It was a big family weekend last weekend – on Sunday we got together again to celebrate my dad’s birthday with a satay lunch.
Jac’s and my contribution to the meal were two fruit platters. We cut the fruit up and arranged the platters on Sunday morning, just before we left for my folks’ place. As you can see, just to make the platters look a little more interesting, I used my vegetable cutter to make melon flowers – the orange flowers are rockmelon (also known as cantaloupe), the green are honeydew melon. On this first platter we had oranges, prunes, papaya, kiwi fruit, strawberries and honeydew melon in the centre. The garnish is a sprig of mint leaves from our garden.
On the second platter we placed pineapple, honeydew melon, papaya, strawberries, rockmelon and blood oranges, again, garnished with a little mint. Blood oranges are Jac’s favourite kind of orange. I took the photos of the fruit platters before we wrapped them up with ice packs ready for transportation.
I have ordered some new vegetable cutters from JBox just this weekend – the Vegetable Shaper Assortment set, with sakura (cherry blossom, a shape I already have and used to make those melon flowers), plum, maple leaf and chrysanthemum shaped cutters. It’s going to be fun having differently-shaped cutters to “play” with. :)
At my folks’ place, there was a lot of food ready to be eaten! There was a big dish of ketupat to go with the satay (this bowl had been used for Mum’s yee mee the day before).
I didn’t have any of this chilli, but I thought it looked interesting, red in a red dish.
There was, of course, a dish of chopped raw onion…
…and cucumber too, for the satay.
And of course, a huge pot of satay “kuah” (satay sauce), made with peanuts and chilli.
My eldest sister cooked a big pot of dhal. It went really well with the satay – it was lovely and had the creamiest texture of any dhal I’ve ever eaten. I ate it both as a sauce with the satay and as a dish on its own, wolfing down big spoonfuls of it.
My dad got the satay cooking started, but it was my brother who did most of the cooking. My sisters and I all made sure he had plenty of food and drink while he worked to cook satay for the hungry hoards.
On the menu, chicken satay and kangaroo satay! The kangaroo was supplied by my cousin and her hubby, who live on a farm.
This is my arty farty satay shot. My plate didn’t stay neat and tidy like that for very long, let me tell you!
The kangaroo satay was tender and delicious, but the chicken was my favourite.
My brother also cooked up some lamb skewers* left over from Ruby’s birthday party the day before. In our family, the more meat the merrier!
When everyone had eaten their fill of satay, it was time to move onto the sweet items!
Auntie S brought two sponge cakes slathered in cream and durian. There were two layers of sponge per cake with durian in the cream between the sponge layers and durian in the cream that covered each cake.
This shortbread was made by my mum’s ex-boss’* wife. She was a little worried it was overdone but I actually prefer shortbread that’s a little firmer as it’s easier to eat and doesn’t disintegrate into crumbs the minute you bite into it. This shortbread was lovely and buttery and melted in the mouth.
Ange made this diabetic fruit cake especially for my dad.
I’ve featured this cake before (see this old post for the recipe).
I only had eyes for the durian cream sponge cakes though. All throughout lunch as I ate my satay, I could smell that distinct durian aroma in the air promising a delectable pleasure to come.
The sponge was light and soft, and the durian-infused cream (with real durian flesh!) was just heavenly. Even Jac, who is not terribly fond of durian, enjoyed the durian cream sponge cake. She didn’t have a piece of cake but kept digging into mine!
I was thrilled as I got to take a piece of cake home for later.
We also enjoyed the fruit very much. All in all, another pleasant day featuring delicious food and enthusiastic eating.
*What’s the difference between the lamb and chicken skewers from Saturday and the chicken and kangaroo satay from Sunday? Yes, they were all meat on skewers, but the “satay” was marinated with Malaysian-style satay flavours and cooked on an open grill over hot coals; the “skewers” were marinated with non-satay flavours and were cooked on a flat BBQ hotplate. Both were delicious, though! I’d happily (and greedily) have either any day! :-P
** Ex-boss as in, he was my Mum’s boss until he retired a few years ago. He and his wife have known us since we were kids – first time I met them I was ten or eleven years old! They came to lunch on Sunday.
I'm TFP, a food blogger from Perth, Western Australia.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
yummylicious! i am now hungry just by looking at the pictures…
Wow the satays look so good! did your mom marinate it yourself? Can you please share the recipe! =D Thanks!
I’ve been a follower of your site for about a month and just wanted to say thank you for all the wonderful food pictures :D
Durian cake…mmmmm….I like mine chilled :D Then, it’ll taste like durian ice cream cake! *slurp* Never tasted kangaroo meat…Kinda hard to imagine how the tall & hoppy creature could end up on the plate :P hehe.. Well, i dont get Kangaroos in M’sia :P
Wow, everything looks well presented and yummy. Good thing I only get to see pictures cause I’m on a diet ;) hehe
Blood oranges!?! I had to look that up on wikipedia (aren’t you proud) I have never seen such a fruit! Apparently they are grown right here in California!?!
And Kangaroo Meat – wow, I had to hit that up on wikipedia also… I had no idea people ate them – according to the article they are tender yet have a “stronger flavor.” Is it similar to beef or pork?
Wow the satay looks divine! Are you able to share the recipe on how it was made including the sauce?
Thanks!
whoots.
the durian cake looks reallyy good.
i’m not that fond of durians myself, but i love durian cake or crepe that has been chilled in the fridge.
chilled durian is way better than room temp durian.
what do you think? (:
hmmm… durian cake. I wonder what your auntie used for the durian flavour. Is it durian essence or real durian flesh?
lontong is better than ketupat with satay ;oP
i LOVE satay. and kebabs. and skewered meat in general always tastes good. but the taste of satay always remains one of my personal favourites! :)
i’m like jac and i dislike durian tremendously, but durian cream sponge cake is something i’ll gladly have a bit of. i reckon it’s because the durian taste is kind of diluted by the cream.
Ooooh the satays look great – I noticed the satay grill type thingy on your BBQ! Are these an attachment that you can buy from BBQ places? Gotta love that lovely charcoal flavour imparted from the hot coals!
Mmmm! This looks like an incredible feast! I have to say, these delicious Australian barbeques put our miserable, meagre British ones to shame. In this country, most people’s idea of a barbeque is nasty sausage and cheap burgers, burned to a crisp on the outside and food-poisoning raw on the inside, drenched with generic condiments to disguise the charred taste. It’s lovely to see them done as deliciously and creatively as they are here.
All the accompaniments look fantastic too, like your sister’s dhal and your fruit platters – lovely. And I’d love to try kangaroo, though I think it would be hard to come by in this country! Does it taste like any other sort of more mainstream meat? I’m also going to have to look up what durian and ketupat are, I can’t say I’ve heard of them before!
Kiran,
LOL, that’s always good for a food pornographer to hear. :)
Hi Ada,
I’ll have to check with my mum, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to share the recipe. Hope you won’t be offended if I am not able to.
MadBride,
No worries, glad you’ve enjoyed them!
Peky,
I like the durian cake room temperature or cold. The piece I ate at lunch was room temp; the piece that I took home and ate the next day was eaten cold, straight out of the fridge. Both were yummy.
LH86,
Hahaha, hope it hasn’t been too torturous for you then! :)
Bryan,
You bet I’m proud! LOL. Jac absolutely loves blood oranges as they are very sweet and juicy – so if you can find any over there she says they are well worth trying. The red colour and the red juice can be a little disconcerting at first. It’s a red meat, probably most similar to beef.
Hi Delly,
As per my response above to Ada, I’ll have to check, but it is possible I won’t be able to share the recipe. Usually if I have a recipe that I can share, I will do so as part of the post without you guys having to ask. :)
jill,
I love it either way. I just wish I got to eat it more often!
bella,
she used durian flesh in the cream, which is why it was so delicious.
steph,
I’ve eaten a lot more ketupat than lontong, so it is hard for me to judge. :)
dea,
The durian cakes did smell really strong though! I loved eating lunch with the smell of durian in the air reminding me of what was to come, but Jac always finds it a bit whiffy. :)
Shem,
I’ll have to ask my folks, as I can’t remember where they got it from. Will update when I get an answer.
Rosie,
Oh yeah, we do put a lot of effort into our barbies. We do like to cook good quality meat on the barbie. :)
If we had to compare it to a mainstream meat, I’d say the kangaroo tastes most like beef. It can be quite gamey, but I think the satay marinade had taken much of that gaminess away (which is good!). I’ve loved durian since I was a child growing up in Malaysia – lived there until I was ten years old. It is definitely an acquired taste, as it has a very distinct pungent aroma/flavour, which many people find off-putting (if not nauseating!). It’s banned from hotels in Malaysia, as the smell wafts through the air-conditioning and is offensive to many a tourist. :)
Kangaroo steaks taste much like beef. TFP – I used to get kangaroo fillets in the meat section of Coles in Vic Park when we lived in Perth. Very lean, low cholesterol, high protein.
Hi Rhonda,
We do see roo meat at Woolies too. I rarely crave red meat (and even when I do, it’s probably lamb), so I never really pay that much attention to the roo for sale. But when I eat it, I usually enjoy it.
Hi Tfp,
I am really interested in the Durian Cake…
Do you think you can get me the recipe? It looks amazing!
I can even taste it just by looking at the close up pic.
thanks in advance :)
Okky