Thursday, March 22, 2012

Ultra Easy Side Dish - Zucchini with Truffle Paste

Zucchini Truffle Paste
Made this as the side dish of our KFC dinner ;)
Super easy, and what's not good with truffle paste (poor me obviously can't afford to buy fresh truffle)?

Recipe 
- 1 or 2 zucchini, cut into 1cm thick chunks
- 1 tbsp butter, a touch of oil, salt, truffle paste
Heat up frying pan, melt butter and a touch of oil, add zucchini chunks, brown them a bit, season with salt, transfer to plate, toss with about 1-2 tsp truffle sauce.

Yum! Perfect for a quick weekday dindin.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Greyhound Cafe - Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

I was pretty skeptical about the place, since I didn't really like the one in IFC, Central. But was so happy I ended up trying it last night. Some of the dishes I really love and will definitely order them again!

Here are my favorites...
Greyhound Famous Fried Chicken Wings
Greyhound Cafe - Harbour City - Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Who doesn't love chicken wings? Tasty, crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside, and each piece is cleverly done with only one bone. More convenient to devour! Love!

Greyhound Style Iced Lemon Tea
Greyhound Cafe - Harbour City - Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Lemon tea that doesn't get diluted! Adore!

Salmon Carpaccio
Greyhound Cafe - Harbour City - Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
I love how hot, spicy, and refreshing it is. I skipped the raw garlic tho, since I wanted to be able to talk to my dinner companions heheheh. Love this much!

Pita Pizza with Seafood Stuffing
Greyhound Cafe - Harbour City - Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
It's almost like a quesadilla. Very pita part's wonderfully crispy and the filling is wonderfully melty. Love much, will definitely order this again.

Pork Stick
Greyhound Cafe - Harbour City - Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Crispy spring rolls. What's not to like! I am a sucker for limited edition stuff, when our server said this is exclusively available in Greyhound Harbour City, I went mad and had 1.5 sticks! Yay!

Spaghetti with Thai Anchovy
Greyhound Cafe - Harbour City - Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Perfectly cooked pasta, wonderful flavors. My low carb diet was definitely OFF last night, but totally worth it!

Coconut Crepe Cake
Greyhound Cafe - Harbour City - Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Out-of-this-world! MUST TRY!


MORE mouth-watering pictures are posted on my facebook page.

Thank you so much for having us, Harbour City & Greyhound!

Greyhound Cafe
Harbour City.Ocean Terminal, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Level:G Shop No.:G01
Telephone:+852 2383 6600
Opening Hours:11:00am - 11:00pm
Website:www.greyhoundcafe.com.hk

Friday, March 16, 2012

Pickled Jalapeno & Cheddar Omelette with Grilled Sausages - Low Carb Breakfast

Pickled Jalapeno & Cheddar Omelette w/ Sausages Breakfast - Low Carb
One of my recent low carb brekkie.
Very tasty & satisfying, I love how the pickled jalapeno added a bit of heat & tang into the rich mix.
Btw, can I consider pickled jalapeno as "vegetables"? ^_^'

Pickled Jalapeno & Cheddar Omelette w/ Sausages Breakfast - Low Carb
Recipe
(serves one and only me!)
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 tbsp of pickled jalapeno, drained, chopped
- cheddar cheese chunks
- olive oil
Pour beaten egg to lightly oiled hot non-stick pan, add pickled jalapeno and cheese, fold or flip (I folded mine into a triangle), remove from heat and serve with grilled sausage of your choice (or bacon?). Do not overcook the egg.

This is good with some sweet and creamy coffee.
Happy Friday!

PS. Do you have more omelette ideas for me?

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Hong Kong Roast Pork (Siu Yuk), Apples & Mustard Mayo Sandwich

Roast Pork, Apple & Mustard Mayo Sandwich
Hmmm...

When life gives you bread...
Walnut & Raisins Bread from A1 Bakery Hong Kong
...I'd say, ditch your low carb diet and make sinful sandwiches.
Did I hear amen?

There's a story to this loaf of bread.
Baby M wandered around a local bakery (A1 bakery), grabbed a bag of bread and dropped it on the floor. The bread slipped outta its protective plastic bag, lying helplessly on the floor, begging for us to buy it. Uh oh. The staff saw this, and she was being very nice. She offered to clean up the mess, never demanding us to buy the bread. But we are people with conscience, especially when we are trying desperately to find some excuses to eat carbs. So, we bought the bread.

On the way home, I simply bought a strip of roasted pork belly with crispy crackling & juicy tender melt-in-your-mouth meat *gulp*
So siu yuk sandwich it is!
Here's what I put together. I don't think I can call this a recipe, and I didn't make the roast pork nor the bread. We are spoiled with having numerous roast pork shops in Hong Kong. But if you wanted to make the roast pork, I am sure there's a good recipe online somewhere.


First, I generously buttered my bread and grilled them.

Roast Pork, Apple & Mustard Mayo Sandwich
Pork and apples, they are best friends, right? Slice the apples thin and arrange them on the toasted bread.

Add the pieces of siu yuk. Lots of them.
Roast Pork, Apple & Mustard Mayo Sandwich
For the dressing, I mixed mayo, mustard, and a touch of honey, then slathered it generously on the sandwich. You can leave the sandwich open, or top it with another piece of butter toasted bread.

What a beautiful sight!
Roast Pork, Apple & Mustard Mayo Sandwich
I need to bring baby M to bakeries more often!

PS. If you're a Kpop fan and you love 2PM, I went to their Hands Up Asia Tour concert in Hong Kong last weekend. If you wanna see the pics, check it out here.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Easy Chocolate Yogurt Dessert

Chocolate Yogurt Dessert
Chocolate + tangy yogurt. I must've been mad.
Again, side effect of dieting.

Screw diet! I'm having something sweet. It's almost the weekend anyway.

This is very easy to make, and the tang from the yogurt made the whole thing almost taste like chocolate cheesecake.
Chocolate Yogurt Dessert
Recipe
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt (this is why mine's so tangy, you can use vanilla yogurt, etc, but remember to adjust the amount of sugar)
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder, sifted
- 3 tbsp powdered sugar, sifted
(you can use melted dark chocolate if you wish, I was just too lazy to even bother)

Toppings
I used dark chocolate cornflakes & powdered sugar based on SC's request, but you can use frosties/special K/coco pops or granola and berries if you like.

Whisk together yogurt, cocoa powder and sugar until well combined. Serve in a bowl with topping.

Enjoy!

At least the yogurt part is healthy right? T_T

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Healthy Yummy Breakfast - Green Apples, Grapes, Yogurt & Cashew Nuts

Healthy Yummy Breakfast - Grapes, Apples, Yoghurt, Cashew Nuts
Just looking at this photo makes me feel healthier already. Heeheeee!
My second attempt of healthy breakfast, and my first time trying a sweet breakfast.

I simply squeeze lemon juice all over the cut-up apple, throw them onto a cup of yogurt together with halved grapes and cashew nuts.
Healthy Yummy Breakfast - Grapes, Apples, Yoghurt, Cashew Nuts
Despite how yum it is, I am simply not used to having sweet breakfasts. It makes me feel so... unfulfilled.
I need to find a way to make this savory without adding huge chunks of bacon or sausage.

Help!

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Breakfast - Green Apple, Cheddar & Smoked Salmon Salad with Lemon & Honey

Green Apples, Cheddar, & Smoked Salmon Salad with Lemon Honey
In an effort to steer away from my usual (super unhealthy) eggs-sausage-cheese low carb breakfast combo, I am trying something new today. I simply cut a green apple into cubes, tossed them with lemon and a bit of honey, added cheddar chunks and smoked salmon.

Yum. But I'm gonna need a bigger portion of this ^_^'
Hungry!

Do you have any healthy low carb breakfast ideas? Please share them with me. I desperately need more :)

Monday, March 5, 2012

Zucchini Lasagna with Bistik Flavors - Low Carb Recipe

Low Carb Zucchini Bistik Lasagna
Urgh. Low carb, low carb, low carb.
I am not loving it, until a good friend of mine, the evangelist of low-carb diet, Miss ChicMcMuffin showed me  this low carb lasagna recipe.

Oh my! I had to try it!
Low Carb Zucchini Bistik Lasagna
Too add my own twist, aka. making it work with ingredients I have in my kitchen, I made it with bistik (Indonesian sweet savory) flavors .

Recipe (I made a small portion to try out, only good for 1-2 persons on diet max)
- 1 zucchini, cut into slices about 5mm thick
- 1 cup of minced meat (I used lean pork, the cheapest option here. You can use others)
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 2 shallot, sliced
- 1 tomato, diced
- butter, light soy sauce, Indonesian sweet soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, ketchup, nutmeg, pepper
- 1 tsp corn starch dissolved in a bit of water
- grated cheeses (I used cheddar, which was on sale ^_^. An addition of mozzarella would be perfect)

Preheat oven to 200C.

Saute garlic and shallot with a bit of butter (or olive oil) until fragrant. Add mince meat. Add diced tomatoes, season with sauces until you achieve the perfect balance of savory sweet tangy, add hot water to create more sauce. Thicken with corn starch mix, set aside.

In a vessel, add a bit of the meat sauce, add zucchini slices, top with meat sauce and grated cheese, add a layer zucchini again, and so on. The top one should be meat + cheese. Cover with foil and bake until bubbly (check after 15 mins? I checked mine too often - wasting my time a bit ^_^'), and continue to bake uncovered until the cheese and meat on top gets golden.

Low Carb Zucchini Bistik Lasagna
I like this low carb. But oh my... so high in fat and others! T_T

Who cares? It's YUM!

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Now Craving - My Food Illustration Series - Carbs

Now Craving - Carbs
I've just started a new diet (oh what else is new?). I'm trying to reduce my carb intake...and guess what can I think about all day long?

That's right. Carbs.
My cravings need an outlet.

Since I can't eat, or photograph, or even stare at my old carb-tastic photographs in fear of going crazy, I decided to sketch my carb cravings. I will post what I crave from time to time under this Now Craving series.

You like?

How about you? What are you craving for right now?