Honey Tomato Chicken

- 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

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Take chicken pieces out and sautee the blended Group B ingredients till a fragrant smell rises.
4. 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').
5. Add in soy sauce and honey as desired.
6. Add in sliced mushrooms, stir for a few minutes.
7. Place the previous chicken pieces back into the pot, stir well. 
8. Wait for the gravy to thicken, stirring the pot content every half a minute. Continue until sure that meat is cooked.
9. When gravy has thickened (might take about 10 mins), add in sugar, salt, peas etc. Wait for a few minutes, stirring constantly. 
10. 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!

Mee Goreng

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?

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~ ^__^

Ayam Masak Lomak Cili Api

- 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]

- 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