Birthday Madeleine

Sorry for having been MIA...

This is a long overdue post, for Karen's birthday : )



Supposedly, we were to SURPRISE Karen
with a birthday dinner : D
Well, the surprise didn't work out...
but hey, DESSERT is still essential! : D

Upon getting this Lindt recipe on Chocolate Petit Fours,
I decided i'd give it a try ; )
Plus it's easier to transport than a huge bday cake : b

EGGS! how can we forget goh goh's favorite? :)

Gooey chocolate mixture with melted butter...

Mix flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt altogether : )

Spray some PAM on the newly purchased
silicone madeleine pan : 0
well... i didn't have any petit fours pan : /
so improvise it is!

Mix everything together : D
oh... semisweet x bittersweet x milk chocolate...
SMELL SO GOOD : )))

Place some raisins & choco chips at the bottom,
fill the madeleine pan with the gooey goodness,
then top it with fresh blueberries : )

Somehow, there was a lot of leftover batter : 0
blueberries ran out eventually...
so i use marshmallows and shredded coconut also!

A close-up of how they came out : )

It turned out that Karen had fun
with the gift goh goh and i gave:
ICE CREAM MACHINE!!
& this warm, gooey petit dessert
became the perfect match to her
fresh vanilla bean ice-cream : D
YAY!

JasMart Find # 527

I know, i know... i buy so many snacks,
& you read about them so often... 0_o"

ANYWAY... i love JasMart! : D
& these goodies are excellent ; )

Top to bottm, left to right:
- Sparkling Fall Apple Soda
- Fresh Apricot Jello Cup
- Creamy Lemon Biscuits
- Yuzu Soft gummi
- Vanilla Bean flavored KitKat

hehe who'd like to try them with me? ; )

Valentine's Feast #1 -- Kittichai

Last year's V-Day,
goh goh and i made reservations at
WHITE CASTLE... 0_o

HAA!
Not because of their food,
but that it was funny enough,
to mock the rave about spending mucho $$$,
celebrating a 'holiday' we don't believe in.

However, due to the snow storm & the car failing on us,
we couldn't even go through with this silly plan.

This year, however, we turned around and decided:
Hey, why not make this yet another reason
(read: excuse) for us to enjoy some good food?!

Considering that goh goh & i:
A) love sharing Thai food together
B) never miss the Iron Chef show on sundays;

We're bound to come to come here,
after watching that amazing episode:
www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_ia/
episode/0,1976,FOOD_16696_47931,00.html

Taaaaa DAAAAAAAA! : D

KITTICHAI RESTAURANT

This restaurant is quite busy,
hence the required reservation beforehand.
Yay for goh goh ; ) who took care of that.

The design of the restaurant is very artistic & classy,
while the atmosphere is romantic & comforting : )

Here, take a look:



A sense of Modern Thai --the theme of the restaurant's
cuisine -- is richly conveyed in the decorations.

Hanging Orchids + Floating Candles = WOW!!!

Goh goh: "Are you done taking pictures yet?
Can we please look at the menu now?"

What's a girl to do,
when so many amazing choices are presented? : (

Appetizer:
Seabass Tempura with Sweet-Chili Tamarind Sauce

Verdict: How in the world can the seabass bites
be SO JUICY?!?!?! 0_o

After the appetizer, i was admiring the design
of their glasses: It's in a rounded square shape,
with a slight dip on each side, very well
fitted for the customer's fingers : )

I admire their detail-oriented design,
even down to one single water glass!

At the sight of the utensils presented to us,
i got all giggly and exclaimed,
"Goh goh, LOOK! These look exactly the same
as the ones we used in Bali!" **huge grin**

awww... such lovely memories : )))

Here comes our entree!

Goh goh's pick:
Wok-seared Tiger Prawns
with Garlic Pepper sauce and green beans

My pick:
Pineapple Braised Short Ribs in Green Curry,
Thai Eggplant and Sweet Basil

Side (A given): Jasmine Rice

Verdicts:
- Prawns were FRESH & HUGE!
Crunchy and flavorful ; )

But we've had better sauce before...

- The Short Ribs were so AMAZING *_*
We were speechless after the first bite,
and had to pause to let the tenderness of the pork,
the fragrance of the coconut milk,

the tartness of the pineapple,
the smooth texture of the curry... sink in.

i deliberately ate really really slow,
and drank very little water,
in order to savor every bite as long as possible *0*

However, we didn't order enough,
given the small portions of the dishes : /

Hence the Random Pick:
Baked Chilean Sea Bass marinated in
yellow salted beans with morning glory.

What's yellow salted beans?

What's morning glory?

NO IDEA.
But we ordered it anyway! : D

Goh goh said, "Let's hope that this dish is
even more amazing than the Short Ribs!"

Verdict?

Haha... goh goh said we must show the world
how fat we are, for we cleaned all the plates : b

The Sea bass, just like the appetizer,
is THICK + JUICY + SMOOTH : 0

The glaze on the fish is mildly sweet,
giving off a faint resemblance to a miso glaze.

Morning Glory turns out to be Water Spinach's
other (prettier) name : )
& somehow, the garlicky veggies complement
the fish PERFECTLY.

It was dish-licking good *0*
& i consider it a (high) tie to the Short Ribs : )

In HEi's book, meals are not complete without desserts!

But... i wanted to try so many of them 0_o
What to do?????

These days, i feel like goh goh's been spoiling me,
esp. when it comes to food.

& here he said, "Go ahead. Order an extra.
You know you want to." : )

Taaa Daaa! ; )

My pick #1: Coconut Crepes with Kalamanci Sauce

Verdict:
I was expecting coconut inside the crepes,
but it turns out to be a ball of REALLY SMOOTH
& MILKY coconut ice cream ; )

The crepes were not filled, but were thoroughly
soaked up in the citrus syrup,
topped with sweet tangerine slices & glazed orange zest.
Loved it, but was below my really high expectations : b

Goh goh's pick: Jasmine Flan on a Sweet and Sour
Fruit Salad with Jasmine Rice Ice Cream

Verdict:
The flan was OUTSTANDING.
I've never tasted anything quite like it.

The petite beauty was infused with
the unique flavor of jasmine,
& it complements the jasmine rice ice cream
like a match made in heaven! *0*

The fruit salad was top quality also ; )

My pick #2: Thai Tea Ice Cream Sundae
with Palm Seeds and Coconut Jelly

Verdict:

The chef's creativity was overflowing in this dish!

All homemade ice-cream:
Thai Iced Tea -- Silky texture,
every bite filled with the aroma of traditional thai black tea
Creamy Coconut -- as mentioned above ; )

Thai Iced Coffee -- Crushed coffee beans infused;

So glad this wasn't smooth like the others,
for the difference in texture makes a sharp contrast ; )

What's even better?

Top them all off with Chocolate + Caramel Sauce +
crushed almond caramel bits!

i was eating so slow at one point,
that goh goh had to coax me into speeding up,
before all the ice cream melted : b

The only disappointment in this dish:
the coconut jelly sat in the banana-like flavored syrup
too long : ( & the jackfruit tasted like banana, too.

(yes, i don't like bananas...
so i'm making personal preferential criticisms.)

All in all, i couldn't have been happier with this meal!

Quoting Goh goh,
"This is one of the best meals I've ever had!"

FYI:

Kittichai Restaurant

Address: 60 Thompson Street, New York, NY 10012

Reservations: 212 219 2000

Website: kittichairestaurant.com

p.s. Don't you want to go there with me again,
to try the family/ tasting menu?! : DDDD

The Best Souvenirs for hei : D

YAY to Carol & Eddie!!!
They went to Hong Kong : 0
So Goh goh and i had to cat-sit Sugar for Carol : )

What did Carol get us in return?
The BEST kind of Souvenirs for STF, of course!

From Left to Right, Top to Bottom:
- Calbee Curry Flavored Chips
- Calbee Teriyaki Honey Chicken Wings Flavored Chips
- Glico Chocolate Cream Collon
- Freshly Sealed Beef Jerky *_*
- Air Bubble Chocolate
- Air Bubble Strawberry & Milk Chocolate

YAYYYYYYYY!!! : D
Y'All know what's the right thing to do,
next time you go on a trip, RIGHT? ; )

Runny Raspberry

For this past Sunday's dinner,
i got very ambitious --
even after spending all day in the kitchen,
deboning those monstrous wings --
i decided i could make a dessert dish also!

So i made a Runny Raspberry...thing.
[Some call it bar, some call it square,
some call it strudel... but it's sorta none/all of the above.]

Alright. The RUNNY part was unintended,
and i've been trying to find out what went wrong in the process.

I used:

Eggs


All-purpose Flour + Sugar


Salted butter
(coz there were no unsalted around...
& as a result? i added more sugar...)
+ Lime juice


Seedless Raspberry Preserves
+ Some semi-sweet chocolate morsels,
which became invisible after baking.



So what went wrong?
I suspected it could be:
a) i added too much lime juice.
b) i added too much preserves.
c) i didn't add enough flour.
d) All or some of the above.
e) i may never find out 0_o"

Anyhow, thanks to the Chins
for enjoying this Runny Dessert nonetheless,
& letting me play in their kitchen! : D

p.s. MUST SERVE THIS DESSERT HOT!
This with Ice-cream was like a match made in heaven!
(wait a sec... is that why this Thing was runny?)

Dessert Only

One day, goh goh and i got home after work,
and neither of us feel like cooking...

What did we end up eating for dinner?





Yup. All desserts!
Cheesecake, Loaf cake, Chocolate truffles,
Vanilla Fudge Ice-cream, Chocolate covered Almonds...


As if to make ourselves feel HEALTHIER,
we had some apples / Korean pears afterwards.

Don't you wish you live with us? : )

Creamy Coconut

After a busy week, I'm back on my baking experiments! : )

I've been pondering what to make for Fafa --
Since he likes coconut flavored stuff,
i decided to make up something tailor-made for him.


A whole bunch of ingredients...

I found a recipe online for a creamy coconut layered cake,
but decided that it'd be too complicated, to transport
a huge cake with frosting from Forest Hills to Chinatown...
Plus Fafa is not a huge dessert person,
so i thought creating something small might be ideal : )


Fill the muffin cups with the batter,
which contains coconut milk : )


Then whip up the filling:
coconut milk, sweetened coconut flakes,
sugar, sour cream... MMmmMMMmmm... : )


Place it on top of the cake batter,
then top it off with some more coconut flakes : D


Since there was so much batter left,
I decided to make 2 loaf cakes also : )
Coconut should go well with white chocolate chips, too -
I suppose?!
So let's experiment and put some in,
then top it with the fillings!



After baking @ 350F:




Hehehe...
I got some extra to give away...
Who's interested -- please let me know! : D