Something to end 2006. Milan.... Milan... next

Souffle. My properly baked Souffle. Just chocolate.

This is wondeful. as i thought Zaed and us are going to leave the house for holidays, I made some light simple dish yet very earthy and quite not so filling.

Courgette Tagliatelle with chicken basil spinach.

Good bye 2006 and a happy new year. I'll come back, hopefully i got very interesting pictures to show from Milan.

Lamb and Chicken

Saddle of lamb

Tender juicy lamb with herbs stuffing.

Tender lamb with saffron rice topped with brown sauce (Noisette)

btw, lamb shouldn't be overcooked. Served Pink! Beautiful.

Yasmin's simple tarmarind chicken swirl.

Since Friday...

Few desserts during the weekend.

Winter Sunshine: Grapes in creme Anglaise with raspberry Coulis

Rack of Lamb in boulion.

Rack of Lamb, mash horseradish mashed potatoes, miniature carrots and leeks with onion confit.

Pretty. salted-baked pineapple "French"

Cracked it once ready to be served

Look at the juice...

Lastly, Panna cotta with Rose granita.

Mains and Dessert!

Since cristmas is coming very soon, with all the advert of roast turkey and all sorts of sweets on the tele. I decided to make my own party. I Roasted a Chicken with potatoes and my own youghurt sauce.

Roasted herbs paprika chicken and pimento with potatoes.

Basting with its own fats

Baby potatoes with roasted pimento (red pepper)

there you have it on a plate. Fantastic!!!

For desserts:

Traditional English Egg Custard Tart.

Finishing touch: Egg custard Tart, Vanilla Ice cream with raspberry jam.

Scrumptious!

Back at home...

What's Brunei official dish really? Besides ambuyat?. I've been socialising with quite a number of Bruneian students. When asked "Apa kau rindu makan di Brunei? or What are you craving?" the answers i got is brutally obvious. -> Kolo mee, Kway teow, Nasi ayam, Buttermilk and somemore Butter buttermilk and always nasi katok. Im just numb. I wonder if we appreciate food that much or the principal (makan asal kanyang sama murah) stucked in mind. How many would pay for quality food that uses quality ingredients? How many fit health concious doctors and food scientist in Brunei acknowldege trans fatty acid, free-Range Chicken (Ayam Kampong), suet Pastry (all those cake batik, cake roll), all those types of margarines, cheap-deep frying oil or the benefits of Rapeseed oil as similar to sunflower oil. does anyone knows?. Whats the average of people got admitted to Jerudong hospital for heart attack. What's the average age? Do we worry?. So makan saja. Control makan haha. So for yesterday's makan time, I made the missus and friends something like "back home".

Chicken leg confit Korma, Potatoes fish veloute' with Pilau Rice.

Confit

{Kohn-Fee, Kon Fee}:

is meat which is preserved by its own fats. It's normally stored about more than couple of months before being serve and can last up to 5-6 months. Its French and it's originally a made for duck dishes.

and for dinner we had....

Canned corned Mutton with leeks and Cilantro KOLO MEE

P.s: Yus, nyaman lah. Tesco or dorchestor hotel nada nie :) I hope you can come later before kolo mee get mouldy.

Dinner for the lads

Poached haddock a'la florentine with roasted auburgine

This dish is normally refers to a fish, bedded on top of a spinach then a mornay sauce. Rocket salad works really well with this dish. Smoked mackerel, Raspberry Compote' and Creme Fraiche'

Starter version.

GLUTEN...

Lots of flour and more flour.

Sun-dried tomato and Basil Rolls

Pretzel

Norfolk Crunch Bread

Hot cross Bun.. (I dont really ike this one) Too zesty and doesnt combine well with the sticky syrup for my taste and too many raisins.

P.s :/ No crosses made, More of christians traditional bread of an events.

Scottish Wild Salmon. Speaking About OMEGA 3..

Ciabatta is an Italian bread made with wheat flour and lots of yeast. I made this last week and i couldnt be happier with the result. That dusty sprinkle on the bread is semolina. Try freshly baked ciabatta with homous or balsalmic vinegar with olive oil. MAMA MIA.......

We had Salmon last Friday at my princess's house. I tried not to overcook the skin. I just dont want the skin to turn crispy. So what I did was, instead of covering it with tin foil, I used carrot peels and covered the salmon with it as you can see below. I glazed the carrots with melted butter and sugar. Baked at 220 degree 'C for 20 - 25 minutes.

I cut the salmon into darne and served it with cheese Souffles, Auburgine caviar on toast and glazed carrot peels. Look at the skin, moist and not crispy.

And Look at that, Fresh Scottish Salmon. Not dry, tender, moist and delicious.

A pud of Cadbury chocolate from the factory last weekend visit in Birmingham. Indulgeeeeee...

Cadbury Factory.
Giant Souffles good for 5 people.

Typical malay makan Tengah hari. Sauteed Taugeh, Sambal Mangga, Chicken Curry with potatoes and one western menu menyampuk, Baked 'Fish Cake'

8 more months to go..... and the Kitchen is all mine again. I miss my stove!

Gordon Ramsay

I got invited by Gordon Ramsay ;-P to Waterstone in Birmingham for his book signing. I que for about an hour for a mere 5 seconds conversation with him. HUMBLE PIE. He wrote about his upbringing, how he turned out to be what he is right now, his success and many more. Go buy!

Thats me with the 3 Michelin Star Chef. Mr Gordon Ramsay. He surely look scary. White T-shirt, Pair of jeans and trainers by New Balance. Humble In and Out. So yea.. I dont cook Spicy Strong Shrimp Sambal Belacan for nothing.

It's not what his fortune that makes me wanted to meet him. Its his Passion and wisdom that got me into meeting him. He swears alot just because he wants the the plate to be hot when serving. I believe chefs are not born to become chefs, Its your genuine passion that drives you through. I honestly can tell you recipes are there for grabs but its more to determination and definitely lots of hard work. I promise you I can turn my gardaner making great roasted chicken and chicken Korma haha.

Chicken Percik, posh mashed potatoes with steamed pakchoi.

I made this yesterday as My princess wanted something to go with coconut cream. Instead of the usual coconut milk gravy of chicken. I tried out something new where I use braising cooking method. I debone chicken thighs and makes it easy to eat. I use potatoes instead of rice. I tell you what... It was gobsmackingly delicious especially with the way how i incorporate the potatoes with the chicken. Recipes?? just email me...

Something malay over the weekend. and i just came out with that idea of using Chicken percik. Basically Chicken percik is a malaysian dish where the chicken is marinated overnight with coconut milk and then barbecued. Kiki Likes it. Not bad for a Bruneian Londoners to give me the thumbs up.

In the pastry Kitchen...

4 deck oven. Just how much it would cost me to get one of this. Bloody 30,000 POUNDS. Its handmade in England, aiyoh... I forgot it's manufacturer. What they always say about chefs... "Chefs are never satisfied" so .. get me one.

Below, are Horbart Blender. Google it. This heavy duty machine has been at the college since 1960's. It is still working. Horbart is it!

hehe, poor old Chef Cooper. Preparing us Chocolate cream for the Swanssssss. Mr cooper has been teaching at the college since 1965 if I'm not wrong. He pastry Chefs. Im glad that he is my mentor. Huge vast experience. Likes to share funny jokes too. YOU are the MASTER Chef!

We have pastry lesson once a week. I don't make a big deal out of making pastries because it's something I'm not very fond of. My friends and I just realised why the bakery students were slightly on the chubby side. (No, I mean over the edge of that side hehe.) They keep eating the pastry as it comes out of the oven. I know because I DO THAT!

Swan Pastry

Swan made of Choux paste with Nutella fillings (cream and hazelnut). I don't know why we were asked to do this one, it's just a swan. It's actually profiteroles.

Bakewell tart case using the traditional tweezer. I'm so proud of that. I used sweet paste. It can be used for all sorts of sweet tarts, for example egg custard tart.

Braised Beef Steak

British food, apparently. It was good. Cooked at 8 Wallace Road, Loughborough. With this menu, I served with potato dauphinoise, Glazed Carrot, grilled Mushrooms and Onion Rings. I overheard Masnur with a long mmmmmmmmmm............. I took it as a compliment. Surprisingly its Mustanir's 1st meat (BEEF) meal ever in Loughborough. Overall Im proud of this English dish I made over the weekend.

hello guys...

Its's been ages since i last came here. Here are some pictures while i was away hehe Love this dessert, 'Cendol tapai pulut'
Mahran getting started haha. 'Lau pa sat food centre' (Singapore july 06')
boarding airasia 1st time from Brunei to Kl.. Guess why the looks...
Now you know haha. jangan marah tony fernandez
Wah.... look at that serving! haha can u keep up?
Walah....... hehe. Big capacity yo! (Singapore 2006)

My homemade 'Chocolate Crunchy' So nyummy... Oh
Im proud of this one.... Its durian Profitaroles. So it's more like bizzarre desserts for the Westerners. Nice blend! yes I made this too haha :P