TGIF Mozzarella Stick...Right off the freezer

Sometimes a working mom just gets tired and the demands of a13 year old is just too much. So on a day like that, I will just go to the freezer and pick something easy-peasy. On this night, I found the TGIF Mozzarella Sticks.

These mozzarella stick are a gift from heaven which can be ready in a jiffy for my son cravings. Not much of a recipes, so here it goes...

Although the recommended method is to bake them, but mozzarella stick are meant to be fried.

Look at the ooowy gooowy goodness.... yum yum...yum Can it get more sinful?

So we ended up with a happy son and a happy mom...

Ponnagatti Leaves..Yummy and Healthy Indian Vegetables

Ponnaganti or Water Amaranth is a leafy vegetable mainly available in South India. These leaves are rich source of iron. An old aunty told me once that these leaves are comparable to 'Gold', because there are tons of health benefits. These leaves are specifically very good for our eyes. 

I was in Brickfileds the other day, and found this leafy vegetable in one of the Indian shops. For RM1.00 per bundle, it would definitely make not only a healthy but affordable Sunday lunch. 

These leaves needs to plucked off the stems, and it was indeed a tedious job.

This is how the leaves look like....

I made a simple stir fry of the veges. Start with onions, mustard seeds(a pinch), urad dhall ( a pinch)  and dried chillies, fried in about a tablespoon of oil. Then add on coconut.

Fry the coconut until fully coated and then add in the vegetables. Fry them well, as they tend to be a little bitter when undercooked.

And yum yum..served with steaming hot rice, and maybe a curry...goes mighty well !

Desserts in One U

One U will no longer my lunch hang out very soon, and what I am going to miss most is my desserts. There is no shortage for dessert hang outs, and girls being girls, we love our desserts..so here it goes.

Hui Lau Shan Healthy Desserts

It is all about mangoes . The desserts come in small servings and gives a chance for us to divulge ourselves in variety. The first is this threesome, which forgot the name, a mango cake, mango and glutinous rice in mango juice and mandolin cubes, slices of coconut with mango ice cream. We were told that the mangoes are from the Philippines.

The mango cake is simply lovely with the crust and a layer of icy cream and chunks of mango slices in between. 

Next,the combination of mango chunks and glutinous rice is good where the mango are sweet and  the chewiness of the glutinous rice goes hand in hand.

 Mango which is served together with coconut flesh  as well as a scoop of home-made mango ice cream is a simply divine.The ice cream is quite milky but each of every bites really comes with the tasty munch of fragrant mango taste.

The other trio that we had also had the two option, but instead of the mango cake, we got the mango mochi. The Mango Mochi was not sticky but it also had a little jewel of mango cream inside.Topped with shredded coconut made the overall delights even more tempting. For a mango fiesta head down to Hui Lan Shan.

Chocolate Brownie @ Vivo.

Vivo is the famous joint for Pizza for me and my buddies, but we managed to save a shot was our dessert. The chocolate brownie was nothing to shout about, but nothing to complain too. Aa fine ending of meal, it did play its part...

Petite Millie

Petite Millie is a European style dining place that is not heavy in your wallet. My post is about the desserts we had there. We had the mascarpone, Creamy Italian style soft cheese with Manfredi coffee soaked sponge fingers. I cannot even begin to tell you how amazing this version of Tiramisu is – soft 

lady fingers soaked in strong coffee nestled in rich mascarpone cheese cream lightly dusted with dark cocoa. And the macaroons, oh...yum ohh yum....the rainbow colored macaroon, where a little confusing, as we tried guessing the flavours... But they were great ! 

Vietnam House, One Utama

Vietnam House is located in One Utama, and one of my favourite places for lunch. It is  not easy to find a good Vietnamese restaurant in KL and I seriously believe this Vietnam House is one of it. They serve ala carte and set meals.

On our first visit, with only 3 of us, we ordered the set meal which is more worth for money(RM16.90) as it comes with the soup, salad, appetizer and a dessert. The set meal comes with Vietnamese wanton which is what I look forward to (below)

 I had the set with sweet sour fish fillet, which  was very good. It was sweet and slightly spicy and goes hand in hand with the steamed white rice served in a very cute clay pot :). Some might find it a little dry, though...

 The soup has a clean, fresh. light taste with tofu bits.

Chicken with Lemongrass is one of the recommendation of the restaurant. It was a curry chicken with lemongrass and chillies is being served in the claypot. A friend opted for the bamboo fried rice. The fried rice is being stir fried and it is then being served in the bamboo. The ingredients includes prawns as well as the quail egg makes the rice even perfect.

The 2nd time we went with a bigger group and had the opportunity to try out ala carte dishes. We ordered 2 types of appetizers, Vietnamese Spring Rolls and Prawn Skewers.These appetizers came authenthic baskets.The spring rolls are refreshing and consist of of some carrot,cucumber,white carrot and prawn, and served with a special dip.

We had the Claypot Chicken Curry, which was quite good. Being an Indian, with our famous fiery tasting curries, I expected a bland curry from Vietnam but they amazed me. Though not spicy, it was aromatic and flavourful. The chicken was cooked tenderly and tasty.

   We had some other dishes, mixed veges and tofu with minced meat which I did not get a chance to get a photo..too bad.

But I made sure I got a shot of the authentic original traditional old school Vietnamese drip coffee.

Vietnam House is somewhere you would go to if you wanted to feel and taste something different, tasty, interesting and somehow light...

Organic Food @ Opika, 1 Utama

Organic food seems to be increasingly common nowadays, but Opika, is one of the few that coaxes fine flavours out of richly realized recipes.

 The Carbonara Fettuccine with Grilled Chicken and Funghi was perfectly creamy for me.   The chicken was  consistently wonderfully tender and tasty.

Linguine Olio Aglio and House Spiced Pan Seared Salmon was delicious. I’m a lover of pastas, and salmon so I found the flavours were right and the salmon was cooked to the perfect degree, neither too raw or dry. Perfect combination!

Multi Grain Fried Rice - The colours they incorporate into their dishes is just facinating! The multi grain rice is a colourful concoction of organic brown rice, red rice and quinoa; sautéed with corn, carrots and  serve with sate and prawns, topped with cubes of cucumber and tomatoes; and served with a crunchy-fresh side salad. 

We also had a salad as the starter but could not remember the name of the salad, but the taste, I can still remember...It was refreshing, tangy and yum yum...

The drinks we had, green tea, lemon grass and carrot juice....were all really, really authentically fresh, and original. All in all, the food in Opika, is deliciously good and healthy but you must be willing to the price.

Ho Ho Steamboat - Damansara

Last year, while we went shopping for bed frame and mattresses in Damansara, we came across Ho Ho Steamboat, which was right beside the shop that we got our mattress.

If you are dining in a small group, like the 3 of us, mummy,daddy and son, you would probably have to order the set meal. Our came about  RM30- RM40.

Luckily the set meal offered is not too shabby for its price. It came with two large prawns, some siakap slices, fish balls, fish noodles,dumplings, etc The good thing is the seafood is fresh and you could really taste the difference from those served in buffet type of steamboat restaurants.

The  clear soup was tasty and even more tasty after it absored all the added seafood’s flavour. In sum, if you want an inexpensive, no frills steamboat, then go for Ho Ho.

Add an egg, and the noodles...and complete your meal!

Weekend Banana Cake

It is was the weekend, and running through my blog, suddenly made me realize that I had somehow, along the hustle and bustle of career filled life, lost my passion to cook. So I decided that I must rekindle the spirit to cook and bake. So, hurried through the kitchen and found 2 overly ripe bananas, and off to the pantry and found all that I needed for a banana cake.

So here it goes...Mash the 2 bananas and keep it aside. In a saucepan, slowly heat up half a block of butter, about 125g, with 3/4 cup of sugar (I used brown sugar because I had loads of it), and vannila essence.

Take it off the fire, and add in the bananas, 1 egg, 2 1/2 cups of flour and 1/4 cup of fresh milk. Mix them all well.

Pre heat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius, and bake for about 40 mins. Of course, you will need to check to confirm the cake is cooked well.

After 40 mins, voila....this is what you will get...

A delicious way to use up any over-ripe bananas you have lying around. The cake turned out to be incredibly moist and fruity. Enjoy it with a cup of tea !