Artistic Kitchen 502

Show Piece Bread Display

Ingredients:
1.5kg Bread Flour
5gm Yeast
65gm Salt
1 Litre Water

Method:
1) Mix all the ingredients and knead the dough until smooth, elastic, springy, and no longer sticky.
2) Let it rest covered with cling film until twice the size.
3) Roll the dough out. Cut and shape into desired design.
4) Egg wash and bake at 220ºC until it becomes golden brown.

My collection of show piece breads :P

This show piece bread could last a lifetime due to the salt as a preservative. 

It will be rock hard after cooled down.

Starbucks Juice!?

Nope this is not ur typical Starbucks Coffee Review, its Starbucks Blended Juice Drink….. WOoooaWahhhhWiiWaa!!??

I got some free vouchers from a friend, so that’s how I got to know about the new flavours offered by Starbucks, so I guess it’s considered good marketing?

Lemon Hibiscus Blended Juice Drink(left) & Lemon Green Tea Blended Juice Drink(right)

The first cup I tasted was the Lemon Green because it sounds much friendlier and the colour looks much more drinkable unlike a dish washing liquid kind of colour. The Lemon Green Tea tasted sour with not much sweetness and green tea flavour. I guessed they used powdered green tea?

On the other hand, the Lemon Hibiscus tasted sweet right when it touches your palate with not much sourness from the lemon. If compared, I liked this more as this is so cooling, refreshing and has a very pronounced flavour.

In my Opinion, this is not something anyone would order in Starbucks because Starbucks is always associated with coffee unless you are on a healthier or caffeine free diet. I will definitely without a doubt stick to my Java Chip Frappuccino Ice Blended.

This is the writer’s personal observation and not an endorsement by Starbucks.

Guest Chef: Jean François Devineau

After getting some inside info that a French chef is going to do a demo at 

Taylor’s University College at 5am in the morning!

I got a little over excited that I barely got any sleep that night.

That morning, I “sneaked” into the college as if I’m still a student and luckily managed to get in the room to see the demo. *phewh*

I'm amazed how much this college spent renovating it's campus and culinary division.

Brilliant!

My friend once said “The baldness on your head shows how pro you are as a chef “. 

And that crazy friend of mine went and cut his hair bald the next day. Hmmm, interesting?

After sitting in the room for quite a while, I realized there wasn’t that many people, I guessed thats the college's fault for not publicizing the event to the public and most students were in their respective classes at that time.

I just love watching anything related to cooking, its just so fun and exciting. So why can't the college have more cooking events for the public? 

"Do you want me to speak in English or French?" was the first thing he asked when he came into the room. 

It wasn't that bad when he spoke in English, we still could cope with his accent :)

Exotic Dessert in a Glass is the name of this dessert.
This 4 layer dessert has got the surprise “Wow” factor,  firstly in the sourness,.
and then comes the sweetness that *ooh* could melt your heart.

Loved the presentation of this dessert! 

It looks so molecular gastronomy-ish, like a tempting egg yolk which would fill your mouth with orgasms. :P

However, the Chocolate Passion Fruit Mango Shortbread was quite disappointing in taste wise. 

Since the presentation gave me the impression of having a really high standard, honestly it’s just another baked shortbread.

Very detailed fiche technique, just love the illustration given.

"Baldness is often a sign of great wisdom, in this Chef's case its all about experience"

Check out 

http://www.ravifruit.com/en/index.htm 

for more info, recipes and many more.

This is the writer’s personal observation and not an endorsement by Ravifruit.

Philips Road Show Events

You are definitely losing out!...

……if you haven’t heard of the Philips weekend events.

Consisting of cooking demo’s by famous chefs, free Philips items! And even better, FREE FOOOD! 

Delicious food cooked by celebrity chefs can only mean, innovative recipes in the nick of time.

All this? Guess what, its open to the public! Better hurry on down.

First and fore mostly, let me introduce Philips very own chef, Chef Fadzly Che Omar. 

He was previously one of my lecturer and I daresay he might just be
Malaysia's future celebrity chef :)

One of the most important theories he thought me was that “As a chef, one must always be humble and willing to share one’s knowledge. With that, only will others be willing to share their knowledge with you”.

Chef Fadzly always explains in depth, the details of his recipes. Despite them being so quick and simple!

And he shamelessly promotes and explains features of the Philips products used.
(Ps: you can also win the products if you take part in the challenges.)  

Well, that’s what makes a good ambassador, plus I now know lots more bout Philips products and why they are different from the rest.

Chef Fadzly’s infamous Ayam Masak Merah (Malay Style Red Chicken Curry)!

It looks delicious, yet when he cooked it; it looked so simple!
Pretty surprising from a malay cuisine dish?
The kick of the spiciness and blend of spices really makes his ayam masak merah one of a kind.

FREE TASTING, FREE FOOD.

When there is food, there will be Malaysians-lah! And sure enough, the minute any dish was served, the anxious crowd scurried towards the counter to get their share. 

Now tell me ONE good reason why didn't you drop by.

Not to worry! Philips has 2 on-going competitions every year now!

1) One is open to the public.

2) The other for college students. (Culinary Arts/Hotel Management students)

Prizes are irresistible, so you better get your ass into that kitchen and start trying to be an Iron Chef!

As for those who aren’t so savvy with the stove, come on down and check out the workshops and cooking demo’s. Soon you’ll be the talk among all your friends for that wonderful dinner last weekend.


In my opinion, this event was great and suitable for all (even if you’re not such a foodie).

I really would encourage anyone out there to give it a go, just because; there is so much to learn, see and TRY!

During the event, most items are given a special price. This means, DISCOUNTS! So don’t fret if you don’t win a prize, ‘cause you can still get something great at an even affordable price!'

This particular event always garners attention from the public. Whenever I head down, response is always booming. I have to fight just for a nibble. But after all the temptations of the aroma’s wafting about, it’s all worth it!

Drop on by the next time this event comes around, maybe we can have a yummy Philips bite together!
Philips offers a great, affordable, user-friendly and green line of products suitable for any home cook or first timers.

For more event and location details, Head on down to

http://www.facebook.com/myphilipsmylife

And head on down to

http://www.philips.com.my/c/179280/cat

For recipes and more!

This is the writer’s personal observation and not an endorsement by Philips.

Discount Please ?

When you trust your staffs too much...... Will this happen???

Even planting it yourself wouldn't be that cheap!

Sorry Jaya Grocer, i just wanted to see how well managed you people can be :P 

Malaysia Bartending Competition 2010

Last week, i went to Qba, Westin KL to catch the latest trend and action from the flashy world of Mixology.

Part of the nicely decorated bar, I dare say the bartenders would get more numbers working in this environment :P

One of the flairtenders in action. According to the rule book, participants were judged based on their flairtending skills, accuracy, speed and also mixology.

An interesting mixology by one of the contestant. Looks really appealing doesn’t it?

And the most interesting of all, there were specially made mixology with a price of only RM10 Nett for anyone to try!

Estralla(left) and Durado(right)

In my opinion, the Estralla tasted quite awful. I didn’t finish it because of the high alcohol volume and the chocolate ice cream did not get to balance down the flavour of the alcohol.

But on the other hand, the Durado tasted perfect! I would say it’s more of a feminine drink but the blend of ingredients was perfect to taste with the little bits of honeydew and dragon fruit to munch on. *Thumbs Up!*

Will probably R&D this cocktail when I’m free so that I could attract some girl with my mixology skills. :P

SKYY Vodka as one of the sponsor alongside Monin.

Will definitely be back to Qba another day for the chilling environment.

Overall the event was great, with a lot of support from the F&B industry people. The only thing I felt was bad is the bunting behind the portable bar. It made the event looked really cheap. Would prefer them to use a black background bunting something like the organizers T-Shirt.

Besides that, I wished I was the judge so that i could taste the current standards of mixology by the Malaysian bartenders.

To me, flairing is like performing arts, just like a cooking demo. It doesn’t mean you suck at bartending/cooking if you suck at performing to a large crowd.
So Kudos to the all the contestants :)

Sex on the Grill

Some of the readers was interested at this recipe and after doing some homework, I edited this recipe to a much improved and easier version to follow. Enjoy ;)

Sex on the Grill Marination
200gm Cooking oil
200gm Soy sauce
450gm 7up (do not substitute)
1tbsp Lemon juice
1tbsp Lemon zest (optional)
1tbsp Mustard
2 clove of Garlic (grated or finely dice)
Pinch of salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Add all the ingredients to a mixing bowl and stir well.
2. Marinate meat for at least 1 hour.
3. Grill the meat on medium fire.



The caramelized 7up and soy sauce blends just right, it makes magic to your palate!

Don’t have a grill pan? 
Lazy to go outdoors to grill? 
Try this!



Who said you can’t be as innovative as Jamie Oliver? :D