Recipe: Avocado Salad with Anchovy & Egg

Avocados, love 'em or hate 'em? I definitely am on the LOVE side. I could eat them everyday. So much so, that I decided to try my luck and plant an avocado tree so that I can have endless supply of avocados. So far it's around 80cm tall but I heard it takes about 10 years before it fruits, so wish me luck! ;)

A friend saw me posting lots of photos of avocado salads and said to me "what avocados should I buy cos all the ones I had in the past weren't really nice." Over here, you can get South African, New Zealand, or Australian Hass, and in my experience, the Australian Hass are consistently good. After that piece of advice, I got a Facebook message from my friend thanking me for the tip. Definitely my pleasure.. yet another avocado lover is born!

So here's another avocado salad from my kitchen. Hubby bought me a jar of anchovy fillets in olive oil when we were doing our Christmas shopping (in case I needed it someday) so I decided to add it into my avocado salad. The salad consists of 1 ripe avocado, cherry tomatoes, some butterhead lettuce leaves, boiled egg and anchovy fillets (best to mash it up and spread it around the salad as it's quite salty if you try eating a whole fillet on its own).

Avocado salad with anchovy & egg

I do love how the saltiness of the anchovies complimented the rest of the salad. And this definitely bodes well with meeting my weight loss target for 2015.

Avocado Salad with Anchovy & Egg
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes (for egg)
Serves 1 or 2 as side salad


Ingredients
1 ripe avocado
1/4 lemon or 1 calamansi lime
3-4 cherry tomatoes, halved
4-5 butterhead lettuce leaves, halved
1 boiled egg, quartered
2-3 anchovy fillets in olive oil, light mashed
1 tsp olive oil from anchovy fillet jar (optional)
Salt and freshly ground pepper


For the dressing
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
Salt


1.  To pit the avocado, first you need to find the stalk and remove it. Hold it horizontally, with a knife through the centre until you hit the seed then move the knife in a circular motion until you go all the away around. Twist the avocado halves in opposite direction and it will come apart easily into 2 halves. Sink the knife into the avocado seed and remove. Peel off skin. Squeeze lemon juice (or calamansi lime juice) all over to avoid discoloration. Chop the avocado into bite-sized chunks. Season with salt.

2. In a bowl, place olive oil and balsamic vinegar and whisk well. Season dressing with salt.

3. Arrange lettuce, avocado and tomatoes in bowl, then drizzle over dressing. Top with boiled egg and anchovies. Drizzle over the olive oil from anchovy fillet, if using. Ground some black pepper and serve.

If you enjoyed reading my posts, LIKE me on Facebook! You can also follow me on Instagram (@babysumo) for more photo updates. Thanks :)

Nutmeg, Bangsar Village II, Kuala Lumpur

I was meeting up with a friend in Bangsar and she suggested Nutmeg in Bangsar Village II as our lunch venue. Nutmeg is a casual dining restaurant/cafe serving all-day breakfast, lunch and dinner and some of their specialties here include salt beef and house-cured salmon gravlax. They also do a Executive Set Lunch Menu (3-course for RM28+) from Mondays to Fridays. 

On their menu, they have breakfast items such as brioche French toast, big breakfast, salt beef hash, Spanish frittata, or sandwiches such as Classic Reuben, and bagels. I decided to try their Southern Fried Breakfast (RM26), which comes with two eggs any style, a piece of Southern fried chicken, biscuit, gravy, hashed potatoes and a side salad. I went for two poached eggs, and they were cooked beautifully. The chicken was tender and moist, and I liked the biscuit and hashed potatoes too which were crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside. A hearty, satisfying breakfast!

Poached eggs, beautifully done  :)

My drink - orange elderflower

My friend had the Fish and Chips off the specials board and the portion was really huge, so she shared some with me too. The "fish" was a large tilapia fillet, battered and deep fried. It was fresh and moist. Served with peas, fries and tartar sauce.

For dessert, we ordered one of their bestsellers, the OMG! chocolate fudge cake. When it arrived, I literally went OMG due to the sheer size of it. Served with vanilla ice cream, the cake was pretty good - moist and not too sweet. Definitely one for sharing though.

Opening times: 9.30am to 10.00pm daily.

Location:Nutmeg, UGF-28A Bangsar Village II, 2 Jalan Telawi 1, Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Tel: 03 2201 3663

Website: https://www.facebook.com/nutmegkl/

If you enjoyed reading my posts, LIKE me on Facebook! You can also follow me on Instagram (@babysumo) for more photo updates. Thanks :)

Recipe: Passion Fruit Meringues

A couple of years ago, I was visiting a garden nursery when I came across my first passiflora (passion fruit flower). It's one of the most beautiful flowers I've ever seen, the colours so vivid and very unique looking. For that reason, I bought a plant, took it home and planted it in my garden.

Passion fruit meringues

And just recently, we started seeing lots of flowers on our plant and finally it has began to fruit too. The species that we have bears fruits which are red/purple at maturity with yellow flesh.

My whole family, including my kids love eating passion fruit (markisa). Fresh passion fruit is high in provitamin A beta carotene, vitamin C, dietary fiber, potassium and iron.There are two ways we like to eat them - over meringues or just eaten like that. One tip is to leave them to ripen further on your kitchen counters until the skin is wrinkled all over for sweeter tasting fruits.

Flower of Passiflora edulis

Passion fruit on the vine

Just halve them and scoop out the flesh.. very fragrant and delicious not to mention nutritious too

Perfectly thin crisp exterior and soft mashmallowy centre, topped with fluffy whipping cream and passion fruit. Meringues and passion fruit really are the perfect pair... the tangy passion fruit balances the sweetness of the meringue perfectly. (see how many times I used the word perfect? It's that good)

Thanks Hubby for making these perfect meringues to go with our passion fruit. According to Hubby, meringues are so easy to make so I think they'd make the perfect Christmas dessert for easy entertaining. So Hubby, could you please make this for us during Christmas this year? ;)

And speaking of Christmas, so happy that it's finally December. Over the weekend, we put up our Christmas tree and was so lovely to see the kids so excited helping out and then gushing over their beautiful tree.

For the whole month of December, I am also co-hosting a Christmas bloghop event, so do link any Christmas recipes that you have with us. Do also check out the collection of Christmas recipes that my other blogger friends and I have made in 2013.

Passion fruit Meringues
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 15-20 minutes
Cooking time: 30-35 minutes
Makes 12

Ingredients
3 egg whites, at room temperature
150g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

To serve
6 passion fruits, halved
200ml whipping cream




1.Preheat oven to 150°C (no fan).

2. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper.

3. Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites in a large clean bowl until soft peaks. Add half the sugar and whisk until glossy, then add the remaining sugar and beat until the meringue is very stiff. Test using your thumb and forefinger, the mixture should be very smooth without any sugar grains.


4. Drop tablespoonfuls of mixture on the baking sheet, leaving some space in between for expansion. Bake for 30-35 minutes until crisp. Turn off the oven.


5. Remove the tray from oven and gently lift each meringue off the baking tray. This is to prevent sticking and ensure easier removal later once cooled.

6. Place the tray back in the oven and let meringues cool completely inside the oven. Store in airtight container.

7. Whisk the whipping cream until soft peaks. Place a meringue on serving plate and top with a generous 1 tablespoonful whipping cream. And then, scoop the flesh out of the passion fruits and top on the cream.

Note: For more tips on meringue making, please see this post.

******************

I am submitting this to the "Cook & Celebrate: Christmas 2014" event which I am co-hosting with Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Diana of The Domestic Goddess Wannabe. To join, simply cook or bake any Christmas recipes for the whole month of December 2014.

Your post must be a current post i.e. posted in December 2014 - please do not link older posts.Please mention our "Cook & Celebrate: Christmas 2014" event in your post and link back to Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids, Diana of The Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Baby Sumo of Eat your heart out.

Happy cooking! Do check out the other bloggers recipe below:

If you enjoyed reading my posts, LIKE me on Facebook! You can also follow me on Instagram (@babysumo) for more photo updates. Thanks :)

Michelin-Star Chef Mario Gamba of Acquarello Munich @ Mandarin Oriental KL

I was excited to hear that Chef Mario Gamba of Michelin-starred Acquarello in Munich was coming to KL and was even more excited when I received an invitation from the Mandarin Oriental KL hotel to attend a cooking demo and 7-course dinner at Mandarin Grill.

Chef Mario Gamba will be at the award-winning Mandarin Grill from 19 to 22 November 2014 and diners can choose from a 5-course dinner for RM498++ per person or 7-course dinner for RM698++ per person. There will also be a 6-course wine dinner featuring Chateau Cantemerle on 22nd November for RM598++ per person.

Chef Mario Gamba's restaurant in Munich, Acquarello was awarded one Michelin-star in 2000 and has been listed among the world's 100 best restaurants by Forbes. He has trained under Michelin-starred Chef Alain Chapel in France, Chef Heinz Winkler of Tantris and Chef Gualitero Marchesi. He is specially flown in by Qatar Airways with his assistant Chef Bastian Gebhardt to give diners an exclusive Italian dining experience.

Earlier at the cooking demo, Chef Mario Gamba shows us how to make a pea risotto topped with scallop saltimbocca and Amalfi lemon foam. He tells us that to make a good risotto, it is important to buy good risotto rice (either Carnaroli or Vialone Nano). During his cooking demo, he uses the 9-years aged Acquerello rice, which is often hailed as the "Roll-Royce of rice" due to its superior quality. The aging process guarantees a perfect stability of the starch within the grains, that is indispensable to exalt their qualitative and nutritional values.

Saltimbocca is given a twist by Chef Mario Gamba, as he tops the lightly seared scallops with raw tuna drizzled with sesame oil. Another tip that he shares is to add some acidity to the risotto, either by adding a splash of wine or white balsamic vinegar and butter to finish off the dish. The risotto was perfectly executed and by the time I finished eating it, I was certainly looking forward to the 7-course dinner that was to come.

For dinner, we were ushered into the private dining room in Mandarin Grill restaurant. To start, we were served a selection of bread with salted and smoked butter, followed by an amuse bouche of veal with tuna foam, his take on the Vitello Tonnato.

Our dinner venue, the elegant Mandarin Grill

During the cooking demo, Chef Mario Gamba revealed that in his Acquarello kitchen in Munich, he prefers to serve a light menu to his diners by using less butter and sugar. He also tells us that his favorite method of cooking is sous vide, as it is healthier and the flavours of food are sealed in. The veal in the warm veal filet salad was prepared with the sous vide method, and then served with artichoke, basil oil and truffle shavings. Yup, be prepared for a truffle extravaganza ;)

"You must try the gold egg later" Chef Mario Gamba enthusiastically tells us. And I can see why - the truffled egg is topped with edible gold leaf, celery mousseline, and Madeira foam. This was definitely my favorite dish of the evening - absolutely exquisite and bursting with flavour.

Chef Mario Gamba grew up in Northern Italy, and his grandmother used to make ravioli for the family on weekends. For the next course, we were served with a potato ravioli with sherry foam and white truffle shavings. I liked the texture that potato filling gives these delicate parcels and the sherry foam packs quite a punch flavour wise.

The filet of cod was served with a sauce made from duet of bell pepper coulis, topped with scallop cream, black truffle shavings and cannellini beans foam.  Super love the sauce, paired with flaky fish.

Cappuccino of Potato with Parmesan Foam and Truffle

The main course is a lamb loin in a crisp bread crust. Beautifully pink in the centre, this was served with a rosemary jus with ratatouille and baked eggplant praline on the side.

By the way, Mandarin Grill is also having a truffles promotion- RM180/g for white truffle, and RM90/g for black truffle.

And to end our wonderful meal, a gorgeous ricotta souffle served with Alba white truffle ice cream, pear coulis and Tahitian vanilla. The truffle ice cream was amazing, wish I could have more of that!

Thank you to Mandarin Oriental KL for extending the invitation to this exquisite dinner.


Opening times: 12pm to 2.30pm; 7pm to 10.30pm.

Pork-free.

Price: RM698++ per person

Location: Mandarin Grill, Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur City Centre, 50088 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-2380 8888

GPS Coordinates: 3.155514, 101.711555




If you enjoyed reading my posts, LIKE me on Facebook! You can also follow me on Instagram (@babysumo) for more photo updates. Thanks :)

Recipe: Sambal telur (Malaysian Egg Sambal)

Last week, I cooked mee goreng and as an accompaniment, I also made sambal telur. Sambal telur, also known as egg sambal is a Malay dish whereby hard boiled eggs are coated in a spicy, sambal sauce. This recipe is pretty similar to the sambal telur tauhu recipe that I posted last year but with slightly less ingredients.

Sambal telur, absolutely enticing!

This is a much healthier version compared to the ones you get outside as I did not deep fry the eggs, and just pan fried them with a little oil. Lots of onions is a must for me and you can adjust the spiciness to your liking. This is great with any noodle dish or simply a bowl of white rice.

Try it and you'll love it!

Sambal telur (egg sambal)
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves 2

Ingredients
4 hard boiled eggs
2 tbsp cooking oil
3 onions, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2-3 tbsp cili giling (chilli paste)
100ml water
1 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp soft brown sugar
1/8 tsp salt


1. Heat oil in a large wok. Add the eggs and lightly pan fry for 2 minutes. Remove and set aside.

2. Add the onions and garlic in the wok and stir fry for 2-3 minutes until the onions have softened slightly. Then, add the cili giling (I used about 2 tbsp first) and fry for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Add the water and cook for another 3-4 minutes, to further soften the onions.

3. Add the eggs and allow to cook for another 2-3 minutes. Season with light soy sauce, soft brown sugar and salt. Add more cili giling if you like it spicier. Mix to coat well.

4. Serve with rice or noodles.

Note: For instructions on how to cook hard boiled egg, see Step 1.

Photo by Baby D, using my iPhone.. good job boy x

If you enjoyed reading my posts, LIKE me on Facebook! You can also follow me on Instagram (@babysumo) for more photo updates. Thanks :)

*This recipe was featured on Asian Food Channel's Facebook page on 23 November 2014.

Marutama Ramen @ Avenue K, KL

Marutama Ramen is one of my fav places to get my ramen fix. Usually we go to the Fahrenheit 88 outlet, but happy that we can now get it at Avenue K too.

The outlet is located on upper concourse level (same level as H&M Kids). The outlet is quite small, but service is fast and friendly.

Marutama is good if you like your ramen soup to be less rich. Not too cloying, hence you can easily finish the whole bowl. You get the choice of spicy or non spicy soup here, but I personally prefer the non-spicy one. Plus it's better for sharing with the kids.

The char siu is also pretty good and best of all, the EGGS! Simply perfect everytime. Most of the time, we need to order 2 eggs each.

I usually go for the ajitsuke tamago ramen (RM21) with 1 slice of char siu and 1 egg, and Hubby goes for the char siu tamago ramen (RM27) which comes with 4 slices of char siu. And a few extra eggs please. (ajitsuke tamago RM2 each)

We like to grab some ice creams from Simply d before we head home. So far, we've tried a few flavours and our favorites are passion fruit, mango as well as strawberry cheesecake. Perfect for a hot afternoon!

Opening times: 10am to 10pm daily.

Service: Good.

Price: Total bill rm66

Location: Marutama Ramen, UC-7, Upper Concourse Level, Avenue K, 156 Jalan Ampang, 50450, Kuala Lumpur. (same level as H&M Kids Department)


If you enjoyed reading my posts, LIKE me on Facebook! You can also follow me on Instagram (@babysumo) for more photo updates. Thanks :)

Sunday Curry Tiffin Lunch @ Colonial Cafe, The Majestic Hotel Kuala Lumpur

Tiffin is an English slang term for second breakfast or lunch. It is believed that tiffin originated from India back in 1800s, whereby the British in India would generally indulge in a light lunch, often a curry. The Sunday Tiffin, however, was seen as an occasion to over-indulge, usually consisting of a feast of mulligatawny soup, mixed curries, vegetables and rice.

Sunday Curry Tiffin at The Majestic Hotel KL

The old Hotel Majestic hotel became the favoured venue for the colonial elite to indulge in their signature dish, the traditional Sunday Curry Tiffin lunch.

Colonial Cafe is proud to revive the colonial tradition and relive the halcyon days of the planters of Malaya with the Sunday Curry Tiffin Lunch. It is priced at RM78++ per person and served every Sunday from 12.00pm to 2.00pm. 

Colonial Cafe in The Majestic Hotel KL

The indulgent lunch includes main items such as Hainanese Chicken Curry, Mutton Varuval, Egg Masala and Fried Fish Masala which are served in a tiffin carrier (a very elegant one, nonetheless). First, a banana leaf is laid on our plates, then our server spoons a wide selection of accompaniments such as mango chutney, pineapple chunks, fish puttu, salted egg, marinated cucumbers, toasted coconut, peanuts and banana slices onto our plates. A shot of salted lassi is also served to perk up our palates.

Rice and accompaniments are refillable, so you can add-on these items as often as you like. The main items are served in generous portions, especially the Hainanese chicken curry (at least 2-3 pieces per person). The curry is really delicious and not too spicy, so even the kids spooned lots of this onto their rice. The kids really loved the Fried Fish Masala - the fish used is mackarel, very fresh and well flavoured with spices. I don't take mackarel, so instead I loaded my plate with lots of mutton (yum yum!) and egg masala. The deep fried bittergourd is also very nice and crispy.

On top of great food and relaxed, comfortable ambiance, diners can also expect fantastic entertainment in the form of Ms. Isabella Soliano who sings and plays the piano. Class act.

The meal ends with a serving of Sago Gula Melaka and Masala Tea. Rich, sweet and indulgent. This is indeed a great way to spend our Sunday.

The kiddos :)

The Orchid Conservatory - my favorite room in the hotel. 

Thanks to Nigel from The Majestic Hotel KL for the kind invite to sample this delicious Sunday Curry Tiffin Lunch.

The Sunday Curry Tiffin Lunch is available every Sunday from 12.00pm to 2.00pm and is priced at RM78++ per person/set. For more information and reservations, please call +603 2785 8000.



Location: Colonial Café, Majestic Wing, The Majestic Hotel Kuala Lumpur, 5 Jalan Sultan Hishamuddin, 50000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Tel: 03-2785 8000

Website: http://www.majestickl.com/

GPS Coordinates: 3.139059, 101.692617


If you enjoyed reading my posts, LIKE me on Facebook! You can also follow me on Instagram (@babysumo) for more photo updates. Thanks :)