Category: Homemade Recipes

Eggplant millefeuille with fresh goat cheese and basil recipe from Chef Fabrizio

First it was divine food of Vietnam….now it’s mouth watering delicacies from Europe! Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur has brought us another gastronomical extravaganza with “Tastes of Italy”.

# – Inspiring Italy (4 – 12 June 2011) at Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur.
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Headlined by the master of contemporary Italian cuisine, Chef Fabrizio, hailing all the way from Prego at The Westin Beijing Financial Street, foodies can now discover a new perspective to Italian dining experience at the Favola Italian Restaurant, Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur.

# – Favola Italian Restaurant.

# – With Le Meridien’s Executive Chef, Chef Antoine Rodriguez and Chef Fabrizio.

To my delight, Chef Fabrizio demonstrated some of his signature dishes for “Tastes of Italy” and the eggplant millefeuille particularly caught my attention. What a beautiful dish…the colours, the layers! I can’t wait to make this at home!

# – Chef Fabrizio in action.

Allow me to share the steps to making the gorgeous dish….

For the millefeuille:

  • 800 grams of eggplant, sliced to medium thickness
  • 200 grams of flour
  • 400 grams of tomatoes, sliced thinly
  • 120 grams of parmesan cheese, grated
  • 20 grams of basil leaves
  • 100 grams of goat cheese (or any kind of cream cheese)
  • Salt & pepper to taste

For the pesto:

  • 200 grams of basil leaves
  • 30 grams of parmesan cheese
  • 200 grams of olive oil
  • 30 grams of pine nuts
  • Salt & pepper to taste

# – First, slice the eggplants to medium thickness.

# – Season generously with salt & pepper. Cover and leave to rest for 30 minutes till the water’s expelled and the eggplant slices shrink in thickness.

# – Dust the eggplant slices in flour.

# – Deep fry the eggplant slices till golden.

# – Slice the tomatoes.

# – You can use a pastry ring for a better appearance but it’s okay if you don’t. Build a millefeuille by starting with a layer of fried eggplant, followed by tomato, basil and parmesan and repeat till it reaches a desired height.

# – In the meantime, chuck all ingredients for pesto in a blender till…..hey, pesto! :)

# – Sprinkle grated parmesan cheese over the millefeuille and top with a dollop of goat’s cheese.
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# – Spoon some pesto around as decoration and perch a piece of thin toast on the goat’s cheese if you like.

# – Eggplant millefeuille with fresh goat cheese and basil, DONE!

Besides this Eggplant Millefeuille with Fresh Goat Cheese & Basil, there are also over 20 items to choose from in the menu of “Tastes of Italy”. They include Crispy Seafood & Red Capsicum Risotto, Maine Lobster with Fresh Spring Herbs and many more. Of course, not to be missed as well are the desserts, with tantalising names such as Hazelnut Creme Brulee, Vanilla Floating Island, Dark Chocolate Tiramisu and Strawberry Pie with Vanilla Ice-Cream.

# – Crispy Seafood & Red Capsicum Risotto.

# – Maine Lobster with Fresh Spring Herbs.

Besides getting a sneak peek to the menu of “Tastes of Italy”, I got to meet up with my fellow bloggers!

# – With the delicious Cindy and Haze.

# – And ever gorgeous Mei.

# – BF was there too!

“Tastes of Italy” (4 June – 12 June, 2011)
Favola Italian Restaurant @ Le Meridien
2, Jalan Stesen Sentral, Kuala Lumpur Sentral,
50470 Kuala Lumpur
03-2263 7434

A la carte from RM25++ to RM130++, one can certainly live and dine like a true-blue Italian as Chef Fabrizio whips up his special Italian creations.

Easy-to-make decadent mango cream cheese puff recipe.

Thanks to Alice and her adorable daughter, Mimi from Sweet Savoury Life, I was inspired to whip up this dessert.

Instead of strawberries and blueberries which are really expensive here, I used mangoes instead. This was one of the easiest desserts I’ve ever made and it tasted soooo good. As long as you know how to operate a hand mixer, use an oven and spread a bread, you’re pretty much set.

# – Mango cream cheese puff.

Best thing of all, you only need 4 ingredients, and they’re all easily available from the average supermarket in Malaysia!

The ingredients:

  • 4 slices of puff pastry squares
  • 2 mangoes, peeled and sliced
  • 140 grams of cream cheese, leave to soften in room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons of icing sugar

# – First, lay out the puff pastry squares on a baking tray. As you can see, I folded the corners in hoping they would puff up in a nice cradle sort of shape but they didn’t…so don’t bother haha.

# – Stick them in a pre-heated oven at 160 degrees celcius for 25 minutes. Oh lard, I am aware I need to clean my oven :P

# – In the meantime, add two tablespoons of icing sugar to the cream cheese in a mixing bowl.

# – With a hand mixer, beat till sugar and cheese are completely combined. Set aside.

# – Eject both beaters off from the handle, then bring then to your living room. Sit down, turn on television and lick the beaters clean. Enjoy yourself. Hide the scale.

# – Now slice the mangoes into desired shapes. Leave to chill in the fridge.

# – When the puff pastries are done, leave them out to cool for about 15 minutes.

# – You may use a really girly, lacey food cover to deter the flies.

# – After they’ve cooled down, press the middle of the puff down. Your fingers will be covered in crumbs but that’s okay.

# – Spread the sweetened cream cheese all over the pastry.

# – Then lay sliced mangoes over the top. Mango cream cheese puff, DONE!

# – Bite into it. Hear the angels sing.

If you’re a fan of cream cheese frosting, you would understand why I love this dish so much. Crispy puff pastry with slightly tart, slightly sweet creaminess and juicy sweet mangoes…..a breathtaking combination.

The BF said it was terrible, so terrible in fact he refused to let me have a tiny bite off his pastry, for “my own good”. Took me for a fool? Men!

Cannellini beans and garlic mash, a healthier alternative to mashed potatoes!

Wow, it’s first of June, the first day of the final half of the year. If you hadn’t started on your new year’s resolution (you know, that bit about eating healthier and stuff), well, guess what…..it’s a good time to start today.

For instance, instead of reaching out for some creamy & sinful mashed potatoes, how about trying out some creamy but not so sinful Cannellini bean mash? They are low in fat and packed full of fibres, iron, magnesium and folate.

Okay, I had to google that up but that’s beside the point.

# – Cannellini beans.

Also, I didn’t really plan on eating mashed potatoes replacement because I developed a sudden concern for health. I just happened to buy one too many cans of Cannellini beans which were on sale and I needed to eat them up before they expire.

Thank goodness, this attempt to finish up Cannellini beans is not a disaster like the previous time.

In fact, it turned out extremely well! Without further ado, lets start!

The ingredients:

  • 1 can of Cannellini beans, drained
  • 5 cloves of garlic, sliced
  • 1 tablespoon of rosemary powder
  • 100 ml of milk or whipping cream (even chicken stock)
  • Salt and pepper

# – First, fry up the garlic slices till fragrant.

# – Then, dump in the drained beans and stir for a bit.

# – Add in a tablespoon of rosemary powder for flavour.

# – A sprinkling of salt and pepper for taste….

# – Followed by the liquid. I used cream which was honestly very naughty but you can substitute with milk or chicken stock. Using water is just downright depressing.

# – With a potato masher, mash the beans up. If you’ve got a hand blender, even better!

# – Serve as a delicious healthy side dish to grilled mustard pork chops.

So if you’re on a carb strike but is aching for some creamy mash, by all means try this out. Cannellini beans are virtually tasteless on their own so they absorb external flavours very well….certainly a great vehicle to deliver an awesomesauce gravy.

Minus the tedious tasks of peeling and boiling potatoes, I have a feeling I’m going to stock up more on Cannellini beans…..

Swear I just heard a grunt from the BF’s direction. Or was it a fart? LOL.