Voyager Of The Seas - Royal Caribbean International [Shore Excursions At Malaysia]

First of all, this is a very over due post which I have no time to finish after my last two posts(here) on our 6 days Voyager Of The Seas Cruise Trip during June school holiday. Along the journey there were 3 ports of call whereby we stopover at Port Klang, Penang (Malaysia) And Phuket(Thailand). Since on board I am very excited to visit Penang as I have heard and read a lot of good reviews on their food especially Penang Laska, Cha Kway Teow and Bak Kut Teh.

In this post, I would like to share with you some of the places and food that we tried during our Penang stopover.

Black Sesame Paste With Almonds Using Cuisinart Hot And Cold Blender

Black Sesame Paste is one of the common dessert found in dessert chain outlets such as Ah Chew Desserts, Dessert Hut, Er Gu Dessert (二姑糖水) and etc. And some believe that by consuming black sesame paste it also helps to nourish the blood, lubricate the intestines and clear "wind" in the stomach too.

On the down side, for those suffer from spleen troubles, diarrhoea or loose stools should avoid over-consumption of these small seeds.

BLACK SESAME PASTE WITH ALMONDS

After the previous recipes on Broccoli And Spinach Soup, Pumpkin And Meat Porridge; this post I would be sharing another quick Asian dessert which I am sure most of you would love it. The consistency of this Black Sesame Paste could be adjust with additional 100 - 150ml more of water during cooking if you prefer a more dilute and watery paste.

(Serves: 4 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 20 minutes)

Ingredients:
150g Black Sesame Seeds
50g Uncooked Rice
4 Cups (1000ml) Water
150g Caster Sugar/Rock Sugar
1 Stalk Pandan Leave, knotted
50g Roasted Almonds, roughly chopped

Method:-
1. Pre-soaked the rice for at least 30 minutes, drain well and set aside.

2. Rinse the black sesame seeds, drain well and pan-fry till completely dry and fragrant.

3. Place sesame seeds and rice into Cuisinart Hot And Cold Blender glass jug together with water. Set the timer to 20 minutes, blend the mixture for 30 seconds using SPEED 1.

4. Next add in pandan leave and sugar, bring the mixture to boil on HIGH for 5 minutes before switching it to SIMMER and continue to cook until end of the cycle.

5. When everything is cooked, remove the "pandan leave" and PULSE the mixture twice or more to achieve your desire texture.

6. Ladle Black Sesame Paste between serving bowls, garnish with roasted almonds and serve immediately.

To serve you could top it with some roasted almond to enhance the taste or even with a scoop of Vanilla Ice-cream if you are open to some adventure new combination. Till then I would update more recipes such as "Watermelon Granita", "Porridge", "Bolognese Sauce" using Cuisinart Hot And Cold Blender soon.

STAND A CHANCE TO WIN CUISINART SILICONE WARE

Just for your information, I saw from ToTT's Facebook page that they already round-up the 8 Finalists for Cuisinart Soup Making Competition (Singapore region) which will take place on 01 December 2012. After which the winning team will represent Singapore in the regional competition in Hong Kong for the championship! So why not "VOTE" and support your favourite soup shown above at ToTT Facbook Page (link here) and be one of the 4 Lucky Voters to win a set of Cuisinart Silicone Ware worth S$80.00!

I have "voted" the Healthy Prawn Broccoli Soup (2nd row, 2nd soup), what about you?

Rainbow Pancake Vs Geen Pig Pancake

I guess most of us love eye appealing food despite whether you are an Adult or kid. As a mum of one, I hardly used food gel/colouring in our food but in order to achieve the eye catching colours for this Rainbow Pancake I have to use tiny bits of it for the effect. And to obtain the vibrant colours, you could mix your food colouring with some water before adding to your favourite pancake mix, in this way it could prevent over mixed of the pancake mixture and leaving you with nice and fluffy pancakes.

Pumpkin And Meat Porridge Using Cuisinart Hot And Cold Blender

Continue from my last experiment on using the new Cuisinart Hot And Cold Blender for my Broccoli And Spinach Soup I would be sharing another quick one-jug recipe on Pumpkin and Meat Porridge which I did a few days back while my boy was not feeling well. Indeed this new blender comes in handy for cooking porridge to feed from 1 - 4 person without having the hassle to stand beside the stove and keep checking the porridge to make sure it is not overflow or overcook.

PUMPKIN AND MEAT PORRIDGE

This innovative blender helps to cook porridge especially those type that is suitable for baby between 6 - 15 months. It is so easy to prepare as what you need to do is to add all the ingredients into the blender, press STIR, to COOK/SIMMER till the porridge is ready to be served.

 Although my boy is neither a baby nor toddler but this type of comfort porridge is always great to whet the appetite of those who are not well or just recovered from sickness. Moreover you could also control the texture of the porridge by adjusting the amount of water/broth used.

(Serves: 2 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 30 minutes)

Ingredients:

• 120g Chicken/Pork Fillet, cut into 1.5" cubes
• 80g Pumpkin, cut into 1.5" cubes
• 30g Carrot, cut into 0.5" cubes
• 1/2 Cup Uncooked Rice
• 600ml Water or Chicken Broth
• 1 Century Egg(optional), cubes
• Garnish with Fried Shallot, Ginger and Chopped Spring Onion

Method:-
1. Rinse the rice in a few wash, pre-soaked it in water for 30 minutes (preferably) before cooking. Drained well and set aside.

2. Using the Cuisinart Hot And Cold Blender, add in chicken, pumpkin and carrot cubes into the glass jar together with 1 teaspoon of oil. Set timer to 30 minutes and press the STIR button (on the right side) to stir the mixture regularly to avoid burning.

3. Through the hole on the press-on lid, add drained rice and water/chicken broth into the glass jug and bring it to boil using HIGH heat. (it takes about 2 - 3 minutes)

4. When the mixture comes to boil, change to LOW and cook the mixture for 7 - 10 minutes before switching it to SIMMER and continue to cook until end of the cycle.

5. Once everything is cooked, PULSE it a once or twice if you prefer a smooth texture for the porridge.

6. Ladle the porridge between serving bowls, top with some century egg, fried shallot and spring onion. Serve hot.

So you see, after about 30 minutes of cooking time from scratch you are able to enjoy a bowl of delicious homecook porridge using whichever ingredients that you prefer. And moreover the best part is, when you get home from work, you just need to put everything in the blender and with a touch of button your meal will be ready by the time you finished your shower.

UPCOMING CUISINART RECIPE

Black sesame paste is one of the common dessert found in dessert chain outlets such as Ah Chew Desserts, Dessert Hut, Er Gu Dessert (二姑糖水) and etc. Consuming of black sesame paste is also believed to nourish the blood, lubricate the intestines and clear "wind" in the stomach. So stay tune for the upcoming recipe soon!