My Third Pie Baking Attempt by Gneb

Those of you who know me would have probably known that I’m a big pie lover. I especially like savoury pies with short crust pastry. Nothing beats a slice of meat pie with a steaming hot cup of coffee.

My love for pies has also driven me to learn baking them. Honestly, I’m not a good cook at all and this will be the only other thing I cook for now, besides packet noodles (which is my other true love, food wise). Sad huh?

I got the short crust pastry recipe from my sister and I have attempted to make the pastry my self twice. After a long suspense since I last made a pie, I bet I’ve become very rusty. Since I have some basic pie ingredients in the fridge and some free time in hand (plus a few friends of mine who have been bugging me to blog about how to make one), I thought I should give it another go and see far I could go. I definitely hope I’m not making a fool of myself in front of all the pastry experts out there :p

This is the short crust pastry that I made last night and left in the fridge over night. It’s rock solid and so I have to thaw it.

Ok, when dealing with pastry, I’d strongly recommend wearing gloves. You definitely do not want to add the “extra flavour” from your fingers into your pastry! And please, do not use rubber gloves as they will leave the rubber smell in your pastry. Use plastic ones instead.

I always wrap my chopping board with aluminum foil so that the pastry doesn’t stick on the board and make a mess of it.

Roll out the pastry and cut it according to the circumference of the dish. Make 2 of this so that 1 goes on top and the other to the bottom. Make some strips to go round the side of the dish. It’s pretty much like playing with “plasticine”, which is quite fun..haha..

Don’t fret if the pastry turns loose and flaky, just need to press it so that it sticks back on again. If the pastry breaks when you transfer it to the dish, just patch it with a small piece of pastry. Told you, it’s "plasticine"..

I know it looks ugly and lumpy, but this is the inside so no one would see. Make it uglier by making some holes with a fork..

Pop the pastry into the oven for 10 min or so to dry up the moisture. I think this also ensures the pie base is cooked properly.

After 10 min, it turns UGLIER!!

While waiting for the ugly pie base to cool down. It’s time to work on the filling. I rummaged through my fridge and found some leftover luncheon meat.

Some eggs

Some condiment to go into the egg to add the extra flavour.

Some pepper

A sprinkle of mixed herbs

A drop or 2 of Lea & Perrins.

The mixture. Doesn't look very appetizing for now..

Lay the luncheon meat slices nicely onto the pastry. And pour the egg mixture on top of the luncheon meat.

Cover the top of the pie with another round shaped cut-out of the pastry. As you can see, I have a bit of the patchwork done on this piece. Spread a layer of egg yolk on top of the pie and trust me, it will not look so obvious when cooked.

Ok, final stage – pop them all on the oven.

The moment of truth…Viola…

Ok, ugly it may seem, but it certainly tastes good and smells great..hahaha..

So, what do you think? Pass?

Providore, Margaret River by Gneb

Providore is a shop in Margaret River that specializes in gourmet food. It has a restaurant inside, a bar for wine tasting and other food stuff in attractive packaging. This is definitely a shop that you don’t want your wife or girlfriend to be in, or they’ll be in there the whole day!

The interior is contemporary and chic. This is the restaurant overlooking the vineyard. Since we only had our lunch, we did not dine at the restaurant. We would have though, if we had not.

Some of the confectionaries sold at the restaurant.

The olive oils and the wines sold in here.

I really like the display of the goods. The shelves below for example, are clearly labeled. There’s also recipe (printed on paper) beside each of the bottles that you could tear down and take home.

Different types of pastas

One of the best things here – you could taste the food before you buy. Here’s a sample of the pastes and olive oil…

Hui Lau Shan (许留山), Hong Kong by Gneb

I was going through my Hong Kong vacation photo album and found these colourful pictures of Hui Lau Shan’s desserts. They definitely bring back good memories.

Hui Lau Shan is a Hong Kong dessert chain (specializing in mango puddings) and you can find them all around Hong Kong. Hui Lau Shan is very popular especially amongst youngsters and tourists (like me), so there’s usually a long queue in front of the shops. The shops are typically small (hence crowded), well mind you, what shop is not crowded in Hong Kong?

The mango puddings are so colourful and refreshing!

This is mango flavoured jelly with mango slices in it, topped with mango flavoured syrup.

This is mango freeze with glutinous balls (tong yuen) in it. The “tong yuen”, when eaten with the mango freeze, are simply smashing!

The big bowl is mango ice cream with glutinous balls and mango slices. The star shaped bowl is yam and red bean jelly.

Strawberry freeze with strawberry slices.

So, Hui Lau Shan is definitely a “must go” whenever I’m in Hong Kong. I just wish that Hui Lau Shan would come to our shores one day.

My scores (out of 5):

Taste: 5

Environment: 4

Service: 3 (busy but generally friendly staff)

Price: 4

Address: You can find them in Hong Kong, Kowloon and New Territoties.

Pen Mutiara Curry House, Penang by Gneb

For those working in the Penang Bayan Lepas Free Trade Zone, having lunch at “Perikanan” is nothing new and would most probably have done this at least once in their career life in the FTZ.

I was agape with surprise seeing how much the restaurant has changed (it must have been more than 5 years since I last went to the place), when I was there recently for our department lunch. It’s now called Pen Mutiara Curry House (how posh) and it has a beautiful building to house it (rather than some sheds when I last visited).

Pen Mutiara’s interior is definitely comparable to that of a hotel lobby’s, with the stairs right in the middle of the restaurant and a grand piano below it played by a pianist.

There’s also a garden right beside of the restaurant with decent landscapes. You could have your lunch at the same enjoy the beautiful view outside through the French windows, while the pianist is playing and serenading all the way. This will surely give you the needed break from all your work stress.

We ordered the packaged menu that includes the following dishes, plus free flow of lime and sour plum juice.

You’ve got to try the sambal belachan and you’ll definitely ask for more!

Fish with Sweet and Sour Sauce

The lovely crunchy and tangy kerabu

Stir Fried Kailan – I think this tastes better than a lot of the Chinese chu char’s.

Deep Fried Calamari – this was a bit cold when it was served. I was expecting it to be hot and fresh. So, this was a bit of a let down..

Omelet with Minced Chicken Filling – This reminds me so much of Nasi Pattaya :)

Prawn “Masak Merah” – The sweet and spicy sauce complements the fresh prawns so well.

Then…viola…the piece de resistance - Curry Fish Head! The dish is served in a huge claypot and it’s become the signature dish of the Pen Mutiara Curry House. I’m not a big fan of fish head (I frown at the sight of people eating the eye balls!), so I only had the curry which was very tasty and spicy (as in full of spices).

Last but not least, the dishes will never be complete without the steaming rice.

There’s also fruit plate after the meal.

In conjunction with the Ramadan, Pen Mutiara will definitely be a good choice for Buka Puasa.

My scores (out of 5):

Taste: 4
Environment: 4
Service: 4
Price: 3 (Sorry, we expensed this to the department, so I wouldn’t know)
Parking: 4 (A lot of people park outside of the Wisma Nelayan’s compound, but there are actually lots of parking lots behind the restaurant inside of the Wisma Nelayan’s compound. You just need to drive into the compound and there will be people who will direct you to the right place to park)
Address: Wisma Nelayan, Pelabuhan LKIM Batu Maung, 11960 Bayan Lepas, Penang.
Tel: 604 - 3101759

Lao Sher Tea House, Penang by Gneb

I have been told that Lao Sher Tea House, apart from selling tea leaves, also serves excellent Thai food. So, I decided to check it out last weekend.

Lao Sher Tea House is located in Burma Road. It is directly opposite the Public Specialist Centre and it’s one of the old houses that have been turned into shop houses.

Lao Sher Tea House would have to be one of the most elusive restaurants that I’ve known of, as it’s only been advertised as a tea house rather than a restaurant. From outside, one could also hardly tell that it’s actually a restaurant inside.

Lao Sher Tea House has a Chinese rustic interior. It’s almost like that seen in Kung Fu movies. The front part of the building is used as a tea house and you can see many regulars here for the tea. The restaurant is at the back of the building and hear this, it only has 6 tables!! So, be there very early as the place gets full quickly! (You’ve been warned!)

The tea house has a collection of Chinese tea pots and tea leaves for sale.

While in a tea house, one thing you shouldn’t miss is the tea…

The owner recommends this passion fruit juice which is lovely and refreshing!

Lao Sher serves mostly Thai food. So, Thai food is what we ordered then.

One thing to note though, the service can be very slow when there are many people. I had to wait for approximately 45 min before all the food was served! Mind you, they only have 1 cook – an old lady cooking diligently in the old fashioned kitchen (I peeked through the wooden door of the kitchen and saw what was going on inside). So, you’ve been warned again!

Thai Basil Leaves Omelet (RM6) – This is perfect! I like omelets which are fried to the perfect right extent. The aroma is just irresistible.

Tom Yum Prawns (RM15) – This is also great. There must be about 8 medium prawns in the soup, all very fresh and juicy. The soup is so delicious too.

Chicken in Thai Sauce (RM10) – Scrumptious! The Thai salad on top is very appetizing. The sauce is lovely and the chicken is crispy. What a perfect combination of ingredients.

All in all, great food plus reasonable price, minus the waiting time.

My scores (out of 5):

Taste: 5

Environment: 3

Service: 1 (They really need to improve on customer’s waiting time)

Price: 4 (I think it’s quite good for the quality you get)

Parking: 3 (You’ll be lucky if you could find a space in front of the tea house. Otherwise, you’ll have to park in front of the office blocks nearby)

Address: 217-H, Burma Road, 10350, Penang, Malaysia

Tel: 604-2273139