Bloggers Meet Up @ Sun Lee How Fook, Ipoh

I know I am the last to post this up.....:p I had one hard week ..rushing a project off and finally I have it done. So I can now post up some photos taken during our bloggers meet up dinner @ Sun Lee How Fook Restaurant . I am sure many of you will know who is who without me introducing :)  They are all famous bloggers except Elin   :p  We had a wonderful  time of fellowship and walloping the  'poon choy ' a dish that I find intriguing.  For me digging into the claypot to see what is inside is kinda fun :p    The food was okay but food is not that important...it is the fellowship and my first time meeting Quay Po , her friend Peng and her reader Cindy.    Thank you girls , for your gifts and Lena , thank you for your Blood Orange Galette ! Love it !   Ooops.. I guess we have all forgotten to take a snap of her galette..;p  I guess we were like python after that heavy dinner LOL! 

 drums rolling....the beauties are.......

seated from left: Elin, Cheah, Wendy

Standing from left : Reana, Veronica and Lena

The main star dish....'Poon Choy'  a claypot dish for 6 persons...it is quite a big portion.  The dish consists of shrimps, fresh scallop, chinese black mushrooms, abalone mushrooms, sea cucumbers, steamed chicken, and many other stuff which I can't recollect all...eating and chatting away the whole night so I hardly remembers what I tucked in. Lena ordered two side dishes.  I can't remember the name of the dish but it is deep fried fish paste on chicken skin...quite yummy actually....the chicken skin is crispy and  fish paste is well flavored , so on the whole it was not bad.  After dinner, we adjourned for a session of  karaoke  at  Embassy K-Box Karaoke, Jusco  .....mmmm didn't know that I can croak away......LOL!  but you should hear Quay Po and Reana sings.....gosh ! they are born singers alrights.  I enjoyed their singing very much and I hope we can have this karaoke sessions more often :)  

Deep fried fish paste wrapped in chicken skin...yummy !

the skin is crispy and the paste flavorful...

' Poon Choy '  RM210 for 6 persons....

the sea cucumbers are thick ....mmmm 

this the second side dish...Fried Udon....not bad

Thank you girls for a wonderful time together

and looking forward to more fellowship !

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Pasta Ratatouille With Mussels And Fresh Shimeiji

Combining two most delightful ingredients in my pasta meal makes me the happiest person.  I can tuck in 2 plates each time and yet not feel guilty LOL!  Mussels and shrooms are the star of this pasta.  I added in eggplant/aubergine and tomatoes for a ratatouille flavor , turning it more into a ratatouille pasta than anything else.  Even Wild Boar took more than his usual portions :)  This is simple and easy to whip up especially if you are hard pressed for time.  The mussels I used are fresh from the wet market without shells on. I prefer this than the frozen ones . I love the flavorful thick sauce coated on every strand of spaghetti and the subtle fragrant of the fresh italian parsley ....mmmmm delish !  

Cooking the thick ratatouille sauce for the spaghetti is so easy.  Simmer the sauce until the tomatoes and aubergine has softened and the herbs fragrant sauce has thickened and  absorbed into their soft texture . Stir in the cooked spaghetti and mix until every strands of spaghetti is coated with the thick sauce. And garnish with the chopped Italian parsley....so easy ...right! Done under an hour.  

the sauce consists of tomato paste, italian dried herbs, black pepper

garlic, diced tomatoes, diced eggplant/aubergine, shimeiji and mussels.

seasoning to taste

Add in the cooked pasta ( cooked in salt water till al dente )

mix till  every strands of spaghetti is coated

with the flavorful sauce and garnish with

the chopped italian parsley

Seriously ,I can tuck in 2 plates of this delicious Pasta Ratatouille.

The mussels and shimeiji add extra protein and iodine to my diet :p

Pasta Ratatouille With Mussels And Shrooms

Ingredients:-

cooked spaghetti -  enough for 2 persons

ratatouille sauce

1 small can of tomato paste mixed with 1 cup of water

2 cloves of garlic- chopped finely

2 tsp of dried italian herbs

1 tsp of coarsely ground black pepper

2 tbsp of parmesan cheese

2 tbsp of olive oil

1 cup of diced eggplant/aubergine

1 cup of fresh shimeiji  mushrooms

1 cup of diced tomatoes

8 pieces of fresh mussels without shells - cleaned and drain dry

Preparation:-

Cook spaghetti with salt water till al dente. Drained dry and keep aside.

Saute the garlic with olive oil in a deep non-stick pan till fragrant, add in the tomato paste mixture , add in the diced eggplant and stir fry till half cooked, add in the tomatoes and shimeiji shrooms and let the mixture in the pan to simmer till softened, add in the mussels and continue to let it simmer till all the ingredients are cooked through.  * If you want more sauce, add in 1/2 cup more of water ) 

Add in the dried herbs , parmesan cheese and black pepper and salt to taste.  Lower heat and add in the cooked spaghetti and mix well till every strand of the spaghetti is well coated with the sauce.  Garnish with fresh parsley and serve them hot.

Enjoy !

Smoked Salmon Stuffed Eggs

I am not supposed to eat eggs that often. So when I have the opportunity to eat them , I want to make sure that the eggs prepared must be worth the priviledge of partaking yet another egg * wink .   I found this egg recipe with two of my favorite ingredients...salmon and sour cream  :p and you can guess..I can't wait to savor them !  But instead of using smoked salmon  , I used pan seared salmon for the fillings .  It tasted just as good :)   Trust me , this is good.  I made 4 halves pieces , two for WB and two for myself.  I packed the eggs  with the mouth-watering  filling . I wish I could have these every day ....seriously, the salmon goes well with the sour cream and the italian parsley adds herb-y flavors to the fillings !   It is healthier to use sour cream than mayonaise.  

Wild Boar's Day @ Sushi Zanmai - The Gardens

The happy but at the same time tired Wild Boar celebrated his ' Wild Boar's Day ' at Sushi Zanmai @ The Gardens.  Tired because we travelled all the way from Ipoh to KLIA  and  after sending off our Piggy Josh off to UK , we checked in at the Boulevard Hotel  at 7pm and  after which we adjourned for Japanese food at Sushi Zanmai...( in our salted state LOL)....thus the tired looking us  :)   We love this place..the food is not bad and reasonably priced too.  Each time we are there, we have to queue for 3/4 hour - 1 hour to be seated.  According to Piggy Joanna, the place is forever packed and if you are hungry, you can forget about this place unless your are there early.   By the time we checked in and settled down, it was past 8pm and by the time we sat down to eat, it was almost 8.45 pm....anyway if it is not to celebrate WB's ' Day' we would not have eaten here, for the place was really packed.   Anyway, we were tired and not really hungry, we just stay in the queue and join the mad crowd......LOL! worth the waiting...the food was great !   We had a sumptious meal and had a great bonding time together. Unfortunately Piggy Josh couldn't join us for the feast, his plane took off at 7.30pm that night...but we had our bonding together at the airport chilling away at the Secret Recipe before he checked in for his flight to UK :)))

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day

to Wild Boar

and

 to all my 

readers who are fathers !

Lime And Honey Beet Salad - French Fridays With Dorie

This week recipe for FFWD is Lime And Olive Beet Salad.  I have all the ingredients in the fridge so making this healthy and delicious ( if you like beet that is :p ) salad is not a problem.  Most of the time, I have beets in the fridge...for juices and for pickles.  They are full of anti-oxidant besides other minerals and nutrients.  This is a simple salad...a burst of interesting flavor  - the earthy, almost mineral flavor beets, the sweetness of the honey and the tangy flavor from the lime and vinegar . This is a good addition to a main course salad, especially in summer with grilled trout or chicken .  My Piggy boy is in UK now and I asked him to make this salad for himself.  He is also a good cook from the food photos I see on his facebook  LOL!  He has my genes alright ! * Oink