Kueh oh Kueh

Since we moved to Doha, I must say my culinary skill has improved esp on cooking asian/malaysian dishes...for example, I made lompat tikam before the summer hols! I know now that its not rocket science to make this yummy desert,but nonetheless its an accomplishment to me :D.

What makes it more motivating is that when you cook and you have friends to eat it...good or bad! What we usually do, we gather over the weekend and cook up something for lunch and we all would bring and share a dish and enjoy a great lunch. It's a good way to spend a weekend when there is limited activities to do here esp during the hot summer season.

So last weekend we got invited to a friend's house for lunch and I had some sweet potatoes in the fridge that will go bad if I didn't use them up soon. I usually fried them like goreng pisang but Ms.N suggested that I make kueh keria instead. Hmmm....tricky one. Never made this before, so I googled a recipe and tried.

(Gorgeous Sweet potatoes)

It was suprisingly easy..

Kueh Keria

500g sweet potatoes ( diced , boiled til soft and mashed )

100g plain flour

30g rice flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp sugar ( i had very sweet sweet potatoes so didn't need much sugar )

a pinch of salt

oil ( for frying )

For the sugar coating

1/2 icing sugar ,a pinch oh cinnamon and nutmeg. Seive them all together.

(I change the frosting on this one just to see how it would taste like and they turn out good but a traditional kueh keria is coated with sugar glazed.)

Ok here goes,

Add everything ( flour, rice flour, baking powder,salt and sugar ) to the mashed up sweet potatoes. Knead well till everything is even and you are able to mould to balls. It will be a bit sticky but don't worry even i panic for a moment there, so all you need to do is to put some flour on your hands while making them balls, then flatten them a little and a make a hole in the middle. I cheated a little and used a donut cutter (must be powdered with flour too ) mama gave me and make life easy :D. Next fry them til they are golden brown, on low heat preferbly coz you want the inside to cook thru. Once it is all done, powder all of them with your sugar coating front and back.

( ready for frying )

( Powdered with sugar mix )

There you go...my first timer kueh keria :D

Bear Cookie Pops

Ive been hearing this all week since bubbles been on vac. The 1st 2 weeks was very busy for her....she pretty much went to work...leaving at 730am coming back from lunch and out again til 6pm...where to? around the compund with her frens...her frens that all will be leaving by new year.

It was pretty sad, i mean i felt sad for her. They only new each other for a few months but its as if they been frens for ages!

So since all her frens are gone now, ive been trying to find things for her to do, painting, writing etc..but everyday she would bug me about the bear cookie pop, im like what is that bubbles??? apparently she had seen in on youtube, bizzare rite...she even know whats the ingredient and how to make it.

So last week i gave in. She was being a doll and i told

her ok, we will make some cookies.

I almost never make cookie except from maybe that one raya, so lucky i had my Chef Wan book to copy a recipe from hahahaha.

It was actually a recipe for biskut cornflakes rangup but i modified it to what we had.

Bear Cookie Pops

1 stick of butter

1 egg yolk

1/2 cup fine sugar

3/4 self raising flour, sifted

100 grm special K

1/2 cup cranberries chopped

Beat sugar and butter til light and creamy, add the egg yolk and mix well. Add in the cornflakes and cranberries, flour and mix well. Roll them out or spoon them out as you like and bake for about 20 mins depending on their sizes at 170 degC.

Make 18 big fat cookies!

Let them cool and eat em all !!!...these cookies are super yummy

Modified Laksa Kedah Samira

Samira...i miss you !!!!!

A few months back...we had a laksa fever...well samira did and it got to me. We were eating laksa almost every other day..if its not at her's and its at mine. Of course the laksa is not as good as those back home, but considering where we are and our degree of laziness of skinning the fish, i think its pretty yumss..
I open my cupboard today and i saw stacks and stacks of mackerel in brine and i immediately thot of.. samira, i can still here her voice " ambik reena..ambik semua, yang nie sudah dapat nanti camner nak buat laksa "..so i took all that they had on the shelf, crazy women!

Samira is not here anymore and everyday when i take my girls for a walk and pass they old flat i get very emotional..bubbles will say " thats hanna's house but hanna goes on the aeroplane already" sedih tak..the dumonts are more like a family then friends to us and we miss them dearly...we even have to look for a new Monoloply partner...unless we can convince Marie and Meshary to play! :).

So before i forget the recipe...i better keep it here :-

1.
4 medium size red onions
2 handful cili kering
belacan
a few cili padi

blend all this together with water enough to cover the ingredients.

2.
6 cans of mackerel in brine
Put everything in the blender with some water and blend.
what i did was blend 3 can til smooth and 3 can abit coarse

3. Then in a pot put the blended cili paste and the blended fish and mix well. Once everything is mixed add water about 3 litre or as u desire kalau nak pekat u can kurangkan the air.Cook in low heat and add a few stalk of daum kesum and bunga kantan ( which is didnt put since i didnt have any in cairo...so what i substitute with a few stalk of mint ) also add a few assam keping.let its boil til cooked.

4. for the toppings - timun, cabbage, red onions, lime, egss all sliced and i also make some crispy kerepek ( 2 tsp plain flour + 1 tsp rice flour + water = mix and fry in hot oil )


This will easily feed 8 to 10 hungry peeps..:)

cravings 2.

this morning i tried making cupcakes by amy sedaris, i have no idea who she is..but apparently she is famous..and her cuppies was voted 2nd best in the city by New York...1st place goes to babycakes NYC.

fairly easy to make...no mess at all...its one of those dump it all recipes...and it worked..i have tried many recipes but this one is abit difference, the taste and texture is different then what i use to make before, i followed exactly as the recipe...the cupcakes came out like little domes...i was abit worried that it will sunk when i take it out...but nooo it didnt!!...hehe..happy camper me...

waited for my little domes to chilled...and tasting begins...hmmm..nice texture..fluffy..and very light... not too sweet. Sedap!..recipe for keeps!...i got 17 out of the recipe...but i guess u could get more if u put less in each cups..the recipe said you could get 24 cuppies.

Amy Sedaris' Cupcakes

1 ½ sticks of unsalted butter
1 ¾ cups of sugar

Beat well, then add:
2 large eggs
2 Teaspoons of pure vanilla
½ teaspoon of salt
2 ½ teaspoons of baking powder
2 ½ cups of flour
1 ¼ cups of milk

Beat well, fill cups, and bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes.

You should get 24 cuppies

now...i have to think about the topping, til now i still havent found the perfect buttercream recipe...somehow buttercream and me are not best of frens...so thats why i always make cream cheese topping or use the ready made frosting from auntie betty. I bought a tube of cherry frosting and i tried it just now....ewwwww no way thats going to my topping...

too tired to think rite now....imm figure it out in the morning...:D

soup of the day

i came home this morning, hungry,,,,didn't have anything to eat lastnite except from some buns filled with pringles...yucky??? no no its yummy...:).

so when i got home..i knew exactly what i wanted to eat when i woke up today...chicken soup with chickpeas...a recipe thot by my Iraqi yummymummy Wid Muhammad...its easy ,simple and very comforting. I've made it before and seems to go down well with caveman an bubbles so it one dish for all....wooohoo!

went in the kitchen, took the chicken out and zzzzzzz..when i woke up, i realise that i took the wrong chicken out, instead of cut chicken pieces i took the boneless slice chicken out..arghhhhh!!! i must be dreaming this morning. So i cooked sambal ayam for caveman to survive on for a day or 2 and make me chicken soup....its still simmering as I'm writing this...cant wait to slurppppp...

I like chickpeas..and for the longest time have cans of it in the cupboard not knowing what to do with them...so now all my cans are gone...time to buy some more...:)

Chicken Chickpea Soup (Wid Muhammad's Recipe)

8 pieces of chicken ( with bones preferably )
1 big Bombay onion ( sliced )
1 big lemon pr 2 small lemon ( up to your lemony levels )
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 can of chickpeas in water or brine ( please remove the skin out )
3 medium size potatoes
1.5 litre of water ( big mineral water bottle )
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Fry onion til soft
2. Add in the chicken pieces and fry with the onion until slightly brown
3. Add in the water...and let its boil for a while and turmeric powder
4. Until the chicken seems soft and tender...add the potatoes
5. Then add the lemon juice
6. Let it boils again til the potatoes are cooked and add in the chickpeas.
7. Simmer for 10 to 15 mins and its ready to eat.

This soup is best eaten with some Iraqi bread...but i guess any crusty bread with be just as good!

OK time hit the showers......:)

wassup karipap!!

im crazy for karipap...karipap sardin kak yati to be exact!!..who is kak yati..she is my kak sedara ipar no.1...my mak long's eldest son kawin dgn die..which makes her my kak sedara ipar no.1. Her mom makes delicious kuih muih malayu..and passed down to kak yati..her karipap sardin is a winner!

the last time i was back in KL...she made me some...tak sempat nak bawak sini dah habis dah....:).I can still remember how it tasted like..of all the karipap...i like karipap sardin the best! ..another place where i usually get karipap sardin is in ampang jaya...at the little corner shop near 7-eleven...tapi abit mahal la kan...tapi rasa ada! and also my canteen sekolah use to sell them too...sedap,15 cent satu...back in the 90s..!
since sini takde org nak buat kat i..i had to make it myself...so yesterday, i asked my cooking guru here in cairo for the recipe. I prepared everything but by the time i wanted to uli the karipap..i was too tired and need to sleep before starting my shift again at 9pm..it was 3 pm at the time and i haven't slept in 24hrs....
So this afternoon after sleeping from 10 to 4pm..i woke and start making my karipap..unfortunately it karipa daging n potatoes this time..no sardin available.:(.

how was the results...very well done, im happy...finally dpt makan karipap!i only had two before i left to work..and now its 5am..im thinking about them..and i hope my caveman n little cavebaby didnt eat it up!

Wassup karipap ( Shilme's recipe )

For the karipap skin / dough

2 cups of flour
1/2 cup melted butter

rice cold water (enuff to make a dough)
salt to taste

Filling

250grm mince meat
2 large potato1 large bombay onion
1 garlic and a little ginger(grated)

1 tbsp rempah kurma
sping onion finely chopped

coriander finely chopped
salt to taste

Method :-

1. mix in the butter and flour and salt with your fingers..and til its all grainy like.2. add in the cold water slowly until u can form a dough.
3. and let it rest for while.
4. fried the fillin indregients together until beef is cooked and potatoes are tender and let it chill.
5. roll out the dough/skin on till it thin..depending on how thin ot thick u want your crust to be.
6. Take cup and make a circle on the dough.7. Fill the dough with the beef n potato filling on one side of the dough and fold the other side to cover the filling.8. Take a fork and press the side together so that they will close ( this is a modern w

ay of doing

it...ure suppose to close it with you hand...but i havent got a clue how to explain this in writings hehehe please refer to sample picture )
9. finish the dough and fry the karipaps in hot oil til it turns brown..

yummmmssss....

I still want my karipap sardin....uwaaaaaaa

a perfect saturday

i woke this morning, open the laptop..and i see 2 rigs tripping in and one POOH...and smile!!!! :D

Looks like i dont have to go to the office today....ill just stay home and monitor hourly...caveman took bubbles to POP IN today..while i finish up with some work and i went to pick them up later.

We were trying to figure out where to eat....and cant decide on anything so caveman decided that he will cook lunch for us and also back a cake. Ive been looking at recipe for Nigella Choc Fudge cake since last week...but i just didnt have the energy to bake it...since caveman was in the mood for cooking and being rajin...i asked him if he will bake it for me..hahahaha...told him it will a test for before he could be a house husband!!! :)

So i just chilled with bubbles....watch telly and sleep a little, while caveman was slaving in the kicthen. He made us a super steam fish that was delis...yummmm...caveman can cook!! and the cake was really how i had imagine it would be...fudgy and yummy.....he was soo happy and suprised that the cake turn out like a cake! 100 points for caveman..baking skills!!! even i have never made a complicated cake like this...with full topping etc....well impressed.We took 1/2 the cake to a fren's house and it was a HIT.Everyone thot i baked it..ehehhehe...caveman tersengeh jer!!!!

Its nice to have someone cook for you once in awhile...now that i know he can cook...i gonna make him cook for me more often!

Thank you sayang for a great lunch and a yummy cake! Muahssss

Nigella Chocolate Fudge Cake

For the cake:

400g plain flour

250g golden caster sugar

100g light muscovado sugar

50g best quality cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

½ tsp salt

3 eggs

142ml/small tub sour cream

1 tbsp vanilla extract

175g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

125ml corn oil

300ml chilled water

For the fudge icing:

175g dark chocolate

minimum 70% cocoa solids

250g unsalted butter

softened 275g icing sugar

sifted 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.

1. Butter and line the bottom of two 20cm sandwich tins.
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugars, cocoa, baking powder, bicarb and salt. In another bowl or wide-necked measuring jug whisk together the eggs, sour cream and vanilla until blended.
2. Using a freestanding or handheld electric mixer, beat together the melted butter and corn oil until just blended (you’ll need another large bowl for this if using the hand whisk; the freestanding mixer comes with its own bowl), then beat in the water. Add the dry ingredients all at once and mix together on a slow speed.
3. Add the egg mixture, and mix again until everything is blended and then pour into the prepared tins. And actually, you could easily do this manually; I just like my toys and find the KitchenAid a comforting presence in itself.
4. Bake the cakes for 50-55 minutes, or until a cake-tester comes out clean. Cool the cakes in their tins on a wire rack for 15 minutes, and then turn the cakes out onto the rack to cool completely.
5. To make the icing, melt the chocolate in the microwave – 2-3 minutes on medium should do it – or in a bowl sitting over a pan of simmering water, and let cool slightly.
6. In another bowl, beat the butter until it's soft and creamy (again, I use the KitchenAid here) and then add the sieved icing sugar and beat again until everything's light and fluffy. I know sieving is a pain, the one job in the kitchen I really hate, but you have to do it or the icing will be unsoothingly lumpy. Then gently add the vanilla and chocolate and mix together until everything is glossy and smooth.
7. Sandwich the middle of the cake with about a quarter of the icing, and then ice the top and sides, too, spreading and smoothing with a rubber spatula.

BBQ 101 recipe

The last time we had a bbq at home was 3 years ago in kemaman..with our tiny little free bbq pit from citibank rewards points ( which after the bbq melted kakakaka...) and after that never again til 2 days ago for caveman birthday!

the last time i did a bbq the marinates was yumm..but i dont remember them anymore...then a few months back i did a marinate for the boss and again i forgot them now...so this time i will put the recipes here so that i will always have them unless..ive been blocked from my own blog!..is that possible??..hmmmm

So this is my BBQ 101 recipes...

1. Mashed Potatoes

1.5 kg potatoes

4 tbsp of heavy cream

6 tbsp of butter

salt and pepper to taste

milk if needed

-boil potatoes till they are tender and once they have cooled down a little mashed them up     with a masher

-then add cream and butter together in a bowl and melt them

-slowly add the cream and butter mixture t your potatoes until u have a nice texture

- if u need more liquid add the milk till u get the rite texture

- mix well but dont over mix your potatoes will be to sticky it be like glue.

-season with salt and pepper and its down.

2. BBQ chicken marinate

15 pieces chicken legs 

2 tbsp sesame seed oil

4 tbsp dark soy sauce

2 tbsp light soy sauce

3 tbsp oyster sauce

some pepper for seasoning

4 clove of garlic grated

1 big onion sliced

-put everything in a big ziplock bag and mix everything together.

-leave it in the fridge at least 1/2 a day or more even better

-take them out at room temp before bbq-ing them.

3. Steak marinate

6 ribeye steak

6 tbsp worcestershire sauce

3 tbsp teriyaki sauce

season well with pepper and salt

- put everything is abig ziplock bag and mix everything together

-leave it in the fridge fro at least 1/2 a day or more even better

-take them out at room temp before bbq-ing them.

-coat the steak with the leftover marinate in the bag while bbq-ing

4. Cherry tomato and corn salsa

2 small package of cherry tomatoes

1 can of sweet corn

1 spring onion

a little coriander

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp sugar

1/2 a lemon squeeze

salt and pepper to taste

- cut the cherry tomagtoes to 1/2 or whole if they are tiny

-add in the corn

-add in the balsamic vinegar,sugar,lemon squeeze 

-leave it to rest in the frigde for an 1hr 

-once its all chilled, add in the slices spring onion and coriander 

-mix all together and serve.

Pengat Pisang Mama...

I have 2 other pending entree before this one but this has to go before i terforget!

Mama thot me how to make this the last time she was in cairo, i had a bunch of frens over for din din to meet my family and my mama thot pengat pisang is very the malaysian and perfect for dessert....me personally not fan, in fact i never liked any pengat unless they are chilled...then i like....

So today, we invited ourself to Shilme's house for tea and i thot ill make this..the recipe is super simple but i almost forgot it..so thats y this is top priority!

Pengat Pisang Mama

8 banana
1 ketul gula melaka ( 1/2 cup maybe )
2 tbsp sago pearls ( soaked for 10 mins )
1 can of coconut milk
1.5 litre water
1 pandanus leaf

1 .Cut the banana in the middle and slice it in halves
2. Boil the water with your gula melaka until dissolve
3. Add the bananas , soaked sago pearls and your pandanous leaf
4. let it simmer for awhile until your sago is transparent and bananas is a bit soft
5. Add in the coconut milk and stir in slowly
6. Bring it to boil but dont over boil as u might break the coconut milk ( like what happen to me today..darn)
7. And ure done!!...

serve warm or chilled......

it took me less then 30 mins to do this..with little bubbles...dangling on my legs! :D

RED VELVET CUPPIES..

had this recipe for ages...and i totaly forgot i had it until yesterday when i had to bring a dessert to a frens house din din. So took out the recipe and read thru...i really wonder why is it called the red velvet..its basically a red choc cuppie..but it was wierd that it had vineger in the recipe....i thot here goes...:D

the recipe was very straight forward, it evens tells tou how to make your own buttermilk if uc ant get it..and the cuppies turns out perfect...although it did need an extra 10 mins on my oven. I made the cream cheese frosting with and added some red coloring and some strawberry jam with some colored sprinkle..and they look good :d

this recipe is for keeps...and also it  website is has the same name as bestie...ELISe..:D

RED VELVET cuppies recipe click here

My cream cheese frosting with strawberry jam

1 stick butter

200gm Phily cream cheese

2 cups of powders sugar ( more if u want it sweet )

2 teaspoon of strawberry jam

a tint of red coloring

beat butter and cheese till fluffy

add in the sugar and beat till all is combined

add in the coloring and strawberry jam with spoon and just mix in slowly ( dont beat )

Leave it to chill for 15 mins and top it on  the cuppies..

Voila...

Ayam Masak Merah Mama

I have made this trice now...and i still cant remember the recipe...have to keep calling mama for it...lucky calling KL using Skype is cheapo!

anyway...since the recipe is still fresh in my head..i will put it down

Ayam Masak Merah Mama ( 1 1/2 chicken )

1 1/2 chicken cut into small pieces
cili kering ( 2 handful - more if u want it hot )
3 big onions
6 garlic
5 cardamon
3 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
6 cloves
5 stalk lemongrass
3 inch galangal
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1/4 tomato puree
1 big tomato
2 red chilies
3 Tsp Sugar
Salt and pepper to taste.

Method:-
1. Fry the chicken til slightly brown and drain.
2. Blend chili kering,onion, garlic,lemongrass and galangal together with some water.
3. Heat up some oil and start frying cardamon,star anise,cinnamon stick and cloves til fragrant.
4. Pour in the blended ingredients and fry til u can see that the oil had come up.
5. Add in the tomatoes, red chilies
6. Add in the fried chicken in and mix well for about 5 mins.
7. Add in the milk and tomato puree and mix well for another 5 mins.
8. Add in sugar,salt and pepper to to your desired taste.

cupcakes ohh cupcakes..

did i tell u that i have a Malaysian neighbour???...hehe yes i do..they live on the 1st floor of our flat and today we got invited for tea at their crib...its funny i actually saw that flat when iw as flat hunting..its a good flat..duplex..with nice kitchen..but unfortunately it only had 2 bedrooms...sooo i thot it wont fly...and we decided to get the 5Th floor flat...our current crib!.

so i thot...hmmm tea...what should i bring????? and i thot...why dont i try to make cupcakes? so last nite after a great dinner at Peking (good nasik goreng cine!!!) and a good hubbly bubbly at Cafe55 i looked for the recipe..

today...i used the cupcake recipe from Nigella, just becoz i had all the ingredients in her recipe and its seems easy enuff and the buttercream recipe from RecipeZaar...but i did not try to make the buttercream..i used frosting instead coz i had 2 tub and i thot that it be a waster not u use it.

And the results....tadaaaaa!!! my 1st cupcake..messy kan..but im pleased!



Cupcake

#courtesy Nigella

125g self-raising flour

125g caster sugar

125g soft unsalted butter

2 eggs

Half a teaspoon real vanilla extract

Approximately 2 tablespoons milk

1 packet instant royal icing food colouring – for preference, colour pastes specialist cake decorations of choice

e.g. wafer roses, sugar flowers, dolly mixtures, and sprinkles

1 x 12-bun muffin tin

12 muffin papers

Preheat the oven to 200C and line the tin with the muffin cases.

It couldn't be simpler to make cup cakes: just put all the ingredients except for the milk in the processor and then blitz till smooth.

Pulse while adding milk, to make for a soft, dropping consistency, down the funnel. Or using a bowl and wooden spoon, cream the butter and sugar, beat in the eggs one at a time with a little of the flour.

Then add the vanilla extract and fold in the rest of the flour, adding the milk to get the dropping consistency as before.

I know it looks as if you'll never make this scant mixture fit 12 bun cases, but you will. I promise you this mixture is exactly right to make the 12 cup cakes, so just spoon and scrape the stuff in, trying to fill each case equally, judging by eye only of course.

Put in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the cup cakes are cooked and golden on top. As soon as bearable, take the cup cakes in their cases out of the tin and let cool, right way up, on a wire rack.

Once they're cool, make up a big, uncoloured batch of royal icing, and then remove a few spoonfuls at a time to small bowls.

Using a bamboo skewer, add small dots of colours from the paste-tubs, stirring with a teaspoon and then adding more colouring, very slowly, very cautiously (pastel works best here, whatever your everyday aesthetic) until you get the colour you want.

Use teaspoons to coat the cupcakes with icing and leave each a moment to dry only slightly, on the surface, before sticking on a rose, daisy or whole stash of decorations.

Felafel and Koshary

i went to a so-called wet market on RD7,Maadi this morning..my fren said that the fruits ad vegs are really fresh here and they are super cheap...soo i went of course with her..this is the only place that i only the locals buying in Maadi..(next time i go i take some photos)

i haven't got a clue where is Rd 7 actually...when i got there...ahh it was at the same place where i had probably the best felafel in maadi, its rite beside the bridge...probably not the cleanest place but i guess all that makes up the special ingredients that makes it soo yumss..and beside that shop there is a juice shop..where i get my air tebu...sedappp...This felafel shop is called Cleopatra. So we went there to get some felafel sandwich...i was in la la land...:D sedap giler! unfortunately...i only got one..and when i got home..i was still wanting more of it..so i called Arzak, its like fast food chain that sells these stuff..since the min charge for delivery was 13.LE i had to order a lot of felafel n koshary..they are dead cheap..and these the staple food for the locals..its very filling and i would say healthy too kire macam nasik lemak ahh...but nasi lemak has macam macam version..ayam la...kerang la...sotong..this koshary..only one type...the rice, pasta, beans, tomatoes sauce, bawang goreng and lemon juice...sound pelik???.i googled the recipe maybe one days ill try it...




Koshary

#Courtesy of RecipeZaar
1 cup brown lentils
1 cup basmati rice
1 cup uncooked pasta (small shells or elbow macaroni is best)
2 large onions, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons oil
1 (400g) can chopped tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon crushed red chili pepper flakes (or more to taste)
salt and black pepper

1. Cook the lentils in just over a litre of salted water.
2. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 15-30 minutes, depending on the type of lentils you are using.
3. When the lentils are quite tender, add the rice to the lentils and continue simmering until the rice is cooked, adding water if necessary.
4. Cook the macaroni in a separate pot.
5. Rinse and strain when done.
6. Meanwhile, fry the onions and garlic in the oil until golden.
7. Add the tomatoes, chilli flakes, salt and pepper to taste and let it bubble for 10-20 minutes or until thickened and sauce like.
8. You can now blitz the sauce in a food processor until smooth or just leave as is.
9. Mix the lentils, rice and macaroni together in one pot.
10. Place some of the lentil mixture on each plate and top with tomato sauce.
11. Sprinkle with more hot chili powder or salt and pepper, if desired.

Temptations..temptations..

this is what pisses me off rite..everytime...everytime..im trying to go on diet, the more i wanna eat..the crazing comes out of nowhere...how can this be possible!!!

i need to lose at least 25 pounds..banyak kan..aduh..pening gue! all those eating in KL is hanging around the bellies and thighs....arghh muffin tops!!! hahahaha...well maybe im going abit over the top here...but the real reason is to be healthier, lately i think me n caveman have been stuffing too much more then we should..and this has to stop...a fren of our just recently got a heart attack scare...and he's 34..scary innit.

So...to start the new regime...starting from tomorrow..i will try to eat healthier and let see how i feel after 1 months this also means..lest trying out new cakes and rich recipes..:(, nonetheless..i will try on the new kind of recipes..healthier ones.:D, although im still very tempted to try and make a oreo cheesecake..kekeke..sinful sinful....

Today, i had a preggie fren over lunch and i tried this delicious chicken dish from Mr Oliver crispy chicken with sweet tomatoes and salad with orange dressing..it went very well and its a super easy dish that's prefect for everyone..not to mention healthy too..:P.

so if ure having a guest and don't know what to cook..this will do the trick!


Crispy Chicken with Sweet Tomatoes
#copied from Jamie Oliver website.

• 4 chicken legs, jointed
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• a big bunch of fresh basil, leaves picked, stalks finely chopped
• 2 big handfuls of red and yellow cherry tomatoes, halved, and ripe plum tomatoes, quartered
• 1 whole bulb of garlic, broken up into cloves
• 1 fresh red chilli, finely chopped
• olive oil

optional:
• 1 x 410g tin of cannellini beans, drained ( i used broad beans.. guess any beans will work)
• 2 handfuls of new potatoes, scrubbed

Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Season your chicken pieces all over and put them into a snug-fitting pan in one layer. Throw in all the basil leaves and stalks, then chuck in your tomatoes. Scatter the garlic cloves into the pan with the chopped chilli and drizzle over some olive oil. Mix around a bit, pushing the tomatoes underneath. Place in the oven for 1½ hours, turning the tomatoes halfway through, until the chicken skin is crisp and the meat falls off the bone.

If you fancy, you can add some drained cannellini beans or some sliced new potatoes to the pan and cook them with the chicken. Or you can serve the chicken with some simple mashed potato. Squeeze the garlic out of the skins before serving. You could even make it part of a pasta dish – remove the chicken meat from the bone and shred it, then toss into a bowl of linguini or spaghetti and serve at once.


Salad with Orange Dressing

1 whole lettuces ( any kind will do )
1/2 red onion thinly sliced
1 crunchy green apple cut into cubes
1 1/2 big juicey orange cut into cubes

Dressing

6 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dijon mustard or english mustard
juice of 1 big orange and the zest
juice of one lime
1/4 tsp castor sugar
salt and pepper

mix everything together and pour over salad.Serve chilled.

The Best Ever Banana Cake

we always have over ripe banana at home, coz caveman is a banana maniac and so is bubbles..me..im so so...i have my moods. Usually i make cokodok with the banana, but today i decided that ill make banana cake. i havent had a banana cake for a long time..mama use to make them and they use to be gone in a split seconds..:D.

so i google for a recipe this morning and i came across this recipe..its suppose to b the best ever banana cake..and it is..its a little bit different then what my mum use to make but its yum...with the frosty topping...even yummier..


The Best Ever Banana Cake
*courtesy Recipezaar*

3/4 cup butter
2 1/8 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk ( i used normal milk )
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas ( 2 big bananas )

Frosting
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
3 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
chopped walnuts


1. Preheat oven to 200 degC
2. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan.
3. In a small bowl, mix mashed banana with the lemon juice; set aside.
4. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
5. In a large bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and 2 1/8 cups sugar until light and fluffy.
6. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then stir in 2 tsp vanilla.
7. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk.
8. Stir in banana mixture.
9. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for one hour or until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean.
10. Remove from oven and place directly into the freezer for 45 minutes.
11. This will make the cake very moist.
12. For the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth.
13. Beat in 1 tsp vanilla.
14. Add icing sugar and beat on low speed until combined, then on high speed until frosting is smooth.
15. Spread on cooled cake.
16. Sprinkle chopped walnuts over top of the frosting, if desired.

Mama dearest Kuah Kacang & Lontong

What would i do without my mama..i would be pretty helpless. I called her up raya eve to ask for these recipe...i cant be home so i was determine to bring home here.:D

who knows i might still need it for next year...uwaaaaaa i hope not!!!

i was salving myself in the kitchen to make these well at least the kuah kacang..but it was worth ed!

Kuah Kacang ( Peanut Sauce )

1 kg peanuts - fried with no oil unti brown, skin removed and crushed to small peices (you could also put i the FP and pulse it til its crushed but not grounded)

A.
25 peice of cili kering (more if ulike it spicy)
3in ginger
6 cloves garlic
6 shallots or 2 big red onions

Blend all this ingredients together.

B.
4 tsp oil
5 stalk of serai/lemon grass, bruised
3/4 cup of asam jawa (tamarind juice)
4 cups of water
Salt to taste
8 teaspoon of Sugar (add this bit by bit until u got the taste u want)

Fry Mix.A until naik bau and garing
Once u see the oil starting to float, add the air assam jawa and water and serai.
Let it boiled for about 5 mins and add the crushed kacang/peanuts in with salt and sugar to taste.



Lontong (Sayur Lodeh)


2 terung (cut in small peices)
a bunch of long bean or green beans (slice thinly)
3 medium carrot (sliced)
2 packet of tempe (slight fried)
2 packet of tofu (slight fried)
6 clove garlic
2 big red onions
2 inch of kunyit hidup or powder if u dont have any
4 cups of water
2 tsp of oil
1 can of thick coconut milk
salt and sugar to taste
1 maggi vegie cube (optional)

1. Blend the garlic,onion,kunyit together with 1 cup of water. Then tumis/fried til naik bau.
2. Then masukkan air, garam and gula
3. Once boiling add, carrots, terung,beans,tempe and tofu
4. Let it boil for about 5 mins and add n the coconut milk and vegie cube(optional)and boil until for another 10 to 15 mins.

And thats done!

cookies for raya

samira and i decided that we should not mengelat even more by buying cookies for raya..so today we had our cookies project!. we managed to make 2,choc chip cookies and biscuit arab ( i have declared that biscuit arab is the easiest biscuit in the world !!)..the choc chip were very popular with the hubby..they kept asking for more!...and thanks to my super FP, i didn't have to slave my man power to uli the dough! :D.

remember once upon a time...sometime last year there was an email on famous amos choc cookies???....i junked mine..but samira kept it hahaha so we tried it and its almost as good!! although i must say it a very expensive cookie..kalau nak menjual memang byk pakai modal..no wonder famous amos cookies are expensive! anyway..for those who did junk that email...this is your 2nd chance to copy it and try....

Famous Amos Choc Chip Cookies

2 cups of butter
4 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups brown sugar
5 cups blended oatmeal ( measure it and then grind it in a blender til fine)
50g choc chips
1tsp salt
400g cadbury choc bar ( grated )
4 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
3 cups chopped nuts ( your choice )
2 tsp vanilla extract

Cream butter and both sugar
Add eggs and vanilla
Mix together with flour,oatmeal,salt,baking powder and soda.
Add choc chips, grated choc and nuts.
Roll into small balls and place then two inches apart
Bake for 10 mins at 375degC

this recipe makes around 110 pieces. :)

Biscuit Arab

2 cups flour
1/4 sugar ( measure and blend to powder)
Ghee ( add bit by bit until u can make a soft dough )
1/4 castor sugar ( milled to super soft powder ) - for coating


Mix the flour, blended sugar and ghee to a soft dough
Roll them up to small balls
Place them on a ungrease tray and bake for 150degC for 15 mins.
Once done, cool them a little and coat them with the castor sugar


the flat smells soo good now....:D

we are not going home for raya..:(

its Monday and there is still no news....we had no choice but to change the dates on the tix before its too late...and the sad thing is that the next available flight it on the 24th!...2 weeks lepas raya...:(. The hardest part was to let the gran parents know the bad news..esp the gran mama's but its out of our hand..I'm hate this!!...to make myself feel better...i keep telling myself that there's a hikmah behind this...at least now we are all going back together insyallah.

looks like i will miss bestie's engagement on the 20th..:(. i would tell her to postponed it but it wouldn't be fair...soo I'm just gonna shut my gob this time...although im sure she will be reading this hahaha and she will know! so last nite..soo to make me feel better about not going home...i've decided to make myself some brownies...and amazingly it was a success!! i took the recipe from Nigella Feast..and it was delicious i kid u not!!!...its all soft and gooey unlike those hard brownies u get in famous amos or Starbucks....this is the brownie!!! that made me happy...we ate it till we could eat no more i still have some more for tomorrow..:D

Gooey brownies (make 25 brownies bites)

375g butter
375g dark choc
6 eggs
350g castor sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
225g plain flour
1 tbsp salt
250g white choc buttons ( i didnt have any..so i chopped up some white choc into chunks...it didnt really melt, so make sure u chop the choc really small )
50g choc chips ( optional )

Pre Heat oven to 180 degC

1. Melt the butter and choc in pan over low heat.
2. In a bowl, beat the eggs together with the castor sugar and vanilla extract
3. Let the melted choc to cool a little, and then add in the the egg& sugar mixture and beat well.
4. Fold in the flour and salt, then stir in the white choc and choc chips
5. Pour in the mixture into a balin tin that has been line with foil.
6. Bake for 30 to 40 mins depending on how good your oven is. Once the top is dry and had turn a lighter brown color turn the oven off and just let it sit in the oven for another 10 min before taking in out.
7. Cut the brownies while still warm.


P/S: it tasted even better the next day!

auch!!

tomorrow my face will be spotted red from frying begedel today..sigh!!...i have colgate spot all over my face..i never knew oil could be evil!!!...today,im trying to make soto ayam with noodles...cant be asked to make nasik himpit! ( will import some adabi one when i go home ), i got this paste from one of the indonesian engineer here..the last time she came over she made it but i tak sempat rase dah habis...:(. so today i made a bundle...enuff for all of us insyallah...got the recipe from my dearest sista kak pa...and its very the yumss...so im gonna post it here soo that i dont forget :D.

Bergedel Kak Pa - this makes 25 biji

3 large potatoes - sliced and fried til just brown
bawang goreng - fry some bawang kecik and bawang putih til brown
250grm mince meat - frying til brown
spring onions - chopped
salt and pepper to taste
nut meg ( optional )
1 egg - whisk
oil for frying

Mix and mashed fried potatoes, fried onions, fried mince meat,chopped spring onions, salt and pepper together until ure able to form a ball shape with the mixture.

dip your bergedel ball in the egg and then to the frying pan.

fry them til they all brown and ready.

easy peasy!

P/S- Beware of the hot oil!!!

Lemon Chicken

This is my all time fav dish of all time...a must dish i have to order in any chinese restaurant i go to...however, since we got here we still havent found a good chinese place, theres alot of em here but its chinese with ataste or middle east...not appetizing at all, so yesterday i have decided to try to make my own lemon chicken, i found a recipe from amy beh and made some adjustment and it turned out fabolous, the chicken was crispy and the sauce was just rite. Its worth a try..i even brun my arm makin this..teehee..

Lemon Chicken ( enuff for 4 hungry peeps )
#courtesy of amy beh & modified by me

3 chicken breast - cut into thin strips
2 lemon - squeezed for juice or 1/2 cup of lemon juice
3 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoon brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon castor sugar
1 chicken maggi cube
1 1/4 cup water
salt & pepper
2 heaping teaspoon cornflour
1 1/2 cup of plain flour or tapioca flour ( i used plaine flour )
Oil for frying

Chicken
- Marinate the chicken with 1 egg,castor sugar,sesame oil,salt & pepper and 1 heaping teaspoon of corn flour set aside for 30 mins.
- Once marinated, coat the chicken with flour and fry in hot oil.

Lemon sauce
- Add the lemon juice and let it simmer for while
- Add in the chicken cube that has been dissolve in 1 1/4 cup of water, bring it to a boil
- Add in the honey and sugar bit by bit. Once u have acquired the taste u want stop adding anymore sugar.
- Lastly add 1 heaping teaspoon cornflour and let its thickens and add some salt & pepper to taste

Pour the sauce over of the chicken and serve.

P/S- I noticed that the flour doesnt absorb the oil...which is really good!