MURTABAK MAGGI ANYONE?

      ...One of the simplest snacks ever that simply oozes with delightful melted cheeses. The noodles would sometimes go unnoticeable and once even mistaken for macaroni! If you're not into Maggi mee, perhaps other dried noodles can be used (never tried this though). I bought the packet with no seasoning included because I would rather use my own curry powder and seasoning. Your choice though.
         
      This recipe is just enough for 4 hungry kids. Boil 2 pieces of Maggi and toss it. Meanwhile, in a hot pan, using a little bit of oil, stir fry 1 chopped red onion, 1 crushed garlic, 1 chopped red chili, a tablespoon of curry powder. When the mixture is fragrant, add a teaspoon of chicken stock and remove from heat. In a large bowl, beat 4 eggs, some salt and add the stir-fried mixture and Maggi into it. You can also add some mix vege or sliced button mushroom. 

     Heat a pan with some oil or butter and fry all to get a thick piece or make 2 pieces if you wish. I like mine thick fried over low heat and covered with lid so that it is cooked evenly. Overturning the piece may require some skill and confidence but as long the bottom side is well-cooked then it is sturdy enough to sit on a spatula while it is being flipped.

    Just before serving, drizzle some chili sauce and you'll have a wonderful smell and sight on a plate.
      

BEEF PATTIES / BERGEDIL DAGING - My Recipe

Bergedil (beef patties) is one deliciously simple dish. Here, it is served with either rice or 'mi soto'. All you need are the simplest ingredients in the market but to get those tasty little patties need more than just mixing the potato with the beef and rolling them in your hands. A few tips and a little extra effort would eventually please your palate.

A) About 500gm of potato (sweet potato can be used instead)

B) 300 gm minced beef

1/4 cup of chopped spring onion

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp salt

1 cup potato flour (tepung ubi)

C) 1 large Spanish onion, finely chopped

2 garlic finely chopped

3 tbsp vegetable oil

- Fill a pot with water and leave to simmer. If the potatoes are very large, cut them into 2. Once the water starts to simmer, place the potates in the pot. After 10 minutes try inserting a knife or a toothpick into the largest potato. If it hets through pretty easily and smoothly, strain the potatoes immediately and run them under cold tap water. If the potatoes are overcooked, the patties will be hard to shape. Peel off the skin.

- Place the potatoes in a bowl and mash them (either with potato masher or pestle). It's ok if there are still tiny bits and pieces of potatoes.

- Add the minced beef, and the rest of (B). Mix them using hands. Do not use mixer.

- For (C), heat a pan with the oil. Fry the onions until fragrant. Add it to the potato mixture.

- Moist your hands and start rolling the mixture into balls (about 4tbsp of mixture per ball). Flatten them a bit and place them on a plate. (Sprinkle the plate with flour).

- Refrigerate the patties in the fridge at least an hour before frying them.

- Beat an egg with a pinch of salt. Before frying them, dip each ball into the egg and immediately deep fry them.

Serve with chilli sauce.

SWEET SOUR GROUPER - Lynn's book

An all time favourite dish prepared in a breeze....sweet n sour fish, and for today, it's grouper from the market..fresh, shiny and metallic. I would have preferred asian sea bass (not because it is cheaper) coz the flesh is chunkier and firmer, but it's kinda seasonal over here. So this is the next best thing to it.

Sweet n sour fish is available over here at almost any Thai restaurant. The ingredients are almost the same, although the vegetables and presentation may differ. The good thing about this dish is that you can prepare the sauce way beforehand, and reheat it when it's time to pour it over the fish...just in time for lunch or dinner. My recipe? Easy, pretty yet delicious.

For 1 big fish:

For the sauce:

- Preheat - 3 tbsp of oil in a pan

- Add - 3 crushed garlic, 2 shallots finely chopped

- In a processor - a cup of water, 1/3 cup vinegar, 2 medium sized tomatoes, 1 tbsp cornflour, a slice of pineapple (200g) - add into pan

- Add - 1/2 cup tomato ketchup, 1/3 cup oyster sauce, 1/2 cup plum sauce, 1 tbsp chicken stock. Stir and let simmer.

- Add - 1 cup chopped pineapples, 1/2 cup mix vegetables, 1/2 cup canned button mushroom (sliced or cut into 2), 2 red chillis chopped, 1 small capsicum sliced

- Add into sauce - 1 tsp white pepper, 1 tsp salt (or slightly more), 1/3 cup sugar

In the meantime, deep fry - 2 large holland onions cut into rings, and add into sauce.

- Get 1 tbsp of chopped chinese celery and 1 tbsp of chopped spring onion ready.

Coat the fish in flour (1/2 cup plain flour and 1/2 cup corn flour). Then dip it in 2 beaten eggs. Then again, coat with flour. Heat oil in pan enough to deep fry the fish. Toss it and put onto plate. Pour sauce, sprinkle with chopped leaves. Serve hot with white rice. Simply awesome.

PASTA PIE - Pasta Cookbook (Periplus step by step)

What's cooking in my kitchen today? Cheesy and yummy pasta. A perfect combination of cheddar and bocconcini (bocconcini is a soft, moist, mild, almost white cheese...some people find it pretty bland). Perfect for snack or dinner. Definitely will make it again.

Recipe:
250g macaroni, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 onion, sliced, 125g pancetta, chopped (I used beef bacon instead), 125 g ham, chopped (I used salami), 4 eggs, 1 cup milk, 1 cup (250ml) thickened or puring cream, 2 tbsp snipped fresh chives, salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste, 1 cup freshly grated cheddar cheese, 125g bocconcini, chopped

- Preheat oven to moderate 180C

- Add macaroni to a large pan of rapidly boiling water and cook until just tender. Drain thoroughly. Spread evenly over the base of a 5 cm deep casserole dish.

- Heat oil in a large pan. Add sliced onion and stir over low heat until tender.

Add chopped pancetta to pan and cook for 2 minutes. Add ham to mixture and stir well. Remove from heat, allow to cool.

- In a bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, cream, chives, salt and pepper. Add the cheeses and the pancetta mixture, stir well. Spread evenly over top of macaroni. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until mixture is set.

MACARONI CHEESE - Meals in Minutes : PASTA

For today, I'll put aside calorie counting and get my hands filled with cheeses...mozarella, cheddar and parmesan. My dietician sister will certainly freak out knowing what lies in this bland-looking dish.

This seemingly artless dish however, has the creamiest, yummiest, cheesiest taste ever...The pic above shows the unbaked dish. Once baked, the cheese melting on top will brown evenly and perfectly. With every bite, you will feel the creamy cheese oozing out into your mouth...I definitely can't resist it no matter how bad it will make my belly and thigh look like. (I have a tendency on gaining bulges on these two parts first, but a dish won't hurt that much!).

PREPARATION TIME: 5 -10 MINUTES

Ingredients:

250g elbow macaroni

60g butter

50g plain flour

750ml milk (fresh milk)

250 g coarsely grated pizza cheese ( I use a 100g each of parmesan, cheddar and mozarella, and for topping, another 100g mozarella+100g cheddar)

I added:

300g of shelled medium-size prawns, cook in microwave HIGH 5 minutes.

300g of canned button mushroom (cut into 2)

- Cook pasta in large saucepan of boiling water, uncovered, until just tender; drain. While pasta is cooking, melt butter in medium saucepan, add flour; cook, stirring about 2 minutes or until mixture thickens and bubbles. Gradually stir in milk; cook, stirring, until sauce boils and thickens.

- Stir pasta and half of the cheese into sauce, add prawns and mushroom; pour mixture into shallow 2-litre (8-cup) baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese; Place under hot grill until cheese melts and is browned lightly. (I would bake in the oven for 15 minutes 180C).

There you have it. Try and see.

MEALS IN MINUTES ... PASTA - The Australian Women's Weekly Cookbooks

Publisher : ACP Publishing Pty Limited 2001

Price : RM19.90

Every recipe in The Australian Women's Weekly cookbook series is tested before published. Not only once but 3 times. Each recipe comes with a photo, striking enough to leave you drooling. This is one of my pasta bibles. I myself would test a recipe accordingly at first attempt, without making any changes at all. If a recipe turns out well, then only I would alter it, adding or omitting any ingredients which might make it better.

Pretty organised and helpful categories:

KEROPOK GENDAR... RICE CRACKERS - Lynn's book

   Pembantu rumah yang baru pulang ke Indonesia ada membawa balik sejenis garam. khas untuk membuat keropok gendar. Garam itu akan menjadikan keropok kembang bila digoreng, katanya. Nasi sejuk lebih yang dimasak semalam (dalam 6 senduk penuh nasi), dikukus semula pagi-pagi, dan bila dah lembut, mereka gunakan lesung untuk lenyek-lenyekkan nasi tu dalam bekas, campur garam special tadi tu dalam sesudu teh. Tidak digalakkan menggunakan food processor atau blender, sebab nanti lembik sangat.

  Bulatkan nasi hancur tadi dan gulung memanjang. Biarkan sejuk (jadi keras macam nasi himpit). Potong nipis-nipis dan canaikan leper. Susun kepingan dalam dulang (alas dengan plastik biar tak melekat) dan jemur di tengah panas hingga kering betul-betul (kalau tak, cepat rosak). Bilah dah betul-betul kering, boleh disimpan untuk digoreng. Kata mereka, keropok ni ringan dan rangup, sedap dimakan dengan sambal pecal.  Sedap hasilnya.

Garam keropok gendar

Keropok yang sedang dijemur

CHICKEN CHOP - let's fry them deep...

5 pieces 0f chicken chop pieces (the ones with the leg) or chicken breasts (a bit too fleshy for me), washed, dry (using kitchen towel) and marinate with the following mixture:

1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp paprika (or chilli powder) 1 tsp sugar 1 tsp white pepper

Marinate the chicken pieces an hour before frying, or, u can do this way beforehand and freeze them. The best way is to pack them in ziplock bags. Otherwise, pack each piece in a plastic bag and seal it (I use impulse sealer).

To deep-fry them:

About 2 cups of breadcrumb (white...I use Biffy breadcrumb)

4 beaten egss + 1/4 cup water

2 cups of flour (all purpose flour)

Heat enough oil to deep fry the chicken pieces. Coat each piece with flour. Dip it in the beaten eggs. Then quickly coat it with the breadcrumb. Deep fry. The chicken pieces will stay afloat when thoroughly cooked.

For the sauce, I use Knorr demi glaze brown sauce. Prepare the sauce as directed. I blend half can of button mushroom and add to the sauce mixture. Then slice the rest of the mushroom, add to the sauce as well. Stir until smooth and thick.

Or, for a hot zesty taste, serve with ready made blackpepper sauce (bottled ones - Life, Maggi or imported ones...I would just grab any brand available on the shelf), otherwise, you can make the mild black pepper sauce (lamb chop recipe). And of course, you might need the chilli sauce to go with it. That's the Malaysian style.

LAMB CHOP - My Book ... with blackpepper sauce

GRILLED LAMB CHOP with mild black pepper sauce

It's my off day and the kids were expecting a feast for dinner..and they wanted something 'western' (oh dear)...and they wanted lamb chop (thank God it's easy). Got a few pieces of lamb shoulder and that would do. Finally, I needed to get a simple and fast recipe.

The thing is, lamb chops (loin cut) are more expensive than lamb shoulder. Lamb chops come from the loin, which is more tender than the shoulder. So we can say that the cuts of meat from the tender parts (or parts with less muscles) are the most expensive. However, some assume that eateries serving grilled lamb would normally use lamb chops but that is not always the case.

After thawing the lamb pieces (6), I boiled them for 30 minutes (add 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp soya sauce). Then, I marinated them (about 3 hours before grilling, in a ziplock bag)with :

2 tbsp hot bbq sauce (Knorr) 2 tbsp oyster sauce 1 tbsp chilli powder (or blended dried chilli) 1 tsp salt 1 tbsp sugar

Mild Blackpepper sauce

This is the way my kids love it. Not too overpowering with pepper.

1/2 cup demi glaze brown sauce (Knorr)

1 cup black pepper sauce in a bottle (use any brand)

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 chopped onion + 1 chopped garlic (fry in a little oil till fragrant)

salt and sugar

500ml plain water

Mix all in a pot until the powder is dissolved. Heat the mixture on stove (keep stirring) until it thickens. The lambs can be grilled (I prefer grilling pan to ovens). Spread a little bit of butter on both sides of each piece. Grill hot for 5 minutes on each side (or until it is crusty brown outside). Serve with the sauce, fries and coleslaw.