Dinner chez moi

These days, I cook a lot more often than before at home. Last weekend, some friends came over and these were what we had...

A very simple starter, and light: steamed new potato with truffle-infused butter and a few drops of truffle oil.

Main course: Lamb tajine with ratatouille and couscous.

A simple salad with a sliver of brie.

Finish with baked apple with butterscotch sauce

Recipe for the Lamb tajine:
For 4 persons

1.5 kg of boneless lamb shoulder
3 tbsp of korma curry powder
1/2 kg potatoes, peeled and largely cubed
3 onions, blended with 5 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup dried prunes
1/3 cup dried apricot
1 cup white wine
Cinnamon stick, coriander seeds and 2 bay leaves
Salt to taste

In a deep stainless steel pot, heat and infuse some oil with the coriander seeds and cinnamon stick. Sear the lamb pieces, add the korma curry powder and mix well. Add the onion and garlic paste, coat well. De-glaze with the wine, add the potatoes and dried fruits. Add the bay leaves last, cover with enough water to simmer and cook until the lamb is tender.

The Sultan came for CNY in Raub

On the tenth day of the Lunar Festival, the town of Raub was set ablazed with activities as His Majesty the Sultan of Pahang came gracing the event gala in the town field. I was getting my haircut earlier that day and was bewildered by the setting up of the field in town. A check with my barber (they're the local news agents) revealed that there will be buses ferrying village folks from all over the district (gratos!) and FOOD will be served (also gratos!) to all -apparently 50 000 sticks of satay in stalls set around the periphery of the field with a stage for the mini concert with local stars like Siti Norhaliza, David Arumugam of the Alleycats and M.Nasir...the party ended at 11.30 pm with a firework display...(only heard the fireworks as we left early to avoid being caught in the traffic crawl with the exiting crowd)

His Majesty the Sultan of Pahang through the large screen - I couldn't get near because of the crowd and I wasn't anybody important on the VIP list...ooops

People everywhere because of food (so typically Malaysian...)

The tents at night...

Don't mind carrying so long as it was free...mandarins were given out free in crates...

Young talents of the town...sad no one clapped, even for the popular Siti in concert.

Siti on stage, belting out a Chinese number and then her evergreen Cindai...

Next came David Arumugam of the Alleycats with his iconic Afro-do from the 70s and his iconic song Andainya Ku Pergi...

Lastly was M.Nasir...

Next day at 9 in the morning at the Rest House...signs of festive hangover...

Namnam fruit (6-6 in Malay) next to Doraemon comics

Drumstick beans

Colorful Parrot fish...

Saint - Emilion

Spring 2004 was 7 years minus a month + ago today... a very rainy and gloomy spring then. Back then I had shoulder length hair and was a student on cultural visits organized by the CUFLE (Centre for French as a Foreign Language) in University of La Rochelle. The teachers thought that visiting wine countries that France is famous for was a 'chouette' (great) idea and we thought so too...and so off we went to Saint-Emilion, beyond the famous city of Bordeaux in the South-West of France.

Wine...wine...wine...history...history...history...and food.

At the beginning of the wine route in a tram...

and spring rained on us...

cemetery behind the town church...

first glimpse of the vineyard, with a distance view of the town

Wine cellar of a vineyard (forgot the name). We were given a wine tasting session with some very fine wine and a bottle or two of Grand Cru Classe.

view outside the chateau (wine maker's maison...not a real castle)

the town hall after the rain...

another view

a very old church carved onto the hill side (called monolithic church)

the bell tower of the church...

outside the courtyard of the church

The cavern of the church's interior...

the weakened limestone structure reinforced with technology...

the ceiling vault...

carved messages on the walls of the catacombs...

intriguing hole on the ceiling vault...

more stone tombs in the catacombs...

Chapel of the Trinity...

frescoes on the chapel's dome...

external wall

the many cobbled and undulating streets of Saint-Emilion on a quiet Sunday

Visit Saint-Emilion on http://www.saint-emilion-tourisme.com

Pong Teh

This Chinese New Year, I've decided to serve finger food with an ethnic feel to it. One of them is Pong Teh, a Peranakan-styled dish that is actually pork and chicken stew with salted soy beans. Got the recipe from my MIL who came visiting but adapted it to my needs as the original dish is rather soupy - I made a rather thick and creamy sauce and used pork ribs only...

Ingredients (serve 8)

1.5 kg pork ribs, cut to individual ribs
3 tablespoon of minced salted soy beans (taucu)
3 onions, 2 entire head of garlic blended
1 tin winter bamboo shoots, finely sliced

In a hot deep casserole, fry the onion and garlic mixture until fragrant.
Add the soy paste, continue frying until the mixture starts to caramelize.
Add 2 tbsp of sugar at this point to hasten the process as well as adjusting the saltiness of the mixture.
Add the pork ribs, coat well and add water to cook down (about 35 mins).
Add the sliced bamboo shoots and cook for a further 10 mins.

To serve

For the base:
800 g Chinese arrow roots (Nga Ku in Chinese, a species of Sagittaria)
1 large leek

Peel the arrow roots, dice them and arrange in a steaming plate.
Prepare the leeks and pile them over the arrow roots.
Steam for about 20 mins until tender, remove and puree.
Lighten with natural yogurt and adjust the taste.

Spoon the puree on the base of a deep bowl, pile the ribs on top and place a few slices of bamboo shoots to garnish. Serve with fresh baguette bread.

Fanfare at Raub

This must have been the strangest of times, to have a fanfare coming to town during the festive season. One came a week ago smack in the middle of the late rainy season- I was reminded of my childhood days where the circus would come once a year, many times during the rainy season and people would throng the muddy field to get to the circus. Then, there was also the fanfare like the circus. What I missed as a child was the parading of the big animals (elephants) through town to the lotus pond nearby the golf course every afternoon to bathe the animals and that was one of the most anticipated event of the year for us children...times changed, the circus don't come no more and the fanfares...look like they were stuck in time and forgot to evolve, or rather, we might have grown out of it for our own good...

People still find their inner child at the fanfare despite modernity...

The haunted house...

lights...

throw a ring to win a token...

revolving toy car

the Ferris wheel...