msteh.com » Food

Dinner at Les Epicuriens, Champagne

Ms Teh — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 00:21:25 +0000

The B&B we stayed actually belongs to Pascal and Nicholas who also runs the Chateau de Barive where the famed restaurant, Les Epicuriens is. So, we decided to have dinner there since we arrived pretty late (excuses) and can’t ignore the great reviews that raved about the place.

There we go – food galore!

The setting / Amuse bouches / Bread and funky butter / Crab roll / Red Mullet / Fried Maroilles / Cheese platters / Choco dessert / Creme dessert / Sorbet dessert

Bliss!

Cooking Sunday

Ms Teh — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 18:33:19 +0000

For the first time, I stayed in the kitchen, with an apron on and cooked up a storm an entire Sunday afternoon. And surprisingly, I enjoyed it!

Although the end result of my bolognese sauce wasn’t up to my expectations (I think wrong tomato paste used), there were second helpings that went around the table. Thanks to Smitten Kitchen’s clear and entertaining instructions in her Lasagna Bolognese writeup.

While the sauce was brewing away for 4 hours, I whipped up a Spanish Tortilla for the hungry people at home with us this weekend. And that was a big hit!

There will be many Sundays as such to come till I can perfect the ultimate bolognese sauce!

Alghero: Eat – Al Vecchio Mulino

Ms Teh — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 19:28:16 +0000

Sept 13, 2010

This place is the best among our entire trip! Honestly, I prefer this over Malbrouk, as the wasted of food didn’t leave me with a very good feeling in the end of the dinner. Don’t like to waste food!!!

Apparently, it is usually overcrowded so best to place your bookings beforehand though we were quite lucky that night. Only had to wait about 10 mins before being seated.

And this time we got smarter – ordered just an antipasti and a primi piatti. Still, we were quite stuffed but I spared some space for dolce (sweets) – Crema Catalana. A must try in Alghero, part of its Spanish heritage. But too sweet for me!

The pasta dishes were unforgettable!!! Truly!

Price is reasonable too.

My Antipasti.

My Primi Piatti.

My Dolce.

My Digestivo – Grappa.

Cleaned!

The Ambiance.

Alghero: Eat – Malbrouk

Ms Teh — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 21:46:22 +0000

Sept 12, 2010

Let the chef surprise you. And we were pleasantly surprised indeed!!!

It is said that the lady chef picks up the freshest stuffs from market each day and toss it up for the patrons to her delight.

Its a fixed price at 40€ per pax with drinks included (wonderful and unlimited wine!). Food kept flowing till we were so stuffed that I could only manage one piece of that heavenly calamar. So its a bit pricey unless you can really eat all that food.

But it was absolutely delicious especially the crab pasta – it was unforgettable!!!

The Antipasti

Primi Piatti #1 #2 #3

Secondi Piatti #1 #2 #3

Dolce – Forgot to take any pictures!

Digestivo – Grappa & Mirto

Day 1-2: Alghero, Sardegna

Ms Teh — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 21:03:33 +0000

We didn’t do much on Day 1 because both of us (workaholics) had some work to finish up hence it was a day holed up in the hotel room unfortunately. I finished up my work by midday and was lured out by the sun. Hence, I did a bit of exploring in the Old Town by myself. I played treasure hunt alone – hunting for one of the best gelato in town! Hee, so typical of me!

Old Town Arches

Alghero Port

The Walls

Colours in the Old Town

Igloo Gelateria – Alas, I found it! Said to be the real homemade stuff with all natural ingredients. It was good but it didn’t make me go crazy about it. Maybe I picked the wrong flavors?

Lemon Cup Cakes

Ms Teh — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 19:51:53 +0000

Yeah, I tried making cup cakes! (Yen, stop laughing!)

Well, it turned out fine. Really, it cannot go wrong at all cause the package that was given to me by a friend practically contained the DOUGH in it.

I just had to turn on the oven. Distribute the dough evenly across the 15 cup cake molds and place the tray into the oven. 20 mins and tralala – ready to eat!

Phew, thank goodness it was a success.

Ebisu Brussels

Ms Teh — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 21:06:58 +0000

Finally, I managed to convince Mr Fudge (after throwing a few tantrums and pouts) to check out this new place.

Food was one thing but concept and ambiance was superb though you may have to be really lucky to get a table (or loads of patience). It’s situated in one of the hip areas of Brussels (Flagey). The gyoza was good. Mr Fudge has a rice burger and I had a ramen which didn’t impressed me too much. Still I’ll go again to try something else.

More pouting to do meantime…

Ooops, I didn’t manage to take any picture of the food (busy eating!) but you can check it out here.

Homemade Gyoza

Ms Teh — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 21:14:08 +0000

Yay, I made gyoza! (Becoming domesticated?)

I used this recipe. Thanks to Rachael!

Mr Fudge helped out too. Our wrapping skills were not bad at all. Though one can easily identify the different styles.

Summer Bites

Ms Teh — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 21:31:50 +0000

Yummy finger food for the little drink on my terrace!

Poulet Yassa

Ms Teh — Wed, 19 May 2010 18:57:35 +0000

This is one of the national favourite of the Senegalese people. I’ve came across this dish on the menu of one of my favourite restaurant in Brussels but they have ceased to serve it anymore! Therefore, I have no choice but to make it on my own. It turned out ok, though I had to add in more ‘ummphh’ for the second round of serving. I am always too conservative about salt!

Here’s my recipe with the ‘uhmmphh’:

Serves 4

One chicken or I used 4 large chicken drum+thigh pieces
8 onions, sliced
2 carrots, roughly chopped (optional vegetable)
10 tbsp lemon juice
8 tbsp Peanut oil
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
4 tbsp dijon mustard
1 cube of chicken stock
2 tbsp of soya sauce
2 small chillis
Salt, pepper, nutmeg

Marinate the chicken with all ingredients overnight except optional vegetable (seal well!)
Preheat oven to 180°C and grill chicken for 15mins to brown it only
Remove the onions from the marinade and saute them in a large pan until translucent but not brown
Add the remainder of the marinade to the pan and cook until you have a thin sauce
Add the browned chicken back into your pan, cover and let simmer over low heat until the chicken is done

Serve over white rice and with cooked plantain if you can find them.

Bon appétit!