Winter is coming :D

My hubby’s friend is planning a birthday party for his son this coming November and I decide to bake something sweet, I don’t know yet. I have to figure it out first. Erm, maybe mocha sponge cake! So, we went to ASDA and it was 10 °C. Actually, the normal fare for public transport is £1.90(single trip). However, if we travel after 5.30 pm, we just pay for £2.40 for return tickets. We just saved £1.40 on that night! It’s equal to RM 7.

When winter is coming, the weather becomes colder than usual and the time is 1 hour earlier than usual too. Sekarang Maghrib dah awal. Lebih kurang 4.40 pm. Siang lebih pendek. Sesuai sangat kalau nak ganti puasa ye. Hehe.

Kalau malas nak keluar, boleh je nak shopping online tapi we don’t want to take any risk sebab kitorang pernah shopping online tapi barang tak sampai. Sekali keluar, beli banyak-banyak buat stok. Nak pergi kedai senang. Bila balik, masing-masing jalan da senget sebelah. Bila weather da makin sejuk, xtaula kitorang larat keluar ke x. Sejuk!

Salmon Fried Rice

Well, it’s a great way of using up my leftover fried salmon and of course, the rice.

Ingredients

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

½ green onion, roughly chopped

Salmon, marinated with salt and black pepper, shredded

1 chili, thinly sliced

1 tbs fish sauce, to taste

2 spring onions, finely chopped

1 handful of shredded vegetables, spring greens and cabbage

3 cups of rice

Ground black pepper, to taste

2 tbs oil

1 egg

Method

Season the rice with fish sauce and have a taste. Saute the garlic and onion over a medium heat of frying pan until it becomes aromatic.

Add the salmon and fry until the salmon is cooked. Add the vegetables and cook until the vegetables become tender.

Add the rice and stir-fry in the pan for about 5 minutes or until the rice is hot all the way through. Make a well in the middle of the pan and add the egg. Mix all the ingredients together and cook for another 5 minutes until the egg is cooked.

Taste the dish. Add some salt, sugar or fish sauce. Garnish with the spring onion.

Nasi Ayam Penyet

Masa kat UTM Skudai dulu, selalu je makan nasi ayam penyet. Memang terbaikla sambal dia. Orang indon yang masak. Memang sedap. Bila balik Kelantan, try jugakla cari nasi ayam penyet ni..cari punya cari,jumpala 1 kedai ni kat Jalan Guchil Bayam kot..dahla 8inggit 1 pinggan, sambal dia biasa je dan ayam dia pon ayam goreng biasa. Kecewa.

Resipi ni saya amek dari sariyusa.blogspot.co..Jadi jugakla sambal dia tapi x merah sbb I did not have the red chilies. *I did not put some ingredients such as coriander seed and shrimp paste. Boleh dimakan bersama ulam-ulaman. Saya guna kubis dan kacang panjang je.. 

Bahan-bahan untuk ayam

500 g ayam

3 ulas bawang putih

1/2 inci halia

1 sudu teh serbuk kunyit

Sedikit jintan manis, tumbuk

Garam

Tumbuk jintan manis. Tumbuk bawang putih, halia, garam dan serbuk kunyit. Gaulkan semuanya. Perap ayam semalaman dengan bahan-bahan tadi. 

Kalau ada pengukus, kukus ayam selama 1/2 jam. I don't have one. So, saya steamkan ayam macam gambar kat atas tu. Goreng ayam dalam minyak yang banyak. Goreng hingga kulit dia nampak macam da crispy.

Bahan-bahan untuk sambal

1/2 labu bawang besar, dihiris

2 ulas bawang putih, dihiris

7 cili padi, dihiris. Kalau suka pedas, boleh tambah amountnya

1 sudu kecil kicap sotong (fish sauce)

Sedikit limau nipis

Gula secukup rasa

Panaskan minyak. Goreng bawang besar, bawang putih, cili padi dan kicap sotong sehingga agak garing. Tumbuk bahan-bahan yang digoreng tadi. Tambahkan gula. Squeeze some lime into it.

Fish and Chips

I just made the coleslaw..fish and chips tu saya beli kat Costcutter. Masa ada promotion nilah kita belikan??Nak saving katakan..Ikan tu harganya £1.99. Dalam tu ad dua. Ngam-ngam je untuk saya n hubby..

Ingredients

1/2 cup cabbage,shredded

1 tsp diced onion

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp rice vinegar

A pinch of salt, or to taste

1 tbs mayonnaise

Method

Mix the cabbage and the diced onion in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the olive oil, sugar, rice vinegar, salt and the mayonnaise. Have a taste.

Pour the dressing mixture over the cabbage and the onion. Chill it at least 1 hour before serving.

Simple Sushi

Do you guys like sushi? I really do. I love it so much and almost every week I went to Sushi King with my husband. 2 days before we were leaving Malaysia, we had a great dinner at Sushi King, but I was a bit disappointed because the salmon nigiri(my favourite) was out of stock at that time!

I'm really excited to be here because the grocery price is really reasonable and we always go to the Morrisons to buy some stuff. Last week we bought a salmon fillet for £9/kg. At that time, I did not have a sushi kit, so I cured the salmon first with some salt and sugar.

The curing process dehydrated the fish and thus, killing any bacteria that might cause any spoilage. Then, I kept the salmon fillet in a fridge for 2 days. After 2 days, I rinsed it under a running tap water and sliced it thinly for my sushi.

You will need a few items to make sushi such as bamboo mat, sushi rice, sushi nori (dried seaweed), sushi soy sauce, wasabi paste and some rice vinegar.

Ingredients for sushi rice:

2 cups sushi rice

2 cups water

Rice vinegar

Salt and sugar

Method:

Rinse the sushi rice in cold water until the water runs clear. Add 2 cups of water into the rice cooker and let it cook. Cool the rice on a flat plate and in another bowl, pour some rice vinegar. Add some salt and sugar. Pour the mixture onto the sushi rice. Have a taste. Cover the sushi rice with a damp towel while preparing the other ingredients.

Ingredients for Salmon Nigiri:

Salmon fillet

Sushi rice

A bowl of water

Method:

With your wet hand, grab about 1/2 handful of sushi rice and shape it into an oval form. Take a slice of salmon and smear about a pea size of wasabi paste along the fish. It helps the salmon to stick on the rice. If the sticky rice starts to cling at your fingers, just rinse your hand in a bowl of water.

Ingredients for Tuna Maki Sushi:

Cooked tuna

Cucumber, thinly sliced

2 tbs mayonnaise

A pinch of salt and ground black pepper

Nori sheets

Method:

In a bowl, mix the cooked tuna with the mayonnaise, some salt, sugar, and a pinch of ground black pepper. Have a taste.

Place a nori sheet (shiny side down) on a bamboo mat. Spread a handful of sushi rice over half of the nori sheet. Press the rice along the edge. Arrange the tuna and cucumber about 1 inch from the bottom of your rice. Roll up the bamboo mat tightly. Dip the knife with some water before cutting the maki. Serve with sushi soy sauce and some wasabi paste.

Nasi Kerabu Kelantan

We were very grateful when a Malaysian couple offered a help when we first arrived here. To repay their kindness, I decided to make Nasi Kerabu and I got this recipe from my aunt. Nasi Kerabu is a traditional dish in Kelantan and I’m really impressed when Johorians also love Nasi Kerabu like we do. They also eat budu. What a surprise!

Ingredients for sautéed chili paste of Nasi Kerabu:

3 large red onions

2 cloves of garlic

2 tbs chilli powder, or to taste

½ inch of ginger

½ cup coconut milk, or to taste

1 tbs tamarind paste, or to taste

1 tbs lemongrass, or to taste

Salt and sugar, about 1 tbs or to taste

1 cup of oil

Method

Blend the red onions, garlic, some chilli powder and ginger together until smooth. Sauté the mixture in a wok with a lot of oil to make it a wet paste on medium low heat. Add in 1 tbs of salt and some sugar. As you cook and the oil is absorbed, add more oil to keep it wet.

Continue to cook for about 30 minutes until the paste turns to dark red or brown. Add in coconut milk and tamarind paste. Let it cook for another 10 minutes. It’s important to have a taste of your paste because the taste always varies. Make it delicious yaa!  

Ingredients for toasted ground coconut (kerisik):

1 mackerel fish, stew with some salt

2 cups of grated coconut

½ large red onion

1 tsp lemongrass, or to taste

Salt and sugar, to taste

Method

Add in the grated coconut into a wok on a medium low heat. Stir it continuously until it becomes aromatic and turns to brown. Ground it by using a pestle and mortar until it’s oily.

Stew the fish with some salt. Remove the bones.

Ground the onion and 1 tsp of lemongrass. Add some salt and sugar, have a taste. Add in the grounded coconut and the fish, one at a time while crushing it. Stir and have a taste. Remember, we want it to taste sweet.

Ingredients for grilled mutton/grilled chicken/grilled beef:

500 g mutton

½ inch ginger

3 cloves of garlic

¼ red onion

1 tbs oyster sauce

1 tbs honey, or to taste

A pinch of salt

Method

Crush the onion, garlic, and some ginger by using a mortar and pestle. Add in some honey, oyster sauce and a pinch of salt. Have a taste. Marinate the mutton with the mixture and keep it in a fridge for 1 day.

Grill the marinated mutton in a pan on a medium low heat until it is cooked.

Simple Chocolate Cake

My husband doesn't like a fancy cake. It's alright because I do not how to make a fancy cake ;p. So, I made this simple chocolate cake for him.

Ingredients 

250 g butter, room temperature

190 g caster sugar, reduce the amount of sugar if you want to make a topping

5 eggs, room temperature

250 g all-purpose flour

20 g baking powder

150 g drinking chocolate powder

Hazelnut chocolate spread

Method

Beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add in the eggs, one at a time and beat it until it becomes pale in colour.

In another bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and drinking chocolate powder. Pour the dry ingredients above into the batter.

Preheat the oven to 180 °C and grease the baking tray with butter. Pour the batter into the baking tray and place it on the middle shelf of the oven. Bake the cake for 30 minutes or until it is cooked.

Cool the cake on the wire rack and cut it into two. Spread the hazelnut chocolate on the cake and chill it in the fridge for 1 hour.

Egg Frittata

When we have a lot of eggs in the fridge.

Ingredients

4 eggs

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1 white potato,roughly chopped

1/2 red onion
1 cup spring green
1 garlic
1 tbs olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup shredded cheese
mayonnaise 

Method

Heat up the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Put in some garlic and onion. Cook until it becomes tender and then add potato. Cook for about 10 minutes. Mix in some green spring and season with salt and ground black pepper. Continue cooking until the green spring is wilted and place it into the greased muffin.

In a bowl, beat the eggs and preheat the oven to 150 degree Celcius. Pour the egg mixture into a muffin tray. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 20 minutes and serve with mayonnaise.

Ayam Masak Lemak Cili Api

I cooked ayam masak lemak cili api for our breakfast today and i did not know whether we ate duck or chicken. Hmmm..:p

Ingredients

500 g chicken

1 potato, peel off the skin and cut into 4 portions

2 tsp lemongrass

1 tsp tamarind concentrate

4 tsp coconut milk powder+1 cup warm water

Salt and sugar to taste

5 green chilies

1 tbs turmeric powder

1 inch of ginger

1 large red onion

3 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup oil

Method

Blend together the chilies, turmeric powder, ginger and garlic. Saute the ingredients above for about 10-15 minutes with medium heat. 

Mix in the lemongrass and coconut milk powder+1 cup of warm water into the ingredients above. Stir. Mix in the chicken and the potato. Add sugar and salt, to taste. Let it cook for 15 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink.

Vanilla Muffin

Well,honestly..this is my first successful muffins ever. I'm so proud with myself and I'm gonna improve my skill in baking. Haha. I'm so happy! More muffins to go.

Ingredients

For the muffin:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup margarine (suitable for baking)
1 cup caster sugar
3 small eggs
2 tsp vanilla

For the topping:

300 g cream cheese
5 tbs caster sugar
5 strawberries, roughly chopped

Method 

Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius. Grease the muffin tray with some butter.

Beat the margarine and sugar until fluffy.In another bowl, beat the eggs and mix in into the margarine mixture. Sieve in the flour, baking powder,baking soda and salt. Stir the mixture lightly.

Divide the mixture and place it into the muffin tray. Place the muffin tray on the middle shelf of the oven for 20 minutes or until it is golden brown. Leave to cool.

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Then, add strawberries. Stir and chill the strawberry cream cheese for 30 minutes. Serve the muffins with the strawberry cream cheese.

Nasi Air Kelantan

500

Tetiba pulakkan encik suami nak makan nasi air..sebagai isteri

yg solehah,sy pun masakla.Even ada bahan tak cukup sbb kat Reading 

ni certain bahan mcm bhn oriental tu mahal cket..tp tetap sedap 

jgk cket2.hehe

Ingredients

500 g chicken breast

1 cup of rice

6 cloves of garlic, 2 crushed and 4 thinly sliced

1.25 inch ginger, thinly sliced

1 tbs lemongrass

4 tbs oil

1 red onion, thinly sliced

1 beef cube

4 chilies, crushed

1 tbs vinegar

Salt

Sugar

2 tbs water

Spring onion

Anchovy

Method

For the porridge and the broth:

Add water and stew the chicken breast in a deep pan.  Add 1 tsp of salt and ½ inch of ginger. Let it cook.

Rinse off 1 cup of rice. Add 4 cups of chicken broth into the rice cooker. Add 2 cloves of crushed garlic and ½ inch of sliced ginger into the rice cooker. Cook the rice and add 1 cup of water. Cook for 20 minutes.

Heat up the frying pan and add 4 tbs of oil. Sauté the sliced red onion and 4 cloves of sliced garlic. Add ¼ inch of sliced ginger. Mix in the ingredients into the chicken broth and add 1 beef cube. Alter the taste of the chicken broth.

Slice thinly the cooked chicken and set aside.

For the hot chili soy sauce:

Crush 3 chilies and add 1 tbs vinegar, salt, sugar and 2 tbs water. Stir the salt and sugar until it’s completely dissolved.

Use spring onion as a garnish and fry the anchovy.

 g of chicken breast

Hash Brown

My second trial! First time buat hash brown,it was a bit oily and I did not like it at all. Bila kita masak tu tak jadi,dalam tido pun teringat-ingat lagi. Esoknya try buat lagi and alhamdulillah,malam tu bole tido dgn lenanya :D

Ingredients

2 large white potatoes,peel off the skin

A pinch of salt

¼ tsp ground black pepper

¼ tsp chili powder

1 egg

¼ cup oil

2 cups of cornflakes,crushed

Method

Preheat oven to 200°C. Cut the potatoes into 4 portions. Place the potatoes into a baking dish. Lightly sprinkle with salt and some black pepper. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until it’s lightly browned.Remove the potatoes from the oven and allow the potatoes to cool down.

Shred the potatoes using the largest hole on the grater box. Shape the shredded potatoes into patties about ½ inch thick.

In a bowl, mix in egg, chili powder,salt and black pepper. Beat lightly. Cover the hash brown patties with this mixture and cover with the cornflakes crumb.

Heat up a pan over a medium heat. Place hash brown patties into a pan and fry until it’s golden brown.

Fish Curry

If you don't get to know it, you will never fall in love with it..that's right. How I missed mamak food so much!

Ingredients

500 g sea bass
1 red onion
1 green onion
1 inch ginger
3 cloves of garlic
3 tbs curry paste
4 tsp coconut milk powder+1 cup of warm water or 4 tbs natural yogurt
1 potato,cut into 4 portions
2 tbs chili powder
1/4 tsp black mustard seed
1/4 tsp fenugreek
1/4 tsp fennel seed
1/4 cup olive oil
1 ripe tomato
1 tbs tamarind concentrate

Method

Peel and slice the onion, garlic, and ginger. Place it all in a large deep pan filled with oil on a medium heat. Cook until softened and add the 3 spices (black mustard seed,fenugreek and fennel seed).

Add curry paste and chili powder into the ingredients above. Add 1/4 cup of water and stir occasionally for 5 minutes. Mix in coconut milk powder with 1 cup of warm water and tamarind concentrate. Stir occasionally.

Add fish, potato, salt and sugar,to taste. Lastly add tomato. Serve with rice.

Banana Fritter

My husband went to the town last week and he bought a lot of bananas (20) from the town farmer's market for only uk £1 !Very cheap,isn't it?? To keep the bananas fresh, I wrapped the crown of the bananas with the cling film and it lasted for about 1 week++. Breakfast,bananas,lunch,bananas and even dinner also bananas! So,I decided to make banana fritter and finished all those bananas.

Ingredients:

6 bananas

1 cup all-purpose flour

3 tbs milk

2 eggs

1 tbs butter,melted

6 tbs white sugar,

1/4 tsp salt

1.5 tsp baking powder

oil for frying

Method

In a large bowl,mash the bananas.Beat lightly the milk,egg and butter.

In another bowl,mix in the flour, sugar,baking powder and salt.Combine all those ingredients into a banana mixture.Add more flour if you dont like it to be sloppy.

Heat up oil in a frying pan.Drop the batter by using a spoon into the pan and cook until it turns to brown in colour.

Mamee Curry Laksa made by my hubby :D

We brought this mamee curry laksa from Malaysia.Heaven!

Ingredients

1 pack of mamee curry laksa
1/2 big onion, sliced thinly
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 carrot, sliced thinly
green spring, sliced thinly
1 tbs of oil
2 cups of boiled water
1 egg
1 tomato,chopped

Method

Saute the garlic and onion until browned. Add water,carrot,egg and mamee. Add the seasoning given by mamee. Let it cook for 5 minutes. Add the tomato and green spring,DONE.

Classic Pancake

Pancake or in Malay version,lempeng.Best eaten with butter + maple syrup or whipping cream + strawberry.Yummy! 

Ingredients

1.5 cups all-purpose flour
3.5 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 tbs white sugar
1 1/4 cups milk,room temperature
1 egg,room temperature
3 tbs butter,melted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Sift the flour, baking powder,salt and sugar twice.In another bowl, beat the egg,add butter and beat the mixture lightly. Then,lightly beat the milk in the same bowl. Make a well in the center of the first bowl and pour the milk,egg and melted butter.

Pour the batter into frying pan. I use TEFAL non-stick frying pan so that I dont need to add oil into the pan. If you are using normal frying pan,just add butter while frying.

Serve with butter and maple syrup on top. I just use some honey ;p

Spicy Basa Fillet

We bought basa fillet at Morrisons and at that time, I did not know that it was a catfish! But it's cheaper compared to the other fish. Surprisingly, it doesn't taste like a catfish at all.

Ingredients

1 Basa fillet
4 clove of garlic,crushed
2 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt
2 tbs butter
2 tsp juice of lemon
1/4 tsp sugar


Method

In a bowl, mix chilli powder, black pepper, lemon juice, garlic,sugar and salt. Have a taste of the mixture. Rub the fillet with the butter and the mixture above.

Heat up a frying pan and cook the fillet until slightly blackened.

Use parsley and lemon as garnish. 

Chocolate Coffee Cheesecake

Well, this was my first cheesecake ever because I don't like the cheesy taste. So,I decided to add some espresso powder into the cheese and it was voilaa!

INGREDIENTS

For the base

250g cream crackers,crushed

1/2 cup caster sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder but i use cadbury chocolate powder

1/3 cup butter

1 egg

For the filling

300 g cream cheese

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 and half cup cadbury powder,you can add more if you like

1/2 cup caster sugar,you can reduce the amount if you don't like sweet

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup coffee flavour,i dont have the extract so i make coffee first

Method

Mix the cream crackers,sugar,cocoa,butter and egg. Press the mixture in a baking pan and bake for 15 minutes at 160 degree celcius.

Beat the cream cheese and sour cream until the mixture turns fluffy. Make sure not to overbeat it to prevent the cake from cracking. Mix it up with chocolate powder and egg one by one.Then,pour in a few drops of vanilla essence.

Pour the filling into the crusted base and bake for 55 minutes at 150 degree celcius and let it stay in the oven for 1 hour after baking.*to prevent the cake from cracking.

Chill it in the fridge for about 3 hours and dig in!