Steamed Chocolate Cake

Received a call that my husband's young cousins from the other side of KL wanted to come over during the weekend. So I've baked these cup chocolate cakes. Or rather steamed the cakes. Really simple. There's no need even to use a mixer. And it doesn't take you long. Bak kata orang, you are done in a jiffy!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of chocolate powder

1 cup caster sugar

125gm butter (melted)

1 cup water

1/2 cup condensed milk

1 1/2 cup plain flour

1 teaspoon soda bicarbonate

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 eggs

Method:

1. Melt the butter with sugar, chocolate powder and water

2. Let it cool for 15 minutes

3. Pour the condensed milk into the mixture

4. Stir it and gradually add in the eggs

5. Lastly add the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate soda

6. Steam it for 30 to 40 minutes

Chicken Tomato Sandwich

My daughters and I are not really into sandwiches. Okay, occassionally, I did serve up the usual Malaysian-style sandwiches fare like sandwich sardines of sandwich telur. You know, the ones that we usually buy from the Kedai Serbaneka at petrol stations.

However, a little imagination can turn a platter of sandwiches into a sensational assortment of unexpected combinations of chicken, eggs, and tomato. Which I accidentally unearthed this morning while preparing breakfast. And the best part is that my daughters and (and later on the man of the house as well when he got home) simply love it.

I called it chicken tomato sandwich. It is rather simple. It only took me 10 minutes to prepare the whole thing up (but then again sandwiches should be ready in the shortest possible time pun kan?)

All I did was to firstly marinate the chicken with salt, white pepper and black pepper. Marinate it for a minute. Then put the chicken in a wok and add in a spoonful of butter. When the chicken turns brownish, add in the onion and tomato (cubed). Stir for another minute and do not forget to add a dash of Lea & Perrins sauce as well (kalau tak de kicap biasa pun boleh). And in no time, sandwiches' filling is done. Then toast the bread (the usual white bread from Gardenia will do but if you are health conscious then the wholemeal it is).
Put the chicken tomato in between two slices of bread and untuk menambah rasa, add in a sunny side up egg as well. Sedap. Sensational.

December is my busy month

I did not expect this school holiday to be like this. I was caught up in endless cooking sessions. One after another. From various 'kenduris' to several family gatherings and of course Hari Raya Aidil-Adha. I am truly exhausted. That's the reason for my absence from the blogosphere these past few weeks.
Well I am back! Here are some of the snapshots of what I've been up to ... (the pix were rather poor because we were busy entertaining and enjoying ourselves...)

First stop was a trip to Sitiawan, Perak where my dear Kak Encik (my delightful cousin) is staying and she's planning a kenduri bersunat for her youngest son Hadim. My three girls and I took a bus to Ipoh and then tumpang a ride with my sister to her place. It's not that easy because I have to bring along a big box of cake. (Bapak tak ikut because kena kerja)
Now, the thing with Kak Encik was she wanted a full-blown kenduri like orang kahwin. And the best part was that she wanted to masak sendiri. Verrry exciting. Only problem was there're only herself, my sister Kak and I who would be doing the cooking for more than 200 guests. In addition, she wanted both my sister and I to handle the pelamin, the bunga telur, the cakes and the whole works. Very the mengada-ngada. And she wanted this car-shaped cake. I tell you that it's not really trendy anymore to have such a cake but she was very stubborn. And it's not easy to decorate a cake at her house. Alhamdulillah, everything turned out well. The kenduri was a success. Yeay to the cooks!

Here's the "pengantin" Hadim sitting very handsome on the pelamin.

Kak Encik wanted a unique looking meja pengantin (banyak ragam kan?) . So I became overly creative and decided to just lambakkan the ayam bulat and other fruits and salads onto banana leaves. Well, something different lah jugak. The guests were pretty impressed... perhaps they thought this is the latest trend from KL. Hahahah.

The day after, the crew at the kenduri decided to reward themselves by going for a day excursion to nearby Pangkor Island. It was fun and exciting. There were about 18 of us going over that day. Kak Encik belanja. Shukran. Semoga murah rezeki. Amin. That's us in the ferry going over (Front: atie, Alia and Shida. Back row: Faizah, Yong, Kak and Mrsgoodthings.)

Two days later, I went back to USJ with two extra passengers (Afiq , Kak Encik's son, and Nizam, Yong's son). Depa nak jalan2 kat KL. Next day pulak, my two sisters and their families also came over plus my mak. Reason was to attend our nephew's (Naim) engagement ceremony. As the girl's place is only about 5 minutes away, our home became the operation centre for the whole family. My Sister In Law brought all the hantaran to our place for us to touch up. And she brought food too. That's the future bride (Miza) with us the aunts and future mom in law.

Oh yes, in between all these kelam-kabut, we managed to also organise a small birthday party for Bapak who turned 43 on Dec 14. Here's birthday cake. Happy Birthday! Moga Diberi kesihatan keimanan dan rezeki yang berkat. Amin. Sorry, ramai sangat orang terlupa ambik gambar.

By the way, my sister was supposed to go back to Kampar the day after the majlis bertunang but ended up staying back to celebrate Hari Raya Haji with us. Even her eldest daughter and son in law came up to join us later on. In between, we cook and cook and ate and ate. And we also found time making several trips to Ikea, Ikano, The Curve, Sunway Pyramid, Summit USJ, Mydin Hypermarket, CineLeisure and Subang Parade. Sempat tengok movies I Am Legend and The Golden Compass lagi.Very busy oooo.

Here's our Raya Haji spread... spaghetti bolognaise, nasi himpit and nasi tomato. Kenyangggg!

Rendang Daging Cili Padi

Since I tried this recipe, this dish has become a hit in my family. Makan dengan nasi panas...wow ..terangkat. Even when my sister came over last week, she makan berkali-kali. Thanks to my dear Zai (www.zaitgha-dayindayout.blogspot.com) ..my blogger friend for the recipe. I tried this recipe a few times but only this time, I manage to take a good picture. Mouth watering, really?
For the recipe, just click her blog. ...

Kitchen Moment 2: Banana Split

School holiday. Been busy. Plans to have a regular Kitchen Moment session with the girls do not happen as often as I want it to be. Anyway, this weekend, my Mak, sister and her kids came over (ada kenduri kahwin in Serendah and they decided to drop by). Since the nieces are also here, decided to rope in all of them for Kitchen Moment session - this time its Banana Split. Havoc... it's not easy managing so many "kepala" who are more interested to eat rather than learning how to make classy Banana Split. And most of them prefer the banana split without the banana. Kacau betul. Makanya the end result did not turn out as expected.

The Recipe:
This is extremely easy. Tutup mata also can do.
First, you go out and buy the ice cream - chocolate, vanilla and strawberry flavours.
Then do not forget to buy banana.
Once you are back in the kitchen, slice the banana into two.
Put in a plate and sprinkle the brown sugar on top. Heat it in a microwave for two minutes.
Then let it cool before putting the banana in an oval shaped bowl. Then scoop the three flavoured ice cream on top. Sprinkle chocolate rice or chocolate cream. If you are "rajin" pipe whipped cream on top and finish it with a cherry. Macam kat A&W tu. Then you eat.

Our Anniversary Feast

Time flies! Real "cepat-cepat"! And here I am enjoying 14 year of marriage bliss. Yes, yesterday both sang suami and I celebrated our 14 anniversary. Alhamdulillah!
To celebrate, hubby took us to this neat new eating place at the new Sunway Pyramid wing called Fig And Olive. It's a Singapore-based chain specialising on Halal Mediteranean cuisine. Like the new Pyramid wing, Fig and Olive just opened its door about a month ago - a first in Klang Valley (they had another one in JB and like seven outlets in the republic.)
So we makan-makan... not bad though.

But me, being me still wanted to cook something for the occasion. So today, on the anniversary of our kenduri kahwin (yesterday was the official anniversary date) at my mak's place exactly 14 years ago (20.11.1993), I surprised the Groom yang veteran ini dengan these two dishes...

1. Chicken Terrayaki with Spicy Spaghetti Bolognese

It's a fusion between Japanese and Italian, as I'm sure you all are aware. It's a hit among my daughters. And the man of the hour simply love it. And for dessert.... tada

2. a Tiramisu cake - one of my favourite cake which I haven't baked for a longest time.

My Asma could not remember ever having it but like everybody else, they gobbled the cake in record time.

Look at the layer inside, sinful sesangat. It comprises of sponge cake, cheese, coffee and lemon, covered with thick and rich whipped creamed with sprinkled cocoa powder. Fulamak! Jemput ke rumah kalau nak rasa...

Kitchen Moments with your Kids

Since dah lama tak berblog, maka tercetuslah idea to post entry on kid’s recipe. I hope such entries will help you to go through the school holidays in a more enjoyable manner where you and your kids will have a fun time in a kitchen. Just like what I’m hoping for with the girls and I here.
To kick off such entry, the girls and I decided to bake a cake. A simple one. It has been decided that we will have a kitchen moment together once a week until the end of school holiday. My girls, chef Alia, chef Asma and chef Arissa will be responsible in gathering all the ingredients, cracking eggs, pouring flour, stirring, mixing etc. The Mak will only supervise -- I am enjoying this.
I hope with this experience, we will help them become independent in the kitchen, as well as an opportunity for them to learn how to follow instructions, basic math skills, nutrion and cleaning up.
It will be fun!…………or a disaster? So for the first session, we made this....

Ingredient:

1 packet of biskut marie.

11/2 cups of water.

1/2 cup sugar.

1/2 cup milo.

2tbsp susu pekat.

2tbsp butter.

1tbsp cocoa powder.

1 egg.

Method:

Whisk egg in a small bowl

Pour in a pan together with water, sugar, milo, milk, butter and cocoa powder.

Put it in a slow fire-stir

After 5 minutes add 'biskut marie' and stir it very gently.

Cook until the biscuits is soft.

Transfer it to the baking pan and what do you know... it's ready.......and ready to eat. Yes, cake yang tak perlu dibakar.

Don't forget to pelawa your parents and sibling to eat together.

One slice...one bite
Finally, we named it 'Crazy Marie'....

BASIC TIPS FOR COOKING WITH KIDS

#Begin your child's kitchen adventure with...wooden spoons, plastic or metal mixing bowls, wire whisk, plastic or aluminium measuring cups, and a child sized apron.

# Safety first- Keep young children away from a hot stove, oven, sharp knives dan apa-apa bahan yang sewaktu dengannya.

# Allow even the youngest chef to pour the ingredients into a bowl; flour, sugar, eggs etc. #Remember to turn the mixer off first

#.Cracking eggs can be a challenge for little chefs. Allow them to practice a bit by cracking the eggs into a separate bowl at first. Then you can remove any shells before adding the eggs to remaining ingredients.

#But most important rules:Mak mesti ada with their kids. Jangan tidur atau pergi shopping

Happy 11th Birthday, Arissa!

My youngest turns 11 today. It's already a family tradition that for birthdays, we would go out for makan-makan and then organise a cake cutting ceremony (hah! very formal one) at home afterwards. And normally, as the case with Alia's and Asma's birthdays last August, I would cook something (usually a favourite of the birthday girl or boy) to go along with the cake cutting event. Unfortunately, it was not to be this year for Arissa. I mean I didn't cook for her. I fell sick. Really sick. In fact I'm quite sick now and I've asked the Bapak to help me upload the photos. And for him to spell check this entry as well. (Lots of spelling mistakes lah, fening fening!)

This is Arissa. The Birthday Girl. We went to Secret Recipe at Subang Parade. Because she wanted pasta. And Arissa, Alia and Bapak ordered Spaghetti Meatball. Asma and I were having Black Pepper Chicken.
Arissa and her Bapak. Peace to you my darling!

Back home, Arissa was esctatic with her Birthday gifts from Bapak, me, her kakaks and Opah Temoh. er, by the way that Famous Amos hamper on the right was mine, a gift from my hubby. This year, whenever our girls celebrated birthdays, he would gave me something too. Said that I should be getting something too as I played a vital role in delivering our babies. How sweet, dont you all think so?

I managed to bake a chocolate cake for Arissa this morning. It doesn't look that good as I' still shivering from sickness. But Bapak said it tastes good! Alhamdulillah.

Arissa and her Kakaks - Asma and Alia.

The girls bukak hadiah, lupa lak nak makan.

As I'm too sick to even lift a finger, and Bapak is busy ambik gambar, my girls set the table for our birthday dinner at home. Thanks , sayang!

Lauk-pauk dinner Birthday Arissa. We ordered two large Domino's Pizza and chicken wings. And then my neighbour Sabrina sent this wonderful Mee Bandung and fried chicken over. Rezeki. She and her husband Jefry had a Raya Open House by the pool earlier on. We went over after coming back from Subang Parade... sedap2 makanan - apart from mee bandung, she had the usual lemang, nasi himpit plus rendang and Nasi Ayam. Then of course segala kuih-muih. Sedap.

Bread pudding with sauce

This liberally spiced bread pudding with creamy sauce and raisins sprinkled on top is really a hit at home. My family love it, especially my Arissa. The other night, I made this pudding and she simply wiped her plate real clean, macam tak payah basuh pulak the plate. Don't you just feel wonderful when your "air tangan" simply disappear in a matter of minutes.
I have several bread pudding recipes in my collection but this one is the winner. I learned this from a dear friend and mentor Kak Joy of Taman Tun. Mentor tu..


Ingredient:
8 slices of bread
100gram of brown sugar
2 eggs
250 gram fresh milk
Raisins and cinnamon powder to sprinkle on top
Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Glaze a baking pan with butter.
Break bread into small pieces .
Line it into an 8 inch square baking pan.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, sugar.
Whisk until well mixed.
Pour over bread, and lightly push down with a fork until bread is covered and soaking up the egg mixture.
Sprinkle the raisins on top.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly tapped.


Sauce
250 gram of fresh milk.
2tbsp of plain flour.
Salt to taste.

Put the mixture into a pot and stir continuously over a low heat for 10-15 minutes.

And here it is.....yummy. yummy.

ummmph......

Nampak 'elegant' and yet very simple to make....kan!

Notes:

#You can also sprinkle a cheese on top of it and the taste will definetely be ..superb!

Daging Masak Hitam

Daging Masak Hitam is a common dish among Malaysians especially during Raya. Still in a mode of Raya ehh..why not you try this for your Raya open house. This particular recipe is rather easy. For one, you don't have to go through all the trouble of having to marinate the beef with various spices and what not. I assure you that the end result is delicious nevertheless. All you need to do is to follow and exercise the correct technique.

I learned this recipe from my sister's MIL many many years ago when I was still single. In fact, my hubby loves this dish very much. I believed that I cooked this dish when we first got married and he keeps on asking me to cook it over and over again.



Ingredient A:

1kg of beef
500 gram chilli paste(cili boh)
1/2 bottle ofsoy sauce(kicap)
2 tbsp of thick soy sauce( kicap pekat)
5-6 cloves of red onions(bawang besar)-sliced
2tbsp of fried onion-blend
1 cup of tamarind juice
4-5 tbsp sugar
Salt to taste
1 cup of oil

lngredient B:

4 cloves of shallots-sliced
3 cloves of garlic-sliced
2 cinnamon
2 star anise



Method:
Cook beef chunk in water until it tender and cut into slices.
Heat oil in a wok and fry the red onion until the onion turn brown-set aside.
Reheat wok and fry ingredient B until fragrant.
Add the chilli paste and cooked it until the colour change.
Add sugar and stir for another 5 minutes.
Pour in both soy sauce and tamarind juice.
Stri occasionally so that the mixture does not stick to the wok.
Put in the beef and cooked it until the red oily layer comes out.
Add in the fried onion and continue stir.
Put in salt to taste and cook it until beef in tender and the gravy is thick.
Finally put in the blended fried onion.
Done.



Tips and trick:
# Only use chilli paste( chilly boh) that you buy directly from the shop. Refrain from using homemade blended dried chilli bacause as it will affect the taste and the look.
#Be generous with the oil as it will make the red oily layer come out nicely.
#Make sure that you fried the onion thoroughly as it will bring out the aroma of the dish.
#For the blended fried onion that you add in towards the end of the cooking, use the one that you can buy from the shop. The more you add in , more thicker the gravy will be. You can use this technique whenever you cook any other dishes.
#You may sprinkle the raisin on top of the dish.

Curry Mee

This particular recipe of curry-mee was given by my eldest sister when we went to her house for raya recently. It is quite similar with any other curry-mee recipe except that it can be done without having to add in the usual rencah (like chicken, shrimp, beef etc). You can just make do with dried anchovies and a cube chicken stock. It is very simple and yet the taste stays marvellous. It was so easy that i whipped up this recipe when we had a sudden exodus of guests last week.

This recipe is meant for 50-60 people. So, measure accordingly lah...

Ingredient:
For the curry

1 packet of beef curry powder(medium size)+ 1 cup of water
2 kg of thick coconut milk
1 cm fresh ginger-sliced
3 stalks of lemon grass
4 cloves garlic-sliced
6 cloves of shallots
250g(segenggam) dried anchovies-pounded
5-6 cubes of maggi chicken stock
curry leaves
2 stick of cinnamon
2 star anise(bunga lawang)
3 packet of fish cake or fish ball
Oil
Salt

For the garnishing

Yellow noodles(mee), red chillies, limes, fried shallots, bean sprout, corriander, spring onion, hard boiled egg, sawi and a long bean.

Method :

Heat the oil in a pot.
Fry the ginger, garlic, shallots, cinnamon, star anise and a curry leaves until fragrant.
Add in curry powder.
Fry for 10 minutes.
Add chicken stock and dried anchovies bring to boil.
Add coconut milk, lemon grass and salt.
Simmer the curry over low heat.
Add fish cake and fish ball
Keep warm

To serve
Put some bean sprouts, sawi and long bean and noodles and ladle the hot gravy in.
Garnish with sliced chilies, dried shallots, coriander and spring onion and a piece of lime.

Tips and Tricks:

# Only use hot water whenever you made the curry. So, after add in the curry powder, pour in hot boiling water. It will not only make your curry tastier but also delicious looking. And if you must add more water later on, yes you got it right - only use hot water.
#At my sister's place, she served the curry mee with a pudina leaves. I found it is a good combination, so try it haa..

Makan-makan Hari Raya

Lamanya tak jumpa... buzy with Hari Raya..what else! and I've not been feeling good too..as i was down with a gastric problem. That sort of dampen my raya a bit. However, to know more how I enjoy my raya , you can go to my husband's blog.

I have been meaning to write about the food during raya, but was too busy enjoying it and totally forgotten to take any photos of the food. Here are a few photos that my husband managed to salvage.

This year, my family and I celebrated raya at my sister's place in Kampar, Perak. All my siblings and their families came down too. I enjoyed it sangat-sangat. Everybody were there except for Azham(my niece Faizah's husband who is currently doing his Phd. in Japan), Zaki(Faizah's brother who for some strange reason shy away from joining gathering macam ni - very the anti social), Naim( my nephew who has gone back to U.K last Ramadan to study) and newly weds Farhana and hubby Hasri (they balik kampung Hasri for the first two days of Raya).

My sister (kak) really cooked up a storm this raya, literally..Me? I tolong sikit-sikit jer..almaklumler rumah orang kan. On the first day she cooked Nasi Jagung, Daging Kerutup, Dalca, Rendang Pedas Ayam(ayam pencen pulak tu..), and Nasi impit. She ordered a kuah kacang yang out of this world punya sedap. Kak Zai (my SIL) brought Nasi impit, Lontong, Kuah Kacang and Ayam Goreng while Yong brought Ketupat Palas with rendang (tahun ni Yong tak buat Rendang Tok la..).

Over the next three days , Kak also cooked Mee Goreng, Meehoon Goreng, Nasi Goreng, Mee-Sup and Nasi Putih with lauk-pauk segala ...memang a lot of food...berpadanan ler dengan ramai nya tetamu yang datang.

On the third day of raya, we were all so tired with all the rendangs and lemangs, so we decided to grill burgers and sausages. Here's Hasri and Ana..rajin nampak....

This is Kelamai. A traditional kueh said to only be available in Gopeng, Perak. I bought it for Rm20. It tasted like a cross between dodol and bingka ubi. It was cooked in a bamboo just like lemang but the bamboo is white in colour. Don't ask me how is that so..

Sedapnya...

The men in my family. My hubby is standing second from right with all the other nephews (he thinks he look young here.....yeah.right)

The Ladies pulak...unfortunately I look the biggest.Oh tidak!

Nurul, Alia and Asma - our three beautiful princess

My mom with her grandaughters at my Arwah Bapak's grave.

Fried Shrimp with Kerisik

I came up with this recipe for our breaking fast yesterday. I used things normally found in my kitchen. The result is simply amazing and delicious. It is easy to do and the cooking time does not take so long and you can still be very impress by the result.

Ingredient:
1 kg of shrimp (medium size)
4 pcs of tofu (tauhu)
2 medium onion-chopped
2 garlic
2 cm Ginger
1 pckt Curry leaves
2 table spoon Chilli powder
2 red chilli
2 green chilli
Coconut oil for frying
2 tbsp grated coconut
2tbsp soy-sauce
A pinch of salt

Method
Leave the shrimp heads and shell on but chop off the eyes part. Marinated it with chilli powder and a pinch of salt. Leave aside for 2-5 minutes. Then fried them until the shrimp turns lightly brown. Then you heat oil in a pan. Cook onion, garlic and ginger. Add curry leaves, marinated shrimp, soy-sauce, tofu and kerisik. Put in red and green chilli. Salt to taste. Cook until shrimp are pink and firm about 2 minutes on each side. Served it hot with rice or bread.

All about Shrimp

Shrimp comes from Italian word for Dublin Bay Prawns
The word prawn used to describe large shrimp and different varieties of shellfish
Shrimp come in a different colours such as gray, pink and white. Its benefits include:
1. Good source of protein
2. Low in saturated fat
3. Excellent source of iron,selenium and vitamins B12, D, andB3
4. Quick and easy to prepare

Yummy!

EGG PUDDING

I am rather passionate about this particular egg pudding. If you want a fast and delicious dessert, I suggest you should try this recipe. I’ve had various egg pudding or pudding caramel recipes but this recipe is so much simple. And did I say delicious too?
Apparently, this particular egg pudding has been the staple dessert in my hubby’s family. I’ve first tasted it when we went over to his aunt’s place in Ipoh. The delightful Wan Chu (or simply Chu as we affectionately call her) made this one day (loooong time ago when we first got married) and I just love it. Of course I asked for the recipe. And I have been using this recipe ever since.
But a word of caution, you’ve got to be very careful and follow the instructions to the T when making this pudding or otherwise the result would not be as tasty.

Ingredient:
For the Custard
10 eggs
A tin ( a small ones) of condensed milk
2 ½ tin (using the same condensed milk tin) of cool water (refrigerated water)

For the caramel
350g palm sugar
1 cup of water
1 strand of pandan leaf

Methods:
To make the custard, whisk the egg for 2 minutes. Add all the milk and the cool water. Whisk further. Then strain the mixture into a bowl. Leave it aside.
To make the caramel, place the palm sugar, water and pandan leaf in a pan and stir gently over low heat until sugar dissolve. Then strain the sugar mixture. Leave it aside.Then you ready the steamer over low heat fire and arrange the small bowls in it. Pour the caramel into these cups – about 1/3 of the cup - gently. Then pour in the custard on top, also very slowly. (Don’t worry if the two mixtures seem to be mixed as it will separate itself later). Steam over for 8 to 10 minutes until you can see small holes on the custards.

Then you makan.
You can serve the pudding this way...

... or like this.