daging masak merah

Day 18 : buka puasa with lots of fruits. Daddy went to the butcher in the morning and went to the nearby Asian gro shop & bought some unripe mangoes to make  mango kerabu and some plaintains (similar to pisang tanduk).  petang pergi Tesco, beli watermelon.

the theme for Day 18 iftar was "sawadee kap".  tried  making Daging Masak Merah for the first time and found an easy recipe online which doesn't use red colouring..

 

kerabu mangga

 

pisang goreng ala cik anyah (my great grandma); the classic style of pisang goreng tabur gula - the family favourite



 

daging goreng merah 

ingredients

daging lembu - in big chunks (sebesar penumbuk!!)  - rebus for about 45 minutes and toskan, then slice nipis2.
bawang besar - hiris nipis
bawang putih - cincang
halia - hiris halus
baby corn - slice half memanjang
mushrooms - slice thinly (you can skip this)
daun ketumbar/daun bawang
tomatoes - hiris bulat
salt & sugar

sauces :

tomato sauce, sweet chilli sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce. recipe asal guna chilli paste but I had to skip this  sebab ada BBM (british born melayu) in this house  yang tak tahan pedas. so I substituted with sweet chilli sauce.

method :

tumis bawang besar, bawang putih & halia. then masukkan all sauces, garam, gula, bit of water and the sliced beef. let it simmer till the sauce thickens. then add in the mushrooms and baby corn; finally tomatoes and daun ketumbar. senang aja buat nya..

vietnamese spring roll

hari ni buka puasa with fusion food, or bak kata my friend Oya "very the global" food.

main meal - lamb (pan fry) with vege and chips
kueh - vietnamese spring roll
drink - air sirap bandung (soda water + sirap + susu pekat)

i asked kamar to get me kulit popiah yesterday when he went gro shopping at the asian shop. well he bought both - kulit popiah biasa and also rice paper.

so hari ni, kita buat vietnamese punya dulu, esok2 kita buat popiah melayu.  i just used the recommended recipe on the packet.

for the filling
2 cloves garlic
small prawns (boleh ganti dengan crab stick kalau nak)
1 carrot - cut into thin strips
taugeh
su'un (small packet) - rendam dalam air panas sampai transparent & toskan
ground white pepper & garam secukup rasa (bulan puasa ni kena agak2 sikit lah)

salad

tumis garlic, masukan semua bahan2 diatas (except salad) dan stir fry for few minutes, angkat & toskan. let it cool.

to prepare/gulung

1. fill a large bowl with warm water. soak  one sheet for 30 seconds until soft then place on a damp tea towel.
2. place salad on the sheet along the edge, then spoon the filling over the salad.
3. fold over until filling is covered. fold in each side, roll up and serve.  lebih kurang macam gulung popia biasa.

bila nak makan, dip/cicah in sweet chilli sauce.

cuba lah.. senang saja & its refreshing.. no goreng2.

lemon layer cake

our big missy baked this at school in the design & technology (cookery) subject. the theme for this term is  "sweet sensations". so far they had baked cookies & cheesecake, the last one before year ends they will make almond tarts.



apa2 pun, when i got home from work today, daddy said "mummy dah ada competitor!.. the lemon cake is really nice". memang ya..its light and tangy and not sweet or too lemony.

she normally gives me the recipe sheet on saturday, for me to get the things when i do my weekly gro shopping.  tuesday morning mummy kena get the ingredients ready. somehow this morning i just realised that i overlooked " lemon curd" for filling. so, daddy had to drive her to co-op at 8am to get the lemon curd and dropped her off at school.

nasib baik lah mummy dulu suka baking, ada lah jugak segala baking tins and common ingredients macam baking powder, icing sugar etc

the cake is something like victoria sandwich, except that the cake letak lemon zest and replace strawberry jam with lemon curd. 

a slice for me - for after dinner..

ingredients

for 17.5cm (about 8") cake

180g margarine (i always use Stork for baking)
180g caster sugar
3 large eggs
180g self raising flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
rind of 1 lemon

filling : lemon curd (if you cant get lemon curd, can replace with jam)

topping : 50g icing sugar

baking equipment : 2 x 17.5cm cake tins

method

1. preheat oven gas 4/180 deg C
2. place all the cake ingredients in a bowl and mix together with an electric whisk until light and fluffy
3. divide the mixture between the tins
4. bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and firm to the touch
5. carefully remove the cakes from the tins and place on a cooking tray until cold
6. place one cake on the plate and spread with lemon curd. put the other cake on top. sieve icing sugar or add other decoration

So easy kan???

chicken casserole

after last nite's pan fry lamb, tonight pun rasa tak nak makan nasi. sebab sebenar, I run out of idea what to cook other than the kids favourite - ayam kicap..

so I decided to make chicken casserole which didn't take much effort actually, cuma cooking time aja yang lama sikit.

and I cheated again; this time I  used Colman Chicken Casserole mix that comes in a packet. just follow the instruction.

1. chicken casserole

• slice some carrots, baby corns, onion and button mushrooms, put them in the casserole dish with the chicken pieces (preferably chicken breasts). stir the casserole mix with cold water and pour into the casserole dish and cover the dish with aluminium foil and leave to cook in the oven for 1-1.5 hours.

2. mashed potatoes

• dice 5 potatoes, pour into pot of  boiling water and leave to cook. drain and mash, add butter and milk, season with salt & pepper. 

3. pasta salad

• boil pasta ( I used fusilli) until cooked/al dante, drain and put in the bowl, add green salad, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and/or salad cream. season with salt & pepper.

ALL DONE AND READY TO SERVE

pan fry lamb

dah lama tak update pasal masak memasak kan?? to be honest, I've been very malas off late especially after balik from short cuti2 Malaysia.

anyway, yesterday I had to cook because encik suami who normally cooks western food, was mowing the front & back garden. and i had to get few tips from him.

it took me half hour to get everything done from start to finish but bearing in mind you have to do few things at the same time.

1. lamb chops

• just season with salt & pepper. heat the pan till hot, put a knob of butter and pan fry the lamb chops 3 minutes on each side until brown.

meanwhile, prepare the potatoes and vege.

2. potatoes, carrots, beans, mushroom & green salad

• leave the potatoes  skin on, wash thoroughly, cut into wedges.
• boil some water (i usually boil the water in the kettle - its quicker) and pour into pot, add pinch of salt and potatoes and leave to cook (try not to over cook) and drain.
• cut button mushrooms in quarters.  
• trim off the ends of green beans, cut carrots in strips and par boil in boiling water, drain.
• add dash of olive oil/bit of  butter in the pan (which was used to fry the lamb) and quickly pan fry the boiled potatoes, carrots, beans and mushrooms SEPARATELY.
• then put all in a bowl, add green salad, dried mixed herbs, season with salt & pepper and mix well. 

serve with mint sauce and gravy (we cheated - used Bisto onion gravy granules, just add hot water)

Ayam penyet

We were introduced to this Indonesian dish by Che Mat and Corlyn on our last visit home to JB last year. We were taken to a stall opposite some hotel. The name "ayam penyet" doesn't really do the dish justice as it implies that the chicken had been run over while crossing the road.

 

Anyway, I remembered the dish and wanted to try making it. Loked for the recipes on the internet and was bombarded with many different types of variations to the recipe. So I decided to look at the common ingredients and decided to try my own "made up" recipe.

 

Ingredients
1 chicken quartered (stab the fleshy parts so the marinade can seep in)

2 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp jintan manis
1 tsp jintan putih
4 cloves

 

1 tsp turmeric powder (serbuk kunyit)

2 to 3 tsp sugar
11/2 tsp sea salt

1 inch ginger
5 cloves of garlic
2 birds chillies
1 red chilly

 

Note: the above amounts are minimum. You can add a bit more according to personal taste.

 

Method
Dry roast the spices on a pan until fragrant. Then using the pestle and mortar, grind them until powderyadd the sugar and salt and continue grinding.  Next, add the ginger, garlic and chillies and pound until you get a paste-like substance.

 

Coat the paste all over the chicken and leave to marinade for at least 2 hours - the longer it is left to marinade the better.

 

Then bring to the boil half to one cup of water. Put the chicken in and cover. Simmer on a low heat setting for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours turning the chicken over every so often to ensure that all the parts of the chicken gets the marinade. Be careful the chicken doesn't break apart as it gets tender after cooking for a while.

 

Take the chicken out and drain. Then deep fry the chicken until golden brown and some parts are crispy.
 

 

We found that the chicken breast was a bit dry so I would suggest dipping the chicken back into the cooked juices of the marinade to let it soak in some of the delicious juices.

 

 

Then using the pestle, "penyetkan" or pound the chicken.
 

 

The leftover juices can be used to cook rice ala chicken-rice shop. Just add some star anise.
Hope you like this recipe.
 

foul medammas

thanks to my sis in law, cik noti who posted the pic of foul medammas & tempted me to make it for my brunch last Thursday.

this is cik noti's version..and I've got her recipe too. (which she wrote on her fb wall). thank u!

stir fry chopped onions n garlic dlm 2tbsp minyak
masukkan 3 to 4 cans of foul medammas.
Hancur2kan kacang foul tu biar separuh berbiji2. Masukkan 2tbsp serbuk ketumbar, 1tbsp cumin powder, 1 tsp fennel powder and 1tbsp crushed black pepper.
kacau sebati and  add 1 cup of water kalau nk pekat.
Masukkan 1 chopped tomato, dan biar sampai bubbling & tutup api. Serve dgn sliced garlic yg digoreng dgn olive oil, diced white onions, diced tomatoes, sliced green chillies, feta cheese or anything yg u like. Some people suka jugak telur goreng mata kerbau.


and this is my version. excuse the cream & jam fruit scone - that's my dessert..

 I garnished with sliced olives, chilly pepper, tomatoes, onion & feta cheese.

wednesday = pasta day

we normally have pasta on Wednesdays..don't know why.  maybe because I finish late of Wednesday and by the time I get home it would be too late to cook rice & dishes. big missy usually goes riding on Wednesday & daddy cant help with cooking.

2 easy pasta dishes I usually make, ready in half hour.

BROCOLLI PESTO PASTA

ingredients :

1. pasta - can be spaghetti or tagliatelli
2. broccoli - cut into small florets
3. 1/2 lemon -
4. button mushrooms - slice
5. olive oil (preferably extra virgin)
6. green pesto sauce - I use ready made Tesco house brand or Sacla   
7. parmesan cheese - grated. (can skip this if u don't have) 

method

• tip pasta in salted boiling water and cook according to packet, drain pasta.
• add broccoli into salted boiling water, cook for 4 minutes or till soft.
• drain & mash broccoli with fork. add pesto sauce to broccoli.
• Stir in the broccoli pesto into pasta, squeeze over the juice of 1⁄2 lemon.
• Pour in the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
• Spoon in the grated Parmesan, toss the pasta well and serve.

note : if you cant get ready made pesto sauce, u can make it from scratch.

ingredients :

1. 50g pine nuts (can get this from cold storage)
2. large bunch of basil  (u can skip this if u r making broccoli pesto - substitute basil with broccoli))
3. 50g parmesan
4. 150ml olive oil 
5. 2 garlic

Heat a small frying pan over a low heat. Cook the pine nuts until golden, shaking occasionally. Put into a food processor with the remaining ingredients and process until smooth, then season.
Pour the pesto into a jar and cover with a little extra oil, then seal and store in the fridge. It will keep in a fridge for up to two weeks.

CREAMY CHEESE &  SMOKED SALMON/SEAFOOD   PASTA

 

 

ingredients

1. pasta - tagliatelli or spaghetti
2. cream cheese - I used Philadelphia garlic & herb
3. smoked salmon - thinly sliced. (can substitute with fresh prawns)
4. button mushrooms - sliced
5. butter
6. olive oil

method :

• tip pasta in salted boiling water and cook according to packet, drain pasta.
• in a pot, melt butter, sauté sliced mushrooms, add in cream cheese and stir gently until cheese has melted.
• add in sliced smoked salmon/fresh prawns.
• stir in boiled pasta, pour in the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
• toss the pasta well and serve.

if you cant get ready made cream cheese, all you need is cheddar cheese - grate and small tub of single cream.