Food, Spice and Everything Nice: September 2011

Yesterday I bought 2 punnets of fresh strawberries for $3! And after a while I realised that I had to do something with it before it went bad. And so I came up with the idea of Strawberry Ricotta muffins! That alone sounds yummy already.

Strawberries were not the only thing I bought (evil smile). I have been eying this heart shaped measuring cups months ago but they only brought it in yesterday. It is the pretties little things I have ever seen not to mention useful as well!

Here are the ingredients to make a basic muffin mixture. The only difference is you fold in the strawberries and ricotta cheese at the end. Same concept applies for blueberry, apple or whatever muffins you decide to make.

Ingredients:
~ 2 ½ cups self raising flour
~ 2/3 cup caster sugar
~ 2 eggs
~ Pinch ofcinnamon
~ 3 table spoons butter, melted
~ 1 cup milk
~ 1 cup ricotta cheese
~ 1 punnet strawberries, washed and diced
~ Icing sugar

To make your very own strawberry and ricotta muffin, preheat your oven to a 180 degrees. Get all your ingredients ready and make sure it is a clean working bench! Also remember to grease your muffin tray if you are not using muffin cup paper. When baking muffins or cupcakes there will always be 2 bowls needed. A "Dry Bowl" and a "Wet Bowl". It just means each bowl consist of wet and dry ingredients each. So lets get cracking!

In your "Dry Bowl", sift your flour and cinnamon into a large bowl then add your caster sugar and mix thoroughly.

Made wih Love, literally hehe

While in your "Wet Bowl" whisk your eggs, milk and melted butter until well combined.

The combine the both. Do that by making a well in your dry ingredients and pour your wet ingredients in. Mix well.

Lastly, fold in your strawberries and ricotta cheese. Annnndddddd you're done! :)

Finally spoon in your mixture into your muffin tray and bake for approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown.

I usually just poke a skewer right to the bottom and if it comes out clean, it's done!

Just in case you want the original copy of the recipe, you can find it here
http://www.iga.net.au/igafresh/index.cfm?page_id=2662

Thats all for now peeps, happy baking and be kind to one another! :)

I know this restaurant is nothing new or exciting but because I love it so much I have decided to blog about it. Just a heads up, there pictures are my collection over the times I have been to Delicious. So do not find it weird that there are some pictures taken in the afternoon and some at night. We didn’t stay there all day eating just to clarify!

We have been faithful customers of Delicious for as long as I can remember. I am not bragging but we found this place WAY before it became the “It place”. We first started dining when it first opened in Bangsar Village 2. They used to be one located inside Mércato in Bangsar Village 2. They subsequently they branched out to Ampang Duo Residency , the other Bangsar Village 2 Branch, Midvalley shopping mall, One Utama as well as Marc Residence.

We go back to Delicious often because not only is the price very reasonable but they serve one of the best pastas in town. You will see for yourself in a moment. Delicious not only serve a huge range of pasta but also Asian food. They have a pretty extensive range of drinks too. My favourite being the butterscotch milkshake. Yes, whenever we visit Delicious, we go all out!

Although there are 5 restaurants across town, you can expect them to look exactly the same. We having visited all 5 outlets can proudly confirm this. I love the interior in the restaurant; it gives you an outdoor garden feel although you are sitting inside the restaurant. All outlets have a floor to ceiling glass windows and the inside is decorated with trees and bird cages. It has this fabulously vintage feeling which I love. I love everything vintage! And also if you decide to check out the outlet in Ampang Duo Residency, it has a live band that plays every Friday. Perfect place to let your hair down after work with friends and enjoy a drink or two!

Upon entering Delicious, you can bet your bottom dolla that you will be greeted by huge glass case of dessert. Ranging from Tiramisu in a Cup to cakes to cupcakes. You will be spoilt for choice. I have come to learn that looking at the dessert selection before ordering your main will only temp you to eat your dessert first.

One of our family favourites at Delicious is the Crabmeat Linguine and Chicken Caesar salad. The Crabmeat Linguini is tossed with roasted tomatoes and Arugula and sprinkled with Pinenuts. If you are a seafood lover, this is a must try! I tried it once and never went back.

As for the Caesar Salad it is tossed with Anchovies (my ultimate favourite!) , crispy crispy turkey bacon, Poached Egg and Parmesan cheese. You can decide if you want any of the add ons which consist of Chargrilled Chicken or Smoked Salmon. I usually get the chicken one.

Doesn't that look delicious??? Oh my I could have one right now! :)

One visit, my sister was feeling adventurous and decided to try out the Seafood Linguine tossed in Homemade Sundries Tomato Pesto. Also the other day my mom ordered Green Curry Chicken from the Delieast Menu. It was served with steamed Kaffir rice and Pomelo Salad. It was our first Asian dish at Delicious and it was surprisingly good. We loved it and everyone was eating her share of dinner haha poor mommy

Also a picture of the 4 cheese Macaroni. It was too cheesy, if that is possible. But I didn't quite enjoy it as it was too rich. Looked pretty though!