Tuesday, January 29, 2008

corn, cucumber and cheese pancake


actually i wanted to make a zucchini pancake (i saw it on tv once)...but apparently the "zucchini" we got from cameron highlands were in fact "cucumber"..hahaa...i seriously couldn't tell the difference!! i only found out when i was grating the "zucchini" and it just oozed with liquid




one grated cucumber


corn from one corn


cheddar cheese cut in big chunks


salt


pepper


flour


water


one egg


a pinch of baking powder




mix all the ingredients with enough water and flour to make a thick batter. then fry tablespoons of batter in a non stick fry pan with a bit of oil.

jamie oliver's english onion soup


saw this in Jamie at Home...he used simple, fresh ingredients from his gardens to whip up this soup, but we didn't exactly follow the complete recipe...




onions (lots of them, maybe around 20-30 - a mixture of the different types would be nice), sliced roughly

leeks (it's basically a giant spring onion), sliced

stock (beef, chicken,etc)

oil

vegetables (eg carrots, broccoli, capsicum, cellery, potato, whatever u like, really)

beef or chicken pieces




Cook the onions and leeks in a bit of oil on slow heat. Cook it down for 25-30 minutes until it breaks down into a brown mush (it doesn't look pretty, but trust me, the taste is dinamite. cooking the onions slowly releases the natural sugar and caramelise the onions).

Pour in your hot stock. Bring to boil and add in the meat, and the rest of the veges. Cook until the meat and veges are tender.

Monday, January 28, 2008

chocolate blueberry cake





this is my first attempt making cake decoration using fresh cream...i tried out the ready-mix sponge cake recipe from kak hanieliza's fotopages....


the outcome, was lovely...tastes similar as the cake from the bakery shop!!!


250g chocolate sponge mix

3 eggs

100ml water

100ml oil


  • heat oven to 175 for 10 min

  • put all ingredients (except the oil) into a mixing bowl and whisk using electric mixer on hi-speed for 8 minutes

  • then add the oil and continue whisking for 2 min

  • pour the mixture into a greased baking pan

  • bake for 25-30 min

  • let cool, and top with fresh cream and blueberry topping

apple, bread and butter pudding..


bread and butter pudding never fails to excite our tastebud..and making them will never go wrong...


i tried this recipe with a taste of apple....the original recipe uses nashi pear....


8 slices white bread, crust removed

60g sot butter

1 apple, cored and sliced

1/2 cup sultana

4 eggs

1/3 cup caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla

3 cup milk

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

50g slivered almonds


  • preheat oevn 180 degrees

  • spread bread with butter and cut each slice into 2 triangles. layer the bread into ovenproof dish

  • tuck the apple slices in amongst the bread sprinkle with sultanas

  • whisk the eggs with sugar and vanilla

  • add milk and whisk to combine. gently pour over bread.

  • sprinkle with nutmeg and almond

  • set aside for 10 minutes

  • bake for about 1 hour or until custard has set and top is golden

potato meatballs


adapted from a recipe book -Potato....as this meatballs use potato, so it tastes like bergedel...but it is still nice...


225g potatoes, diced

225g ground beef/lamb

1 onion, chopped

1 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped (i used oregano)

1 celery, chopped

1 carrot, chopped (optional)

2 garlic, crushed

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp vegetable oil

salt & pepper


  • boil the diced potatoes until cooked through. drain well and transfer to a large mixing bowl, mash until smooth

  • add ground beef, onion, coriander, celery, carrot and garlic. mix well

  • bring the mixture together with your hands and roll it into small balls

  • heat butter and oil ina pan. add the meatballs in batches and cook, turning frequently until browned all over

Ratatouille

ratatouille with spaghetti and meatballs


Jihan licking her fingers..yumm..yummy..


i made Ratatouille with spaghetti and potato meatballs for dinner last weekend....my Jihan simply love the dish sooo much...!!! and to my surprise, she ate everything in the Ratatouille...

i took this recipe from Flavours magazine and came out with my own version....


1 long purple eggplant and salt for sprinkling

3 tbsp olive oil

1 zucchini, cut into cubes

1 onion, cubed

1 red capsicum, seeded and cubed

1 green capsicum, seeded and cubed

2 garlic, chopped

4 tomatoes, cubed

3 tbsp tomato puree or to taste

1/2 tbsp rosemary

1/2 tbsp thyme

brown sugar to taste

ground blackpepper and salt to taste


**you can add sun-dried tomatoes and olives if you like....

  • split the eggplant lengthwise, sprinkle some salt to draw out the bitterness. leave for 30 min, then drain and cut into cubes
  • heat oil in pan. add the eggplant and cook until lightly browned. remove and set aside
  • cook the zucchini the same way.
  • in the same pan, cook the onion until translucent (add more oil if necessary)
  • add the capsicum and cook until tender
  • add the garlic, eggplant, zucchini, tomato and tomato puree. cook for 1 min
  • then add the rosemary and thyme
  • simmer over low heat for 1 hour ( i can't wait this long because we were hungry already. so i simmered for about 30 min)
  • season with salt, pepper and sugar
  • remove from heat, allow to cool and refrigerate if not using immediately. the taste will develop overnight

Friday, January 25, 2008

a dentist-to-be who cooks and bakes as well...







my sister's version of yummy foods....she's in JB now, we'll wait for her to come back for the full version of her recipes ya...


  • cheese and corn pancake


  • onion and leek soup


  • scones


  • butter garlic asparagus

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Ayam masak merah (chicken in red gravy)


also from my mum's recipe collection...sweet, hot and tasty!!!


1 chicken cut into pieces

4 tbsp tomato puree

1 cup processed peas

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup evaporated milk (i omit this one)

2 tomato cut into wedges

1/2 cup water

3 tbsp chilli paste

4 shallots

1 inch ginger

1 inch tumeric

oil

salt and sugar


  • fry the chicken parts (half cooked), set aside

  • pound the shallots, garlic, tumeric, ginger and mix with the chilli paste

  • heat oil in pan and fry the pounded ingredients till fragrant

  • add in tomato puree, water and raisins, let boil

  • add in chicken, sugar and salt. add in the tomatoes last

  • add in evaporated milk (if you are using it), let simmer for a while. mix well and remove from heat


Tomato Rice (Nasi tomato)



this is from my mum's collection of recipe...eaten with Ayam masak merah, dalca and acar mentah...lovely and easy to make as well....



1 tin evaporated milk
4 cup basmathi rice
4 cup water
1 inch ginger ]
5 shallots ] blended
5 ginger ]
5 star anise
5 cloves
5 cardamom
1 inch cinnamon
3 pandan leaves
1 tin tomato puree (small)
1/2 cup tomato ketchup
2 tbsp ghee




  • heat ghee in a pan. fry star anise, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and blended ingredients till fragrant.

  • transfer the ingredients to a rice cooker. add water and let boil.

  • add in tomato puree and ketchup with rice. mix well.

  • cook the rice in the rice cooker until the water dries up. add in pandan leaves.

  • let cook and serve hot. you may garnish with spring onion, raisins and fried shallots


Wednesday, January 23, 2008

chunky cheesecake brownies




took this recipe from allrecipes.com....tastes lovely....i just made it into 2 layers, somehow my chocolate batter was not enough....??? still it turned out very good...


1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt



Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch square baking pan.


Combine cream cheese with 1/4 cup sugar and 1 egg in a mixing bowl; beat until smooth. Stir 1 cup chocolate chips into the cream cheese mixture. Set aside.


Fill a saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Turn the heat off, and set a heatproof mixing bowl over the water. In the mixing bowl, combine butter with the remaining cup of chocolate chips; stir until just melted and blended together.


Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and 2 eggs, then sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into chocolate until evenly blended.


Pour half of the batter into the prepared baking pan. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the chocolate layer. Top with remaining chocolate mixture (this doesn't need to completely cover the cream cheese layer). Using a knife, swirl the top chocolate layer into the cream cheese to make a marble pattern.


Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes, or until top is crinkled and edges pull away from sides of the pan. Cool thoroughly. Cut into 12 to 16 squares.


Store in the refrigerator or freeze.

strawberry banana muffin




had some leftover's strawberry from Cameron Highlands....turned it into this smashing muffins!!! got the recipe from Joy of Baking....the texture is lovely....a credit to Stephanie Jaworski for this recipe...!!!


1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries or strawberries (cut into small pieces)
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Line the muffin pan with paper liners


In a small saucepan melt the butter. Set aside.

In a medium sized bowl whisk together the brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and mashed banana. Add the melted butter to the brown sugar mixture and stir to combine.

In another large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Gently fold in the berries, making sure they are coated with flour. This helps to prevent the berries from sinking during baking.


Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are just combined. Do not over mix the batter or tough muffins will result.

Fill each muffin cup about two thirds full of batter, using two spoons or an ice cream scoop.


Place in the oven and bake until a tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Monday, January 21, 2008

passionfruit sorbet






just came back from cameron highlands....bought some tamarillos (folks in cameron call them passionfruit, though) but they don't really taste great on its own, as they're quite sour. My sister made them into sorbet (she saw jamie oliver making them in one of his shows)...it's a really simple recipe too...


1 cup water

3/4 cup sugar

15 passion fruits


Place the water and sugar in a pan, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a while.

Halve the passion fruits and scoop out the flesh, seeds and juice using a spoon. Stir this up--you can pass it through a sieve to remove the seeds.

Mix the passion fruit with the sugar syrup and some of the seeds in a plastic tub or earthenware dish and place in the freezer.

Generally, sorbet takes 2 hours to set. Try to stir it around every 1/2 hour if you remember (this helps to incorporate air into the sorbet and make it light)

Friday, January 18, 2008

baking tools from Guangzhou....


thanx to Kak Rinn for buying these tools for me, exclusively from Guangzhou...!!!! can't wait to try them on to make delicious, beautifully decorated cakes.....

fried asparagus with shrimp paste (asparagus goreng belacan)


i simply love this one..


asparagus

3 red chilli }
2 shallots }
2 garlic } pounded
dried shrimp }
shrimp paste (belacan) }

oil

fresh shrimp


  • heat oil in wok. add in pounded ingredient, fry till fragrant.

  • add in fresh shrimp.mix well

  • add in asparagus. fry till cook

  • serve

** do not overcook the asparagus. it should be crunchy...

Monday, January 14, 2008

fruit trifle




almost similar to the previous trifle...but this time with fruits....i made 2 big bowls...i topped the trifle with custard...my Jihan loves the custard very much....


swiss roll, cut into pieces
instant jelly
fruit cocktail


  • arrange swiss roll on the base of the bowl and the side

  • prepare the instant jelly, pour over the swiss roll

  • spoon the fruit cocktail over the jelly. let the jelly harden

  • pour another layer of instant jelly and fruit cocktail. let the jelly harden


custard topping:

custard powder
evaporated milk
water
sugar

  • mix everything together in a saucepan.

  • gently stir over low heat until a bit thicken.

  • spoon over fruit trifle.

  • refrigerate and serve cool.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

prune and orange muffin




lovely muffin from Home Baking recipe book


1 1/2 cup prunes, chopped

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup orange juice

50g butter

2 eggs

2 cup flour

3 tsp baking powder


  • preheat oven 190 degrees. place prunes, brown sugar, orange juice and butter in a saucepan. heat gently until the butter melts. remove from heat and cool

  • beat eggs into prune mixture with a wooden spoon. sift in flour and baking powder and mix until combine

  • spoon the mixture 3/4 full into a greased deep muffin pan

  • bake for 15 min

bean bread basket


ideal for breakfast for kids and their parents too...got this from Woolworth's magazine


12 slices wholemeal bread

2 tbsp melted butter

420g can baked beans

4 eggs

3 slices cheddar cheese



  • preheat oven 180 degrees. trim the crust from bread slices and using a rolling pin, roll the bread slices lightly until thin. brush one side with melted butter

  • press buttered side down into a medium muffin pab. bake for 10-12 min or until golden and crisp

  • spoon the beans evenly into the bread basket. lightly whisk the eggs and pour over the beans. tar the cheese slices into small pieces and place some on top of each bread basket

  • bake for 15-20 min or until hot and golden

apple and almond crumble




had some apples left, so i tried out this recipe from Delia...i really like the taste of almond in the crumbs...


i made half of this recipe


700g green apple } i only used 4 green apples

225g red apple }

25g light brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground clove (i omit this)


110g whole almond, skin on

75g chilled butter, cut into small pieces

175g self-raising flour, sifted

2 tsp ground cinnamon

110g brown sugar


  • cut the apples into small pieces, toss in a bowl with brown sugar, cinnamon and cloves. mix well and put in a baking dish, set aside

  • place butter, flour, cinnaom and brown sugar in a food processor and process until it becomes crumbs. add in almond and process again

  • sprinkle crumbs over the apple mixture

  • bake in a preheated oven (i used 160 degrees) for 35-40 minutes

Monday, January 7, 2008

ginger chicken


let's try something healthy, got this from Nutriweb Malaysia...tastes good...


5 chicken drimstick, discard fat and skin ( i used chicken wings)

1 tbsp tamarind paste mix with 1/2 cup water

1 tsp tumeric powder

1 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp salt


blended:

6 cm ginger

6 garlic

2 onions


  • marinate chicken with blended ingredients, tumeric, black pepper and salt for 15 minutes

  • place all ingredients in a pot, cover and cook over slow fire

  • add tamarind juice and cook till sauce thicken

  • garnish as you like

milky marble cake



this is a superb recipe from mamafami's fotopage...originally from chef norzailina....mine turned out to be not so marble....looks more like zebra cake....


250g butter

230g castor sugar

2 teaspoons ovalette

4 eggs

270g superfine flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

60g condensed milk

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 tablespoons fresh milk or evaporated milk(I used fresh milk)

1 teaspoon chocolate paste or chocolate emulco(I used chocolate emulco)


Method :

1. Sift superfine flour and baking powder. Set aside.

2. Cream butter, castor sugar and ovalette till light and fluffy.

3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

4. Fold in the sifted ingredients. Add in condensed milk.

5. Divide the batter into 2 portions. Leave one as it is.

6. To the other portion, add in cocoa powder, fresh milk and chocolate paste/chocolate emulco. 7. Scoop 2 tablespoons of plain mixture onto the centre of a well-greased and floured cake tin.

8. Scoop 2 tablespoons of cocoa mixture on top of the plain mixture. Repeat till finished.

9. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 C for 40 - 45 minutes.

Thai glassnoodle salad


i tried out this recipe from Mat Gebu's blog...it really kicks your tastebud!!! below is my version...


100g glassnoodle

1 cup water

1/2 cup groundnut fried without oil and pounded (i didn't put any)

300g prawn (i used prawn mixed with squid)

1 onion, thinly sliced

coriander leaves, chopped

spring onion, chopped

carrot, sliced

cabbage, sliced

tomato, chopped


for the sauce:
3 lime, juiced

4-6 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp sugar

6 bird's eye chilli, sliced

3 garlic, chopped



  • soak glassnoodle in water for 10 minutes. drained.

  • meanwhile, blanch prawn and squid in water and remove. blanch the glassnoodle for 2-3 minutes and remove

  • combine all ingredients for the sauce. add in glassnoodle and prawn and squid with the vegetables. mix well. serve.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Turkish samosa




I got this from mamafami’s fotopage…I did not make enough currypuff filling for it, so for another samosa, I used blueberry filling…

I’ve altered this recipe to half, managed to get 2 pillows of samosa

225g flour
1 tsp baking powder
110g margerine (I used butter)
1 egg, lightly beaten
3-4 tbsp water from the fridge

filling: currypuff filling or anything that you like

Sift flour and baking powder
Rub in margarine to form crumbs
Add egg and mix well
Pour in cold water bit by bit till a soft and smooth dough formed
Roll flat. Place a line of filling at the end of pastry. Roll it once.
Put another line of filling and roll it once. Continue doing it until the end pf pastry
Brush with egg yolk
Bake in a preheated oven 180 degrees till golden
Let cool a bit . Cut the samosa into pieces

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Saturday, January 5, 2008

stir fry vegetables with white mushroom


another simple and healthy veggie recipe:


carrots, sliced

capsicum, diced

tomato, cubed

cabbage, sliced

white mushroom, sliced

parsley, chopped

garlic, chopped, onion, chopped

little bit of oil

chicken slices

salt and pepper



  • heat oil in pan. stir in garlic, onion and chicken slices

  • add other vegetables (except white mushroom and tomato). cover for 2 minutes

  • add in tomato and mushroom. cover until vege a bit soften

  • season with salt and pepper

  • remove from heat

**cover the vegetables to prevent the loss of goodness of vegetables and it can speed up your cooking time