Weekend: Serai Restaurant / Big Bad Wolf Book Sale / Truffled Egg

serai

We were supposed to head to Cherating for a vacation this weekend but the floods made the trip impossible. Thus, I re-booked for another date next year and here’s three (3) things we did instead:

1. Serai @ Empire

serai empire

We were out at Empire Subang and were debating between Ole Ole Bali (her choice) and Four Seasons London (my choice – I’ve actually been to the one in London during my first Europe backpacking trip).

middle eastern medley

However, we saw this restaurant and my better half decided to eat here so I had the Middle Eastern Medley (RM 45). It’s described as Moroccan lamb shank cooked to perfection, served with spiced rice, cucumber raita and their signature Turkish Relish. I’ve always thought Morocco was in Africa but nevetheless, it tasted really good.

pistachio creme brulee

I liked their Pistachio CrΓ¨me Brulee (RM 15) too! It comes with a scoop of ice cream with nuts at the bottom…

serai us

…and it’s plated for two!

2. Big Bad Wolf Sale 2013

commando

We braved the throngs of people all heading to Mines last night. I saw a couple of nice coffee-table books like a comic called Commando that came out in the 1960’s. I remember buying and reading this in primary school. The pulp comic book sold for RM 1 and I’ll forgo my lunch just to get a couple of copies. The art was realistic and gritty and this 50 year edition had 6 collections with commentary for RM 20.

commando comics

It’s a good deal, especially considering the quality paper it was printed on. I didn’t end up buying it though.

neil gaiman eternals

However, I bought a ton of other books. My dear bought some for herself and the kids too. I mostly went for hardcovers (which would go well on my bookshelf) but I also got this graphic novel by Neil Gaiman. It’s called Eternals, a Marvel property, and rewritten by Gaiman. It’s on the higher priced side at RM 25 but worth it to complete my collection. I’m a fan (of Gaiman, not Marvel) and I collect his works.

big bad wolf sale

The other stuff I bought were stuff like special mission units (SAS, DEVGRU etc) autobiographies, which I’ve been reading a lot lately since No Easy Day by Mark Oven (pseudonym) about the Operation Neptune Spear. The author (real name Matt Bissonnette) was a DEVGRU assaulter who was the second person in and made one of the killing shots to the late (and great? ;)) Mr. bin Laden.

book

I also threw in some sci-fi and the witty novels that are so in vogue nowadays. I like the staff there, they’re really friendly and helpful but the announcer is a bit of an annoying personality, I could constantly hear him over the PA berating people for infractions real and imagined. smirk

3. Truffled egg

truffled egg

I have perfected my truffled egg recipe! It involves using white truffle oil to finish a slow cooked (indirect heat, much like the Poached chicken breast with beetroot and nectarine puree I did) scrambled egg with heavy cream, milk, salt and pepper.

summer truffle breadsticks

It’s best eaten with summer truffle bread sticks. We had this for breakfast on Sunday. The French summer truffle bread sticks retails for over RM 80 per box (!!!). I got it for 80% off coz the use-by date was near though. I love our home cooked Sunday brunches. πŸ™‚

Summer truffles, our own garden and chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches!

tuber aestivum

This is what I got my better half for our anniversary! It’s summer truffles or Tuber aestivum. It’s not as good as white truffles or black truffles but it’s something I can afford without breaking the bank – a small chunk of Perigord black truffle the size of a snail can cost RM 2,000 – if you can find it!

white truffle aroma

I’ve never found truffles for sale here. I’ve seen olive oil infused with white truffle flavor (which usually costs around RM 100 for 200 ml) but that’s a very different thing. White truffle flavor isn’t white truffle, it’s synthetic, but it’ll make a good condiment (some people call it the mediocre chef’s crutch ;)). It tastes good and that’s what you get when you order thick cut truffle fries.

black truffle aroma

But there are actually no real truffles inside that bottle of olive oil. It’s just chemicals for flavor. One step up would be the 1% truffle oil infusions where you do get a few small shavings of truffles (equivalent to 5% fresh truffle) but is also rounded up with artificial truffle flavor and aroma.

truffle oil

This would usually set you back around RM 200 or so for a 200 ml bottle. I wanted to get this one actually since it has that distinctive truffle aroma I wanted my dear to taste.

However, I saw real summer truffles from Italy! It’s just 35 grams (50 grams if you include the water) and it comes in a tiny bottle that I thought would be perfect for a present!

summer truffles

I’ve wanted to get her some truffles since she’s never had them before. This is just about what I can afford right about now and I thought it’s nice to get real truffles for that price!

herb garden

My dear got me this! It’s a living garden – or rather a herb garden that she made and stuck with all sorts of notes. I love it!

(and also a toothbrush and hand washing liquid – she has a very practical side that I love)

I’ve been taking care of it ever since! I water it a little every day and give it some sun (recently started putting it outside at night so it’ll get some dew too). I thought it’s a perfect present, she’s always so thoughtful. We can now harvest our own herbs from our own garden! πŸ˜€

pandora autumn 2013

I also got her a Pandora charm from the new Autumn 2013 collection.

pandora charm

I thought this one was quite relevant and she said something that I felt quite happy about – the charm bracelet has our own story! I’m glad she liked it.

food processor

I also made dinner for her (more about that soon). It was a working day so I had to rush here and there, running about like a madman trying to get everything I needed.

cookie ice cream

It was a very nice anniversary that we rounded up with a nice chocolate chip cookie sandwich filled with ice cream from Good Humor.

hb ling 7th

I’m glad to have her in my life, it has brightened it much and I’m all the better for that! <3 pandora 2013

I love you dear! *hugs my dear*

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