I don’t cook a lot. But I loooove watching cooking shows to pick up tips and techniques, small stuff like brushing olive oil on the pizza crust so that it doesn’t get soggy after you pile up on the toppings. Or a quicker way of making pastry by grating frozen butter and gently mixing it with flour using your fingers instead of waiting for the butter to soften and either cutting in the butter into the flour or pulsing it with a food processor.

My current favourite is the Asian Food Channel.

I finally checked out their website and was delighted to find recipes listed by show (The Naked Chef? Chef At Home?), by chef (Jamie Oliver? Michael Smith?) and/or by category (desserts? soups?). Oodles of recipe. And all for free. Check it out today! :D

When Lola and I were in Amsterdam last April, I chanced upon some stroopwafels. Also known as syrup waffles in English, they are thin waffles with a syrup filling, said to have been first made in Gouda in the Netherlands, during the 18th or 19th century. It was love at first bite for me!

Here is a photo of one that I was nibbling on, while waiting for a tram on our second day in Amsterdam. See that ooey-gooey syrupy caramel goodness oozing between the two wafers?

I didn’t expect to miss them so much now that I’m back in KL. On those days (nights?) when I wake up sometime after midnight, I find myself longing for them. Which makes me wonder if there was some other secret ingredient that was snuck into the stroopwafels that makes me crave for them so much!

Today, DH and I got treated to the high tea buffet in Prince Hotel and Residence in Jalan Conlay, Kuala Lumpur by some friends who are visiting KL. OnlyGirl and RoundBoy were with us, as well.

The best part of the high tea? The chocolate fountain, without a doubt! Skewers of strawberries, marshmallows and mixed fruits were placed strategically right beside the fountain of chocolatey goodness. There were also cut up pieces of cake and some cream puffs, for your dipping pleasure. OnlyGirl and I helped ourselves to some strawberries with chocolate before anything else. I told my friend that life’s too short, that’s why we started with the dessert first ;) Mmm-mmm-good!!!

The ice cream bar is to-die-for: 5 different flavours of ice cream, 5 different types of sauce, plus an assortment of toppings: strawberry, lychee, toasted almonds, M&M’s, jellybeans, cookies, white and dark chocolate chips, chocolate rice, wafers, among a few. When OnlyGirl saw the ice cream bar, she immediately blurted out, “Oh. My. God. I think I’m going to faint!” I couldn’t have said it better myself!

The dessert spread was generous and serving dishes were frequently refilled, as is befitting a high tea buffet, and it’s the first thing that will greet you upon entering the Eccucino Brasserie. The Oreo cheesecake is worth mentioning, as is the carrot cake (if you like carrot cakes with a strong cinnamon undertone). They also had chocolate cake, an assortment of other sliced cakes, chocolate pudding with vanilla sauce, mousses and jellies arranged artistically with slices of fruit and bits of chocolate inside tiny glasses, as well as fresh fruit, some local sweets (kuih) and sweet corn porridge (bubur jagung).

If you’re not much of a sweet tooth, fear not, as high tea buffets in Malaysia are almost as good or even just as good as lunch or dinner buffets. There was a huge selection of meat dishes (roasted chicken, beef medallion, lamb korma), seafood dishes (grilled giant prawns, squid with tumeric), rice dishes, vegetable dishes, salads, as well as some pizza, sushi, chicken siew pau and sio mai. I dare say that high tea is even better than lunch or dinner because the dessert spread offers a lot more selections! Plus, you have more time to enjoy your meal, as high tea is from 12 noon to 4 pm on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. You can, therefore, take your own sweet time enjoying the delectable dishes while talking with your business partner about your intended investment in the Outer Banks, or murmur sweet nothings with your significant other, or simply to indulge yourself in all things scrumptious and fattening divine.

Normal price is RM55++ (i.e. subject to 10% sales tax and 5% service charge) per person.

The twins have one special word that I forgot to mention in my previous post, ‘When Egg Was Yellow’ — meto-meto. They use the word ‘meto-meto’ to refer to either one of two things: tomato ketchup (’sos tomato‘ in Malay) or mashed potato.

My children just loooooove mashed potato. When I’m pressed for time, I usually just buy KFC’s whipped potato with gravy. Personally, I don’t like it that much because it looks like the type that’s made from potato flakes, like one of those things that come in boxes which you only have to mix with hot water. I very much prefer my mashed potato slightly chunky. So every chance I get, I try to make some for my kids.

For me, the key to great mashed potato is the type of potatoes that you use. My personal favourite? US Russet Potatoes. These babies are flakey and will not get sticky like some kind of glue once boiled and mashed.

Here’s how I make mashed potatoes:

Ingredients:

• 1 kg US Russet Potatoes
• approximately 65 grams butter — about a quarter of a 250-gram block (or half a stick for our American friends)
• 2 tablespoons of milk
• salt and white pepper to taste

Method:

1. Peel the potatoes and cut them into halves or quarters, so that they’ll cook faster and can be mashed with less effort later.
2. Boil the potatoes. You can put a bit of salt in the water, if you like.
3. Once the potatoes are fork-tender, turn off the heat and drain the water.
4. Put the potatoes in a big bowl.
5. Put in the butter, milk, salt and white pepper together with the potatoes.
6. Mash, mash, mash! (Which reminds me — MyEldest used to call it ’smashed potato’!)

Please take note that you can add a bit more butter or milk according to your taste. The 65 grams of butter that I mentioned is just a general guideline. You can add more or less, depending on your preference. As for the salt and pepper, start with a teaspoon of each and keep on adding until you get the taste that’s to your liking.

And now, for the twist.

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At long last, we are now enjoying the fruits of our little rambutan tree. The first harvest is nothing to shout about — just a measly 20 pieces or so — but the numbers don’t matter for now. What’s important is that the tree has started bearing fruit and that the fruits are sweet and succulent, with the flesh easily separating from the seed as it belongs to the ‘Anak Sekolah’ variety. ‘Anak sekolah’ which literally means ’student’, is technically known as R191, known for fruits that are “roundish and red in colour” with flesh that is “firm, medium sweet and not watery” (source: Department of Agriculture, Sarawak).

So how does one eat this strange- looking hairy red little fruit?

First of all, you have to get past the hairy outer shell by breaking it into two in order to get to the treasure waiting inside. You can do this by twisting the fruit (if you are strong enough) OR by making a small cut into the hairy exterior with your nail (not recommended because the sap will go under your nail and make it look dark and dirty) OR you can use a small knife (a bread knife, paring knife or, perhaps, even a fork) to do the cutting.

Once you’ve split the skin open, you can now nibble on the sweet, juicy white meat inside. But do take care not to bite into the seed that’s in the middle.

Rambutan season usually starts in July and peaks in August. The fruits are best eaten within a day or two after harvest.