Wednesday, September 28, 2011

I Am In!!!

Woohooo, got an email from Nuffnang yesterday but it was in junkbox hahaha

















Guess my entry worked hehe...and a BIG thank you to everyone who supported me y'all.

Now I am allowed to bring a guest to The Cooking House in Hartamas, any volunteers? ;)




Sunday, September 25, 2011

My Recipe to become Malaysia’s First Ever Blogger MasterChef !!! RAWR!!!

RAWR!!!! Fear me for I will be Malaysia’s First Ever Blogger MasterChef!!!

















(ignore the teddy bear apron, I couldn't find my KISS ME BABY I AM THE CHEF apron)



MasterChef Malaysia Details

















MasterChef is a worldwide phenomenon. A cooking reality show, that although doesn’t allow viewers to vote, has still broken viewership records in US and Australia. MasterChef is a success because not only is Food something we are all very passionate about but the show only allows amateur cooks to compete. Malaysians who love cooking but never had a chance to really showcase their skills and be appreciated, now get the opportunity! Get ready for the MasterChef phenomenon to take over Malaysia on 22nd October 2011!

- MasterChef Malaysia launch date – 22nd October 2011

- Show title – MasterChef Malaysia
- Program Details: – MasterChef TX will be starting from 22nd October 2011, every Saturday – Wednesday, 9.00pm. Master Class will be on every Friday, 9.00pm.

- Program channel – Astro Ria (Channel 104)

- Official Site URL – http://www.astro.com.my/MasterChef/
- Facebook Page Link- http://www.facebook.com/MasterChefMalaysia
- Twitter Link– www.twitter.com/MasterChefMY


And since I did not get the chance to join Masterchef Malaysia due to my crazy schedule a couple of months back, imma come out with a BANG with Malaysia's First Blogger Masterchef! So this doggy gonna show you how to prepare one of his favorite meals! RAWR!!!

First...get doggyjames' favorite doggy biscuits and put them nicely on a bowl...
















Ohwait....

Its supposed to be human food innit? Scrap the doggy treats idea then :p


Here you go then, human food. Here's doggyjames' take on steak & salad, one of my tastiest personal culinary inventions :)

Ribeye Steak on top of a bed of French Dressing Salad and Meehun.

What you need:

1 piece of steak (you can use your favorite cut of steak, I prefer Ribeye :)
1 serving of meehun or vercimelli (1 handful per person should be enough)
Rocket leaves
Cherry tomatoes
Spring Onions
clove of garlic
Onion
red chilli
coriander
lemon
Cracked blackpepper
Salt
Olive oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Egg
basil
paprika

The recipe calls for all 3 major components to be stacked up and arranged together accordingly, namely the Salad, Meehun & Steak.

So, lets start with the steak.

We do not need to marinate the steak much since I prefer to have the meat to have its OMMPH!!! beefiness. So just layer the meat with a simple mixture of 3 parts olive oil to 1 part balsamic vinegar, and then put on a generous amount of salt and cracked black pepper and let it sit for 5 minutes. (you can go to the toilet if you want....wait...better not)


















Heat up the pan and apply a generous amount of olive oil, its OK even if you think there are too much oil, we are going to reuse the oil later on. Gently put the steak into the pan and cook according to your prefer doneness. I like mine medium well, so its 6 minutes on one side, and 3 minutes on another. Here's an easy method to test the doneness of your steak with your hands.
No, don't put your hands into the oil....


















After the steak is done, take it out and let it rest for about 5-10 minutes so the natural juices in the steak can be kept inside the meat....DO NOT KACAU THE MEAT DURING THE COOLING PERIOD!!!




















Next, Let's do the meehun.

Use the left over oil from the steak and add in 1/4 onion, a clove of garlic and 1 red chilli, all finely cut so the flavours could truly showcase themselves. You can add more oil if you want but that's strictly according to your taste. Try and scrap most of the charred bits from the bottom of the pan to extract more beefy goodness. (No need to wash pan, doggyjames likes hehehe)


































Next, add in the cooked meehun
and stir fry them together. You can then add in salt or soy sauce for more taste and right at the end, add in the finely chopped spring onions and coriander. At this point, TRY not to curi makan...I know its hard but handcuff yourself at this point if you must.


















Lastly, lets do the salad.

Wash and dry your rocket leaves and cherry tomatoes (you can use any salad leaves you want, its a free country!) and place them into a large bowl. The dressing are made stirring 4 parts olive oil to 1 part balsamic vinegar, juice of 1/2 a lemon, lemon zest, basil, and just a pinch of salt and mix them well. Mix the dressing into the leaves and tomatoes and leave them there for 1-2 minutes while you prepare the last item which marries everything together...the poached egg! :D


















OK...Seriously I suck at poaching eggs and this is my 3rd egg...pfft.


















Lastly...5 minutes before eating...its time to put them together!!! WOOF WOOF!!! XD

First salad and meehun...



































Then slice the steak into stripes...and for the chef only...eat the rest hehehe.


















Then just place the steak and poached egg with a dash of paprika on top!!! :D


















OK 1 more step...MAKAN!!!



































BLURPPPP!!!


















A wonderful meal, if I do say so myself...now NUFFNAG...Is THIS good enough to join Blogger MasterChef Malaysia ?

Oh yes, 1 last step to the recipe...when mum screams after seeing the mess in the kitchen, wash the dishes...


















SO COME ON Nuffnang...Let doggyjames
Cook Up a Storm as Malaysia's First Ever Blogger MasterChef!!!

















...



Italian Cone Pizza, IOI Boulevard Puchong

I have always been a Pizza lover all my life and once finish a 15 inch pizza all by myself during my Uni days (proud!), thats how I love my pizzas back in the days when the metabolism is still sky high. Unfortunately my appetite has not been as crazy as those days lately and it is not really easy to get a bunch of pizza loving friends to come out and share a big one together due to our work and family commitments.

This is where Italian Cone Pizza fits in, discovered when I was making my rounds at IOI Boulevard's bars.

















You would not find traditionally shaped pizzas here because, well, its cone pizza! simply put the pizzas are shape as cones with the sauces, fillings and cheese fit inside a cone shaped pizza dough. An interesting concept for pizza on the go and for those who would be having their pizzas alone at times.

I was there yet again with a friend before we made our weekly rounds to the bars here and decided some Italian fare would be great for us before we get stoned on beers. We met at the place at about 3pm where there were not many patrons, placed our orders and less than 10 minutes later our food arrived. Truly good food made fast (curi slogan hehe).

I was feeling American that day and decided to go for the Classic Beef Pepperoni (RM8.90). They were really generous on the meet as each mouthful was filled with chunks of pepperoni, accompanied by their fragrant tomato paste and stringy cheese. How can anyone not love this! Becareful though as I would burn my tongue everytime I dine here, not because I was not being careful but its just too good to eat slowly! heh.


































My friend decided to go for the Meatsaurous (RM9.90), which was packed with sausages, ham and pepperoni. It was a definitely hit with carnivors such as ourselves and of course, he burnt his tongue too!


















With such prices, one would definitely get more than just a value meal. You would be getting great flavours and tonnes of filings, all wrapped in a convenient cone! Sets with soups and drinks are available as well for those who wants a complete meal.

Oh yeah, one more thing. Cone pizzas here comes with a plastic holder so you wont burn your hands while eating. I found out after this visit. Talk about getting pawned by a damn pizza.



















Here's a map for you readers. Italian Cone Pizza Puchong is located at IOI Boulevard, facing 7 Elevens and near Paparich.















Italian Cone Pizza, IOI Boulevard Puchong
13A Ground Floor
Jalan Kenari 4
Bandar Puchong Jaya
Puchong, Selangor


Tel: 03-8070 4691

Operation Hours:
Daily 10am - 10pm

http://conepizza.com.my/



doggyjames says...a truly different way in pizzatechnology! A hidden gem if you ask me, certainly worth a try!




Sunday, September 18, 2011

Thai Thai, Sunway Pyramid

After a movie session with a friend during the weekends, as we were walking around Sunway Pyramid to look for dinner places we walked past Thai Thai restaurant, and immediately had our noses attracted to the aromatic spicy smell coming from the restaurant. Now despite not hungry yet because of the jumbo size caramel popcorn we had during the movie, we were intrigued and immediately decided to have our dinner right there.

















I really liked the interior settings of the restaurant. There were the usual Thai paintings you'd expect to find in a Thai restaurant and yet the unique thing about this place is that it is really cozy and spacey. We sat on the side, because of the sofa and intimate setting over there. There is an outdoor seating for smokers alike, always a plus point in my books.

































Being a Tom Yum soup lover, I insisted that we ordered a tomyum soup each. I decided on the TomYum Goong (RM12) and my friend decided to have the Tomyum chicken (RM10). The soup base is the same for both soups as we found out later on, the difference is only in the ingredients. The spiciness of the soup really hit the spot for me, and I ending up sweating like a pig halfway through the soup but it was sooooooo worth it! Albeit not as awesome as the real deal in Thailand, this is surely close enough for me.












































As for the meal itself, we had the Deep Fried Boness Duck (RM16) as we were both intrigued by the picture. Although as usual, the real dish did not look as tantalizing as the picture, it was still very good. The fillet of duck was coated in tempura batter and was giving a quick dip in hot oil, accompanied by a sweet chili sauce. The taste of the duck was very much there and really tender.


































We also ordered Kangkung Belachan (RM12) as we both love this dish. It is alright at best, as I would prefer the dish to be spicier and hoped they were more generous with the belachan.

















We decided to have the Thai Iced Coffee to top off the meal and to provide some much needed caffeine for the drinking ahead. it was okay in my books though my friend really liked the gula melaka they added into the coffee.























Overall the meal was a decent one and I was more than happy to have my TomYum cravings fulfilled. The cozy settings makes this a really good place for couples and best of all, it's not really hard on the wallet!

Seriously you wouldn't need a map to Sunway Pyramid would you? Thai Thai is located next to Ole-Ole Bali and has both an entrance from inside the mall as well as outside.



Thai Thai
Lot OB-1D, Oasis Boulevard,
Sunway Pyramid.

Tel: 03-7491 9428

Operating Hours: 10am - 10pm daily



doggyjames says...a nice little Thai escape in Pyramid, easy to miss but you should try it at least once. Good review on their sticky rice mango dessert too :)








Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Get Drunk, Not Fat

A friend of mine showed me this website recently, knowing how much of a hardcore beer tank...i mean how much i appreciate good alcoholic drinks. The website displays the calorie content for various alcoholic drinks, be it beer, spirits or cocktails. What I like about this website is that it shows the calorie to alcohol ratio for each drinks, which simply means how much calories u need to down to get sky high :)

Apparently the best drink is everclear, a 75%-95% alcohol content spirit FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU, drank neat, of course.


















My favorite Strongbow cider has a score of 28.4, smack right in the middle of the chart between Kronenbourg 1664 (26.5) and Jager Bomb (47.9)...crap






















Well, at least one of my favorite cocktails is placed at a healthier place with a score of 22.2 which means drink up!
















Surprisingly enough, the beverage which scored the worst is Becks Non-Alcohol Beer. Figures since the beverage only has 0.3% (I wont even call it a beer, it's like calling myself Ryan Reynolds) and you need to drink A LOT just to get a little bit floaty.























The site even has a facebook page right here if you are interested.

This shows that if you wanna maintain your weight yet get sky high everyday, choose your drinks well. I've seen so many people going for light beer because they thought it's healthier to their bellies, suckers.




doggyjames says....Drink Up, Drink Wise & just down yer shots y'all!






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