I Want Cookie!

Hi! This time, the entry will be my Choco Chip Spotties aka Choc Chip Cookies. I found this recipe in one of my cookbooks and if I'm not mistaken, it's from Nestle. My girl simply loves these cookies. When I first tried baking these cookies, I found it to be a bit too sweet to my liking. Since I enjoy the light and crispy texture I have tried ommitting the white chocolate listed in the original recipe and to my delight, it worked! Now, I can have more cookies!!! Do try to bake these, especially those choc chip cookie lovers, because they are fun in every bite!

CHOCO CHIPS SPOTTIES

Ingredients:

(A)

1 and 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt

(B)

150g unsalted butter
125g soft brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla essence

(C)

200g chocolate chips

2 cups cornflakes(crushed)

Method:

• Sift together ingredients in (A) and keep aside.
• Cream butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add in the remaining ingredients in (B) and mix gently.
• Fold in the sifted ingredients gradually.
• Mix all ingredients in (C) to form a dough.
• Using a teaspoon, scoop the dough and roll into small balls.
• Place the balls onto a greased baking tin.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 175C for 10-12 minutes. (*Adjust the temperature depending on the type of oven you use. Mine has a fan so I bake these cookies at 150C for 12 mins)
• Let to cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight container.

For A Friend Abroad......

The recipe for the dish called 'Paprik' in this entry is requested by a friend. She's in the middle-east at the moment so, when she saw my photos at facebook, she asked me for the recipe. This dish is one of my regular dishes during the weekends. If you like vegetables, you should try this recipe.

'PAPRIK'

To cook this dish, you will need:

• 1/2 a chicken (cut into bite-size pieces)
• 4 red onions (pound coarsely)
• 2 pips of garlic(pound coarsely)
• 1 yellow onion (slice thinly)
• 5 birds eye chilles (crushed)
• 2 stalks of lemongrass(bruised)
• 3 pieces of kaffir lime leaves
• 2 ripe tomatoes (cut into
• 1/2 a carrot ( slice thinly
• 4 baby corn (slice thinly)
• 5-6 long beans (cut into 1 inch-length pieces)
• 4-5 florets of cauliflower
• 4-5 florets of broccoli
• 1 tbsp of tomato sauce
• 2 tbsp of chilli sauce
• 2 tbsp of oyster sauce
• 2-3 tbsp of water
• 2-3 limes
• salt to taste

Method:

• Heat some oit in the wok and fry the chicken pieces until cooked. Do not brown the chicken.
• Put in the pounded ingredients and birds eye chilles and fry until fragrant.
• Put in all the sauces, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves and water. Stir and let to simmer.
• Next, put in the vegetables and stir well until all the vegetables are cooked.
• Then, put in the tomato wedges and sliced yellow onion and stir again.
• Add salt to taste.
• Before serving, squeeze the lime on top of the dish.
• Serve hot with plain, white rice.
  

Under The Sea

How should I start? Yesterday, both hubby and I went for grocery shopping at Jaya 33. The place might look a bit high on the price side but believe me, you will get a good bargain here. The fruits are fresh and the prices are okay. I find that the vegetables are cheaper here compared to the wet market opposite this place. I also find that this place provides quite an array of selection of goods. If you happened to prefer imported products, this is the place that you should go. In simple words, it's another Cold Storage. I've compared the prices with the small Giant near the place and there is not much difference. At least, the products in Jaya 33 are fresher and in good condition.

Okay, enough of my babbling. Being a seafood lover and a not-so-often-going-for-grocery-shopping person, hubby just cannot resist to grab the seafood. Yes! They were fresh and some were still alive. You should see how mesmerised he was with the prawns, 'lala', squids and fish. As a result, we bought large- size prawns, some squids, 2 kg of 'lala' and 2 medium-size garoupa. You should see the 'glow' on his face. He certainly enjoys eating and he can survive on seafood alone!

I prepared my 'Lala Tumis Campak-campak' for lunch yesterday and for today's brunch appetizer, I have prepared fried squid rings with sauce. Very simple recipe with few ingredients. It's good as an appetizer or simply turn it as a snack for the kiddies.

FRIED SQUID RINGS WITH SAUCE

A:

• 2-3 large squids, cleaned and cut into rings


• 1 tsp of paprika/ chilli powder


• 1 tsp of ground white pepper


• salt to taste
  

B:

• 3 tbsp plain flour


• 3 tbsp cornflour

For the sauce:

• 1 tbsp mayonnaise


• 1 tbsp chilli sauce


• 2 tbsp tomato sauce

Method:

• First, mix all ingredients in A and marinate for 15 minutes.


• Meanwhile, mix to gether ingredients in B in a bowl.


• Coat the marinated squid rings in the flour mixture and fry until crispy. Drain excess oil. Be reminded that when frying squid, it is very normal for them to cause the oil to splutter due to their high water content.


• As for the sauce, mix all ingredients and serve with your squid rings.


• Enjoy!

A Cupcake A Day, Keeps All Worries At Bay...

Hi! In this entry would be my Orange Chiffon Cupcakes, recipe courtesy of Mat Gebu from MyResipi.com. I always thought that making anything 'chiffon' would be tremendously difficult until I tried his recipe last week. It's surprisingly easy. Here's the recipe if you feel like trying.

ORANGE CHIFFON CUPCAKES

A :-

• 4 egg yolks
• 100 g self-raising flour
• 30 ml fresh milk
• 30 g corn oil
• a pinch of salt
• 1 tsp orange flavouring
• a few drops of yellow food colouring
• 50g caster sugar
  
  B:-
• 4 egg whites
• 60g caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
  
  

Method:

• Preheat oven at 175C.
• In a large bowl, whisk all ingredients in A until well-mixed and creamy using a hand whisk. Keep aside.
• In the mixer, beat egg whites at high speed until foamy. Then, put in the cream of tartar.
• After that, put in the sugar gradually. Keep on beating until the mixture is stiff.
• Then, fold in this mixture into A until well-mixed.
• Spoon mixture into muffin cups until half-full.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes.
• When muffins are cooked, they will shrink a little but don't panic. It's their nature.
• Cool and serve!