Do you know the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man...

Still remember those lines from the nursery rhyme? No? Let me refresh your memory.

Do you know the muffin man,

The muffin man, the muffin man,

Do you know the muffin man,

Who lives down Drury Lane.

This entry is about the muffins that I prepared for DikWi's son, Azfar's, Canteen Day. Wi, if you are reading, thanks for the trust. Initially, I wasn't really sure whether my homemade muffins can be sold but when my dear friend, Dikwi mentioned that it's going to be part of Azfar's school charity programme, I agreed to prepare these muffins. Here are the photos. Will enclose the recipes later because it's getting late and I need to be in school as early as 7 a.m. tomorrow morning!

MINI CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

MINI STRAWBERRY CHIP MUFFIN

Here's the recipe. These muffins are worth a try!

• 200 g plain flour
• 160g unsalted butter
• 120g brown sugar
• 100g chocolate chips
• 20g/ 4 tsp cocoa powder
• 20g/ 4 tsp baking powder
• 140 fresh milk
• 1 egg (well-beaten)

Method:

• Preheat your oven at 180C.
• Sieve together flour, butter, baking powder and cocoa powder. Keep aside.
• Beat the butter and brown sugar until fluffy.
• Put in sieved ingredients and egg. Mix well.
• Pour in the milk and chcolate chips amd mix again.
• Arrange paper cups into a muffin mould.
• Pour mixture into paper cups and bake at at 180C for 15-20 minutes.
• Let cool and serve.

* To make the strawberry version, replace chocolate chips with strawberry chips. Replace cocoa powder with 1/2 tsp of strawberry essence and a few drops of pink food colouring. Sprinkle sugar hearts on top before baking.

Puffy Puff From The Puffy Makcik

Hi all! I know it has been a long time since I last blogged. I was caught up with work, work, work and never ending work. As usual, cooking is always my escapism from all the daunting responsibilities at work. Whenever I feel like my head is going to explode, I will venture into the kitchen. Call me awkward, but I always find the kitchen to be a place where I can seek some solace.

As an ardent recipe collector and avid recipe blogs enthusiast, I feel really grateful to have discovered an amazing ingredient called 'puff pastry'. Yes! This ingredient is cheap, user-friendly and guarantees a superb outcome. I've used the 'Kawan' brand puff pastry. It costs RM3.49per packet of 10 pieces. It's very versatile because all you need to do is to prepare fillings that suit your liking. Here are some photos of my experiment using puff pastry.

MINI CHEESY SAUSAGE PUFF

TUNA PUFF

Here's the recipe if you feel like trying. Since I've discovered puff pastry, I always make sure that I have it stored in the freezer in case I need to prepare something for supper. Nope! You've guessed it wrong! Not for my kids, but mainly for my food critic. Who else? My hubby, of course!

To make these simple but satisfying puffs, you will need :
A packet of puff pastry (Size : 5'x5')(thawed for 20 minutes)
10 cheese sausages ( cut into threes) or you can use Ayamas Mini sausages
one egg
2 tbsp of fresh milk ( I used low-fat)
some butter

Method:

1. Preheat the oven at 175C.
2. Take out a piece of puff pastry. Using a small knife, divide into three equal pieces.
3. Then, place a piece of the cut sausage on the pastry and roll until all the sausage is covered.
4. Cut diagonal lines on top of the pastry.
5. Repeat Step 3 and 4 until all pastry and sausages have been used.
6. Line your baking tray with aluminium foil and grease with butter.
7. Place your rolled up sausages on the tray.
8. Beat the egg and mix with the milk.
9. Brush the egg mixture on your sausage rolls.
10. Bake until golden brown for 20 minutes/ lesser, depending on your oven.

* If you want to make tuna puff instead, divide the pastry into two and put the filling on one half of the pastry. Fold the remaining half over the filling and use a fork to seal the edges. A small can of Ayam Brand Chilli Tuna would be more than enough. Make sure to drain the oil to prevent your pastry from becoming soggy.

At the end of the rainbow, there's a pot of gold......

Hi! No, no, no. It's not about the technique used in memorising the seven colours of the rainbow or how to strike gold. Not to worry. I just want to share my 'Rainbow Pudding' recipe. This recipe is from alma@MyResipi but I have reduced the amount of sugar for I find that it is too sweet for me. I've also tried using coconut milk instead of evaporated milk mentioned in the original recipe and it turned out well! For those who love sweet dessert and in need of a simple dessert recipe but with an impressive outcome, this pudding is worth a try!

RAINBOW PUDDING

Ingredients:

10 g jelly powder

650ml water

175g sugar

1 tbsp custard flour

1 egg

200ml evaporated milk/ creamer/ coconut milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

60g butter

Method:

• In a pot, boil the jelly powder, sugar and water until dissolved and keep aside.
• Next, beat the egg using a whisk.
• Then, put the custard flour into the whisked egg and pour in the milk/creamer/coconut milk and mix well. Strain this mixture into the pot containing the jelly mixture.
• After that, put the pot over medium heat and keep stirring until it boils rapidly. Then, put in the butter and vanilla essence and stir well. Remove from heat.
• Pour equal amount of jelly mixture into three similar size bowl and add food colouring. I used red, yellow and green.
• Then, sprinkle some water onto a 7'x7' square baking tin and place one part/corner of the tin at a higher position.(You can use the kitchen towel for this step)
• Using a small ladle(ice-cream scoop size), spoon the red mixture. Then spoon the yellow mixture and continue with the green mixture alternately until all the mixture has been used up.
• Place the tin on a level surface. Let to cool for 20 minutes and chill in the fridge.
• You can now enjoy your Rainbow Pudding!
  

The Art of Throwing

Hi! It's me again, or should I say, "Cikyah's in the house!" Nope, definitely not my style, hahahaha. I went to look for my high protein flour for my potato bread because I couldn't find any at Giant Kelana Jaya - I was told that it's out of stock and the new stock will only arrive in one week's time! What? As a result, I drove to Jaya 33 with high hopes that the flour would be there. Alhamdulillah, they had the flour and I bought 3 packets-to save me from all the troubles of hunting for the flour later. The initial plan was just to get the flour but I ended up buying 'lala'. I just had to buy them because they looked very alive and fresh! So, tonight's dinner menu is "Lala Tumis Campak-Campak". Why the name? It's because, I simply 'threw' all the ingredientsinto the wok. It tasted okay to me. Wanted to take the risk to try this recipe? Come on! I dare you!

'LALA TUMIS CAMPAK-CAMPAK'

Ingredients:
1 kg of 'lala' (cleaned and drain excess water)
4 tbsp of ground onion
2 tbsp of ground garlic
1 tbsp of ground ginger
1 tbsp of ground chillies
2 tbsp of oyster sauce
1 tbsp of tomato sauce
2 tbsp of chilli sauce
3 tbsp of sweet soy sauce
a small bunch of coriander leaves (chopped coarsley)
a small bunch of spring onion(chopped coarsely)



Method:

• Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a wok over a medium heat and fry the onion, garlic and ginger until fragrant.


• Then, put in all the sauces and fry again.


• Next, put in the 'lala' and stir well. Cover the wok and let cook for 10 minutes.


• Then, stir again and adjust the taste.


• Sprinkle the chopped coriander leaves and spring onion.


• Enjoy!

Going Back To Roots

Hello all! When the title mentions 'going back to roots', I am actually thinking of the delicious and mouth watering 'kuih' that my late grandmother used to prepare for us. She was well-known for her 'kuih koci', 'kuih genggang'(layered 'kuih') and 'pulut tetal'(compressed glutinous rice cake steamed in coconut milk and coloured using the butterfly pea('bunga telang'), eaten with durian sauce. The taste was out of this world! Fortunately, my mother managed to master some of her skills in making these delicacies.

Talking about traditional 'kuih',I finally managed to include the recipe of one of my favourites in this entry. I've promised this recipe to my dear Mareena. I'm so sorry that it took me so long to update the recipe because my version is using the 'agak-agak' method. I've found a recipe in MyResipi.com so, Mareena, if you are reading my blog, I hope that you will try the recipe and let me know the result! One important info, in Melaka, this 'kuih' is not called 'Buah Melaka' but 'ondeh-ondeh'. The same goes for the palm sugar, which is called 'gula tuak' and not 'gula Melaka'. Anyway, to cut my blabbering short, here's the recipe.

ONDEH-ONDEH/ BUAH MELAKA

Ingredients:

10 screwpine leaves (blend with some water and squeeze out the juice)

2 small blocks of palm sugar (cut into small cubes)

2 cups of glutinous rice flour

1 grated coconut (to be mixed with 1/2 tsp of salt)

Method:

• In a bowl, put in the flour and add the screwpine leaves juice gradually and knead well. The dough should be soft but pliable.
• Take a piece of dough (the size of a marble) and flatten it.
• Put in a piece of the palm sugar in the middle of the flatten dough and cover the sugar completely with the remaining dough. Repeat the process.
• Boil 3 cups of water in a pot and put in the balls into the boiling water.
• When the balls are afloat, sccop out and shake the excess water.
• Roll in the grated coconut.
• Serve.
  

Whew! When it comes to traditional 'kuih' I find it quite difficult to describe the process in English! Please pardon my language if my instructions appear illegible to you!

Simplicity Is Always The Best

When it comes to preparing a dish, I always go for something simple yet satisfying. For tonight's dinner, I have prepared hubby's favourite, which is tomyam. I got this recipe from 'Healthy Recipes, The Wise Choice' cookbook series(Vol.1) but I have adapted it to suit my tastebud. Personally, tom yam is my choice of dish to cook when I have to go to school much earlier than the usual time.

TOM YAM A LA CIKYAH

Ingredients:

1/2 a chicken (cut into bite size pieces)

10 medium size prawns (shelled but leave the tail intact)

10 fishballs (cut into halves)

5 ripe tomatoes (cut 2 tomatoes into wedges)

6 red chillies

3 pips of garlic (bashed)

a thumb size of galangal (sliced and bashed)

2 lemongrass (bruised)

8-10 birds eye chillies

5 pieces of kaffir lime leaves

3 sprigs of coriander leaves

1 yellow onion (cut into rings)

1 cup of cauliflower

1 cup of broccoli

1/2 carrot (cut into thin strips)

3 baby corn (sliced thinly)

2 tbsp of fish sauce

4 tbsp of lime juice

salt to taste

Method:

• First, in a pot, boil the chicken pieces in 5 cups of water over a medium fire.
• Next, grind 3 tomatoes and red chillies until fine. Then, put in this mixture into the boiling chicken stock. Levae to boil again.
• Then, put in the birds eye chillies, lemongrass, garlic, onion rings and all the vegetables. Stir until cooked.
• Then, put in the prawns, fishballs, fish sauce, lime juice, kaffir lime leaves and coriander leaves. Let to simmer and add salt to taste.
• Serve with hot, plain white rice.