Thursday 31 July 2008

Remembering Valentine

Regular AZAIG readers will know that I spent my Valentine in London this year. I was seconded there for slightly more than 2 months. Me and Jules decided that we do not want to be ripped off by the fancy restaurants there which charge £££ so we decided to have dinner at our apartment. Actually, I don’t mind paying but Jules is an understanding wife, she doesn’t need to go out and eat just for the sake of Valentine.

And so, Zewt has to get into his cooking mode once again…


I’ve always enjoyed cooking. I
cooked almost everyday when I was in London despite staying alone for about 3 weeks. Maybe I should open up a restaurant one day… what say you?


First dish on the menu during Valentine was self-mashed potatoes. Still remember how I did it when I was in Uni. Boil… mash… add milk… some salt… butter… some herbs… voila…


Next on the menu was the “Pan Fried Asparagus with Mushrooms and Garlic”. Fried with olive oil with a generous portion of butter will give you an excellent fragrance. The asparagus in London was so fresh, absolutely wonderful. One tip --- never wash the mushroom; you have to gently peel off the skin.


The main dish was “Roast Lamb” marinated with rosemary. Add a little bit of wine, gives you a nice aroma. But I have no idea how long I needed to roast it so…


There, all the food nicely placed on the table ready for a nice romantic dinner. The soup originated from a can so no point highlighting it. I think the whole thing caused me less than £35 if I am not mistaken. Not that bad for London prices if you ask me.


And this is how it looks like as Zewt attempted to professionally lay the food on a plate. I think it should look better than this… must be the camera… hehe…


And of course, dessert to end the evening…


Dessert was from Marks & Spencer though… hehe…

59 comments:

Nana Oui said...

Wow, I have yet to know a guy who cooks me something. Considering everything else, it's impressive. BTW, try adding a pinch of nutmeg power into your mash, U'll have restaurante mash!

Anonymous said...

The Iron Chef said something similar to the mushroom tip you provided :) And please please please give me the recipe for the roast lamb with rosemary, because it simply looks delicious!
But why white wine leh?

By the way, if you are serious about opening a restaurant, I have a few names up my sleeve :)

Great job with that homemade romantic Valentine dinner!

the Constantly Dramatic One said...

I hate Valentine. Mostly cause any of my so-called relationshipa never gone through the V-day. Or maybe they started afterwards. And ended before the next year's. But never during. It's like a damn curse. Pissing me off.


Also....uhh....."sexy" pose in that pic. Ahahahahah! =p

Anonymous said...

The food looks delicious and your pose on the first pic looks really funny! :-)

For the final presentation, maybe you can add some sauce for some colour.

Little Jennifer said...

can teach me cook tht patota smash? i like tht..but dont know how to make it@@"

day-dreamer said...

Wooo... looks good. £35 is a lot if you convert it to RM hor? Can have a very nice meal in Malaysia liao... haha. But I know we can't compare like that =x

Enemy of the Republic said...

Well, that looks better than most food you will find in London (but I love the Indian food.) I just can't believe how expensive it is there and how bad the food is. My mother was English and I used to spend summers there. But I wouldn't go now unless I was loaded!

Anonymous said...

to sugarbaby: that potato mash is easy. peel off potato skin, boil the botato in a pot with water for 15-20mins, or until it's really soft. test this with the fork.
once it's soft, take it out and mash the potato with fork, add milk, butter, salt, pepper, some herbs (optional) like rosemary, thyme etc, some cheese (optional) and voila

zewt: aiyah, you can't remember how much u roast the lamb for??? did u marinate it?

Jennifer said...

So sweet of you and yummy food...I myself do not know how to cook such thing.

I would second your idea of opening a restaurant...haha...don't forget to invite me for free tasting...Hahaha!

missX said...

Oh my Goshhhhhhhhhhhhh!
So niceeeeeeeeee!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.... Wowwwwwww!!!

Saved cash and I bet much better than Valentine's in restaurants, more romantic! Thumbs up for Zewt!

*Applause too*

myop101 said...

waaah Zewt,

demonstrating your culinary skills again...show off!..

since you are serving red meat, it is best to serve with red wine...:P

another suggestion is to put gravvy on the lamb... need not put a lot... just for decorating...haha....

well, it looks good...:) keep it up...

Eryn said...

WOW! Not bad wo. *claps*

How I wish my bf can cook. >_<

Purple~MushRooM said...

Wah lau eh..... the one and only time my hubby cooked me a western dinner was my Bday many yrs ago. And till now, I was the one who cooked. Hmmm... good idea. I will try to cook western this weekend.

missironic said...

u make me salivating over the food already..especially mashed potato! i love mashed potato! yum yum! hahahaha...

jules is right..dun need to go fancy restaurant for valentine..still can enjoy a memorable valentine even in the comfort of your home!

very nice! *thumbs up!*

frostee said...

nice one dude. Am sure the dinner you both had is way better than any fancy restaurant.

The lamb looks juicy man! Champs! Jules is one blessed gal to have ya! *thumbs up

Huei said...

yes open a restaurant..n make sure i get discount ok!! =P

valentine's overrated! jules would prefer it if u could cook like that for her everyday!! =P I WAN MASH POTATOES!!!!

Kim said...

Your pose is really a classic hehe.
The food looks really good! Yes, you should think of opening a restaurant. :)

Edward Skading said...

Dear Blogger,

Hello.

My name is Edward Skading and I am writing to seek your corporation and support to help me uphold our consumer rights against F&N Dairies’ Contaminated Condensed Sweet Milk – Tea Pot brand.

The full information is posted on my weblog http://consumersrighteousness.blogspot.com/. If you wish to contact me please send an email to eddskading@hotmail.com.

I would greatly appreciate your support to expose this incident to all Malaysians because it seems like most main stream media is not interested in this horrible discovery. I wish they would take notice.

I am also in the midst of being taken to court by F&N because of my determination for transparency and truth.

Please come forward and help me. I would greatly value it.


Thank you.

Yours truly,

Edward Skading

Tine said...

Adoi, cute nyer the apron :p

V-days are restaurants are a total rip-off. Flowers shmowers. A home-cooked meal is so much more romantic and adds a personal touch. Tim and I spent our V-day with my in-laws :P

Anonymous said...

Food looks good. You look like a pro chef ady:) Lucky wife of yours:)

kyh said...

oooh nice mashed potato! one of my favs! btw, ur facial expression kinda reminds me of the rock... :P

anomaly said...

yum...looks good but no sauce for the lamb?

Aphrodite said...

yumm looks nice...

Arena Green said...

Ahem ... I hope the dessert taste better than it looks. ;-)

Anonymous said...

I like men who can cook. :p

Have a Blessed Weekend!
My regards to Jules. :)

24yomummy said...

wow..it looks yummy :D

24yomummy said...

zewt, keep up the good work ;)

Anonymous said...

wow! didn't know you have it in you, though not surprised since you have spent some time abroad. well done. traditionalists always claim woman rules the kitchen domestically, but i feel otherwise. for example, hubby is a better cook then i am.

Sivin Kit said...

I don't mind being your local food taster! Especially for the Mash Potatoes!

Foxy Farah said...

OMG! simple yet amazing meal.nyum nyum.

Anonymous said...

Very impressive! Your wife must be a happy woman. :D

Miss Pharmacist said...

So sweet.

Anonymous said...

Wah... the (Thankfully) NOT Naked Chef! Lol. Good job bro, nothing like a home-cooked meal for a loved one... :D

Anonymous said...

Bravo! Bravo!...Looks delicious! I go KL, u cook for me or not? LOL!!! Mashed potatoes, I would add cheese too!!! Nice additional flavour to it!

P.S.: Not naked chef...but nice legs anyway! ROTFLMAO!!!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful!!!!

Supergirlfriend said...

wow...you can REALLY cook eh?! Haha. *drools* :p

zewt said...

Shanice Liew - hahaha... i dont really cook that often anymore. not until i get my own place again... scouting around.

giddy tigress - and those names are..?? :)

the constantly dramatic one - well, make it a valentine everyday then :) hehe... sexy pic... hmmm...

seokthong - not good at making sauce yet. perhaps next time.

sugarbaby - look at pavlova's comment below hehe... very easy.

day-dreamer - well, about RM200. but if you really want to go out for a nice dinner in KL, it will be more than that too.

enemy of the republic - yeah, london is an extremely expensive place mostly becos of the currency. the only way to be there is to work there.

zewt said...

pavlova - i mean i cant remember how long... hehe... marinate... rosemary lor.

Jennifer - haha... well, i think learning is a really fun thing to do. try it!

Just Jasmine - hehehe... thanks thanks. but someone said... the lamb looked overcooked... need a tad of pinkish colour in the middle.

myop101 - well, the wine was given by the apartment so i thought, might as well. yeah, i need to experiment on how to make a good gravvy... need your help perhaps.

Eryn - hello there. well, drill him... grill him!! hehe...

purple mushroom - dont forget to blog about it and let us see the result.

missironic - ahahaha... too much carbo woh... yeah, i think a nice self-cooked dinner at home beats any restaurant out there.

zewt said...

frostee - someone said it's a lil overcooked... need to perfect the timing on the roasting a lil more.

huei - make sure u come.. then i give discount lor.

Kimmy - hahaha... i have got another one but i didnt put it up, too embarrassing!

Edward Skading - i shall have a look.

Tine - what? in laws... how la like that? with the parents together kah. aiyoo!!

hippo - hello... pro chef... ahha... long way to go still.

kyh - now that you've mentioned... i think so too.

zewt said...

anomaly - working on it hehe...

Aphrodite - it was :P

anak merdeka - it did... very nice... but it was from M&S so... have to be nice lah.

jemima - hehe... ask the Lord to give you one :)

Pauline Yap - thanks... will do :)

siew - such is the trend nowadays... most of my female friends cant cook. in fact, if you ask me whose friends of mine cook... i think i can only name men.

Rev.Sivin Kit - hahaha... okies, i promise one day i make it for our church lunch.

zewt said...

Missy Farah - yum yum!!! i think i am encouraged to make it again.

cc - hehe... can your man cook too?

Miss Pharmacist - time to grill your bf to make you one.

Life for beginners - yup... really fantastic. restaurant? haha...

suituapui - too fattening lah if add cheese hehehe... why u go look at my legs? hahaha...

Edi神 - :) thanks...

supergirlfriend - yes... i can :)

Anonymous said...

Zewt, when are u gonna invite me over for dinner? =D I'll bring cakes and pudding for deserts!

SuLee said...

wow really impressive zewt!!! look sooo yummy! making me so hungry now :)

missironic said...

yea..downfall is the carbo..but eat it once awhile, should be ok, right? ;)

Mcmercedez said...

Hm.. Make me go hungry leh.. When you want to open a restaurant??

Anonymous said...

Well, he can when I'm not around. When I'm home, he'll suddenly loose his ability to cook. Must be my criticizing eyes. LOL

sharlydia said...

LOVELY! Looks delicious too...

Anonymous said...

I think this is the closest Zewt ever got to camwhoring so far...kan Zewt kan? Hehehe!

To work there (Europe) would really a dream come true for me...

H.C. Tan said...

wah so nice wan..rupa-rupanya zewt is so talented wan.hehe

zewt said...

littlepolaris - hahaha... wah, u sure u trust my cooking?

SuLee - go eat hehehe...

missironic - go for sweet potatoes... i heard that is way better...

mcmercedez - when i get enough capital... or maybe force the bank to give me a loan hehe...

cc - ahhhhh... when he cooks... u go watch tv ok?

sharlydia - hehehe.... impressive leh.

mar - if you can do well in auditing and get your professional paper... it is not impossible.

H.C. Tan - now u know hehe...

myop101 said...

haha... me? no la... me no good in western food le....

missironic said...

baked sweet potatoes? not really a fan of s sweet potatoes actually..eat it once awhile, ok la..hehehehe...

Anonymous said...

zewtcooks.com definitely comes to mind :)
and where's my recipe?

zewt said...

myop101 - hahaha... western food is wayyyyyyy easier to cook than chinese. i am sure u know that already.

missironic - sweet potatoes have got a lot of good stuff, no harm trying.

giddy tigress - hmmm... for which dish?

missironic said...

okie dokie, will try! ;)

zewt said...

missironic - :)

Anonymous said...

Wow...nice dinner! You didn't share with us how did Jules react? Was she cooking too or just relaxing?

Jacss said...

wow...wow...wow...LOL, as i was browsed thru few of yr posts from d top, my fingers stopped rolling d mouse & my face popped nearer to d screen...everythg suddenly stopped seeing that cunning cute picture of zewt....hahaha, still laughing!!
food, not bad not bad...yr wife so lucky! and u too r lucky that she's not reaping off yr $$ out there!
if u open rest, i'll sure bring my yee ma ku cheh visit....

zewt said...

kittykat - she was taking pics! hehe...

jacss - hahahahaha.... i have even funnier photos but i think i am not going to show those :) and thank you for your support for my pre-business.