Awesome Chocolate Chip Cookies

- 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:

1. used a bit less sugar, because I don't like it too sweet
2. added chocolate powder, because I just felt like it
3. used sea salt, because I saw another recipe using it so I'm curious about how it'll turn out
4. added a bit of milk, because I like the idea :P
5. 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 dozen cookies that are about 2 inches in diameter. :)

Equipment

1. Oven
2. Spatula
3. A large mixing bowl
4. Baking tray (2 if possible)
5. Baking/lining paper
6. Measuring spoon/cups
7. Airtight container
8. Dining tray/baking rack/large plate

Ingredients A (wet):

1. 1¼ C sugar (mixing white sugar and packed brown sugar is better)
2. 125 g butter, melted
3. 2 Tbsp cooking oil
4. 2 large eggs
5. 1 Tb milk
6. 5 drops of vanilla essence (you could also try 4:1, vanilla and peppermint)

Ingredients B (dry):

1. 2¼ C all purpose flour, well-sifted
2. 1½ tsp baking powder (or 1 tsp baking soda)
3. 1 Tb cocoa powder
4. 3/4 tsp salt
5. 1 C of chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 190degC.
2. With a spatula, mix Ingredients A one by one in a bowl until well-combined.
3. Stir in Ingredients B one by one, and mix everything well. The dough will become quite firm.
4. Line the baking tray with baking paper.
5. Scoop half a tablespoon of dough and use the spatula 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+combining together).
6. Place the tray in the oven for about 8-10 minutes
   (8 mins = slightly chewy brown-on-the-edges-lighter-in-the-centre cookies, 10min = darker and crispier; I'd go for 9 mins).
7. Prepare another batch on a second baking tray
   (keep this and the rest of the dough in the fridge/freezer while waiting for the batch in the oven!) ^*^
8. After a batch of cookies are done, take it out and replace it with the second tray you have prepared. Transfer the freshly baked cookies onto a clean surface (baking rack, dining tray or large plate) to cool down at room temperature
9. The cookies are good to eat/store just before the previous batch is done in the oven - transfer the baked cookies into an airtight container as soon as they've cooled down to prevent them from going stale. :)

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 melt quicked and make it thinner (and crispier) around the edges. Just the way I like it :D

No-yeast Homemade Thin-crust Pizza

- 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

1. 2 cups all-purpose flour
2. 1 Tbsp baking powder
3. 1/4 tsp salt
4. 2/3 cup water
5. 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. 
6. Knead the dough about 6 times to make sure all the ingredients are evenly combined.
7. 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).
8. 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 making the pizza base soggy).
9. Scoop on and spread the tomato sauce base*** on the dough evenly
10. Scatter toppings^^^ onto the tomato base, and add herbs if desired (I love using basil, I just sprinkle it all over).
11. Scatter cheese (sprinkles, shreds, squares, chunks, whatever) to moderately cover the toppings. 
12. Place the pizza in the oven for about 15mins, until the topping becomes slightly brown. 
13. 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 used a medium-sized can of pasta (tomato) 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 :T

 Will post up pic later Cheerios!

Sardine Rolls

- 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~

sushi

- 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

Hot Tuna + Cheese Popiah

- 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):

1. Defrost & thaw the popiah covers, if frozen.
2. Separate the covers from the stacked layers it comes in the packaging with.
3. 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!
   
4. 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
5. 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.
6. Fry your masterpieces.
7. 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]

- 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

Shepherd's Pie [P]

- 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~ ^__^