Recipe: Strawberry Mille-Feuille Dessert

The first time I had mille-feuille was at Sage Restaurant in KL in 2009 and to date, it is still one of the best, most memorable desserts I've eaten there. Mille-feuille (sometimes called the Napolean) is a flaky, rectangular French pastry with a sweet filling, traditionally comprising of 3 layers of puff pastry, with 2 layers of pastry cream.

One of my favorite versions is the strawberry mille-feuille, which is the one Hubby recreated at home for us. For his strawberry mille-feuille, he used 1 sheet of Pampas puff pastry (a 1-kg pack comes in 6 sheets) which he cut into 1.5"x 4" rectangles and then baked in the oven for about 12-15 minutes until crispy and golden. Because they puff up quite a lot, he sliced them into half each for a nicer presentation. In between the puff pastry, we layered it with Crème Chantilly (vanilla-flavored whipped cream) and fresh Korean strawberries (in season now!).  Dust with icing sugar or snow powder to finish.

Simple to make, but absolutely delicous and elegant looking. Love the light, crisp pastry against the soft, pillowy cream and fresh strawberries.

Strawberry Mille-Feuille
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 13-15 minutes
Makes 6

Ingredients
1 sheet ready-made frozen Pampas puff pastry, cut into 1.5" x 4" (approx.)
250g fresh strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced
Icing sugar or snow powder, for dusting

For the Creme Chantilly
150g whipping cream
1/2 tbsp icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (fan-assisted).

2. Cut the puff pastry to size (you will get 9 rectangles), then place onto a baking sheet lined with non-stick baking paper. Place in preheated oven and cook for 13-15 mins or until the pastry is puffed and golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool.Once cooled, carefully slice each puff pastry into half with a sharp knife to make 2 thin pieces (now you have 18 rectangles).

3. Place the whipping cream with icing sugar and vanilla extract in a bowl. Using an electric mixer, whisk until stiff peaks. Put in fridge if not required immediately.

4. To assemble, place one piece of pastry in the centre of the plate, then top with some of the cream mixture. Lay some sliced strawberries on top of the cream, then top with another piece of pastry. Repeat with more cream and strawberries, then top with final piece of puff pastry. Dust with icing sugar or snow powder and serve.

Dust with icing sugar or snow powder to finish

Note: Leave the puff pastry to thaw for 5mins, then cut to size. It is quite difficult to work with once it has completely thawed.

* I am linking this to Bake-Along #73 (Theme: Mille Feuille) hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours, Lena of Frozen Wings and Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids.



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Recipe: Chicken Fricassée (Gordon Ramsay)

It definitely feels good to be back in my own kitchen and cooking for my family again. Since Gordon Ramsay month has not ended yet, I picked this chicken fricassée recipe to try. Fricassée is a French method of cooking whereby meat is cut up, sauteed and braised, then served with its sauce. 

Chicken Fricassée

Gordon Ramsay uses a whole chicken jointed into 8 pieces and cooks it with smoked bacon, garlic and mushrooms, but I decided to use 4 chicken marylands, cut up into 4 drumsticks and 4 thighs. The recipe calls for flambeing the chicken with brandy, but I skipped this step and just simmered it at high heat for a couple of minutes. Since I prefer crispy skin when I eat chicken thigh/drumsticks, I placed the cooked chicken under a hot grill for several minutes for the skin to crisp up (but this step is completely optional).

This was a huge hit with my kids - even before I finished snapping photos, they have already finished one drumstick each. Eaten with the sauce, I have to admit it's really delicious! The chicken is moist and flavorful. I would definitely make this again, seeing that it takes less than 45 minutes to prepare and results in an utterly satisfying dish.

Chicken Fricassée
Recipe by Baby Sumo, adapted from Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Home Cooking
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Serves 4


Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
4 chicken maryland, jointed into 4 drumsticks and 4 thighs
100g bacon lardons or streaky bacon, sliced
4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
150g white button mushrooms, halved
1 bay leaf
2 rosemary sprigs
2 thyme sprigs, leaves only
50ml brandy
400ml chicken stock
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To garnish
2 sprigs of thyme or chopped parsley


1. In a large heavy-based sauté pan or casserole over medium heat, add the olive oil. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, then add to the hot pan (put the thighs in skin side down) and sauté for 3-4 minutes on one side, until golden. (You may need to do it in two batches if your pan is small) Turn the chicken over, add the lardons, garlic and mushrooms and mix well.  Stir in the bay leaf, rosemary and thyme.

2. Add the brandy, and increase to medium high heat and simmer for 1 minute, then lower the heat back to medium and simmer gently for 2-3 minutes.

3. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook uncovered, over medium low heat for 10 minutes, then cover and cook for a further 15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.

4. Transfer to a baking tray, and place under hot grill for 4-5 minutes for crispy skin (this is an additional step which I did to crisp up the skin).

5. In the meantime, increase the heat under the pan to medium high to reduce and slightly thicken the sauce.

6. Discard the garlic, rosemary and bay leaf. Spoon sauce with mushroom and bacon onto plate and top with chicken. Garnish with thyme (leaves only) or chopped parsley.


Note: Original recipe uses 1 large free range chicken jointed into 8 pieces. I used thin streaky bacon cut into strips as I couldn't get bacon lardons here. I also substituted chestnut mushrooms for white button mushroom. I also did not flambé the chicken after adding the brandy.

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* I am submitting this to the "Cook Like Gordon Ramsay" event which I am co-hosting with Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Mich of Piece of Cake. To join, simply cook or bake any recipe from any Gordon Ramsay websites or cookbooks for the whole month of August 2014. You can link your posts at one of the host's pages.

Your post must be a current post i.e. posted in August 2014 - please do not link older posts.Please mention Cook like a Star in your post and link back to Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids, Mich of Piece of Cake and Baby Sumo of Eat your heart out.

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




* I am submitting this post to "Cook-Your-Books #15" hosted by Joyce.

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Afternoon tea @ Maison Francaise, KL

My school friends and I were having our annual meet-up and we planned to go for afternoon tea at Majestic Hotel KL, but unfortunately they were fully booked for that weekend. Afternoon tea at Maison Francaise has been on my list for a while, and since there has also been several good reviews about it, we decided to give it a go. 

We were here on a Sunday, so there were also a few tables here for the Sunday Brunch. We were seated at a table by the window and it was quite a hot afternoon, so it got uncomfortably warm halfway through our afternoon tea. 

The afternoon tea here is priced at RM38++ per person, and tea/coffee/drink has to be ordered separately. Afternoon tea is only available here on weekends from 2pm to 5pm. The afternoon tea was served on a white plate - there were 5 of us so we each got an individual plate, with 8 items on each plate. We were quite disappointed there were no tiers or even the tray stand that we saw on other blogs/Instagram photos. They also have a strict rule, whereby no food sharing is allowed.

The selection was uninspiring, and everything tasted cold. The few better items we had was the club sandwich with smoked salmon, and duck pate canape. There was also vanilla madeleine, cannele de Bordeaux, pear tart, chocolate mousse, goat's cheese canape and croissant. Pretty disappointed with these :( Thankfully, we had fantastic company and still managed to have a great afternoon :)

High Tea

Opening times: Tuesday to Sunday: 11.00am – 11.30pm (last order). Closed on Mondays.

Price: RM38++ per person. Tea/coffee to be ordered separately. Hot chocolate RM14.

Location: Maison Francaise, 5 Jalan Changkat Kia Peng, 50450 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Tel: 03-2144 1474

Website: http://www.maisonfrancaise.com.my

GPS Coordinates: 3.151518,101.715147

Tous Les Jours @ WOLO Hotel, Bukit Bintang, KL

We have been meaning to try Tous Les Jours, ever since they opened their first branch in Jalan Telawi, Bangsar last year. However, we always get drawn to Les Deux Garcons instead when we are in the vicinity. One day, after lunch at Marutama Ramen, we decided to pay a visit to Tous Les Jours outlet in the newly opened WOLO Hotel. 

Tous Les Jours, which means "everyday" in French is a French-Asian bakery. Established in 1997 in South Korea, TLJ has more than 1300 outlets in 8 countries from Korea to China to the USA. It serves a wide selection of breads, pastries, cakes and beverages. The outlet at WOLO also serves hot food.

This outlet has a really lovely ambiance - lots of natural lighting, high ceilings and nice design. Comfortable seating allows customers to sit back, relax and enjoy their food/drinks.The breads and pastries are nicely set out on counters, and it's self service - pick what you want and then pay at the counter. Order your drinks and cakes at the counter and they will bring it to your table.

Wonderful array of pastries

Our initial beverage choices were unavailable, but we finally settled for an organic cold chocolate (RM9) and a cold cafe cappuccino (rm9). I enjoyed the chocolate drink a lot, it was not too sweet and creamy. Yum.

I picked out the strawberry fresh cream cake (RM8.50) and Cream Soboro, also known as Korean streusel (RM3.80).  The cake was delicious, soft sponge cake with layers of cream and strawberry. We also enjoyed the Soboro, soft bread filled with custard and fresh cream.

The only disappointment was the Custard Cream Danish (RM3.90) which was described as "pastry filled with sweet custard cream". When we took our first bite, we expected to bite into cream but there was nothing. We queried this, and was told that the custard is baked into the pastry. Well, that's not how we read it - we suggested that they change their description as it is very misleading. Not good at all.

Cream Soboro

Breads

And here are our noodles from Marutama Ramen (at Fahrenheit 88) which we had for lunch earlier - super delicious! This is definitely ranked as one of my Top 3 Ramen places in KL. :) You can read our review here.

One of the best ajitama (flavored egg) around ;)

Tous Les Jours opening times: 8am to 11pm daily.

Price: Total bill RM38.95.

Location:  Tous Les Jours, WOLO Hotel, 126A-C, Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur. (opposite Lot 10)

Tel: 03-4065 0088

GPS Coordinates: 3.147097, 101.711364


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A Delectable Valentine @ Sage Restaurant & Wine Bar, KL

Me and you. It's Valentine's Day and we're at my favorite restaurant - Sage KL. They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, the same applies for this girl here ;)

We're dining here on Valentine's eve, away from the Valentine crowd. Good choice Hubby :) Let's go for a 4-course lunch today, you say. Oh yes, please.

We started off with the green tea buckwheat noodle with panache of seafood, aonoriko and caviar, prettily garnished with edible flowers and herbs. The seafood, which included raw scallops, tuna and prawn was super fresh and delicate. My favorite dish of the afternoon :)

Next came the warm starter, the black truffle risotto served with glazed duck breast and luscious foie gras. Quite happy with the size of the foie, and the sauce was absolutely delicious. We mopped it all up with the warm bread.

Mains was grain fed beef served two ways - on one side we have the wasabi crusted beef cheek and on the other grilled beef, served with yuzukosho and red wine sauce.I prefer my beef naked, hence the grilled beef gets my vote.

Dessert was fantastic, possibly one of the best ones we've had at Sage over the years - a rich, creamy mille feuille of praline with toffee anglaise and almond nougat. What a great way to end our meal :)

Pork-free.

For their weekly lunch menu, click here. Full a la carte menu here.

Dress code: Smart casual.

Opening hours: Lunch:Monday to Friday 12.00pm to 2.00pm; Dinner:Monday to Saturday 6.00pm to 10.30pm. Closed on Sunday.

Price: RM100 nett per person for 3-course lunch RM120 nett for 4-course.

Location: Sage Restaurant & Wine Bar, The Gardens Residences, Level 6, The Gardens, Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-2268 1328

*Children below the age of 6 are not allowed in the restaurant.



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Lunch @ Soleil, Petaling Jaya, Selangor

I keep a list of "Restaurants I want to visit" on my iPhone and we finally struck Soleil off the list during my birthday week. Soleil can be considered a fine dining restaurant, serves modern European cuisine and specialises in seafood dishes, something which their head chef Evert Onderbeke is known for.

Chef Evert used to head the kitchen at the now defunct High Tide (one of the best we tried at that time, we thought) and later on he worked on for a bit at Cuisine Gourmet by Nathalie. So naturally we had pretty high expectations for our lunch here at Soleil.

My favorite dish of the afternoon

The decor is minimal yet classy with lots of natural sunlight. They have a pretty small menu here and you can choose from a la carte, set lunch (RM75 for 3-course) or signature lunch (RM125 for 3-course). They also have a changing specials board. We decided to go a la carte since we're on a celebratory lunch ;)

After placing our order, we saw a familiar face - Effendie, the ex-restaurant manager from Sage KL is now at Soleil. We were served some nice, warm bread with butter and black salt while waiting for our food.

Bar area

For starters, I ordered the Marinated Crabmeat with Avocado, Momotaro Tomato and Basil Sorbet (RM40). Beautifully stacked with Chef Evert's signature garnish, the pea shoot. Clean, refreshing flavours, I certainly enjoyed this - it scores high on both the taste and looks department. I especially like the basil sorbet which gives this a unique touch.

Meanwhile, Hubby had the Pan Fried Hokkaido scallops with Sauteed Belgian Endives and Mustard Mousseline (RM40). The scallops were well-seasoned and plump,though we wouldn't mind a bigger portion of scallops.

For mains, we both chose from the specials board. Hubby had the mushroom risotto with pan fried veal sweetbread (RM85). The risotto was nicely done, and being a first-timer with sweetbread, I thought it tasted very similar to chicken. When I saw mussels on the specials menu (in the starters section), I knew I wanted that for my mains. The Dutch mussels (RM45) were steamed in white wine,herbs butter and lemongrass. However, they were not as good as I expected them to be and the mussels were pretty small compared to the ones I had here.

Pretty, like a butterfly!

For dessert, I had the Passion Fruit and Mango Cannelloni with Pineapple Cremeux, Citrus Crumble and Mango Sorbet (RM26). It looked really pretty on the plate and the overall combination was pretty good with lots of different textures going on.

Hubby's pandan crepe (RM26) came looking like a parcel (tied with a pandan knot) and once opened, revealed caramelised bananas. This was served with a refreshing coconut sorbet.

Verdict: Nice ambiance with beautifully presented plates of food. A great place for a celebratory meal. 


Opening times: 12.00pm - 2.30pm; 6.30pm-10.30pm. Closed on Mondays.

Pork-free.

Price: Total bill RM290 (visited in Nov 2013).

Location: Soleil, 22A Jalan 17/54, 46400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

Tel: 03-7932 5989

Website: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Soleil/326050024194499

GPS Coordinates: 3.12599, 101.637093



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