From My Lemony Kitchen ....

Piano Birthday Cake

2012-05-24T13:25:00.000+08:00

Someone in the house is turning 15 this weekend... celebrations was brought forward by one week (coz Mom will be busy next week...with my sister's visit) 'Fake Birthday' according to her... and she is 'expecting' another round of cake and presents... cheeky!! hmmm... should have make her Fake Cake, and gave her Fake presents.. why didn't I think of that...

Our little girl (oh she is not so little anymore... she is slightly taller then me) our chatter box, our 'kaypoh' is another year older...

Let me tell you a story... actually there were few stories of her that makes our hearts... goes Ba-dee-Boom... .

...our Sweetie-pie... our Livewire..

I wished I could take her place instead ... when she had Pneumonia and was hospitalised for a week at the tender age of 2. We just came back from Cameron Highland, she caught a cold and couldn't shake it off. ...But she made no fuss... walked into the X-ray room all on her own, going about with Intravenous/ needle inserted 24-7 in her tiny hand...

Being a playful child.. and hide and seek was one of her favourite games. We were shopping for ties (well, H was...) , she hid between the Tie displays and when she had enough.. she emerged, and spooked a lady shopper. Poor lady... her heart fell with a loud thud onto the floor... I wanted to tell her off... but she was only 3.

Our "nightmare weekend window shopping" in IKEA, Damansara.
We were making our way towards check out counter through Market Hall ... being a playful 5 year old, she decided to play 'Catch up with me...' weaving in and out of the shelves... trying to stay ahead of us... she just took one turn and she was lost among the shelves...

Took us a couple of minutes to realise that she was no where to be seen...
PANIC!!! ... I back tracked and H went running towards check out counters... Finally, I found her sobbing... not far from where we 'lost' her...

Oh yes... she did it again....age 14+ ~ lost in Paris

And now her father is thinking twice... thrice... zillion times of letting her go on to her next adventure joining 'World Challenge'... going to the other side of the world ... at least 30 hours flight away.

But my girl with gorgeous smile has a BIG heart... would do anything and give her all to help others.
She recently participated in 'Cancer Council Relay For Life~ WA', 24 hour running for a good course...
I almost *faint* when she told me of how many laps she did ... 125 laps x 400m run= 50km (122 laps on her own+3 last laps with the group and we joined in)... plus she did not sleep and had been running and helping round the clock...
The Relay meant a lot to her.. as she lost someone close to her, someone she loved, someone who loved her and would spoiled her rotten, if not for Lung Cancer... her Grandmother whom she called NaNai.

Happy 15^th Birthday…

My sweet beautiful girl

May HE bless you always....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Recipe (serve 6-8)

(tweaked and adapted from Janelle Bloom)

125g butter at room temperature

1/2 cup caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

2 eggs

2 cups of Cake Flour (Lighthouse Brand)

2/3 cup milk

1 box Wilton White Fondant

1 black Wilton Black food colouring

1 bottle of apricot jam

Decoration ~ Royal Icing

Pre-heat oven to 170C. Grease and line base and side of a 22cm round spring form cake pan.
Beat the butter and sugar until pale and creamy.
Add egg one at a time and continue to beat.
Remove bowl from the mixer and add in flour and milk and mix well.
Pour the cake batter into the cakepan and bake for 45-50 minutes depending on your oven or until the skewer comes out clean.
Stand the cake for 5 minutes and remove from pan onto cool rack.
Leave it to completely cool before cutting the cake into shape.
Repeat for second cake

Fondant ~ knead and mix the food colouring until the desired colour is achieved. Lay the fondant according to the instruction on the box. Remember to set aside some white fondant for keyboard and music book.

Brush the cakes with apricot jam, around, in between cakes and the top surface. Gently lay the fondant onto the cake and cut off the excess.

Note : 2 cakes are needed to make the Piano cake.
I should have bake Chocolate Cake instead... Black Fondant on Butter Cakes is not applealing at all when sliced ... therefore no photos will be included

Raspberries, Lemon and Olive Oil Teacake

2012-05-17T09:50:00.000+08:00

Dare I say it... that Autumn is finally here? ... with Winter, less than a month away?
Oh yes...We've been experiencing a very mild Autumn this year, and some of the days/nights... feels like Summer was trying to make a comeback..... but the late sunrise and early sunsets, just reassures me that it isn't so...

... and watching my lemons turning yellow, one by one... just confirmed that Autumn is definitely here. And it's time for me to harvest my lemons... and get the plant ready for the next season.
With a box of raspberries that was sitting pretty in my freezer...plus I had the itch to bake, lemon and raspberries would make a perfect pair... I searched the net for some good recipe... and came across Martha Stewart's Ligurian Lemon Cake.

Had a quick read... Oh yes! its manageable...but I was hesitant to spread the cake with meringue...

why?...

...because it spells DISASTER...I am not good in either spreading anything on the cake or do a fancy piping onto cakes... plus it will be too super... duper... sweet.. much to my kids' delight ... ....definitely not mine!!

Recipe serve 4-6

(adapted and tweaked fr Martha Stewart)

1 ¾ cups Cake Flour (lighthouse brand)

1 cup caster sugar

2/3 cup plus 7 tablespoon olive oil

Zest of 2 lemons

4 large eggs at room temperature

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

3 tablespoon milk at room temperature

1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries

Pre-heat oven to 180C.
Spray some olive oil onto the baking pan.
In a large mixing bowl, rub the sugar and lemon zest until the sugar feels moist.
Add in eggs, using whisk attachment, whisk until the mixture is pale and thick.
Lower the speed, add in milk then flour, olive oil and lemon juice.
Mix until all the ingredients is well blended.
Pour one third of the batter into the baking pan, arrange raspberries on top of the batter. Repeat, and finish it off with the last layer of batter just covering the raspberries.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the skewer comes out clean.
Remove and leave it to cool on the wire rack before serving.

Malaysian ~ Nyonya Kari Kapitan/ Nyonya Kapitan Chicken Curry

2012-05-08T13:30:00.000+08:00

The BAD....

This post was scheduled to be "Published' last week, but BLOGGER decided to play up.

I admit that I am not 'well versed' in computing... all those jargons scares me. Changes, updates, upgrades in softwares freaked me out as I feel that 'something' is lurking and waiting to pounce on me anytime.

It took me awhile, to finally clicked on that 'Upgrade to Blogger New Interface'... but the story did not end there!. I soon found out that my current IE does not support the new Blogger format, hence I reluctantly made my migration to Google Chrome.

I was happy for awhile.. discovering the new format, happily typing with my 2 fingers for this post, insert photos....clicked on 'SAVE' button, with the intention to review before 'Posting' the next day....

That 'Something' did pounce on me... I returned the next day to review before clicking on the 'PUBLISH' button... to my horror... everything was GONE!!! what's left was just the title!!!
I am clueless to what did happen... was it me or Blogger?

My question to all my Blogger friends/experts out there... does this sounds familiar and has it happened to you too? I am in the dark... appreciate if someone could enlightened me on what is going on with BLOGGER new Format.
Now that's out of my chest....

The FOOD...
After few posts on International food... We need some spice and chillies in our weekly diet... I am back with our favourite Nyonya Cuisine ~ Kari Kapitan...
Kapitan is a Nyonya-Malay word for Captain... so Kari Kapitan... is loosely translated Captain's curry.
Preparations prior to any Nyonya dishes is always laborious... but the end result is always satisfying... almost finger licking good

On to my next ...

The GOOD...

I'm sure that almost 90% of Food Bloggers must have heard or submitted at least one photograph to either FoodGawker or Tastespotting... right?

There is a new website that you could submit your gorgeous, mouthwatering photos to ...

Its called ...

RecipeNewz.com.

Thanks Elana of Cooking Rookie for inviting me to join in the fun.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Recipe (serve 4-6)

(adapted and 'tweaked' from Nyonya Flavours)

1 kg drumsticks

1 tablespoon turmeric powder

Salt

Oil for deep frying

250ml coconut milk

1 tablespoon finely shredded kaffir lime leaves

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 tablespoon lime juice

Spice Paste

10 shallots

1 big brown onion

2 cloves of garlic

2 cm ginger

2 cm galangal

1 cm turmeric (fresh or frozen)

3 candlenuts

2 stalks of lemongrass

15 dried chillies – soaked

20g Maggi belacan granules

¼ cup of oil

Marinade chicken pieces with turmeric powder and salt for at least 2 hours (or overnight if time permits).
Deep fry the chicken pieces until golden.
Dish out onto the kitchen paper and put aside.
Blend all the ingredients in the ‘spice’ list into a fine paste.
Heat about 3 tablespoon of oil in a wok and sauté the spice until its fragrant and the oil ‘split’.
Add in chicken and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.
Add coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves and brown sugar.
Season to taste.
Simmer for at least 10 minutes or until the chicken is tender.
Add lime juice and mix well.
Garnish with golden fried shallots. Serve with steam rice

French ~ Pissaladiere

2012-04-26T12:25:00.007+08:00

Finally... I baked and tasted Pissaladiere... Been wanting to make this for a long time.... but didn't have the opportunity. Just incase you are wondering why... my dearest beloved daughter, who is a fussy eater hates anchovies...

Its a PERFECT timing that she is in France and I dont have to feel guilty that we are indulging in good food when she is not home...

that's my girl...(at Arc De Triomphe)... and she is coming home tomorrow

What a shame ...Channel 9 didn't know how to spell 'CHOIR'...

Pissaladiere uses a lot of onion... 1.5kg!!!

When H finished slicing the onion (thank you darl...you saved me from crying my eyes out...), he looked at the mountain of onion rings, "Are you sure? So much onions used...".
But once cooked, it became 'mush and jam' like.. just nice to spread over the dough.

It tasted good... the sweetness of the onion, the saltiness of the anchovies.. but there is one problem...
eating too much onions...gives me wind!!! makes me wonder...
how the French deal with this....

Recipe (serve 4-6) (tweaked and adapted from The Food of France)

40g butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1.5kg brown onion thinly sliced
2 tablespoon of thyme
20-25anchovies halved
100g pitted Kalamata olives -halved

dough

2teaspoon dried yeast
250g bread flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoon olive oil
125ml warm water plus extra 35ml

Heat butter and olive oil in a big frypan. Saute the onion with half the thyme until soft (about 45 minutes). Season to taste and put it aside to cool.
Dough : mix yeast with warm water and leave it for 10 minutes. Sift flour into a mixing bowl, add salt. Make a well, add salt, olive oil and yeast mixture. Knead (uisng electric mixer) for about 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth, soft and pliable. Proof for 1 hour or until double in size.
Pre heat oven to 200C.
Roll out the bread dough into a rectangular baking tray 34x26cm.
Brush with oilve oil and spread the onion mixture.
Lay the anchovies in lattice pattern and arrange the olive in the middle of the diamond.
Sprinkle with remaining thyme.
Bake for 20 minutes or until the dough is brown and cooked.
Cut into square and serve.

Persian Pomegranate Soup

2012-04-20T11:00:00.002+08:00

When I unpack 'Pomegranate Juice' from my shopping bag into the refrigerator... I told D "Son, I am going to cook something exotic ... so... please, you are not to drink this".

And of course... as teens would normally do, especially the one that is always 'Hungry' all the time.... would always want to have his/her last say....ask "What are you going to cook?'

"Pomegranate Soup' was my short answer. He gave me that 'You are kidding me' look...

This is the first time I cooked 'something' from a Novel... and not a cookbook.

Reading Marsha Mehran's Pomegranate Soup... I was drawn to the characters, story line ... but I was more into the 'happenings' in their kitchen, the feeling was surreal... the smell of chopped onions, mints, parsley, exotic spices used, a pot of soup simmering on the stove... imagine... the exotic aroma billowing from the chimney of her character's kitchen... wafting through the sleepy town in Ballinacroagh, Ireland.

Awww.... She had me at 'Pomegranate Soup'...

Hence, Pomegranate Soup it is....

I was thrilled to be able to re-create the flavours and aroma in my kitchen...
It is one of the best 'humble' soups that I have tasted... It is light, smooth and tangy with burst of flavours... and the crunch of the pomegranate garnishes just 'Seal the Deal'.
Everyone ... including my son who gave me that 'Are you kidding me' look was smitten with the soup... shhh.. ... I even licked my bowl clean

Oh .. one more thing... one of the ingredients in Marsha's Pomegranate soup is Angelica Powder. I hadn't a clue to what it was until I Googled... Angelica Sinensis to Persians and it is Dong Quay to Chinese. A 'Female Ginseng' as it benefits women health and well-being ...click here for further information.
There you go, readers... it is a healthy soup too

There are few more recipes in Marsha's Pomegranate Soup that I would love to give it a go... and perhaps blog about it..

Recipe Serve 4-6

(tweaked and adapted from Marsha Mehran novel 'Pomegranate Soup')

1 red onion ~ chopped
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1/4 cup of red lentils (washed)
2/3 cup of Basmati rice(washed)
3 cups of water
1/2 teaspoon of tumeric
1/4 cup of chopped parsley
1 cup of chopped cilantro
1/2 cup of chopped mint
1/4 cup of chopped spring onion
300g minced beef* (rolled into bitesize balls)
1 cup of pomegranate juice
2 teaspoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
2 strips of angelica roots or (pre-cut Chinese Dong Quay from Asian grocer)
salt and pepper
Garnish: 1 tablespoon of fresh pomegranate

Heat up olive oil in medium size stockpot, add onion and saute until slightly golden.
Add lentils, basmati rice, water, salt, pepper and tumeric.
Bring to a quick boil then lower the heat to a simmer, covered, for at 20 minutes.
Add parsley, mint, cilantro, angelica roots or dong quay and spring onion.
Simmer for another 15 minutes.
Add meatballs, pomegranate juice, lemon juice, sugar and season to taste (if needed).
Stir gently as not to break the meatballs.
Bring to boil then lower the heat to a simmer, covered, for 25 minutes*.
Serve with some fresh pomegranate.

Note * ~ I used premium less fat mince. If regular mince is your choice then increase the cooking time to 35-40minutes

Irish Stew and Irish Soda Bread

2012-04-13T10:52:00.002+08:00

Me: Sweetie... since you are going to Ireland, shall we try some Irish food at home?
E: oh OK... by the way what do you have in mind?
Me: Perhaps Irish Stew served with either Colcannon or Champs...
E : and what's in the Irish Stew?
Me: Lamb's neck with lots of vegetable like swede, potatoes, carrots, peas... etc etc etc
E: Lamb's neck?...errr... Its OK mom... you can enjoy Irish Stew when I am not around

So my plan to have Irish Stew was derailed .... until she has landed safely in Ireland...

She's so looking forward to this Music Tour ...and she is thrilled to be travelling with her friends and 140 other students... (no mom or dad to nag). Yippee .. Freedom for 3 weeks. But her personal highlight would be ~ she could proudly claimed that she's the "FIRST and only ONE" in the family... that had been there... ....as none of us had ever step foot in Ireland before!!!

The day E stepped foot and entered the Music programme in her current school ( Education Department 'Gifted and Talented Programme' ... under Music Scholarship...to play harp)... there were 'talk' that they might be going to Europe (Ireland-France-Belgium) for their 2012 Music Tour... that was in 2010...

Itinerary were finalised by mid 2011...Needless to say ... E was so excited when the school confirmed the trip...
She has been counting down ... starting from years then months then weeks then days then hours till take off last Thursday.

Irish Soda Bread

She's been away for a week now... we texted each other almost everynight (for me) and morning (for E)...

She is enjoying her time in Ireland visiting castles, performing either for schools or for the county officials, and the highlight of their Irish tour was the Titanic 100 years Rememberance in Cobh, County of Cork (she was so chuffed... telling D that George Clooney was in the same town... at the same time, however, she didn't get the chance to meet him......awwww)

but for me ....the most worrying part is ... she has found shops..."TOP SHOPS" and the "like"...aaarggghhh Habis!!! *facepalm*she'll come home with heavy luggage and empty purse

Recipe

Irish Stew (adapted fr Super Food Idea Mag ~ July 2009...)

1 kg lamb's neck (get your Butcher to cut into 1 inch thickness)
1/4 cup plain flour
1 brown onion chopped
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 2 cm chunks
1 swede, peeld and cut into 2 cm chunks
1 parsnip, peeled and cut into 2 cm chunks
1 turnip, peeled and cut into 2 cm chunks
8 baby potatoes, washed peeled
500g mushroom (optional)
2 beef stock cubes (I used Massel ~ beef flavoured vegetarian)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 frozen peas
4 cups of water
1/4 cup of cornflour

In a zip lock bag, place the lamb's neck with plain flour, shake to evenly coat.
Shake of excess flour.
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a heavy base saucepan over medium heat.
Saute onion until soft. Dished out and set aside.
Add another 1 tablespoon of olive oil and cook the lamb pieces (few pieces at a time)about 2 minutes oon each side or until browned. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with remaining lamb pieces.
Using the same saucepan, place all the lamb pieces into the pot.
Add in swede, potatoes, turnips and parsnips into the pot.
Add water and beef stock. Bring to boil, lower the heat to a simmer.
Cover and gently simmer for 2 hours and skimming off the fat with large metal spoon.
Add mushrooms, peas and corn flour (mix with 1/4 cup of water). Increase the heat and stir occasionally for 5 minutes or until the gravy thickens.
Season with salt and pepper.
Serve with Irish Soda bread.

Irish Soda Bread (adapted from Traditional Home Baking)

450g plain flour
1 teaspoon soda bicarbonate
1 teaspoon salt
40g butter
300ml milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Pre-heat the oven to 200C.
Mix the milk and lemon juice in a jug to make buttermilk (alternative buy buttermilk). Set aside for 5 minutes.
Sift flour and soda bicarbonate into a mixing bowl.
Add salt and rub in the butter until resemble crumbs.
Make well in the middle and pour in the milk mixture.
Mix/knead the dough until smooth.
Divide into 3 portions (or one) and shape into a round, about 5 inches in diameter.
Place onto baking tray.
Score into quarters and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve with Irish Stew.

Red Beans Ice~Cream

2012-04-05T12:20:00.009+08:00

short post... continuation from previous Sweetcorn Ice-cream post

The weather is cooling off... the leaves are changing into shades of yellow and soon will be brown... grey dark clouds looking heavy and about to burst... and less sun shiny days...

Its a sure sign of Autumn... and I am HAPPY...

Autumn in Perth ~ is very mild... compared to Eastern States or countries in the Northern hemisphere... I could still indulge in ice-cream... without shivers running through my spine

I chose to make red beans ice-cream....one of many favourite flavours among Malaysians... Other flavours would be Sweetcorn, Durian and Jackfruit.
My all time favourite would be all of the above except for durian... I wasn't very keen on Durian or any durian flavours food eversince I was knocked out by XO durian... I had migraine for 2 days ...
Red beans with coconut milk... combine the 2 together... ... beautiful flavours.. and I can assure you that one popsicle will not be enough

Have a Wonderful Easter Break

Recipe

2 cups of cooked red beans
1/2 cup of sugar (more if you have sweet tooth)
1 cup water
1 knotted pandan leaf
1 cup thick coconut milk
1 cup evaporated milk
a pinch of salt

Mix sugar and water and pandan leaf in a small pot and bring to boil for 5 minutes or until sugar dissolve. Set aside. Discard the knotted pandan.
Mix cooked red beans(set aside about 1/4 cup), coconut milk and blend until it has become semi puree.
Add evaporated milk and syrup.
Add a pinch of salt.
Stir well.
Using an ice-cream maker and following manufacturer's instruction, churn the mixture.
If you are using popsicle mould... fill about 2 teaspoon of cooked red beans before adding the ice mixture into the moulds
Freeze 2 hours before serving

Note : Do not leave the mixer unattended.. this mix contain high percentage of water, it will turn icy very fast... just watch the churning blade, once you detect that it is struggling to churn, quickly turn off your ice-cream maker and pour the mix into a container.... to avoid disaster in the kitchen.

Sweetcorn Ice~Cream

2012-03-29T12:00:00.004+08:00

Remember that Ice-cream man that went round the kampung (village) on his 3 wheeler, lugging his mobile freezer with him? Do you remember how ice-cream was served in those days? And do you still remember how many varieties were there, in his freezer? Was Sweetcorn Ice-cream, one of your favourites?

Oh Yes....I remembered very clearly, Mr Ice-cream man...
He would cycle his 3 wheeler around the village with an air horn tied up to his tricycle handle bar. He would blared up the air horn in a rhythmic 'toot...' and at the same time he'd shout out 'Ice-Cream.. Ice-cream... Ice-cream' as he made his 'grand' entrance... It was a melodious sound to my ear and an occassion I always look forward to.

Whenever I hear him miles away... I would be frantically scrounge for coins... or if we were good and not drive my mom up the wall with our siblings "banter"... ehem... we weren't always naughty, we would get a treat...

There were limited choices of ice-cream then... its either vanilla, chocolate, neapolitan or strawberry flavoured ice-creams.

Sweetcorn Ice-cream was introduced much later... It was one of 'Malaysian-ised' flavoured ice-creams... It came in box packaging, Mr Ice-cream man would cut the ice-cream into sizeable little rectangular pieces... hence it is known as Ice-cream Potong (potong means cut) ...served these delicious creamy treat between 2 thin wafers... and in some kampungs (village)... the ice-creams was sandwiched between 2 slices of white bread.

We would savour these sweet creamy ice-cream..with every lick ... trying very hard not to spill... but living in a humid and hot country... most of the time it would ended up Splat!!! on our dresses or on the floor... the wafer became soggy and soft.

This happened to be one of my favourite ice-cream flavours.... it was then and still is..

My kids had tasted the store-bought Sweetcorn ice-cream... back in the days when we were in Kuala Lumpur... but it comes in a 2 litre tub... there was no Ice-cream vendor cycling around the suburb 'tooting' the air horn... and definitely not being served with 2 thin wafers ...

Recipe (serve 6-8)

300 ml milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
150g sugar
3 egg yolks
250ml canned creamed corn
300ml whipping cream

Pour milk in heavy saucepan, add vanilla and bring to almost boil.
Remove from heat and set aside.
Place egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk until pale and the mixture leaves a trail when the whisk is lifted.
Slowly add milk into the egg and sugar mixture.
Keep stirring all the time.
Strain the mixture into another clean heatproof bowl.
Using double boil method, cook the mixture until its thickened.
Remove the custard from heat and leave it to cool.
Add in creamed corn.
Whipped the cream until it holds its shape. Keep in the refrigerator.
Using Ice-cream machine, fold the whipped cream into the custard. Churn according to manufacterers' instruction.
Freeze for at least 2 hours before serving.

Chocolate Fudge Ice-Cream

2012-03-21T12:20:00.004+08:00

Our routine has gone haywire eversince we decided to put our house, up for sale in late November last year. There were so much work involved... moving belongings and furnitures, selling old furnitures, cleaning, vacumming, scrubbing and weeding from top to bottom, inside and outside, week in week out... until the house is sold... all that 'exercise' has left us exhausted... physically and mentally.

Finally.. that chapter is over..
I can take a long deep breath, drawing in as much O₂as my lungs could take.

Its nice to wake up to a less stressful mornings, not having to think about 'things' that needed immediate attention like lawn needed mowing, lawn is not 'green' enough, leaves strewn everywhere... this and that not working and bla bla bla...
We wanted the new owner (whoever it might be...) to move in and have the same 'warm feeling' as we did when we first moved in ... a good indication that the house is very much loved and well looked after...
I dont think I'll ever want to go through 'selling house' again!!!

Due to the above factor, I didnt have time to either plan or cook or bake anything special for H's and D's birthdays (and mine too) .
I owe you, both (plus myself...) .

D wanted an ice-cream cake but I was unable to do so...
Then he asked for 'White Cake' like I used to bake him 10 years ago.... sssshhhh....at that time, I cheated and used 'Betty Crocker's' .... and I did bake him...
But it turned out to be ONE lousy 'White Cake' with horrible frosting... so I won't consider that as baking... as I didn't put in much thought and effort...

Guilt ridden Mom ... plus his birthday and mine was only days apart... I decided to try and make up for the 'lousy' cake with Chocolate Fudge Ice-cream...
Everything was good... peachy rosy hunky dory... leaving the tub of ice-cream in the freezer overnight...
Then came the crunch ~ SCOOPING...
Phew!!!... I nearly sprained my wrist... It was as hard as block of ice... no good trying to scoop and sawing didn't do any good either.
Panic and was a bit upset with the outcome ... I SOS on Twitter for help... Pickyin of Life is Great answered my SOS. Pickyin suggested that I leave it out on the bench for awhile and wait for it to soften... then it occurred to me... turned around and looked at my freezer temperature... it was set at -22C, anything would be like a block of ice at that temperature... doh!!! immediately I increased the temperature to -16C ...

and what do you know...

My Chocolate Fudge Ice-cream was as soft and scoopable as the store-bought tubs...

Kids were pleased .... it didn't stay 'frozen' for long in my freezer...

Recipe (serve 4-6) (fr Love Food ~ Ice-cream Summer Eating)

300 ml milk
100g dark chocolate
25g butter
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
125g caster sugar
75g golden syrup
4 eggs
300ml whipping cream

Pour 175ml milk into a heavy based pan.
Break chocolate into milk and add butter and vanilla essence, heat gently and keep stirring all the time until the butter and chocolate melted and smooth.
Add in sugar and golden syrup, turn up the heat and bring the mixture to boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer for approximately 4 minutes.
Remove from stove and leave it aside to cool.
Beat eggs in a mixing bowl and slowly add the chocolate mixture, stirring all the time.
Strain the mixture into a heatproof bowl.
Using a double boil method, cook the mixture over low heat until the mixture thicken (consistency~ until the mixture coat the back of the spoon). Note: Do not allow the mixture to boil.
Remove the custard from heat and stir in the remaining milk and cream.
Leave to cool and stirring from time to time to prevent 'skin' forming.
Using Ice-cream maker, churn the mixture according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Freeze for at least 2 hours before serving.

Guest Post #4 ~ Kuih Spera

2012-03-10T09:50:00.002+08:00

I was so thrilled when I received Pepy’s invite to be her guest post late last year, however due to my tight schedule I was unable to fulfill my part of the bargain immediately.

3 months later and here I am…

Thank you Pepy for the invite and my big Thank you, hugs and kisses for being so patience and understanding…

I invite you to Pepy's Indonesia Eats...to read the rest of my post (click here)

and while you are there... do check out her mouthwatering Indonesian cuisine...

Enjoy ...

Watermelon and Lemongrass Sorbet

2012-02-28T12:45:00.001+08:00

My son has just turned 17...

It feels like yesterday, I was in labour room, waiting in anticipation and in pain for our bundle of joy to arrive. One can never forget Magical moments like that (even the 'moment' when I told the nurse and hubby off, for trying to comfort me by giving me a tummy massage... ).

He taught us what parenting is all about (prepared us well to become parents for the second time round)

He gives us so much joy... ~ drooling and teething at 3 months old, uttered first word at 8 months old... I was desperately wanting his first word to be Mommy but NO!!! it was 'Lowee...' for lorry.... harumphhh Boys!!!

He never stopped from then on...he would talk and talk and talk... followed by questions and questions and questions...

Talking about him and his questions...

One day, we were walking along the pavement from the carpark to the shop... and my 2 year old saw a manhole, he turned to his dad and asked

'Dad, why is this call a manhole and not a womanhole?'

I was trying very... very hard not to laugh in front of my 2 year old... Logical, innocent question but we adult took it the wrong way ... he'd 'kill' me if he knows that I blogged about this.. the big IF... he ever read my blog anyway...

Happy 17^th Birthday…

My Dearest Beloved Son...may your journey in life be as sweet as watermelon.... fresh and full of zest as lemongrass... and keep cool all the time...

Recipe

1kg watermelon
1 cup sugar
1/2cup water
4 lemongrass stalk - coarsely chopped

Cut and diced the watermelon and place in blender.
Blend and sieve.
Refrigerate the watermelon juice.
In a small pot, bring sugar, water and chunky lemongrass to boil then simmer for 10 minutes or until the syrup thicken (just slightly). Leave it to cool.
Mix the watermelon and lemongrass syrup (note: I'd go easy with the syrup if the watermelon is sweet)
Using ice-cream maker, churn for 10-20 minutes (note: according to the manufacturer recommendation), and then freeze the sorbet for at least 2 hours before serving.

its melting fast......

Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup

2012-02-16T13:30:00.011+08:00

Million thanks to my well wishers... and thank you : DG of Tasted and Tested and Ah Tze of AwayofMind for the wonderful Blogger Award (hop over to my Page here)
I just couldn't believe it that I am already into my 4th year of blogging...

When I first started out... I set myself a 'Target' of 3 posts per week; Monday, Wednesday and Saturday... and it has to be one of each; Western , Asian and Dessert respectively... I was cooking... cooking and cooking then Clicking... Clicking... Clicking away... I was THAT ridiculous!!!! I had more than 100 posts waiting in the 'Draft' folder at one time...

Blogging consumed me... My hobby, my passion has become my obsession!!!

I eat Blog, sleep Blog and everything Blog....

H often said 'It doesn't matter if you are not able to post on time' ... but do I listened to the sound advice from the old wise man? Noooo...

Then... when I discovered webpages that display foodies' photos... I was excited and joined in the bandwagon and submitted mine... I was overjoyed whenever my submissions were accepted and I get very upset, otherwise.

I had time re-assess, re-evaluate (late last year)... H is RIGHT... it does NOT matter if I don't post on time, it does NOT matter if Foodgawker or Tastespotting reject my photos... Life is too short .... to dwell on negative issues

I've learned heaps... 'met' wonderful individuals from every corner of the earth that I called friends now

YES.. I will still carry on BLOGging...

I am still having fun, but my apologies in advance should there be ZERO post for the week...

Full Moon... just before it dissappeared into the horizon... on the 8th of Feb 2012 at 5.30am ...

Sometimes we just have to STOP! Look BACK... something wonderful and beautiful is just waiting to be discovered....

and need not be too complicated too...

Just like this Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup... with left over roast chicken, either fresh corns or canned creamed corn... all done in less than 15 minutes
Recipe

2 cans of creamed corn
1 fresh corn-
3 cups of leftover roast chicken - shredded
2 eggs - give it a light whisk
1.5 liter of water
2 maggi chicken stock cubes
a dash of sesame oil
salt
white pepper

Bring water to boil in a stockpot. Drop in the Maggi cubes.
Add shredded chicken, creamed or fresh corn. Bring to boil.
Season to taste.
In a steady stream, pour in the egg.
Lower the heat to a simmer for 5 minutes or until the egg is cooked.
Add white pepper.
Turn off the heat and add a dash of sesame oil.
Serve.

Old Schoolyard ~ Cat Steven ~ Icy-Balls

2012-02-09T12:50:00.008+08:00

“Remember the days of the old schoolyard
We used to laugh a lot, oh don't you
Remember the days of the old schoolyard
When we had imaginings and we had
All kinds of things and we laughed
And needed love... yes, I do
Oh and I remember you

Remember the days of the old schoolyard
We used to cry a lot, oh don't you
Remember the days of the old schoolyard
When we had simplicity and we had
Warm toast for tea and we laughed
And needed love.. yes, I do
Oh and I remember you”

~ Cat Steven

The radio was playing 'Remember the days of the Old Schoolyard' by Cat Steven, on the first day of schools!!!
As I was driving, smiling and humming to the tunes...
I recalled sweet memories... driver on my right must be thinking... 'who let this MAD lady behind the wheel' early Wednesday morning!!!

The good old days... The 'free spirited' days... with no care of whatsoever happening to the world.

I remembered my first best friend in Kindergarten, we were together, in the same class from kindy up to Yr 6, then I left to another school and after 30 odd years...we met up again (in Perth).
I remembered the teachers who taught me ABC, 123, drawing and colouring.
I remembered the Sisters/Nuns telling us off when we screamed at the top of our lungs, for disturbing their evening Prayers.
I too remembered, that I just couldn't wait for classes to be over, so that we could continue playing... 'Toi' or 'Galah Panjang' (quick description ~ 2 teams of 4 or more... The Running team members had to run past the Oppossing team who formed row of barriers without any physical contact. GAME OVER for the Running team member if any of Opposing team members manage to make any physical contact)...confuse? oops sorry ...

Sometimes we would play 'Police and Thief'... running around chasing friends... fell flat on our face or grazed our knees when we missed a step or two... felt no pain, got up and continue playing again...

After much running... and screaming, we would take a breather and quenched our thirst with Shaved iced with sugary sweet syrup, for 5 cents a pop, we would slurped and slurped the icy cold iced syrup... until nothing left but the icy ball...
Then another game would start...

Icy Ball fight

....we would aimed and target friends and start throwing the Icy ball at each other.. or chased a friend, in an attempt to shoved the ice down their pinafore...

So much laughter

Sorry state...St Nicholas Convent, Alor Setar... at one time was 'THE' school for girls...

Top: our 'playground' while waiting for schoolbus to take us home...

Middle : my standard 1 or Primary 1 classroom...

Bottom: my final year in SNC (Year 6)... double storey building on the right hand side...

Yes... I remember you.... my dearest Friends and Teachers at St Nicholas Convent, Alor Setar...the old school in Telok Wanjah

I can't turn back the clock to share that magical moments with D and E... but I could 're-live' and share that moment through food... as I always do ...

Recipe

Ice cubes

Red colour syrup
1/2 cup of sugar
3/4 - 1 cup of water
1 pandan leaf knotted
red colouring

Brown sugar syrup
1/2 cup of sugar

3/4 - 1 cup of water
1 pandan leaf knotted

Make syrup separately. Mix sugar and water in 2 separate pot.
Bring to boil, stir until sugar dissolves.
Leave it to cool.
Pat some shaved iced into a ball and drizzle the syrup over.
Alternative : replace syrup with cordial

Psst… I turned 3 today…

Lemon Curd and Strawberry Swirls Cheesecake

2012-02-01T13:22:00.005+08:00

How was your Chinese New Year Celebration? 'Chow-ing down' loads and loads of festive food? And for the Young and Restless and Single ~ received many red packets (known as Ang Pows)?

Ours was a quiet family affair... with lots of food that can last us the 'whole year' so to speak. We had Steamboat, Crispy fried Wonton, Sang Choy Bow and Lor Ark or Chinese Braised Duck... Oh Boy!! we were like whales about to give birth by the end of the day...

Sleep or Siesta was never far from my mind... It was very ... very ... very difficult keeping my eyes open... I would have to use tooth pick to hold the eyelids from 'Shutting'...
Dont be alarmed... I wasn't going to do that

...and if I did I would have missed this gorgeous sunset...

The last sunset, marking the end of the Year of the Rabbit... see the glowing Rabbit's tail bobbing down the horizon?

With the Rabbit gone... I wanted to complete the picture by welcoming the Dragon ... early ...the next day.

Woke up early and captured I did... I was thrilled...
What I saw was mesmerising.. the horizon was glowing by the minute... the sky, clouds and everything else were like a priceless Painting... A Masterpiece in the sky...
a Painting of Baby Dragon breathing its first 'Fire Ball'... My photo didn't do any justice to what I witnessed...

Baby Dragon hatched and it breathed 'Fire', alright... We were having 10 straight of very HOT summer days... with thermometer hovering around high 30's to low 40's...

I dont feel like potter-ing around the kitchen much in this heat... I'd prefer to serve everything COLD... like this Lemon curd and Strawberry Swirls.

To enjoy a slice... with ice cold drinks would be a Bliss

Recipe (adapted from Good Taste June 2009)

200g pkt Arnott's Lattice Biscuits
500g cream cheese, softened
395g sweet condensed milk
3 teaspoon gelatine
2 tablespoon boiling water
250 ml or 1 cup of lemon curd
3 tablespoon of strawberry jam

Line base of 20cm x 20cm dish with baking paper allowing the sides to overhang. Line the base with biscuits and cutting to fit if necessary.
Use electric mixer and beat the softened cream cheese until smooth. Add condensed milk and beat until combined.
Place the gelatine with the boiling water in a small bowl, and stir until dissolves.
Add to the cream cheese mixture and beat until combined.
Pour half of the cream cheese mixture over the biscuits.
Spoon half of the lemon curd.
Use a skewer to make swirls.
Repeat with the remaining mixture (Reserve about 2 tablespoon of lemon curd, add one drop of yellow colouring, mix well) and dollop with strawbery jam and the 'coloured' lemon curd..
Again use a clean skewer to make swirls.
Refrigerate overnight.

Note : I substituted 500g creamcheese with Philly 80% fat free spreadable cream cheese

Dried Fruits, Seeds and Nuts 'Energy' Balls

2012-01-19T11:48:00.005+08:00

Helloooo my Lovelies.... I am back in Blogging World.

And I hope it is not too late to wish everyone a Happy 2012...

We barely into our 1st month of the Gregorian Calender... another New Year is looming in 4 days ... Chinese New Year. Whoa... feels like eating session will carry on forever!! when will I be able to lose the kilos I piled on during Christmas....

Rabbit is surely moving out of the scene and Dragon will soon be here... which reminds me ~ I have to read about Year of the Dragon and Feng Shui...

What I love about celebrating Chinese New Year in H hometown... ~ its festive atmosphere... somehow the air smelled different... possibly due to the firecrackers blasting all night long... slight smell of sulphur still hangs heavy in the air. The distance sounds of Chinese drums and Cymbals, where the troupe performing Lion or Dragon dance, to bless houses.
Kids were the happiest at this time of the year... they get to put on new clothes, new shoes, could eat all the sweets treats to their heart content... and most of all their faces would be beaming with joy whenever they were handed angpows (red packets with $$$) by their parents, aunties, uncles...

My kids would be making a passing remark on their 'Loss' of angpows,... whenever we celebrated Chinese New Year in Perth, hehehe... awww...too bad kiddos

Visiting relatives is a must during Chinese New Year, paying respect to your elders ie grandparents, uncles, aunties... and guests are served with Chinese New Year Goodies... cookies, dried fruits, mandarins and nuts along with Chinese tea.... followed by 'Steamboat' lunch.

Its Chinese New Year and its time to celebrate... we tend to forget about 'healthy eating' and stuff ourselves with high sugary food... Whats left on the serving tray would be the dried fruits and some odd seeds or nuts...

And what if we mix all the 'healthy' snack left over in the serving tray?

The result would be this Energy Balls... a mix of dried apricots, candied winter melons, pepitas (or kuaci), dried dates, add black sesame seeds, honey and spiced it up with cinnamon.

Kids would not have noticed that these were made from some 'healthy' snack... adults too

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

wishing our families, relatives, friends, followers and readers....

GONG XI FA CAI

Have a good one

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Recipe (adapted from Delicious with modifications)

1 cup of almond meal
1/2 cup of oats
100g dried apricots-chopped
50g pitted dates - chopped
50g pepitas
50g candied winter melons - chopped
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds
2 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup dried dessicated coconut

Place the chopped dried fruits, seeds, nuts and oats in a food processor and whiz for 2-3 minutes.
Add cocoa powder, cinnamon and honey and whiz for another 2-3 minutes until all the ingredients comes together.
Lightly moistened hand and roll into a large marble size balls.
Roll the balls in the coconut to coat.

Happy Holidays...

2011-12-24T11:36:00.000+08:00

Gingerbread Macarons

2011-12-14T11:30:00.104+08:00

E came home one day... announced that she and her friends were trying to persuade their Math teacher to organise a class party during the last week of term. After much wingeing and whining... I am sure... Mr Math Teacher caved in to their request.

She voluntered to bring macarons ...

Initially I wanted to bake mango macarons... my little mistress said 'Mom, what if someone does not like mango?' ... Strike 1!!!

She suggested ~ why not bake chocolate macarons?... 'But you had that for your Birthday...' was my reply...Strike 2!!!

Then I told her ..'Let me think ....perhaps something Christmas-sy...' and here it is...

Gingerbread Macarons

with

Lindt Orange Intense Dark Chocolate Ganache

phew ... lucky it is not Strike 3!!! If it is ...then there will no macarons at all for the party ....hehehe... poor E...
Baked 5 batches of mini macs for the class party...

E had fun at the party... and so did Mom... stick on little RED Smarties and Pretzels... they became my little Rudolf(s)...I tried giving them eyes after this photoshoot... my reindeers morphed into litte piggy with antlers instead... not cool....

on a more serious note...

Soon we will be singing Auld Lang Syne as 2011 is coming to an end... and so is my post... for the year... will be back in January 2012.

I will not be able to blog or blog-hop as often as I would love to.... from next week onwards till early January... coz ~

I am baking a gingerbread house to bring to a friend's Christmas Party (I'll upload the photo/s in my FB),
D is coming home from his month long trip I can't wait to hug him...
we will have no internet access by the end of year (perhaps 3 weeks or more)
and last but not least... we are looking forward to our exciting BIG move... not far ... less than 2 km away.

If you miss me... and wanted to find out what I am up to (nothing naughty of course... Santa is watching ..) you can find me here (FaceBook) and here (Twitter)

With that... I end my 2011 post... with .

Wishing everyone

Merry Christmas

and

Happy New Year

GOD Bless....

Lunar Eclipse ~ 10th December 2012

Till we meet again... in 2012

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Recipe

80g egg white~room temperature
65g castor sugar
80g almond meal
140g icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon of mixed spice

Filling

250g Lindt Orange Intense Dark Chocolate
180ml thick cream
50g butter

Preparation ~ 3 days before making macarons ~ separate egg white from yolk. Refrigerate.

Macronage

Egg white at room temperature
Pulse Almond meal with icicng sugar for 5 minutes. Sieve with mixed spice. Set aside.
Mix the egg white and castor sugar in a heatproof bowl.
Making sure that the bowl will snuggly fit the pot, bring the water to boil then lower the heat to a gentle simmer.
Place the bowl on top of the pot, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the simmering water... aka double boil method.
Whisk the egg white mixture until the sugar is dissolved and the temperature reads 50-55C on the sugar thermometer.
Transfer the egg mixture into the mixing bowl with the balloon attachment.
Add lemon juice.
Whisk on medium speed until soft peak or 'shaving foam' consistency.
Using a flexible silicon spatula, fold in sieved almond mix into the meringue one third at a time. And start counting the strokes.
Continue to fold until all dry ingredients are fully incorporated and it forms a shiny batter with a thick, ribbon like consistency...
Pour the mixture into a piping bag fitted with 10mm nozzle, and pipe onto prepared baking sheets.
Leave the tray at room temperature for 30 minutes or more until the macarons surface are 'drier' to touch.
Pre heat oven to 150C and bake each tray for 15-20 minutes depending on the oven.
Cool for 10 minutes then carefully peel off the baking sheet.
Leave to cool completely before piping in the filling

Filling

Break the chocolate into small pieces and place them in a heatproof bowl.
Bring the cream to boil and pour into the bowl.
Let it stand for 2 minutes.
Using the whisk ballon, whisk until the mixture is smooth.
Add in butter, and keep stirring until its nice and glossy.
Refrigerate for at least 1 hour (or overnight) then piped the filling onto the shells.

Macarons tasted better...after an overnight refrigeration

Lisa's Guest, Post # 1 ~ Malaysian-Thai Chicken Curry

2011-12-06T11:30:00.049+08:00

I came across Leemei and her famous blog ~ My Cooking Hut, in early 2008. I was her silent reader... who would browsed through her blog, looking for recipes as well as admire her amazing photos; food she cooked and places she travelled to.

Then in 2009, I 'broke my silence' ... and started to communicate with Leemei through her blog... followed by email, Facebook and Twitter... we became friends in the cyber world... lets hope that one day, we'll meet in the 'Real' world...

I am so thrilled to have Leemei as my first Guest... Thank you, my dear Leemei.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About Leemei...
She is a Freelance recipe contributor, food stylist and photographer...

Her cookbook ~ Lemongrass and Ginger will be available in April 2012.... am so proud of my fellow 'Anak Kedah'...

"Lemongrass and Ginger Cookbook: Vibrant Asian Recipes, It contains 224 pages, published by Duncan Baird. There are more than 100 clear, easy-to-follow recipes that are diverse, delicious and imaginative. Packed with inspiring, authentic dishes (many with a modern twist), this is a must-have book for the modern kitchen!"

Pre-order your copy at Amazon (UK, US and Canada), Barnes and Noble and Book Depository (UK and US)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Let's welcome Leemei with her mouthwatering Malaysian- Thai Chicken Curry...

I don’t quite remember how it all started. It was back in 2009, when I was reminiscing some Malaysian food, I stumbled upon a food blog that got my eyes glued on instantly! What got me so excited was when I learnt that Lisa, who writes From My Lemony Kitchen, hails from Kedah! I felt so happy and lucky to have found a food blogger, who comes from the same hometown and knows the food in the region as well as me!

Ever since I stumbled upon Lisa’s blog, I never stop paying frequent visits whenever I could. Lisa is based in Perth, Australia and I am on the other side of the world; when it’s bright and shine down under, it’s always the other way round in London. But, that is not at all a problem as Internet is 24/7 for us!

Quite a while ago, Lisa has written a wonderful piece of article and recipe – Bihun Sup (Rice Vermicelli in Beef Broth) on my blog.

Today, I was really happy to be a guest on Lisa’s wonderful blog. Thank you, Lisa, for such great opportunity to be featured on your blog!

At first, I wasn’t sure what recipe I would make. Then, I thought I would make something that would relate to where we both come from. Kedah - one of the states in Malaysia that is bordering Thailand. So, Thai food isn’t something uncommon. In fact, some of the dishes are very much influenced by Thai.

I put on my thinking cap, trying to recall some dishes that contain the ingredients used in Malaysian and Thai food. Then, I had a sudden flashback of a dish. I wasn’t quite sure the name but I know it’s a curry dish. It’s not a curry with lots of gravy, it’s rather a ‘dry’ curry. The image of the dish appeared quite blurry in my head. I called my mom and asked her about if it was something she used to make. She said no. But, I swear that I tasted it before. Perhaps, in my dream?

I have no idea what to call it. It is like a cross between Malaysian Rendang curry and Thai green curry. Could it be something that I created and tasted in my dream? I can’t answer this question either. It just seems a little bizarre but there is no way for me to track down the origin of this recipe. Guess, it doesn’t matter, does it? As long as it tastes fantastic, that’s all it matters!

Let me clarify, when I said it’s like a cross between Malaysian Rendang curry and Thai green curry - is simply because the used of toasted grated coconut that is added at the end of the cooking process, which is normally done in making Rendang. The resemblance of the Thai green curry element is the use of coriander leaves and kaffir lime leaves.

I have chosen to use coconut cream in this recipe because it’s thick and creamy, which gives a very nice texture, taste and shine to this type of gravyless curry. A lot of times, when I go to supermarket to get some coconut milk, I usually see 2 different terms used on the labels: coconut cream and coconut milk.

Coconut cream is equivalent to the ‘first press’ of the fresh coconut milk, which is always very thick and concentrated. Coconut milk or the ‘second press’ of the coconut milk, which has some water added to it, so it appears less concentrated and creamy.

Nowadays, a lot of canned coconut milk have thick layer on the top (when you don’t shake the can before opening). You can actually scoop this layer and use as coconut cream. Or if you want to make a curry with lots of gravy, then use the combination of the cream and milk.

I can’t stress more how this dish is so versatile as you could eat it with boiled rice or even with noodles or pasta! I have made it pretty mild (but my other half, who is French, said it’s spicy according to his palate!) Perhaps, I should say it’s mild curry, according to a Malaysian’s palate but medium spiciness generally? If you like spiciness like me, you can add a bit more chilies (fresh or dried)!

Recipe (Serves 4)

1 tbsp sunflower oil
200ml coconut cream
450g chicken thighs, skinned, deboned and chunkily cut
1 tsp chilli powder (optional)
2 tbsp toasted grated coconut
4 kaffir lime leaves, cut into thin strips
salt and pepper

Spice paste:

12 shallots, roughly chopped
3 red chillies, deseeded and roughly chopped
1 lemongrass, roughly chopped
3 kaffir lime leaves, roughly chopped
a small handful of coriander leaves with stems

Put all the ingredients of the spice paste into a food processor and blend until they become a smooth paste. Set aside.
In a deep pan over medium-high heat, add the sunflower oil and the spice paste. Gently cook, stir occasionally, for about 4-5 minutes until the paste becomes fragrant.
Add half of the coconut cream, mix with the spice paste and cook for further 3-4 minutes until fragrant and the oil starts to rise to the surface.
Add the chicken, mix thoroughly to coat all the chicken pieces with the spice paste. Cook for 8-10 minutes until the chicken turns opaque and cooked through.
Add the rest of the coconut milk.
Season with salt and pepper.
Add the chilli powder, if used.
Stir and bring to the boil for a few seconds, lower the heat to medium and cook for about 10-15 minutes until the sauce starts to thicken.
Add the toasted grated coconut and mix well.
Transfer to a serving plate, sprinkle over the kaffir lime leaves strips.
Serve warm.

Kuih Cara Berlauk/ Savoury Bites

2011-11-30T11:30:00.024+08:00

Hi... I am back...
Computer is all good again. VGA card was the culprit... giving me a headache and heartache. It didn't take long for the computer guy to fix it, max 15 minutes to get it running again... What a relief!!!

However, everything happened for a reason... right?
Those 2 weeks hiatus was good... took the opportunity to settle few important tasks... for I had so many things/events requires my undivided attention within that span of time... chasing datelines... unfortunately cooking, baking and photography took the back seat. Actually... I have not been cooking or baking, let alone play with my camera much lately...

One of the tasks was... to make sure that my son has everything he needed for his trip to Nepal. Yes... he is away for a month and will only be home for Christmas...
I am proud of him to be able to take up the challenge... sleeping rough, eat to live and most of all, he dare to venture out of his comfort zone.
I am not an outdoor type of person... I can't sleep rough and tough (not even in the pitched up tent in our backyard...yes ... I am THAT bad) and I definitely CANNOT live on 3 shirts, 3 pants and 3 undergarments for 30 days... eeeeuuuuwwww

Moulds

I admire these group of youth, who are there to help out with some basic renovations and maintenance work to the school for the orphans, teach them English... before they head out to the lush green foothills of the Himalayas, 12 days trekking the Annapurna Sanctuary, climbing the mountains and peaking at 4300m.

It is very exciting ... lifetime experience, an eye opener and hopefully they'll come home enrich...

Before his trip, we whipped up Kuih Cara (pronounce as Koo-eh Char-ra) or Savoury Bites, one of his favourites Kuihs...
D was delighted ... Kuih Cara has all the ingredients and flavours he loves; Chicken, prawns and spicy...
Before he left... D said to me

'Mom, can I have Beef Rendang when I get home? and NO more lentils please....'

Recipe (from Pasar Malam Delights Cookbook)
Batter

150g plain flour
300ml water
1/4 teaspoon salt
100ml coconut milk
1 teaspoon custard powder
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 egg
1 tablespoon oil

Filling

1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1/4 tablespoon chopped ginger
2 tablespoon meat curry powder
150g chicken - diced
500 g cooked prawns - peeled and devein
1tablespoon water

Making....
Batter ~

Combine all the ingredients under 'batter' in a mixing bowl.
Whisk and mix well.
Put it aside.

Filing ~

Heat up oil in wok and saute the chopped garlic and ginger until fragrant.
Add diced chicken.
Keep stirring and add curry powder with 1 tablespoon of water.
Stir until the chicken is cook.

Kuih Cara ~

If you have the 'Kuih Cara' mould ~ heat up the mould (stove top), brush with oil and spoon the batter half way up the mould. And if you dont have one... use frying pan instead (make into pikelet size).
Top up the batter with the cooked chicken and cooked prawns.
Cover and cook using low heat until 'Kuih Cara' is cooked through.
Serve with thinly sliced spring onions and chilli.

Apologies

2011-11-17T06:22:00.001+08:00

Hiya...
My 1000s apologies for the 'No Post' this week. My beloved computer has decided to go on strike... will be back as soon as I can get it up and running again...

Turkish Delight Slices

2011-11-09T12:18:00.005+08:00

Try walking into a Travel agency, pick up some brochures, take them home, arrange them neatly by your bedside table and before you go to sleep, flip some pages.... what do you think will happen the next day when we woke up from our slumberland? Yep... You have been bitten by the 'Travel Bug'...

Travel Bug bit me decades ago, when I was in Uni...

I passed by Thomas Cook Travel Agency...enroute home from class. I loved to see what they had on display.... nice places and some travel deals. Then one day... not too sure what came over me...I decided to step in and picked up some brochures: package tours to France, Germany or even to Scandinavia ambitious me... Scandinavia was out of my budget... and still is... and among many brochures... only one that got me going...

It was Turkey .

The places and photos were amazingly beautiful... my heart was set that I wanted to travel to Turkey for the summer. I wanted to see the Blue Mosque, I wanted to experience and be in Pamukkale and many more...

Since none of my Malaysian friends were interested to backpack with me to Turkey, I forward the idea to my Iranian friend, Yasmin. She agreed to travel with me to Turkey, enroute to Switzerland, where she was schooling before headed home to Iran.

I was so excited... plans were made, Visa applied and approved... but sadly, our plans didn't take off, because Yasmin had to go home as soon as our summer holiday started (Iran was in turmoil at that time)... I understood what she went through... I wished her safe journey home... I didn't see her again when semester resumed in October...and I wish and hope for Yasmin's good health and safe with her beloved family... and Yasmin (1st year Economics at King's College London... and you were head over heels over Rob Lowe), if you are reading this... do keep in touch so I know that you are OK...

Eventhough my travel plan to Turkey didn't take off ....I have not given up hope .... one day I will visit Turkey...

But for now.... lets enjoy my Turkish Delight /Turkish Slice

Recipe (adapted from AWW winter favourite 2011)

185g unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup (75g) caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (225g) plain flour
1/3 cup (50) self raising flour
4 teaspoon gelatine
2 tablespoon water
1/3 cup(80ml) water, extra
1 1/2 cups(330g) white sugar
1/3 cup (50g) cornflour
2 tablespoon rosewater
red food colouring
icing sugar

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease 20cmx 30cm rectangular pan and line base and long sides with baking paper, extending 5cm over the sides.
Beat butter, sugar and vanilla until combined. Stir in sifted flours. Press mixture evenly over the base of the pan; using fork, rough the surface. Bake base for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Put aside to cool.
Sprinkle gelatine over water in a heatproof jug. Using double boil method, stand the jug in simmering water and stir until gelatine dissolves.
Add 1/3 cup of water (reserve 1 tablespoon) and sugar into the saucepan over low heat, without boiling, until sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil. Boil, uncovered without stirring until temperature reaches 116C on candy thermometer. Reduce heat to a simmer, uncovered, and simmer for 5 minutes without stirring, maintaining the heat at 116C. Remove from heat.
Blend cornflour with the reserved 1 tablespoon water, gelatine mixture, rosewater and few drop of food colouring until smooth and stir into the sugar syrup. Return to heat, simmer and stir for 3 minutes or until the mixture is opaque.
Strain over the ready cooled base. Skim any scum.
Stand overnight.
Sprinkle with sifted icing sugar.

Blood Orange Marmalade

2011-11-02T09:35:00.003+08:00

When you read a book ... do you have that feeling... that you ARE in that book? Living, breathing, eating with the characters? I do...I meant 'story' books/ novels, not text book... the later makes me go to sleep...

Remember Enid Blyton's Famous Five, Secret Seven, Mallory Towers, Naughtiest Girl in School, Magical Faraway trees, Enchanted Woods and many more...? I used to live, breathe with these characters... pretending I was the 6th member of the Famous Five, bestie with Elizabeth Allen, joined in the fun and be one of many Enid Blyton's characters...
I went on adventures, go to bed when they do.. and when the sun rises...I was there waiting at their breakfast table... and many a times... they would have toast and Marmalade....

I liked the sounds of the word 'Marmalade'... didn't have the slightest clue what Marmalade was at that time... let alone the taste!!! Dictionary didn't help much either... I so desperately wanted to have a taste... I could find bottles of jam in the supermarket but not marmalade... (Alor Setar was a small sleepy town... nothing much happening...)

Not until years later... when I stepped foot into Sainsbury's in Derby... to my delight, I found bottles and bottles of Marmalade on Sainsbury's shelf... if only you could see my expression back then... just like I stumbled upon a pot of gold or won a mega sweep lottery!!

Phew...I could finally taste MARMALADE...
I loved it since... Elizabeth Allen, I could tell you what marmalade and toast tasted like... and we could be hyper and 'wreck havoc' in class after high dosage of sugar together ....

Dont you just love the vibrant colours of these gorgeous Blood Orange?

After umpteenth years of gorging myself silly and nearly drown in one.... I decided to treat myself to homemade marmalade... My first attempt ~ making Blood Orange Marmalade...

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Oh!!! by the way ...

this is exactly how I imagined them (Enid Blyton's characters...) on their 'Beach' holiday in the South of England..... the photo above was taken on a gorgeous sunny day at Trigg Beach, Perth.

Recipe (adapted with changes from Homemade Preserves)

500g blood oranges
1 medium lemon
1 liter water
300g sugar

Wash, scrub the wax off and dry the fruits.
Halve the fruits and squeeze out the juice with the pips into a muslin cloth lined over a strainer (with bowl underneath the strainer)
Remove pith from the peel.
Reserve the pith.
Cut the peel into thin strips.
Add the reserve pith to the pips into a muslin bag to make a loose bag.
Place the bag in a large pot with shredded peel, juice, and water.
Measure the depth.
Slowly bring the mixture to boil and simmer for 1 1/2 hours until the peel is very soft and the water reduced by half in depth.
Using a slotted spoon, remove the bag.
Put it aside and leave it to cool enough to be able to handle the bag.
Squeeze as much liquid as possible into the pan.
Add sugar and simmer until the sugar has dissolved.
Bring the mixture to a boil for 10 minutes until the setting point has reached 105C on sugar thermometer.
Remove any scum.
Leave to cool until skin starts to form on the surface of the preserve.
Stir to distribute the peel evenly.
Ladle into a sterilised jar, cover and seal.

Lentils and Drumsticks

2011-10-25T11:30:00.023+08:00

October is coming to an end... which means its Halloween time...

While everyone is busy cooking, baking... setting the mood for Trick or Treat , I am falling behind and unable to keep up with the theme.... due to a very busy schedule... I have nothing to offer ... sadly.. but I have a story to tell...

Have you heard of Moringa Oleifera? It is commonly known as Indian drumstick and Malays (from Kedah) would call this... Kacang Munggai.

Just imagine if you grow Moringa Oleifera in your backyard... It will not only gives you, your nutritional benefits, purify your water, it can also protect you from evil spell. And that is why... it is called ~ Tree of Life, or in East Africa... it is called "Mothers' best friend". The benefits are endless... you can Google 'Moringa Oleifera' and read about it.

I would like to add another one to that numerous list... with the story I am about to tell...

As a young girl... I would sit quietly and listen to adults talking and exchanging their hair raising, supernatural, ghostly stories... it scared the s**t out of me... nevertheless I was drawn to their stories.... just like a magnet...

One of the stories would be about 'Orang Minyak' (direct translation would be the Oily Man ) a movie was made, back in 1956 based on this story/myth

I would refer him as The Cursed Man'... his body would be covered, in what the adult would say ..black oil (hence the name). Apparently, he wanted to learn about the spritual world... malice intended. He sold his soul to the devil. In exchange... and to achieve his supernatural powers... he has to de-flower 40 young maiden virgins within a week...

Once the word was out that The Cursed Man is on the prowl... villagers would be on alert and wary of their surroundings. Chaotic time...Men would patrol the village perimeters, hoping to catch the culprit...However The Cursed Man managed to slip into the night unnoticed...

And Mothers would try their best to protect their young girls "innocence" by making the daughters wear their fathers' sweaty shirt at night... giving the impression that they were men instead of young girls...
During this terrifying moments ... parents would be 'frantically' looking for Moringa Oleifera trees... A foot long Moringa Oleifera sticks were given to these young girls, and to be placed under their pillow at night...
The foot long Moringa Oleifera stick has the same effect as garlic had on Dracula... The Cursed Man would stay away... as he was afraid, very afraid... One hit with the stick, his supernatural power would diminished and he'd immediately transformed into a powerless man...

Just imagine the worried look on my parents' face... everytime they hear the news that The Cursed Man is on the prowl again... for they have 4 daughters...

Happy Halloween

Care to share your scary childhood stories with me?

I found frozen packets of Drumsticks in an Indian grocer... and decided to cook a simple dhal and serve with roti.

Wishing my Friends and Readers... Near and Far...

Have a wonderful

Diwali Celebration

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Recipe

1cup of washed red lentils
2 cups of water (approx)
1 frozen packet of Indian drumsticks (Moringa Oleifera) - thawed
2 inch of ginger
2 garlic
1 teaspoon of ground tumeric
2 dried chillies - cut up
salt
golden fried shallots
1 stalk of curry leaves

Pound garlic and ginger until smooth. Set aside.
In a medium size saucepan, bring to boil lentils, chillies, curry leaves and drumsticks.
Then reduce to a simmer for about 15 minutes or lentils turned mushy.
Remember to add water if the lentils becomes dry.
Add pounded garlic, ginger, tumeric and salt.
Cook for another 10 minutes and turned off the heat.
Add the golden fried shallots.
Serve.

Scones

2011-10-18T11:45:00.002+08:00

I have this habit of jotting down what I've cooked and when I cooked/baked something, in my little Notebook... it can be cumbersome and annoying but I know I can be a forgetful person at times... most of the times... hehehe... and its easy to refer to at a later date...

Seems that annoying habit paid off recently....
H has been hinting that its been awhile since I last bake scones.... unsure... and didn't want to argue... all I could say was 'errrr... I think so' while in my head I was doing a 180 degree turn and thinking... 'Didn't I just bake some recently?'.
Quietly... I referred to my Notebook, and guess what? H was right. September 2009 was the last time I baked scones... time sure flies. Not wanting to keep him waiting for another 2 years...that same weekend... I made strawberry jam and baked him scones... and this was 2 weeks ago.

Last Saturday, we went out for our coffee/tea at one of Gloria Jeans' outlet... we ordered Macadamia slice and a slice of Maltesers cake... sat down, and while enjoying our quiet moment (without kids..), H said ...

H: did you see the scones?
me: No... why?
H: Its huge.... I was tempted ... but I bet they aren't as light and delicious... as the ones you baked.
me: oh really... at the same time feeling proud hehehe...

awwww.....Isn't he a darling? or he is trying his best to tell me subtly... to bake him more scones??? naughty naughty me for having such evil thoughts... or
Shall I bake him scones every 2 years to get such 'sweet' and lovely compliment again...

This is the best scones recipe (from AWW) I have ~~some~~ come across. The scones are light and fluffy, plus it is easy to make and bake... refer to the note after the recipe...

Recipes (makes about 12)

3 cups of plain flour
30g baking powder
1 cup of cream
1 cup of lemonade -aerated
a pinch of salt

Pre-heat oven to 190C
Line baking tray with baking paper
Sieve plain flour with baking powder twice.
Add cream, aerated lemonade and salt.
Use butter knife and in chopping motion, mix well.
Lightly floured the pastry board and the circular cookie cutter.
Roll out with floured rolling pin to a 2.5cm thickness.
cut out the scones with cookie cutter
Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.
Serve with strawbery jam and cream

Note: dont overwork or overmix the scones or they will be heavy and tough. Substitute plain flour and baking powder with self raising flour... as alternative

I have been tagged by Nami of Just One Cookbook... I will tend to it asap...

Lavender Macarons

2011-10-11T11:10:00.006+08:00

My first tell-tale signs that Spring is approaching... is when my lavender bushes starts to flower as soon as the weather warms up. I am so thrilled to spot the tiny purplish buds hiding within the greyish green leaves...

Spring has always been my favourite season... I love waking up to sounds of birds chirping... then having a walk round the garden to admire and breathe in the fragrance of the early Lavender bloomers...

Everything comes to life...

New Beginning

Spring... reminded me of a friendship between 2 teenage girls that lived in 2 different parts of the world. One in Canada and the other in Malaysia. They would write to each other, exchanged cards and photos. Good old days...the art of communication...using pens, papers, envelopes and stamps ... and oh!!! and Mr Postman too ...

They were "Penpals" for years until one left to UK to pursue her dreams... she lost contact with her Canadian penpal ...

Then one day, she received a message in her Facebook message box...

Are you the same person, who I was a penpal with in the 1970’s and 1980’s? I lived in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada and the girl I correspond with was from Malaysia?

The Canadian Penpal was cleaning out her stuff and stumbled upon a box from her teenage years... and found a letter from her Malaysian penpal... she still remembers her Malaysian friend!!! ....

Thank you Cheryl J ... for keeping my letters and keeping in touch again. A toast to our 'Friendship'... with a bite of Lavender Macarons...

I am using the Swiss Method to make these gorgeous Lavender Macarons.

Recipe (Love Food cookbook)

80g egg whites

65g lavender sugar

80g almond meal

140g icing sugar

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

food colouring

dried lavender seeds

Filling

115g soft Philadelphia cream cheese

2 tablespoon lavender sugar

to make lavender sugar

1 cup of caster sugar

2 tablespoon of edible lavender
muslin cloth

Preparation

~ 2 weeks ahead ~ wrap lavender in muslin cloth, secure with kitchen string. Pour caster sugar in an airtight container, and place the lavender sachet in the container. Give it a good shake everyday.

~ 3 days before making macarons ~ separate egg white from yolk. Refrigerate.

Making Macarons

Egg white at room temperature

Pulse Almond meal with icicng sugar for 5 minutes. Sieve. Set aside.

Mix the egg white and castor sugar in a heatproof bowl.

Making sure that the bowl will snuggly fit the pot, bring the water to boil then lower the heat to a gentle simmer.

Place the bowl on top of the pot, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the simmering water... aka double boil method.

Whisk the egg white mixture until the sugar is dissolved and the temperature reads50-55C on the sugar thermometer.

Transfer the egg mixture into the mixing bowl with the balloon attachment.

Add lemon juice.

Whisk on medium speed until soft peak or 'shaving foam' consistency.

Add in food colouring.

Using a flexible silicon spatula, fold in sieved almond and green tea powder into the meringue one third at a time. And start counting the strokes.

Continue to fold until all dry ingredients are fully incorporated and it forms a shiny batter with a thick, ribbon like consistency...

Pour the mixture into a piping bag fitted with 10mm nozzle, and pipe onto prepared baking sheets.

Sprinkle with lavender.

Leave the tray at room temperature for 30 minutes or more until the macarons surface are 'drier' to touch.

Pre heat oven to 150C and bake each tray for 15-20 minutes depending on the oven.

Cool for 10 minutes then carefully peel off the baking sheet.

Leave to cool completely before piping in the filling

Filling~ beat the cream cheese and lavender sugar until smooth. Piped the filling onto the shells.

Macarons tasted better...after an overnight refrigeration