Chinese New Year Cookies: Green Pea Cookies

When comes to this season, everyone is busy baking, buying and decorating. Baking as in baking cookies, buying as in buying food for reunion dinner, and buying new clothes for the new year, decorating is to decorate your house as bright as beautiful as possible and hoping that will bring the luck and prosperous to the family.

This would be my 1st time after 8 years of not making any… wonder how would it taste like… and seriously, the excitement for making this for the family is still the same.

Making this for my younger sister… this is her all time favourite. I wonder will she like this version which added sesame oil in the dough.

Anyway, … when I bake this, the whole house is full of sesame aroma.


I adapted Lingze’s recipe on this and that could make about 100 over cookies.

Ingredients300g ground green pea
175g icing sugar
300g all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
200g corn oil
20g sesame oil
1 small egg (for egg wash)

Method

1. Weigh all dry ingredients per what stated in the recipes, and mixed them all in a large bowl.
2. Mixed the dried ingredients by using whisk that will mix the dried ingredients well.
3. Add oil gradually to form dough.
4. If the dough is too crumby, add more oil, but for this case, I added the sesame oil.

5. Once done, roll a small tiny dough and put it on the baking tray.
6. Use round tip to form a tiny hole.
7. Brush with lightly beaten egg wash before baking.

8. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes at 170 degree Celsius.

Would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Prosperous New Year!!

Chocolate Lounge

Happy New Year everyone!!!!

Drafting this post at One World Hotel, and had my desserts at the Chocolate Lounge. Something that where am longing yearning about. Who can resist chocolate, can you?? I honestly can’t. No matter how full am I, I will surely find excuse to have bite or even a sip.

How nice if this is opening another outlet in Penang, uh?? Wouldn’t be good for all of us, especially the chocolate lovers!
Can you resist these chocolates?? Ouch… don’t pinch me… I know you can’t, and neither can I. But I am too excited to share these with you.

Not to forget, Happy New Year to everyone!! Good Health, Happy, Stay Positive, Good Luck!!

Chocolate Nuts & Sultane Crèpe (RM15-90)

Princess of Iceland (RM10-90)

Ms Coco Mocha (RM9-90)

Little Jane (RM9-90)

Home Cooked - Rustic Grilled Chicken

Know what? I am so so so happy today! Not that my water heater is fixed nor my bonus is in the bank. But I can now connect to the internet. Can you imagine, living in here for 3 days, I can’t really settle down with books, or any other activities. Well, what else, apart from cleaning, unpack the boxes.

Another thing that am really looking forward is tomorrow dinner with my family, and this time I am going to cook for 8 people which included hubby and myself. Last year, we were away to Kuala Lumpur for a short break, and my sister was the one that cooking the Christmas sumptuous dinner for everyone at home, and this year, I would be the one doing this job.

First, I feel thrill, and second thought I am equally tense about the food that am going to prepare. Being a perfectionist, many times, you will just want to do your best to accomplish your task. In fact, for the past few days, I was busy searching recipes in the web, and surfing thru some famous bloggers’ website to learn their way of cooking.

And tonight, I managed to impress hubby by making this. It’s actually Dutch Girl Cooking Rustic Roasted Chicken, well, I did make a minor change to Rustic Grilled Chicken instead.

Ingredients
2 chicken thigh
1 large capsicum
1 large onion
2 medium size Australia Chat Potato (which I got it from Cold Storage)
5 clove garlic
5 slices of bacons
1 chicken cube
½ cup water
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
Lots of black pepper
Salt to taste
3 tablespoon vegetable oil

I didn’t manage to find my wine opener, thus I omitted the white wine for this dish, which is required ½ cup. And also didn’t manage to get a large carrot for this as well. Anyway, it does impress hubby I guess I can’t ask for more of such compliments from him.

First, combine the oil, sweet paprika, dried thyme and black pepper into a small bowl, and a teaspoon of salt.

Brush on the chicken thigh and let it marinated for about 30 minutes.

While marinating, cut onions into cube size, though in Kay’s blog, she was using shallots instead, since I can’t remember to get this, so I replace that with onions.

Follow by potato, cut into cube size.

And, capsicum as well.

Place the 5 clove of garlic randomly in the tray as well.
Once done, place these ingredients on the baking tray and I put the potato underneath the thigh
so that it could not cook into the juices.

Since I don’t have a wok nor a frying pan, I used my pot and heat up, added in those bacon that had cut into stripes, and cook till it’s golden brown.

Then pour in the ½ cup water and also the 1 cube chicken stock.

Bring it to boil and let it simmer for couple of minutes. Then pour into the baking tray which had placed the marinated chicken thigh.

Grilled the chicken thigh for about 50minutes, at 200ºC.

Once done, I served it with grilled mushroom too, that’s what we had for Christmas Eve.

Would like to take this opportunity wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!!

Bella Marino

If it’s not my friend that sent me a text yesterday, perhaps I won’t be visiting this place. A mall by the sea – Straits Quay.

My 1st time stepped foot into this place, immediately it was a love at first sight kind of feeling, I like the colonial design, and also the pleasant feeling it gives me. It was a pleasant surprise that we have in this place. Not to mention is around the corner for Christmas, but it’s something that any Penangite would proud of this piece of ‘art’.

While strolling around, we were excited to see so many food and beverages outlets down here, and we told ourselves, we will surely visit this place more often.

Bella Marino was our first outlet to try out while others were under some renovation. I was told there are many more outlets to check out, apart from Dome, Blue Reef, Starbucks and so on.

Anyway, after a quiet days and weeks, am going to start off with this simple post, at least am not completely out of the blogging world, but just too busy and too loaded with work. When you down in such place, you would not go wrong with pizza and pasta… and that’s what exactly we had this afternoon.

Le Zuppa (Soup) – a home made fresh cream of mushroom soup that starts with today’s lunch, RM12-80.

Followed by Le Pizze (Pizza) - Pizza Con Pollo that has roasted chicken meat, turkey ham and pineapple as topping, RM26-90.

Le Paste (Pasta) – Linguine Marinara was my choice, the fine strands of flat pasta cooked in tomato sauce with assorted seafood, RM31-00.

Added Iced Lemon Tea RM6-50 and Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice RM6-50 for the lunch for two.

Currently Bella Marino is having a opening promotion, if you dine in there will entitle for 10% discount. Come 1st December 2010 will have new menu as well.

Address & Contact Number
Bella Marino
Ristorante & Pizzeria
Lot No 3A-G-11 Straits Quay
Jalan Seri Tanjung Pinang
Tanjung Tokong
10470 Penang
Tel: +604-899 0277
Fax: +604-890 9277


Business Hour
Open Daily
Lunch: 11am to 3pm
Dinner: 6pm to 11pm

Note: Snacks in between hours. After hours al fresco casual wine drinking, also cater for take-aways.

Ah Choong Restaurant 亞仲海鮮飯店

A 3 weeks silence that couldn’t split myself into 2 nor 3 pieces to draft a simple post of this corner. What has been actually dragging me so tight that I couldn’t have a minute to spare to breath or even a minute to break away from the busy schedule?? Sometimes, am wondering does this worth it? Well, many had advise me that’s definitely worth it, cuz, eventually whatever I’ve spent on it, be it the time or the money, it’s something that I mould it and something that I designed from my own preference.

Many of my friends, whether is buddies, close friends, good friends, or even colleagues, have been asking me when is the day then?? Honestly, I ain’t have the answer for it, and honestly I am taking it slow … ya right… I gotta admit to myself, financial is always the hurdle for such thing!

Ain’t it not???

From preparing it, till, designing and sourcing the materials, and even to the negotiating part, it does make a lot of efforts from each one of us. And to certain extend you could see both couple is actually standing on one side on what they want. But how many would actually think thru that is the best for it?!

Don’t you agree with me?? Think of our age, we are aging, and there are many things you gotta think long term, whether is this design old folks friendly, and is this gonna be heavy maintenance or whatsoever? Hey, am not kidding, this is part of the entire project probably for your entire life?? Don’t you agree… now that with such economy or such inflation, this thing is escalating and many of us are actually hoping this bubble would burst! But the fact is, we are actually dreaming, do you think this will happen??

I was one of those that hoping it will burst, but I know the fact is, it wouldn’t be. So, hold it tight, this would be one in our life time.

Places of visiting apart from food, tiles shops like Apex, Old Tiles, Shanghai Sin Bee, E-Ceramic, … these are the places in our list of sourcing. Teka, Kitchen Tech, Verra Kitchen, Bofi, Signature Kitchen ain’t anything that missing from the list either. Visited many exhibitions, ie. Perfect Living, Penfurnex and even HomeDec in KL too, all these are part of the required places to source for cheaper materials.

Visiting these places are even more frequent compared to those eatery outlets lately, to be truth. Sigh… when will this be an end then??

Ah Chong Chu Char in Chai Leng Park is one the frequent place for us. Whenever there’s a strike at home or Monday blue is around the corner, having a quick bite at your comfortable place is always the best choice. This was chosen after a long day camped in the exhibition hall that recently held. Whole day down there without any proper food for the stomach, guess the stomach would definitely strike on it!

The food here is always gives you the home cook feel, and it’s definitely value for money too. At times, the bill is only less than RM100.

Swee & Sour Pork

Hóng Shāo Pork Ribs

Marmite Chicken

Stir Fry Kai Lan

Scallop Beancurd

Address
亞仲海鮮飯店
Ah Choong Restaurant
No. 40, Lorong Kurau Satu
Chai Leng Park
13700 Perai