I had a jar sitting in the fridge.)

Soon after, add the glorious meat platter - all chopped into bite size. Stir fry for another 2 minutes, and pour in some tomato paste. Kacau-kacau sehingga sebati :)

Add your favourite herbs (I used dried oregano and some mixed herbs), and toss in your penne and wahlah! Ready to dig in! :)

p/s: If you need to add water to dilute the tomato paste, simply ladle over from the pasta pot. :)

bon appetit! :9

Grilled Tomatoes!

Omg, grilled tomatoes are the best! I don't exactly have a grill, so I popped mine into the oven. It does take quite a while, but it's so worthwhile! Toss the tomatoes in olive oil, add some garlic pieces and fresh herbs (you can use rosemary, oregano..etc) I used rosemary and baked these for about an hour and half.

You'll get quite a bit of excess juice for the first half an hour, but don't worry, the heat will soon dry it all up. :) I made a huge batch, and I use it for pasta / sandwiches / pizza topping etc.

I initially roasted these tomato for a tomato soup, but was pressed for time, so I made pasta instead! :)

Macaroni with sauteed fresh shitake mushroom, french beans, corn kernels, in Carbonara sauce, topped with grilled tomatoes! :) :) YUMMO!

You know what you should do? Toast wholewheat bread, add your meat (ham / bacon / tuna / egg etc) add a slice of cheese, add some cold grilled tomatoes from the fridge. Omg, excellent! Slurps.

Avocado!

I used to hate these green mush. But not anymore! These green mush are one of the my favourite items for a quick sandwich. :)

By grilling these on a pan for a couple of minutes, you'll get this charred flavour that is super yummy. I sandwiched them in toasted wholewheat bread, with grated parmigiano reggiano, and leftover grilled cajun chicken. and oh, some greens too. Best. Dinner. Ever.

Sorry for the messy picture. Was mad hungry - with one clean hand balancing my brother's dslr to take this before i chomp everything down! haha!

Celebrating a Brand New Idea!

Needless to say, the local favourite of stir-fry beans are in the limelight. My version of it uses assam pedas paste and a generous amount of dried shrimp. Combine both in a well heated wok and a pair of strong arms; you'll get a scrumptious dish! yummm! To compliment these beans, I made a simple well marinated dish of stir fry minced pork. Served with a bowl of hot steamy rice. It screams nothing but the 'perfect' food! Yummm!

Last week, I made a promise with a brand new idea. For an entire working week of five days, I will cook for 8 people. And not just anybody, but actual paying clients!

The emotional ride was crazy. I spent a whole weekend mulling over the ‘perfect’ menu combo. It has got to have an ‘edge’ – a lip-smacking one indeed. And I thought, I need to be different. I need to stand out. Can I feed them all my favourite food? But if I feed them all my favourite in one week, what’s left for the next? Should I go out of my way and do something out of the ordinary? Or should I stick to the local favourites? What if what I love doesn’t quite suit their taste buds?

For two full nights, I tossed and turned in my bed as my mind raced through flavours after flavours. I thought about ingredients that would go well together. I thought about food that would still hold its finest flavour despite having it stored in a container, and cooled to room temperature. What about presentation? Could I pull it off?

The questions never ended. Not even till the middle of the week, when I was already serving my offices lunches for two days. I discovered so many things that slipped my mind earlier on. I learned so much from the experience. Cost control, portioning, packaging, food presentation, food photography and so much more.

It was crazy tiring as I juggled between making sure the food tasted good, packing them into containers, rushing through my shower and delivering the lunches – making sure that it arrives by 12.30pm daily. But, at the end of the day, it was worth it. :) The rush, the excitement was a whole lot of fun!

But alas, that is was only from a culinary perspective. I believe I do have so much more to work on in terms of the business structure. Sigh. But I guess, I knew from the start that it was a trial, and the sole purpose of the trial was to learn more. I'm glad I did. :) So please do excuse me while I get some beauty sleep, before starting on reworking the 'business plan.' Haha. Man, I feel so grown up just by saying that! :P And oh, one final yummy image! :D

Damn yummy right? :P Stay tune for more! :)

Awful Looking, Yummy Tasting

Not very sexy huh? But trust me, it was so so so good! :)


Our quick fix for pizza craving. We used instant chapatti as base, topped it with chunks of beef bacon, fresh shitake mushroom (the bacon and mushroom were earlier sauted with garlic and sage), slices of tomatoes, some parsley (yes yes, I know. parsley is gross to many of you. But I like the flavour it gives. :9) and finally, loads and loads of mozzarella cheese.

Pop these into the oven for a couple of minutes and you're done! Sinful dinner :P Gotta jog an extra round the next morning. :P