Fried Beehoon

Sebelum keluar 'merayau' tadi, sempat buat bihun goreng tomyam ni. Some people may called it mee siam, meehoon, small noodles or whatever. I put tomyam paste just to be slightly different.

Tomyam Fried Beehoon

Ingredients:

1 pkt beehoon (~400 gms) - soak in cold water abt 1 hr to soften and strain

4 cloves garlic

1 big onion or 5 pcs of the smaller ones

1 stalk lemon grass

1/3 cup blended cili

3 Tbsp tomyam paste (available at groceries)

3 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp Black soy sauce

Light soy sauce to taste

1/2 Round cabbage (thinly slice)

150 gm prawns, shelled

Method:

- Blend/pound garlic, onion and lemon grass.

- Saute pounded stuffs till fragrant.

- Add in prawns followed by cili and tomyam paste.

- Add sugar, black soy sauce and light soy sauce and stir for another 5 minutes

- Put in beehoon and stir so the beehoon is evenly covered with gravy.

- Keep stirring until beehoon is soft. 

- Add more soy sauce/sugar if necessary.

- Scoop in serving dish and garnish accordingly. 

Happy trying and have a good day 

Note: This dish tastes just nice & as in all cooking, TASTE is very subjective. Thus, you may want to add more tomyam paste or more cili to your preference. You may also add more leafy green vege & omit prawns for vegetarian.

Sardine Sandwiches

Nothing special, nothing to shout about. Mr abang came home hungry an hour ago. He told earlier he'd be late so there's practically no food.....

ehmmmmm, ada roti, ada sardine, pup pap pup pap, nahhhh siap!

maaf banyak2lah, roti tu malu pasai tu tundukkk je, tak sempat nak angkat kasi betul...ngappp dah masuk mulut mr abang, esok kita buat lain lah noooo.

gud nite

opps, sebelum tu. Hari ni belajar download lagu pulak. Layarilah rumah makcik ni sambil dengar lagu ye

Lepat labu (Steamed Pumpkin in banana leaves)

Today let's do something more local.....

Lepat labu (steamed pumpkin in banana leaves)

What you need:

550 gm pumpkin (remove skin, cut and boil till tender)

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup coconut milk

1 1/4 cup flour

Coconut flakes mixed with little salt.

Enough banana leaves (put over fire to just soften leaves)

How to go about doing it:

- Mix 1/4 cup of the coconut milk with sugar and stir over slow fire until sugar just melt

- Mash the pumpkin until smooth (while still hot)

- Add sugar syrup and the rest of coconut milk, stir.

- Fold in flour and mix well.

- Take a tablespoonful of the mixture, spread on the banana leaves.

- Put coconut flakes along the center.

- Fold nicely and steam for 20 minutes. 

Note: This recipe may not be sweet to some people. You can adjust sweetness accordingly but to me this is just nice

Cookies 'n' Cream Cheesecake

Cookies 'n' Cream Cheesecake

My youngest son (18 yrs old!)had requested this for a long time, only now I manage to do it. He called it oreo cheesecake. 

I just use the recipe as the guide. Herewith the actual recipe.

Cookies 'n' Cream Cheesecake (source: Celebrity Chef's Cookbooks-Cheesecake Seduction)

Ingredients:

Base

100 gm butter, diced

170 gm digestive biscuits, crushed

30 gm brown sugar

30 gm cocoa powder, sifted

50 gm cornflakes, crushed

40 gm almond flakes

- Heat butter in pan and add all the other ingredients.

- Fry till fragrant and press in 23 cm false bottom cake pan

- Cover cake pan & refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Notes: In replacement to the dry ingredients I used leftover biscuits (samperit, almond, cornflakes etc), that I crushed and kept frozen. 

Filling:

500 ml thickened cream (i used whipped cream)

80 gm icing sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 Tbsp gelatine powder dissolved in 80 ml water

250 gm mascarpone cheese ( I use normal cream cheese)

100 gm Chocolate sandwich cookies, quartered 

- Whisk thicken cream, icing sugar and vanilla until mixture thickens

- Pour gelatine, mix well and add mascarpone cheese.

- Stir in cookies using spatula.

Pour filling onto biscuit base. Cover and refrigerate, possibly overnight.

( What I did - I beat cream cheese with icing sugar until smooth. Then add whipped cream slowly and beat further. Add in gelatine, mix well and lastly, stir in cookies)

Decorate with whipped cream and cookies 

Note: I did not decorate with whipped cream as my son said 'sudah cukup creamy'  (enough of the cream).

Braised Lamb

Made this quick dish, sons favourite so they ate without complaining. I say simple as I've had the lamb marinated earlier & freeze them.

Braised Lamb with Mango Salsa

6 pcs lamb shoulder (the size of your palm)

The marinade;

BBQ sauce (i use heinz)

1 Tbsp Cili powder

Dash of pepper

Salt

Garlic -crush/pound

Black soy sauce

Mint (fresh or bottled ones,available in supermarket)

Salsa: Mix together to your taste.

1 ripe mango-cubed

1 onion - sliced

Red/green cili (capsicum) - sliced

Lime/Lemon juice

Salt

Pepper

To cook; Heat oil and pan-fry lamb for about 3 minutes each side. This is just to get the meat a little 'charred'. Place meat in baking dish, cover, add the balance of the marinade and braised for about 30 minutes or until cook. 

Serve with salsa or any other stuffs (potato, coleslaw, vege etc) that you have-no fuss. 

Bottom line, don't get stressed up & enjoy your food.

Apple Crumble

Two apples had been in the fridge for a long time, so I made this simple & quick crumble.

Just want to share with you this no-proper-recipe version

Apple Crumble 

2 cups of flour

1/2 block butter (125gm)-diced

Castor sugar (white or brown is fine)

2 apples 

- Place flour in bowl, add in diced butter. Use rubbing-in method until crumbly.

- Add 3-4 Tbsp sugar & mix well.

- Place half the crumble in baking dish.

- Line with thinly sliced apples, sprinkle another 2-3 Tbsp sugar on the sliced apples.

- Sprinkle cinnamon powder if you like 

- Bake for about 10 minutes.

- Remove from oven, add the remaining flour(crumble) on top to cover apples.

- Sprinkle more sugar if you want (brown sugar will give a nice colour)

- Bake for another 15-20 minutes (or until soft brown).

Custard:

500 ml milk (i use dutch lady low fat milk )

5-6 Tbsp sugar

4 Tbsp custard flour - mix with 1/4 cup water

- Heat milk and sugar in a pan (do not boil)

- Add in custard mix and keep stirring under medium heat until it thickens.

Note: This recipe is not sweet, add more sugar if you prefer sweeter.

dua tiga hari rajin ku

I was alright at the kitchen department these few days that saw me cooking. I remember Xavier & Adisa when I made this mee rebus as  Xavier had asked for the recipe when we were in Lausanne in feb. To Xavier, here is the simple version for you (english version below).

  

Mee rebus ala makcik

500 gm mee kuning (celur dan toskan)

500 gm tulang daging- (rebus sampai empuk)-makcik beli yg potong kecil+ada isi sikit

500 gm ubi keledek (kupas,rebus empuk & mesin halus)

1 tin creamy tomato soup

5 ulas bawang putih - tumbuk

10 ulas bawang merah/1 labu bawang besar - tumbuk

1 cawan cili kering yang dah siap mesin (buat sendiri)

Taugeh

Garam, gula & Air asam jawa secukupnya (tomato puree pun boleh)

Cili hidup, daun bawang/sup, telur rebus, tauhu goreng, bawang goreng untuk hiasan

Cara nak buat kuah:

- Tumis bawang yang di tumbuk.

- Bila naik bau, masukkan cili, masak sampai naik minyak.

- Masukkan air asam jawa, gula garam.

- Masukkan ubi mesin, tulang bersama air rebusan, tomato sup dan sedikit air jika perlu.

- Biar mendidih (agak 5-10 minit), renehkan dia sampai kuah pekat sikit.

- Cukupkan rasa asam, garam, gula.

Bila nak makan:

Letak mee & taugeh dalam mangkuk.

tabur bahan bahan hiasan (betul ke term ni?-'garnishing)

Sendukkan kuahnya bersama sama tulang daging tadi, apa lagi soru lah....

Nota di kaki: Boleh juga tambah udang , rasanya lebih sedap;

Rebus kepala udang, mesin & tapis. Campurkan air tapisan semasa memasukkan air rebusan daging tu..

Isi udang di buat hiasan

Yellow noodles in spicy gravy

500 gm yellow noodle(boil 2-3 minutes), if use spaghetti, cook per instruction.

500 gm meat with bones- (boil till tender)

500 gm sweet potato/yellow potato (de-skin, boil, blend)

1 tin creamy tomato soup

5 cloves garlic - pound

10 shallot/1 big onion - pound

1 cup cili paste (can add more if you prefer spicy)

Bean sprouts

Salt, sugar & tamarind juice (or tomato puree)

Red cili, celery leaves, boiled eggs, fried bean curd, fried shallot for garnishing

Method;

- Saute onions, fry till fragrant

- Add cili paste keep frying for about 2 minutes.

- Put in tamarind juice, salt & sugar to taste.

- Add blended potato, meat & stock, tomato soup & little water if necessary.

- Let it boil ( 5-10 minutes), simmer till gravy is thick

- Add in more sugar, salt, puree if necessary.

To eat:

Put noodle & bean sprout in bowl.

Garnish with sliced cili etc

Spoon gravy to your needs and ENJOY

Footnote: Prawn stock may be used for added flavor, it actually tastes better;

Boil prawn's head, blend & strain. Add stock to gravy (same time when you add the beef stock) 

Masak asam, sambal macang

Good morning bloggers!

Part of home minister's task done, last night cleaned upstairs, this morning kaotim downstairs.

Had breakfast (alone..hmm) and went marketing. Stopped by to greet my computer before spring cleaning my wardrobe shortly.....just want to update a simple dish that I made for dinner last night....been craving this lauk for sometime.....

Masak asam ikan kering

Very simple lauk, normally the elders would say this is the dish for women during confinement. Whatever, I love it!

All you do is to fry the salted fish (eg: talang), put aside.

Then fry garlic, ginger and onion, red chili (all sliced) till soft.

Add tamarind juice, add in the fish, stir a while - done! 

And.....Sambal Bacang (=macang). Almost similar/same family as mango.

When mixed with sambal;

Buah bacang ni tengok kurang menarik, tapi bila dah kupas, cincang , jadikan sambal....

Masak asam ikan kering+sambal macang+nasi panas =    

okay, gotta continue with my cleaning..... 

Gym anyone?

In line with the "Malaysia Boleh" spirit, I registered  into a fitness centre last week, together with two other friends. 

Why I say Malaysia Boleh? Well....seems that there's soooooo many things that i want to do; sewing, crafting, baking, exercising, beautifying, blogging, mengaji'ing', pusing-pusing etc, etc....baju mau cuci, rumah mau sapu, nasi mau masak, family mau jaga..(nasib baik tak payah hantar/ambil anak dah)...time time time...

Women in the same  category will understand what I mean, surely they too would want to do all of the above. While the men of the house busy working, ladies of the homes are also busy....with the abovelah.

Let me story....

On our first day, the instructor guided us on the machines. We were there almost every morning (sounds familiar for newbies??), we don't overdo but we do feel good.

Yesterday evening, after one hour's workout, we saw some ladies entering a room; yoga, so we pun masuk....took the mat & ikutlah orang depan tu, lipat pi lipat mai. Then ada satu position tu you have to put your face (one side of pipi) and a knee on the floor and  stretch an arm sideways. One leg stretch out, while also stretching the arm of the same side as the leg, kira balancing actlah tu. Chehhh, ingat senang lah, first time was ok, 2nd,3rd,4th time......elok je terguling kat lantai.

Tengok sebelah, kawan makcik pun terguling gak, haaa tak pa ada gang! (macam beruang kutub pun ada..)

At the end of the session, one of the ladies approached and said,"..never mind first time, I've done this for few years..". There goes, message here: keep yourself occupied, keep fit and be happy with what you do.

Dok mengharap pinggang boleh jadi cam member kat dalam gambar ni le

more cuppies

A friend requested to show her how to make cupcakes. With my limited talent, we did at her house this morning, and had everyone including her three teenage girls to ice the cuppies. Meriah!

I used orange cupcake recipe from kak liza (hanieliza.fotopages.com), with little alteration, thanks kak

Orange Cupcakes (source: hanieliza@fotopages)

Ingredients:

300 gm butter

270 gm castor sugar

5 eggs (5 yolk, 4 whites)

320 gm self raising flour

2 Tbsp orange juice (from 1/2 orange)

2 Tbsp sunquick

orange rind from 1 orange.

Method:

- Beat butter and sugar till light/white.

- Add in egg, one at a time, make sure it mixes well before adding another one

- Fold in flour 

- Finally, mixed in the juice/rind.

- Spoon into cupcake mold, bake @ 180 deg C for ~ 20 mins (varies with oven)

- Cool on wire rack

Butter icing: (source: cari forum; food & recipe)

500 gm butter

500 gm krimwell

250 sifted icing sugar

- cream butter & krimwell until creamy.

- Add icing sugar gradually.

- Continue to beat until smooth.

- Put colour of your choice and start icing.

 

 

cupcakes

Just to share some cuppies that i made yesterday. No occasion, just being rajin. 

I reckon there's many more i need to learn from the experts. Appreciate comments/tips on my queries.

- My sugar icing (butter, krimwell & icing sugar) is quite soft, why?

- Is there a specific colour for icing? This normal liquid one did not look good. 

- How to achieve a 'whiter' basic icing, mine is slightly 'yellowish' 

Just notes- Hujan oh hujan

Hujan oh hujan kenapa engkau turun, macam mana aku tak turun, lama dah aku tak turun....

Labour day + weekend was a 3 day off for working people (no off for those working at home though). However, those were wet days( almost non stop rain) and some activities restrained.

Hubby's planned photography outings had to be called off, so he's with he computer almost all the time.

Too bored, the two of us went to movies 2 days in a row! 

Jom baking-Quiche

Onion and spinach Quiche.

Plain Shortcrust Pastry: (source: Perfect Pastries, Periplus cookook)

2 cups (250g) plain flour

125 g cold butter, chopped

1 egg yolk

3-4 tablespoons cold water 

- Sift flour into a mixing bowl and add butter. Rub butter into the flour with fingertips until fine & crumbly.

- Add the combined egg yolk and 3 Tbsp of water. Cut with a knife to form a dough, adding the   remaining water if necessary.

-Turn onto floured surface and gather together to form smooth dough. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for ~30 mins.

- Roll pastry and lay neatly to fit in the pastry dish. Blind bake for ~15-20 mins.

Filling

3 yellow onions, chopped finely

200 gm spinach, finely chopped.

2 Tbsp butter

Milk mixture (mix well)

250ml cream ( i use lowfat milk)

3 eggs

salt & pepper to taste

mozzarella/cheddar cheese (optional)

1. Heat butter in a pan over medium heat.

2. Saute onions till soft & fragrant(not brown), stir in spinach.

3. Fill baked pastry with filling.

4. Pour milk mixture & spread cheese.

5. Bake for 30 minutes or until slightly brown

Footnote:

- For filling, you can use only onions if you like, or add in diced carrots.