The Start of a New Blog

I-Destination…a new beginning

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“Melaka Living” Facebook Page – Live, Up and Running

My new Facebook Page is now live and running. I have some people asking how they can continue to follow me and get regular updates. It is very simple. You don’t have to be a Facebook user to “Liked” my new Page. It is open to the public. Yeap, to the world. The marvel of social media. All you need to do is click on the “Liked” button on the top next to the word Melaka Living, and you will get my regular updates.

Follow-up from my last post, “Closing Time” and many thanks to all my well wishers from….

Rita’s Bite – I am still around, just in a different form sharing my messages. Glad you are recovering well, and back reviewing the food scenes of Tasmania.

Steve from The View From my Porch – if you can extract the red curtain image, it is all yours mate for RVL.

Nick from Bruny Island Cheese - thank you. I didn’t know you have been reading my blog. All the best to your new shop at Peacock Centre. Look forward to pop in when it’s open.

Tania from Think Tasmania – sorry. but you can continue to follow me on Melaka Living Page. Just a different media. You can still link my post from time to time, if you think it’s useful information for your readers.

Mr P – thanks. Foodtrail blog has opened up a whole new world for me and indeed expand my view and exploration on other social media. It will always remain as an archive of my food and travel experiences.

Emily – glad you are a favourite Facebook fan. See you there!

Mary – thanks. See you in Melaka Living FB Page.

….and, others!

Thanks heaps for a wonderful two years of writing and reading on Foodtrail blog.

The Curtain Is Closing

I have started this blog on 14 June 2009. It is time to close after two years with 170 posts, 1,570 comments, and the busiest day of 2,014 hits. It was a great journey starting this blog and coming to an end today.

I remember the first time when I started Foodtrail, both my hands and ten fingers rested idle on the keyboard for several minutes searching for the first sentence to write. It was like having a constipation except this comes from the brain triggering messages to my ten little fingers to type and keep typing. I finally realised the easiest way to write a new post is to write something simple and easy, like telling a story to a friend.

What is my reason for closing this blog? 

In the past two months since I venture into a new world of Apps, I started reading and reading more of other bloggers’ sites and information that are out there. Blame it on the new tablet that I have purchased when I was in Penang! I am hooked on this new sweet tablet called iPAD 2. I was crazy enough to queue for four hours at the official launch in Penang on Friday 29th April 2011. I was among the first lucky 100 proud owners of iPAD 2 in Penang.

There are hundreds of thousands of Apps. I have downloaded about fifteen Apps in two months. I have been reading and sweeping my  first finger from right to left like opening a new page on the screen. There are so much information to read, interesting photos, movie trailers, and funny videos. Fortunately I am not into games.

My new tablet has given me the opportunity to share interesting post put out there by other people. I can retweet, send link via email, and share in Facebook to anyone interested to follow me. It is my little world of virtual community. A place to share all kinds of information that I find interesting from reading other blogger’s site and social medias. Mostly focus on food and travel, which from time to time includes my own experiences with interesting places that I have visited, including restaurants, and my own food recipes.

I am moving on from writing a new post in my blog to writing snippet of information and posting interesting threads from others in Facebook. Thus, the creation of a new Facebook Page called Melaka Living - a name that I have previously used when I had my restaurant between 2006 and 2008. I will continue to publish places and photos that I have been that I find interesting and food that I have created in my little kitchen.

If you are interested to follow me, you can search for my new Facebook Page by typing the word Melaka Living in Facebook search field. You can also follow me on Twitter, which I have a link on this Homepage.

Follow me on Melaka Living Facebook Page by click on “Like” for regular updates.

See you in Facebook.

Cheerios!

Africa in Hobart

Did anyone go to the African festival at the City Hall? That was several weeks ago now. On a Saturday 28th May. Again, we were fortunate to experience the diversity and culture of the few different countries in the second largest continent in the world – Africa, here in Hobart city.

The front facade of Hobart City Hall

Inside the grandeur City Hall

My partner spotted an advert in the morning local newspaper. The article was so miniscule that you would probably need a magnifying glass to notice it. Lucky us.

It was a beautiful sunny day with crisp cold air and gentle winter breeze. We decided to walk. Took 45 minutes to reach City Hall. As we entered the hall, it was already buzzing with lots of different sounds – human noises, laughters, children running around enjoying themselves, and on stage a group of young men doing rap. A few information and craft stalls were set up on one side of the hall. On the other side were a row of authentic African food stalls.

It was really fun. Everyone was smiling. The hall was big enough that it was not overly crowded. There were ample seats set up for people to watch the many different cultural performances of our little African community. It was indeed a joyous and lively event. Fun, Fun, Fun.

The chorus girls – such beauty and lovely sounds

I looked around the few food stalls and decided to try the Ethiopian stall – a large tasting plate for $15 served on top of a Ethiopian traditional bread.

I did not expect a large to be so large. It was enough to feed two people. The dishes included spicy chicken curry with a hard boiled egg, meat stew with spices, silverbeet with other vegetables, fried potatoes, yellow split pea curry and orange split pea curry. It was quite a treat and experience with the food. The traditional Ethiopian bread was light and soft. It was a nice way of mixing with the other dishes and hand pinched the dishes with a bit of the bread and into the mouth.

If you have missed the African Festival this year, make sure you marked in your calendar for next year. This is a fantastic way of enjoying, sharing and experience the food and culture of a range of diversity in our own little city of Hobart. The African people are lovely, friendly and beautiful.

No Dog Allowed!!

No dog allowed at the Meadowbank’s restaurant.

It was just a month ago that we were at the restaurant, and had a wonderful experience with the food, wine and service. You can read it here. This time round, after a lovely afternoon drive to Richmond and a casual stroll around the village with our scottish terrier, “Bonnie”, we decided to make a stop at Meadowbank for a late lunch.

It was 2:15 pm Monday 13 June – a public holiday, The Queen’s Birthday. The restaurant looked busy inside, but with only 2 small tables outside at the back patio. The staff looked very unhappy and a bit stressed out. Not sure why. The reception was not as warm and friendly as my first visit. I stood there for a couple of minutes. One of the guy eventually asked how he could help. I asked for an outside table for two. I told him that we have our little scottie terrier. His immediately reply was, “NO!”. I was a bit disappointed. I went outside to tell my partner who was waiting with wee “Bonnie”. The answer was “No”. Why “No”? I could not understand. They have a big back patio.

It was a big open space. We decided to test the water. I went back inside and asked for a table outside. I was taken to a table, sat down and had the menu. I decided to move to another table with more sun and away from the other two smaller tables of customers (who had finished their meals).

While I sat at the table waiting for my partner and Bonnie. They were walking around the outside of the restaurant with full view that the inside customers could see them both. My partner could see the customers were delighted to see Bonnie in her tartan coat and gave them a smile. Who wouldn’t? Bonnie is such a lovely scottie dog, especially when she was dressed up in her tartan coat. We were in Richmond prior to that showing her off, and she got lots of attention from several people.

Bonnie admiring the rustic metal furniture and bicycles in Richmond main street

We had Bonnie on a lead and tied the lead around one of the outdoor wooden bench’s leg. A young boy and girl came and said hello to Bonnie. Patted her and had a little chat. We waited for someone to serve us. 5 minutes gone past. 10 minutes still no service. I am sure the FOH staff could see us from inside. I told my partner that we were not being served and probably not wanted there with Bonnie. We decided to leave. On a hindsight, I was glad we left, and just saved us $120 – $150 which we might have spent on the food and wine.

If they don’t allow dog, why not have a “No Dog Allowed” sign at the restaurant?

Meadowbank can definitely learn something from Peppermint Bay, which has big open space with outdoor seatings. PB is not only better with their outdoor dining facilities, but with better view and better service. PB is family and children friendly, and dog friendly with plenty of fresh water for the dogs.

So if you are a dog lover and intend to take your dog on an outing on a lovely day, make sure you head South, not East of Hobart. You will find that you, your family and pet/s are more welcome and treated like a real guest at Peppermint Bay, then at Meadowbank.

View from our table inside the pub section of Peppermint Bay

 We were at Peppermint Bay a couple of weeks ago for a Sunday late afternoon lunch. I wished we had brought our Bonnie with us. She would have loved it. It was a lovely sunny day. I have meant to blog about the food we ate on that Sunday – Lamb Shoulder on Bone and Spring Bay Mussels. They were one of the best Sunday afternoon meal we ever had at PB, and it won’t be the last I can tell you.

I had to take my partner there after my last visit at PB with the girls from Sydney, on my birthday. I called and booked a table with Ben, and had one of the best table next to the window overlooking the Channel. The service was top class, not snobbish, but warm and friendly and yet not too intrusive and we still have our little privacy. We were served by Whitney. After two weeks, I still remember the professional service shown to us by Whitney. She was gracious with big and friendly smile, and made our dining experience very special.

For me, a great experience with FOH service is worth a lot, probably more than the food. Because, even if the food is great, I would never go back again if the FOH service is bad, or stuck-up in some cases. At Peppermint Bay, they have a successful formula with the food, the service and the price. This is far different from what it used to be a couple of years ago. My partner and I both agree that PB is now more relax, casual and friendly than what it used to be. We have not try the main dining room yet.

The food – Spring Bay Mussels in white wine and tomato based garlicky sauce for $20.

The slow cooked lamb shoulder on bone served with buckwheat and mint salad, yoghurt and fresh lemon. This dish can feed two to four people! At $67, it was good value for money. It was huge and lasted us 3 days! That’s right. We took home the rest. We could not finished the whole lamb. It was the best lamb I ever had. A bit of yoghurt and a squeeze of fresh lemon. Ah…I can taste it now.

I used some of the leftover lamb for fried rice the next day. I shredded some of the meat off the bone.

PB’s lamb shoulder fried rice with egg, bok choy, spring onion, yellow and red chilies, onions, garlic and sambal chili paste.

My fried rice ingredients

My spicy lamb fried rice served with homemade panang chicken curry dish on the side

 

Grilled Chicken with Broccoli and Carrot Puree

This was the dinner I cooked last night, except it is not grilled in the oven or barbeque. The chicken was cooked on a skillet, or is it called fry pan? The end result was that it tasted like it had been grilled on a barbeque – smoky and extremely tasty and juicy on the inside.

I used a free range chicken breast, and marinated overnight with Megachef’s Premium Oyster Sauce and Fish Sauce as the key ingredients. The two most exquisite bottles were given to me as my 50th birthday gift from a dear friend who is very passionate about food and a great cook herself. She will not disclose where she got the bottles until I have tried them and only if I like them.

I have tried many other brands of oyster sauce and fish sauce, which are more commonly found in an Asian supermarket. These two new bottles are definitely of a higher and superior grades than the other brands that I have ever used. The Megachef’s oyster sauce is deep, smooth with a silken texture. It is thick and is not too overpowering in flavour, giving the dish a more sophisticated flavour. It is a perfect match with the Megachef’s fish sauce, which is bracingly salty and yet finishes the chicken with a rounded and clean taste.

Preparation:

2 whole free range chicken breast. The breast that I bought was quite thick, so I butterfly the meat by slicing the thicker section in the middle to let the meat folds flat into a butterfly (heart) shaped

2 tablespoons Megachef’s premium fish sauce

1 tablespoon Megachef’s premium oyster sauce

1 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine

3 cloves purple garlic – crush and chop finely

Sprinkle of sea salt and cracked black pepper

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

Marinate the chicken with the above ingredients and leave in fridge overnight.

The chicken was accompanied by 3 types of vegetables – broccoli, carrot and bok choy.

I have decided to puree the broccoli and carrot, and blanched the bok choy and tossed in Megachef’s premium oyster sauce.

Broccoli Puree

Preparation:

1 broccoli head – cut the stem into small section and break the head into florets

Heat a saucepan with enough water to boil and soften the broccoli

Drain the water

Place the cooked broccoli in a food processor

Add unsalted butter, thick cream, extra virgin olive oil, cracked black pepper, sea salt (adjust to your own taste – I added each of the ingredient a bit at a time and taste each time until I am happy with the consistency of the puree and flavour)

Carrot Puree

Preparation:

3 carrots – cut into sections

1/4 teaspoon of fennel seeds – in a dry pan, toast the seeds

Heat a saucepan with enough water to boil and soften the carrots

Drain the water

Place the cooked carrots in a food processor

Add unsalted butter, thick cream, extra virgin olive oil, cracked black pepper, sea salt, toasted fennel seeds (adjust to your own taste – I added each of the ingredient a bit at a time and taste each time until I am happy with the consistency of the puree and flavour)

For the bok choy, I used 1/2 tablespoon Megachef’s premium oyster sauce, a sprinkle of white pepper, 1 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine and 2 drops of sesame oil. Blanch the bok choy, drain the water (but leave a bit of water in the saucepan). Mix in the sauce ingredients and toss the bok choy until all are well coated with the sauce mixture.

Plate the vegetables.

Next cook the marinated free range chicken breast, using the skillet. Another birthday gift from my dear friend who came from Sydney to celebrate my 50th.

Spray the pan with some canola oil. Heat the pan on a gas stove at high heat. Turn the flame down to medium heat before placing the marinated chicken breast. Cook one side for 5 minutes before turning to the next side and cook for another 5 minutes. How long it takes to cook the meat depends on the heat of the pan and the thickness of the meat. I have never use a time watch or look at the clock, only use my own judgement by looking at the meat and use the pointed edge of a small knife to lightly pierce through the thicker part of the meat to see if it is cooked.

If I may say, my chicken was cooked to perfection. It was very good. Very tasty, succulent and juicy – the meat.

Thanks to both my friends for a wonderful birthday gifts that I can use in my kitchen.

I must find out where she got the Megachef’s fish and oyster sauce. I guess they would be expensive compare to the normal bottles in the supermarket.