I Have Moved

Morning peeps. Just to inform that I've moved my blog to :

cikyahcooking.com . To all readers, I dope hope that you'll continue to visit me, yea! 

Another Trial and Error Story

Good morning peeps. Finally, Blogger has returned to its normal self. I was trying very hard to update my entry yesterday but to no avail.

I want to share a recipe which was done some time last week. You see, I was invited to an engagement ceremony of a distant cousin. The story was, this relative of mine held a wedding reception for his son the week before. Due to my father's health condition, he couldn't make it to the ceremony. As a result, I was assigned to go to this uncle's house and of course, brought something to compensate for the absence. In other words, representing my father and in fact, the whole clan back in Melaka. The meeting was short but it ended up with another invitation. This time, the daughter was getting engaged.   

I'm familiar with the host but what I found uneasy was, I haven't met his other relatives for a very, very long time. I was pretty sure that they won't really recognise me. You know, a kind of uneasy feeling being around people you don't really know. Due to this fact, I felt that I shouldn't be arriving empty handed. Anyway, to cut a long story short, the recipe below was attempted. I could simply say that it was just like killing two birds with one stone. Pleasing the relatives and finishing the Nutella stock. I beg your pardon? The taste? Soft and moist with a rich, nutty taste. Give it a try, will you?

Nutella Cupcakes

Ingredients :

125g unsalted butter, at room temperature

125 caster sugar

125 self-raising flour

2 eggs

1/2 tsp soda bicarbonate

2 tsp of vanilla essence

2 tbsp of milk

enough Nutella to use as filling

enough paper casings to line your muffin tin

Method :

1. Preheat the oven at 150C.
2. Sift the flour and soda bicarbonate and keep aside.
3. Cream the butter and sugar.
4. Gradually, add in the eggs and the the other ingredients and mix well.
5. Spoon the mixture into your paper casings. Top with some Nutella and spoon the remaining mixture on top.
6. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or till golden brown and a skewer inserted into the cupcakes comes out clean.
7. Leave to cool on a wire rack.
8. Serve.

Looking On the 'Overlooked'

Good morrow to all. I understand that I've been neglecting this blog but this morning, I decided to write something here, just to give some room to the brain after going through eight classes worth of essay papers!

Anyway, since I've become my daughter's official driver, I have lesser time to looking through my recipe books and what to cook for dinner. For the past months, the dishes prepared had been the usual ones. They were merely repetitions on the family's selection of 'had been approved' daily dishes. 

However, sometime this week, as I went down to the kitchen, bearing in mind that I'd told Mr KHz that I would prepare his favourite steamed fish, I noticed that my MIL had prepared her fish curry. It was definitely the time to panic for I was sure that Mr KHz would choose the steamed fish over the fish curry. Coking two fish dishes at the same time was certainly not a very wise option, I suppose.

As usual, my recipe book to the rescue and I remembered that I had bought some prawns in the freezer. My problem was, all the ingredients had to be pounded coarsely and when time was not on your side, using the mortar and pestle felt like a burden. I took out the blender, put the chopped ingredients in and suddenly I noticed the word 'pulse' on the blender control panel. I know, I know. I shouldn't have felt so calm but I just couldn't resist the temptation on knowing what would happen if I press the pulse button. If you were in the kitchen with me at that time, you would rolled on the floor, laughing to see a person who was so overjoyed over what her blender had produced. I was filled with glee and gradually, felt very silly for I had overlooked the 'pulse' sign which would had saved a lot of my precious time. Mind you, I have been using the same blender for the past three years! From now on, I have to be more alert on everything and everyone. Call me lame but I hardly have any resolutions so I guess, this could be my first one.

The result of my 'overlooked' sign is in the photo below. Enjoy!

UDANG  BERLADA

Ingredients:

• 1 kg of white prawns (the larger the better, peeled but keep the tails intact)
• 12 red chillies
• 5 shallots
• 4 pips of garlic
• 1 piece of 'asam keping'
• 2 pieces of kaffir lime leaves
• 1 tsp of turmeric powder
• salt and sugar to taste

Method:

1. Coat the prawns with turmeric powder and salt.
2. Heat some oil in a wok and fry the prawns until slightly brown and keep aside.
3. Put in the red chillies, shallots and garlic into the blender. Put in little water and pulse. Your mixture should be coarse and not fine.
4. Using the same oil used to fry the prawns. Stir fry the pulsed ingredients till the oil separates from the gravy.
5. Put in the prawns, kaffir lime leaves, 'asam keping' and salt and sugar to taste. Stir until the gravy coats the prawns.
6. Enjoy!

What's your order for today sir?

As part of my plan on not to overspend on raw ingredients for cooking or  buying food for Iftar, I decided to try this simple recipe derived from my trusted site, MyResipi.com. I have always believed in preparing simple dishes for my family. My choices are always easy to cook, using easily available ingredients and should be able to cater for my two kiddos who are well-known to have the pickiest tastebud! As usual, Mr Khz (and sometimes, the kids) decide. If he likes it, I would categorise the dish as good. If he said NO, then, the recipe will remain untouched. My views could be biased for Mr KHz is easy to feed but still, any opinion deserves to be taken into consideration.

Today, I've prepared a simple dish using prawns. On weekdays, I cook using whatever is available in the fridge but on the weekends, I usually give Mr KHz the honour to choose what he feels like eating. Since he had mentioned prawns, I decided to try a recipe by dayang jack from the site that I had mentioned earlier. Give it a try, will you?

HONEY PRAWNS

Ingredients:

400g fresh medium-size prawns (marinade with 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/2 tbsp of cornflour for 10 minutes and deep fried till crispy and keep aside).

1 onion

1 red chilli

3 cloves of garlic

1 and 1/2 tbsp honey (mixed with 60ml of water)

2-3 bird's eye chillies (bruised)

1/2 tbsp chilli sauce

1/2 tbsp of dark soy sauce

1/2 tbsp lemon juice

2 stalks of coriander leaves (chopped coarsely)

Method :

• Grind onion, chilli and garlic till fine.
• Pour in about 3 tbsp of cooking oil ( I used the oil used for frying the prawns) in a wok and stir fry ground ingredients till fragrant.
• Put in the honey mixture, soy sauce and chilli sauce and stir. Then, put in the bird's eye chillies and stir till the sauce thickens.
• Next, put in the prawns, lemon juice and coriander leaves. Mix well.
• Serve hot.

Salam Ramadhan

Salam Ramadhan untuk semua. Alhamdulillah, dengan limpah rahmat dan keizinanNya, sekali lagi kita telah diberi peluang untuk bersama-sama mendapatkan keberkatan bulan yang indah ini. Semoga ibadah puasa tahun ini lebih bermutu dan diredhai.

Ramadhan memang sentiasa dikaitkan dengan rezeki yang melimpah-ruah sepanjang ianya berlangsung. Pelbagai makanan ada dijual di mana-mana. Ibu-ibu juga sedia memasak juadah berbuka pilihan ahli keluarga, yang selalunya menjadi cara menghargai dan memberi semangat dan dorongan buat anak-anak yang pertama kali berpuasa. Sekadar peringatan untuk pembaca dan juga diri saya sendiri, di bulan yang mulia ini, marilah kita bersama-sama mengelakkan pembaziran. Mungkin juga boleh dijadikan permulaan menanam sikap berjimat di kalangan ahli keluarga.

Memandangkan blog ini berkaitan masakan dan penyediaan makanan, sukalah saya berkongsi satu lagi resepi tukang masak tersohor, Puan Rubiah Suparman. Kepada yang memang menyukai masakan kampung, saya yakin resepi di bawah ini tidak akan mengecewakan.

'Sambal Tempoyak Daun'

Bahan-bahan
1 ikat pucuk ubi ( saya gandakan kerana tiada pucuk labu dan daun kaduk)
1 ikat pucuk labu       }
10 helai daun kaduk  } (saya abaikan kerana tidak dapat dicari di pasar)
1 helai daun kunyit (saya gunakan 2 helai)
2 batang serai
10 biji cili api
1 labu bawang besar
1 ulas bawang putih
1 sudu kecil serbuk kunyit
2-3 cawan santan pekat (saya gunakan santan kotak Ayam Brand dan dicampur air mencukupkan 3 cawan)
1 papan petai (diambil bijinya) (saya hiris tipis)
3 sudu besar ikan bilis (saya tumbuk kasar-kasar)
3 sudu besar tempoyak
garam secukup rasa
1 sudu teh gula pasir (ini tiada dalam resepi asal)


Cara memasak:

1. Hiris halus pucuk ubi, daun kunyit dan serai. Rendam dalam air garam.
2. Sementara itu, cili api, bawang besar dan bawang putih dkisar halus. kemudian, toskan bahan-bahan yang telah direndam tadi dan keringkan airnya.
3. Masukkan ke dalam periuk dan letakkan bahan-bahan kisar tadi bersama ikan bilis, petai santan dan tempoyak. Masak hingga mendidih dan pekat.

What Mr KHz Brought Back From Masjid Bulat

Section 14, PJ, is well-known for many reasons. Despite the fact that it's near to impossible to get a parking space at this place, it never ceases to attract people from near and far. Gadget die-hard fans cherish this place for its Digital Mall but those who frequent this place would simply but surely state their reasons why this place remain their top spot. I'm pretty sure that these reasons, would include the RM1 per packet nasi lemak (as well as the fried rice vermicelli) sold by the young mechanic side by side the newspaper uncle or the yummy lontong sold at one of the stalls above the wet market. Personally, I am also 'guilty' of  frequenting this place. The wet market is a lot smaller, (compared to the one in Taman Tun), causing me to feel at ease because I am familiar with almost all the vendors at this place. I know that the makcik ( I call her 'kakak' and since I know she's from my hometown, I never have a second thought whenever I purchase the shrimp paste ('belacan') from her stall) selling vegetables recognises me, as well as the fishwife and not to forget the bubbly chap who would willingly chop my chicken into any size I want.

Mr KHz, on the other hand, is also a regular at Section 14. Nope, he rarely goes to the market and he does not really fancy the Digital Mall so, where does he go to that I label him a regular? If you may ask, he goes for his evening prayers at a mosque here, named Masjid Tun Abdul Aziz, or commonly known as Masjid Bulat - due to the shape of its dome. This entry is a product  from a visit to this mosque. Talking about this mosque, the committee members had an open day on the 31st of  July to find funding for the activities planned, and of course, for charity. They set up stalls, selling mainly cooked food and I joined the fun by sending my chicken puff and cinnamon rolls as part of the sale. Besides food stalls, there were also stalls selling materials for baju kurung, homemade crafts and religious books. The committee also organised quite a number of competitions, where 'ketupat weaving' was one that I could remember.

Among all the stalls, one particular stall did attract Mr KHz's attention. He had taken the trouble to drag me to the stall (the place was small and it was a bit crowded so it's kind of difficult to walk around) selling 'ikan keli!' Mr KHz and his food addiction. He pointed at the fish and he smiled at me - his witty smile. I agreed to fulfill his wish because the fish was already gutted and cleaned. To cut a long story short, the purchase led to the dish in the photo below.

DEEP FRIED CATFISH IN SPICY SAUCE

(IKAN KELI GORENG BERLADA)

The recipe is taken (again) from Rubiah Suparman's Lauk Pauk : Malaysia, Singapura dan Indonesia book and he said that he enjoyed it. Here's the recipe if you wish to try but the amount was halved from the original recipe.

Ingredients:

1/2 kg catfish 

5 red chillies

3 bird's eye chillies

1/2 onion

2 pips of garlic

a small piece of 'asam keping'

1/2 tsp of sugar

1 tsp of turmeric powder

salt to taste

Method:

1. Clean and gut the fish and soak for 10 minutes in a mixture of salt and tamarind juice. Wash thoroughly and drained well.
2. Coat the fish with salt and turmeric powder and deep fry till crispy. Keep aside.
3. Pound the other ingredients coarsely. Heat up a wok and stir fry until the oil separates from the gravy. Put in the 'asam keping', salt and sugar.
4. Arrange your fish on a serving platter and pour the sauce all over the fish.
5. Serve hot.

By the way, just to let you know that I didn't get a single cent at all from my puffs and rolls. Why? I was just doing my minute share as a member of the society and the best part was, I had fun.

Can I have this Mama?...and I want to help with the topping!

Good morrow to all! Finally, an entry. To tell you the truth, this entry is done in between cooking my chicken curry and updating my status at Goodreads Malaysia. Yes, I've been bitten by the reading (cannot put the book down) bug so my cooking activities are limited to preparing usual dishes for the family. However......since I managed to finish one book yesterday afternoon, I decided to go for another therapy, which is undoubtedly baking.

As I flipped through my recipe folder, my darling Atush suggested Cinnamon Rolls. For a picky eater like her, I found it very surprising when she actually liked the rolls when I baked them for the first time. Enjoy the photo and I've included the recipe (owned by yani@MyResipi.com) if you plan to indulge in this sweet, tasty treat. Oh, for your information, I managed to get 12 rolls from this recipe.

CINNAMON ROLLS WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Ingredients:

(A)

300g high protein flour

50g unsalted butter

8g instant yeast

1 egg (well-beaten)

140ml fresh milk (at room temperature)

1tsp salt

(B) (Filling)

20g unsalted butter

3tsp cinnamon powder

50g brown sugar

(C) (Frosting)

20g unsalted butter

50g cream cheese

60g icing sugar

Method:

• In a mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix flour and butter until they resemble breadcrumbs.
• Next, put in the yeast and salt and keep on mixing.
• Then,pour in the milk and beaten egg.
• Keep mixing until the dough becomes pliable and does not stick to the edge of the mixing bowl.
• Cover the dough with cling film / damp kitchen towel and proof till it doubles in size.This will take around 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, mix all ingredients in (B) and divide into two portions. Keep aside.
• Line your baking tray with paper cups.
• Next, punch the dough and divide it into two portions and shape into balls. Let to rest for 10 minutes.
• Take a portion and roll into 20cm x 25cm rectangle. Spread the filling evenly and roll the dough tightly. Cut into 6 portions and put into the paper cups. Repeat these steps with the remaining dough and filling and let to rise again. Mine took 45 minutes because the weather was a bit cool yesterday.
• Then, preheat your oven at 170C and bake your rolls for 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, beat the ingredients in (C) until creamy. Spread this frosting once your rolls are out from the oven.

Enjoy!