Little Chef At Home: December 2007

Latest Recipe, KL

Le Meridian's flagship restaurant was recently revamped and renamed Latest Recipe. The setting is grand and the spread follows the latest trend in restaurant buffets, spotting Japanese, Chinese, Indian, grill, live cooking, dessert stations and the likes.

What stands out in this particular buffet is the tapas style appetizers that you pick and plate onto equally quaint Japanese trays.

Sitting Pretty

Each plate held the perfect serving size and a tasty mouthful. Needless to say it was very easy to polish off the plate(s) without feeling uncomfortably stuffed.

Before

After

Satisfied with the food and service, baby G and I went back for dinner the same day, this time for their ala carte.

Mushroom Soup

Warm Mushroom Salad

A medley of mushrooms, fortunately they tasted very different. I especially liked the salad, with the mushrooms lightly grilled and dressed to preserve their unique flavors.

Seafood Squid Ink Pasta

Ooo...squid ink pasta, something I always try when I get the chance, coz it looks so different from the usual, it just have to taste different too, you'd think? Unfortunately it tastes...like regular pasta. It has a denser texture than most but no hint of the ink they get their pigmentation from. Still, it was a good dish, with fresh seafood and a light cream sauce. My favorite part of this dish, hidden at the corner right of this pic, is the slivers of fried garlic, adding sweetness and fragrance which lifted the dish and made it the highlight of the meal for me.

Little Bites, KL

Braised Beef with Noodles in Light Broth

Quick bites at the airport lounge before my flight to Kuala Lumpur. Gone are the days of day-old cucumber sardies and stale coffee; I had some pretty decent fare tonight. First was the appetizer of Japaneses braised beef which was light, flavorful and very healthily packed with veg.

Pan Fried Salmon with Fettucini

Next up, the salmon. I adore this fish to no end and though my default choice of execution is to have it rare, this cut was cooked to my satisfaction nonetheless. The fillet had a light, crisp crust and a delightfully pink, almost rare center. The fettucine was cooked al dente in a light cream sauce and again served with very healthy broccoli and carrot slices.

Why the sudden obsession with healthy fare? Well, it just happened to be made this way. In any case, I was soon to tilt the swing back to balance with a meal at the Luna Bar.

Luna Bar at Pacific Regency

Located at the Pacific Regency, this rooftop enclave held a pool, jacuzzi and bar. Around the bars were private dining, erm, boxes that stuck out of the sides of the building. With full length glass walls and ceiling, they give diners the illusion of being suspended in mid air, offering an unobstructed view of the city and the very far off ground below. I stayed as far away from the edge as I could, indulging instead at the bikini clad couples bubbling away in the jacuzzi. Not that they turned me on, they just kept my stomach down.

Luna Bites

Food at such digs are usually sub standard, unmemorable and unmentionable, probably to keep the limelight on the hip setting and chic crowd. But not so with this place. With no open kitchen, food has to be prepared at the Olive Lounge, the main restaurant of the Pacific, yet apart from the wait, this arrangement had no detriment on the food to come.

We had garlic toasts with various dips (toasts were fragrant, dips well seasoned), onion rings ("meaty" and the largest I have ever seen, these O's were co-O-lossal!) and mini wagyu burgers with chips.

I do not profess to be a burger connoisseur, but I had my expectations for the wagyu's. Sad to say they were far from being the best on the (pool) table. The patties were a tad on the dry side, and they tasted, well, ordinary. If put to the blindfold test, I honestly wouldn't have been able to tell them from the next BK. They were saved by the large chips though, and of coz, the view. :)

Rooftop View of the City

Of Lemons & Truffles

Lemon Lime Madeline Muffins

I did some spontaneous bakin' and cookin' this weekend, starting with simple lemon madelines, recipe courtesy of Michel Richard's "Happy in the Kitchen", followed by some extravagant truffle omeletts.

Take a close look the the pic above, can you tell the book from the real thing? Mine are the ones on the left. :) Awesome-o!I discovered Michel Richard's book last weekend and was intrigued by his ingenuity and original take on every aspect of food preparation, from his raspberry salami to his strawberry chips. In his book his selflessly discloses the secrets to his creations and tips on getting the same results from home.

I tried one of the most basic recipes in the book, Lemon Lime Madeline Muffins. Slightly modified bu omitting the lime,these babies were moist, tangy and probably the best madelines ever borne from my oven. Needless to say I am very pleased.

Summer Truffles

Baby G got me some lovely summer truffles; along with the saffron I got from Paris some time back, they are now the greatest gems in my fridge.

Determined to bring out the best and make the most of this expensive delicacy, I did my legwork and read up copiously on the best way of preparation. Simplest of all was truffle omelette. Simply whisk them with eggs, light seasoning, and my secret ingredient, yogurt, for a creamy texture.