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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Pandan Chicken

This is another recipe that I learnt from Nur my cousin and the children simply love it. I think that is because it is different; all wrapped in the pandan leaf and looking exotic in a way.

I had tried this once long ago, using a different recipe. The ingredients used then very much resemble the spicy rendang / ayam percik. I suppose we can marinate the chicken with whatever tastes that please us. This recipe turns out mild and very aromatic.

Ingredients:

1/2 kg chicken breast (cut into 2 or 3 inch pieces; triangles if possible because it is wrapped into triangles)

Ingredients A

1 pandan leaf (thinly sliced)

2 stalks lemon grass (thinly sliced)
3 cloves garlic
Coriander roots (roughly cut)
Blend these ingredients till fine

1/2 cup fresh or evaporated milk
2 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon thai seasoing sauce (or you can use fish sauce instead)
1/2 teaspoon chicken seasoning
Tumeric powder
Black pepper

Salt

Pandan leaves (to wrap chicken)
Toothpicks
Oil for frying

1. Marinate chicken with all items for at least 2 hours or overnight
2. Wrap the chicken with pandan leaves. Use the toothpicks to keep the chicken tightly wrapped
3. Heat oil and deep fry chicken
4. Serve with Thai chilli sauce

ps - if it is too challenging to wrap the chicken in the leaf, you can simply roll the leaf around the chicken and secure it with a toothpick.

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Superlicious Brownies

I had wondered what I'd put for dessert for the raya makan-makan for the kids. Then while at BurgerKing waiting for Eirfan to finish his dinner I got a call for Delinn asking for a chocolate topping with no cream. I remembered this recipe but I cant remember if the topping has got cream or not in it. And I have no way of checking the recipe right then.

Delinn, if you are reading this - this one has got no whipping cream.

Anyway her call made me think I should make some brownies for the kids. And the decision sort of cinched when Iman said her friends had requested for the same brownies we served last year. (Err.. does it seem like we serve the same stuff every raya..?)

You could try this recipe with a little bit less sugar, if you prefer. This is as good as the brownies that I had taken from Jamie's site. Check out this recipe ..

50 g self raising flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
40 g cocoa powder
25 g ground almonds
225g brown sugar
grated rind of 1 orange (can omit if you dont have oranges - but it gives a nice aroma to the brownies)
100 g butter, softened
2 eggs

Icing
100 g cooking chocolate
25 g butter or margarine
50 g almonds (chopped)

1. Sieve the flour, baking powder and cocoa together.
2. Add ground almonds, sugar, orange rind and mix together.
3. Beta butter and eggs into the dry ingredients until smooth.
4. Pour into a lined baking tin. Bake at 160 degrees celcius at about 50 minutes.

Icing:
Melt chocolate with butter over slow fire. Add almonds. Spread over brownies.

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Chocolate Moist Cake

I took this recipe from my niece over the raya holidays. She bakes and sells cakes and buns and other stuff from home (I so envy her for being able to do that). Whenever we visit her we would have muffins and breads and buns all freshly made and still warm from the oven.

She baked this chocolate cake specially for us. Eirfan had 4 slices in a sitting - he is such a darling little devil around cakes, let me tell you - especially those dripping with chocolate toppings.

Here's how:

1 ¾ cups butter
1 ¼ cups sugar
4 eggs
¾ cup water mix with 1 tablespoon condensed milk
2 cups flour
1 table spoon baking powder
½ cup cocoa powder

1. Beat butter and sugar till light and creamy.
2. Mix in the eggs and water.
3. Mix in the rest of the ingredients.
4. Bake in a 180degrees celcius oven for about 45 minutes.


Choc topping
200g whipping cream
250g cooking chocolate
60g butter
Heat butter and the whipping cream (do not boil). Turn off the fire. Add in the chocolate. Stir till all chocolate melt. Pour on top of the cake (cool the cake a little bit first).

This recipe makes a 1 kg cake. Bon apetit!

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Tasty Pineapple Tarts

With raya just around the corner, I guess there couldnt be a better time to share cookies recipes..

I went to the baking class with Poji sometime back. We found that the chef will be teaching how to make cheese tarlets (which we both love) and pineapple tarts. I've been trying the latter a few times but had not been satisfied with the results. I even went to my sister Leli's house to see how she had it made .. maybe it was the teacher (I mean, it couldnt be me!) but my pineapple tarts pastry seem too hard..

Anyway. After attending the class I had tried the recipe twice more and both times Eirfan just cant let go of the cookie jar. What I love most about cooking is when I get responses like that. So here's how the chef made her pineapple tarts.

Ingredients
For the pastry ~
200g salted butter
50g icing sugar
1 egg yolk
30g fresh milk (evaporated milk works as well)
30g custard powder
270g all purpose flour

Egg yolk (for egg wash)

For the jam ~
1 pineapple (grated)
1 cinnamon stick
150g castor sugar
4 cloves

Method:
For the jam :
1. Put all ingredients in a wok. Over a slow fire cook till it turns golden brown. Stir often. Cool.
2. Once cool, shape into oval shapes with fingers. Set aside.

For the dough:
1. Beat butter and icing sugar till light and creamy.
2. Add egg and milk. Beat.
3. Add in flour. Mix well.
4. Put into pineapple tart mould and pipe into long lines. Place jam onto the dough. Roll the dough into a rolled tart. Brush egg onto the tart.
5. Bake at 170degrees for 20 mins.

Makes about 75 - 80 pieces; depending on the size. Do try; the recipe works fabulously.

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Pecan Supremes

Pecan by itself doesnt excite me overly much actually. But there is one pecan biscuits off the racks that I like but it so costs the earth. And I also love butter pecan ice cream at Baskin Robbins.

I wanted to try something with pecans and oats for quite sometime and I found this recipe in Mrs Fields cookie book. Now this recipe book I first saw in KLCC. And then later when I was in Florida I enquired about the book but it seem that particular outlet is not aware about it. I purchased the book in 2000 in BSC Bangsar - it was almost christmas (was it - or was it raya?) - whilst out shopping with Ginny. I tried a couple of recipes in the book and they turned quite alright (how bad could I be? I had the book for 8 years and I've tried only a couple..?)

Anyway. I like this cookie as it is light (credit goes to the oats) but unfortunately Eirfan said my usual choc chips tastes better and the others are already so blase about cookies anyway. I think I'll do this for the upcoming raya anyway.

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup quick oats
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup salted butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Combine flour, soda, salt & oats. Mix well. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl beat sugars and butter to form a grainy paste.
3. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat till light and fluffy.
4. Add the flour mixture, pecan and chips. Beat until just combined. Do not over mix.
5. Drop dough into cookie sheet. Bake at 180 degrees in a preheated oven for about 12 minutes.

Enjoy. And the image is from here.

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Nasi Bukhari With Chicken / Meat

I went to a cooking class held at Chef Ismail's Rebung some time back (but it wasnt the chef who taught the class). We were only using the facilities there and the chief cook for the day was a fellow food enthusiast who shared with us a most remarkable recipe of hers.

I made this a couple of times and both times the children gave thumbs up sign for it. It's easy, simple and simply sedaaap.

Here's how..

1kg basmathi rice
1 whole chicken (cut into pieces) * The chicken could be substituted with mutton or beef.
3 + 3 pandan leaves
Ghee (minyak sapi) & cooking oil
Mint leaves (pudina) or you can use curry leaves too

A
Dried chilli (amount according to taste) or chilli boh
1 medium onion
3 garlic
1 inch ginger

B
1 medium tomato (cut into 8)
5 tablespoons crisply fried onion (bawang goreng)
1 packet bukhari powder (beriani powder works fine too)
1/4 can evaporated milk
About 1/2 cup tomato sauce

C
1 stick cinnamon (kayu manis)
5 cloves (cengkih)
3 cardommon (buah pelaga)
2 anise seed (bunga lawang)

Directions
1. Blend A together till fine.
2. Mix chicken, A & B together. Marinate for 10 minutes or so.
3. Heat ghee & oil and add C. Fry till aromatic. Add marinated chicken & its ingredients. Simmer for a short while.
4. Add water, salt and pandan leaves.
5. Stir. Close lid. Cook on a slow fire. Occassionally stir the chicken.
6. When chicken is cooked, put chicken in a serving dish with about two thirds of the sauce.
7. Put washed basmathi into the rice cooker and add in remainder of the chicken sauce. Add enough water. Add also salt and remaining pandan leaves. Stir. Cook.
8. When rice is cooked, garnish with mint / curry leaves.
9. Serve rice hot with chicken.

The kids really love this. And I didnt know I could cook that good, actually..

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Thai Mango Salad Everyone Will Adore

And how time flies! I relly wanted to update this space here regularly but I guess some things are just not meant to be..

Nevertheless I am must share the mango salad dish we learned from my cousin previously. I love watching her did this - simply and so effortlessly (and if only I could imitate even half of her confidence..)

You'll need:

A
1 medium green mango ('apple' mango works best for the recipe).
... julienne the mango or you can grate it (grating makes
the mango soft and watery though..) You need not peel the mango.
Nur my cousin uses a peeler-like grater that's simply superb
for the job; but uh, she got that in Thailand...
1 tablespoon blended/pounded dried shrimp
2 tablespoons fried & corasely chopped ground nut
2 tablespoon fried onion (bawang goreng)
1 tablespoon fried coconut (fried to golden brown - kelapa goreng)
1 small onion (thinly sliced)
chillies, to taste (cili api works best - thinly sliced)
1 tablespoon spring onion (thinly sliced)
Small amount carrot (grated) - for color in the salad

B
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice (do not use kasturi, it doesnt have that zing you want)
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Mix ingredients A thoroughly.
2. Mix B together and stir till sugar is melted.
3. Add B to A and mix well.
4. Taste & serve.

Everytime we go for our lessons we begged Nur to make us this salad. It's simply irresistable. Unfortunately I didnt get a photo the other day; this is courtesy of the internet.

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Aharn Thai - Tom Yam

That translates to 'Thai Food' actually.

My cousin married a girl from Thailand. She cooks divinely. She worked at a restaurant and sells food at pasar Ramadhan. When I heard she's starting cooking classes at her home I told her I'm coming. And I brought a few sisters with me.

We had great fun at her house cooking and catching up with each other's news. That first day we did tom yam, kerabu mangga and telur bungkus. I'll share the tom yam first - it is divine.

A
300g squid
200g shrimp
200g chicken
Boil these half cook. Drain.

B
1 cube chicken stock
2 medium onions (cut into quarter)
3 stalks lemon grass (sliced diagonally, thinly)
3 inch galangal (sliced)
4 kaffir lime leaves (tear into half)
1 medium tomato (cut into quarter)
6 cili api (crushed)
2 garlic (whole)
1 small carrot (sliced or coarsely grated)

C
3 tablespoons tomyam paste (we use Mae Pranom chili paste)
1 tablespoon fish sauce (she recommended the Squid brand)
3 tablespoons lime juice
Salt to taste

D
1 cup oyster mushroom
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 sprig coriander leaves

Directions :
1. In a pot boil 5-6 cups water. Add B and wait till it boiled.
2. Add A and cook for about 3 mins.
3. Add C. Adjust taste.
4. At medium heat, add milk and mushroom.
5. Remove from fire. Add coriander leaves. Serve.

It's easy and delish. The boys went yum-yum over the tom yum. You really must try this. Bon apetit!

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The Sabbatical That Was

As you'd have guessed I had been off-food blogging for a while (I took a vacation from being passionate about cooking) - that's why this blog hadnt been updated since so long. Coincidently after Jaime finished his series last season I too was distracted from the kitchen. I still cook no doubt, but there wasnt the spirit-and-mind involvement.

I guess I could say that I am now back with a vengeance.. I could, but I wont 'cause I am not.. Although I am a bit more inspired than I had been lately..

I've been attending some cooking classes (I guess Delinn would be laughing - she said attending classes is a hobby of mine). Thai food, Malay food and I am keeping my eyes open for some baking classes also. But for now I just link you to the onion soup I made recently and also just to tell you I am in love all over again.

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