Coffee Addict

I miss Starbucks and longing  for a nice hot mug of coffee right now. Come to think of it, when did I start getting addicted to caffeine? In fact, when did I even start drinking coffee? Its a little funny cuz my dad used to discourage us kids from drinking coffee. Kononnya it kills our brain cells or something (haha, is it true?). He still does discourage us, so I must have picked up the habit from school :)

Anyways, was dying for that mug of coffee, but lazy (and a little broke) to go out, so I came out with this:

 
Coffee Cupcakes with Fudge Icing

I sooooo lurve the fudge icing because its soooo rich with coffee :) And the cake was super moist... Yummy...

Din Tai Fung @ The Gardens

Din Tai Fung (鼎泰豐) Malaysia
Lot LG-207, Lower Ground Floor,
The Gardens, Mid Valley City,
Lingkaran Syed Putra,
59200, Kuala Lumpur.
+603-2283-2362/2292
www.dintaifung.com.tw

I'm a little ashamed, but, (who cares-lah!) I guess I'll just admit it. I'm a person who believes in living to eat (and avidly practicing it!). In fact, the majority (especially KL city folks!) do practice it, but most do not realize or simply refuse to admit. Why? Some are health conscious. Others are just too ashamed to admit. Well, admit it or not, most of us city folks DO live to eat, consciously or unconsciously. And for me, its because I think that life is short! So why not just enjoy it to the fullest?

Anyways, with exams out of the way for both me and my sis, me and my family decided to go jalan-jalan at Mid Valley cuz we haven't (window) shopped there for a long time. So we walk and walk and then it was lunch time. And then as usual we couldn't decide what to eat. So we keep walking. And we happened to pass by and saw a group of chefs making chinese dumplings, mom said we should try it since the restaurant was pretty crowded (USUALLY a sign of good food), plus we all miss savoring authentic Xiao Long Bao (picture and description below) since our vacation to Shanghai 3 years ago. This was what first caught my attention when we stepped into the restaurant:

Here's what we tried:

Appetizer

Steamed Pork Dumplings (Xiao Long Bao - Signature Dish! Highly Recommended!)

Braised Beef La Mien (Noodle Soup) - Another good dish to try! The stock was marvelous...

 
Steamed Crab Meat and Pork Dumpling

Shrimp and Pork Wonton La Mien

Front row: Steamed shrimp and pork dumpling, Back row: Xiao Long Bao

A bit pricey (the noodles cost an average of rm 12 - 16 a bowl and the dumplings rm 12 - 15 for a basket of 6) but definitely worth it! Must come back for more...

Mini Tarte Tatin for 18 Lucky People (17, if no one's looking!!!)

Step 1: Peel, core and cube 4 - 5 juicy, golden delicious apples!

Step 2: Caramelize apples with butter and sugar.

Step 3: Perfectly caramelized apples!

Step 4: Prepare a buttery, crumbly, melt-in-your-mouth Shortcrust Pastry (I love Jamie Oliver's Old Fashioned Sweet Shortcrust Pastry, flavored with a hint of cinnamon!)

Step 5: Line tartlet tins with pastry, and fill with a generous amount of filling.

Step 6: Bake in a preheated oven for about 15 minutes (during which I advice you to exit the kitchen! These tarts will fill the kitchen with a wonderful aroma...)

And finally...savour the freshly baked tarts with a nice dollop of thick cream, ice cream or freshly prepared Crème Patissiere! (unfortunately, I ran out of extra eggs to prepare the pastry cream...)

And as promised...

These babies are so buttery and wonderfully luscious, I had to share the recipe! Plus, its ridiculously easy to make! (Warning: These cookies are highly addictive. I highly recommend baking 2 batches if having guests over at your place.)

Viennese Shortbread Biscuits (Adapted from 'The Big Book of Beautiful Biscuits' by The Australian Women's Weekly)

Have ready:

250g butter
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 -1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Then...

Beat butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy. Add in vanilla essence and beat until combined. Fold in flour, spoon mixture into a piping bag fitted with a star tube and pipe 4 cm lengths onto greased oven trays. Bake for 15 minutes in a moderate oven until lightly golden.

Enjoy!

Coming Up!

I'm a little busy now, but here's a sneak peak at what's gonna be in my next post:

And more delicious temptations! Updates soon!

Vivo Pizza @ The Curve

Vivo American Pizza & Panini
Lot 154, Level 1, Western Courtyard,
The Curve,
Mutiara Damansara,
47800 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor.
+603-77292299
www.vivopizza.com

Well, since its my 3-months semester break now, and coincidently also Raya holidays, I took the opportunity to meet up with friends. Met up with my very very good friend of mine from secondary school today and lunched at Vivo Pizza. This place isn't new; I've read a number of reviews about this place and most reviewed this place as a "so-so" dining area. And I've passed by so many times but somehow never came to try it. Passed by again today and we both couldn't really decide what to have for lunch, so I thought, why not?

What I really liked about when I first stepped in was the spacious feeling. Since it was my first time here and I was in the mood for pasta I thought I'd try their recommendation, the Chicken Ham and Mushroom Pasta Bake with Creamy Tomato Sauce, while my friend settled for their Shitake Mushroom Pasta with Creamy Tomato Sauce. Some pics: (half eaten again! Cause I always forget to take the pics before we start eating! :) Plus it was already 2pm that time way past lunch and the food took awhile to arrive [around 1/2 hour to 40 minutes] since it was Raya hols and they were short of staff. The half eaten pasta does look kinda...)

From top: Shitake Mushroom Pasta with Creamy Tomato Sauce, Chicken Ham and Mushroom Pasta Bake with Creamy Tomato Sauce

Food was considerably good! There were tons of mushroom and ham in the pasta, and the creamy tomato sauce was of the correct consistency and richness. Plus the spaghetti was cooked just al dente with a nice bite "to the tooth". Pretty much worth the price (both the dishes above cost RM 10.80 each, tax excluded); something that's somewhat satisfying if you're a first timer here and if you really can't decide what to eat the next time, its a place that you might consider returning to. I would definitely dine here again (for the pizza maybe?), and highly recommend it to those who haven't tried it out. Hopefully the service is better the next time!