A Italian Menu by a Visiting Chef.

Oh dear....it has been quite a while since our last post. But we just had some exciting days, so we're back!

It happens so now and then that we get a visit from another chef, who is then invited to prepare a menu for our guests. This time it was Darren, who just arrived a couple of months ago from London where he worked in Chinese fine dinning restaurants. He has also a lot of experience in Italian cooking and so he prepared this menu on one of the evenings.

It was raining, it felt cold and not unlike autumn, 25 degrees and windy, Langkawi autumn mind you. The entree suited the weather well. We started with a hearty pumpkin veloute.

There are countless ways of making pumpkin soup......or veloute, if you like. With this one, the pumpkin is cooked down with onions and garlic until soft and the flavours has concentrated somewhat. Then milk is added and simmered for an hour or so before it's blended and becomes a velvety and flavourfull soup. Pumpkin loves nuttiness, so Darren drizzled it with housemade pumpkin oil and served it with a dollop of cream flavoured with sunflower seeds. And in true Italian style it was kept as that, no more, no less.

Richness continued into the main course of Pan fried Sea Bass.

Sea Bass can handle flavourfull garnishes quite well and Darren certainly didn't hold back. Sweetness from the onions and mussels, saltiness from the anchovy in the parsley cream. The black olives and tomato counterbalances the preparation with a noticeable tang.

To finnish, the traditional, well almost, Pannacotta with many citrus flavours.

The creaminess of the pannacotta was cut back by all the flavours citrus fruits has to offer. The dessert came with 'frozen honey' which gave it some more texture and just a hint of sweetness.

And so that evening came to an end. Who will be visiting us next?

A New Special on our Black Board Today.

Today on our black board:

 

Slow Cooked Beef Short Rib with Almond and Ras-el-Hanout Crust,

Cous Cous, Lemon and Rocket Salad, Basil and Chilli

A Recipe: Sweet Corn and Basil soup.

This is a contribution by our chef, Mathijs

I've been asked to share a recipe from our kitchen and so here I am writing myself into this blog. There are many recipes I can share and I've decided to take a relatively easy one but, having said that, the quality of the  end result really boils down to your care you've put in the dish. We are talking about 'Sweet Corn and Basil Soup'. I took this recipe with me from my time in Sydney, Australia., where the dish  is as common as fish and chips, the burger with canned beetroot and seagulls. The recipe is very uncomplicated with no frills but it should be remembered that it's an absolute must to seek out the best quality ingredients (this, of course, goes for all your cooking but especially with recipes like these):

1 ea       Onion, sliced

2 cl        Garlic, sliced

4 ea       Corn cob, kernels sliced off, the cob cut in half

1 bunch  Basil

2 ltr        Vegetable or light chicken stock (you may have left over, keep this for another use)

               Salt

The Method:

We start with sweating the onions and garlic in 2 tbsp of olive oil and 1 tbsp butter. Add the corn kernels and cobs. Cook over fairly high heat. You want to slowly caramelize the mixture, which means browning it, just a little bit. Take your time, you're developing flavour which for sure you'll taste in the end result.

When this is done we add the basil and continue cooking for a minute, or so. Pour in the stock, enough to cover plus a bit extra to allow to reduce. Bring this to a slow simmer.

And now, all you do is let it bubble for, say, about 30 minutes. After that, you take it of the heat and just let it stand there to cool down. Let time do its work, the flavours are infusing and developing even  more. When it has cooled down enough you take out the corn cobs and discard. Then place the mixture in a blender and process until smooth. Strain the soup through a fine sieve. Press as much liquid through with a laddle, you're actually pressing through as much flavour as you can. I did say that the quality of this soup depends on the effort you put in, but don't press too hard, you might damage the sieve!

The only thing left to do is to season it with salt and, if you prefer, some white pepper, (the black variety will give your soup black specks all over).

And now you got yourself a very hearty and flavourfull soup. You can garnish this with a variety of ingredients. I personally like to use some sour items like pickled shallots and preserved lemon to 'lighten up' the liquid. Of course, add beautifully roasted prawns, scallops or even chicken and it will elevate this soup into the another level.

I will contribute some more recipes in the near future. Until then, enjoy!

New Generation of Specials.

 The days has been quite exciting here, Langkawi was packed and we're also busy. We just managed to be in time to finish on some new specials. Currently on the black board...

Beef Fillet stuffed with Fragrant Coconut, Slow Cooked Short Rib, Potato and Roasted Garlic Puree, Young Mango and Pea Eggplants

Spiced Chocolate, Walnut and Pecan Brownie, Caramel and Coconut Sauce, Raspberry Sorbet, Chilli and Vietnamese Mint

These specials are on the black board now....but you can be assured that they won't stay long. There are many more new specials to come....

The Name of Temple Tree

Straits Club Restaurant and Bar is synonymous with Temple Tree. Known for its heritage chic and colonial charm, the resort took its name from the Datuk Kong Temple which is located right beside the 110 pool, within the Temple Tree property.

Before, in the pre-islamic days, this temple was used by the Malays, Indians and Chinese to worship the Datos and Keremats, which were seen as an alternative power to help in spiritual healing and protection. You could say they're spirits.

 

An old picture of the temple, notice the bananas inside on the left.

There are many of such temples throughout Malaysia but this one is not typical. Due to the Islamic nature of the Datos, one would not ever use pork, beer, wine and other alcoholic products as an offering. There is a discreet back entrance to the temple, as well. This is for the locals who continue to do offerings and some prayers.

The tree here is no ordinary one. Inside its base 

grows a palm tree, which kind of makes it two in one.

Inside the temple.

 The year of the rabbit is coming and we wish everybody a happy and prosperous Chinese New Year!

A Table by the Poolside.

It's dry, the rain has dissepeared and so we've put up some extra tables outside now, beside the pool. They've proven to be more popular than the tables at the verandah.

 

The mozzies have decided to take it easy, as well, for the time being. So we would almost say, enjoy while you still can. But no, when they return we'll take care of that. 

Specially for the evening we've put plenty of candles around, which makes it kind of romantic, if you like but for sure you can look forward for beautifull evening at Straits Club.

Another Wine Dinner.

We are inviting you once again for our Wine Dinner, which, as you may know, we normally do on Friday's but more often than not do we decide to do one on Saturday, as well.

So, for tonight, this is what we'll do:

For bookings:

T 04 9553937
M 012 4302442

E info@templetree.com.my

 Beef Brisket braised in Tomatoes and Masalla Spices

We hope to welcome you......