Ham or Eggs?

Think about it.

Chicken or pig... Are you only just involved or are you committed?

Food Republic, Pavillion

*updated*

Finally I am well enough to go out for a proper dinner! After my bout of food poisoning, I came down with the dreaded flu, sore throat and fever. I must have lost almost 2 kgs (er... whee?)

I read from Boolicious's blog that the food court at Pavillion was open for business and from her reviews, the food variety and quality there sounded promising. So off we went. After walking around, we decided to go to Thye Hong. There was a short queue, people were waiting for the batch of oyster omelletes to finish cooking.

We ordered the fried prawn noodles (RM 7) which was pretty tasty. According to Hubs, the prawns were fresh and juicy.

I ordered the oyster omellete (RM7). Well, it was not bad, though it cannot be compared with Penang's omelletes at macAllister road. (which were chockful with oysters and gooey and fragrant). The omellete was quite plain (I don't think there were any oysters in the omellete itself) but it was topped with (few) lightly fried, juicy and sweet oysters. It would have been much better if they were more generous with the oysters. However, the chilli was pretty good and went well with the dish.

Update: I forgot to mention that we also bought John King's egg tarts and chicken pie plus Movenpick ice cream! After all, an oily, starch-rich dinner should be finished with a good dessert! In case you're thinking wah! wat gluttons!, we had the tarts at home ok, and that's almost a full hour after our dinner heh. lalala.

Anyhoo, you can choose the tarts with cookie crust or pastry crust. We got the pastry ones and I like it! the custard was eggy, soft and smooth. I just warmed up the chicken pie - QUICK!, Hubs isnt home yet from church so I shall have it all to myself muahahahaah!

Hmm, what a let down. It isnt that good. The filling is quite salty and there isnt much buttery taste from the pastry. Sigh. Looks like the DBKL will have some to eat when he gets home after all...

Hubs and I found out about Movenpick ice cream during our hol at Pangkor Laut Resort. We loved the chocolate ice cream so much - lusciously smooth with just the right amount of chocolate taste, and not overwhelmingly sweet. Our meals at the resort were unlimited (package price) so we had lots of the ice cream. The other flavours were just so-so. So when I saw Movenpick at the lower ground floor of Pavillion I went like YAY!

UNFORTUNATELY, as you can see from the picture, the RM5.90 scoop of ice cream is so miserably small even though it tastes just as good. Sigh, that sure took half the enthusiasm and enjoyment away...

A Soothing Cup of Tea

to let out the gas...

I had another food poisoning attack. This usually happens to me twice a year and at very unfortunate timings. Nothing depresses me more than not being able to eat what i want to eat, when i want to eat. I was slumped over the toilet bowl at my office (its not the cleanest of toilets, my office is in a public building) on a Friday evening! Imagine starting off your weekend this way!

Liquids were spewing out of almost every possible part of my body. I was weak from all the internal twisting and cramping.

I got a jab to stop the bursting dam but it didnt help much with the gas the next day. Believe me, you do not want to mix diarrhoea with gas. You'd better be walking around with adult diapers.

So, i made myself a cup of ginger tea, and old Chinese method of getting rid of gas. Just slice up some old ginger, boil them and add brown sugar to taste. Ahhh.. comfort at last.

Pricey Pine nuts

I've been experimenting with a new ingredient - pine nuts! I remember having tapas at Sentidos, Star Hill where they served spinach with pine nuts. I thought it was really good! Little did I know that these tiny little nuts were so expensive. I bought a small 150g jar and that cost me RM14.99!



Pine nuts are used in pasta's, desserts, salads and yes, there even is pine nut coffee! I've already tried a pasta recipe with pine nuts but that will be in another post.

Yesterday I cooked up Spinaci con Pinoli e Passerine - sounds classy ya? haha, its actually a very simple dish, basically Spinach with Pine Nuts and Raisins. Got the recipe from Epicurious.

Ingredients
Spinach - Baby ones would be better, mine were slightly old and stringy already
Olive oil
Onions - minced
Pine nuts - lightly toasted.
Raisins - soak in hot water till they are plump
Salt & pepper

I had a disaster while toasting pine nuts for my earlier pasta dish. I thought I'd just sprinkle some olive oil on it and pop it in the oven. There they were, roasting happily and in a blink of an eye, they became totally brown and started burning! I saved them in the nick of time though now you wouldnt say they were 'lightly' toasted anymore. For how to toast pine nuts the PROPER way:
"Take a dry non-stick pan. Put the pine nuts in it (use no oil) and turn the heat to medium. Shake the pan every 30 seconds and toss the pine nuts. When they are lightly browned, turn the heat off."

Back to the recipe.

Wash the spinach well and remove the stems. Place in a large pan with only the rinsing water clinging to the leaves. Cook over medium heat, turning until wilted. Set aside. Add the olive oil to the now-empty pan and place over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until tender. Add the spinach, raisins, and pine nuts and sauté briefly to warm through. Season with salt and pepper.


Enjoy!

The 4th of November

Another year down, another year wiser. Yesterday was Hub's birthday. A quiet affair. We just went about our usual routine and I think sometimes, routines are fun! we haven't had a normal routine-y weekend in ages! We went to church, ate at our favourite breakfast kopitiam, did grocery shopping and watched House Season 4!

House-isms (memorable quips) that me and Hubs laughed over like crazy:
"Great. The only way he could turn down any more cheeks is by pulling down his pants.”
"Luckily violence isn’t the last resort. Extortion is. Go ahead. Extort her.”
“Would you condemn this woman to a life where people look at her face when they talk to her?”

Hahahah!

ok, on to Hub's birthday. Hub's colleague from Dallas bought him something for me to try! Woo hoo! Ghirardelli Instant brownie mix! We both absolutely luuurve Ghirardelli chocolates. So its just perfect! Baked it for Hub's birthday.

All I had to do was add water, vegetable oil and an egg.. haha. Even I couldnt mess that up! It baked beautifully. Add a dollop of vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!