baked salmon with potatoes

this is a great no frills recipe that i want to share with you guys living abroad/by yourself. i didnt mention "cheap thrills" as salmon isnt exactly very cheap, but sometimes you get it cheap at hypermarkets :)

i got the recipe from here. it is an ala-jamie oliver recipe. trust me, it is so simple that even a cooking n00b like me can do this.

ingredients:

1. salmon fillets
   
2. butter
   
3. rosemary
4. mixed herbs
5. olive oil
   
6. a pinch of salt
7. grounded black pepper
8. lemon slices
9. tomatoes slices
10. potatoes (about 1 medium sized potato for one fillet)
    

Step 1: Prepare ingredients.

Step 2: Parboil potatoes with skin until it softens. After about 25mins or so, cool down potatoes with cold water and skin them. Slice them up in wedges form (or slices if you prefer).

Step 3: Line baking tray with aluminium foil and put salmon in. Throw in parboiled potatoes, tomatoes and a slice or two of lemon. Ground black pepper on top, sprinkle some rosemary, mixed herbs, salt and drizzle a teaspoon of olive oil. Top it all off with a small slab of butter.

Step 4: Wrap up the goodies filled parcel and pop it into the oven. Bake at 180 celcius for about 15 mins or until flesh is flaky that it detaches from bones.

Step 5: SERVE!

wholesome meal

do try it out! its as easy as you read it, really...

important #tips- make sure you parboil the potatoes until they are 80% soft. mine failed (still alil hard) cos i didnt boil them long enough. also, dont squeeze too much lemon on the salmon, or else lemon taste will be overpowering ;-)

healthy no frills meal, as good as it looks and sounds :)

chocolate fruits fondue

cant afford ridiculously priced fondue sessions ?? well, make it yourself then !!

all you need is any fruits of your choice... except maybe durian-lah !! but if you wanna try, go ahead !!

# tips- soak fruits that brown easily with lemon juice to prevent them from browning fast ;-)

kiutsy lil mandarin oranges

pears and red apples

kiwies

mango tango

going banana over bananas

carrerful fruit platter

next, using only the finest chocolate couverture (my sis works in a choc company, remember ??) ...

wait for choc to melt... and wait... and wait... and wait... (actually it melts pretty fast)

smooth fine chocolate dip
(p/s: the device is a real fondue device by mistral)

a *snap* before we attack !!

yumm... yummz ;-)

of all the fruits, bananas compliment the choc most !! so if you're planning to do this at home, buy more bananas yah !!

oh yeah, you cant just melt the chocolate by direct heat... it has to be double-boiled :)

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shameless advertorial: since we're on the subject of chocolates... i'll be working in bangsar village together with 2 other friends (param & jill) manning the fidani chocolatier booth from 7th- 28th dec. please come and find me k !! also if you need xmas pressies... we've got really great quality chocolates and packagings specially made for xmas !!

cheeeeeerios :)

p/s: ive been cooking alot of late ! im no longer the "perfect epitome of one who eats but doesnt cook" as written in my profile !! HAHA. recipes coming up soon !! stay tune ;-)

restoran wan hou seafood steamboat

restoran wan hou seafood steamboat

feeling alil' blah again on where to have dinner on sunday night, i being the parasite and lamp post that i have been for the weekend tagged along with jon and eiling for dinner. initially our plan was to try out the famous 6-10 grill. jon claims that the red wine steak/ribs or something is not too bad, but we were still a little full after the bkt and so steamboat was the next option.

a drive along the shops at ss14 (facing ss15) made me realize that they're still alot places i have not tried out before even though i pass by that area almost every single day ! and i didnt even know the existance of wan hou steamboat !

set for 2 pax- rm25

cabbage

emperor noodles & meehoon + 2 eggs

meatballs 10 per plate- rm6

as we were not too hungry, we ordered a set of 2 for 3 persons. every item came in pairs- fishballs, fish dumplings, corns, prawns, carrots, sui gao, fish fillets, crabsticks etc. we ordered an extra serving of meatballs as it was jon and eiling's fav.

a common sight in most shabu shabu places, this sauce makes its presence here too. its a concoction of sesame oil, fried shallots, cili padies, and garlic. great with steamboat too !

i had a bite at this bigger than usual meatballs and found the verdict to be true. it is pretty damn good- bouncy and juicy. i think i can just order the soup base and eat them with these meatballs to call it a meal. really do give this meatballs a try !

and chinese tea to wash it all down !

total bill- rm34

i found the soup to be flavourful unlike other steamboat places laden with loadsa of ajinamoto (msg). the owner (jon said he's taiwanese) is a pretty attentive man dressed smartly in formal shirt. he'll be seen rounding the shop, hopping from table to table to see if theres anything the customers need or want. he also truthfully told us that their soup is unlike soup of other places, theirs only has "little msg". well, at least the man's being frank, eh?

more goodies good food coming soon ! stay tune !

restoran wan hou seafood steamboat
14, jalan ss14/2,
47500 subang jaya.
(opposite pedestrian bridge linking to ss15)

[disclaimer: the opinions expressed here are based on my personal views, tastebuds and preference and may vary for others. please dont sue me, i dont have money. kthxbye.]

klang tasusia bak kut teh

not knowing where to have lunch again yesterday noon... jon, eiling and i (gosh why am i being sucha lamp post/parasite lately??) decided to just eat around the neighborhood since roadblocks were still on in kl. and so it was bak kut teh at this place- klang tasusia bak kut teh. the word 'tasusia' is actually the mandarin pronounciation for "dai shu ha"- under the big tree.

this is not our first visit but due to its distance from home (bout 5 mins) its always the place we go if we were to have bkt. food is not that excellent, more of like somewhere you'll go just to EAT TO LIVE.

*bestest bkt ive had so far is this little road side shack at pandamaran klang which sells out by 7pm.

fried crullers (yau char kuai)

a BIG disappointment as it came all soggy and unfresh. sighs !!

*bestest yau char kuai is the stall opposite inti at asia cafe. so damn freaking bloody good. read my sister's take on this humble little stall here.

bkt with 'small bones' and extra intestines

not much expectations on the bkt based on previous visits. but i think it has improved alittle... at least the soup looks less diluted and has stronger brown herbalish color though i still couldnt taste much herbal in it.

small yau mak with garlic oil- rm6

probably the easiest way to make money. steam some inexpensive vege and pour garlic oil over it. 6 bucks in your cashtill *ka-ching!* as easy as abcxyz.

plain white rice- 80 cents each
(no good for diabetic people)

i would prefer the type of rice with traces of garlic for my bkt. the pandamaran bkt stall serves exactly that kinda rice which is ohsogood. i dont really like the malaccan yam rice though- i find it too heavy for bkt.

cha wong- rm2.50

total bill- rm41.90

looks like we dont have much good eatery places in kota kemuning worth reviewing. why oh why...

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MUST WATCH! freaking funny parody to 'hey there delilah' !! LAUGHOUTLOUD exclamation exclamation exclamation one one one fullstop

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klang tasusia bak kut teh
44, jalan anggerik vanilla m31/m,
kota kemuning,
40460, shah alam.
03-51224885


[disclaimer: the opinions expressed here are based on my personal views, tastebuds and preference and may vary for others. please dont sue me, i dont have money. kthxbye.]

My Elephant

my elephant

I came to know about my elephant's existance in Seksyen 17 after I read the review by another flogger. My Elephant serves thai cuisines. then the other day I went to Choon Yien for the chicken rice, I managed to locate it. It's just conveniently located behind Choon Yien, occupying 2 shoplots.

On saturday night, I suggested to have dinner there with Jon and Eiling. nowadays I'm acting like a food directory- people asked me to research and read reviews first before eating out. HAHA. Not that I'm complaining but at times I'm afraid that whatyoureadisnotwhatyouget (wyrinwyg)... and people lose trust in your foodtaste, you see.

The menu

My Elephant is a pretty comfy cosy place for meals. the decos are minimum, many items you can identify they're from Ikea- the touch of white and self painted walls reflect the simplicity of the place and the location itself. The place itself can accomodate about 30-35 patrons or so.

For beverages I had watermelon cooler and Eiling had the coconut cooler.

Coconut cooler- RM4.50

Watermelon cooler- RM4.50

Their coolers taste... weird. Well it is coconut and its watermelon alright but they added something in it which makes it taste... weird. Jon said it's lemongrass. well makes sense since one of the main ingredients in thai cuisines is lemongrass. also, I would prefer them to be really cold/chilled/cool since its called a 'cooler'. Don't get me wrong, it was cool but not cool enough, geddit?

For appetizers we had...

Miaeng kam- rm8.50
DIY daun kadok wraps with coconut crisps, peanuts, dried shrimps and assorted condiments topped with sweet-sour tamarind sauce

Well, it was my first miaeng kam so I didnt know what to expect and I cant compare which places have nicer miaeng kams but Jon commented that he had better of this elsewhere. However, it was okay for me... but I find it a tad too dry. Quite fun to wrap and dip the thing though. It's like a DIY leaves popiah.

Tod man plah- RM6.80

Deep fried thai fish cakes

I find the fishcakes acceptable, but it was abit too oily. My mom made these before and I really love it. Eiling and Jon said Krissada's fish cakes are much better. Krissada is a thai place at Sunway Mas, used to serve pretty good thai food till it changed management. Will find out more about it if I can find my way to Sunway Mas next (alot eatery places worth exploring there).

Gai tod gratiam prik thai- rm12
My Elephant's special deep fried chicken nuggets with kafir lime leaf, garlic and crushed thai pepper corn

Initially I thought the waitress had mixed up the orders cos I thought this looks like mantis prawns and we didnt order that. but after having a bite and getting the confirmation from the waitress, it is "chicken nuggets"- thai style in elongated shape. I think it is great as a snack (with beer *burp*) but as meals and for rm12, not really that worth it.

Tom yum- RM12
spicy galangal-lemongrass-lime soup with aromatic herbs and homemade chili paste

If you had'nt had tom yum then you had'nt been eating thai food! We had the tom yum, there were a few choices for soups- tom yum, tom ka, tom sap, tom som. no, they dont have tom dick and harry or peeping tom soup. Maybe a guy by the name of tom invented this soup. Differences between the soups are whether they're of clear soup or with santan or something. It comes in 2 sizes- small (RM12) and big (RM20). The waitress said the small is enough for 3/4 persons, thats of cos if everyone only wants a serving. If you're expecting second servings then big would be the better choice.

the tom yum is not too bad. not those chokingly spicy hot, just nice. it also has generous amounts of seafood- big tangy squids and prawns. quite worth the money :)

Jungle vegetable of the day- rm10

This is my fav dish of the night. when asked what the vege is, the waitress said 'paku pakis' and i went ohmaigourd, "okok this one, this one!!" I love paku pakis- for its rarity and previous experiences with this vege has never disappoint. I remember when we were young and still living in ipoh, the Super Kinta smelly big market has this vege called "sabah shu chai choi"- its something like paku pakis but smaller and its SO DAMN GOOD (also as the name suggests, it can only be found in sabah i think?). but they stopped selling it and since then we've missed this vege so much...

Oh sabah shu chai choi, where art thou now?

Anyway, this paku pakis was kinda good IMHO. maybe I love the vege itself so much that even if it's cooked badly it'll still taste heavenly to me. Heheh.

... and to accompany the dishes was unpolished brown rice. Fyi, white rice you normally eat are not good for health. Because it's polished, it has lost its nutrition values and white rice generally has higher sugar content, thats why diabetic people are warned against having white rice. At home, we have switched to organic brown and yellow rice :)

total bill- rm64

Prices of the dishes are generally not too pricey given its location and portions. Jon and Eiling don't really like it but I thought it was pretty alright to me... very well because they had better thai food elsewhere before (Sri ayutthaya, Krissada). Jon quipped, "the deco outshines the food."

For me, I think it deserves a comeback in the future that is until I taste better thai food elsewhere ...

My Elephant
CG-4, Happy Mansion,
Section 17, PJ.
(row of shops behind choon yien)
http://www.pureworks.com.my/myelephant/

[disclaimer: the opinions expressed here are based on my personal views, tastebuds and preference and may vary for others. please dont sue me, i dont have money. kthxbye.]