I Dreamt of Almond London

This year I feel a bit adventurous. Other than making my MIL's secret recipe Biskut Badam, I made Biskut Almond London for the house. These were not for sale though. Just to add variety to my kuih raya spread. Googled the recipe and found a pretty good one from MyResipi. Credit goes to Niza Madey for this "amateur friendly" recipe. You can find the recipe at this link Almond London Cookies.

 Cream butter and sugar.

 I used ground hazelnut instead of almond.

 Sift flour.

 Blind bake almonds.

 Roll out dough and insert almonds. Shape into oval shape.

 Almond London Cookies ready to be arranged in airtight bottles.

 Rupanya my hubby hebat buat Almond London! He used to help his mother to coat the cookies. Tak sangka!

Bila Sham took over, it was all done in less than half an hour. Well done Pa! :D

I Dreamt of Tauhu Bunga

Haaaaa... This is a new recipe that I learned from the popular cooking show "Ketuk-Ketuk Ramadhan" by Sheila Rusly. Went to the supermarket with Mak the other day and found all the ingredients in one place. Apalagi, balik aje terus buat untuk hidangan berbuka. Bahan-bahannya senang je, saya olah-olah sedikit kerana tidak menyalin resipi tersebut, hanya cuba-cuba ingat didalam kepala sahaja!

Tauhu Bunga

3 dozen tauhu pok (snip crisscross and turn over inside out, pickout the insides and mix with filling)

Filling:

300gms chicken meat (mince)
300gms prawns (mince)
1 small bunch coriander leaves (finely chopped)
1 chilli (finely chopped)
2 tbsp cornflour
1 egg (L size)
Insides of tauhu pok
salt and pepper to taste

 Method:

Mix all filling ingredients. Stuff into the upturned  tauhu pok. Preferably chill about an hour before frying. When deep-frying, fry filling side down. Fry til crispy and golden. Serve hot with Thai chilli sauce.

 Before frying.

After.

I Dreamt of Bubur Sumsum

This dessert always reminds me of Ramadhan. It's made from rice flour and coconut milk, eaten cold with aromatic sugar syrup. My mother used to make this dessert when we were young, she told her daughters that all young women must learn how to make this pudding, kalau tak pandai buat malu aje! But although the ingredients are quite simple, the pudding is a bit tricky to make. One must vigilantly stir the mixture on low heat until it becomes thick and "custardy".

I made a batch for tonight's iftar, it's been so long since I last made it. I forget that it must not be made at the last minute, because it must be thoroughly chilled before being served. I started my project at 4pm, quickly mixed and immediately chucked it in the fridge. To my dismay when I took it out of the fridge, the top of the pudding had cracked! Like cheesecake, it must be cooled thoroughly at room temperature, THEN only transferred to the fridge to avoid the cracked surface. Kenapalah tak ingat masa buat tadi...

Anyway, here's the recipe for this refreshing traditional pudding. Tweaked the recipe to my own taste, do give it a try!

Bubur Sumsum

Pudding:
1 cup rice flour
200ml thick coconut milk
3 cups water
1/2 tsp salt or to taste

Syrup:
1 cup sugar
3 cups water
2 star anise
1 (approximately 3") cinnamon stick

Boil all the ingredients for syrup until sugar is dissolved. Chill.

Mix all ingredients for pudding in a pot or in my case I prefer the kuali. The trick to a smooth pudding, use a handwhisk to stir while simmering on low heat. Stir until thick custard consistency. Quickly pour into a heatproof dish. Smooth surface with a spatula. Let cool to room temperature before tranferring to the fridge (to avoid my mistake!). Serve cold, scoop with a serving spoon into a bowl, pour cold syrup over the pudding.

I Dreamt of Meatloaf

To tell you the truth, I've never tasted meatloaf before in my life. Always been curious, but never got the chance to make it. So tonight I finally did. I used this recipe by Betty Crocker, Savoury Meatloaf . Tapi bahan-bahan tu di "Asia"kan sikit. Saya tambah daun sup dan plenty of black pepper.

Senang aje nak buat meatloaf ni, gaul-gaul dan bakar. Cuma saya tak berapa gembira dengan rupanya. Is it supposed to look like that? Takpelah janji rasanya sedap. Saya buat meatloaf ni untuk hidangan bersahur, untuk tukar selera. Sedap dimakan dengan roti bakar dan sos cili. Pasti akan cuba lagi hingga dapat meatloaf yang cantik!

I Dreamt of Char Kueyteow Cik Yah

Wahhh... kalau tapau kueyteow kat warung mana-mana pun tak ada yang boleh tandingi kueyteow goreng resipi mak. My children especially Imran, suka sangat kueyteow goreng ni. This is a very simple recipe, tapi kesedapannya bergantung pada tastebud masing-masing. Sounds scary kan? Cuba dulu, tak susah pun. Tipnya bila dah masukkan semua bahan, tambah kicap pekat hingga cukup rasa masinnya dan warnanya pun sedang elok.

Char Kueyteow Cik Yah

1 packet kueyteow (cerai-ceraikan/ separated)
3 tbsp oil
6-7 garlic (pounded)
2 tbsp cili boh/ ground chilli paste (boleh tambah untuk lebih pedas)
1 cup cockle meat or combination of prawn and chicken meat
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 cup water
3 eggs
About 2 cups of taugeh/beansprouts and some chives cut approx same length as taugeh
Kicap pekat/ dark soy sauce and kicap cair/ light soy sauce to taste.

Method:

Tumis garlic until golden and fragrant, add cili boh. Tumis lagi hingga pecah minyak/ dark red. Masukkan kerang atau kombinasi udang dan ayam. Stir fry until meat is halfcooked. Quickly add oyster sauce and water. Let it simmer. Pecahkan telur, kacaukan sikit (jangan terlebih kacau), bila agak-agak telur dah separuh masak add kueyteow, gaul hingga sekata. Add taugeh and kuchai (chives). Lastly, masukkan kicap. Kicap pekat untuk warna, kicap cair untuk rasa masin. Kalau tak ada, gunakan kicap masin biasa je. I like Kicap Tamin and Kipas Udang hijau. Sambil tuang kicap, rasa kueyteow hingga cukup masin.

 The ingredients, I'm making double the portion for berbuka tonight.

 Add kicap/ soy sauce to taste.

 Char kueyteow, versi Mak. My daughter Nurin is "drooling" on the side as I am taking this picture! ;)

I Dreamt of Chiffon Cake

I have always loved this cake. I would often buy it whenever I go to bakeries. I just love the light cottony texture and mild flavours. A few years ago, I tried my first chiffon cake. It was Pandan flavoured, dan menjadi! Lepas tu I tried one flavour after another, my favourite masih juga orange chiffon. Most interesting ones are  green tea and mocha. The recipe I often use to make orange chiffon is from Allrecipe. Here's the link: Allrecipe Orange Chiffon Cake

Resipi ni boleh diolah untuk buat chiffon perisa green tea ataupun mocha. Gantikan jus orange dan air dengan susu segar, omit the zests and replace them with green tea or *mocha powder.

*Untuk buat mocha flavour, saya gunakan 1/2 tsp coffee essence dan 1 tbsp cocoa powder yang diayak bersama tepung.

 I'm making green tea chiffon today, ayakkan semua dry ingredients together.

 The sifted flour before being added to the creamed yolk mixture.

 Eggwhites beat until stiff.

 After the cake is cooked, leave the pan upside down until cake is properly cooled.

 My chiffon cake unmoulded. It's a bit brown and crusty, left it a bit too long in the oven. ;p

 Green Tea Chiffon Cake ready to be served.

I Dreamt of Puding Kastad Jagung

I can't recall when was the last time I made this pudding. When I was younger, the recipe I used was my late maternal grandmother's. I never really copied her recipe down, as whenever I wanted to make it, I would just ask her for the measurements. When Wan passed away, the recipe was lost. Menyesal betul tak salin dalam buku resipi dulu. This recipe is my mother-in-law Cik Nab's, the ingredients are similar, but I guess the measurements are slightly different. However, this is a good and foolproof recipe. So I thought for today's berbuka I'd make this pudding in honour of my dear Wan. May Allah bless her kind soul, Al-Fatihah...

Puding Kastad Jagung Cik Nab

1 can Cream of Corn
1 can Ideal evaporated milk
3 cans water (use Ideal's can)
1 can Bird's Custard Powder (use Ideal's can)
1 cup plus 2 tbsp granulated sugar

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together in a big wok (I always use the wok when making custard).
Turn on the heat to medium. Stir until thick and glossy. Pour into heatprove bowls of your choice. Leave to cool, preferably in the fridge. Cut into squares and serve.

I Dreamt of Kuih Bakar Jagung

My husband Sham loves anything that has corn. I'd keep frozen corn kernels in the freezer all the time. It's quite convenient. I'd add it to my Chinese style chicken corn soup, make cucur jagung for breakfast, add it to my desserts such as pengat and bubur chacha. But for this recipe I'm using cream corn, an ingredient that I always have in my pantry too, just in case...

Recently I've learned to make kuih bakar from my aunt, who I call Makcik. I was thinking to myself, corn would go well with kuih bakar. And so I embarked on a search for kuih bakar jagung recipe. It didn't take long, I found a very good one by Zana08 on MyResipi. I've made this kuih bakar many times since, and each time I'll get rave reviews for it. I'd like to share the recipe with all of you. You will find it on his link, http://www.myresipi.com/top/detail/5060 . A great big THANKS to Zana08 for sharing this lovely traditional recipe!

I Dreamt of Pancakes

Kat Malaysia ni belum lagi ada trend menghidangkan pancake sebagai breakfast. Kalau ada dijual di restoran-restoran pun mahal. In actual fact the ingredients are really cheap and simple. I make these pancakes almost every weekend, kerana anak dara saya Nurin sangat sukakannya! They're really versatile, you can have them in variations such as with fresh berries and whipping cream, maple/chocolate/strawberry syrup, honey or even jam. You can also omit the milk and use buttermilk instead.

Resipi ini sangat bagus. Pancake-nya lembut dan gebu. Rahsianya, gunakan semua bahan-bahan at room temperature.

1 large egg
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon caster sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Saya guna nonstick pan, saya dapati tanpa minyak lebih cantik pancake-nya.

Gaul semua bahan. Memadai semua tepung basah, tak perlu kacau hingga smooth. Tuang sesenduk batter ke atas pan, gunakan api sederhana kecil, biarkan hingga berbuih sedikit dan terus terbalikkan. Biarkan hingga golden brown. Hidangkan panas-panas, bersama butter dan maple syrup. Kami suka makan pancakes dengan Hershey's chocolate syrup. Yummy!

I Dreamt of Brownie

Kalau ada family gatherings or special occasion, my family will always turn to me for cakes and desserts. I'm known as the baker in the family. Tapi kebelakangan ni takhta tu dah takde lagi, my sister Elin  and Makcik pun dah rajin bake. And they have their own specialities, which are all super yummy!

Hmmm... Hari ni ni nak binge on chocolates. What better way to binge other than gooey chocolatey brownies! Brownie is not a favourable baked treat for me to sell. I'd usually make them for my family je. The reason being, cost bahannya mahal. Most customers tak faham, dan mereka mahukan sesuatu yang sedap tapi murah.

Saya terserempak dengan resepi ini semasa mencari resepi baru untuk dicuba. Credit goes to Kitchenriffs. Post yang bagus kerana bloggernya siap bagi tip-tip berguna berkenaan brownies. Thought I'd try this recipe pulaklah untuk dessert berbuka malam ni.

http://www.kitchenriffs.com/2012/07/the-ultimate-chocolate-brownie.html

The brownie turned out perfect, soft, moist and chocolatey. Disebabkan dark chocolate hanya 5.2oz, saya bancuhkan 3 sudu teh serbuk koko dengan sedikit air panas hingga menjadi paste. Ini saya masukkan kedalam batter sebelum tepung. Sangat gembira dengan brownie ni, We enjoyed it with raspberry ripple ice-cream. Heavenly! Hmmm... I foresee more of these decadent brownies coming my way in the future. There goes my diet!