MeatBalls and The Simplest Tomato Sauce

I like this recipe because it is so easy to make. Dan memberi nafas baru kepada menu harian. There is not a lot of mess to clear up later either. And the children love the meatballs.

MEATBALLS
2/3 cup fresh milk
1/4 cup fine dried breadcrumbs
600g ground beef
3/4 teaspoons salt
Ground black pepper
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 cup finely chopped Italian parsley
About 2 tbsps finely chopped fresh sage, from 2 small herb bunches
1/2 cups finely diced or grated yellow onion, from about 1 small yellow onion
2 garlic cloves, finely minced or grated
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 large egg, beaten
Olive oil

Pour the milk over the breadcrumbs in a small bowl. Stir them together and set them aside for at least 10 minutes for the crumbs to soften.

Put the ground beef into a mixing bowl. Stir in the salt and a generous amount of black pepper, then add the cayenne and smoked paprika. Stir in the chopped parsley, sage, onion, garlic and Parmesan. Mix with your hands until these are very thoroughly distributed through the meat.

Stir in the breadcrumbs and milk, as well as the egg, and mix thoroughly.

Shape and cook the meatballs immediately. Cook on a non-stick skillet till brown.

TOMATO SAUCE

2 cans plum tomatoes (other tomatoes will not taste as good)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion, peeled and cut in half
Salt

To serve
Shaved Parmesan cheese
Freshly ground black pepper

Put the tomatoes, butter, onion halves, and a pinch of salt in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer then lower the heat. Crush the tomatoes lightly with the back of a spoon as they cook, and stir occasionally. Simmer very gently for 45 minutes, or until droplets of fat appear on the surface of the tomatoes. Remove and discard the onion (how much simpler can a recipe get?)

Serve over hot pasta with Parmesan and black pepper, if desired. With the meatballs from above.

You simply have got to try this.

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Lasagna; Any Way You Like It

This is the lasagna recipe you've asked for (I've taken this sort of straight from the recipe book). BUT along the way I have found easier (and cheaper) way to do this..

The sauce :
600g ground beef
1 small onion, diced
1 canned tomatoes
1 canned tomato paste
Sugar
Salt
Oregano
Thyme (Optional)
Bay leaf (Optional)
(easy way : just prepare the usual spaghetti bolognaise sauce you've always make) 

 Lasagna noodles
 (tip : buy "no pre-cook" lasagna sheets; that'll make life easier. But make sure you add extra liquid to your sauce for the lasagna to soften. My rule of thumb : the liquid should cover the noodles)


2 eggs
15oz ricotta cheese
 (Note: ricotta cheese is expensive. Kalau nak senang pakai la ricotta cheese ni. Kalau nak jimat, prepare your own white sauce. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a kuali, add 1-2 tablespoons of flour . When the flour and butter is well mixed, add milk, some water and a bit of salt. Kacau sampai pekat. Tutup api. Exacly like when you make mushroom soup).

16oz shredded mozarella cheese (I add cheddar too to my lasagna)

How to cook:
Cook ground beef and onion until beef is browned. Add tomatoes and the next 6 ingredients. Cook for about 30 minutes. Discard bay leaf (or masaklah macam spaghetti sauce).

Combine eggs and ricotta cheese in a small bowl. In a 13" by 9" baking pan arrange lasagna to cover all the surface. Spoon one third of ricotta cheese (or the white sauce you prepared above) over the lasagna noodles. Top with one-third sauce. Repeat two more layers (making three layers in all).

Bake in oven for about 25 minutes (or longer if you've put too much liquid). Remove from oven. Top with the cheese. Bake for another 15 minutes until cheese is melted and brown. Remove from oven. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Voilà! I like mine with pickled jalapeño or chili flakes. The children prefer theirs with a dash of parmesan. My hubs prefers hot sauce.  Bon appétit!

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Grilled Salmon Steak

This is one of the light meals we have at home and is a favorite with everybody. It is simple and quick. Here's how:

Rub the salmon lightly with olive oil (extra virgin is the best), light soy sauce and honey. You may substitute honey with a bit of brown sugar. This will give the caramelized color on the fish. Allow it to marinate for 5 mins or so (or sometimes we simply use olive oil, salt and some pepper only on the fish).

Dribble olive oil into a non-stick pan and grill the salmon on both sides. A few minutes on each side is enough to cook the fish and still leave it moist.

To serve sprinkle pepper onto the fish. You may dribble extra olive oil on the fish if you wish. Serve with a slice of lemon and steamed vegetables with boiled baby potatoes.

Simple yet so yummy.

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Creamy Strawberry Ice Cream

This is the nth time that I am making this. And I must say that it gets better every time. And I think it is the most perfect this time around, so I put up the how-to again here. With a little bit of further tweaking by me.

1 cup sugar

3 Tablespoon all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt

2½ cups milk

3 eggs

1. Combine sugar, flour and salt in a small pot.

2. Beat milk and eggs in a bowl until well blended. Add to sugar mixture. Stir.
3. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly for about 15 minutes until mixture thickens (do not boil mixture as it will curdle). Remove pot from heat. Cool.

3-4 cups strawberry (hulled)

1 cup sugar

2 Tablespoon lemon juice

2 cups of heavy / whipping cream

1. Crush strawberries with potato mash. Add sugar & lemon juice. Let stand for about 15 minutes. Then add to pot.

2. Stir in cream into the pot.

3. Pour into a pan. Freeze until frozen but still soft, about 3 - 4 hours.

4. Beat at medium speed until smooth.

5. Re-freeze until firm. Serve.

Easy-peasy.

Enjoy!

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Chocolate Cheesecake

This is especially dedicated to Antie Poji (the top cake in the photo above).

Before anything, let me caution you this cake serves 16 persons (or more kalau orang Melayu yang makan, I suppose. Or if Antie Poji makes this whole cake, she can invite us all for a tea party or something..) Whenever I make the cake (which I have not for the longest time because some people can eat and eat and eat the cake until it is all gone - lepas tu baru puas hati) as per the measurement in this recipe, I usually have lots to share with the neighbors, friends, office mates..

Note - you have to do the appropriate conversion to metrics since the recipe is gotten from a Yankee cookbook. You will need :

¾ cup butter
all purpose flour (ni tepung gandum la, amount needed given in directions)
sugar (amount needed given in directions)
3 egg yolks
5 8-oz packages cream cheese (read this as a whopping 40 oz!)
5 eggs
¼ cup milk
¼ teaspoon salt
8 oz semisweet chocolate, melted
whipped cream for garnish (optional)

1. In small bowl with mixer at low speed, beat butter, 1 ¼ cups flour, ¼ cup sugar, 1 egg yolk until dough is well mixed; cover; refrigerate 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 400°F. Press ⅓ of dough into bottom of 10-inch springform pan (ie a baking pan where you can separate the base from the sides); reserve remaining dough in refrigerator. Bake bottom crust 8 minutes; cool. Turn oven control to475°F.
3. Meanwhile, in large bowl with mixer at medium speed, beat cream cheese just until smooth. Reduce speed to low, gradually beat in 1¾ cups sugar, 3 tablespoons flour and remaining ingredients except cream, until blended. At high speed, beat 5 minutes.
4. Press reserved dough around side of pan to within 1 inch of top, do not bake. Pour cheese mixture into pan, bake 12 minutes. Turn oven to 300°F; bake 50 mins. Turn off oven; leave in oven 30 minutes. Remove; cool in pan on rack for 30 minutes. Refrigerate, covered. Serve within 1 week, garnish with whipped cream, if you like.

ps - In the end I converted the measures to metrics after all (I round up the numbers), sebab kesian kat Antie Poji nanti kut lah dia tak tau nak convert kat mana..

300°F = 150°C
400°F = 205°
475°F = 250°
1 cup sugar = 225g
1 cup flour = 110g
1 cup butter = 225g

Have fun baking. And dont eat too much of the cake.

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Chocolate Cup Cakes

We made this cake in many variations, as you can see in the pictures below. Yes, they are all the same cake (but we made this more than once actually).

The first time we made it we divided the batch into some cup cakes and a fluted cake tin. We then put coffee flavored cream cheese frosting on the cupcakes. But it wasnt too popular with our 'guinea pigs'; although the cakes looked quite pretty.


We made the cake again and this time we smother (yes, we smothered) the cake with chocolate ganache; a recipe I found on the internet (now you are talking chocolate, baby!) I highly recommend this if you want to win some boys' hearts. You'll need :

2 cups all purpose flour
1 ¾ cups sugar (or less)
¾ cup cocoa
1 ¼ cups milk
¾ cup shortening
3 eggs
1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ baking powder
Chocolate buttons / pieces (optional)

1. Measure all ingredients into the mixing bowl
2. With mixer at low speed, beat until well mixed
3. Spoon mixture into lined muffin pan, half full (for extra chocolate-y taste I put in a little mixture in the pan, put in a chocolate button - or two - then top with more mixture)
4. Bake for 15 minutes or until tooth pick inserted into the cupcake comes out clean

You can eat the cupcakes as is, or you can dribble/ smother it with chocolate sauce. For the ganache, here's how :

8 oz chocolate (use any chocolate that you like, or cooking chocolate)
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoon butter


1. Place the chocolate in a big bowl.
2. Put the cream and butter in a small saucepan. Heat over low fire until almost boiling.
3. Pour heated cream over the chocolate in the bowl.
4. Wait 3 minutes or so then mix with a whisk until well mixed.

You can decorate your cupcake with the ganache or pour it over the cake like a sauce. I also put fun things on the cup cakes..


A last word though, this is not something you want to try if you are watching calories.

ps : My boys also dunk fruits into the ganache (I am always left speechless at their antics..) They tell me I should make some ice-cream, then we can have banana split at home. I think we can also dunk cookies in there, but I wont tell them that.

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Nasi Briyani & Ayam Berempah Mami

So you find out I am updating this blog some more. I cant think of where to put the recipes otherwise. So in a way, I've moved back into the blog. Being indecisive is our prerogative, I suppose.

So anyway. This is rice and chicken recipe from my sister we affectionately call mami. That's short for mummy actually which is what her children call her. And all our children too. Which is how the whole thing started. Now all of us call her that. And guess what we call her husband? Why, Daddy of course. Haha.

Right, the recipe. This is almost the exact text that my sister had sent. I changed only the extreme Kedah slang a little bit. My children love this. I like the serdak yang digoreng dengan ayam.


Nasi Briyani

5 tin susu beras basmati gred A (rendam minimum 1 jam), tapis
1 kilo bawang besar potong kasar2
5 tin susu air (boleh buat blend halia, see below)
kulit kayu manis, bunga lawang, cengkih, buah pelaga
1/2 kilo halia , potong, blend, ambil airnya (halia disimpan utk goreng dengan ayam)
5 camca rempah nasi beriyani adabi
2 ketul buttercup ( boleh pakai minyak sapi tapi dah ada fatwa haram makan; and then dah boleh makan pulak..)
sedikit minyak masak
daun salam, daun pandan, daun sup
gajus (goreng dulu), kismis, garam
1 tin susu cair ideal
pewarna kuning

cara memasak

tumis bawang dengan butter dan minyak, masak sampai kuning
Masukkan kulit kayu manis, bunga lawang, cengkih, buah pelaga dan garam
masukkan rempah briyani dan goreng sampai wangi
masukkan air halia, susu cair, daun salam, daun pandan
masukkan beras
pindahkan periok ke dalam rice cooker masak sampai kering (kareh aka kacau la)
cucuk lubang2 dalam nasi dengan lidi dan tuangkan sikit2 pewarna kuning
tabur kismis
tunggu sampai betul2 masak
bila nak makan tabur daun sup dan kacang gajus dan bawang goreng atasnya

ayam goreng berempah

2 ekor ayam potong kecil
4 ikat serai
halia (yang dah diambil air di atas tadi)
5 genggam lengkuas (lagi banyak lagi sedap)
daun kari, daun salam, serbuk kunyit dan garam

blend serai, halia, lengkuas, daun salam
gaul dengan ayam dan serbuk kunyit dan garam
perap 2 jam
goreng dengan daun kari
tabur serdak dan daun kari goreng atas ayam

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I'VE MOVED!

Hi everyone - if you are one of the visitors to this blog then many thanks from the bottom of my heart for your interests!

Please do take note that from here on I'm blogging all topics, including anything about food, on my personal blog. I've sort of moved, you might say. This site will remain open but no new posts will be added anymore.

You are most welcomed to my other blog, click here, and do leave any comments whatsoever there. I'd love to get to know you!

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Strawberry Ice Cream And Sorbet

Strawberry Icecream

I've made vanilla ice creams a few times before. This time around since there are loads of freezed strawberries I decided to use them in the ice cream.

The photo is a bit shabby; but the children love and really, really appreciate this home made ice cream. Try it, they'll ask for more -

1 cup sugar (you'll need more sugar below)

3 Tablespoon all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups milk
3 eggs
300g strawberry

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

2 cups of heavy / whipping cream
3 teaspoon vanilla essence
Red color

1. Combine sugar, flour and salt in a small pot.

2. Beat milk and eggs in a bowl until well blended. Add to sugar mixture.
3. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly for about 15 minutes until mixture thickens (do not boil mixture as it will curdle). Remove pot from heat. Cool.
4. Crush strawberries with sugar & lemon juice with potato mash. Add to pot.

5. Stir in cream and vanilla. And the red color.

6. Pour into a pan. Freeze until frozen but still soft, about 3 - 4 hours.

7. Beat at medium speed until smooth but still frozen.

8. Re-freeze until firm. Serve.

Depending on how creamy you want your ice cream or how sweet, you can add more / put less sugar or cream. More or less strawberry. Your call. But go slow on the lemon juice if the strawberries arent sweet.

I added some strawberry filling leftover into the ice cream I made. So I omitted the red color and put in less sugar. It sort of give additional fruity flavor to the ice cream. We like!


Strawberry Sorbet

I also made some strawberry sorbet; which is basically frozen juice, fruit and sugar. Believe me when I say I really, really had lots of strawberries. The sorbet tastes refreshingly fruity; although the kids prefer the ice cream, naturally of course.

You will need :
2 cups orange juice
3 cups of medium strawberries (more or less), hulled (which means throw away the leaves and the top of the core; see pix here)
2 Tablespoon lemon juice
1-1/2 cups sugar (depending on your preference)

This is how ~
1. Blend all ingredients together until smooth.
2. Pour into a pan.
3. Freeze for about 3 - 4 hours.

4. Beat at medium speed until smooth but still frozen.

5. Re-freeze until firm.

To make serving easier, you should let the sorbet sit at room temperature for a few minutes before spooning it. And do watch out as it melts quite easily too.

I like this. But go easy on the sugar; start with less and add more if you want to. I personally think it is a bit sweet. I made this with the boys' assistance. It was a novelty for them (and me actually).

Have fun making this and enjoy!

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Easy Pancakes

My children adore this - since they were kids till now. It is easy and quick. Best served with syrup and butter. You can get the syrup at Giant or Cold Storage. Some Carrefour have it, the one in Wangsa Maju doesnt.

You could get ready pancake mix in a box; but personally I think it is too pricey when compared to you doing your own in record time anyway. Dont bother about the exact measurement too much. I find it doesnt make much difference if you put one or two spoons of sugar or half teaspoon of salt instead of three quarter.. just enjoy doing it and having it with the kids.

Here's how -

1 1/4 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 1/3 cups fresh milk (use less if you want thicker pancakes. I use evaporated milk too if I dont have fresh milk)
oil

1. Mix the first four ingredients in a mixing bowl.
2. In a smaller bowl beat egg sightly. Stir in milk and 3 tablespoons oil. Add to flour mixture. Stir until flour is just moistened.
3. Heat skillet. Brush lightly with oil.
4. Pour batter by 1/4 cupful (amount depends on the size of pancake you want)
5. Cook until the bubbles disappear. Turn pancake.
6. Serve with butter and syrup. Or jam or kaya. Honey. Or anything else you like.

ps - unfinished mixture can be kept untuil a couple of days in the fridge.

ps - that's (one brand) of the syrup

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