When Yong Pays A Visit

My old friend Yong always tries her very best to pay me a visit whenever she's around KL and PJ area. Of course, I'm very grateful of her thoughtful act. This time, she decided to see me 'in action' in the kitchen when I told her that we could only go out after 1 pm for I had to cook for Mr KHz. Well, when two old girlfriends go out, one should be able to expect that the outing would be dragged till much later in the evening. For this reason, I opted to be safe than sorry. As long as there's food prepared, I wouldn't feel guilty to arrive home later than usual.

For your information, my daily routine includes checking the freezer to see what I have in store. Next would be the fridge and later, the stove. Other mums would do spring cleaning but I 'clean' the freezer instead. When I saw my frozen tomato sauce, I decided to prepare a snack for Yong. Preparing this snack would be 'killing two birds with one stone' as my kids (who happen to find rice rather unappealing unless there's chicken curry or squid 'sambal') enjoy it too! In other words, lesser time spent on cooking means longer outing hours! Yabadabedu!!! Furthermore, I want to try the plastic-lined paper casings (they should be non-stick) that I bought last week to see if the coating really does its work.

After thawing the sauce, I prepared the dough and the toppings. Since my kids are carnivores ( I don't blame them as their father is one too), I decided to use cooked, diced chicken and sliced Ayamas mini chicken with cheese sausages. To cut my story short, feast your eyes upon the photo below. Baked to perfection and still piping-hot when Yong entered the kitchen. Shhhh...this was my attempt to divert her attention from my whale-size body and witch-like appearance while I slaved over the hot stove! Clever, huh? You are asking me why I did this? Have you seen Yong? Try putting her in The Biggest Loser and I'm sure that the contestants would be more than motivated to be slim. Oh, one more thing, please try this recipe. I guarantee that you wouldn't be disappointed. On a different note, Kak Siti Rahamah, if you are reading, this recipe is specially dedicated to you.

MINI PIZZA BUN

Ingredients:

For the dough

• 200g high protein flour
• 2 tsp of instant yeast
• 1 tsp of sugar
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 2 tbsp of olive oil
• 160ml warm water
• vegetable shortening for greasing
• 8 large plastic-lined paper casings

For the sauce:

• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 100ml water
• 2 tbsp of olive oil
• 2 tbsp tomato sauce
• 1 yellow onion (finley chopped)
• 1 tsp dried oregano/ parsley
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• salt to tast

Toppings of your choice

Enough grated mozarella/ parmesan

Method:

Put all the ingredients except water and shortening into a mixer fixed with a dough hook. Process till it resembles bread crumbs texture. Put in the water and continue mixing till you get a soft but pliable dough. Leave in a container covered with cling plastic for 45 minutes till it doubles in size.

For the sauce, heat your pot and put in the olive oil. Stir fry the chopped onion till fragrant and translucent. Next, put in all the other ingredients and stir for 10 minutes. Take off from the heat and let to cool. Next, blend till fine. Bring over to the stove and cook over medium heat until the sauce thickens. Keep aside to cool.Preheat your over at 160C for 15 minutes.

Next, punch your dough to let the air out. Divide into 8 equal portions and shape into balls. Then, lightly grease you paper casing using the shortening and flatten the balls and put into the paper casings. Using your fingers, make indentation on the flatten dough. Let to rest for 10 minutes.

Smear the tomato sauce over your dough and sprinkle the grated mozarella. Arrange your topping and bake your buns for 20-25 minutes till golden brown.Enjoy!

Another Successful Request

Good morrow! In this entry, I would include the recipe for my Potato Bread, together with the recipe for the custard topping that I manage to bake as Atush requested for one yesterday afternoon. This bread is very easy to make and it tastes very fluffy. Feeling annoyed? Go for bread making and knead the anger away!

POTATO BREAD WITH CUSTARD TOPPING

I've included the recipe for the bread dough in my previous entry but I shall put it again.

Ingredients :

For the dough

300g high protein flour

50g caster sugar

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 tbsp powdered milk

2 tsp instant yeast

1 Grade C egg

135ml cold water

60 g mashed potato

30g butter

For the custard topping

1 tbsp of plain flour

1 tb custard flour/cornflour

4 tbsp of caster sugar

1 Grade C egg

1 cup of fresh milk (I used low-fat, as usual)

30g butter

Method:

• Mix the flour, sugar, salt, powdered milk and yeast and mix well.
• Then, put in the egg and cold water and mix until the mixture forms a dough.
• Put in the mashed potato and butter and knead well until dough becomes soft and elastic.
• Cover dough and let rise for 45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, prepare the custard topping. In a sauce pan, mix both plain flour and cornflour and sugar with 2 tbsp of milk. Stir well.
• Next, put in the egg and keep stirring. Then, pour in the reamining milk and keep on stirring. Using a double-boiler method, bring the pot over another pot of boiling water and keep stirring till the mixture thickens. Once thickened, put in the butter and stir well and turn off the heat. Cover cour custard cream using a cling film to avoid 'skin' from forming on the top. Let to cool.
• Next, punch the dough to let out the air. Leave covered for another 15 minutes.
• Shape dough into small balls and arrange them in a greased baking tray. Leave to rise for another 45 minutes. Pipe the custrad cream across the dough.
• Bake at 180C for 25 minutes. You may need to adjust the temperature depending on your oven.
• Serve with a nice cup of tea.

An Evening with Atush

Last Saturday, before I went for the PTA meeting in school, Tukang Makan told me that we would be going for our fortnightly grocery shopping at Jaya 33 once I reached home. This time, he had decided upon fish. He told me that he had too much prawns and squids for the week.

My daughter, as usual, loves to tag along whenever we have this ritual. As I went along the frozen food section, looking for my puff pastry, she saw a box of frozen pizza. This young lady has a 'unique' way of telling me what she craves for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Casually, she mentioned that she had not eaten pizza for quite a long time. I pointed at the box and she said,"Nevermindlah mama. Nanti petang mama buat sendiri dengan Atush ya?" Hmmmm....gone was the plan to rest and had some doses of TV viewing that evening.

After lunch, I browsed through my recipe collection to look for the simplest concoction. I felt really blessed to find a simple one in my Resipi Sihat, Pilihan Bijak Vol.1 recipe book. Halimatus was with me in the kitchen from the dough making process till the pizza was baked. I could almost see the glow of excitement in her eyes. Deep down in my heart, I was praying. Please God, make this lame effort of mine produce a great outcome.

Do you want to know the verdict? It was a worthwhile effort because that picky young lady gobbled up two large pieces and her brother munched away the same amount too! The most touching remark came from my maid, "Ibu, memang bener sedap. Bagus lagi dari PizzaHut" and I was smiling from ear to ear! What about my Tukang Makan? He finished four pieces and that was more than enough for me! I was not tired after all!

Let's check the photos out before looking at the recipe ya!

Rolled out the dough as thin as possible.(Pssst..I didn't bother to roll. I just used my hands and 'tepek-tepek' the dough..haha)

Next, smear the tomato sauce onto the dough

Arrange the topping (Halimatus' work of art)

Sprinkle a generous amount of cheese

Bake in a preheated oven for 25 mins. Meanwhile, enjoy the heavenly cheesy smell.

Tadaa!!! The fruit of my labour

SIMPLE PIZZA

(A) For the dough:

300g high protein flour

3 tsp of instant yeast

3/4 tsp salt

1 and 1/2 tsp sugar

1 tbsp olive oil/cooking oil

200ml of warm water

vegetable shortening/butter/margarine for greasing

(B) For the sauce:

1 can peeled tomatoes(finely chopped

100ml water

2 tbsp brown sugar

1/2 tbsp tomato puree

1 yellow onion(finely chopped)

1 tsp dried oregano/basil

salt to taste

2 tbsp olive oil

(C) For the topping:

sliced fresh button mushrooms

sliced chicken sausages

diced, cooked chicken breast

(add any possible topping you can think of-the more the merrier!)

mozarella cheese ( I used parmesan to finish my stock and it still tastes good)

Method:

• Put all the ingredients except water and shortening into a mixer fixed with a dough hook. Process till it resembles bread crumbs texture. Put in the water and continue mixing till you geta soft but pliable dough. Leave in a container covered with cling plastic for 1 hour till it doubles in size.
• For the sauce, heat your pot and put in the olive oil. Stir fry the chopped onion till fragrant and translucent. Next, put in all the other ingredients and stir until the sauce thickens. For your information, I let the sauce to cool off and I blended it to 'cover' the trail of the onion pieces- all in the name of getting some vege goodness! Mind you, mine are all carnivorous!
• Next, take out the dough and punch it to let the air out.
• Grease your baking tray/pizza mould with vegetable shortening/butter/margarine and roll your dough as thinly as possible. Let to rest for 10 minutes.
• Smear your dough with the sauce and arrange the topping of your choice.
• Sprinkle a generous amount of grated cheese.
• Bake at 170C for 25 minutes of till golden brown.
• Cut into squares and enjoy!