This picture of meatballs in IKEA restaurant was taken in April 2008. But I guess if you go there now, you will still get to buy this kid’s menu of meatballs (not sure about any change in price though!)

The day that I ate this, I also ate Gravad Lax. That was why I opted for kid’s menu instead of the normal portion of meatballs. I like the cranberry sauce that comes with the meatballs. At first I thought it tasted weird to have something sweet with meat (the first time I ate meatballs in IKEA) but after a few more meals, it tastes just right..hehe!

But I still eat the fries with chili sauce..I guess you can’t run away from the fact that Malaysians like spicy food…(even if they are pretending to enjoy Swedish food..haha!) So if you are in Mutiara Damansara area, head to IKEA restaurant and have their famous meatballs.

IKEA Meatballs originally appeared on CintaRasa on October 27, 2009.

People has been asking me the recipe of my rendang ayam since I uploaded the first entry. The thing is I don’t have an accurate measurement when I cook such dishes thus the reason why it is hard for me to tell them how to cook this rendang ayam.

For those who know the basic of cooking, I hope you will have the idea on how much the main ingredients like bawang, halia, serai etc that needed to be cut to balance how much the meat that you are going to cook.

I was browsing through past years magazines on food to cooked for jamuan rumah terbuka and Hari Raya when I found 2 recipes of rendang that could be combined to be my recipe (except for the measurement)

Here is roughly how I made this rendang ayam:

Bahan-bahan:
1.5kg ayam
Minyak masak
2 sudu makan kerisik
1 kg santan pekat
2 cawan air
2 helai daun kunyit (dimayang halus)
Garam kasar

Bahan Dikisar:
Cili kering
Bawang besar
Bawang merah
Bawang putih
Halia
Lengkuas
Kunyit Hidup
Serai

Cara Membuatnya:
1. Panaskan minyak, tumis bahan yang telah dikisar hingga berbau harum.
2. Kemudian masukkan ayam, kacau hingga sebati.
3. Masukkan santan pekat dan air. Kacau lagi dan biar kuah mendidih.
4. Bila separuh masak, masukkan kerisik dan garam secukup rasa. Biar kuah menjadi agak pekat.
5. Akhir sekali, masukkan daun kunyit untuk menaikkan bau sajian.

Resepi Rendang Ayam originally appeared on CintaRasa on October 2, 2009.

It’s Raya season again! And I somehow want to eat biskut samperit so much that I decided to make my own. Before I decided to bake my own biskut raya, I bought 2 containers of samperit, one tastes good but it’s not in flower shape. The other one samperit bunga I bought at bazaar Ramadhan tastes blerrghh..huhu!

So Hubby said why don’t we bake our own samperit this year. So I googled for recipe and read for tips on how to make a good samperit.

This original recipe was taken from myresipi.com. They have many great kuih raya recipe. I only used half of the ingredients portion which make roughly about 40++ of biskut samperit. Maybe because the way Hubby pressed the mold, making the cookies quite large..heh!

Bahan-bahan ( 100 biji )

* 8 oz - 220g tepung gandum
* 3 oz - 75g tepung kastard
* 1 1/2 oz - 26gm tepung ubi
* 6 oz - 150g gula halus
* 7 oz - 195g marjerin / mentega
* 1 biji kuning telur
* 1 sudu teh esen vanilla
* Ceri merah dan hijau utk hiasan

Cara-cara
1. Pukul gula dan marjerin hingga kembang.
2. Masukkan telur sedikit demi sedikit. masukkan esen vanilla. Putar lagi seketika.
3. Ayakkan tepung gandum, tepung ubi dan kastard.
4. Masukkan adunan tepung ke dalam adunan mentega sedikit demi sedikit.
5. Terap menggunakan acuan semperit. Jika adunan agak lembik tambahlah sedikit tepung gandum. Hias dengan ceri.

Thanks to Hubby for doing all the molding, baking and cleaning job. I was only able to mix the dough since our little one refused to be apart from me..isk isk!

This is the picture of our biskut samperit fresh from the oven. I think some people call it biskut dahlia. Oh, for those who never make biskut samperit, here is how the acuan looks like. It is quite tiring as the whole mold could only make 3 big cookies. So just imagine how many times you have to refill and press the mold to finish all the dough..huhu!

In the end, we managed to have one small balang of kuih samperit. No wonder the homemade raya cookies are expensive these days, with all the tedious work and the cleaning process afterwards.

Thanks to Hubby for making my dream to eat delicious biskut samperit bunga comes true..muah!

Biskut Samperit originally appeared on CintaRasa on September 11, 2009.

We decided to host berbuka puasa for the extended family last 2 weeks. I was not sure what kind of lauk to cook to accompany daging, sotong and ikan bakar. Plus SIL will usually bring some dishes she cook for her children who are fussy eaters.

So in the end, I decided to cook sup tulang. Usually I will use the ribs part to make soup, but since the butcher ran out of stock, we bought the part near daging batang pinang portion…(not sure what they call that part of bones is)

Since I don’t have pressure cooker, I boiled the soup for about 1 1/2 hour. I didn’t put carrot or potato inside the soup since I wanted to make it ala Thai. Usually for sup daging style siam, they put in beansprouts and lime juice to make it sour.

It turned out to be nicer since the meat on the bones were more fleshy and soft compared to the usual tulang rusuk. Next time I want to make sup tulang, I will ask for that part of bones instead..heh!

Sup Tulang Ala Thai originally appeared on CintaRasa on September 8, 2009.

The plan to berbuka puasa in Marriott Putrajaya was kind of last minute. It was Merdeka day, and assuming that most people were not in town as they opt to balik kampung, we called the hotel and placed reservations.

Around 6:50 we arrived at Terrace Cafe and were quickly seated at the corner.

These are the choices of their kerabu and acar. I only managed to try a few to accompany beryani and ayam masak merah I chose as the starter course.

Right at the front of the open kitchen was where they put the main lauk pauk - udang galah, lamb, fish, masak lemak daging just to recall a few.

These are their choices of side dishes - tempe goreng sambal, ikan masin, cucur udang, serunding, gado-gado, ulam-ulam..too many to remember..huhu!

If this is not enough, move your lazy bum and take a walk outside. See the yellow green stalls?

They have Chinese station with dim sum, sup and rebus-rebus, the house specials kawah dishes, ‘hentian muara ikan-bakar’ station, hawker treats such as sotong kangkong and rojak buah, murtabak, bubur lambuk and nasi kerabu.

Oh,they also have Mexican (tacos, enchiladas), Indian (naan, tandoori, capati) and Japanese cuisine (maki sushi, California maki rolls).

“Among the highlights this year is the much talked about ‘Kawah’ dishes - daging gulai kawah, ikan assam pedas, perut lembu masak cili padi, kambing kuzi, dalcha tulang rawan, kari kepala ikan and ayam masak kerutup. ”

Now that I am writing this entry, I should have tried their ‘Kawah’ dishes…sigh! Since we were busy taking turns to take care of the little one, we were kind of tired to walk in and out to take the dishes..(and it was hard to juggle a plate full of food with one hand while holding a child in another!)

But I did ask the pasta chef to cook for me..hehe! This is the Italian chef in action. They have a la minute pasta station where you can choose the raw ingredients like mushroom, zuchini, capsicum and your choice of pasta to be cooked. They also have bolognaise and carbonara sauce.

The best dish for me would be this Arabian grilled whole lamb. I should have taken the picture of the whole lamb when I first arrived. It was all gone by the first 40 minutes after berbuka..huhu!

Their dumba beryani. I am not sure whether this is the same as the first beryani I ate inside. But combined with the roasted lamb, they are simply yummy! I chose black pepper sauce and yogurt as the condiment.

Make sure you try their household special - the IOI Ais Kacang with a wide variety of condiments and much more sweet tooth delights to look forward to. Any child (or parents of a child) will be sugar high with the choice of their condiments for ice cream after meal..heh!

I didn’t try any of the local kuih muih, pengat and sweet bubur. But I did manage to grab a fruit tart and a small piece of cake. I just love the way they embellished all the desserts. Enough to satisfy my hungry eyes..heh!

Check out their selection of thirst quenching juices & drinks. I tried their air bandung. We had teh tarik from the station..very nice!! Way to go for Marigold creamer and susu cair Ideal..hehe!

Oh, a must mention ‘panggang-memanggang’ station that includes chicken and beef satay. Their satay was great. I should have eaten more..huhu!

The little one and I took a break at this cascading fountain with gold fish spouting water while listening to the live ‘Asli’ music. Oh, for the added convenience, suraus are made available for all Muslim patrons’ convenience.

This ‘Ramadan Seribu Impian Buka Puasa Buffet’ @ the Terrace Café is available from the 3rd day of Ramadan (24 August) until the 28th day of Ramadan (18 September) priced at RM78++ per adult and RM47++ per child. To avoid disappointment, prior reservations are recommended by calling their Ramadan Hotline at 03-89498888 ext 1294 / 1330

Marriott Putrajaya Ramadhan Buffet 2009 originally appeared on CintaRasa on September 1, 2009.

I was chatting with a friend the other day about what kind of simple dishes we can cook for bersahur.

And then I found this picture of sambal sotong kering I cooked more than a year ago..heh!

I think the only setback for me to cook sambal dish very often is the time consuming effort to let the spice cook really well in the pot..huhu!

The secret to great sambal tumis lies in the concoction of the base spice - the well blended mixture of dried chili, onion and good quality belacan (shrimp paste).. and the time and patience you put in cooking it on the stove.

Of course with this dried cuttlefish, you have to soak them for hours.

I heard there is also some chemical to make it soften faster, I think they call it air abu (not sure as I have never tried that). Will have to look for the stuff one of these days so that I can cut down the time spent preparing this sambal tumis sotong kering..heh!

Sambal Sotong Kering originally appeared on CintaRasa on August 18, 2009.

When the outlet of TGIF was opened in Sunway Pyramid last year, we were excited to try out the food. So one time during weekdays, we tried their RM39.90 - 3 course meal.

For appetizers, they only have 2 choices - Mac n Cheese Bites or Fried calamari. So I chose fried calamari. It was served with marinara sauce. Since I can’t recall how good it was now, so it must be not that good for me..haha!

I ordered the smothered steak as part of the entrees.

As per description it is a juicy chargrilled steak topped with sauteed onions and mushrooms, then covered with melted pepper jack cheese. Served with chef’s vegetables and cheddar cheese mashed potatoes.

Look how unimpressive Hubby’s choice for the steak.

I can’t recall what kind of classic cuts he ordered. They have sirloin steak, classic ribeye and New York strip.

But for the toppers, I think it was wild mushroom butter - savory mushrooms, garlic and onions combined in a flavorful butter sauce. The other 2 toppers choices are Cajun cream sauce and sun dried tomato pesto.

And for the savory, it was grilled New Orlean corn cobs. Other savory choices were broccoli with garlic butter, cheddar cheese mashed potatoes, green beans with oven roasted tomatoes or onion rings.

Honestly, I have to say that we didn’t really enjoy the food. Maybe we ordered the wrong menu, who knows! For those who frequent TGIF all the time, perhaps you can give better suggestion so that we can give it another chance next time.

Oh, we did like their dessert anyway!

TGIF Sunway Pyramid originally appeared on CintaRasa on August 13, 2009.

It’s near to Ramadhan time now and if you are looking for ideas on what to have for bersahur, maybe you can try to cook sambal kentang.

I made this up since I have some leftover of fried anchovies (bilis goreng) and kacang tanah from my nasi lemak sambal sotong. Since I have stock of blended chili and onion in the fridge, I immediately come out with the idea to make this sambal kentang.

Of course you have to fry each ingredients like the potato, bilis and nuts separately. Then once everything is ready, fry the base spice, put in tamarind juice, salt and sugar to taste and mix everything in. There you have one dish ready for sahur time!

Sambal Kentang originally appeared on CintaRasa on July 26, 2009.

This year company annual dinner was held in Crowne Plaze Mutiara, KL. The hotel is located along Jalan Sultan Ismail. Taken from website kl-hotels.com:

“Only a five minute walk away are the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, the world famous Petronas Twin Towers, Suria KLCC & Pavilion shopping centres, Malaysia’s largest aquarium Aquaria KLCC and Kuala Lumpur’s hottest nightspots & eateries on the streets of Jalan P Ramlee & Bukit Bintang. The Raja Chulan monorail station at the entrance of the hotel ensures quick access to other parts of Kuala Lumpur.”

I was busy with the little one to actually take a picture of the ballroom that the annual dinner was held. You have to be happy with this chandelier picture for now..heh!

Due to tight company budget, the selection of the food was not that wide. But they did have vegetarian and non vege spread.

Their salad was good. I had 2 helpings of my favorite smoked salmon.heh! Oh, they didn’t have beetroot this time. I was hoping for something like what we had in Pangkor dinner..huhu!

I didn’t take rice for the main course. I tried their lamb, shrimp and potato. The vege in the picture was asparagus. Not really up to my expectation but enough to fill up the tummy.

This was taken by Hubby’s colleague. I was busy nursing the little one downstairs in the car. Not sure whether they have baby room at the hotel.

But I did love their dessert. The usual favorite will be the mango pudding. There was bread pudding as well and few other cakes.

Oh, we won RM100 worth of IKEA voucher for the lucky draw. The same guy who won grand prize last year won grand prize again this year - a plasma TV or was it LCD? but from what I can remember the prize is worth of RM5000..huhu!

Hopefully next year we will have better luck..heh!

Annual Dinner 2009 - Crowne Plaza Mutiara, KL originally appeared on CintaRasa on July 22, 2009.

Sometimes I am out of idea on what to cook with sotong (squid). So the easy dish would be goreng kunyit with biji sawi (mustard seed) and curry leaves (daun kari).

I usually will marinate the squid with turmeric powder and salt (garam kunyit) for a while and once the oil is hot, I fry them till all the fluid coming out from the sotong dry out. Then I put in sliced onion, sliced red chili, curry leaves and mustard seeds. Easy peasy..heh!

Sotong Goreng Kunyit originally appeared on CintaRasa on July 19, 2009.