The Pseudo Chefs' Cookbook

Awesome Chocolate Chip Cookies

2012-01-01T15:19:00.000+08:00

- zaty.

So far I've tried a number of choc chip cookies -- crunchy, chewy, big, hard, soft, a mixture of either or all of these etc -- and I think I like the crunchy on the outside but slightly chewy on the inside kinda type. I found an awesome recipe for choc chip cookies on popularcookierecipes.com which I like to use as a rough guide to make these cookies, because I've only made them a few times before (at this time of writing)... and I tend to forget the ingredients and their general measurements lol :P

I made a few changes to the linked recipe above, I:
- used a bit less sugar, because I don't like it too sweet
- added chocolate powder, because I just felt like it
- used sea salt, because I saw another recipe using it so I'm curious about how it'll turn out
- added a bit of milk, because I like the idea :P
- used baking powder instead of baking soda (yes, the horror!), because I didn't have baking soda and I'm too lazy to go get some

Anyway, here's tweaked recipe, which roughly makes 5 dozens cookies that are about 2 inches in diameter. :)

Ingredients A:
1+1/4 cups sugar (mixing white sugar and packed brown sugar is better)
125 g butter, melted
2 Tbsp cooking oil

2 large eggs

1 Tbsp milk

5 drops of vanilla essence

1 Tbsp chocolate powder

Ingredients B

2+1/4 cups all purpose flour, well-sifted

1+1/2 tsp baking powder (or 1 tsp baking soda)

3/4 tsp sea salt

1 cup of small chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 190degC.

2. Mix Ingredients A one by one in a bowl using a spatula until well-combined.

3. Stir in Ingredients B one by one, and continue mixing everything well using a spatula. The dough will turn out quite firm.

4. Line the pan with baking paper.

5. Scoop half a tablespoon of dough and use the wooden spoon to push it onto the baking paper. Arrange each scoop of dough so that there is about 2 inches of space between each cookie to prevent the cookies from melting and combining together.

6. Place the tray in the oven for about 8-10 minutes, depending on how you'd like the cookie to turn out. 8 mins make slightly chewy brown-on-the-edges-lighter-in-the-centre cookies, while the 10min ones are darker and crispier. I'd say try to go for 9 mins :P

7. While a batch is in the oven, keep the rest of the dough in the fridge ^*^

8. After a batch of cookies are done, transfer them to a plate to let them cool down at room temperature, without letting them be on top of one another. The cookies will be good to eat before the next batch is done.

9. Repeat steps 5-7 for the next batch, and transfer the cookies that have cooled down into an airtight container.

And that's pretty much it. Now I'll enjoy my cookies with some mint tea. :D

^*^ a cold dough will 'melt' faster, making the cookie thinner (and crispier) around the edges. Just the way I like it :D

No-yeast Homemade Thin-crust Pizza

2011-12-31T17:42:00.000+08:00

- zaty.

I was feeling bored so decided to make pizza for dinner. I've made it twice so far, and I think I've somewhat figured out what to (not) do if I wanted to make it again in the future.

I used the no-yeast pizza recipe from here, but because my family likes thin-crust pizza, I had it in the oven for about 15mins at 180degC. Make sure not to knead too much with your hands (the heat of your hands can affect the dough), don't use too much flour (it'll make the bread hard) or use butter to 'coat' the pizza pan/dish to prevent the dough from sticking to it (use a bit of oil and smear evenly... using butter makes the pizza bread too crispy).

Here's the recipe.

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup water
1 Tbsp cooking oil

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 180degC.
2. Line the pizza pan/dish with baking paper, or smear a thin layer of cooking oil evenly (to prevent the pizza bread from sticking to the pan later).
3. Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.
4. Add the liquids into the bowl, and, using a wooden spoon, combine everything to make a rather solid dough.
5. Sprinkle some flour on a clean, flat surface, and place the dough on it. Knead the dough about 6 times to make sure all the ingredients are evenly combined.
6. Place the dough on the prepared pan/dish and flatten it to make a nice thin-crust bread (I use a small plastic roller to flatten the dough, super handy).
7. Once the dough looks good, smear a thin layer of cooking oil on the top surface of the dough (to prevent the tomato sauce base and/or toppings from seeping into the bread later, making it soggy).
8. Scoop and spread the tomato sauce base*** on the dough evenly
9. Scatter toppings^^^ onto the tomato base, and add herbs if desired (I love using basil, I just sprinkle it all over).
10. Scatter cheese - sprinkles, shreds, squares, chunks, whatever - to moderately cover the toppings.11. Place the pizza in the oven for about 15mins, until the topping becomes slightly brown.12. After it's done, take it out of the oven and let it cool for a minute or two, then cut into desired way/size. Serve hot :D*** I cheated and used a mix of a medium-sized can of tomato pasta sauce and a small can of tomato puree^^^ I used chicken sausage cut into really thin slices, a handful of minced beef, crushed garlic, diced onions, diced tomatoes and crushed black pepper. I wish I had capsicum :TWill post up pic later. Cheerios!

Cheese scones (using cheese slices)

2011-07-20T18:35:00.015+08:00

- Zaty.

So I've returned to Malaysia and upon my mother's request, I made cheese scones today. She asked me to bake about 20 scones, and since one batch makes about 6 I had to multiply the ingredients by 4 to make 24. I ended up making 25 tho, because I didn't cut up the portions evenly lol.

I generally used the ingredients from the cheese scone recipe I posted before, but I had to improvise a lil bit because I only had cheddar cheese slices instead of a block of edam, which I normally used back in NZ (edam cheese is much more creamy than cheddar). The scones still tasted pretty good tho, so I guess it wasn't a bad substitute. :)

I'm a bit sad that I wasn't equipped with my trusty measuring cups+spoons during the prepping process...I already gave them away because I thought I wouldn't need them. I felt so handicapped because Ma doesn't have the complete cup+spoons sets. :( Sigh.

Anyway, here's what I did, before I get all nostalgic and ramble further:

Prep time: 20-40 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Servings: 6 scones per batch

Ingredients:

1 1/4 C self-raising flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
25g butter, diced
Cheese:

for dough: 5 cheese slices, torn into smaller/thinner strips (C-D)
for topping: 1 1/2 cheese slices, cut to make 6 squares = 1/4 slice per scone (C-T)

Milk:

for dough: 1/2 cup (M-D)
for coating: 1/4 cup (M-C)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 220 deg C.
In a bowl (stir using wooden spatula - not hands!):

Sift in dry ingredients.
Add diced butter by 'massaging' it in - should look like fine breadcrumbs in the end.
Add cheese for dough (C-D). Mix evenly.
Make a pit in the middle of the mixture, then add milk (M-D) while mixing quickly.

Cover your hands with flour and sprinkle some on the tabletop/board to prevent dough from sticking to it.
Turn out dough and place on the tabletop/board. Knead dough lightly; if it's too sticky, add flour, bit by bit.
Roll out dough on board until about 2cm thick, then cut into 6 equal portions. (I like shaping the portions to make them slightly rounder).
Roll around each scone in milk (M-C), then place each on a greased/lined oven tray. Make sure to leave at least 2cm gaps between them.
Top each scone with 1/4 slice of cheese (C-T)
Bake for about 9-10 minutes, or depending on how brown you want them.
Set aside for about 5 minutes before munching on them :D

My mom says it's the best batch of scones she's ever had in Malaysia. Clearly that's an exaggeration lol, but it's nice watching my family members eat the things I bake.

So... yup! Cheerios and till next time. :)

Honey Tomato Chicken

2011-03-13T03:15:00.004+08:00

- Zaty.

I'm just so sick of my own cooking (and I'm sure Mr. M feels the same way) so yesterday I tried to make a modified version of "ayam masak merah" (ie. tomato chicken). This was inspired by this recipe; I adapted it to suit what I had around the house (I didn't have tomatoes and ginger, most importantly).

The taste was bit different from what I expected, I'm guessing 1/2 can of tomato puree was too much, so next time I use this recipe I'll use only a 1/3 or less. I had to add in a bit of boiling hot water to make the gravy less thick, and added in honey and soy sauce for extra flavor.

Anyway, here's the (fixed) version of what I made yesterday:

Ingredients (for 2 people)

Group A - to 3/4 fry:

4 pieces of chicken nibbles
turmeric powder

Group B - to blend:

2 shallots
3 Tbsp dried chilli blend
1cm ginger (I was out of this so I used galanghal, but next time I'll make sure to use ginger)
3 pcs garlic
1 medium onion

Group C - other stuff:

1/3 tin tomato puree
1 large Tbsp-full of honey
2 T soy sauce
1/2 tin of button mushrooms, sliced
1 small onion, cut into rings
1 cup frozen vege (peas, carrots, corn).
sugar
salt Optional: 1 cup boiled water

Optional: 1 cup boiled water

Instructions

Clean and prepare chicken as appropriate (small pieces is easiest and fastest to cook). Toss the chicken pieces in a bowl and cover them completely with turmeric powder.
Heat up some oil in a pot, and fry turmeric-covered chicken until about 3/4 done. While waiting for this, blend everything in Group B - it doesn't have to be finely blended.
Take chicken pieces out and sautee the blended Group B ingredients till a fragrant smell rises.
Add in tomato puree, mixing well. Wait for a few minutes so that everything heats up well and the paste produces some oil (ie. until 'pecah minyak').
Add in soy sauce and honey as desired.
Add in sliced mushrooms, stir for a few minutes.
Place the previous chicken pieces back into the pot, stir well.
Wait for the gravy to thicken, stirring the pot content every half a minute. Continue until sure that meat is cooked.
When gravy has thickened (might take about 10 mins), add in sugar, salt, peas etc. Wait for a few minutes, stirring constantly.
When done, serve with rice (preferably tomato rice, but I ate it with plain rice).

Result

Will update with picture when my internet's not being annoying. :P

Have a nice day!

Super-easy Yoghurt Cake

2011-03-04T18:39:00.004+08:00

- Zaty.

Today's baking is a a result of Carlo's story about his friend's mom who makes yoghurt cake (which is apparently one of the best cakes he's eaten), and a M'sian potluck thing (masquerading as a 'natural disaster' meeting). After much debate on what to bake, I surrendered and googled up 'yoghurt cake', and was pleasantly surprised by how easy the recipe seemed. It really is easy to make, just like how this recipe looks - no electric mixers, melting butters, kneading etc. Easy peasy. Just the way I like it. :P

Anyway, I got the recipe from here, but with a simple adjustment - I used the (150g) cup for single-serve yoghurts as the measuring tool. In other words, every ingredient is measured using this cup (aside from the eggs, of course... although 3 eggs do fill up the yoghurt cup nicely). :)

I made 2 cakes: one with raspberry+cream yoghurt, and the other was peach+cream yoghurt.

Will post up more pics later.

This recipe makes a medium-sized cake.

Note: cup* = single-serve yoghurt cup

Ingredients

1 cup* of yoghurt (fruity flavored is yumm)
1 cup* oil (I used my canola cooking oil)
2 cups* white sugar
3 cups* self-raising flour
3 eggs
Optional: raspberry (or other) jam.

Directions

Preheat oven to 160degC.
In a bowl, beat the ingredients one-by-one with a wooden spatula until smooth and creamy. This might take a few minutes.
Pour smooth mixture into a greased/baking-paper lined pan.

Optional: Scoop some jam and slowly place it at the top of the batter. Use a chopstick or something long to squiggle or swirl the jam to give the cake extra flavour.

Bake for 1 hour or till golden brown (the fork should come out clean when poked).
Give about 10 mins to cool down, then cut and serve.

Optional: After the cake has cooled down a bit, turn the cake out of the pan, and let it stand on its side. Cut the cake in the middle lengthways, and place both sides down. Spread some jam onto the 'fluffy' side of both halves, then enjoin the two parts the way it was before -- it should look like a 'jam sandwich' cake in the end.

Result?

Raspberry+cream yoghurt cake (see the swirley bit at the top? Hee ^_^)
Note: This is before I turned it into a sandwich cake.

~~I have some extra slices left, so I'll post some pics of what it looks like later.~~

It's so easy to make, and it tastes nice if I do say so myself. Do try it! Have fun baking! :)

Fish Soup

2010-12-06T17:58:00.002+08:00

- Zaty.

Carlo brought some fish fillets from home and we were thinking of how to cook them. First we tried tempura flour - didn't turn out that well. Then he tried the egg+flour fry, which was pretty nice (just a bit bland, in a no-salt kinda way :P), but I wanted the fish to be cooked in liquid - like curry or something. I didn't have the curry powder for seafood, so that idea had to go.

And then I decided to make fish soup. And after looking around the net for a quick+easy recipe, I found one. After modifying it to suit what I have in my cabinet/fridge, came up with this. And Carlo approves! :D

----

Original recipe from from here.

Ingredients

Oil, just enough for sauteeing
3 cloves of garlic, smashed/sliced
1 shallot, chopped finely
2cm^3 of ginger, smashed/sliced
Fish fillet, washed and cut in big chunks (rub a bit of salt on it while preparing the other stuff)
Boiled water
1 cube chicken stock
1 large carrot, sliced
2cm^3 of galangal, sliced
1 big onion, half sliced, half diced.
Salt
Black pepper
A few pinches of fennel
Sweet basil
A few cardamoms

Steps

Heat the pot and add oil just enough to cover the surface.
When oil is heated, sautee garlic, shallot and ginger until they give of a nice smell & slightly brown.
Add chunks of fish in the pot by just resting them on the sauteed ingredients. Let one side of the fillet turn white and slightly harden, then turn it carefully to 'whiten' the other side.
Add boiled water into the pot, then chicken stock. Stir well.
After a few minutes, add in carrots, galangal and onion. Stir.
Add in salt, black pepper and fennel.
Allow soup to cook for about 15 minutes, then add in cardamom and sweet basil for the final 10 minutes.
Serve it while it's hot! :)

Will post photo(s) later.

Mini Pizza

2010-09-23T07:04:00.001+08:00

- Zaty.

Before baking

Ingredients

Essentials:
'Small' breads (preferably pizza bases, but any breads - even pita/normal sliced bread will do)
Tomato paste
Oregano
Salt
Sugar
Cheese (slices/shreds = awesome). Best to use mozarella, but could use edam or colby.
Oil (olive, preferable)
Topping suggestions:
Garlic, chopped
Mushrooms, small pieces
Onion, diced
Meat, diced finely (I used sausage bits for this one) - make sure this is pre-cooked!
Pineapple, diced

Instructions

Preheat oven. If you'll be making mini pizza using...

Pizza bases, 230 deg C will do. F
For other breads, I'm unsure... maybe 200 degs?

If you'll be using meat, cook it while you're preparing the other stuff.
Add in salt, sugar, oregano and chopped garlic into the tomato paste. Not too much!
Slather the tomato paste mixture onto the breads.
Sprinkle mushrooms, onions and pineapples evenly on the bread. Then add meat. (Make sure to not overcrowd the toppings or they'll fall off!)
Cover #5 with cheese.
Sprinkle breads with some oregano and sugar.
Spread some oil on a baking tray/paper/foil, and place breads carefully onto it.
Put it in the oven for 8-10 mins.
After taking it out, let it stand for a couple of mins, and you're ready to dig in. Should turn out something like this:

After baking

うまえ! ;)

Coco Choco Slice

2010-09-18T07:22:00.004+08:00

- Zaty.

Got the recipe from the back of a tin of Pam's evaporated milk. Seriously.

~~I think I lost the recipe sheet. Darnit. I'll update this when I find it/buy another tin of evaporated milk. :P~~

Prep time: 20 mins
For: 1 medium-sized pan

Ingredients

Base

1 1/2 C flour
3 T cocoa
2 t baking powder
3/4 C castor/icing sugar
1/2 C dessicated coconut
175g butter, melted

Topping

1 C icing sugar
2 T cocoa
3 T butter, melted
1 C dessicated coconut
4 T sweetened condensed milk
1 t vanilla essence

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180 deg C, then grease/line a 20cmx30cm slice tin.
Prepare base:

Sift flour, cocoa and baking powder into a bowl.
Stir in sugar and coconut.
Add in butter and mix well, to moist crumbs.
Press the crumb base mixture into the prepared tin using a spatula/wooden spoon.
Bake in a preheated oven for 20mins, then allow to cool.

Prepare topping:

Sift icing sugar and cocoa in a bowl.
Stir in melted butter, coconut, condesned milk and vanilla essence. Mix well.

Spread topping over the base and place in fridge for 2 hours (until firm), then cut the pieces.

It was fun to make! :)

Choc Mint Chip Cookies

2010-09-11T07:21:00.001+08:00

- Zaty.

Recipe will be posted later :)

Sugar Cookies

2010-09-04T07:04:00.002+08:00

- Zaty.

Recipe will be posted later :)

Choco Banana Pancake

2010-09-01T07:04:00.002+08:00

- Zaty.

recipes will be posted later :P

Sweet Filo Egg Tarts

2010-08-17T21:03:00.002+08:00

- zaty.

So I have tonnes of filo pastry sheets... and they're expiring soon. Like, real soon. I needed something easy to make with them, and I needed it like super fast.

Aaaaand so it happens that I stumbled upon some pics of egg tarts today. Yummy, eggy, 'healthy', sweet, smile-erupting egg tarts. All together now, MMMmmmMmmm. :)

I searched high and low for egg tart recipes that happen to use filo, but alas, none was conjured up by Google. This, of course, calls for an experiment by yours truly! :P

So after compiling a few egg tart recipes to find a reasonable/rational experimental recipe (and taking whatever I have in my cupboard into consideration), here's what I managed to come up with:

Sweet Filo Egg Tarts

Makes 18 tarts (using medium-sized cupcake pans).

Ingredients

Filo pastry
220ml hot water
80g white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3 eggs
80ml milk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven at 180 C
Dissolve sugar & salt in hot water. While waiting to cool, continue with #3
Prepare filo:
Cut filo into desirable size and layer about 8 of them in each cupcake hole.
Butter the edges of the stacked pastry to avoid them from getting too flaky.
In a bowl, whisk eggs until thick and creamy, then add milk. Continue to whisk until combined.
Add sugar+salt solution gradually and then some vanilla essence. Continue whisking. It will turn quite runny, that's fine.
Scoop the mixture slowly into the prepared filo pastry.
Bake for 20 minutes or till the edges of the filo is brown and the filling is set.
Let cool before serving.

Results?

simple and plain

with choc chips
(added last, right before baking)

with powdery choc drink
(added last before baking)

yup, crispy pastry. :)

Haha they're not the prettiest things in the world, but they taste alright.

Good luck and have fun trying them out!

Quiche - with filo pastry

2010-08-15T19:46:00.006+08:00

- zaty.

Update: salt amount corrected :)

So I made quiche again today. The difference, however, is that I used filo pastry for the first time in my dear life. Considering the fact that I'm making this as a 'more' (shared 'dessert' for after terawih prayers), this is quite a risk.

But then I'm too much of an experimenter to not take the risk. :P

Anyhoo this time around I made both 'mini' (ie. cupcake-sized) quiche and a medium-sized square-pan quiche. I also prepared two batters - one is with meat, and the other is vegetarian. Just cuz I felt like it. The later is only for the mini ones though.

Anyway, onto the recipe!

Inspired by this recipe (uses filo pastry) & the easy quiche #2 recipe --- modified.

Makes:

3 dozens mini quiches OR
2 dozens mini quiches + 1 medium-sized square-pan quiche.

Ingredients:

filo pastry sheets
6 eggs
3 cups milk ~
5 tbsp melted butter (about 75g)
1 cup self-raising flour
2 cups grated cheese
4 cups of anything you like *
2 large tomatoes, sliced

Optional: Oregano, thyme, black pepper, salt to taste (thanks canadian girl for the tip!)

~ for better taste, use 1½ cup cream+1½ cup milk
* I used:
Diced = 1 large sausage, 5 button mushrooms, 1 onion, 1 green capsicum
Sliced finely = 4 spinach leaves

Directions:

Set oven to 175 deg C
Whisk together the first 5 ingredients (eggs, milk, butter, self-raising flour, salt)
Fold in cheese and filling (*)
Prepare filo pastry:

For mini quiche:

Take one sheet, fold it in half. You can 'glue' the folded parts together using melted butter/cooking spray.
Cut filo sheet into 4 strips - each strip about 6cm in width.
Fold the strips twice to make an approx 6cm square.
Place filo 'squares' in muffin tray hole.
When every container is lined with filo, continue with step #5

For square pan:

Lay filo sheets one above the other, about 8 sheets
Make the sheets look neater by folding them in/cutting them (I didn't do a good job tho :P), then continue with step #5.

Pour the mixture into pan.
Top with sliced tomatoes and sprinkle with herbs.
Bake for about 35 minutes. Wait to cool before serving (about 10 minutes).

PICS!

Before baking:

meaty mini quiches.
messy, i know. lol.

meaty square quiche.
i topped this with another sheet of filo, which explains that white-ish surface.
(next time i'll skip that - i prefer the quiche w/o it. haha.)

After baking:

vegetarian mini quiches
(no sausage, extra veggies+mushroom)

meaty mini quiches

meaty square quiche

Bon apetit! :)

Cupcakes!

2010-08-10T06:53:00.008+08:00

- zaty.

For a special someone's birthday:

Really easy to make too :D

Here are the recipes for the cupcake (original here) and the icing (original here), in that order:

Needed/recommended tools:
Oven (not microwave), electric beater, cupcake pan, big mixing bowl, measuring spoons/cups.

Easy (vanilla) cupcakes recipe

This simple vanilla cupcake recipe creates a cupcake that is perfect background for your creative decorating ideas.

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/3 cups white sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter/shortening
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla essence (I used 3/4 vanilla, 1/4 peppermint)
2 large eggs
Optional: 1 cup of chocolate chips.

Directions

Preheat oven to 175 degrees C and line cupcake pans with paper liners.
Combine: flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Add shortening, milk, and vanilla and beat for 1 minute on medium speed.
Scrape side of bowl with a spatula, add eggs to the mixture and beat for 1 minute on medium speed.
Scrape bowl again and beat on high speed for 1 minute 30 seconds until well mixed. (You may add choc chips and stir it using a spoon after this)
Spoon cupcake batter into paper liners until 1/2 full. (more than this = big cupcake).
Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool 5 minutes in pans then remove and place on wire racks to cool completely.
Once cupcakes are completely cooled, top with icing (read on).

It's important to make the icing AFTER your cupcakes are done, because if you wait to use the icing, they will harden. And no, heating it up again is a good idea because it'll melt and turn out very greasy. Really, eww.

The icing is easy to prepare and probably takes about 10 minutes.

Easy buttercream icing recipe

Ingredients
150g butter, softened
250g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp hot water
Food colorings (for the above, I used red and blue liquid coloring)
Directions
Beat together butter and sugar with an electric beater.
Once well combined, add the vanilla and hot water.
Beat again until smooth and creamy. It will be of a light yellow shade, like creamy butter.
Decide how many colors you want and separate this concoction into that number of colors. Then add coloring as needed, little by little.

Note: For the above cupcakes, I used 4 'batches' of colors for the icing:
- yellow (uncolored - as seen as the 'yellow flowers' bordering the cakes),
- hot pink (a few drops of red),
- turquoise (a few drops of blue),
- purple (two shades - one for the base and a darker one for the writing. red+blue)

For the writing, I used combined the leftover icing and added a bit more coloring. I also cheated and used an icing squeeze gel pen I bought sometime ago :P

The cupcakes that didn't make the cut, topped with all the extra icing and some sprinkles :P

(You can tell I was messing around with everything, eh? Haha)

Have fun! :)

Cheese scones

2010-08-06T21:22:00.019+08:00

- zaty

Today Carlo and I made two batches of scones - one is plain cheese scone, the other is savoury (we added bits of half a sausage). We made 2 dozens for the first batch but it didn't turn out very well because we forgot the baking powder... which led to us making the second batch, the savoury one.

Most ppl who've tried this prefer the savoury one - I like the plain ol' cheese scone more. :P it tastes great with fruit jam!

FAIL Batch #1 - bakingpowderlessness = unrisen dough

Batch #2 - looks much better, don't it? :D

Also, in case you were wondering, we used Edam cheese, which is quite yummy. Cheddar might work too.

Update (22/05/11): use self-raising flour instead of flour+baking powder

This original recipe is from here. :)

Prep time: 20-40 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Servings: 6 scones

Ingredients:

1 1/4 C self-raising flour
~~1 1/4 cup flour~~
~~3 tsp baking powder~~
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
25g butter, diced
1/2 cup milk for dough (MD)
1/4 cup milk for coating (MC)
1/2 cup grated cheese for dough (CD) - the more, the cheesier! :)
1/4 cup grated cheese for topping (CT)
Optional:

Rubbed oregano (for the lovely smell)
1/2 finely diced onions
1/2 chopped sausage

Directions:

Preheat oven to 220 deg C.
In a bowl (stir using wooden spatula - not hands!):

Sift in dry ingredients.
Add diced butter by 'massaging' it in - should look like breadcrumbs at the end.
Add cheese for dough (CD) (and onion/sausage bits if you want savoury scones). Mix evenly.
Make a pit in the middle of the mixture, then add milk (MD) while mixing quickly.

Cover your hands with flour and sprinkle some on the tabletop/board to prevent dough from sticking to it.
Turn out dough and place on the tabletop/board. Knead dough lightly; if it's too sticky, add flour, bit by bit.
Roll out dough on board until about 2cm thick, then cut into 6 equal portions. (I like shaping the portions to make them slightly rounder).
Dunk each scone in milk (MC), then place each on a greased/lined oven tray. Make sure to leave at least 2cm gaps between them.
Top each scone with grated cheese (CT). (I like to sprinkle a bit of oregano as well).
Bake for 9-11 minutes, depending on how brown you want them.

Enjoy! :D

Baby scone tucked in ( - Carlo's idea!) :P

last updated 05122010

Sardine Rolls

2009-10-10T11:48:00.004+08:00

- z.

My loaf of multigrain is going to expire tomorrow. I hate not finishing my bread so I decided to have it for lunch today, and since I've never made sardine rolls my whole life, I figured this should be a good chance.

So yeah, easy peasy recipe, inspired by my friend Iqa who makes awesome sardine rolls.

1. Prepare filling: I used
- 1 can sardine (in soya bean oil),
- 1 packet tomato paste,
- 1tsp crushed garlic,
- 1tbsp prawn sambal,
- 1/2 big onion,
- 1 vegetable cubestock.

Thus:

2. Prepare coating: I used 2 eggs & sprinkles of parsley (whisked lightly)

3. Get ready with the weapon and ammo: A rolling pin and sliced bread. Keep rollin' them bread to get 'em as flat you can, yo.

4. Place the filling (1) inside the flattened bread (3), roll it up tight, and coat it with the egg mixture (2). If the bread keeps unrolling itself, secure with a toothpick as I did. Then, place it in heated oil (light/medium fry) slowly. Repeat till these prepared rolls fill up the pan/wok:

5. End result:

This uses about 9 slices of bread, and the quantity of eggs used may be less/more, so if you want to use a whole loaf, use 3 eggs instead.

This is ridiculously filling, possibly because of all that oil XD.

Have fun~

Quiches!

2009-10-07T17:06:00.015+08:00

- z.

So there I was salivating while reading/viewing some food blogs where suddenly, upon cruising through some of their archives, an entry about quiche loaded before my eyes. It was then that I realised that I should probably start making some... before I lose too much liquid from my body. :P

And THUS, the search for easy-to-make Quiche recipes began!

I learnt that there were two ways of making quiche : one where you make the crust and contents separately, and the other where you just pretty much mix the whole thing up. Laziness would dictate that I do the latter, but seeing that I was out of self-raising flour which that one requires, I did the first one, which wasn't too bad to begin with. Later I saw a friend and got some self-raising flour from her, so I did the second recipe as well because I had way too much 'filling'. Much later, I used the excess of that (I told you I made way too much :P) for some pasta.

So let's make some Quiche already!

Quiche #1

The quintessential quiche, for me, is one that uses sour cream or 50% cream 50% milk.
...but to put it simply, I used neither in this first recipe...because I forgot, lol. So this is practically like an egg tart. A very savoury egg tart.

Next time I make these (which will probably be aaaaaaaaages away because they're so unhealthy with all that cheese and eggs, lol) I will :

add cream (duh)
add spinach (because I'm dumb and forgetful D:)
add tomatoes (because I forgot again D: D: D:)
make the crusts thinner :D
use cheddar cheese

Anyway, Here's the recipe I used for this one: ( My comments/alterations are in red. :) )

Crust (recipe suggested by Afdzal, thank you!!) : from Recipezaar.

Ingredients

1 cup flour

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup olive oil or canola oil - I used soya bean oil

¼ cup cold water - refrigerated is good

Directions

Mix flour and salt with fork.
Beat oil and water with whisk or fork to thicken.
Pour into flour and mix with fork ~ I think it's perhaps easier to use my hands, so I did. However, if you do this, don't knead too much, and make sure to put it in the fridge for a few minutes.
Press into 9" pie crust ~ I used a muffin tray, it works just as well

Filling (found at Suite101)

Ingredients:

1 cup shredded cheese ~ I used vegetarian edam. It tastes kinda funny before it's cooked, but the aftertaste pretty much disappears after it's cooked. It's also quite creamy, so it's got a nice texture to it after the quiche is done.
1-1½ cups of whatever ~ I used:

1tbsp of finely chopped garlic
1tsp of ginger
2 cups meat:

minced chicken (2 burger patties, mashed, actually =_=)

1 chopped chicken sausage

I realise that these processed meat products aren't as good as real lean meat, and aren't exactly healthy/conventional lol, but they're practical items to have around the kitchen.

1 big white onion
1 carrot
1 capsicum,
¼ cauliflower
Salt to taste
Blackpepper
A pinch of oregano, basil, parsley

4 eggs
2 cups heavy cream or half & half with milk ~ Didn't add this in x_x
¾ tsp salt
¼ tsp nutmeg, ground ~ Didn't add this either, because I don't have any. And I think I might be allergic to it, for some reason. I substituted this with some basil, a little bit of oregano and some parsley. Because I kinda predicted that I was gonna screw up anyway since it's my first time, so might as well experiment, lol.

Crust + Filling (also from Suite101)

Directions

Sprinkle cheese evenly over the bottom of the crust.
Place veggies, meats and other additions on top of the cheese. ~ I separately cooked my filling first till about 75%, because I use meat and I tend to get paranoid about meat not being cooked well :P.
Whisk together eggs, cream, salt and nutmeg in a medium size mixing bowl on medium speed.
Carefully pour cream on top of veggies, etc. ~ Seriously, do this carefully or everything may spill out of the crusty bit like mine did. -_-
Bake at 350degF/approx. 176.6degC for 45 minutes or until knife comes out clean.
Let sit for 15 minutes before slicing. ~ Content IS hot when it's fresh from the oven. Or you'll get a burnt tongue *shifty eyes*
Refrigerate leftovers.

And the result?

It doesn't taste that bad, I swear. x_x

Next, Quiche #2

Note for next time:

USE BUTTER! =_= I keep skipping ingredients accidentally, sigh! (I'm terrible at following recipes...)

Recipe taken from Best Recipes. :)

Ingredients:

4 eggs ~ Used probably 3 eggs...long story.

1½ cups milk ~ I used 2 cups by accident, sigh...

3 tbsp melted butter ~ I suppose oil would do?
½ cup self-raising flour ~ IMPORTANT!
1 cup grated cheese ~ Haha I grated my thumb while doing this =_= - the ingredients were fine tho!

2 cups of whatever ~ See above 'whatever'

Directions:

Set oven to 180degC
Whisk together thesefirst 4 ingredients (eggs, milk, butter, s-r flour)
Fold in cheese and filling
Pour the mixture above into a quiche pan ~ I used a normal medium-sized square baking pan ... which is a lot thicker than a normal quiche pan (quiche pans tend to be wide but short).
Bake for about 40 minutes ~Wait for about 10-15 minutes before serving

Et voila:

This was right after I took it out from the oven, so the middle part is kinda bulging out.

To be honest, I prefer the taste of the 2nd quiche to the first, but then... I was silly enough to miss the milk of the 1st one, so I guess it's unfair to compare to begin with. Hehe.

As I've written above, due to the excess filling, I decided to make a pasta dish. Thus:

Pasta!

So that's just pasta (leftover elbows and spirals from previous cooking), about 250g, boiled (without the essentials : a tsp each of oil and salt, because, again, I forgot to add until they were done T_T), with other stuff. After sifting out the boiling water, I chucked the pasta into the pot with the extra filling. Then I twirled the whole combo around the pot with medium heat to let it mix. I added some salt, black pepper, oregano too. BecauseomgIloveoreganoomgitisawesome :P

And that's that. End of story, YAY! I can do other things now because this entry's done! :D :D :D

Hope I gave some ideas on how you can venture more in your cooking, or at least improve on. :)

Kuih "Shrek"

2009-08-28T18:27:00.019+08:00

- Ateen.

Hello hello!

Wow, when was the last time someone (other blog owners) ever post something into this blog? You guys don't cook anymore ay?
Hahaha.

Anyway, happy Ramadhan Kareem to all. Hope this year will bring us more barakah than the year before and help us to find the true meaning of being a Muslim, insyaAllah.

So today, the recipe that I want to share with you guys is how to make a traditional Malay sweet dish known as "Kuih Gulung" or some people just called it "Kuih Ketayap" or "Kuih Dadar". Doesn't matter what it's being called, it tastes the same anyway ;p

For those who doesn't know what "Kuih Gulung" is, it looks like spring roll but the filling is made from shredded coconut which being cooked together with brown and white sugar. Meanwhile, the wrapper is made from plain flour and few other ingredients that I will list down here later.

So, go get a pen and piece of paper so that you will be able try to make it for breaking fast today! =)

Ingredients:

For the wrapper

1. Plain flour
2. Egg
3. Fresh milk
4. Green colouring (can also use "Pandan" leaves but you have to blend and filter to get the green-coloured juice)
5. Vanilla essence
6. Table salt
7. Cooking oil

For the filling

1. Shredded coconut (if you're in Malaysia, it's very easy to find, but for overseas student, you can use dessicated coconut which can easily be found at supermarket)
2. Brown sugar
3. White sugar
4. Plain water

How to make?

The Filling

Put the dessicated coconut into a pan and then add a scoop (means ladle or "senduk") of sugar and 2 scoops of white sugar. Add some water to mix them together. Cook for about 3-5 minutes.

The wrapper

1. Put 4 cups of plain flour in a ~~round shape and flowers pattern~~ container.
2. Add an egg into the container.
3. Pour a cup of fresh milk.
4. Add a few drops of vanilla essence.
5. Add 1/2 tea spoon of table salt
6. Add 1 tea spoon of cooking oil (optional. this to avoid the wrapper sticks to the frying pan during cooking)
7. Stir all the ingredients until they are completely mixed together.
8.Then, heat a frying pan and put some cooking oil on it just to make sure that the wrapper does not stick on the pan later on.
9. By using a ladle, scoop the mixture about 1/2 full of the ladle. Then put it in the heated frying pan.
10. Try to spread the mixture well and thin by swinging ~~your hip~~ the pan. Wrapper which is too thick will be very hard to be folded and becomes brittle too.
11. Wait until it cooked (you may know by looking at its colour).
12. When cooked, transfer it to a plate for the next step.

Rolling

1. Put the cooked coconut filling onto the wrapper. Try not to put the filling to much because it will coming out of the wrapper when being rolled.
2. Now, you can roll them together according to your own style but make sure to fold both of the right and left sides of the wrapper after you put the filling onto it so that the it won't come out.
3. Done!

Few tips: Start the rolling process as soon as it is taken out from the pan. This ensures the wrapper still soft and sticks together after being rolled. Also, don't forget to wash your hands before you touch the food! Stop the flu y'all! =)

"Kuih" Shrek ;p

That's all for now!

Keep rolling rolling rolling rolling~~ (Limp Bizkit song ;p)

Choc cake in a mug

2009-07-23T19:08:00.001+08:00

- zaty.

Yes, in a mug. I kid you not.

Pre-microwave

Post-microwave

Not exactly the prettiest cake in the world, but honestly - if you have 10 minutes, a microwave oven, and a dire craving for a choc cake fix pronto, this is much easier than walking all the way to the bakery or even baking a 'real' cake.

Original recipe from here.

Microwave choc cake in a mug recipe:

Tools

Microwave & coffee mug. Also baking paper to line the mug :)

Ingredients

4 tbsp flour
4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
2 tbsp whisked egg (omit this for a fudgier cake)
3 tbsp milk
3 tbsp oil
3 tbsp choc chips
A few tsps of of flavoring - eg. vanilla, peppermint

Directions

Add all of the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa) to the mug and mix.
Add the egg and combine well. It gets pretty pasty at the point.
Stir in milk and oil.
Add choc chips and flavoring. Stir well.
Microwave for 3 minutes in a 1000w oven, or 4 minutes in a 700w oven. It will start to crown over the top of the mug. Don't panic! It will collapse once the heat stops.

Enjoy :)

sushi

2008-03-04T13:05:00.005+08:00

- zaty.

how to make a sushi can be seen here : [click]

learn well, so that the batch of sushi you produce will not get screwed up.
like mine did :

i show you the pictures, folks, as a lesson.

patience pays off.

i was impatient, so i couldn't wait for things to heat up and then cool down and stay warm etc etc. and other than that, i basically didn't really note the measurements of each ingredients. the rice was too sticky, i used too much vinegar (it stank, but thank god the sushi didn't -___-), and i had NO idea how to roll it up, but too lazy to google it up. and the only thing i placed in the sushi was egg slices. uglily-cut egg slices. *evil laughs*

but wait, there's more.

and as horrorful as above looks, there's something even scarier.
oh yes. it gets worse.

behold...

MY GHASTLY ATTEMPT AT CALIFORNIA ROLLS! *le shock*

i SO cannot cook for a living. hahahah. XD

more shots to lose your appetite, if you so desire (scroll down pls) ;)

hahahaha. don't judge food by its cover. the above pathetic-attempts at sushi may look ugly, but they taste more horrible than they look. hihihi ;P

things i've cooked thus far, in WELLYLAND :)

2008-03-01T16:40:00.001+08:00

- zaty.

stuff i cooked. ROFLOL. rawr. behold, my untalentedness XD

1. egg & mushroom fried rice:
didn't taste too bad. really. really!!!

2. 'maggi' goreng
more like indomee. wasn't too bad if i do say so myself. wahahahaha

3. cucur jagung
a sad attempt. too much corn, too little flour. LMAO.

4. 'maggi' basah with eggs
not 'sup' style. =P errr... ok la i guess.

updated at 9.30, 01/03/2008

5. veggie soup
potatoes, carrots and some torn-up seaweed sheets in (basically) garlic soup and plenty of black pepper powder. heheh

6. egg+brocolli+carrot+mushroom sandwich filling
eatable i guess. huhu

clearly i'm bored. and i'm hungry now. later. haha

Hot Tuna + Cheese Popiah

2007-12-15T18:42:00.000+08:00

- Zaty.

So. This is a recipe from my cousin Rina, who bakes, cooks, and other wonderful things like crafties. She's awesome. *bows down in her presence* heheh.

It's totally simple. She introduced it to me a few weeks ago, and it takes less than 10 minutes (excluding time to thaw) to make!~

What you need:

Popiah 'covers' - sold at any super/hypermarket.
Tuna in tin - preferably the hot/chilli-flavored one
Cheese - preferably mozarella (y'know, the one on pizzas?) because it tastes gooood

Steps (easy peasy):

Defrost & thaw the popiah covers, if frozen.
Separate the covers from the stacked layers it comes in the packaging with.
Slosh in some (a tablespoon) of the tuna in the middle of the popiah cover. Don't forget to sift away the excess oil from the tuna!
Shred some mozarella cheese if you're in a nea mood, but you could just put a small chunk of cheese on top of #3
Fold the popiah however you like. No, seriously. =D This is what's fun about it. Just make sure it is not loosely (not very tightly tho) wrapped, to prevent the content from seeping out.
Fry your masterpieces.
Eat & enjoy. =D

Will post pictures of this simply yet wonderful edible food. When I've mastered this, that is. I was too hungry just now to make decent-looking ones (heck, i didn't even wait to get the popiah covers thawed 0_o)

Happy cooking! ^____^

Kerabu Mempelam [P]

2007-10-04T17:57:00.000+08:00

- Zaty.

SO! This was made more then a couple of days ago by Ma, her very own recipe! ;P Sorry about the lateness, I couldn't/didn't find the time. Simply put, I was lazy =P

Alritey, onto the pictorial!

Needed:
Grater/slicer, knife (duh), onion, mangoes ('young' ones, which are more sour and not-so-soft), lime (squeezed), lime leaves, sugar, salt, chillies (preferably cili padi or the like).

*optional : anchovies, peanuts (both need to be fried)

The How-to's:

Set A : Mangoes - grate and slice finely

Set B : Peanuts - fry, if they haven't been fried yet.

Set C : Anchovies - fry well.

Set D : Lime - squeeze them and add sugar & salt to the juice. as for the leaves, slice finely.

Set E : Misc stuff - slices the chillies, serai (lemongrass) and onions.

Now combine all sets!
Note : only add more lime squeeze (not water!) if it's too dry - remember to add quite a lot of sugar to de-sour-ise the mangoes & lime.

End result:

Oishi~~~ ^______^ It's slightly hot, sour, sweet, tangy... YUM! It'll surely make food taste better =D

Mee Goreng

2007-09-22T22:55:00.000+08:00

aka Fried Noodles =D

- Zaty.

So this here is taken from hookedonheat.com. Keeping it here for convenience purposes ;)

Ingredients
100 g rice noodles or vermicelli
2 cups finely sliced cabbage
1 cup bean sprouts
2 cloves minced garlic
¼ cup thinly sliced onion
1 tbsp curry powder
1 chopped tomato
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp chili powder
Salt, to taste
3 tbsp cooking oil

Method
1. Soak noodles in cold water for 20 minutes and drain.
2. Heat oil in a wok and tumis (sauté) garlic & onion over medium heat till onions become soft.
3. Add cabbage and bean sprouts and sauté for about 2 minutes.
4. Add curry powder, chopped tomatoes, chili powder and soy sauce, & continue to cook for another 2 minutes.
5. Add noodles and stir-fry until cooked - it's done!

Note : optional topping - crispy anchovies and eggs for extra flavoring ;P

Ends with:

Simple, ne?

For Cookie Lovers, this is for free~

2007-09-22T20:51:00.000+08:00

- Odie.

*got this email from a friend of mine, and i thought that it's kinda relevent to post it here. On the second thought, i find this email s very interesting. It's about the famous amos cookies. famous amos cookies as biskut raya, anyone? hehehe.. (note: i havent tried baking it. so please dont blame me if it doesn't taste anything like the famous amos one =p) *

This is a true story

My daughter and I had just finished a muffin at Famous Amos Caf in Bangsar & decided to have some cookies. Because both of us are such a cookie lovers, we decided to try the "Hawaiian Nut Cookie".

It was so excellent that I asked if they would give me the recipe and the waitress said with a small frown "I'm afraid cannot". Well I said, "Would you let me buy the recipe?"

With a cute smile, she said "YES". I asked how much and she responded, "only two fifty, it's a great deal!" I said with approval, "Just add it to my bill"

Thirty days later, I received my VISA statement from Famous Amos and it was RM285.00. I looked again and remembered I had only spent RM9.95 for two muffins and about RM20.00 for a pie. As I glanced at the bottom of the statement, it said, "cookie recipe - RM250.00". That's outrages!!!

I called the Famous Amos's Accounting Dept. and told them that the waitress said it was "two-fifty", which clearly does not mean "two hundred and fifty dollars" by any POSSIBLE interpretation of the phrase. Famous Amos refused to budge.. They would not refund my money, because according to them, "What the waitress told you is not our problem. You have already seen the recipe - we absolutely will not refund your money at this point."

I explain to her the criminal statues which govern fraud in Malaysia. I threatened to refer them to police for engaging in fraud. I was basically told, "Do what you want, we don't care, and we're not refunding your money." I waited for a moment, thinking of how I could get even, or even try to get any of my money back. I just said, "Okay, you people got my RM2-50.00, and now I'm going to have a RM250.00 worth of fun." I told her that I was going to see to it that every cookie lover in Malaysia with an email account has a RM250.00 cookie recipe from Famous Amos...for free... She replied, "I wish you wouldn't do this" I said, "Well you should have thought of that before you stole from me", and slammed down the phone on her.

So, here it is!!! Please, please please pass it on to everyone you can possibly think of. I paid RM250.00 dollars for this...I don't want Famous Amos to ever get another cent off of this recipe..... Recipe may be halved:

Ingredients
2 cups butter
4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups brown sugar
5 cups blended oatmeal (measure oatmeal & blend in blender to a fine powder)
24 oz. chocolate chips
1 tsp. salt
18 oz. Cadbury bar (grated)
4 eggs
2 tsp. baking powder
3 cups chopped nuts (your choice)
2 tsp. vanilla

Steps
- Cream the butter and both sugars.
- Add eggs and vanilla; mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, & soda.
- Add chocolate chips, Cadbury bar and nuts.
- Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet.
- Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees.
- Makes 122 cookies.

Have fun..!!

Shepherd's Pie [P]

2007-09-22T14:17:00.000+08:00

- Zaty.

So yesterday Ma made her long-awaited Shepherd's pie, a yummy one at that (heheh!). Onto the important stuff:

Ingredients
Beef (minced), potatoes (LOTS), cooking oil, carrots, peas, cauliflower, sweet soysauce, sugar, salt, pepper, ginger, garlic, chillies, onions, spices.

*not in picture : cooking oil
*makes for about 10 people ;P

Steps

Note : Set A needs to be prepared first, while waiting for A to boil, you can prepare the other ingredients

Set A : The topping (mashed potatoes)
1. Boil the peeled potatoes in a big pot, medium fire.
2. Put butter and/or oil and salt in the pot as well.
3. Leave it until it gets soft, work on set B while waiting.

Set B : The filling (meat & veggies base)

Stir well until it looks like thus:

While waiting for the filling to dry (90%), mashed the potatoes of Set A (should be soft by now) . Add butter, salt and some pepper if you like =):

Now, we let two become one ;)

By the powers combined, I give you.. Shepherd's pie!!

Now, baking time! Set the oven or whatever heating mechanism you use to about 175ºC for about 25 minutes or more, depending on the mashiness of the potatoes. When it's done, the color of the topping's surface will look like this:

The end result (drumrolls please) :

Sorry I couldn't resist taking some. :9

Bon apetit~ ^__^

Ayam Masak Lomak Cili Api

2007-09-22T01:20:00.000+08:00

- Aten.

Hey dudes!

aten yg xrajin tulis blog would like to contribute sumthing even though she is obviously not a great cook!! (malu la zaty, i bukan chef~~~) (zaty : eleh ye la tuuu ^_^) ;p sorry peeps.. forgive me coz i'm going to use manglish?? takut nanti jadi bende lain pulak kalo speaking je!! gagagaga

So in conjunction with Ramadhan al Mubarak, I think lots of u guys will end up frust at your toilet just to think about what to cook especially for those who cook everyday. So here's some tips!! ngeeee~

Apparatus:
Periuk TRC, blender Nanad, chopping board Firus, mangkuk kecik, senduk, sudu.

Chemical stuff required:
8 small pcs of chicken (those in Auckland, halal chickens can get from Mohamad ;p), coconut milk (thick and less thick), cili api (or cili padi), kunyit (basah/kering), garlic and serai (lemongrass), sugar, salt.

Note: tu je kot? kalo ade terkurang or terlebih pepandaila adjust ;p

Procedure:
1. Defreeze chicken if frozen. Masukkan dalam microwave TRC for about 10 minutes.

2. Blender (or tumbuk pakai lesung) 5-10 butir cili api bercampur dgn bawang putih 3-4 ulas. If pakai kunyit basah boleh campur skali.

3. Panaskan kuali/periuk (with or without oil ;p).

4. Masukkan ayam & kentang ke dalam periuk dan ramuan2 yang dah diblender (#2).

5. Masukkan 3-4 cawan air (sukati la nak kuah banyak mane) or santan yg cair dulu (kalau pakai kelape fresh)

6. Biar sehingge mendidih.

7. Setelah mendidih, masukkan santan pekat, kacau dan tambahkan salt secukup rase (bulan pose jgn suke2 nak rase tau!! mintaklah pertolongan org yg xpuase seperti...hehehe)

8. Masukkan serai yang telah ditumbuk hujungnye.

9. Kalau ayam & kentang dah empuk, bolehlah tutup api yeh?

Note: Nak tambah sayur macam carrot or kacang panjang pun boleh :)

Conclusion

SELAMAT MENCUBE!!! ^-^

p/s : ampunkan saye kalau tersilap~

Idea asal: Pn Erabiah Abdul Samad. (luvluv~~)

Beef Curry [P]

2007-09-21T18:24:00.000+08:00

- Zaty.

Ma made beef curry today. Onto the good stuff, piccies! ^_^

Ingredients
Beef, potatoes, onions, garlic, curry powder, bunga lawang, buah pegaga, cinnamon, ginger, salt, sugar, santan (coconut milk), tomatoes, water.

Note : we used beef that's already fully cooked-boiled, it's not in the pics.

Steps!
* While preparing the other ingredients, make sure the beef (or whatever it is used to substitute it) is boiled - fully cooked!

Best eaten with rice or cicah-ed (dipped) with bread. Oishi~~~ =D

Ikan Sumbat

2007-09-16T05:12:00.000+08:00

aka Stuffed Fish =D

- Zaty.

Made by Ma.
I forgot the real ingredients, so I'll recheck this later.

Ingredients
Fishies (here, ikan kembung = trouts?), sugar, sliced chilli, minced ginger, kelapa purut (shaved coconut insides?), cooking oil, sliced onions.

Steps
1. Cut the fishes across its upper body on one side, making a wide space to put stuffing in.
2. Add all the other ingredients together nicely.
3. Stuff #2 into the #1 fishes, like thus:

4. 'Marinate' these for more than an hour by putting the stuffed uncooked fishes in the fridge (go watch TV or cook rice or whatever)
5. When you feel like eating, take them out and fry these in a large wok after heating up the oil.

Note : due to the usage of kelapa purut, the amount of cooking oil used may be a lot. Just a reminder =)

So how does it look?

This:

To this:

Itadakimasu!!! ^__^

To be eaten with rice, in case you were wondering. But if you were to ratah (eat w/out rice), it still tastes good. Only it doesn't feel 'complete'. =)

Spinach Soup [P]

2007-09-16T05:07:00.001+08:00

- Zaty.

For the first entry, let's make something reaaaally simple that I love eating, spinach soup! ^_^ It's made by Ma with the help (more like disturbance) of yours truly as the photographer and the ingredients-preparing assistant (y'know, collecting, cleaning, cutting etc).

So, onto the pictorial!

Le ingredients :
Spinach (duh), ginger, chillies, garlic, fishballs, cooking oil, water, 'anchovy' cubes (optional), salt, sugar.

Le steps~

En voila! (I have no idea why I'm using French terms but oh well ;) )

It's easy, right? SO ZATY, MOTIVATE YOURSELF!

Cooking is not hard.
Cooking is not hard.
Cooking is not hard.
Cooking is not hard.
Cooking is not hard.

*mental drilling*