Luxemburgerli Surprise

Mini macaron surprise from JLO when he got back from Switzerland! Got a box of them after his colleague recommended them to him, sweet of him as he can't eat them - yay more for me

Luxemburgerli.. What are they?
Super light mini macarons with a top and bottom sugar based confection filled with yummilicious cream in it's center. They are the lightest, easiest to eat macarons I've ever had! 

Enjoy my photos as I enjoy them.. nom nom. Thanks JLO, much love!

Pretty & Perfect.. pretty perfect!

In its protective case - it survived a plane ride!

Lounge food (the airport sort)

Some of you might know that I just recently returned from a whirlwind trip. Plenty of cities in 10days! London-Singapore-Sydney-Singapore-Johor-KL-Johor-singapore-London.. Hectic! It was a trip filled with family and food (so so so much food), where there were days I needed to lie down after each meal for fear that I'd topple forward or fall into a food coma. We ate whenever we felt like it, so it was hardly a 3 meal a day affair and became more like phat kids trying to eat through the world affair.

It all started on my journey to Singapore. On the plane I was fed so well; satay (with some extra skewers as requested by this phat kid) then the main of chicken rice followed by fruits and slice of cake for dessert.. Let's not forget the many cups of green tea and garlic bread I felt I had to consume. I knew I had to get some sleep in preparation for my 9 glorious hours of layover in Singapore, but what I wasn't prepared for was the food that awaited me in the airline lounges! Someone went a little mad with boredom it seems..
-first course: more sticks of satay
-secondly: curry with brown rice
-followed by: pear and apple juice
-fourth course: rice with green curry
-then: carrot cake (chai dao kueh)
-are you appalled yet: sushi rolls
-seventh plate: more carrot cake ( but I was in a different lounge so it looked and tasted different!)
-finished with: watermelon and pineapple. Seriously the sweetest and most awesomest pineapple ever. I kid you not. My dad would make a stop at this lounge every time he flies just to have it. Naturally I had more pineapple to absorb it's awesomeness, till my mouth was so furry it became a furby.

Tried to take photos but I was so caught up with eating I forgot at times..

By this time I was ready to roll onto the next plane to take me to Sydney. However, (hold on to your tummies..) Singapore Airlines could read my mind and gave me more food! Satay again, followed by garlic bread and then my main of chicken curry and rice! 

Are you full just from reading this yet? Actually I'm a little hungry thinking about it.This was all before I had landed at my first destination of Sydney. Needless to say, I had an awesome trip filled with food, family, fun and a new dog Billy. Now it's back to daily work life /dread.

All the leaves are falling...

I think this might be my most fave time of the year! Walking home that day the temperature was perfect, not too cold but with a little chill in the air. The sky was clear and blue with just a few cloud streaks and the wind was gently swirling the leaves on the ground. The golden, red and crunchy leaves. It's so magical when they fall out of the tree as you walk by, like it's their way of saying 'Hihi!' I think I like autumn as much as I like it when it snows!

That was yesterday. Today it's spitting all over me. You know when you speak to someone who is a little over excited with their speech and get a little too close and you have flying spit all over the place? That's how the sky is treating me today, spitting all over my parade!

So great to have autumn here, you don't really get the same effect in Sydney and def not in SEAsia.

Yay to pretty leaves covering my pathways.. Till they start to decompose and be yucky of course ;)

All the leaves are falling
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Mr Mooncake Prat

Its a little late (ok a lot late), but we only just ate our mooncake. He was cute, plus he was JLO friendly as he only had lotus paste in his insides. I did wish he had some egg yolks though, haven't had double yolk mooncake in so long!

The packaging made it look like he should have had legs but no, we were victims/suckers of cute packaging and so Mr pig seemed to morph into mr mooncake rat once opened.

Mr mooncake pig/rat (= prat). A little tough on the outside but soft and sweet inside. aww!

Mooncake Pig
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Becomes Mooncake Rat!
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Easy friendly Mash

Potatoes are a super favourite in our household. They are easy to eat, easy to make and easy to prep. Plus they keep well for the next day if you have any leftovers! Win-win all round I say.

What I haven't been able to do is make a good dairy free mash without causing commotion in the kitchen. I hate the mashing thingies with the grid, it causes me post potato stress as the washing is so hard! Plus most creamy mashes call for milk, which is of course not friendly for all..

That day I was making soup so I went a little crazy with purchasing potatos and discovered that by Thursday I had gigantic proportions of potato left. Not that there were many of them, I had 2 giant ones so though I'd make some mash.

I usually just smash my potatoes as it's much easier than trying to make it creamy but this time I boiled them a little longer than usual till they were breaking apart (skinless potatoes). After draining the water from the pot I chucked in a handful of fresh rosemary and a good splash of olive oil. I mixed it a little then covered the lid and left it for a few mins. Using a strong spatula, I stirred while adding in more olive oil till I got the consistency I liked. Salted, a bit of a stir and high praise from JLO!

Rosemary mash
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Chicken for the Emperor

I get a little silly when I go to the Asian supermarkets here, perhaps it's because there is an abundance of Asian grocers in Sydney and here they just aren't the same. I like the massive warehouse sort in north/south London - Wing Yip or See Woo. The variety and prices are so much better than the stores in Chinatown and I tend to buy things I don't really need or will ever use.. Quite the same as hypermarket shopping - I'm just a fantastic impulse shopper!

I found this brilliant little packet of emperors chicken spice mix, which reminds me of what my family had a few times in Malaysia called beggars chicken. Not sure why the emperor is eating the sane thing as beggars (or the other way round?), but it is super yum and really easy to make.

The emperor chicken packet is about £1.50 and in it you get a pouch of powder mix and the necessary wrappers (one plastic wrap and a foil wrap). JLO and I usually get a whole chicken just under 1.5kg off our dinner, so we get some leftover for lunch the next day. I prefer the corn fed organic chicken, it seems to be more tender after cooking.

Wash the chicken, dry and place in the center of the plastic wrap with the foil wrap underneath. Rub all over with the powder mix and (as an extra touch) sprinkle gojiberries all over and place some inside the chicken. Wrap the chicken in the plastic, then the foil. Steam for 2 hours. Simples!

Steaming as opposed to baking is the best as the juices provide great gravy and makes eating any unloved part of the chicken easy. This is easy to make, and makes me look like a regular nigella at home as JLO loves it too.

I'm so glad that's what I'm having for lunch today. Thanks Wing Yip and the magical power of microwaves, without it I couldn't have yummy leftovers!

The magical packet
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Emperors Chicken, in it final glory state
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Burger & Lobster

We've been to this restaurant more than a couple of times now, and the love affair is still going strong!

It all started closer to the beginning of this year, when PMan decided that we should try out this place in Mayfair that only serves lobsters and burgers (surprise surprise). No reservations were allowed and you had to turn up, put your name down and wait for a table. There were 7 of us, so we knew we had a long wait ahead of us! Pman got there at 5pm to put his name down - and JLO and I turned up about half an hour later to meet him at the pub.
Any guesses for what time we got a table? 
10pm. TEN. By the time 9pm came we were at our wits end, but it was either waste the 4 hours or wait for the additional one..

Needless to say we did enjoy it, otherwise we wouldn't still be giving them our hard earned money. Since then they have opened a branch in Soho, which is the one we frequent most often (apparently you can book a table if you have more than 6 people). Turn up at 6 and you shouldn't have a problem getting a table (except fri and sat nights). The menu is fairly straightforward: burger, lobster or a lobster roll. All served with salad and fries, which are pretty awesome as they are skinny! Everything is £20, and you can upsize your lobster if you wish.. But seriously, a normal one is enough even for a lobster lover like me. I go through all the parts, probably why I'm always the last to finish. Am pretty excited that they are opening a third branch soon!

How does this compare to the lobsters in Sydney? Well the ones I've had in Sydney have been at the fish market and I remember it being pretty dry, but the ones I've had at Chinese restaurants have been awesome. How I miss lobster noodles! We've been trying the different lobster noodles here in London, and I think we like the one at Pearl Liang the best. With JLO's allergies, we have to get vermicelli instead of egg noodles and they do it really yum!

While I love Burger and Lobster, it can't compare to the seafood in Aus and the yummy seafood restaurant we go to in Malaysia.. Makes me miss home!

the Burger & lobster bibs
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nom  nom nom nom grilled lobster with fries, salad and garlic lemon butter!
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