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Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Ratatouille Chicken in Crock-Pot
Still really loving the slowcooker! I need to try much more with it, but I haven't had that much time to plan or cook lately. I hope to get a lot done this summer though - it'll be nice to have some time off.
This was the first, but certainly not last, time cooking chicken. I decided I want something simple to go along with it, and settled on a kind-of-ratatouille. It turned out a little watery for my taste, but still very good. The chicken was awesome - very moist and flavorful.
Ratatouille Chicken in Crock-Pot
serves 4
1 1/2 yellow onion, coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 zucchini, diced
100 ml (a little less than 1/2 cup) fennel, finely sliced
1 red bellpepper, diced
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1 can (400 g) tomato "fillets", or regular crushed (or even whole) tomatoes
2 tbsp chunky salsa sauce
1 whole, fresh chicken
salt, lemon pepper
Prepare all the veggies, and mix with the salsa, the tinned tomatoes, and some salt and cumin in the crock-pot.
To prepare the chicken, remove as much skin as possible. (It won't be great slow-cooked.) Season with salt and lemon pepper. Place the chicken, breast down, on top of the veggies. Cover with the lid, and cook on high for four hours.
Serve with some sort of grain - we had bulgur wheat, which was great.
Recipe in Swedish:
Ratatouillekyckling i crock-pot
Discover Atlantis
Atlantis was one of the first resorts which opened its doors on Dubai’s revolutionary island, Palm Jumeirah, a man-made island that has captured the world’s imagination with its magnificent scale and ingenuity. From the moment you arrive, you will be immersed in a dazzling world of imagination, pleasure and luxury.
I never went to Dubai, but the more I read about this resort, the more I think that it would be a great place to spend my summer holiday. Atlantis Hotel offers relaxation but also thrills, including unique marine habitats, an exhilarating water park, pristine white beaches, world-class cuisine, indulgent spa and cosmopolitan boutiques. I can even see myself enjoying the beautiful beaches out there, in that perfect venue for a range of beach activities from volleyball to football matches. Or, maybe I would enjoy an up close and personal meeting with one of their dolphins: touching, hugging, holding ‘hands’ and playing ball being only some of the activities that can be experienced during this interaction. And what to say about the ShuiQi Spa? It is like a journey into another world, a memorable experience, awakening senses, within inspiring and serene water surroundings.
If you want to win a holiday of a lifetime, all you need to do is to create your personalised Spotted in Atlantis video and register automatically for a chance to win a five night stay in Atlantis for you and three friends. More specifically, all you have to do is to upload a photo of yourself or one of your friends in this interactive video, and then you will see yourself having an amazing time around the luxury and sheer opulence of the Atlantis in Dubai. Also, you will have the chance to win cool weekly prizes like gift certificates from PayPal or Amazon.
In conclusion, I really think that visiting Atlantis Hotel from Dubai is like living out your dreams amidst the warm Arabian seas. So, what about you? Enter the contest for having a chance to win this great holiday!
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Viral video by ebuzzing
Tutti Frutti in Reading - a Gem Tucked Away in Reading's Railway Station
Tutti Frutti in Reading Railway Station's concourse |
They've been going for six months and already have a steady stream of customers enjoying coffee, cakes, ice creams, sandwiches and soup. And it's not difficult to see why. Jane, the owner of the store, welcomes me when I arrive with a spoonful of freshly made mushroom soup. "Do you want to try some?" she offers. The soup is rich, slightly peppery and has that unmistakable fresh woody taste of the mushrooms - there are no instant soup powders here.
Rows of sweets in glass jars line shelves and give a traditional feel |
What struck me most about the place is that Jane genuinely cares about the food she makes, food that she describes as "comforting". The cafe has a homely, welcoming feel - she tells me that the chocolates are made by a friend, the ice creams are made by her and that it took them a year just to track down the right coffee beans.
The beautifully made chocolate selection includes chocolate bunnies, spaniels and sheep |
And the coffee is without a doubt one of the silkiest, richest and most refreshing cups of coffee that I've ever had. And at £1.50 for an espresso, it's very reasonable too. A bowl of soup with bread costs just £2.95 and sandwiches are freshly made, costing around £2-3 each. There are no shortcuts with the sandwiches either - the king prawn sandwich is generously packed with with large, juicy prawns in a Marie Rose sauce - and the ham they use is crumbly 'real' ham too. None of that processed, plasticky, luminous pink stuff here.
Ice creams are all freshly made - flavours include Chocolate Brownie, Banoffee, Lemon Meringue (my favourite!) and Strawberry Sorbet - sold by the scoop in tubs or cones |
As I sipped my coffee, surrounded by busy commuters hurtling around I glanced at the queues of people at the brightly-lit fast food restaurants in the station's concourse. And just for a second I can't blame them, in a way. Everyone is in too much of a rush here that they go into autopilot when they're hungry and exchange their cash for something they already know, something safe. Tutti Frutti is not only worth taking the risk - but once you do you might find that you're in there a lot more often than you think.
Tutti Frutti is a real gem at the heart of this busy railway station. You wouldn't always expect to find really good produce in the concourse of a train station but here it is. If you find yourself waiting at Reading station for your connection give them a try. I promise you will not be disappointed.
Monday, May 30, 2011
IT'S MY LIFFFFEEEEEE!
Didn't take much pictures that day because we only have limited time to play Rock Band (room was initially booked by somebody else). Will go back again! Maybe I should try out Play Nation or something, saw it at SCAPE that day and I think it's about the same.
Which is better?
Guitar & Bass - Zhao Ming and June
Drums - Me
Vocalist - Yusra
"IT'S MY LIFE~! It's now or never~ I ain't gonna live forever~!"
Despite my preference to play the drums, I STILL can't multitask. So irritating while drumming still have to step on the pedal-like thing below. Anyway, even though I can't sing (like really cannot man), these are the songs I wanna try out as a vocalist the next time I visit:
Paparazzi - Lady Gaga
Dirty Little Secret - The All American Rejects
All The Small Things - Blink 182
It's My Life - Bon Jovi
Was quite surprised they even have Lady Gaga's songs because I know they tend to put in oldies (like for instance my GuitarHero consists of ZERO songs from my era) as their setlist. They have "Bad Romance", "Poker Face", "Born This Way" if I remember correctly.
I'm sticking to Paparazzi because I cannot control my urge to laugh whenever I imagine myself going "RaH rAh aH Ah aH~ Roma mA ma~" or "mUm mUm mUm mah~" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I shy *blush*.
I went to Cash Studio yesterday with Sherry, Don and Eugene to SING SONGS and I tried singing "Paparazzi" to sort of you know, prepare for my next visit. Although our main aim was to sing Japanese anime songs but about 85% of our time we were sticking to Japanese anime ones.
Reading the lyrics was a pain though. I need to practice reading Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji faster, like maybe 5 words per second?!!!
L0nt0ng kupang + sate kerang
maem lontong kupang di tepi pantai-surabaya??? yapz, betul bgt... maen2 ajah ke kenpark. kenjeran park maksudte...
hehehe
lumayan enag k0k dan gak mahal. pokoke sippp !!!!!
L0nt0ng kupang + sate kerang
maem lontong kupang di tepi pantai-surabaya??? yapz, betul bgt... maen2 ajah ke kenpark. kenjeran park maksudte...
hehehe
lumayan enag k0k dan gak mahal. pokoke sippp !!!!!
Nasi G0reng depan stadion gL0ra tambak sari 10 n0pember surabaya
nasi g0reng, rasanya ??? jangan di tanya. Kal0 gak laper, mungkin gak tak maem tuh nasg0rnya. (ya iyalah).
hadeh aneh p000LLL rasanye.
huft bgt deh ^_^
Nasi G0reng depan stadion gL0ra tambak sari 10 n0pember surabaya
nasi g0reng, rasanya ??? jangan di tanya. Kal0 gak laper, mungkin gak tak maem tuh nasg0rnya. (ya iyalah).
hadeh aneh p000LLL rasanye.
huft bgt deh ^_^
pizza hut TUNJUNGAN PLAZA
Maem pizza hut bersama my L0veLy. . .
0h pizza... kau mengalihkan duniakuw...
pinggiran rotinya yg dalem ada kejunya. . . hmmm leleh, trus diatas penggiran pizza ada taburan c0rn flakes. . . my favorit sereal, topping pizza not bad Lah. maknyus tenand Lah pokoknya ^u^
hahayyy ^_^
pizza hut TUNJUNGAN PLAZA
Maem pizza hut bersama my L0veLy. . .
0h pizza... kau mengalihkan duniakuw...
pinggiran rotinya yg dalem ada kejunya. . . hmmm leleh, trus diatas penggiran pizza ada taburan c0rn flakes. . . my favorit sereal, topping pizza not bad Lah. maknyus tenand Lah pokoknya ^u^
hahayyy ^_^
his song for me ^_^ 180511
Jika aku berucap, aku tak mau kalah
Tapi baru aku sadar manusia tak sepenuhnya sempurna
Ijinkan aku meminta maaf kepadamu
Karena aku bukan manusia yang sempurna
Ijinkan aku meredam rasa benci
Karena dirimulah yang berharga di hidupku
Surabaya, 18 mei 2011-05-18
By ; Aykuw saiank
=)
his song for me ^_^ 180511
Jika aku berucap, aku tak mau kalah
Tapi baru aku sadar manusia tak sepenuhnya sempurna
Ijinkan aku meminta maaf kepadamu
Karena aku bukan manusia yang sempurna
Ijinkan aku meredam rasa benci
Karena dirimulah yang berharga di hidupku
Surabaya, 18 mei 2011-05-18
By ; Aykuw saiank
=)
Dicari Seorang Wakil Rakyat Yang Membela Kepentingan Rakyat
Perompak Laut Somalia dan Osama Ben Laden
Is Comfort Food Just for the Winter?
Photo: Kirsten Taylor, Wikimedia Commons |
Nah. At least I don't think so. It's true, once the weather gets chilly people start firing up their slow cookers and digging out casserole dishes to make rich, dark, meaty stews with piles of creamy white mashed potato. And this is what many visualise when they think about 'comfort food'.
But can summer food be comforting too? Of course it can. I immediately think back to Dom from Belleau Kitchen's guest post of Roasted Vine Tomatoes. Hardly a winter dish - and with its sweet flavour and tang of balsamic vinegar it's positively Mediterranean in influence. But yet it's offered here as a comfort food. Salads: can crisp lettuce, caraway seeds and coral-coloured ribbons of smoked salmon be comforting? You bet it can. It's all in the textures, the flavours and in the memories of the person eating it.
Dom from Belleau Kitchen's Oven Roasted Tomatoes |
For me, many of my own favourite comfort foods are rooted in my childhood. I’m not really a massive fan of vanilla ice cream – but plonk a scoopful in a glass of Coca Cola and I’m transported back to when I was nine years old and sitting on the porch of our house during the hot summer holidays. Memories are one of the key factors in what makes food comforting – their aroma, taste or appearance can spark off a memory of childhood, to the days when you didn’t have to pay the bills, do the shopping or be particularly organised (as long as you remembered your PE kit on Thursdays). You just got fed whenever you were hungry by someone you love.
Comfort food to me is one of the food areas where there isn’t really time for ‘haute cuisine’ or snobbishness. Uneven cakes, with cream or icing dribbling down one side seem to have more appeal than the perfect pale, aerated discs sold by supermarkets. Similarly, what is one person’s dream dish is another’s nightmare or disaster. For some reason, I find baked beans overcooked until they go a bit mushy completely irresistible. It’s how my Mum used to cook them. And one of my favourite comfort-food dinners is fishfingers, chips and beans. What is one person’s emergency quick fix supper is another’s special treat – to be shopped for specially and eaten slowly.
So I think that comfort food really doesn’t have so much to do with the seasons. It’s about personal memories, textures, colours and of course aromas and taste.
Do you consider any summer foods comforting? Why is that? Would love to hear your comments!
New Layout~
I couldn't really be bothered figuring out how to get my background to fit perfectly for all screen resolutions and web browsers, so I decided to scrap the idea and keep a plain white background, but change the header to suit the new theme.
I've also changed the fonts for my post titles, dates and side bar titles. Unfortunately, it's made my blog a little slow to upload, so even if it does look rather nice, I think I'll keep it a few weeks as a test and see how it goes. If I still don't like how slow it is, I might scrap it and see what else I can do with my layout.
I've tested the new layout on IE, Firefox and Safari on iPhone... It looks fine on IE and Firefox, but the new font for my post titles, dates and side bar titles don't show up on iPhone... Got to check up on how to fix that.
Any opinions on the layout so far?
Duck Breasts In Hoisin-Plum Sauce
Pan-fried to render the oil and finished in the oven to crisp the skin.
Duck breast with hoisin plum sauce.
Duck breast on pancakes, a la Peking Duck style.
Today's a public holiday, the Ka'amatan or Rice Harvest Festival. For lunch, I cooked duck breasts with hoisin-plum sauce. This was the second time I cooked duck breasts. It was only recently that I found duck breasts at Hong Seng, the cold storage mart in Damai. At about RM8/USD2.60 per piece, duck breasts are much cheaper than beef or lamb. And easier to cook and fancier too.
The first time I cooked duck breasts, I pan-fried them until they were nearly done. The meat was slightly pink, moist and sweet. This time, I decided that frying four breasts in two batches just takes too long so I fried them until half-done (7 minutes each side) and finished them in the oven. However, I was distracted and the breasts were in the oven for a good 20 minutes instead of 7 minutes. Duck breasts, as you know, are best slightly underdone. Anyway, although the duck breasts were a slight disaster, my Peking duck pancakes were good-- they popped apart. That was great, because I've always had difficulty pulling the pancakes apart. Now I know that the reason my pancakes were always stuck together was because they were underdone. That, or maybe because they used to stick together because I've always used my finger to smear oil on the pancakes but this time I used a brush. Oh, and another good thing about today's cooking experiment was that I found that potatoes fried in duck fat is heavenly! I saw cans of duck fat in Europe and imagined that they were rather gross, but oil rendered from the duck breasts didn't smell ducky at all and somehow made better potatoes than even butter. Wow. I actually preferred the potatoes in duck oil to the duck.
Duck Breasts In Hoisin-Plum Sauce
One breast per person is good. Score the skin (for easier rendering of the fat) and pan-fry the breasts, skin-side down, two each time, without any oil in the pan. In no time, the breasts will be swimming in oil. Halfway through, after 7 minutes on each side in medium heat (I actually cooked the breasts on low heat but I think medium heat will render even more fat out and make the skin crispier), season the breasts with coarse salt and pepper (black or white or even Sichuan peps is good), pop the breasts into the pre-heated oven at 200 C for another 7 minutes or so. Remove and let rest for 5 minutes. Slice thinly (mine were too thick). Spoon some sauce onto a plate, place duck slices over the sauce and serve. If serving with potatoes, boil the potatoes until just done, cut into smaller pieces and then fry in the rendered duck oil until golden. Season with salt and pepper.
For the sauce, just heat 1 spoon of hoisin sauce with 1/2 spoon of plum sauce for one breast.
Peking Duck Pancakes
1. Put 1 cup plain flour into a bowl and add 1/4 cup boiling water. Stir quickly with a pair of wooden chopsticks or fork, until small lumps form. After 30 seconds of cooling, gather dough into a ball and knead until smooth. If too sticky, add more flour and if too dry, add a little bit more water. Cover and let dough rest about 30 minutes.
2. Roll dough into a long cylindrical shape and break into even number of small pieces about twice the size of your thumb. Dust well with flour.
3. Take two pieces of dough, roll each into a ball and press to flatten into a disc/circle. Brush oil liberally (veg or sesame oil) on one disc and press the other piece on top, placing it slightly askew so that it'll be easier to see when you pull them apart. This is a very clever space-saving way of frying two pancakes at once, allowing more pancakes to be fried.
4. Roll (make sure not to press too hard or pancakes'll not pull apart easily) into a thin pancake and fry, without oil, in a non-stick pan until it turns slightly transparent on both sides, about 1 minute each side over low heat. Do not fry until golden or scorched. When cool, pull apart. Keep covered with a cloth as you work on the rest of the dough.
Giveaway: Electrolux Mixer
I'm kind of liking these giveaways lately - and I hope you do, too! Today, I have a brand new Electrolux Powermix Silent Blender to give to a lucky reader - but, you have to live in Sweden for this one. Sorry!
To win the blender, you have to answer two questions:
1. What year was the Husqvarna brand introduced?
2. What is your favorite smoothie recipe?
E-mail your answers to annesfood (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll make the smoothies that sound the most interesting, and pick a winner! Don't forget to include your contact details.
This giveaway is open until Sunday, June 5.
I get to do this giveaway because I'm on the jury for another Electrolux contest - design your own kitchen. (You can win a lot of kichen appliances from the new series Husqvarna Premium 1689 in that one, and it's open until June 3.)
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Jauhkan Organisasi Dari Pimpinan Kontroversial
And the cookbook winner is...
The winner of the Thinkfood cookbook is Kiki! Congratulations!
Check in tomorrow for another giveaway - a really good one.
Needs to listen to some English songs!
I played Rock Band with my colleagues at Dhoby Ghaut just now and it was enjoyable! I used to have Guitar Hero at home so I sort of know how to play the guitar already, so most of the time I was the drummer. Would say that the drums are my favourite instrument!
New picnic date
Picnic in the rain?
Saturday, May 28, 2011
cara membuat sushi.
Bahan-bahan yang diperlukan:
- 1 potong nori (lembaran rumput laut)
- 1 cawan beras sushi (cari kat pasaraya je)
- 1 iris tipis salmon asap atau tuna
- 2 timun iris tipis
- 1 cawan cuka beras
- 1 sudu teh wasabi
- 1 pinggan (biji bijan)
To use the service, soy sauce
cara-caranya:
how to make cupcake pops (lollipop kek)..
pernah dengar cupcake pops tak??..
bahan-bahan:
- 1 roti 13X9-baked cake (from a box cake mix or from scratch … any flavor)
- 1 tin krim keju frosting-cream cheese frosting ( 2 cawan setara dari awal-equivalent from scratch)
- 1 acuan bunga berbentuk cookies cutter (1.25 "wide X 75" quality)
- 1 paket kulit coklat
- 1 paket coklat pink mencair atau white chocolate bark
- mangkuk untuk merendam
- kertas lilin
- aluminium foil
- lolipop sticks (tongkat)
- taburan, m & ms atau sesuatu yang mirip untuk atas cupcake
- small plastic treat bags dan pita/riben untuk membalut CupcakePops
- cawan gula-gula dan tempat Truffle untuk hidangan individu Bites Cupcake
- styrofoam blok
cara nmembuatnya:
1. Bakar kek dari campuran atau dari awal dan sejuk sepenuhnya.
2. Crumble cake into a fine consistency into a large bowl.
TIP: If the texture is too coarse, you can run it through a food processor.
3. Tambah krim keju boleh frosting atau buatan sendiri frosting dan blend together using the back of a large spoon. Blend thoroughly..4. campuran Roll ke 1.25 "- 1.5" and lay on wax paper covered cookie sheet. You may want to periodically rinse and dry your hands off in between.
5. Tutup dengan aluminium foil atau plastik dan biarkan sejuk di refrigerator selama beberapa jam.
TIP: You can speed this up by placing in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
6. Keluarkannya. bermula untuk mebuat bentuk cupcakes menggunakan cetakan kek kecil berbentuk bunga. (Lihat di bawah) Take the chilled ball and roll it into more of an oval and then slide into cookie cutter. Push it into cutter until about half fills the cutter and the rest sticks out of the top in the shape of a mound. Then push the shaped cupcake carefully out of the cookie cutter from the bottom. Set right side up on a wax paper covered cookie sheet. Continue with remaining balls.
7. Setelah dibentuk, tutup dan kembali ke freezer. (5-10 minit)
TIP: You can leave them covered in the refrigerator overnight if you want to do the dipping on the following day.
8. Sementara bentuk cupcake disejukkan, mulai memanaskan coklat kulit anda.
9. Brown chocolate bark for the bottoms. Pink or white chocolate for the tops.
10. Ikut arahan pada "bungkusan" untuk dicairkan. Kebanyakannya mengesyorkan pemanasan selama 30 interval kedua pada masa dan pengadukan di antaranya. Anda juga boleh melakukan kaedah double boiler.
11. Apabila anda sedia untuk "dip", keluarkan dari freezer dan sediakan kertas lilin yang berlainan untuk ditutupi cookies sheet.
12. Ambil campuran yang berbentuk cupcake dan dip bottoms into the melted chocolate – just to the point where the mounded shape starts. Keluarkan dari coklat, putar terbalik dan menggoyangkan sehingga ianyan mulai lekat. Kemudian letak kek itu di atas kertas lilin terbalik. Jika anda ingin mereka menjadi lolipop, masukkan lollipop tongkat di saat coklat masih basah. Teruskan dengan sisa cupcakes. Anda juga boleh meninggalkan beberapa tanpa tongkat. They’re just as cute as Cupcake Bites.
TIP: Dip end of your lollipop stick in the melted chocolate before inserting into chocolate bottoms. Not sure if this helps a lot, but it couldn’t hurt.
DON’T – get water in the chocolate. Make sure your hands are completely dry. Water will cause the chocolate to separate and mess up all your hard work.
13. Biarkan ia benar-benar kering. (15-20 minit)
14. Setelah kering, celupkan atas cupcakes dalam coklat merah muda atau putih. Anda mungkin perlu untuk meratakan di sekitar sedikit demi sedikit untuk merangkumi semua daerah yang terkena.
15. Padam dari coklat / pink putih dan melencong sebelah kanan atas.Anda mungkin perlu untuk menyimpan dan memainkan jika adakelebihan sehingga tidak menetes ke bawah terlalu jauh.
Petua: Anda boleh menggunakan tusuk gigi untuk membantumenutupi kawasan coklat cair tidak meliputi.
16. Untuk Bites Cupcake - putarlah atau uli di sebelah kanan atas dan selebihnya di atas kertas lilin. Then go ahead and put a m&m on the top and add sprinkles while wet.
18. bila ia benar-benar kering, baluti lolipop dengan beg plastik kecil dan ikat dengan pita ataupun tali ataupun reben.