easy chocolate cake

mula2 ingat nak buat fruit tartlets on sunday afternoon  but i forgot to take the shortcrust pastry out of the freezer and it would take few hours to thaw. so decided to try this new recipe, and true to its name, its dead easy to make.

 recipe taken from http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/easy_chocolate_cake_31070 (just click on the link for complete recipe)

note :
as mentioned in the recipe (nr 6), make sure you  wait for 1-2 hours for the choc cream icing to cool and thicken, otherwise the choc icing is a bit runny and unspreadable.

little that i know, my cousin's 2nd son turned 1 year old on Monday 5th December..so this cake is for you Rayyan..

lovely pulut kuning made &decorated by birthday boy's siti (grandma).  nampak gaya macam mama & abang Aleej yang terlebih excited!!

(not too) sticky toffee pudding

made this for the first time on Sunday afternoon. its not so sticky, more like a moist date cake, and pleasantly surprised that encik suami likes it.

i couldnt be bothered with the chocolate/toffee sauce;  had it with warm (ready made) custard and choc fudge  icecream..heaven!

i used Nigel Slater's recipe taken from bbc.co.uk/food

Ingredients

For the pudding

• 150g/5oz dates, stones removed, chopped
• 250ml/9fl oz hot water
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 60g/2¼ oz butter, softened
• 60g/2¼ oz caster sugar
• 2 free-range eggs
• 150g/5oz self-raising flour

 

For the toffee sauce (i skipped this)

• 200g/7oz butter
• 400g/14oz brown sugar
• vanilla pod, split
• 250ml/9fl oz double cream

Preparation method

For the pudding

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/370F/Gas 4.
2. Mix the dates, bicarbonate of soda and the water together in a bowl and leave to soak for ten minutes.
3. In a clean bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
4. Still stirring the butter mixture, gradually add the eggs, making sure they are well mixed in.
5. Still stirring, gradually add the flour, then add the date mixture.
6. Pour the mixture into a 20cm/8in square cake tin. Place into the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until cooked through.

For the sauce

1. To make the sauce, melt the butter in a thick bottomed pan over a medium heat.
2. Add the brown sugar, vanilla pod and cream and stir well. Simmer for five minutes.
3. To serve, spoon out a portion of the pudding onto a plate and pour over the hot toffee sauce.

i'm gonna try different versions from other chefs.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/search?dishes[]=sticky_toffee_pudding

banana cuppies for sale

yup, first time i bake cakes for sale..not to raise money for my holiday but for little missy & her school friends.   the infant school is having a cake sale day tomorrow to raise money to buy new playground equipment.  nasib baik lah mummy ada jugak bakat terpendam buat cake.

its a shame i cant join them tomorrow cos i've got classes all day. hopefully the sale goes well. 

recipe taken from tesco real food website. its dead easy to make and taste really nice..will definitely use this recipe again in future.

Ingredients

• 125g (4oz) butter, at room temperature
• 125g (4oz) caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 125g (4oz) plain flour
• 2tsp baking powder
• 2 small/medium bananas, mashed

1.  Preheat oven to Gas 4, 180ºC, fan160ºC. Line a bun tin with 12 cupcake cases. ( i managed to get 12 normal sized + 9 mini size cuppies from this mixture)
2. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy.
3. Gradually beat in the eggs until mixture is smooth. Fold in flour, baking powder and bananas.
4. Divide between cases and bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool. Can be stored for up to 3-4 days.

wednesday = pasta day

wednesday = mid week = pasta day.

i made spaghetti brocolli pesto for dinner. easy dish to prepare, ready within 15 minutes.

1. boil spaghetti/linguine till soft & drain.
2. boil water in a pan, sprinkle bit of salt and boil brocolli cutlets till soft. then drain.
3. mash brocolli, add in green pesto sauce and mix into spaghetti, sprinkle olive oil, salt & pepper to taste and serve.

and since i took out the mince meat this morning (original plan to make spag bol), i'm gonna make this for tonite's supper or tomorrow's pack lunch; recipe from bbc food recipes http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/braisedmince_91963

Satay

It's not often that I make satay. We used to buy our satay from the Restaurant Mulia on the corner of Jalan Gurney and Jalan Tun Razak - the satay was good and the kuah kacang was also tasty. This is the first time that I really took the time to prepare the satay the proper way - with full ingredients. 

Ingredients:

Diced into bite sized pieces:

• Beef (tenderise by pounding with a meat tenderising hammer). Cut small portions of the fat to insert between the third and last piece of meat on the skewer)
• Chicken (best to use thighs as breast meat is a bit dry)
• You can also use lamb or beef tripe (perut lembu) if you want

Satay marinade: 

3-4 tbsp coriander seeds (biji ketumbar)

1 tbsp aniseed (jintan manis)

1 tsp white pepper (lada sulah)

salt to taste

lots of sugar (6-8 tbsp) or to taste

1 tbsp turmeric powder (serbuk kunyit)

1 red onion (bawang merah)

3 cloves garlic (bawang putih)

2 tbsp palm sugar (gula melaka)

1 lemongrass (serai)

1 inch galanghal (lengkuas)

1 inch ginger (halia)

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Peanut Sauce (Kuah kacang):

This part was done by Doodlemon. See separate entry under kuah kacang / peanut sauce.

Nasi Impit / Ketupat:

I remember my mum used to make nasi impit (squeezed / pressed rice). You literally had to put the just cooked rice in a pot and cover it with a smaller lid with a heavy mortar on top to squeeze the rice. Nowadays life is made easy by the innovative and entrepreneurial folks. All you have to do is dump the rice packets into boiling water and let it cook.
Ketupat is a totally different story altogether.

Satay Method:

Grind / pound using a pestle and mortar the satay marinade ingredients. Which ones to pound first is your preference but the end result it to combine the all with the vege oil last.

Pour the marinade into the diced pieces of meat/chicken and mix well.Cover and leave in the fridge for about 24 hours to get it well marinated.

Next step: cucuk satay (poke the satay - [put it on the stick])

Some people would advise immersing the satay sticks for a few hours to prevent them from burning. (Take this advise with a pinch of salt - trust me, it will burn if left unattended and the stick exposed to fire).

The poking part - the meat is very cold especially if you just took it out of the fridge and can numb your fingers and hand. So having your other half to help is very useful.

Once all the satay has been poked or to use a proper term, skewered, prepare your bbq pit. Place the satay sticks so that the fire does not burn the sticks.

Dab the satay occasionally with vegetable oil. Use a stick of lemongrass (pound it a bit so that the fragrance infuses into the oil). Be careful as the oil tends to make the coals flare and overburn the satay.

Once cooked, serve with peanut sauce, nasi impit / ketupat, cucumbers and onions.



gulai darat daging

this morning i thot of cooking kari daging for iftar then it just crossed my mind that i've never tried cooking Gulai Darat and never knew what the ingredients are. so i called my auntie to ask for the recipe.  biasalah, bila mintak recipe dengan my mom or her sister or elderly relatives, they would only list down the ingredients, banyak mana nak pakai semua kena pandai agak2 sendiri sehingga secukup rasa. when i cooked earlier, i didnt really measure precisely the amount of  ketumbar, lada hitam, kunyit & cili boh, amount yang di letak didalam resipi dibawah is just an approximate.

the ingredients are almost the same as Singgang Daging except that for gulai darat, kena tambah kunyit, santan and daun kesom or daun ketumbar. 

ingredients

daging - hiris nipis, macam masak kari. (i used lamb cubes + sliced beef)

1 sudu kecil ketumbar
1 sudu kecil lada hitam
1 sudu kecil serbok kunyit
few slices lengkuas
2 tbsp cili boh
halia sebesar ibu jari - slice thinly
3 bawang putih - chopped
1 bawang merah - chopped
sedikit belacan

semua bahan2 diatas di blend bersama, gaul dengan daging, jerang hingga mendidih kemudian kecilkan api, masukkan air sedikit sampai paras daging and simmer. since i dont have a pressure cooker, i simmered the gulai for about 45 minutes.  bila daging dah empuk, boleh lah tambah air sedikit2 to the required thickness of the kuah seperti masak kari. kemudian, masukkan bahan2 berikut dan biar mendidih.

1 tin kecil santan
2 asam keping
sedikit gula melaka
garam secukup rasa

lastly masukkan daun kesom/ketumbar & whole cili hijau kalau ada.

at iftar, my big missy said "sedap..."

ikan 3 rasa

the 3 rasa (or 3 flavoured fish) is supposed to come from sweet, sour, salty-ness of the sauce.

any kind of whole fish - i used sea bream, rubbed with turmeric powder & salt and deep fry till cooked and crispy and set aside.

thumb sized ginger - finely sliced

3 garlic - finely chopped

1 onion - 1/2 finely chopped, 1/2 finely sliced

1/2 capsicum - diced

1 tomato - sliced

1 tsp sugar

sauce :

1 tbsp sweet soy sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce/chilli sauce

1 tbsp tomato sauce

1 tbsp hoisin sauce (optional)

fry the ginger, chopped onion, garlic in a bit of oil. then put in the sauces and sugar. finally throw in the capsicum, sliced onion and tomatoes. and pour onto the fried fish when its time to eat..