salad, sushi & pastry

rule #1 - never go to the food department when you are starving; or u will end up buying too much  for one person and the worse part is you eat them all !!

i was  doing my assignment  till 11pm last nite; my stomach was playing a sonata when i was about to doze off. this morning all i had was a cup of coffee before heading to the IT resource centre at 8.30am  to work on the programming  and i could hear the loud keroncong. got the work done by 10am and off to Waitrose on the way to the bus stop and bought all that for lunch...yummy!!

Strawberry Vanila Cake

seems ages since i last baked. for the past few days i've been 'craving' for homemade marble cake. despite busy with marking, i stole half an hour to mix something up. cocoa powder is finished, the little missy wanted a pink cake, so i decided to bake vanilla cake with a bit of strawberry essence & pink marble effect.

ingredients

175g soft butter/margarine
175g self raising flour
175g caster sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
i added a bit of strawberry essence
pink colouring

heat oven 180 deg C. grease 18cm round cake tin. put all ingredients in large mixing bowl, beat for 1 minute. divide into 2 parts - 1 vanilla & 1 part to add a bit of pink colouring. pour into cake tin, one layer at a time, then do the marble effect; bake for 45-50 minutes.

sarnies

tugas sebagai makcik kantin bermula setiap pagi pada pukul 7. i normally ask my 2 customers what they want in their pack lunches.

both of them  like the new Warburton soft white sandwich thins; they are like thin paninis and look like cream crackers.  this new invention are snapped off from the shelves in tesco really quickly. 

last nite encik suami requested for  4 of them today.. i usually make 2 for him every morning but he said they are just too thin and gone before he knew it. pening jugak kepala nak pikir what to fill these thinnies with. big missy wanted grated cheese & sliced onion in hers. en suami wanted 2 with sliced beef mortadella & salad and 2 with cheese salad. 

there u go.. macam bawak bekal nak gi  kebun, tanam sayor..

BBQ Lamb Rib / Lamb Shoulder

One of the easiest recipes for cooking bbq lamb is to just season the lamb with course sea salt and let it cook slowly. The salt brings out the natural flavour in the lamb and is just heaven for lamb lovers.

Others may want to add other ingredients to make the lamb more aromatic like adding rosemary (fresh if available) or simply garlic and cloves.

Method of cooking - slow and away from main heat. It could take hours if you do it right.

We were on a tight schedule when we served this to our last guests - so I pre-cooked the lamb rib and lamb shoulder halfway in the oven and barbequed it for smell and that smoky bbq flavour.


No need to list ingredients and methods. I've described it above.

To our beloved guests - sorry kalau tak sedap. Maybe next time datang lama sikit so that I can prepare better.

Lamb back strap - souvlaki style

I went to our butchers last week to get the normal stuff - i.e. chicken and mixed lamb. I saw a nice cut of meat and thought it was beef as it was next to the beef tray. Turned out to be lamb back strap (the butcher referred to it as lamb shish).

Anyway, the cut I got was 2x longer and costs about £6.

Cooked lamb souvlaki (greek) for lunch on the grill and without the skewers. BTW pix on right and below left are ciplak from others as I forgot to take pictures.

Ingredients:

Good sized lamb back strap (enough for you and your family)

For the Marinade (1 hour - 1/2 hour kalau tak sabar):
2-3 tbsp olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
3 cloves crusged garlic
salt and pepper (to truly season - sampai terasa)
crushed rosemary (or mixed herb or oregano - up to you)

Garlic Mayonaise:
Few tablespoons for mayonaise (enough for 1 bowl)
5 big cloves crushed garlic mixed well into the mayonaise
chopped mint or chives (if you fancy)

Cecah Kicap:
1 chopped onion
1 chopped red chili
1/3 bowl Hablal's Kicap Cap Kipas Udang Lemak Manis
1 squeeze of a lemon / lime (depends on what kind of fragrance you want)

Salad with Malaysian style Vinaigrette:
1 salad bowl of mixed salad - add Rocket salad (if you have any)
1 sliced tomato (optional)
Some sliced cucumber (again optional)
Dressing:
White vineger (about 1/4 soup bowl or less)
1/2 to 1 tbsp sugar (to taste)
1 pinch of salt
some ground black pepper

Method of cooking the lamb:

Heat the griddle pan until very hot then reduce heat to medium.

Drizzle some olive oil and spread. Put the lamb on the griddle and let it sizzle for about 4-5 minutes depending on how thick the cut us. DO NOT TOUCH!!!

After the alotted time, turn over and let it cook for another 4-5 minutes.

When cooked, place the meat in kitchen foil and wrap. Leave for about 5-10 minutes to rest. This lets the meat to recover (and be tender not stringy) and absorb the juices back in.

Slice the meat, deck the table, get the hungry ones to the table - enjoy. Don't forget baca doa sebelum makan.