Blog on A Break

Dear Readers,
This blog will be inactive for quite a while for unavoidable reasons. If you miss me, just drop me messages. I am not sure how long that would be but I will come back when situation permits so.

Kepada kekawan yang di cayangi...., Along akan bercuti panjang dan mungkin tak dapat lah nak main masak2 buat jangka masa yang agak lama atas sebab2 yang tidak dapat di elakkan. Mungkin dalam sebulan dua ni agak sukar. Harap maaf, I love you all...! Jangan lupakan Along bila masak sedap2 tau, hanto ler sepring-dua...

Steamed Oreo Cheesecake

I've got a box of cream cheese which I need to clear out by the weekend. I was thinking to do layered cheesecake but was too busy & lxxx too. Just wanted to do something easy & quick. My boys suggested for Oreo Cheesecake but some ingredients not available. At the end this is what I came up with.... Enjoy this spongy cheesecake!

(Makes 8" round)
INGREDIENTS:
4 Eggs - separated
100g Caster Sugar
250g Cream Cheese
160g Evaporated Milk
110g Superfine Flour
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
1½ tsp Nescafe + 1 tsp water
1 tbsp Browning / Choc Emulco
10 pcs Oreo cookies - crushed

METHOD:
1. Beat egg whites until soft peak & gradually add half of the sugar.
Beat until stiff.

2. Beat cream cheese with the remaining sugar until smooth.
Add in egg yolk gradually while beating until smooth.
Add in flour & milk alternately - mix well.
Add in vanilla essence.
Lastly mix in white egg mixture.
Take some portion & add in nescafe & browning.

3. Grease & line tin.
Pour in some white batter & sprinkle some crushed oreos.
Scatter few dollops of coffee batter. Cover with white batter & repeat until finished.
Marble the top with coffee batter.

4. Steam for 30 minutes.
I love it served hot.

Spicy Chicken Soup

This time I used my new multi-cooker for chicken soup. Must say that the taste is a lot better than cooked in the conventional pot. The chicken, potatoes & carrots turned-up more tender and tasty.... I love this cooker now....hehehe! Sorry friends, we finished up this big pot of chicken soup and no spare for anyone....hehehe. Alamak forgot to snap Kicap + Cili Padi sauce which will make you fly like a rocket....! Heeeee....

INGREDIENTS:

Some Chicken pieces

2 Potatoes - diced

1 Carrot - diced

3 Shallots*

2 cloves Garlic*

1" Ginger*

1 tbsp Pepper Corns*
1 tbsp Fennels*
1 tbsp Soup Spice Powder* (*blended)

Mixed Spices

Water sufficiently

Salt & MSG

Spring Onion & Celery - chopped

Fried Shallots

METHOD:

1. Heat up few tbsp oil & fry mixed spices and the blended ingredients.

Stir fry until fragrant & add water sufficiently.

Add in chicken, potatoes, carrot, salt & MSG.

Boil until chicken & vegetables are tender.

2. Sprinkle spring onion, celery & fried shallots when served.

Nice to go with white rice.

Simple Cupcakes

I'm too busy to bake & so lucky to find these simple but cute cupcakes. I bought them for a colleague's birthday (RS) which was on Saturday (non-working day) and planned to give her tomorrow. However, when I reached home & opened the container some of the cupcakes were up-side-down and the designs were smeared...! Aaaaaagh.... blaming my husband who was happily walking & swinging the cupcakes bag but then he simply said "I forgot the cupcakes were inside...!" Uwaaaaa........

Oreo Layered Cake (Again)

The last time I made this cake was for my youngest sister (Acu) who visited me from KK. My other sister (Acik) in KL was drooling over it and to be fair I made one for her yesterday. Unfortunately I cannot show you how it looks inside as I did not slice it. See here of previous photo.

Peanuts & Ikan Bilis Sambal

I promised a friend quite a while ago to make her this sambal but somehow been delaying the action. Now that she is leaving the country to work overseas, I quickly made this for her to bring along. It is a good farewell gift which can keep for a few weeks while she's settling down in the new place. I also made an extra jar for another friend (YG) who has been working in Netherland since few years ago - hope she will not drool so much anymore when she browse my blog again... LOL.

For recipe, refer to my earlier posting here.

Chicken Balls in Sauce

Made this several days ago but too busy to update. Something simple when not so much things left in the fridge.

INGREDIENTS:
1 Chicken Breast - deboned & minced
1/4 Big Onion - chopped
1 Red Chili - sliced
2 pieces Cream Crackers - grind
1/2 Big Onion*
1 Red Chili*
1 Green Chili*
1" Ginger* (* sliced)
2 tbsp Oyster Sauce
Few tbsp Water

METHOD:
1. Mix minced chicken with the next 3 ingredients.
Make tiny balls & deep fry until golden.

2. Heat up few tbsp oil & fry sliced ingredients.
Add oyster sauce & water.
Add in fried chicken balls.

3. Serve hot with white rice.

Home-made Sardines

The idea of making Home-made Sardines came from Cik Mat Gebu's house (many thanks for sharing the great idea). Anyway, I have made it according to my own taste and style. The result is impressive as the bones are soften and can be safely eaten just like canned sardines. The taste is better than canned sardines as the fish are fresh, no fishy smell and most of all without added preservatives and you can adjust the recipe to your liking.

Read this article which promotes sardines (including their bones) as healthy diet.

INGREDIENTS:
1 medium size (about 400g) Fresh Sardines (can also use other fish like tuna)
3 Shallots*
2 cloves Garlics* (* pounded)
1 tbsp Chili Powder - add some water to form paste
2" Ginger - bruised
1/2 cup tomato Puree
1/2 cup Water
Salt & Sugar

METHOD:
1. Heat up few tbsp oil & fry pounded ingredients until fragrant.
Add in chili paste & stir for a while until it is cooked.
Add in the rest of ingredients & pressure cook.
(Follow your own pressure cooker instructions for method & timing).

2. Once cooked, depressurised & add in other preferred ingredients like sliced onions, tomato, etc.

3. Served with white rice or rotis.

Chicken Kurma cooked in Multi-function Cooker

Ahaaaks.... ini bukan nak tayang lauk kurma ayam tu tapi acara pecah dara my new cooker... hehehe.... Kalau nak resepi kurma ayam, cari kat sini. Sodap rupa nya masak pakai cooker ni... cepat & lembut je ayam & ubi tu. hehehe, tak jadi ler nak nganto cik cooker ni masuk setor...

Bean Sprouts + Beancurd

This type of bean sprouts is called "Taugeh Kasar" in BM, which is bigger in size than the normal green bean sprouts. I have no idea what beans these are made of so don't know how to translate it to English. The sprouts are typically stir-fried with beancurd...emmmh crunchy & nyummy!

INGREDIENTS:
Some "Taugeh Kasar"
1 Beancurd - cut into smaller pieces
1 Red Chili*
1 Shallots*
2 clove Garlic* (*pounded)
Salt

METHOD:
1. Heat up few tbsp oil & fry pounded ingredients until fragrant.
Add in the rest of ingredients & stir for a while until cooked.

2. Serve hot with white rice & other main dishes.
Some Shrimps

Apam Eno

   This has been in my to-do list for quite a while... a must do since my youngest son loves to eat Rice Apam. Started it first thing in the morning, left it to ferment for 7 hours & steamed it for our evening tea. It did not turn out perfectly as expected.... look at the top photos and you can see freckles all over the kuih! The "smiles" were not so widely opened... uwaaaaa... how devastating!
   I figured out that the freckles were probably due to Eno that was not properly dissolved. So I let the last uncooked batch to rest for about 10 minutes before steaming... seems that the freckles were clear - see the green ones. So my theory could be right.
   Apart from the Eno problem, the kuih is soft and good. I served the apams with desicated coconut to balance the bland taste. With so much effort but at the end the targeted customer (I meant my son lah) did not like it much.... :(

Recipe taken from MyR_Zara Klate.

(Makes about 26 pieces)
INGREDIENTS:
300g Rice Flour
10g Sugar
1 tbs Yeast
300ml Water
3 tsp Eno

METHOD:
1. Mix well all ingredients except Eno.
Ferment it overnight in room temperature.

2. Divide into 3 portions & color each.
Add 1tsp Eno into each color.
Steam for 15 minutes.

Dragon's Beard Candy

Ahak.... I did not make this but like to show off my favourite sweet snack that I bought just now from the shopping mall.... Emmmmm....! What a combination... ground peanuts wrapped by spun sugar! If you are a sweet tooth, try it. It is only RM5/pack. Enjoy!

Free Gift

Unexpectedly I was called to collect this free gift from my skincare counter.... ahaha.... Not sure yet what I will do with it... Steamboat? Briyani rice? Deep fryer? Curry? Oh no.... it is just too big size for a family of 4.... Emmm... let's keep it in the store room first lah... ehehehe!

Kerabu Mangga (Spicy Mango Salad)

Kerabu again.... hehehe... I have not got enough of Kerabu Jantung made the other day.... it was really an appetiser. I cooked Ikan Masak Lemak for dinner tonight so was thinking something like sambal to go along and when checked the fridge I discovered few young mangoes that my hubby bought from Tamu which were almost forgotten.

Same recipe like Jantung Kerabu I made the other day. Mix sliced young mangoes with pounded chili, dried shrimps, onions, ginger, kerisik, salt & sugar. Skipped lime juice as young mangoes are already sour. Enjoy!

Kerabu Jantung (Spicy Banana Heart Salad)

The banana tree at our backyard is fruiting again. So I had fresh banana heart/flower which I turned into this delicious appetising salad.

Boil the banana heart & slice thinly. Mix with pounded chili, dried shrimps, onions, ginger, kerisik, lime juice, salt & sugar. Enjoy!

Spicy Fried Chicken

This is just a simple deep-fried chicken that I made last night. I used variety of spices - chilli + turmeric + fennel + cumin + pepper + curry powder - rub onto chicken pieces & dip in beaten egg & flour.

Shaped Poached Eggs

We had simple breakfast in the recent weekend (late posting due to blog system problem). For those who like to try this, grease the mould & drop a tsp of butter in the middle of the mould before poaching egg into it. This way, you can unmould it easily once the egg is cooked.

Selamat Hari Ibu

E-card ni dapat dari KakIna. Maceh KakIna... caaayang ngan KakIna... Mmmmmmmmmuah! KakIna org pertama yg kasi greeting ni. Emmmmm... yang kat rumah kita ni senyap je.... ingat ke idak bebudak ni....huhuhu. Semuga KakIna mendapat segala yang di hajati dan anak2 KakIna perolehi kejayaan dunia-akhirat.

Along nak tujukan ucapan Hari Ibu kepada sume kekawan cyber..............(Along copy-paste je lah, ucapan KakIna tu yaaa....). Doa Along semuga kita menjadi anak-anak yg solehah & juga Allah mengurniakan kita anak-anak yg soleh-solehah.... Amin!

SELAMAT HARI IBU BUAT SEMUA MEMBER-MEMBER CYBER
SEMUGA KITA SEMUA MENJADI IBU YANG TERBAIK UNTUK
ANAK-ANAK KITA DAN SAYANGILAH

IBU SEMASA IBU MASIH ADA


Yang ini pulak dari adik Inahar cayang...... mmmmuuuuuuah! Maceeeeeh....{(^..^)}

Strawberry Mousse

I bought some strawberries from Brunei yesterday and this is the first thing crossed my mind in the morning. Finally I got to taste this popular dessert by Yani (MR sifu). Indeed it is delicious & my family said it tastes like ice-cream!

(Makes 6 cups)
INGREDIENTS:
10g Gelatin
100 ml Hot Water
200g Strawberries
70g Sugar
200ml Fresh/Whipping cream (I used Nestle cream)
1 tbsp Lemon juice (skipped)

METHOD:
1. Dissolve gelatin in hot water.

2. Place the rest of ingredients in a blender & process until smooth.
Mix in gelatin & lemon juice.

3. Chill until set.
Decorate with fresh strawberries.

Bubur Jagung

Bubur Jagung translated as corns cooked in sweet broth. My SIL invited us for lunch at her house today and at short notice this is what I manage to come up with to bring to her house for dessert.

By: Roz@HomeKreation
INGREDIENTS:
Several Ears of Corn - slice corn kernels off the cobs
1/2 pot Coconut Milk
1/2 cup Pearl Sago
1 Screwpine leaf
Sugar & salt

METHOD:
1. Wash sago & boil with 2 cups of water until translucent.

2. Place all ingredients in a pot & stir until boiled.
Serve warm or room temperature.
Note: Use sweet corns or else you need to boil it first instead of adding directly to coconut milk.

Chicken Kebab

Today is a holiday (Labour Day) so I've got a chance to prepare breakfast for the family. I bought some pita bread in Brunei during my business visit yesterday and there was some roast chicken leftover from dinner last night. Enjoy.....

Steamed Chicken

This was our dinner few days ago... I was not in a mood for cooking so I cook something lazily... just threw everything into the steamer & let it does the rest. Served with chili oil for spicy appetiser.

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 chicken - chopped to smaller pieces
2" Ginger*
2 Cloves Garlic*
Black Pepper* (*pounded)
2 tbsp Oyster Sauce
Some Chilli Padi
1 tomato - sliced
Salt

METHOD:
1. Mix all & throw into a steamer container.
Steam for 30 minutes.

2. Serve hot with white rice & chili oil.