Mini Pizza

- 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

1. Preheat oven. If you'll be making mini pizza using...
1. Pizza bases, 230 deg C will do. F
2. For other breads, I'm unsure... maybe 200 degs?
2. If you'll be using meat, cook it while you're preparing the other stuff.
3. Add in salt, sugar, oregano and chopped garlic into the tomato paste. Not too much!
4. Slather the tomato paste mixture onto the breads.
5. Sprinkle mushrooms, onions and pineapples evenly on the bread. Then add meat. (Make sure to not overcrowd the toppings or they'll fall off!)
6. Cover #5 with cheese.
7. Sprinkle breads with some oregano and sugar.
8. Spread some oil on a baking tray/paper/foil, and place breads carefully onto it.
9. Put it in the oven for 8-10 mins.
10. 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! ;)

Quiche - with filo pastry

- 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:

1. Set oven to 175 deg C
2. Whisk together the first 5 ingredients (eggs, milk, butter, self-raising flour, salt)
3. Fold in cheese and filling (*)
4. 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.
5. Pour the mixture into pan.
6. Top with sliced tomatoes and sprinkle with herbs.
7. 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! :)

Cheese scones

- 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:

1. Preheat oven to 220 deg C.
2. In a bowl (stir using wooden spatula - not hands!):
1. Sift in dry ingredients.
2. Add diced butter by 'massaging' it in - should look like breadcrumbs at the end.
3. Add cheese for dough (CD) (and onion/sausage bits if you want savoury scones). Mix evenly.
4. Make a pit in the middle of the mixture, then add milk (MD) while mixing quickly.
3. Cover your hands with flour and sprinkle some on the tabletop/board to prevent dough from sticking to it.
4. Turn out dough and place on the tabletop/board. Knead dough lightly; if it's too sticky, add flour, bit by bit.
5. 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).
6. 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.
7. Top each scone with grated cheese (CT). (I like to sprinkle a bit of oregano as well).
8. 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

Quiches!

- 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. :)

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~~)