Elderflower & Lemon Drizzle Cake

Alhamdulillah dapat bertemu bulan Ramadhan lagi tahun ni. Muslims in the UK are facing the "longest" Ramadan in 33 years, as the holy month coincides with the summer solstice, meaning long days of fasting.

I made this last week and there are a few slices left in the cake tin which I would eat one slice every night after berbuka puasa. got this recipe from GoodtoknowRecipes magazine, may 2011 issue.

Ingredients :

• 225g butter, softened
• 225g caster sugar
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 4 eggs
• 225g self raising flour, sifted
• 2tbsp hot water
• 100ml elderflower cordial (if you don't have elderflower cordial, can substitute with lemon lime cordial)
• 2 tbsp. granulated sugar

Method

1. preheat oven to 180 deg C/Gas 4. grease and line a loose based, round, deep cake tin
2. place the butter, caster sugar and lemon zest in a large bowl and beat until pale and fluffy
3. gradually add the eggs, whisking well between additions. when you whisk in the last egg, add 2 tbsp. of the flour as well to prevent curdling
4. sift in the remaining flour, then gently fold it in with a metal spoon along with the water.
5. spoon into the tin, level it off and bake for 45-50 minuts or until it is shrinking away from the sides of the tin.
6. leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes
7. sieve the lemon juice to remove the bits then stir the cordial into the juice to make a syrup.
8. use a fine skewer (lidi satay) to prick the cake all over, then pour over the syrup and sprinkle with sugar, it should in in but still leae a crunchy crust
9. leave to cool completely before removing the cake from the tin.

Ikan Singgang Asam

yesterday morning, when I was thinking of the dinner menu and asked encik hubs for his idea, he said
"kalau u masak ni (he hasn't told me yet what to cook), I sayang you".  oh, selama hari ni tak sayang i lah!  then he said "sayang tapi kalau you masak ni, mcm my mom masak masa I kecik dulu, I lagi sayang you".

so, untuk menambahkan lagi kesayangan suami, maka si isteri telah buka buku resipi Johor Palete, a gift from his cousin,  Kak Chah/Datin Latipah Atan. i'm forever indebted to her for giving me the book which was written by her sister in law Datin Adek and her cousin. infact, my late mom in law is featured in one of the photos in the book.

anyways,  it is a simple dish, tak banyak ingredients but kena cukup pedas, masam, masin, manis dan pekat. I had to ask him to rasa while I was cooking as I didn't know what  it should taste like. susah bila masak utk orang yg pandai makan and especially its something that his mom cooked for him.

ingredients

2 mackerels - can use ikan tenggiri.
1 1/2 cups chilli puree - I don't have chilli puree (cili boh), so I used chilli powder (brand Allagapas from msia) mixed with water.
2 1/2 cups water
2 tbsp. tamarind paste (asam jawa)
3 1/2 tbsp. sugar
salt to taste

method

1. wash the fish and rub with asam jawa and salt
2. strain the chilli puree mixed with 2 1/2 cups water into the pot to collect the chilli juice. if you use chilli powder, then you just mix the chilli paste with water (not too much because it has to be thick)
3. add the fish and remaining ingredients to the pot
4. slowly boil on very low heat until the gravy thickens and fish is cooked.

tip : you will know it is cooked when the kuah turns darkish red and pekat.

last night I fried bendi (okra) with kicap, cili and bawang to go with the ikan singgang asam. perfect combo.

best left overnight and re heated next day, makan dengan roti canai, like I did this morning. sedapppp!!

chicken shawarma with mint yogurt

our first taste of  shawarma was from that small kiosk outside Giant in Ampang Point  (cant remember the name now).  it was simply delish.  I got this recipe from Tesco (free) magazine. easy to make, tasty, refreshing. my first attempt and it was a success. I put lots of  yogurt sauce on my bread that Aisyah said there wont be any left for others!

ingredients :

4-6 skinless and boneless chicken thigh fillet (depending on size)
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp sumac (this is Mediterranean spice - i haven't got it in my pantry so I skipped that yesterday)
1 lemon halved
2 garlic cloves, crushed or grated
3 thyme sprigs, leaves picked
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
200g greek yogurt (if you cant find greek yogurt, any plain yogurt will do)
handful mint , leaves chopped (i planted a pot of mint - that came in handy yesterday)
and i added handful coriander leaves, chopped
4 flatbreads, warmed through (in msia they call it roti arab. there's no flat bread in the shops near us, so i just bought tortilla wrap & soft white wrap)
2 little gem lettuce, shredded
cucumber, cut into cubes
optional - pomegranate seeds ( i didn't use any)

1. put the chicken in a feezer bag. massage in olive oil, 1 tsp sumac, juice of half lemon, garlic, thyme and chilli flakes; season. leave to marinate for 10 minutes or overnight
2. preheat grill to high. put chicken on baking tray and grill for 10-12 minutes, until outside is lightly charred and middle is cooked through with no pink showing
remove from grill and set aside. slice into bite size pieces/strips
3. meanwhile, combine the yogurt, mint, coriander, remaining sumac, squeeze of lemon juice in a bowl, season to taste. set aside until needed
4. to assemble, spread each flatbread with spoonful of yogurt, top with lettuce and cucumber and chicken slices/strips.
5. roll up the flatbread and serve warm.  

baked salmon and roast potatoes & tomatoes

I love collecting free magazines/recipe cards  from supermarkets - waitrose, Sainsbury's and Tesco because they usually  have easy and yummy recipes, in other words cheap & good.

this recipe was taken from Tesco magazine, made by encik suami last weekend.

ingredients

500g jersey royals (potatoes), halved if large - you can use any kind of potatoes.

1 red onion, quartered

2 rosemary sprigs,leaves picked

2 tbsp. olive oil

2x270g pack salmon fillet

1 lemon, zested and quartered

200g on-the-vine cherry tomatoes - can just use any kind of tomatoes but quartered or diced

1. preheat oven to gas 6, 200 deg C.

2. cook potatoes in a pan of boiing salted water for 10 minutes or until tender. drain well

3. put the potatoes, onion and rosemary in a roasting tin and drizzle with half the oil. raost for 10 mins

4. add salmon to roasting tin and scatter over the lemon zest.

5. cut the tomato vine into 4 and add to the tin, squeeze over little lemon juice and add lemon wedges to the tin

6. drizzle over the remaining oil then season well. return to the oven for further 10 minutes or until salmon is just cooked through and potatoes are crisp.

7. divide between 4 plates and serve immediately.

8. serve with salad or roasted Mediterranean vege and rice as side dish (rice salad)

note : we didn't make the roast potatoes last weekend, just deep fried  some chips.

mushroom risotto

I made this yesterday, my first attempt. we loved the risotto that we had in Turin, Italy on our year end holiday 2 years ago and I've been wanting to try making it ever since but I never got round to look for the most important ingredient - dried porcini mushrooms.

yesterday morning I was in Tesco and the dried mushroom packets were right infront of my eyes, googled recipe and bought risotto rice and sparkling white grape juice (to substitute white wine). I used the recipe from Hairy Bikers' Family cookbook, which is not much different to the recipe from bbcgoodfood  http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2364/mushroom-risotto

the most important ingredient in any risotto recipes are  the dried porcini mushrooms and of course the risotto rice. if you cant find the porcini mushrooms, you can skip that and use any other kind of mushrooms but not the dried Chinese mushrooms - they are a bit strong. you can also use fresh white/chestnut (brown)/oyster mushrooms instead. and most recipes use white wine and of course, I substituted that with sparkling white grape juice. it has to be sparkling, not still because the wine/juice will have to evaporate when poured into the rice. 

and you can also make chicken or seafood risotto.

now that I have made the risotto (Italian rice dish), next on my list would be paella - the Spanish rice dish.

welcome back.

its coming to end of may 2016 and i'm writing my first post of the year???!!! tsk! tsk! tsk!

I've been posting lots of food photos on facebook that sometimes I forgot why this blog exists. and when  friends asked for the recipes, I usually copy & paste the recipes which I usually got online and more often than not, I would delete those posts after sometime and lost the recipes.

off late, I turned to my recipe book collection for the new dishes that I make for family meals. now that the weather is getting warmer with occasional rain on some days, we dine at the patio at weekends/in the evenings. my dream is to build a conservatory at the patio area  but after getting the quotation the other day, it looks like I have to forget about that for the time being (like few more years!).

and when we have our occasional alfresco dining, then the food will have to be simple, one dish meals served on the dinner plates which can then fit the small round dining table. what matters to us is the ambience and cosy-ness and most importantly, everybody sits  down and eats together.

the other day, my first born said to her lil sister, when she was about the leave the table to watch telly
"what is more important than sitting down having dinner with the family? once you leave the house (for uni) then you will not be able to do this again". and ever since that day, everyone has to sit at the table until everyone finishes.

we don't have much but we have each other.