HB

A long, personal journey worth having.

Turkey stew with quail eggs, Portobello mushrooms and apples

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stew start

The turkey stew is made with half a savory sauce base and half apple juice. It sounds a little weird and we did this as an experiment of sorts but it worked out really well. The stew takes a lot of time to cook (3 hours approximate) but we also made BBQ pork ribs. The hearty stew is served with slices of French loaf topped with Mozzarella cheese slices seared in olive oil.

You will need:

ingredients

  • Turkey drumstick
  • Pork ribs
  • Quail eggs
  • La MASIA extra virgin olive oil
  • Coat & Cook Honey and Soy Sauce marinate
  • Heinz BIG N CHUNKY Stew
  • PEEL FRESH apple juice
  • Mozzarella cheese block
  • BBQ sauce
  • Potatoes
  • Baby carrots
  • Portobello mushrooms
  • Onions and garlic
  • Apple
  • French loaf

turkey drum size

Turkey drumsticks are huge – check out the sheer size of it.

turkey drum slice

The turkey drumstick will be the stock of the stew but we wanted the meat as well so we sliced the turkey drumstick with a knife, going sideways as to maximize the return on investment on this bird.

sliced turkey

Mmm…

apple

We started off by preparing the ingredients for the stew. Chop up the onions, garlic, potatoes and apples. The last two should be cubed and diced respectively. Put the baby carrots into the plate as well.

pre stew

Next up, fry the onions and garlic in olive oil…

fry turkey

…and put in the slices of turkey to sear it for the stew.

stew base

Open the can of stew base and dump it into a suitable sized pot. DO NOT ADD WATER.

stew progress

Throw in the rest of the ingredients except the quail eggs and Portobello mushrooms.

quail eggs boil

Boil 6 of the quail eggs (reserve the rest for the stew) and peel it.

turkey drum

You can also throw in the pasta at this time for the two birds with one stone thing (pardon the lame pun).

add apple juice

Pour in the apple juice in lieu of water – trust me on this. Add about 500 ml or so.

turkey stew

Chuck in all the rest of the ingredients and let the stew…well, stew for 2 hours.

Here’s the video!

marinade

This is where you cook the pork ribs. Marinate the pork ribs with Coat & Cook Honey and Soy Sauce and let it sit for a while.

fry pork ribs

Use olive oil to fry some onions and garlic and put in the pork ribs.

pork ribs done

You don’t want to overcook the porcine goodness so flip every now and then and add BBQ sauce before serving.

thicken stew

After 2 hours (do check on the stew from time to time and remember to turn the heat down) put in a few slices of bread to thicken up the stew.

quail eggs crack

Add BBQ sauce and crack in the quail eggs…

mushrooms

…and the Portobello mushrooms.

stewing

Let it stew (you guessed it) for 30 more minutes with the lid on.

Crack the rest of the quail eggs in at this point. High cholesterol but adds a lot to the taste!

bread stew

Chop up the French loaf to go with the stew and heat it with cheese slices on top of olive oil until the Mozzarella cheese melts.

melted french loaf cheese

Cook some pasta to garnish in the middle of the French loaf with melted cheese…

serving

…and serve with the turkey stew with quail eggs, Portobello mushrooms and apples.

stew end

I’m telling you, it tastes DIVINE. It might be a bit sour but it’ll be nothing a bit of BBQ sauce can’t fix and the medley of sour, sweet and savory notes is something to experience. The stew is thick and full of turkey with quail egg and apple surprises!

The Leaning Tower of Prata

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prata

This has gotta be the highlight of today. We were having lunch at a mamak when this waiter started collecting used plates and bowls into a structurally unsound configuration which flies against all the laws of gravity. It’s an abomination! This Bonanno Pisano wannabe was just BEGGING for his hodge-podge construct to come apart.

It started wobbling when he walked over to our table.

I can see the look of consternation of his face, as well as a glint in his eye that suggested DETERMINATION to reach the dirty plate washing basin before it deconstructed.
He was fighting a losing battle and he shifted left, and then right in an effort to correct the wobbling structure.

His face started showing signs of dismay and horror as he realized he’ll never cross the finish line without it toppling over. The leaning tower of old soup, rice, and gravy from various people’s leftovers was just beside us at this point.

In a last ditch effort to do some damage control, he sharply veered right and let his body act as a splatter shield as everything came down.

It still got to us though. I was trying hard not to laugh coz his expression was PRICELESS. I wish I had videoed it but I didn’t know it was going to fall.

I still think it’s funny even though my left sleeve smells like old onion soup.

Kampong Chicken Eating House

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kampong chicken eating house

What exactly is kampong chicken? Translated literally it would “rural chicken” but it actually means free range chicken. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think it’s a different species (at least, a different kind of chicken) since it’s much smaller and leaner than the usual poultry offerings.

kampong chicken stall

I went to Kampong Chicken Eating House in Singapore right before we were slated to come home. The bus was about to leave so we decided to head down here for some nourishment before we departed.

kampong chicken rice

This is a photo of a bowl of plain steamed chicken rice. Mundane? It looks that way but it didn’t TASTE that way (which was what compelled me to snap someone’s bowl after I partook of mine). The individual grains of rice is soft, fluffy and infused with the essence of chicken goodness!

kampong chicken liver

I have a huge appetite (which explains my current weight) so I ordered a chicken drumstick with some chopped liver and an egg…

kampong chicken rice meal

…and a quarter of chicken (thigh and drum) to complement the order and make it into a belly rubbing, over eating experience. 😉

kampong chicken us

It tasted good to me and everyone else on the table agreed that it was better than most chicken rice outlets. Good company, good food – it’s twice the fun just like the Xpax XXL double bonus. I particularly enjoyed the tender and moist chicken.

kampong chicken

I finished everything so that’s gotta say something right?

(or not)

Lotteria Shrimp and Bulgogi Burger

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lotteria order

Lotteria is one of the largest fast food chains in Korea. It’s an offshoot of the Lotte Korean conglomerate. I was there a couple of months ago for a business trip and decided to sample the local cuisine junk food.

lotteria

They had this 30th anniversary promotional burger going on – it’s a half-and-half of shrimp and bulgogi beef. I have been a HUGE fan of bulgogi after going to Korea – done right, it’s the delicious! I’ve been to a proper bulgogi place as well as the McDonald’s bulgogi burger *drool* and I love it to bits!

lotteria promo

Naturally, I went for this one, half bulgogi and half shrimp in a sub, you can’t really ask for more!

lotteria burger

We had it to go coz it was really late at night and all of us were pretty tired.

lotteria bulgogi shrimp burger

I know why Lotteria is doing so well in Korea (kinda rhymes right?) though. Their burgers are orgasmic! Imagine half of a shrimp burger and half of a bulgogi burger in a single sub – it’s an XXL sized portion of belly patting goodness in a single bun.

Speed eating video

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speed eating

I’ve always waxed lyrical about this particular chap fan place in Kelana Jaya. It is hands down the best place for lunch and I’ve missed eating there ever since I moved. Anyway, I decided it was high time to head back and do a video of myself eating a huge plate of nostalgia so I drove back yesterday afternoon.

I videoed myself eating it – this really is how fast I usually eat the stuff. It took me ages to upload this coz I’m not on Streamyx right now. I’m waiting for my account to get transferred over here so I can get proper broadband. I finished the entire plate of rice but I’m not too pleased at my own pace so I’m going to have to do it again.

No la, that’s just an excuse for me to head back. I really love their offerings but you have to be there around 9 am coz the good dishes sell out really fast.

Shooting an apple off your head

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apple-karen

There was this game last night which we kinda butchered. You’re supposed to shoot a slingshot (medieval style, yo) at a target but somehow or other we got an apple. Thus it turned into the classic shoot-the-apple-off-the-head stunt.

Karen really used the slingshot (which was why I was covering my face) and the most amazing thing is, she actually HIT the apple.

apple-me

The reason I let her do it was coz I trusted her to aim in that general direction (instead of down south where the family jewels are – only son k). It’s also why I use Streamyx broadband…cross my heart and hope to die, I have really been using exclusively that since I got of dial up. I guess it’s just one of those things – you believe in the service.

Just like I trusted Karen not to aim down there. >.<

The Picture of Dorian Gray / Pendidikan Seni

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picture

I’m rather proud of this artwork I did. It involved paint, duct tape, brushes, sponges and a lot of prayers to hold it together. It’s an abstract art based on the title of the post so I’ll call this The Picture of Huai Bin.

paint mouth

I’m not known for my artistic skills (understatement of the year). Whenever we had to do Pendidikan Seni (Art) in high school, I would inevitably draw this:

draw

I’m not kidding. I blogged about it back in 2003 in under the absurdly grandiose title Behold, I draw again. 😉

setup

One fine Saturday, Nippon Paint invited a bunch of us to the Nippon Paint Workshop at HomeDec ’09, KLCC. I was the first one to arrive so after checking in, I did some recon around the place and found a lot of interesting things such as regal looking porcelain thrones that is more for art’s sake than for actual crapping.

toilet

When I wandered back to the Nippon Paint workshop, I saw easels being set up around the area. It seems like we’ll be painting today!

paint

The tables were filled with all sorts of painting paraphernalia – some of which I don’t have names for. Art just isn’t my forte. >.<

easels

I thought someone was just going to shove a paintbrush into my hands and tell me to paint. It’ll be like Pendidikan Seni all over again. It took 15 years of therapy and thousands of dollars in medication to get over that stressful period of my life and I still have PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)!

food

Repressed memories began to resurface and I felt my heart pound and blood rush to my head. Panic attack! Before I tore the hair out of my head and ran screaming out the door, Gladys came in and made us feel welcome with some food and a presentation.

presentation

The workshop by Nippon Paint was held to teach us about colors. I don’t just mean red, green and blue but also about how colors affect moods and how to create the ambiance you want. There are warm and cold colors and color combinations that can be manipulated for the purpose you want.

camwhore

We also learned about how to make our own designs with a variety of materials. I was amazed by how a little self-painted art can really accentuate a wall, room, or space. I saw this pattern that was done to highlight a wall and cover a beam. It was inspiring! It really got me interested in being creative and adding a motif to my future living room wall.

I gleaned a lot of information from the presentation but my particular interest is in this color:

Red

red

Pros
Passion, fire, energy, courage
Cons
Defiance, aggression

You should never paint a meeting room red or office disputes might just explode to a whole new level, with disastrous consequences. It is a contentious color for the bedroom – it ignites passion, but also arguments.

paints

However, I’m partial to red (notice my banner and my phoenix tattoo) due to the symbology associated with it. Studies have actually shown that it has a physical effect – increasing the respiration rate, raising blood pressure and making your heart beat faster.
I’ll tell you why I want red later.

nippon paint teach

Okay, with the presentation over and the basics ingrained (well, at least not totally lost) we were led by the friendly Nippon Paint staff to our easels and started working on our canvas!

sponge

I cut sponges into eye shapes with scissors

duct tape

I used duct tape artistically to define zones

paint face

I used multiple sizes of paint brushes to color my canvas

eyes

I mixed colors and washed paint brushes with water

drip

Hell, I even squeezed paint straight from the tube onto the easel

duct tape out

I almost felt like Van Gogh (except my left ear lobe is still intact and I haven’t succumbed to mental illness…yet) doing all that.

group

I loved the session so much I lugged my piece of art back home to Kelana Jaya on the LRT at the expense of my back. I seriously felt the need to paint and make beautiful things (which is very subjective, ya know :p) for the first time in my life! I already have a project in mind…I’m going to paint my work table! =D

my painting

That’s why I wanted the color red, I’m going to blog from that table and all the positive attributes are the things I want happening when I’m typing out a post. I’ll face my Pendidikan Seni fears and do a little design on the table while I’m at it too!

painting

Hmm…now what creepy sketch should I do? 😉

Surf and turf vegeroni spiral pasta with homemade sauce

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Surf and turf vegeroni spiral pasta with homemade cream

I just moved into my new studio apartment with cooking facilities and decided to break in the kitchen by whipping something up. This inspiration made us go to the nearest hypermarket to pick up some stuff for pasta. I wanted a hybrid seafood and red meat dish – squid and beef, so here’s the surf and turf pasta!

You will need:

Surf and turf vegeroni spiral pasta with homemade cream ingredients

  • Fresh whole squid
  • Aussie beef steaks
  • Enochi mushrooms
  • Fresh white button mushroom
  • Broccoli
  • Whipping cream
  • Perfect Italiano Mozzarella cheese slab
  • Tatura butter
  • McCormick Garlic Pepper Seasoning Grinder
  • McCormick Italian Herbs
  • McCormick Season All salt seasoning
  • Heinz Garlic BBQ sauce
  • Onions
  • Garlic
  • San Remo Vegeroni Spirals pasta

garlic

My friend started squashing the garlic…

onion

…and chopping up the onions.

marinate beef

While I went to work marinating the Aussie beef with a mixture of Heinz Garlic BBQ sauce…

marinated beef

…before adding in some raw garlic and grinding some McCormick Garlic Pepper Seasoning into it.

massage beef

I also gave it a good massage, Kobe style. This is The Turf (TM).

brocolli

Prepare the broccoli by tearing it into manageable pieces and slice half the button mushrooms while keeping the other half whole.

veggies

Put everything onto a plate – it’s for the homemade sauce. This is supposed to be for the sauce base. Next – seafood!

squid

The squid should be boiled – shake some salt into the water and just chuck the damn sotong into the pot.

desquid

Squid has this cartilage thing inside it so remember to pull it out after you’ve boiled it. This is The Surf (TM).

vegeroni

The next step is to cook the vegeroni spiral pasta in salted water.

stir fry me

While you’re waiting it to become al dente start stir frying the garlic, onion, enochi mushroom, broccoli, and button mushroom in LOTS OF BUTTER.

stir fry

I used ½ a block of butter and if you want your pasta to taste as good as mine you’ll do the same. 😉

italian herbs

Shake in some Italian herbs to add some delicious hints to your sauce.

cream

Add cream to the entire mixture…

eat cheese

…and chop off half the block of cheese into the pasta sauce.

add cheese

I know, this is not going to win any Heart Healthy (TM) awards but it tastes fucking good okay?

add butter

Your pasta should be done by now so drain and put in a healthy amount of butter. Be generous! Go kung fu on the butter block and melt it in the pasta!

fry beef

Got beef? Don’t look at me. Fry the goddamn thing. Put the heat on low and sear it so you won’t overcook it.

Surf and turf vegeroni spiral pasta with homemade cream serve

Now it’s time to chow down! Pour the pasta sauce into the butter saturated pasta, add in the beef and squid and serve!

Surf and turf vegeroni spiral pasta with homemade cream dish

Serving suggestion: Grind some pepper on top of the butter and eat while hot! 🙂

The farewell cake incident

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carol-cake

I wanted to get a cake for Carol for her farewell but when I logged into Secret Recipe I found out that my credit card order wouldn’t go through. T_T

I haven’t paid my credit card bill this month coz of moving and all that (moving requires $) so my credit card was rejected. I tried making random calls to various Secret Recipe outlets in KL but it seems that only one (after much pleading) would do delivery.

mca

He is the store manager of the franchise at Wisma MCA and agreed to text me his bank account so I can transfer the money to him. I was a bit dubious about this arrangement at first, but I had the blogathon to do last Friday (the day it’s supposed to be delivered) so I didn’t have a choice.

email

Anyway, I banked in the money and emailed him and on Friday (the 13th) he called me RIGHT BEFORE the blogathon and said he couldn’t access his email. >.<

calls

I haven’t even changed, much less gotten into the window display to get at the computers. I panicked for about 1 second before telling him I’ll text him the email contents before lunch (coz I can’t remember everything).

carol-1

carol-2

Thus, on the very first day of the blogathon, while everyone was blogging, I was busy sorting out this damn cake order so Carol would get it on her very last day.

It’s a good thing that the Xpax XXL double bonus is happening coz it’s so much easier to write long SMS (took 6 x 160 characters IIRC) on my BB.

cake carol

All’s well that ends well though. Goodbye Carol! You will be missed. T_T

These things only happen in movies

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I thought stuff like this only happens in movies, like slipping on banana peels. However last night I had the great misfortune of DROPPING my keys INTO A GRATE. You know that kind of drain – you can call it a sewer even. It’s a good meter down and inaccessible so you can’t reach into the bacteria infested water and fish out your keys.

drain

It’s a good thing it happened beside my condo so I got security to use a hook apparatus to fish it out. Apparently, it’s not as rare as I thought…else, why would they have that thing lying around the guard house? Granted, it can be used to pull down rolling shutters as well, but there are none in my place.

keys

It’s a good thing they had that nifty pole lying around or I’ll have had to call one of my friends to come with a piece of steel wire (my first thought). It wouldn’t be very difficult since the Xpax XXL double bonus allows me to make more calls but it still wouldn’t be fun waiting for them to come while peering apprehensively at down the drain and hoping the water won’t wash my keys away. >.<

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