Friday, October 31, 2008

martabak keju

Semalam kepengen makan martabak, coba belajar bikin martabak sendiri, berhubung ga ada kacang tanah, pake yang ada aja dikulkas jadi gue pake isian martabaknya : keju.

Bahan Martabak :
500 gr terigu
750 cc air
50 gr gula
1/2 sdm garam
1 btr telur
1 sdt soda kue
Bahan Isian :
Gula pasir
Keju parut

Cara Membuat :
1. Campur semua bahan kulit martabak, selain soda kue. Biarkan selama 1 jam atau lebih.
2. Panaskan loyang martabak. Tambahkan soda kue pada adonan yang telah siap dibuat. Tuangkan adonan martabak secukupnya.
3. Tunggu sampai adonan bersarang, taburkan gula pasir secukupnya.
4. Tutup loyang martabak, sampai matang.
5. Angkat martabak, oleskan mentega, parutkan keju.
6. Lipat martabak menjadi 2, oleskan bagian luar martabak dengan mentega. Untuk 3 loyang martabak ukuran 26cm.

Martabak siap dihidangkan...... (Isian bisa divariasi sesuai selera)
Suami bilang yummy...... :-) bagi2 mertua n cici ipar juga.
Berhubung takut gagal, jadi gue bikin 1 loyang martabak dulu yah nanti baru bikin lagi n bagi2 teman2 kantor, ok...

Coat check meltdown

October 31

I think Aureole invited the entire Upper East Side to its 20-year anniversary party, and all of the food, travel, real estate and probably gossip media.
I know at least one member of the real estate media was there, as I had the chance to catch up with the fun-loving Chris Shott of The New York Observer. You may remember that when I met him at Scarpetta’s opening, he complimented my necktie. This time he complimented designer Adam Tihany’s sport coat. It was, indeed, a very handsome sport coat, but what I liked best was that his pocket square was a different pattern from his tie. He’s Adam Tihany, so he can do that.
Chris also complimented my tie (a Boston Trader floral thing that I’ve had for years, but I still like it a lot), but he admitted that it was a cheap ploy to get mentioned in my blog again.
Like that will work. Ha!
Anyway, the place was packed, and I had been drinking with colleagues the night before and had overindulged a bit, so I wasn’t in the mood to party, really. I realized I’d be doing everyone a favor by calling it a night so other people could get in and eat and drink, and so I stood in line to get the coat and bag that I had checked.
Chaos ensued.
The nice-seeming women who were in charge of checking coats were clearly accustomed to checking a couple of coats at a time, at a rather leisurely pace. Aureole’s not a club with velvet ropes and bouncers, after all, it’s a posh restaurant where people spend leisurely hours relaxing over a meal. It had nothing like the capacity necessary to deal with all of the clothing and baggage that was thrown at it last night.
So I waited. Grill Club members Michael Park and Sara Bonisteel came in. I chatted with them and waited some more. I greeted Regina Schrambling as she came in, told her I was on my way out and waited some more.
Publicist Shari Bayer came in. She was the plus-one of Food & Beverage magazine’s Francine Cohen, whose husband Jake didn’t feel like coming. Francine soon arrived, too, and they stayed with me for awhile while I waited for my coat, but Francine got pulled away eventually.
Michael and Sara, having had enough of the party, were heading out and saw that I was still waiting for my coat. It was amazing.
I’m not exactly sure what the problem was, but the coats and bags were being stored in two separate rooms and it seemed that somehow the coat-check tags were no longer anywhere near what was checked with them. I was eventually brought in to see if I could find my own coat and bag, which I did, although, since it was a standard-issue Midtown black cashmere-wool blend overcoat just like everyone else’s, it took me awhile.
In the meantime rebellion had begun among other people who were trying to leave.
“This is ridiculous, I’ve been waiting 20 minutes!" I heard one guy rant. I mean, really, it was a fair rant, but the coat-check system had been overwhelmed, it had melted down. It was ugly.
Good party, though. Great turnout.

Friday Nibbles, Special Edition - Turkey

With Christmas barely eight weeks away, and Thanksgiving just around the corner for my American brethren, I thought this might be a good opportunity to talk turkeys, not least because I spent yesterday on a genuine working turkey farm just south of Cambridge (OK, it’s a tenuous segway and I know Christmas is actually a while away but I wanted to get it written down while it was all still fresh in my mind, plus I got some cool pictures that I wanted to show you).



I can now say from extensive empirical research through close proximity that turkeys are big birds and when there are several hundred of them staring down at you, it can all too easily feel a little bit Hitchcock for comfort (although I think the movie would have taken on a slightly more comedic slapstick feel had turkeys been the vengeful flock in question).

They are also fiendishly ugly with odd folds of skin that appear to be taking over their distinctly reptilian features and a general look of permanent annoyance, much like a Daily Mail reader glancing over a story about how Jonathon Ross’s salary has caused the rise/fall/stagnation of house prices or other such nonsense (if you aren’t familiar with The Daily Mail, think National Enquirer, only with a more questionable ethics and less concern for fact or journalistic integrity).



But I’ve never been one to judge books by their covers or turkeys by their wattles for that matter and despite their unattractive exterior they are friendly and placid birds that live comfortably in large groups.

I should say from the off that the farm I went to was not an intensive battery operation where the young chicks are fed a horrific cocktail of hormones, additives, drugs and growth promoters in order to fatten them up in little over three months. This was very much a free-range operation where the birds had access to locally sourced feed and as much sunlight as they wanted. They were free to spend all day running their little claws off, should they so wish. The lack of nasties in their diet means that it takes them twice as long to reach maturity but the result is a much tastier bird with a far superior texture, a world away from the dried out examples that blight so many Christmases.

The bird itself is native to Mexico and the eastern United States and although there is no historical evidence that the early Pilgrim Fathers ate one in their first Thanksgiving dinner, by the 19th century the tradition had been galvanized. Now a roasted (or deep fried (!?)) turkey is as much a part of the day as pumpkin pie and the NFL. Over 250 million are bred for the table each year and 20 per cent of those are consumed on a single day. It is not known how many people actually like turkey and how many eat it because they have to. A bit like a Brussels sprout.



Those which I met yesterday at the Gog Magog Hills Farm Shop were a rare breed called Kelly Bronze favoured and bred for a more traditional flavour and texture and a favourite of self-proclaimed domestic goddess Nigella Lawson. Personally, I think she sits somewhere on the annoyance scale between ‘patronising’ and ‘odious’ but she seems to know her stuff so I might take her advice on this one. As long as she ties her bloody hair back when she cooks it. Those luscious L’oreal locks are all well and good but not when extracting one from the depths of your throat.

So, in summary, what have we learnt? Turkeys originally resided across the pond, they are tasty enough to warrant an annual eating and don’t let Nigella Lawson cook you a soufflé.

Joking aside, when hunting out your turkey there are a few key words to look out for and a number of tips I can now offer you, having spoken to someone who really knows that they are talking about. Look for the words ‘slow-maturing’ or ‘rare-breed’. Try to buy one that hasn’t had to travel too far and has managed to see at least a semblance of daylight. The more they’ve run around and the less they’ve been pumped full of chemicals like some gross futuristic nightmare, the tastier they will be. In short, apply the same rules when buying your turkey as you would any other meat. If you’re only going to eat it once a year, might as well make it a good one, no?

cinta?

hari ini

sy mau bgn seawal 7 pagi.
tp sy terbgn pukul 8++ pagi je! huhu.
sy mandi cepat2 dan bersiap cpt2.
kena gerak awal, nak pergi pejabat pendaftaran!
lepas sy mandi baru sy kejutkan salghee & miraghee.
adek & waed dah bgn.
mereka ada shooting utk final project.
bersiap & naik taxi ke tmn melawati.
sampai sane, sy terserempak dgn su.
salam2 dan bertanya khabar sebentar~
sampai pejabat pendaftaran, x ramai org sgt.
alhamdulilah~ ambik no.
dan sy kacau mira melatah2 lg. hee. notty me!
x sampai sejam, salghee siap buat ic.
kami pergi mkn. jln ke giant permata, dan blk rumah.
sampai rumah sy terus tidur dlm sejam lebih.
perh~ tidur baik punye. letih.
then solat. mandi. jemur kain.
sms. makan. tgk tv. on9. haha...
dlm cerita sepi ckp,
cinta datang bukan hanya sekali...
betul ke? erm. betul kot.
sbb 1st love x semestinya true love.
alahai. sedeyh nye.
kan best kalau true love kite adalah 1st love kite. kenape?
sbb 1st love adalah cinta yg palinggg suci.
tp ingt. 1st love x semestinya 1st couple.
dan 1st love x semestinya true love. huhu.
tapi. sshnya nak cari cinta yg betul2 ikhlas. suci. jujur.
mungkin, 1:10? atau lebih.
kdng2 malas nak menanti cinta yg sejati.
tp, bila kita cuba utk menjauh dan menjauh.
cinta tu. dtg lagi. menguji kita lagi.
benar benar cinta atau...
sekadar mainan perasaan?
ditipu, tertipu atau kita yg menipu?
mungkin, kita boleh menipu.
tp hati. takkan boleh menipu.
mungkin. kita dah serik. lelah. penat.
tp. harapan sentiasa wujud. impian.
siapa x nak hidup bahagia?
dengan cinta yg tulus.
sekeras - keras manusia,
setinggi egonya. perlukan hidup.
jangan ditipu diri sendiri...
cuma. Allah lebih tahu,
yang terbaik utk kita.
Dia juga ingin kita tahu,
cintaNya cinta abadi.
ku bertanya pada diri. adakah aku, perlukan cinta sejati?
entah. masih samar - samar jawapannya.
sejarah lalu, masih sedangku padamkan sepenuhnya.
tp aku tahu, aku semakin melupakan segalanya.
mungkin. kerana aku sudah tidak buta?
benarlah. kita hanya perlukan masa...

family sticker



Pyzam Family Sticker Toy


Get your own Family Sticker Maker & MySpace Layouts.







End of Syawal

Nak tulis dalam Bahasa Malaysia lah pula hari ini.

31 hb October, menandakan berakhirnya sebulan Syawal, or was it yesterday. Tapi kan, aku masih lagi dapat undangan rumah terbuka hari raya sabtu dan ahad. Mungkin mereka sedang merayakkan Deepavali.

Setiap kali Ramadhan dan Syawal, berat badan saya semakin meningkat maju dengan JPD berlaku dengan hebat sekali. JPD untuk sesiapa yang kurang arif, bermaksud Jalan Perut Dulu. Memang satu fenomena yang tidak mampu dielakkan. Tapi konsep JPD ini nampaknya semakin menjadi-jadi bila umur semakin lanjut ini. Kejadian ini sebenarnya amat merungsingkan sekali. Tapi takpe, kita ikut je apa yang orang selalu cakap, "Raya setahun sekali"

Jadi oke lah, cuba bayangkan kalau raya setahun 12 kali. Tak ke sekarang aku ni ada kat hospital besar Klang sedang buat bypass untuk kali ke 34 agaknya, tak pun dah arwah kot.

Nope, entri ini bukan entri untuk menceritakan azam menguruskan badan. Dah malas nak azam macam tu, sebab tidak pernah nak berhasilnya. Entri ini hanya untuk menceritakan betapa gumbiranya aku raya tahun ini sebab aku ada sebab utk bergembira tahun ini.

I have a lovely family, i have a steady job, i have label my friends into 3 group and see the real colour of my friends and i have a reason to be happy.

Jugak, aku happy sebab akhir Syawal ini juga aku dah siapkan 3 kerja sekaligus, dalam masa satu hari.

Hebat tak.

Dah siap mark 2 assessment for students research proposal, 2 assessment for students final report, isi borang Sasaran Kerja tahunan (SKT) dan set the rawscore untuk continuous assessment student untuk 8 kelas.

Yes!! 8 buah kelas, sepatutnya 5 je (1 lecture, dan 4 tutorial) tapi sebab sorang dari pensyarah yang mengajar subject yang sama sudah lari tidak dapat dikesan dan meninggalkan sisa-sisa kerjanya pada aku.

Takpe, nanti kalau turn aku fly nanti, aku buat menda yang sama pada dia. Siap!!!

Anyway, esok aku akan ke Lumut, dari Kuala lumpur untuk menyertai Perodua Treasure Hunt anjuran Perodua-Catma.

Selalu pergi treasure hunt pendek-pendek je, belum lagi pernah treasure hunt long distance ni.

Wish me luck.

Adios Amigos.

Ace cracker is over ..

So what does Ace Cracker gifts look like ???

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Thinking about Christmas in Korea

My Oven toaster Turkey
I t tasted great .
If I can cook it in Gangjin anyone can.



Christmas
Every year I am here I cook a TURKEY . My first year I had a great big Dining table and chairs In my apartment in Gangjin I had 12 over for dinner. I have to say it was one of the best Christmases I ever had .In this Picture: Nichole ,Riann, My self, Stuart Dae-Han-Min-Guk Discoveries, Brian Brian in Jeollanam-do Micheal(Gangjin,Hof owner) Sara,Rob Homebrew Korea,Chris and Marc


On the menu
Was smoked salmon and cream cheese, Carrots and dip
Turkey cooked in a toaster oven. We had to cut the ends of his legs and his ass off but he fit in there. Stuffing, Gravy, Veg
Trifle, Rum Balls and pudding (my mum sent me )

Riann

Last year again I did Turkey Stuffing mash roast and scalloped Potatoes, Salmon in cream cheese
Cheese cake and Butter tarts I managed 12 people into my tiny little place.

This year Christmas In Suncheon
This year I want to spent it in comfort with everyone I have become friends with so

I have set up a facebook event
Pot luck Christmas to be held at Elvis
I Know its early to be thinking about Christmas ( I cant help it ) But many of us Elementary teachers Have vacation this year from December 19 (until March 1st ;)
So I am putting it out there early so you have choices .

In this Picture Chris, Riann and Rob(Homebrew Korea)

Where might we get a turkey and other christmas supplys from
http://ezshopkorea.com/
Or the
Gwangju Underground food store

サツマイモ豚肉巻き/satsumaimo butaniku maki

30 oktober 2008, kamis sore,

Hari selasa kemarin, Mei ada kegiatan di skulnya, imohori, nyangkul ubi di kebun.Pulang pulang dapet deh tuh satsumaimo 4 biji...da dari kemarin minta dibikinin makanan. Yah uda, nyempetin browsing di inet, dapet resep ini...gampang.

Sebenernya mo dijadiin Pr, tadi ditolak coz kegampangan..hahhaa... gpp gw tulisin aja disini deh...
Bahan
1 bh satsumaimo/ubi merah
12 lbr daging babi, iris tipis
garam gula, sedikit
tepung secukupnya
1 sdm sake

Bumbu
mirin, gula, kecap masing2 1 sdm

Cara
1. Cuci bersih ubi. Potong 5-6 mm, masukkan dalam pring tahan panas yg brisi air, susun ubi didalamnya. Tutup dengan rape, 3^4 menit panaskan dlm microwave, tiriskan
2. Daging babi dilebarkan, taburi garam lada, tepung.
Susun ubi di dalamnya, lalu gulung
3. Panaskan minyak di ferifan, Susun no 2, bagian akhir gulungan taroh di bawah, dibalik balik mpe matang. Masukkan sake, tutup, masak dgn api kecil lalu api sedang
4. Masukkan bumbu, api kcil, masak mpe tercampur. Sajikan dlm piring.

Ace Cracker Day


Happy Ace Cracker Day
Like Pepero day where you give and receive beautiful gifts of Pepero.
Today is the day to give and receive gifts of Ace Crackers

Hayride pictures.


My friend Amy and I at the hayride/bonfire a couple weekend ago.


Our friend Chris, leading out in song service.



My brother Phil and his girlfriend, Katie.



The Cody boy.


The bonfire got pretty big!!

dugaan-Nya

semalam...
sy gembira. ketawa. sungguh. semalam sy banyak ketawa. sangat banyak. tp bukan sy seorg. kawan - kawan lain pun. terhibur melihat telatah mira melatah sehinggakan dia keletihan dikacau kami. ape tah lagi kami, tidak kering gusi ketawa melihat gelagatnya. kelas hari rabu, dr tgh hari sampai malam. memang letih. lebih - lebih lagi ade presentation. dgn pakaian formal hingga ke malam. agak merimaskan. sy letih. bertambah pening memikirkan ada kerja yang perlu dibereskan sesudah sampai ke rumah kelak. walaupun hari sudah malam, kerja masih perlu diselesaikan. itulah tugas pelajar, sepertiku ini. namun, ketika membetulkan tudung di tandas, jari sy tercucuk jarum. luka. mungkin petanda, benda yang tidak elok akan berlaku? tapi. ketika itu sy tidak menyedari petanda di sebalik kejadian itu. sampai saja di rumah, mandi dan solat. dan meneruskan kerja dr pukul 12am sehingga 7am. pukul 9am sy tidur sebentar sehingga 11am.

hari ini...
sy sempat mencuri masa tidur selama 2 jam. sudah mencukupi. nasib agak baik kelas bermula pukul 3pm-10pm hari ni. namun, sy harus bangun. study utk test media society hari ini. akhirnya, pukul 3.oopm sy, mira dan salghee keluar dr rumah. berjalan kaki ke kelas. ketika itu, kambink telefon, dan sy bercakap dgnnya ketika perjalanan ke kolej. namun. malang tidak berbau. ketika sy berjalan di belakang mira dan salghee, sy terkejut. terkesima. trauma. salghee diragut. benar! pukul 3:15pm yang cerah, salghee diragut. hilang segala benda yg penting seperti ic, kad-kad atm, handphone, dan duit. sungguh. sy terpaku. tidak sempat melihat no motor peragut itu. tak mampu untuk berbuat apa - apa...

salghee. jgn menangis. sy tau, kepentingan semua itu. betul semua itu sangat penting. tapi, sy hanya dapat menolong mana yang mampu. kita ke kolej. dalam ketakutan itu. kita meneruskan perjalanan ke kolej. sy pinjamkan hp sy, utk salghee call family. di kolej, sy hantar assignment kita dulu. sy jumpa miss sha, minta excuse class utk buat report ke pondok polis setiawangsa. kita buat report. kita ke maybank utk blok atm card. dan kita minum utk berehat seketika. sy telefon afiq. sy minta tlg afiq bawa kami ke balai polis tmn melawati utk dptkan cop pengesahan report polis utk buat ic sementara. tapi balai polis tmn melawati ttp utk cop. jd kita ke balai polis wangsa maju. alhamdulilah. kita dapat cop tu. esok, senang lah kita utk ke pejabat pendaftaran. afiq, terima kasih sbb sudi dtg menghulurkan pertolongan. mungkin itulah gunanya kawan, membantu ketika kita kesusahan. sy doakan awk dalam final. =]

sampai kolej semula, kita bertiga ambil test. lepas tu sy pergi ke kelas law comm. dr pukul 6 sehingga pukul 8 setgh malam. lepas tu kita balik rumah. tp naik kereta, dill hantarkan. sebab, sy dah trauma nak jalan lg. apa tah lagi malam - malam. biarlah sy buat muka x malu menumpang daripada sy trauma lg. alhamdulilah. sy selamat sampai rumah... malam ni. broadband sy pula sedikit bermasalah. sgt susah utk connect. entah kenapa. sy benar - benar berharap, broadband ni x rosak. terlalu banyak yg telah sy rosakkan tahun ni. bukan kehendak sy, cuma mungkin tuhan tarik rezeki sy. ahad...sy perlu pulangkan laptop mama ni. mungkin, sy akan jarang on9. sehingga sy balik bercuti sem mungkin? atau mungkin sehingga sy dpt laptop baru? abah, mama, maaf. sebab laptop sy rosak. sy pun tak tau kenapa sampai motherboard tu rosak sehingga laptop sy x dpt diselamatkan. anyway, i'm gonna miss u my dearest 'rainbow of memories'.

malam ni juga. seorg sahabat lelaki.
meluahkan kesedihan dia dkt sy.
dia kawan lama sy.
agak rapat, cuma jarang berhubung.
kerana semua sibuk dengan
tanggngjawab masing - masing.
dia punya kekasih. kawan baik sy juga.
sudah 4 tahun mereka bersama.
tetapi, kenapa kini perempuan itu semakin berubah.
sungguh. sy sedih mendengar ceritanya.
kerana, kedua - duanya kawan sy.
sy kesian dkt dia. sy syg perempuan itu.
kenapa, jd macam ni.
tapi lelaki ini, masih setia.
dan berharap, sy sudi membantunya.
insya allah, sy bantu.
mana yang mampu. kata kawan? =]


tapi. hari ini. baru saya sedar.
malang itu tidak berbau.
manusia juga boleh berubah.
sentiasa berbubah.
tapi. kenapa perlu ke arah negatif?
bukankah sepatutnya kita ke arah positif.
sungguh. menyedihkan.
melihat mereka yg kita sayangi.
menjadi org yg tidak kita kenali.
kita punyai akal.
fikirlah~

Food for Free - Hawthorn Fruit Leathers

I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while but a near constant stream of things seems to have got in the way including a minor run in with a large bus (funnily enough, the car came off worse) and a couple of days spent down on various farms chatting with pig breeders and turkey farmers, amongst others (full reports to follow shortly, I promise).

As a means of preservation, fruit leathers are an ancient art and were traditionally used as a means of transforming a summer glut into something that could be eaten throughout the year. It is a method that almost certainly goes back to the Palaeolithic and is still used by hunter-gatherer societies today.

Throughout September and into October, the fruit of the Hawthorn tree (haws – no sniggering at the back please) is in wanton abundance throughout the English countryside. I was inspired to have a crack at making a ‘haw leather’ (tee hee) by a wonderful post by Nick Weston on his equally wonderful blog Hunter-Gatherer Cook.



I’d seen the small red fruits burst from the branches of the Hawthorn trees that scatter the open land around our house but was wary of the berries themselves. I knew they were edible but having cautiously nibbled on a few raw ones, I wasn’t overly impressed by their rather dull taste and disproportionately large stone. They were far too much hassle to be of any use, surely?

Turns out, unsurprisingly, that I was wrong.

So, armed with my trusty Thai tote bag and an iPod for company, I went foraging in the chill warmth of an early autumn afternoon. Half an hour’s picking yielded at least a kilo of berries, more than enough for a first attempt at making a haw jelly, or leather.

The first step is to transform these little berries into a gloopy mush. I used a large bowl and pestle (or mortar, I never know which is which) and then proceeded to break the bowl thanks to overly vigorous pounding. Thankfully by that point it was time adopt a more hands on approach and so after transferring the mixture, rolling up my sleeves and adding a little water to the now brown sludge, I squeezed and mashed the thick gloop with my fingers. A little more water and a little more mixing and the required consistency was reached without too much effort or any more broken bowls.

Instead of merely forcing the mashed fruit through a sieve – to separate out the stones and bits of twig et cetera – and leaving it to set, I decided to freestyle a little by adding a little apple juice, sugar and cinnamon and heating it gently in the hope that a softer and sweeter taste would emerge.

Being staggeringly high in pectin, haw ‘jelly’ will set without the addition of any sugar or any form of boiling. Within minutes you will notice the mixture thickening and taking on a far more solid feel. After an hour or so you should be able to slice the resultant cake.

After warming the jelly over a gentle heat and adding the extra ingredients, the colour and texture became increasingly fudge-like and the slight bitterness softened thanks to the addition of sweet apple juice and a little sugar.



Once cool, the jelly was sliced thinly and dried out in a low oven overnight to remove the water and give the leathers a near endless lifespan. Traditionally fruit like this would have been dried out in the sun and then offered essential nutrition throughout the winter months when fresh fruits were in stark supply. Things aren’t quite that bad for us, but small pieces of the haw leather stirred into warm porridge should be a tasty treat come the colder months.

www.justcookit.co.uk

How the other half live...

As a writer I tend to spend a large chunk of my time staring in the general direction of the window waiting for the elusive muse to rain down gifts of inspiration upon me. Yesterday as I was doing just that, I saw a pheasant casually padding round our front garden, pecking at the ground and generally minding his own business.

This isn’t unusual in itself but he then made his way round the back and seemed to be as interested in Marx and Eggels, the chickens, as they were in him. I managed to grab the camera and rattle off a few pictures before he ran off into the field. I just loved the contrast of the caged chickens (not that they are permanently incarcerated) and the very much free-range pheasant.

Mandu Mini stopping


Check this out its Kinda funny. A tour of a Korean Mandu store
http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=jdoGwPPVQzo

More Info here
Nearly every country has its own Dumplings Wikipedia has a list here

Limited Edition Shirts

These are my long overdue shirts which I planned to sell a long time ago. Now I am finally selling it. All designs are my illustrations. Color and style of shirts can be changed. Available in Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large. Just email me or post a comment here.


Meanie Joanie
Sidewalk

Better Together

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Afganistan or Pakistan

I was buying lunch in the cafeteria and over heard 2 lectures talking to each others.


Lecturer A : Tengok topi budak tu, mesti dari Aghanistan
Lecturer B : Tak lah, itu macam topi orang pakistan

Student : Selamat petang Encik A.

Lecturer A : Cantik topi awak, dari mana tu?
Student : Dari uptown Shah Alam.

Lecturer A & B : Oh!!!

Lecturer A : Tapi macam topi orang Afghanistan tu. Mesti buatan sana.
Student : Oh ya ke, tak tau lah pulak. Kejab ya.


The student then took of his cap and turn in upside down and looked inside for label.

Student : Emm, made in China.


I paid my lunch and walked off smiling.

Everything now is made in China. But this one surely does not have melamine inside it.

Mini Bakpao

29 oktober 2008, rabu

Husband minta dibikinin mini bakpao, keingetan ma toko yg jual mini bakpao depan skul zhongda dulu...jadi nostalgia lagi nih...soalnya dulu sring ngebeliin ginian buat doi...hihi

Resepnya bisa dilihat disini. Kali ini nyobain bikin dagingnya, tapi daginya dimasak mateng dulu, didinginin, baru dimasukkin ke kulitnya...biar ngukusnya ga perlu kelamaan gitu..
Lumayan lah...buat cemilan....hehehe

Husband pulang kantor, langsung comot aja...hihihi, enak die bilang....wah, seneng deh. Apalagi Mei n Xiang juga mo makan...

Oh A Burger and Real Fries


You just cant get a burger in Suncheon . You can get lotteria or MacDonald s . Not quite what you looking for well you just got to make it . Ever week or two I host a cooking meeting where a few of us get together to cook something we cant normally eat in Korea this week it was Burgers.


Burger
Ground Beef (with some fat maybe 20-25%)
Salt and Pepper - A little curry powder or Worcestershire sauce- thyme -rosemary.
Your choice what ever seasoning you like.
NO EGG. NO BREADCRUMBS.

Toppings
Tomato, Iceberg lettuce, Onions caramelized with balsamic vinegar
Shiitake Mushrooms sauteed in butter , Pickles, If you like heat Jalapenos
Cheese, Ketchup, Mustard, Mayonnaise (a little is good it works as a bond between the burger juices and the bun, Preventing a soggy burger bun.)

Deceptively Delicious

If you marry a famous person, does it make it easier to get your own cookbook? Jessica Seinfeld, wife of Jerry Seinfeld, has a cookbook out called Deceptively Delicious. The object of her book is to create recipes that sneak vegetables into foods her kids love. She does this using vegetable purees. Broccoli puree in beef stew, cauliflower puree in mac 'n cheese, butternut squash in spaghetti and meatballs - just a few examples of the creative ways that she can fool her children.
I got a hold of this cookbook from my neighbor Michelle. One day she texted me to come up to her apartment because she had made muffins and I had to try one. Naturally I showed up moments later, breathing hard, looking for free muffins. As I started eating she quizzed me on what I thought the ingredients were. Peanut butter? Yes. Pumpkin? No. Finally I gave up, and she revealed that there was cauliflower in the muffin. I couldn't taste it at all.
In fact, I borrowed the cookbook, made banana bread with cauliflower puree, and it tasted great. My brother got the majority of the loaf and if he tasted it before he inhaled it, he might have agreed that there was no sign of cauliflower.
Michelle admits that some of the recipes, like the aforementioned mac 'n cheese, and some of the veggie dips, are not good. But I'm curious to try other ones. Seinfeld claims that her tofu nuggets dipped in spinach puree and rolled in breadcrumbs taste like fried cheese to her kids. But we're talking about a 6 year old's palate.
My one concern about hiding vegetables in kids' food is that they never learn to eat them, but Seinfeld encourages moms to serve normal vegetables as well. And although I don't have kids, I can see the benefits of boosting my own vegetable intake - while enjoying a baked good.

dalam hati

sy bersyukur. sy punya Islam. sy punya iman.
Allah sentiasa ada. mama dan abah tak pernah abaikan sy.
kawan - kawan, semuanya baik - baik.
bertuah sungguh sy kan?
sy ada mata. telinga. mulut.
cukup sihat dan sempurna anggota tubuh badan.
bersyukur aqilah. bersyukur. jgn takbur. jgn riak.
sy bukanlah sempurna. jauh sekali. sy, biasa.
sentiasa buat silap. sentiasa terleka juga. lalai juga.
kadang kala berputus asa dgn diri sendiri.
bersedih. dan menangis sendiri.
sedih dgn diri sendiri. yg masih punya banyak kelemahan.
malas. itu sifat sy yang paling negatif.
bukanlah malas sentiasa.
tetapi, itu paling teruk.
ada kesedaran saja tak mencukupi.
sekiranya tidak disusuli dengan usaha untuk berubah.
bila buat silap. sy sedar sy buat silap.
tp kdng - kdng, sy buat juga.
hakikatnya sy tahu benda itu salah.
sy tertanya. kenapa sy buat juga?
sy wanita. punyai emosi yang lebih dr lelaki.
itulah kaum hawa.
sekuat - kuat sy, sy masih tidak sekuat mereka yg lain.
ada kalanya, sy pun terasa sepi.
letih. sedih. dan tak sanggup utk berdiri lagi.
diam sy, sabar sy, jgn diuji.
tiba masanya, meletup juga. tewas juga.
senyum sy, jgn diambil kesempatan. sy juga manusia.
apa pun. sy cuma berharap. sy akan sentiasa kuat.
dan sentiasa diberi petunjuk utk memilih.
yg baik. dan yg benar.
dan di atas kesedaran diri ini juga. yg serba kekurangan.
dan sentiasa mencari - cari kekuatan. kebenaran.
saya hanya berharap.
sy bahagia & berjaya dunia dan akhirat.
sudah mencukupi. insya allah. amin...

Melamine

Korean Beat Tells us about more Melamine

A restaurant Blums in Brooklyn

October 29

As I’ve discussed before, former Olive Garden and Burger King executive Brad Blum is opening restaurants in New York. His Dogmatic Sausage System opened a couple of weeks ago near Union Square, and now, NRN’s Elissa Elan tells me, he has plans to open a Mediterranean restaurant in Williamsburg.
Once the full story appears on NRN.com, I’ll link to it here, but for now, some details:
The 3000-square foot, 74-seat restaurant will be called Green Canteen and will focus on seasonal ingredients for its 60-some-odd menu items, including ready-to-serve antipasti, salads, flatbreads and hummus bowls. Healthful shakes “high in energy but not in sugar” also will be offered. Menu items will be priced at under $10 and per-person average checks are expected to be less than $20. He hopes to open it early next year.
Blum used his own money to finance the restaurants and he hopes to slowly expand both concepts, gradually opening additional units.
Blum’s people didn’t reveal Green Canteen’s exact location, but a company called Green Canteen-1-Williamsburg LLC apparently has applied for a wine license at 106 N. 6th St.
They did tell Elissa that it’s a building built in the 1890s, which is being restored right now.

Paul Liebrandt’s back

October 29

Of all the chefs whose food I’ve eaten, I think Paul Liebrandt’s is the easiest to recognize. It’s very modular, kind of like the written Chinese language.
As you probably know, Chinese doesn’t have an alphabet. Instead it has thousands of “characters,” each representing a concept or an idea, or, well, something (one character represents the notion of an action having been completed; another indicates that something was done to something else — the equivalent of a passive-voice marker),
Most Chinese words have at least two characters in them. Combine them and sometimes the meaning is obvious:
“electricity” + “brain” = “computer.”
Sometimes it’s more poetic:
“electricity” + “shadow” = “movie”;
“can do” + “mouth” + another “can do” + “happiness” = Coca-Cola.
Paul Liebrand’s food is modular like that. Each flavor component is expressed with clarity and precision. If there's key lime in the foam served with your lobster, by golly it tastes like key lime. If he says the bubbles of milk on the plate with your squab is flavored with pain d’épices, boy, you can taste those autumn spices.
I personally find the results exhilarating, and I’ve liked his food since he was a cocky young kid running the kitchen at Atlas back at the turn of the century.
Now he’s, well, still quite young — 33, the same age as Jesus when he was crucified — and I imagine his ego remains intact despite his moves from Atlas to Papillon to One Little West 12th to Gilt, and now to Drew Nieporent’s newest restaurant, Corton.
Corton is where Montrachet once was, although the space has undergone massive renovation, with the kitchen having been moved to the south side of the building, leaving one spacious dining room with 60 seats where once there were two that, together, seated 80. I'm not a décor guy, but I was taken by the main chandelier, made of thin metal pipes with holes poked in them.
And I was taken by the fact that Drew himself was there, not merely holding court, but greeting people at the door, serving, clearing tables, doing tableside flourishes like pouring sauces on plates.
The restaurant wasn’t full last night, but it did have a quality crowd. Picholine executive chef Terrance Brennan was there, and Food & Wine founders (and current Food Arts editors) Michael and Ariane Batterberry showed up shortly after I did.
“The BAT...terberrys are here!” Drew said at one point as he drifted by our table.
I came with my friend Andy Battaglia, a sensualist who likes weird things and who has been a Liebrandt fan since the chef cooked for us at One Little West 12th back in 2004. That restaurant was really a club whose guests wanted miniburgers and the like, which Mr. Liebrandt made for them, but he didn’t stay there for long.
Actually, he wasn’t at Gilt for too long either.
Corton just opened, but to me it seemed like the chef has found his groove again. Drew seems to have his back, and the sommelier, Elizabeth Harcourt, who also worked at Montrachet, did some cool wine pairings. To wit:

For me:
Veal sweetbreads with Violet Hill Farm egg confit, carrot and argan oil (the combination actually tasted like classy barbecue sauce)
2004 Audrey & Christian Binner Katzenthal Riesling (Alsace)

Wild striped bass with sweet onion, gnudi and chowder sauce
2006 L'Ecette Rully ‘Maizières’ (Burgundy)

Squab with chestnut crème, smoked bacon and pain d‘épices milk
2007 Comptoirs de Mageala ‘La Chance’ (Provence)

For Andy:
Foie gras with hibiscus-beet gelée and blood orange
2005 Bernard & Robert Plageoles “Muscadelle’ (Gaillac, southwestern France)

The same bass, with the same wine

Maine lobster with chanterelles, toasted hazelnut-lobster jus and, not mentioned on the menu, some kind of foam that sure seemed to be an intense key lime, and served with a side of lobster riso with house-made botarga
2005 François Gaunoux (Burgundy)

What we shared for dessert (pastry chef Bob Truitt worked at Room4Dessert, which was headed up by Will Goldfarb, who was Mr. Liebrandt’s pastry chef at Atlas; small world):

First, a palate-cleansing quince sorbet floating in an unusually thick kind of foam, and then:

Caramel brioche with passion fruit, coffee and banana (one of the best things Andy’s ever eaten)

White sesame crème with lemon, huckleberry and salted toffee

Mignardises, including a passion fruit truffle, a salted caramel chocolate bonbon and a citrus macaroon
brewed coffee

Independent Thinking

October 29

Please welcome to the floor NRN’s latest blogger, Mr. Mark Brandau, whose infectious laughter entertains everyone at NRN headquarters. You should make every effort to sing karaoke with him (he tends to fill in with the harmony) or otherwise enjoy his good company. And you also should read his blog, Independent Thinking, for news, interviews etc. for independent restaurant operators.

Bokbunjaju Poached Asian Pear Pie

Bokbunjaju (Korean Raspberry wine )


This pie was not quite as nice as I had first taught. I wanted a light flaky chocolate pastry, White chocolate mousse With the poached pears on top.
My pastry was not so flaky I think I messed up the blind baking ?
My white chocolate was not the kind you can melt. So I went with whipped cream instead. But the pears were a huge success and very Delicious. I poaches the pieces in the Bokbunjaju for about 15 mins.

New banner and explanation

There it is in all its shining glory. Look, just up there. It’s something I’ve been meaning to do for a while and every time I’ve opened the page my eyes have drifted upwards and done the visual equivalent of a sigh when I’ve looked at the vague ineptitude of the image that was there before.

But no longer. Now you can actually see the name of the blog as well as a few favourite pictures which may, or may not, change according to the seasons.

There is also a new logo up there, see? Well, new in one sense. It’s actually my old logo but it is new to this site. I designed it a couple of years ago to compliment my first business venture which I hoped would make me millions. Ultimately it just made me stressed and poor but it was fun.

The company, also called Just Cook It, was set up in the hope of encouraging people to cook from their very own personalised cookbooks. Instead of buying a recipe book and only cooking two or three meals from it, I thought, wouldn’t it be great to have a cookbook where every recipe was tailored to your exact requirements?

And so Just Cook It was born. Customers could subscribe and make requests, however specific, and we would create a recipe or dinner party menu based on their exact requirements which would then be emailed or sent to them along with wine suggestions and other miscellaneous information. As far as I could tell, at the time it was the only service of its kind in the world. Perhaps there was a reason for that…

But the bottom line was the bottom line and for now at least, the only thing that remains is the logo, a hammer and sickle pastiche played out with a pan and whisk designed to signify the democratisation of the kitchen and compliment the simplicity of the name. Just Cook It. That was the message.

And to a large extent it still is. This blog isn’t about endless lists of recipes or restaurant reviews or the occasional post about what I had for my meal last night. It’s about food and cooking in a more general way and I do try to put those centre stage. Naturally it is about my experiences with food but I do try to put something of a spin on my writing to make things both interesting and relevant to as many people as possible because, as a writer, that is pretty much my raison d’etre.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Make your own mozzarella

Waking Life

Last week I was convinced that I had a eureka moment. To those people who are not familiar with the meaning of eureka, well according to wiki and merriam:


"Used to express triumph upon finding or discovering something"


My moment has come to realize that life is really beautiful, full of chances and happy accidents. I grabbed this picture of a leaf from a friend's blog during his Boston trip. This picture made my eureka moment possible. I thought I was already in that stage and yet there are things that will get in the way. Funny that even eureka moment has its stages (only in my case ata). Getting back the life that once taken from me is quite difficult. You will adjust day by day. I'm still getting there. There are certain things that are very hard to accept and in the same manner that there are things about myself that are very hard to change. They maybe avoidable but I believe I cannot completely eradicate them in an instant.


Then today, I woke up telling myself...wait, enough of everything. I always forget whom this real person inside me is. My emotions always drag me down. Be logical and life is waking me now. It says wake up Joanie! Enough of your cheesy belief about life. Be the strong person you used to be. Don't make a crap out of the good things you could possibly be. Start making firm decisions about your future and don't lean on your past that keeps pulling you back. Don't believe on the things that you have doubts about, if things are going to be right---then the moment will prove it. Life is so beautiful that I shouldn't carry my garbage all the time. I should dispose them. I don't want to waste a single second of my time to those people who are just hurting me. Life is one big decision and there are instances that you have to do it right there, otherwise you will just procrastinate or the moment will pass you by. You will always tell yourself, wait I have to take things slowly or I can't make an instant decision. The challenge that our life is giving us---make a decision by choosing what you want and what really matters in the most challenging situation. We are responsible in choosing our own battles. We may win some or lose some. But at the end of the day or rather at the end of your battle you will tell yourself, I did it!


You'll be happy to wake up that the life you choose is the life you want. The journey that you want to continue is what will make you happy. You will not regret every single second because you fought for it. And for Joanie, she will continue to chase the other pair of her shoelace because she wants to continue her journey with her sneakers fixed. So she can run fast and see the beauty of life and seize the moment and hope that one day soon there's another pair of sneakers waiting for her. Better together those two happy sneakers will run fast so they can catch their big dreams! So run Joanie run!

rOti Sosizz n keJu

Baru pertama kali buat roti, susah susah gampang deh, yang paling penting tuh adonan rotinya harus sampai kalis elastis (gak putus kalo adonannya di tarik).
Jadi deh tuh semalam gue buat roti dengan isi sosiz n keju.
Bahannya : tepung terigu protein tinggi, gula, 1 bks fermipan @11 gr, garam, 1 btr telur, susu cair, margarine.
Cara membuat : campur tepung - gula - ragi - garam aduk sampai tercampur rata
tambahkan telur, susu, campur hingga rata, setelah rata tambahkan margarine uleni hingga kalis, diamkan adonan selama 10 menit, kemudian timbang adonan seberat 50 gr akan didapat +/- 12 potong roti, diamkan selama 15 menit.
Kempeskan lagi adonan, dan isi dengan bahan yg disukai : keju, sosis kemudian diamkan lagi selama 60 menit.
Letakkan adonan diatas loyang yg sudah diolesi mentega, dan olesi atas roti dengan kuning telur
panggang dioven sampai matang dengan suhu +/- 190 derajat.

Driving Licence

28 Oktober 2008, selasa pagi,

Thx God, akhirnya gw berhasil lulus dalam test trakhir n da dapet Sim Driving licence. Aaahh, setelah perjuangan panjang, dari tanggal 20 Agustus kemarin mulai skul drive, kira2 2 bulanan, smua pelajaran diikutin, test juga terlampaui....akhirnya lulus dari skulnya tgl 18 oktober.
Tinggal test tertulis di kepolisian.

Pertama test tgl 23 oktober, wah, ga lulus....kurang 2 point aja...uh....sebel banget, cape rasanya.
Mesti belajar lagi....akhirnya tgl 28, nyoba lagi.....
Pagi pagi dianter husband ke tempat testnya, jam 8.30 uda mesti daftar. Sementara Mei skul, Xiang harus ngikutan nungguin di tempat test itu...repot juga, abis ga ada yang bisa dititipin sih..
Untung ga rewel, die bobo aja sementara gw test....

Testnya ada 95 soal, bahasa jepang semua....teler juga ngeliatin kanji selama 50 menit...
90 soal pointnya 1 kalo bener, 5 soal yg lain pointnya 2.
Kelulusannya harus diatas 90.....kibishi banget yak?
Pas hari itu yang ikutin test ada kira2 50 orang, yg lulus cuman 20an orang...wah wah...
Puji Tuhan, gw termasuk salah satu diantara yg lulus....ahhhhhhh
Proses nunggu sim nya ga lama....langsung foto disitu, setelah urus administrasi, biasa deh bayar ini itu....serahin dokumen, akhirnya sim da langsung di tangan...

Pulangnya nyoba nyetir sendiri didampingin husband...hehe, belom biasa....kacau deh...
Husband malah teriak teriak kuatir...takut...hahhaha.....gw nya jadi ikutan grogi deh...kacau...
btw, mesti latihan lagi nih....

alhamdulilah


alhamdulilah.

tu je ape yg mampu diucapkan... huhu.
  • 1 rumah bgn lambat! sampai class 9:30am. nasib lect x masuk lagi!
  • media society, individual presentation. acap acis malu2! XP
  • lunch dgn kambink @ cmrL~ haha. thanks sbb dtg just 4 lunch..
  • kambink teman jln kaki sampai depan apartment...
  • buat media society grouping skit2. minum air soya + keropok.
  • tidur setgh jam! then mandi. solat dan solat...
  • haris called. "ada brg nak kasi..." barang dr fakhrul.
  • fakhrul dah balik cuti. haris yg bwkkan. thanks haris jd postmen.
  • thank u so much fakhrul 4 da birthday present!
  • fakhrul. sy betul2 terharu dgn hadiah tu. creative + sweet.
  • serious. sy terharu sgt fakhrul...thanks, 4 everything. i know someday awk akan jmpe org yg sgt baik & syg awk sepenuh hati. insya allah. amin~~~
  • then. adek balik umah. bwkkan bee hun tomyam!!! thanks adek.
  • hari ni mkn bee hun tomyam 2x! hehe.

thanks fakhrul! =]


alhamdulilah. hari ni, banyak benda meaningfull jd. harapnya. hari - hari yg mendatang, lebih baik. Insya Allah. amin... sungguh. ade bnde happy. ade bnde buat diri ini serba salah. utk memilih dan menilai yang tulus ikhlas atau palsu..? apa pun. ku bersyukur dgn segala nikmat-Mu Ya Allah...

Traditions in November

In Palermo every month, we have a good reason to lay the table for a banquet!

The month’s of Novembre starts with the feast of “all Saints”, but the most important feast is the day after, the 2th of November, The celebration of the deads, that we call “la festa dei morti”.

In the past, during this day, in the morning the people of Palermo, went to the Cemetery and they taked with them “a muffuletta” a bread with oil of olives, anchovies, salt and pepper, to eat fast in the oper air.

During the day the people of Palermo eat many kind of sweet things, tetù, reginelle biscuit with sesame,

the fruit of Martorana (Marzipan),

and the “pupa a ciera”, puppet of sugar.


The families prepared a basket full of these sweet things and many toys, and the child believed that was a present of the deads.

In November is important too the “Festa di San Martino”.
In Palermo we use to eat the “biscotti di San Martino”, hard biscuitz with aniseed to soak in the wine “Moscato”., or the same biscuits with cheese and chocolate, or with jam and icing, sugared almond, in a perfect Barocco Siciliano style!

photos by Judy Witts and Igor Scalisi

Palermo seen by us



Walking through the streets of our city, sometimes we remain impressed by some details that maybe until the day before, we had not noticed.


Some small hidden treasures, strange things camouflaged among the most common things that at first sight are those that prevail and affect the attention of a passing distracted.

Theatre Massimo


There are wealth deteriorated by the time, but still retain their charm, decadent churches,

decorated balconies, mysterious alleys,


walls marked by time or by phrases of love,

posters of saints and politicians.

Streets with strange names,

churches converted into shops, trees that hug,

or details of Monuments and Churches.


It is interesting to observe these small details,

follow a different path, be guided by the city. And in Palermo, really every corner can hide something mysterious, curious to see.

Theatre Massimo

Just be careful, forgetting for a moment the hectic life of the great city, let carried by the imagination.