Black Canyon Coffee, Centre Point, PJ

Have been rather busy, sorry for the lack of updates..
And issues with Internet connection didn't help at all..

Was rummaging my old pictures and managed to find some photos when I ate at Black Canyon..

A franchise from Thailand, Black Canyon is an asian version of coffee chains; serving coffees and fusion Thai meals..

Hazelnut Coffee (RM8.95) I find it a tad sweet, still, it's pretty good nonetheless.

The iced Mocha (RM8.95) Combination was pretty good, again, a little too sweet for me.

Their Iced Coffee (RM7.95) was nice though..Cooling coffee with a nice scattering of coffee flakes; giving a lovely bitter aftertaste that I like..

Black Canyon's meal menu consists of fusion Thai, western and some snacks.

Their Chicken Salad (RM8.90) looks pretty good. SM said it was ok, and was glad that the chicken breast moist and tender. The greens were fresh too, though the portion may be small for those who prefers something more substantial..

The fusili with tuna (RM9.90, lunch set) was forgettable.. The fusili was stir fried with tuna flakes, tomyam paste, baby corn and herbs. Somehow, I did not it a satisfying meal and the portion was rather small too.
The seafood spaghetti (RM8.90) looks better..The spaghetti was al-dente, stri fried with prawns, squid rings, tuna flakes, baby corn and herbs. The sauce was rather sweet, with hints of tomyam..

We had this stir fried pasta with crunchy basil leaves..The nicest amongst the 3 we tried, but somehow, I've forgotten it's name :(. Can only real that it's in the lunch set.

There's also ala carte dishes which you can order to go with rice..

We ordered the lunch set (RM24.90 for 3 dishes and rice) to try out some dishes..The lemongrass salad was a 'like it or hate it' dish. I thought it was a refreshing salad as I always like raw onions/ shallots..Tossed with tomatoes, peanuts, chopped lemongrass, tuna flakes and drizzled with a sweet, spicy and sour concoction; this salad is real appetizing.

The Tomyam.. Not the type I like. Creamier, sweet and sour version. Loaded with lots of ingredients though. Bollywood Queen was lapping it up nicely though..
Stir fried chicken with cashewnuts..

Very much like kung pow chicken, the chicken pieces were tender, goes well with the sweet onions, mushrooms and cashewnuts. Nice dish to go with rice. Then again, RM24.90 for these dishes, guess I cant complaint much..

Black Canyon is a place to chill with friends while sipping a cup of coffee with reasonably priced meals. Food is not fantastic, but is better than a nearby franchised coffee place (if you want to have coffee and meals , that is).

Black Canyon is located at Lot 3 & 3A, Ground Floor, Centre Point, Lebuh Bandar Utama, 47800, PJ.

Try It You'll Like It: Scrapple

I have decided to start a new feature on this blog to focus attention on foods that you may have tried but didn't like or that you have been afraid to try. I am hoping that this feature will help shed light, and gain interest in some misunderstood or maligned foods. Whether it is you, your spouse or your children who are fussy eaters, I want to get you to stretch your culinary muscle, try something new, some of these foods will be old favorite of mine, while I hope to share some of my adventures in trying new things as well.

My first installment is about the much maligned scrapple. For those of you who may not be familiar with scrapple, it is a Pennsylvania Dutch/ German dish, mainly cooked for breakfast that is made from pork and cornmeal. The dish originated as a porridge made on butchering day, but evolved into a dish that was formed into a loaf, and now is sliced and fried. The Pennsylvana Dutch name for this dish is panhas (PON-hoss). It is still called that and sold under that name in German and Pennsylvania Dutch markets. However, because it was made with scraps of pork, it became known as scrapple, and that name stuck.

Many people who will not eat scrapple because it is made of pork bits and pieces and the dreaded offal (eat that, Ruhlman!), but scrapple is very similar in taste and texture to polenta, actually, it is a lot like polenta with little bits of meat (and some fat) mixed in. To prepare scrapple, slice and dredge in flour, and fry in oil or butter, turning to get a brown and crispy outside crust. While it is not exactly diet food (although Rapa says their scrapple is 88% fat free!), in my opinion, there is nothing like a piece of scrapple, with its crisp exterior and the soft and grainy interior. The traditional way to eat scrapple is with apple butter, but some (blasphemers) eat it with ketchup. Scrapple is a great alternative to other breakfast meats, the perfect counterpoint to a sunny-side egg.

As a big fan of scrapple (my Mom's family was of German descent and so scrapple was in their blood) I decided to try to make my own scrapple a couple of years ago. While it is not as complicated or technically demanding as making your own sausage or home cured bacon a la charcuterie, but it does take time and patience. A cut of pork with some fat (like shoulder) is best

Philadelphia - Style Scrapple

2 pounds pork shoulder (or pork butt) (I have used leftover pork butt for this)
2 cups yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon sage
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons black pepper

Cut up pork into chunks. Place the pork, sage and cayenne in a stock pot and cover with water. Simmer for about 2 to 3 hours or until meat falls apart. Drain and reserve stock.
Remove meat from bone and chop all the meat with a knife. Measure 5 cups of stock and return to pot. Bring it to a simmer; add meat, cornmeal, salt and pepper, and stir constantly until thick and smooth, about 15 to 30 minutes. Stir in chopped meat to incorporate fully. Pour mixture into 2 loaf pans and refrigerate until completely chilled. Un-mold scrapple. To serve, slice, dredge and fry until golden brown and crisp on both sides.

Whether you make your own, or buy scrapple at your supermarket (brands like Rapa and Habbersett can be found in stores or online), give it a try. I think you'll like it!

Snow Day!

Here in Hampton Roads, we have a yearly ritual of preparing for hurricane season. Hurricanes have a fairly long lead time as emergencies go, so there is time to refill medications, get canned good, fill your gas grill, buy flashlights and batteries and bottled water. While many of us use the beginning of hurricane season to do these things, some people wait till a hurricane is on the way causing a rush to the stores to stock up before the storm. However, that is nothing compared to when snow is forecast in this part of Virginia. It is a phenomenon that is unmatched.

Those of you who live in the north, or anyplace where winter snow is a part of everyday life would laugh, yea scoff at the chaos that an inch or so of snow causes in our area. Scores of fender-benders, school and business closings, and excitement way out of proportion to the event result anytime Jon Cash shows a Snow Hope Index over 5 (10 is 100% chance of accumulating snow)

Having set the stage, I have to admit that I was excited when 3-6 inches of snow was in our forecast for this holiday weekend. What can be better than snow when you have no place that you have to go (sorry for you health care workers and others who have to work no matter what!)?

So what does all this have to do with food? Simple. Here in Hampton Roads, a high Snow Hope Index coincides with crowds- in particular at grocery stores and movie rental stores. I have to admit that Saturday morning, as the snow approached, we, too, braved the crowds to make sure that we were not snowbound without something that we just had to have. As we stood in lines that snaked halfway back through the stores, I paid attention to what others had in their carts to give you an idea of what people in Hampton Roads had in their carts to help them prepare for a possible blizzard. here are the things that appeared most:

Milk - have to have that for coffee, cocoa, and to dip cookies in after making your snow angels or to warm up before going out to brave the cold.

Beer - I am not sure if this was inspired by the impending snow or football championship weekend, but nevertheless it was in about half of the carts in line.

Bread - How can you make warm cinnamon toast or a grilled cheese without this?

Soup - Tomato, chicken noodle, and vegetable beef were all very popular

Batteries - Like me I think most people were buying AAs to power cameras (have to take pictures of the snow, which is a not so common event) or, like us, making sure we had sufficient power for our Wii remotes to keep the young savages from getting cabin fever!

Magic gloves - These are the gloves that will stretch to fit (almost) any hand. Many people in this area don't normally have either gloves or boots, so the rack at the Food Lion provides that opportunity. I usually have tons of these in black since boys or girls can wear them and then you don't have to search for the one blue or pink glove, you can always make pairs if you have enough.

Ground beef- Chili, duh!

Snack foods - Also could be affiliated with pro football, but you know it takes a lot of calories to make snow angels or pull a sled up a hill, or shovel the walkway, and besides, snow immediately suspends all diet resolutions until the snow is nothing more that black piles on the side of the road, so nachos, chips and dip, and homebaked cookies or brownies are all fair game on a snow day.(photo, left c/o fringehog on flickr)

Wine - Self-explanatory- Kids off school...stuck in house,...cabin fever....remember all those guys who bought beer?.... they have wives!

Cocoa and coffee - A must-have during cold weather (you may also see a run on marshmallows or marshmallow cream)

Firestarters and Firelogs - Many houses have wood-burning fireplaces, but because our temps are usually, well, temperate, many do not have wood for them. But really, what is better than a fire when snow is falling outside?


So what did we buy? Batteries (camera and Wii), eggs and milk, cheese, wine (to go with the cheese), cocoa, tortilla chips, and chicken parts for 40-clove garlic chicken (recipe in a subsequent post), and a baguette (those of you who have had this chicken need no explanation!) We did not head to the movie store, since when we checked the Redbox ($1/night new release rentals- it is our new favorite!), scores of people had beat us to the punch and no movies that I wanted to see were still there.

So what about you? Whether you face a real snowstorm or would just like to fantasize, what would you brave the crowds to go out and buy?

Fukuya, Bangsar Baru

It was a rather impromptu decision to have dinner at Fukuya..
I wanted to have japanese and SL suggested Fukuya...

Bollywood Queen decided to join us and we join drove to the rather posh Bangsar Baru area where the row of pretty bungalow restaurants stood.

It was quiet when we walked in, the usually noisy and boisterous Bollywood Queen was suddenly very tame.

This is too civilised for me, she whispered..

I cant help it but to laugh out loud :D

We had some Yu Tofu (beancurd in claypot)

It was somewhat like a warm version of DIY Hiyayakko..

Beancurd in hot water...The ingredients..

Mix everything and wahlah..The end result. Beancurd was very smooth, lovely to just slurp it all in. But I find the sauce too sour..too much puzu(lemon juice) in the soy sauce?

Some Enoki bata yaki which is straw mushroom grilled in butter..I thought this was nice, the enoki still had some crunch while it's juices were retain..Goes well with the slightly thick butter sauce. SL didn't like it though..

The Unagi to chiri padi maki ( eel with bird's eye chilli roll) was a rather generous serving..As the roll was deep fried before serving, the maki was warm and had a very crispy exterior. Quite substaintail unagi in each piece though the chilli didn't really make it's presence felt, my only complaint was that the maki was not rolled tightly. It sort off falls apart everytime we tried to take a piece of the sushi. Still, this maki was tasty nonetheless.

Soft shell crab tempura..

Was glad that it didn't have traces of oil clinging to it. This was an ok dish.

Toriniku Teriyaki (grilled chicken with teriyaki sauce) which came with salada and potato salad..The grilled chicken was juicy, meat was tender. But the 2 ladies enjoyed the potato salad better.

I kinda like this restaurant as I find it quite a nice place to have quiet dinners and cosy chats with family/ friends. And to have Bollywood Queen whispering throughout the dinner and be a tad lady like: priceless.

hahahaha

Fukuya Authentic Japanese Cuisine is located at 63B, Jalan Ara, Bangsar Baru, KL.

Read your 2008?

Ah C*** !!!!!(my nick), Bollywood Queen called out
I wanna have my tarot reading!! she exclaims excitedly...

Me, on the other hand, being an extremely amateurish tarot card reader, was not so excited. I usually do readings when I am in the 'mood' else, no fun doing the reading at all...

Why the sudden urge to do reading? I looked at Bollywood Queen questioningly...
It's a new year dude! New year new reading! Do my 12 month reading now! Bollywood Queen replied, rather matter-of-factly


Gosh, you mean you actually remembered and followed the reading I did for you a year back?
She looked at me as if I was a nincompoop..


That got me wondering..
Have any of you had your palm/ face/ 8 characters/ tarot/ numerology read at the beginning of every year?
If the readings were Good, that's great..
But if it's Bad..would You be affected? Would it in turn become a self fulfilling prophecy?

A Cook's Christmas

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that many of my gifts this Christmas related to food or its preparation. It is pretty much a sure thing that something related to food would be welcome under my tree. So what gifts warmed the cockles of my culinary heart? My husband gave my kitchen an upgrade by purchasing a brand new set of pots and pans. These are a beautiful set of Tramontina Domus cookware, well-made enough to have "helper handles" and heavy enough that you might need them once they are full. My old set of cookware was also Tramontina, and I have been happy with it, but this set had more and bigger pieces, an important consideration when both "Evil David" and I are cooking on tapas night. I am not a fan of nonstick coatings so I wanted something that I could scrub with a Brillo pad if necessary. I have been using these pots and pans since Christmas, and I have to say that I love the "professional" look and feel of these pots and pans, not only when I am cooking, but the way they look on my stove (see for yourself at left and right where they were pressed into service during the cooking marathon that was Chinese New Year's Eve).

What else does a cook (and my kitchen) really need to do some serious cooking? Knives, of course. Everyone knows that knives are base equipment for chefs, so much so that they are included equipment when students enroll in culinary school. Now, I have written before that my knife inventory has been seriously crappy since my son left with his real chef's knife. So I wasn't really surprised that I received a lot of knives for Christmas (apparently my family hasn't heard of the old superstition that giving a knife cut your love for the recipient in half!) Before Christmas, I did a lot of research on knives, what quality and materials to look for, how a good one should feel in your hand. I even consulted Consumer Reports. In the end, my husband bought some knives made by Tramontina. While we knew the reputation of Wusthof , we needed so many knives that to buy Wusthofs would have broken the bank, so my husband selected knives that were made of high carbon steel made in Solingen, Germany and the handles are antimicrobial. I was thrilled to get two chef's knives, two paring knives, two utility knives, and two Santoku knives. Since I haven't used a Wusthof, I can't say how these compare, but I can tell you how they compare with my old knives (which I promptly threw out!)- they are incredible! I can chop and slice properly, and with great precision. My husband got these knives at Sam's Club, and I have to say that I would highly recommend them if you want good quality knives at an affordable price.

What other cooking goodies have I been enjoying since Christmas?

Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything, 5 Spices, 50 Dishes, The Cook's Illustrated International Cookbook, and the one gift that was in my stocking that I need your help with- a bottle of white truffle oil. I have never used truffles or truffle oil before, but I know it is highly prized, and you should know by now, I am game to try almost anything. So if you have recipes or good ideas on how I might utilize this new culinary ingredient, all suggestions are welcome. And I'd love to hear what cooking or blogging-related loot you scored this Christmas.

Dragon Fruit, Kluang, Johor

Years ago, when Dragon Fruits (pitaya, hou long guo) were unheard of, Kluang was known as an industrial town.

Imagine my surprise; in recent years, in PJ pasar malams; whenever I asked for Dragon Fruits, the vendors would recommend Kluang's DF rather than the Vietnam/ Thai DF....

I don't really know when Dragon fruits were brought to my hometown as the next 'in' plantation (maybe 8 years ago?), but next thing I know, there were hectares and hectares of Dragon fruit trees and farms in Kluang.

Decided to pop over to Zenxin Organic Park when I was back at Kluang recently as I wanted to get some sweet Dragon fruits for my parents. Zenxin is one of the more tourist friendly farm that allows us to walk/ cycle on the farm while enjoying the vast plantation and to see dragon fruit trees..Well, not sure if 'tree' is the right word as Dragon fruit is more of a cactus fruit..so the 'tree' is a cactus i guess..

Kluang's Dragon Fruit is the red flesh version, rather than the conventional white flesh. I prefer the red ones; other than leaving my tongue tinged with a garish purple red colour, the red ones are typically sweeter than their white counterparts..

Usually, we'll just cut the fruits in halves, get a spoon and dig in. When the fruits are real ripe, it's extremely juicy and sweet. The tiny black sesame looking seeds adds some crunch to the else rather soft fruit. But if you have a unripe fruit, it's sour and bland..

Zenxin's restaurant sells many types of dragon fruit refreshments such as DF smoothies, DF lassie, DF enzyme drink etc.

We decided to have some DF popsicles which was tasteless; The DF pudding was yummy though; the cubed DF's in it was extremely sweet and the pudding was smooth..

Dragon fruits are said to be rich in vitamins and anti-oxidants.

So, had any Dragon fruits recently? Or are you one of those who dislike DF?? ;p

If you are in (or planning to visit) Johor, you can pop by these farms in Kluang. If driving from KL, take the NS Highway, driving towards Johor (Bahru). Exit at Ayer Hitam, turn right upon exit. Drive for about 10 minutes, plenty of DF farms for you to visit on the left side of the road. Oh, and if you already in Kluang, might as well check out the original Kluang Station (coffeeshop) in town and buy some coffee too. hahaha

Ipoh Road Yong Tow Foo, PJ

I was thrilled when I drove pass a row of shops at Kelana Jaya and noticed that Ipoh Road YTF had just opened a branch in PJ recently. Alas, with my absent mind; I soon forgotten about this place for a few months...

Until I met Jane, who stays around there; and we decided to pop over after all. It was rather pack when we reached; but we were quickly seated and ordering was prompt..

Waited for a while for our food to be served..

We ordered some stuffed white tow foo (YTF RM0.90 per piece). Visually appealing; guess it stops there? The tow foo was quite smooth, but everything else was bland. The stuffing and the sauce was tasteless. I was disappointed.

We got our assorted YTF next..

Stuffed brinjal is a must for me...The rest were merely sidekicks..heheThis was quite nice, the brinjal was not too mushy nor too oily. Again, the stuffing was rather bland. The rest of the YTF were also mediocre.The sauce in this plate seems thicker; maybe they thickened it with cornstarch..

Some fried foo chook (bean curd roll) and fried sui kow (dumpling).. I think the main branch in Jalan Ipoh serves a much better version..The foo chook here was salty while the sui kow was average (didnt like the fact that I got a unsealed sui kow :( )

The soup sui kow didnt fare that well either.. The sui kow was average though the fishballs were quite good, had a nice bounce to it; but the soup tasted like boiled "flour water". Guess they didnt really make any soup? What I got was just the water used to boil the sui kow and fishballs added with some pepper and vegs?

We ended our meal with paper wrapped chicken (RM3)..This was better; the chicken was juicy and the sauce was flavourful. Pretty good, though I would have preferred the Balakong paper wrapped chicken anytime..

So, would I be eager to return to this place for another meal?

No.

But I would still try it one more time in the future; maybe, just maybe, the chef have forgotten about the salt just for today.

Ipoh Road YTF (PJ Branch) is located at No 1, Jalan SS40/2, People's Park, 47301 Petaling Jaya. From Kelana Jaya LRT station (station on your left), drive down the road for about 200 m. You'll see a row of shops on your left, the YTF shop is at the left corner.