The Kooking, I mean, Cooking Koos, or, Cholesterol is King!

Inspired by a viewing of Jamie Oliver on Discovery Travel and Living, what was originally conceived of as an easy brunch day (I thought I’d finally get to show you photos of our famous French Toast) turned out to be Gourmet 101.

Yesterday, while lounging on the bed like so many fat slugs, we lazily watched Jamie, with his signature casual assuredness and impressive economy of motion, produce hand-made fettucine in about 60 seconds flat.  Barely watching what his hands were doing, he cracked a couple eggs and eye-balled the right amount of flour into  the food processor to produce a crumbly dough, which he dumped onto the kitchen counter to knead into a cohesive mass with a couple turns of the wrist.   Threading the lump of dough through the pasta maker with a few adroit cranks, he managed to turn it into a smooth, silken pasta dough which he then floured and sliced and fluffed magically into a little pile of perfect fettucine strips.  All the while preparing the sauce on the side so that it would be ready by the time the noodles cooked in 45 seconds.

Upon witnessing Jamie’s masterful and commanding performance,  Joey turned to us and announced, “I’m going to make that for brunch tomorrow.”

Oookay…

This morning, when I told Joey to ask Joycie to pull out the food processor and food scale before she left for the day, Joey belatedly asks: “Uh, do we have a pasta maker?”

The answer, of course, is yes.  And so, after it was decided that Joey was going to make fettucine alla Jamie Oliver, Andrew was going to cook scrambled eggs and Sam was going to prepare ‘something sweet for dessert’, we assembled our version of a shopping list (“flour, eggs, cream, stuff to put in the cream to make sauce…”) and headed off to Stanley to buy our brunch ingredients and drive each other crazy by running shopping carts into one another.

We arrived back home safely, eggs still intact within our eco-friendly grocery bags — and, after unpacking our groceries, we rolled up our sleeves and got straight to work, in preparation for Uncle John and Auntie Sarah and Margaret and Mason (M2)’s arrival at 11:30.

Lacking Jamie’s expertise with pasta making, Joey wisely resorted to measuring out the flour with a scale, using the 1-egg-per-diner, 100-grams-of-flour-per-egg rule.  Dumping everything into the food-processor, Joey and George (who gamely volunteered to supervise the pasta-making process) were then stumped by the age-old problem of how the hell to turn the damn thing on.  Samantha’s offer to help figure it out was rudely shunted aside.  An appeal and subsequent effort on my part was also given short shrift when I wasn’t able to figure it out in 10-seconds-or-less.  (I remembered there was a trick to making sure it was locked on properly, but couldn’t specifically remember the trick.)

Finally, out of desperation and after several exasperated searches for a non-existent magic button, they went crawling back on their hands and knees to Samantha, after I pointed out that she was probably the only one who actually ever spent time down in the kitchen helping the yayas.  Lo and behold, the ever-observant and capable Sam re-jigged the locking mechanism and with an efficiency that would have made Jamie proud, turned the processor on, thus transforming eggs and flour into dough.

The rest of the morning flew by in a blur, with Samantha carefully hulling and cutting fruit (strawberries, blueberries and bananas) which she then macerated with a few teaspoons of sugar to make a healthy and delicious topping for ice cream.  An attempt to melt a chocolate bar to make chocolate sauce was pre-empted by me (“But Joey said that it would work…”) and abandoned in favor of simply chopping it up.

Is that precision fruit-cutting or what???

Sam, making sure that the strawberry to blueberry ratio is perfect.

Andrew has posted his own account of his scrambled eggs below — his eggs turned out delicious, with a perfect blend of honey ham and cheddar cheese rounding out the savoury eggs.  In his post, he shares his secret for ensuring that the cheese melts perfectly, so please make sure to check it out.

Meanwhile, while I sliced up tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella to make a salad, Joey and George set about turning their eggs and flour into an edible food product.  Needless to say, it took longer and was more difficult than Jamie made it look — a first attempt at cutting the fettucine yielded clumps of sticky dough that were not at all fettucine-like.  Another lump of dough was discarded for simply being too ‘weird’ and left to sit dessicating on the countertop like an alien stepchild until George finally dropped it with a resounding clunk into the trash.

Giorgio and Joey "Badabing badaboom" Koozini honing their dough handling skills

Joey proudly displaying his finished product

After finishing the tomato salad, I noted that for all the attention the pasta dough was getting, there was not a thought given to producing a sauce.  I therefore minced up some garlic and shallots, sliced up a bunch of mushrooms and proceeded to brown those ingredients in some butter and olive oil, deglazing the pan with some white wine and adding cream at the end.  Voila!  Sauce.  And a not-too-shabby one, at that, with the addition of enough salt and pepper.

In the end, I must say, for all the fits and starts of the morning, the pasta was, in a word, marvelous.  It cooked in a matter of mere seconds and when dumped and tossed into the mushroom cream sauce, was silken, creamy with a firm, toothsome bite and flavorful, redolent of earthy mushrooms and the slightest fragrance of garlic.  I was frankly, amazed at how well the fruits of Joey’s labor turned out.

Hand made fettucini with mushroom cream sauce alla Koo

A huge pot of creamy, mushroomy pasta was gobbled up, along with Andrew’s fabulous ham and cheesy scrambled eggs and the tomato and buffalo mozzarella salad — after stuffing ourselves, we managed to cap off our gluttony with Samantha’s berry and banana topped ice cream.  The final grace note of this gourmet feast was hand-whipped whipped cream, skillfully rendered by Joey and Samantha with a touch of vanilla and sugar.  Some of us even chose to forgo the ice cream in favor of a big bowl of the fruit, topped with the cream.  Yummm.

See, if I squeeze hard enough, I can make noodle juice!

Mason: "Wait, I'm not a noodle!!!"

Final photo before succumbing to post-gluttony coma.

Sunday Brunch-Andrew

The day started off normally. We woke up, had breakfast, brushed our teeth and then got changed. But then, we went to go get some things for our brunch with Uncle John and Auntie Sarah.

I was making scrambled eggs, Joey, Mom and Dad were making pasta (from scratch(I helped)) and Sam was making dessert. Joey needed to start the earliest as he first needs to make the pasta dough, then he needs to knead it until it has a silky consistency. Sam needed to start the second because she needs to cut up all the fruit for the dessert(I helped). Mom needed to start early as well, as she needed to make the sauce for the pasta.  She put minced garlic and shallots in a pot and added oil then she stirred it around to make the bottom of the pot slippery so nothing would stick, The she added the mushrooms and stirred them into the pan as well. Then she added white wine to deglaze the pan and cream to finish it off(i helped).

While everyone was finishing off their dishes, I had just began to start. I sliced up ham and cheese then whipped up 10 eggs. With Uncle John supervising, I poured the first batch of eggs in. Then I quickly added ham then stirred it up some more. The eggs cook from the outside in so I try to push the cooked bits into the middle so the still liquid eggs can cook faster and more evenly. I try to wait until there is only a bit of uncooked egg left  before i put in my cheese because if I put it in at the beginning all the cheese gets burnt and it does not taste good when all of it’s burnt. i like to wait until the very end to add the cheese then give it one more quick stir as the cheese is still thick but melted.

Beat it! Just beat it!!!

Many compliments were passed along the table as we pigged out and enjoyed ourselves. Everyone said my eggs were really good and the same thing for the pasta. While my mom and Uncle John fought over who got the last helping of tomato salad I polished off the last of my eggs. Dessert was a sundae — Cookies and Cream ice cream and chocolate ice cream topped with whipped cream, chocolate, fruit and marshmallows. It was a great dessert.

We plan on doing this again next week. Hopefully, I can cook some burgers.

Proudly displaying the finished product. Stay tuned next week for burgers...

The Electricity in our school-sam

On Thursday we got called in a assembly.  It was about how we can stop using so much electricity and save more money doing that.  So they first showed us you know that thing how when you ride on a bike and it connected to a monitor.  So yeah we had one of our teachers Mr. Nagel ride the bike, and he got tired pretty fast so i found out that because we are wasting so much electricity a lot of people will get tired really easily.

Because we are using up so much electricity a lot of Polar bears are dying, poor bears. Then they showed us some light bulbs and they had that light bulb that we use at home and they have that swirly one and they had this brand new one and believe it or not but i was cheaper and saves more electricity.  And there was another school that did this and they saved a lot of money just by saving electricity.  They got the money from this organisaion called tap and something i forget the other word, so their purpose is if you can save energy then your school gets money for doing just that.  So i am telling you to save electricity or our planet could slowly die.

Sandwich Day-sam 2/21/10

OOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHH,  Today we had Sandwich Day.  Sandwich Day is a day when Mommy goes and buys a lot of different sandwich ingredients like salami, salad leaves, tomatoes, breads, cheeses, poached chicken, ham, pesto, pickles… and we invite the Tsiens and Koos over for lunch and everybody makes their own sandwiches.    My favorite sandwich is baguette bread filled with tomato, buffalo mozzarella, salami (lots and lots of salami) and sometimes, lettuce.

It was so good and yummy and so many people there, Auntie Val, Mommy,and  Auntie Sarah.  Uncle John,and Tommy.  There was also Samantha, Andrew, Joey, Evan, Margret, Mason.  It was so fun, tasty awesome…….. but i can’t think of other words for sandwich day.   Everybody loved it asspastially Marget because we were up here and playing the glee soundtrack and i was playing the guitar hero guitar and we were both dancing and she was dancing really happily ,everyone had the best of times.

If you were at Sandwich Day, feel free to write your point of view, go, go ahead

Smiley faces and tummies full of yummy sandwiches,

Tsiens and Koos take Langkawi

Gong xi fa cai!  We just got back from Langkawi, Malaysia late last night after having spent the last five days there with my mom and siblings and assorted nieces and nephews — especially after several days of fun in the sun, man, is it cold here.  I can barely type, my fingers are so knotted up with cold.

I believe a great time was had by all — we stayed at the Westin Langkawi Resort and Spa and Gayle upgraded us all into adjacent luxury villas, which thrilled the kids — and the grown ups for that matter.  Thanks, Gayle!

Seeing as how I spent my vacation taking tons of photographs, and now, it’s too cold to type, I thought I’d just show you all some of my favorite shots over the last few days.

Requisite sunset shot of tropical island paradise...

If we all jump in together, maybe we can empty the pool...

Formidable triathlete or bathing beauty?

Another "sun setting on paradise" shot

Ahhh, this is the life!

"I may be a lousy fisherman, but i look GOOD!"

"Be vewwy, vewwy quiet, I'm hunting wabbit. No wait, that's not right..."

Samantha enjoying the moment

Mommy and Sam

Dinner, anyone?

Gayle, taking a break

Philip and Gayle

Joannie and Nick Nack

The men in Langkawi never had it so good.

Cute? I invented cute!

Call me adorable, but Danger is my middle name. Or, Mason, caught mid-stream.

Just a little more, Daddy, right there!

Popo, NIcky and Sam.

Mommy, can we bring him home? I bet he'll fit in our suitcase!

Happy times!

Joey, in his natural habitat...

Happy 10th birthday, Sam!

Holding a Boa constrictor-Sam

The day right before we left Langkawi some of us went to the aquarium to see the fish.  We saw a lot of fish, but we also saw some other things that are not from the sea.  And we got to hold a snake — a Boa Constrictor in fact.  It felt really weird —  soft, smooth, squishy slimy but it was not wet.  And its scales  were really weird because its scales were facing one direction and when I rubbed my hand the opposite way it felt ticklish and it sent a shiver down my body.

Reptiles are in this year -- Sam, Nicky and Andrew with a new accessory.

clay tigers!-sam

I am so excited because we are making clay tigers tomorrow, maybe you know that I made a post saying that chinese week was coming but it is already here, and I am really happy!  I can’t wait, i am jumping for joy!   I am like a mexican jumping bean I am so bouncing!   We make them every year but as the zodiac changes we make a different zodiac animal.

The breakfast of champions

Some of you may have read that two weekends ago, Samantha deposited her breakfast on the floor next to the Chinese tutor, who was there to help Sam study for a Chinese test, thus unceremoniously ending said tutoring session.

I must admit, there was a tiny bit of the rabid Chinese mother in me that wanted to pat Samantha on the back comfortingly, wipe the spittle from her mouth and say, “Poor baby.  You’re fine.  Now please go and finish studying for your test.”  Since the sane part of my brain forced me to tuck Sam up into my bed with the TV remotes for the rest of the morning, and then, because bad traffic on Thursday afternoon prevented Samantha from taking her entire Chinese tutoring session then, I was somewhat anxious about how she’d do on her test last Friday.

As it turns out, I needn’t have worried.  This afternoon at 4:55 pm, I heard the front door open and slam shut, signaling Samantha’s return from school.   After a few moments, I emerge from my bedroom where I’d been reading to find my dear daughter sitting on the sofa outside, face wreathed in a shy smile.  “I got my test results back, Mama”, my dear daughter said.

“And???” — me.

See caption below for her reply.

'Twern't nuthin, just a 95%!

She had the highest score in her class.  And doesn’t she look exactly like Edna Mode from ‘The Incredibles’ in this picture?

The Sandwich Sublime

For those of you who read Andrew’s blog post about his seminal encounter with the best chicken avocado sandwich that he’s ever had, you will be happy to know that on Sunday, a day gloomy with torrential downpour and leaden skies, we set off to for Epoch Cafe to test the veracity of Andrew’s claim.  Here is what the sandwich looked like:

The best things in life are messy.

If you’re wondering, yes, the sandwich was excellent.  We had a choice of several types of bread, and we all (with the exception of Samantha who elected to have the penne with mushrooms in cream sauce and lived to blog about it) chose baguettes.  It is the type of sandwich  you need a plate and spoon and ample napkin supply to eat, but the threat of having a good portion of it end up down your shirt is part of the experience.  In my opinion, it is the diced apple  that makes this chicken avocado sandwich special — the apple adds a sweet crunch, a flavor counterpoint to the savoriness of the chicken and a textural contrast to the creamy nuttiness of the avocado — together forming a triumvirate of taste if you will —  which elevates the sandwich to sublime.

I wanted to snap a photo of father and son with their world famous sandwiches but was not fast enough on the trigger — George’s sandwich is visible in this photo only as a last bite secreted in his cheek.  You can see it if you look closely.

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This little piggy... went to Epoch.

And Joey’s sandwich is only evident in the scraps left on his plate.

Still hungry. Yo Mama next?

Lunch at epoch-sam

Today for lunch we went to Epoch.  It was Andrew that told us about it and it was Auntie Lisa who told him. I think it’s French because it has these signs on it.

Everyone else had chicken avocado with diced apples, but I had something else.  I had chicken mushroom penne in cream sauce —  it was really, truly great. . In it there was chicken, mushrooms, pasta, cream sauce and red pepper.  The pasta was so soft and the mushrooms they were very delicious. Oh, and the chicken was really tender, it tickled my taste buds it was just so good!  But the red peppers, they were very crunchy so it gave the pasta a bit of a soft kind of crunch, and to top it off the cream sauce was very thick and creamy and flavorful.  It just made the whole thing so fantastic!

If you come to Hong Kong and want to go to epoch, call us!