Poached Pears with Chocolate Sauce

This is a simple dessert that one can prepare for thier loved ones and also to those who doesn't eat much fruits. Hehe... Here, fresh pears are poached in a sugar syrup and it's complement with a smooth, dark chocolate sauce, crunchy toasted almonds and also cold, creamy vanila ice cream drizzle with more heavenly good chocolate sauce. *drool*


Poached pear with Chocolate Sauce

Ingredients
4 firm, ripe pears
125g sugar
1/2 zest of lemon
1 lemon juice

Chocolate Sauce
75g dark chocolate
100ml double cream
75g butter

To serve: Toasted almonds and vanila ice cream

1. You will need to pour 900ml water into a medium saucepan and add caster sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice. Bring it to boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
2. Peel the pears, leaving them whole, and scoop out the cores from the bases. Add the pears into the sugar syrup. Reduce the heat and cover the pan to simmer for about 20 minutes until the pears are tender.
3. Once done, set aside to cool.
4. To prepare the chocolate sauce, put the chocolate, double cream and butter in a saucepan over a gentle heat until melted. Stir until smooth. Set aside to cool.
5. Pour the choclate sauce on to a plate and put the poached pear in the centre of the plate. Top it some toasted almonds Then scoop a generous amount of ice cream and place it next to the pear. Drizzle additional chocolate sauce over the ice cream.

Toasted almonds

Some people like to poach the pears with some spices like rosemary and cinammon while others like to poach it with red wine. It depends on individual preference. As for Doink and I, we normally prefer some simple pleasant dessert that doesn't give too much different kind of flavour to our tastebuds.


Ice cream... yummy!!!

This is an absolutely tasty and the toasted almonds give some extra crunchiness to the whole dessert served. It's definitely a dessert I will prepare again for Doink.

Prawn Pasta

I just love cooking but at times when I'm in a rush, I just don't know what to cook for Doink. I face that problem quite often as I always want to cook something different for him.

Anyway, I kinda like this type of moments at times as it makes me crack my head and think of cooking a simple yet delicious meal for him. So this time round I made a perfectly simple and tasty prawn pasta. I have gotta tell you that this dish is perfectly simple to prepare with a short amount of time.

Yummy prawns. My favourite!

All I need is:

olive oil
garlic
1/4 of a lemon
salt, pepper
basil
parsley
medium sized prawns
pasta
parmesan cheese

1. Cook the pasta as per instruction on the packet.
2. First, you will need to fry the garlic in the olive oil. Don't burn the garlic. Then you add the prawn into the pan and stir fry it till it's cooked. Squeeze the lemon. Season with salt and pepper. Add some basil to the pan.
3. When your pasta is ready, drain it (but save some of the pasta water) and mix the pasta together with (2). Add some pasta water into it if you find it a bit dry.
4. Place the pasta on the plate. Add some parsley for garnishing and sprinkle some parmesan cheese. Tadah, your perfect yummy delicious meal is ready in just 10-15 mins.

Deliciously good!

I absolutely love this dish. Doink enjoyed it a lot. And I believe I will be cooking some simple pasta dish rather than those typical sinful carbonara pasta. Oops, think Doink won't be happy to find out that. *lol* Think he still enjoys his tasty streaky bacon fry till it's crisp together with the creamy mushroom sauce. *drool* Guess I'm also having cravings for carbonara pasta now... hehe...

More strawberry and peach desserts...

Here are more desserts that I had prepared with the strawberries and peaches. So I prepared desserts which Doink requested: strawberry shortcake.

Shortcake is actually dessert made with the sweet biscuit also known in British English as a scone. So I baked some scones and prepare some so-called strawberry shortcake for Doink. Just add some cream ontop of the scones and placed the strawberries over the scones. Then pour some strawberry juice over it. And it's ready to be served. *drool*


Strawberry shortcake

Of course I also prepared peach shortcake. As for peach shortcake, I just placed the peach over the cream and cut some strawberries to place round the plate as decor.


Peach shortcake

I notice today's shortcakes are not made with a shortcake (i.e. biscuit) but a base of sponge cake. In fact, I have tasted some strawberry shortcake using sponge cake selling outside and it actually taste very good.

With some remains of sponge cake that I had baked for my trifles, I decided to make a few small slices of strawberry shortcake using sponge cake. Cut the sponge cake into halve, then place the cream and strawberries on top, and later put the slice of sponge cake over it. For me, I pour some strawberry sauce over it to be served straight away to Doink to savour so that it has more strawberry flavour in the sponge cake. It tasted good with the soft sponge cake.

Shortcake in a base of sponge cake

It's really good and sinful. I absolutely love it. Darn, I now gotta go run a few miles to burn off those calories. How I wish good food are zero in calories. Oh well, gotta be happy that at least I have the opportunity to be savouring yummy food. So I shall stop complaining :)

Trifles

Strawberries one of the beautiful, yummy fruits around. And strawberries go well with anything: cream, chocolate sauce, cakes, more cream and even on its own. *drooling* When I made the Banana chocolate muffin, a few people will find that strawberries and chocolate will be a better combination.

Strawberries... Ooh la la!!!

Doink has been requesting to feast on trifle. As usual, with his sinfulness tastebuds, he just loves these types of desserts. *lol* So I plan to make him some simple strawberry trifle.

Trifles are superbly simple to make and it all depends on how complicated you want it to be. To make things simpler, I just bake a lemony sponge cake. While baking them, I just prepare the strawberries. I cut them into cubes and add some sugar into the bowl and mix them. Leave it in the fridge for about 30 mins. You will notice that there will be some strawberry sauce at the bottom of the bowl after that.

Lemon sponge cake with jam

Once the cake is ready, let it cool down. Then cut them into cubes form and spread some jam in between the sponge cake and placed it right at the bottom of a trifle bowl. I did not want to make a big trifle so instead of using a trifle bowl, I used shot glass instead. Later I pour some orange juice into the shot glass so that the cake will absorb the liquid. Then I place the strawberries on top of the cake. Here comes the most delicious and sinful part of the trifle; CREAM!!!! Just put as much cream as you like over the strawberries. Pour some strawberry sauce over the cream and it’s ready to be served. Oooh, that’s just so lovely.

Strawberry trifle

At the same time, I also made some peach trifle. Instead of using strawberries, use peach. Both taste equally good and it all depends which fruit you prefer more.

Peachy trifle

Oh ya, you can also add some jelly over your trifle. But to me, this is good enough. Hehe….Or should I say, I’m just too lazy to add more stuff when the food taste yummy!!!

I’m definitely craving for more now. Will make more the next round for Doink and mini doinks too. Hehe…

Happy 9th Anniversary!!!

Just want to drop a short post to wish a Happy 9th Anniversary to Doink. Yup, 9 years with Doink but I only started feeding him about 4 years ago. *lol*

And there will be many more happy years to come for the both of us and many more updates for you guys to read.

Once again, Happy 9th Anniversary!!!

Banana + Chocolate = Heaven!!!

I don't know why but somehow banana and chocolate goes together quite well. So I decided to make some banana muffins with chocolate chips for Doink to savour anytime of the day - breakfast, tea time, dessert or even supper.


Cutie muffins

These muffins are easy to make but I face a problem with it as the muffins does not rise much. *sigh* Guess I have to experiment on the recipe...


Piggy muffins

I was having so much fun making these muffins that I decided to make them into little piggie faces just to put a smile on Doink's face. He will give me that cutie smile whenever he sees me making something cute or funny. *lol*

And me of course wanting to make it a little more yummy and sinful for Doink added vanila ice cream to the warm banana muffin. Oooh... ice cream + banana muffin is really good and doink absolutely love it.


Ooooh.... yummy...

I made some extras and put in the freezer to keep it so that Doink and I can have it anytime. Now I feel like getting another one. *grin*

Dinner - Part 3 of 3

Here is the final part of the dinner which I had prepared the last round for Doink. My deary doink cannot be having only sinful food the whole night. So I prepared salad for him. It's my first time sort of making a proper salad. Usually I will just make steam brocolli or put some tomatoes together with his main dish. *lazy me*

This time I reasearch a bit more on making salad. I came across caesar salad recipe. I felt that I should start of by making a simple salad with simple sauce. To my surprise, raw egg is used in caesar salad.

Colourful salad

I also made some crutons. Oh, I just love the crutons I prepared. So nice and crispy. Couldn't get enough of it. Next time I should make more.. Hehe.. Stocking up some baguette bread in the freezer is good so that I can make crutons anytime I want.... *laugh*

Caesar Salad

It's simple to prepare this salad.

Ingredients
1 coddled egg
1 clove of minced garlic
1/2 freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tsp worcestershire sauce
6tbsp extra virgin olive oil
pinch of salt and blcak pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese
Rommain lettuce
Cherry tomatoes
Homemade crutons

To make the dressing, take a bowl and whisk the garlic, salt, lemon juice and worcestershire sauce. Whisk in the coddled egg until the mixture is thick. Slowly drizzle the olive oil while whisking at the same time. Than add 2 some parmesan cheese in the sauce.

After that, take a plate, place the rommaine lettuce at the bottom of the plate nicely. Top with cherry tomatoes. Pour the dressing over the salad. Than top it with crutons. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and black pepper. When you are ready to dine, just toss your salad to coat it well.


Mushroom soup with crutons

Cutie this time round also prepared a yummylicious creamy mushroom soup. It's my first time making this soup and doink just love it... I topped it with crutons which made the soup taste even more beautiful. Oooh... sinfully good!!! *drool*

I, of course, am very happy when Doink praised me saying that it's the best mushroom soup he had ever tasted. Haha.... What do I think? Hmm.. I think it's ok and there are loads of improvement to be made.

The perfect meal

It was a perfect meal that night. I think it's been quite a while since I cooked so much food for Doink. Poor him. Hope he doesn't become skinny Doink without me around. *lol*

Anyway, he will probably have to wait till next month before I start cooking a big meal for him. Think it's time for him to place his order what he wants to savour next. *laugh*

Dinner - Part 2 of 3

Doink did not just savour the Creamy Meatballs. This is another recipe which I came up with. I was trying to come up with something more special. Bruschetta consists of grilled bread rubbed with garlic topped with extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. But this time round, instead of using a grilled bread, I usedchicken instead.

Again, I had to modify the recipe but please use chicken breast for this recipe. I thought I had chicken breast but instead it was minced chicken instead. *banging head* The taste is still good but I believe that chicken breast will make the dish taste even better.


Chargrilled Chicken Bruschetta

Here is the recipe for the Chargrilled Chicken Bruschetta.

Ingredients
4 boneless skinless chicken breast
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic - minced
3 plum tomatoes, chopped
3 tbsp fresh basil, minced
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt
pinch of pepper
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1.Preheat grill to medium heat. Combine olive oil, 1 clove of minced garlic and 1/2 tsp salt. Brush over the chicken. Place on grill, and cook for 8 minutes on one side of the chicken.
2. Meanwhile, combine tomatoes, basil, lemon juice, salt, pepper.
3. Turn chicken over and place the cooked side up. Top with the mixture you prepared in (2). Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Grill an additional 8 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.


Yummy Mashed Potatoes

This lovely dish is served with Doink's favourite mashed potatoes. My simple and lovely mashed potatoes that satisfy Doink's tastebuds each time I prepare it. *smile*

Bet some of you may be wondering what happens to the greens? Will continue in my next post.

Tip:
1. If you want your Chicken Bruschetta to taste cheesier, add mozarella cheese on top of it. You will definitely love it. *drool.
2. To make your mashed potatoes to taste more sinful, add some bacon over it and I bet you will definitely want more.

Dinner - Part 1 of 3

Oh, cutie is happy. Coz I was finally cooking a yummy meal for Doink. *jumping up and down cheerfully* This is one of the dishes that I prepared for my dearie Doink.

This is a new experiment dish. It's meatballs with mushroom cream sauce. Initially i thought of making chicken served with cream sauce but then I realised that I did not have any chicken breast in my kitchen but only left with minced chicken. So I had no choice but to come up with another type of dish.

Absolutely creamy!!!

So I took the minced chicken and made my home made meatballs but this round I did not add parmesan in it. I firstly cook the meatballs and than add some garlic with thinly sliced mushroom in it. Add cream sauce and a knob of butter and slowly cook till it thickens. Add salt and pepper to taste. When it's almost done, add some basil over it. The dish is ready to be served. *drool*(You can substitute half the cream with milk if you want it to be less sinful)

So good you can even eat it on its own! *lol*

I also prepared some garlic bread to go with it and it taste absolutely excellent. Didn't snap any of the garlic bread picture as I think I had blog about that quite a few times. It's my typical home made garlic bread. So deliciously good that Doink and I couldn't get enough of it. *grin* But can't be having too much of it as it's a bit too sinful. Hehe....

Tip: If you want your dish to taste even better, add some bacon over the sauce.

The Olive - Plaza Damas

Doink brought me to this small cosy restaurant at Plaza Damas, The Olive to celebrate our February month - our birthdays and Valentines Day. The place looks kinda nice, with just a few tables, nice dim lights. Looks romantic but when it's crowded with people, the place seems more like a market. And there isn't much room for the waiter to walk.

We wanted to go upstairs of the restaurant as Doink remembered that the ambience up there is better but unfortunately there were some kind of function being held upstairs so in the end we had to be seated downstairs.

Complimentary baguette bread

Complimentary bread was served. It's just the normal baguette bread where you can buy off the shelf from major hypermarket. Taste wise - just taste exactly like how a baguette would have tasted. *lol* Honestly, I'm expecting better bread being served as most Italian places do serve pretty good herb breads.

Grilled Mushroom

Do you have any idea what that is. To be honest, I forgotten what it's called. It's grilled mushroom. Presentation was totally bad and worse thing was that they overcooked my mushroom and it was slightly burned. It actually taste very good but sad to say that it was partially burned which spoiled the taste.

Mushroom Soup

Next up is the Mushroom Soup. This is the only thing that was served to me that night which satisfied me. Their mushroom soup taste superb. I have tried various kind of mushroom soup from different restaurant. Some are too bland, no mushroomy taste, taste too artificial, too thick etc. *shake head*. Theirs was tasty with sufficient mushroom taste and the thickness was just nice. This is something you have got to try if you do ever wanted to visit this restaurant. Hopefully they remain their standard.

Pasta Salmon

We ordered pasta and the word salmon, cream and tomato in the menu caught my attention. So I told Doink I wanted to try that. Oh, when the pasta arrived, I was truly disappointed with the taste and texture. The whole pasta just tasted like how our chinese restaurant would cooked their noodles, frying everything together and add corn starch at the end to thicken the sauce. I don't think this is how they should cook their pasta. Taste was not good at all, wasn't sure whether they put the correct sauce in it at all. We ordered pasta and the word salmon, cream and tomato in the menu caught my attention. So I told Doink I wanted to try that. Oh, when the pasta arrived, I was truly disappointed with the taste and texture. The whole pasta just tasted like how our chinese restaurant would cooked their noodles, frying everything together and add corn starch at the end to thicken the sauce. I don't think this is how they should cook their pasta. Taste was not good at all, wasn't sure whether they put the correct sauce in it at all.

Pizza Quattro

Here comes the pizza and I told myself that how wrong can a pizza turned out to be. And again, it was bad. From the picture it does look nice - thin crust pizza but the bread somehow doesn't taste that good. And the chicken wasn't marinated well and it tasted bland. Oh boy, the whole main course that was served to me that night was just terrible. *grrr*And the price doesn't come cheap. It was quite pricey as well.

Doink felt bad for bringing me to such a place and I told him it's not your fault. It's the chef, the restaurant's fault for serving such food to people. Anyway, please take note that all this opinion is truly based on what Doink and I feel about this place. Well, you can try the place and let me know if the place has improved. Hehe.....