Pita Pockets...

Sometimes you get so bored, and you just don't know what to prepare for dinner..and then you see something and an idea just ops up. That is what happen to me, when I saw this packet of pita. So, I Thought why not have pita pockets.

The ingredients as above, chopped tomatoes, avacados, mangoes, chillies and onions. A little bit of lettuce and any cheese that you can find... I used blue cheese. I also pan fried some chicken pieces for my son and husband, because they NEED THEIR MEAT.

Now just assemble and put them in the oven to heat it up.

 

This was my pita, the vegetarian one with cheese just melting on the top...simply irresistible.

This is the non vege version, added with chicken. Pita stuffed pocket is a healthy meal (made this with wholemeal pita) and you can be as adventurous as you like with this.

Glazed Salmon with Wild Rice and Roket salad

It has been long time since I blogged and since I experimented. So, I found this nice block of salmon, and I thought I better make good use of it. Ran through the net, and found something interesting and I improvised with whatever I could  find in the fridge.

Ransacked my fridge, and found pomegranate..hmmm...interesting, a pack of rocket. I opened a packet of rocket, and dropped some cherry tomatoes, and dressed it with balsamic vinegar and topped it up with pomegranate. Voila...a salad. The pomegranate were little rubies in the mix of green salad, not only pleasing for the eyes but gives a tangy taste and wonderful texture, making a boring salad bursting with flavour. I even got my son to eat the greens.

Next I put the wild rice to boil. The comes the salmon.... Pour some soya sauce (light) and mix in brown sugar to make a glazed. Season the salmon with black pepper, and then marinate it with the soya sauce and brown sugar mix. Be generous. Lastly, sprinkle sesame seeds and roast it in the oven as normal.

Once cooked, assemble your plate with the salad, mix the wild rice with the oil from the cooked salmon and plate them all...Oh yes, and of course, place a glass of white wine, right by its side...Classic....

Aliyaa Island Restaurant & Bar - for a unique taste of Sri Lanka

ALiYaa means – “elephant” in Singhalese, a pretty decent restaurant situated in Bukit Damansara , offers quite an impressive array of food & drinks.mistaken. Food prices are  reasonable enough to not burn a terrible hole in your pocket, & yet allow you to enjoy your well-prepared Sri Lankan food.

For appetizer, we had the fish cutlet and potatoes and peas cutlet, which were fairly good.

Mutton Paal Poriyal is served with rice, gravy, green beans and seeni sambal. The mutton gravy was really good, and the seeni sambal, which tasted rather unique,was combination of grated coconut, carrots and some herbs.

Lumprais is rice with deviled dish of choice - mutton, fried egg with roasted cashews nut and vege, and mixed and oven baked.  We did enjoy this dish very much, as it was all mixed up, sort of a version of fried rice but mushier.

Aliyaa Puttu comes with potato sambal, pol sambal, vegetables and a curry of your choice, where I choose fish curry. Interesting combination, because we normally have our "puttu" with cooconut and brown sugar.

Sweet appam served with milk and gula melaka was the best dish of the day ! Yummy....Appam served with creamy coconut milk, soft in the middle, and crispy on the side...yummm...yummm.

 

On average the dishes were good, a tad spicy but GOOD! And this is evident by the different races of diners you will find in the packed restaurant.

Good Evening Bangkok

Good Evening Bangkok is a Thai Restaurant in One Utama that serves, I would consider, fairly good Thai cuisine. The ambiance of the restaurant is rather pleasing, and it is good place to catch some good Thai food with friends and family.

Our lunch that day consist of :

Special Seafood Tomyam @ RM13.50 per bowl. It is prepared really hot and sour here, definitely not for those who have a weak tolerance.The good thing is that there were loads of fresh seafood. For those who like spicy tomway, this is very much recomended.

The mildly spiced Thai Fish Cakes (RM2.50/pc) are made using only fresh fish fillets (seasoned with red curry paste, hence the color) are a must try here. They have a compact yet springy texture and smells aromatic with the addition of minced lemongrass. Simply delightful to the palate.

 

Surprising the spiciness dish for us was the Mango Kerabu. But we cannot complain, because it was appetizing with just a tinge of spiciness from the birds eye chillies, crunchiness from the peanuts and  saltiness from the dried shrimps. Simply superb!

 It was only the 2 of us, so we did not get the chance to savour as much as we would have liked to, so our last dish was Stir Fried Beancurd with Basil. I loved this dish because it was light, yet flavourful, with the addition of Basil Leaves.

Though on the slightly pricey side, but the Good Evening Bangkok serves delicious food, but i suggest you try at least once. Maybe you can save it for some special occasions!

Simple Thai Dinner.... right at Home

Well, I have started on my long break, and I thought it was time to rejuvenate my passion. So the first day of my break. my brother requested for a family dinner. So, I rushed home from class, dropped by Jaya Grocer to pick up some stuff to prepare dinner...The theme was Thai food.

My menu was :
Thai Fish Cakes ( link to recipe)
Grilled Brinjal 
Cashew Nut Chicken
Stir Fried Kai Lan & Salted Fish
Mango Pudding & Tiramisu ( of course this was sub contracted)

A dinner like this, would easily cost about RM200 or more for 6 pax. I  spent about close to RM90, shopping for the raw materials and about 45 mins to prepare the ever so scrumptious dinner, and we even had leftovers the next day. But of course the dessert was courtesy of Bonjour bakery....

Recipes will follow in the next post.....Now just the photos...

Thai Fish Cakes

Cashew Nut Chicken

"Kai Lan Ikan Masin" or Stir Fried Kailan in Salted Fish

Grilled Eggplant with Sambal

Mango Pudding

Tiramisu

Nasi Lemak at Village Park Restaurant

We Malaysians love our Nasi Lemak ! One of the places that you should visit for a good fullfilling Nasi Lemak is  Village Park Nasi Lemak

Village Park offers a wide choice of dishes but their Signature Dish is the Nasi Lemak Ayam Goreng(Nasi Lemak with Crispy Fried Chicken).Crispy chicken served with coconut rice, homemade sambal, anchovies, peanut, hard boiled egg and slices of cucumbers.Excellent taste and flavours. The texture of the rice and sambal is wonderful and makes you crave for more paired with a hot cup of Nescafe, it is just fantastic.

Besides their famous Nasi Lemak with Fried Chicken dish, other local delights selection such as asam laksa, mee rebus, rojak, mee soup, mixed rice, nasi lemak with rendang daging, toast bread with kaya, half boil eggs and so on are available.

  I tried their Nasi Dagang, which was pretty good. Nasi Dagaing is a combination of fenugreek seeds and coconut milk. It gives Nasi Dagang its unique flavour and fragrance. The rice looked like glutinous rice,a nd it was creamy and mixed with sliced onions. It was served with fish curry and acar (pickled cucmber, carrots and pineapples pieces with chillies).

 Another option for Nasi Lemak is Nasi Lemak with Rendang Ayam. Here, instead of Fried Chicken, you can go for the Rendang Ayam, which is really flavourful.

Prices of the dishes range from RM7.00-RM15.5.

Village Park is also a place for Nasi Lemak you MUST VSIT, since Tun Dr. Mahathir our former prime minister of Malaysia and Najib Razak our current prime minister had also dine here before. You can see their pictures in framed up portraits on the wall of the restaurants and near to the payment counter

Diana Tomyam at Damansara Uptown

Diana Tomyam in Damansara Uptown is a great place for some Thai food. The restaurant is much recommended for its cheap, easy and quick food.The owner originates from the southern part of Thailand too. Though Diana Tomyam is essentially a restaurant with Thai influnces, the menu roams freely with some Malaysian fares such as ayam paprika daging masak merah and curries too.

 Served scalding hot, the tom yum campur is very spicy and sour, with a lot of fresh spices and herbs like lemon grass, ginger root, red shallots, lime coriander leaves, chili and kaffir lime leaves. It's bits of birds eye chillies gives a spiciness kick that all us Malaysian love! Unlike tom yum soup at other places, Diana's version has got omphhhh.

The Kailan Ikan Masin (Kailan with Salted Fish) has the right amount of salted fish bits that gives you the right  peek of saltiness. Together with steaming hot rice, it is simply delicious.

We also had the "Ayam Goreng Kunyit" (Chicken with Tumeric and an Ommellete to complete out meal. The meal came up to RM13.00 for the 3 of us.

See, affordable and yet, delicious!!

Thai Stir Fry Chicken with Cashew Nut

This dish is not complicated so any person can cook easily. Cashew Nut Chicken, is either a Chinese or a Thai Dish, which I am not sure, but my version has a lot of herbs that I consider as of Thai origin.

This dish is really flavourful, as it comprises of many herbs, which are rich in flavour that simply burst into your mouth. The important thing is to use the right amount of chillies to suit your taste buds. I got the thai bird's eye chillies which is considered quite spicy, well, to suit my Indian taste buds.

I used chicken fillet which I cut into bite size pieces, and marinate with fish sauce and oyster sauce.

The ingredients that you would need are chopped " serai" or lemongrass, red and bird's eye chillies, kaffir lime leaves, mint leaves. lime and of course cashew nit, which you roast. Seasonings that you would use are fish sauce, and oyster sauce. Oops..don't forget the onions

Heat up the wok, put in the onions, chopped lemongrass, chillies and chicken, and stir fry in a really hot wok, Add in fish sauce and oyster sauce, as per your taste. Add on about a tablespoon of lime juice an cook until chicken pieces are tender. Slow down the fire and add the kaffir lime leaves and mint leaves. Switch off the fire and the cashew nuts to maintain its crunch! Serve with steaming hot rice, is the best way to enjoy, this simply flavourful, spicy and yummy dish.

For the next day, if you have left overs, just fry it with egg and rice, and you have a Thai version of fried rice...

Lunch the next day, cashew nut fried rice with deep fried spicy squid! Life cannot get any simpler...

Very, very Simple Thai Fish Cakes

This recipes is very, very simple because I did not prepare the fish paste on my own. I found a simple way getting this done. But before that, just an introduction about fish cakes itself...Thai Fish Cakes are a common street food in Thailand, and are very flavorful compared to most Western fish cake or even the Indian Fish Cutlet. Thai Fish Cakes are purely made of fish, mixed with spices and herb unlike the Indian Cutlets which is mixed with potato.

My recipe is very simple, as it works well, if you are in a hurry. I bought the Otak Otak paste. which you can get in any hyper market. This mixture is already spiced up and ready to be steamed, so it does not need a lot preparation or cooking. You just have to be creative... I added on some chillies, kaffir lime leaves, coriander, 1 egg  and a teaspoon of  sweet chilli paste (as per picture below)

 Let the paste set in the fridge for about 1 hour (minimum) so you will get a batter that you can easily handled. Deep fry them in hot oil, and they should be ready to be eaten. These cakes are best eaten fresh out of the oil while they're still hot and juicy. Served them with or without rice, and accompany with Thai sweet chili sauce, chopped cucumber, fresh coriander, and a squeeze of lime juice. Simply delicious!

Delicious @ 1 U

Delicious in 1 U is also another favourite hangout with my fellow friends, simply for the wonderful dessert and really delicious cuisine. However, the only setback is the service which needs way, way more improvement. So now let's just look into the good part, which is the food....Some of my favorite dishes are :

Crispy Fried Mushrooms with Aioli - RM15.90

The mushrooms are deep fried, and coated which just enough of batter, which keep the insides juicy and the outer part really crispy. I am a huge fan of mushrooms, so this dish is simply my favourite appetizer.

Teriyaki Chicken Burger on Crumbed Doughnut with Coriander Aioli & a side of Fries -RM24.90

A friend of mine tried the teriyaki burger, and commented that the patty was really compact with meat, and the teriyaki sauce had just the right amount of sweetness to it.

Pasta with Shitake Mushroom & Sundried Tomato - RM8.90

The good thing about Deicious is that they have a wide range of vegetarian choices which are equally delicious despite the lack of meat. The above pasta is a vegetarian dish among many more.This pasta, I think is with garlic olive oil.

Mushroom Mascarpone Spaghettini with Lemon Zest, Walnuts & Coriander-  RM25.90

I did not try this spaghettini, but this other vegetarian option is definitely highly recommended by my friend who tried it.

Pan-seared Crispy Skin Salmon served with Coriander Relish, Asparagus & Fried Potatoes-RM41.90

This was my dish for the day, and in my opinion, the salmon here is much better than Friday's option. The mint pesto or sauce was really, with just a hint of tanginess to it. I enjoyed the fried potatoes, which had a crips skin and soft insides.

Teriyaki Salmon Steak with stir-fried Soba noodles, Pea Sprouts & Asparagus - RM32.90

The other choice of salmon dish is under the Easter section, which is served in teriyaki sauce, and soba. I had this dish before, and it was good, but my "like" would go for the Crispy Skin Salmon with the yummy potatoes.

 Another favorite of mone is the Spicy Crabmeat Liguinne which I felt was really flavourful, especially with the arugulla, whihc infused the minty taste into this dish.

Another vegetarian option that we tried was the spagetthi with basil pesto, which is highly recommended.

Coconut Cake with Fresh Coconut Filling covered with Hawaiian Coconut Shavings -RM12.90

Despite the not so good service, a visit to Delicious is not a waste because of the food. Bear in mind, that it is a little bit on the pricey side, but it is okay to indulge yourself in a while.

I would definiitely make another trip for their desserts and maybe the breakfast menu!

1000 Layer Cake from Malacca

To tell you the truth, I have never heard about the 1000 layer cake from Malacca, until my husband made a trip recently. He called me and asked me if I wanted to try the cake.This famous cake is from Nadeje Cafe in Malacca, which specializes in mille crepe, a French cake made of many layers. Mille, means a thousand in French, but I don't know if it really has 1000 layers. Well, count if you can :)

The cake comes in many flavour, where only the top layer is flavoured. The cake is rather creamy,and really filling. I could hardly finish a piece. The interesting this is although there were many, many, many layers, but it held the cake together. Even if you plunge the fork in, the cake does not collapse.

The above is Praline flavoured cake.

This is the Mocha flavoured cake., alternate mocha crepe and sweet cream.