TIRAMISU

This is a lovely recipe for Tiramisu..very light and good. Unfortunately I forgot which blog I took this from. whoever it is my apologies for not being able to give credit to your cooking. I just copy and pasted the recipe.

Ingredients
3 Packages of cream cheese, 8 oz. each ( I used 250 gm of mascarpone + 500 gm of cream cheese)
18 French butter biscuits (Petite Beurre)
1 Cup sugar
6 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
8 oz. Frozen whipped topping
5 oz. milk chocolate, shaved or grated
1 Cup milk

In a pot, melt 1 oz. of the chocolate into the milk and heat.  Place 9 of the butter biscuits in a rectangular pan and pour half the milk chocolate mixture over them.  Allow to sit for a few minutes and then spoon out the excess liquid.

In a food processor, mix together the cream cheese, sugar and lemon juice until smooth.  Periodically, scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue mixing.  Add the whipped topping and pulse just until combined. Avoid over mixing or the batter will be too runny.

Pour half the cheese mixture over the cookies and spread out evenly.  Reheat the milk chocolate briefly and pour into a shallow bowl.  Dip the remaining biscuits into the milk to soften and place on top of the cheese batter in the same configuration as the bottom layer.  Pour the remaining cheese batter over the second layer of cookies and spread out evenly.  Finely grate the remaining chocolate over the cake to create a thick, even layer of grated chocolate.  Refrigerate for several hours or overnight for the cake to set.

Note:  Even when thoroughly chilled, this cake will be loose.  If you're serving it to company and appearance matters, add some unflavored gelatin into the mixture to help it set.

Sticky Date Pudding..

OMG..I spent the hole hour trying to find where is the recipe for this pudding..almost gave up..ahaa just found it in my file..it was hand written..that is why it is not in my computer....very forgetful of me..this is a nother of Rima's recipe so that is why it was handwritten..uhmmm better late than never. To me this pudding is best eaten a day later when the butterscotch has seeped through and make the pudding better tasting..I think I took off too much sugar from the recipe that it tasted a bit bland ( did not wait for a day to try.LOL)

The recipe compliment of Rima is as follows:

Ingredients:

250 gm of pitted dates, chopped 

1 tsp Bicarb soda

1 1/2 cup boiling water

125 gm butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract 

2 eggs

1 3/4 Self Raising Flour, sifted ( used AP flour + 1 tsp baking powder)

Butterscotch  sauce

90 gm brown sugar

120 ml thickened cream

80 gm butter

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 C. Grease and line the base of a 7 cm deep and 22 cm ( 9 inch) cake pan.

2. Place dates and baking soda into a bowl. Pour over boiling water. Allow to stand for 20 minutes ( Boil water and dates and once it starts to boil. Turn off heat and add baking soda. Let it stand for 20 minutes or till lukewarm to touch.

3. Using a mixer, beat sugar, butter and vanilla essence until pale and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. using a metal spoon, fold through date mixture and flour until well combined.

4. Spoon mixture into a prepared cake pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. Turn onto a plate.

5. To make the sauce, combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until sauce comes to the boil. Reduce heat to medium low. Simmer for 2 minutes.

6. Pierce pudding all over with a skeer. Pour 1/2 cup of warm sauce over arm pudding. Stand for 10 minutes. Cut into wedges, serve with remaining sauce.. 

BAKED MACARONI

Salam and selamat bersantai di ujung minggu bersama keluarga..resepi ni saya ambil dari Facebook rasa nya
Mai Share Resepi ..I copy dan paste saja resepi dia dan membuat perubahan sedikit kerana ada bahan yg xde di rumah dan di gantikan dengan yg lain. Cuma satu komen saya, anak2 saya suka makan pedas ..so I kena buat cili potong on the side...typical Melayu ..

Bahan2 nya:
500gm macaroni-rebus sampai lembut (rebus letak sikit garam dan minyak zaiton)

sesenduk minyak zaiton-untuk tumis
1/2 kg daging cincang-siram air dan toskan

250 gm sayur campur ( xde d umah so saya gantikan dgn cauliflower dan parutan 2 biji carrot)
1 tin cream of mushroom + 1 tin susu segar-sebatikan ( saya masukkan cream of chicken soup) + 2 cups susu fernleaf bancuh- xde susu fresh)
5-6 cendawan shitake-hiris2 (xde stok d umah)
beberapa tangkai daun sup/bawang-dihiris
garam dan black pepper secukupnya
3-4 ulas bwg putih-cincang>
1 bj bwg besar-dadu> untuk tumis
seinci halia-cincang>
ceddar cheese secukupnya ( tambah 1/2 cup mozarella )
8 bj telur ayam-dikocok 
butter secukupnya-sapu pada aluminium foil

Caranya:
1. bila macaroni yg direbus dah lembut-toskan;

2. panaskan minyak dlm kuali dan tumis bahan tumis sampai naik bau; 

3. masukkan daging cincang-goreng hingga daging masak dan agak kering airnya; 

4. masukkan sayur campur serta cendawan shitake..diikuti dgn campuran susu dan cream mushroom;

5. masukkan juga garam, pepper dan daun sup/bawang, biar mendidih;

6. masukkan macaroni. gaul rata dan tutup apinya.
7. panaskan oven 170C;
8. sapukan butter pd foil kalau xda foil, boleh guna loyang; 

9. kemudian masukkan macaroni-ratakan dan taburkan dgn cheese dan telur yg dikocok tadi. ulang proses sampai habis. permukaan atas ditabur ceddar cheese dan telur sampai rata..lebih banyak cheese lebih sedap. 
10. kemudian bolehlah dibakar dgn kepanasan 170C selama 30 minit. (Oven saya bakar 30 minut x brp cantik atas nya..so saya naik kan lagi 10 minit at 200C baru dia kuning golden tuu..)

Nota ..
*gunakan api atas bawah
*kalau rasa banyak..boleh dikurangkan adunan ini.
*tabur bwg goreng (xde stock bawang goreng pulaks :( )

BEIGNET

Beignet History:

The word beignet (pronounced bey-YAY) comes from the early Celtic word bigne meaning "to raise." It is also French for "fritter." Beignets, a New Orleans specialty, are fried, raised pieces of yeast dough, usually about 2 inches in diameter or 2 inches square. After being fried, they are sprinkled with sugar or coated with various icings.

Beignets are like a sweet doughnut, but the beignet is square shaped and without a hole. Beignets are considered the forerunners of the raised doughnut. When you hear people in New Orleans say, "Goin'  fo' coffee an' doughnuts," they mean coffee and beignets. Beignet is one of the most universally recognized names for fried dough desserts which are basically fritter batter. For many years, beignets were shaped into balls or squares and covered with mocha frosting. Later the beignet was cut in the shape of a doughnut, and the raised doughnut was born.

Source:http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/BeignetsHistory.htm

I guess we called them doughnuts now..recipe can be found here

Made these two days ago..very soft and lovely. I made the baked ones the other day and these are fried ones..Kids love them but only thing is the doughnuts are not sweet but on the outside we dress it with sugar and stuff..so here my kid's comments are " Maaa..u sure the doughtnuts are supposed to be sprinkled with icing/powdered sugar only?" I said " yes, recipe calls for dusting with icing sugar only"..uhmmm they apparently are not happy with the amount of sugar each doughnut is coated with...but all is finished in the end..I made 2 recipes..so quite a lot actually..

OLD HOBBY REVISITED

Been here and there..Done this and that..

Over the last few years, my time was spent on baking, cake decorating and sugar art..OMG I was into it for the longest time..(never actually do one thing for a long time so wondering when I will get fed up of it)..answer is NO..surprisingly ..must be I have slightly matured (hehehe do not wanna admit even though I am already more than half a century old)..anyway, I got hooked into reading novels for a while..hah..I just cannot concentrate on anything else except books..was reading more and more ..also fueled by my friend, MamaF as she was also into reading novels..both of us were happily challenging each other on the number of books read and also books which are worth having a read..tears and the emotional trappings of reading romantic novels..then came the sudden silence on both end ( I guess both of us suddenly got busy and also loss concentration for novels)..I bought a number of books and now ended up with half read books..still needing my attention.

Ahaaa...now is the sewing phase..hehehe..suddenly I got the urge to sew again..Sewing has been quite a passion for me when I as young. Looking and watching my late mum sewing my dresses and cushion covers etc etc..women then have to know a lot of skills ..cooking, baking, sewing, looking after kids ..very tiring indeed..my late mum used to sew bedding and stuff for the weddings. She also can make mosquito nets that hand over your bed when u sleep at nite ( we require them then..can do without air conditioning then..in fact do not know what is that also hehe..nowadays kids cannot live without them and so do we)

So my sewing journey begins with sewing my grand daughter's dresses. Actually I was quilty I forgot to buy anything for them for the last Raya. So I thought I could make it up by going and buy them...waaa just a simple cotton dress can cost you RM30-40..I thought I would save some money and make them myself..would be more meaningful..I guess. So tradaaaa...I am pleasantly surprised myself..

Made for Sarah, the 6 year old and Zaraa, the 18 months old babe.

Look at Zaraa prancing around in her dress..she loves this one as it is pink..Sarah like pink too..it i just too bad for now she doe have much hair (**sigh**)

3rd project which I finished the other day..haha..it was a little bit too long for her but looks good ( I might say :P) on her..

Only thing I am not happy now is..here very difficult to get good colorful cotton materials..v have to import them...very bothersome indeed..but one of these days I will have to indulge in that too if I am seriously into sewing too..

KIMCHI

Salam and good morning everyone..

Picture after 1 day of fermentation..

Uhmmm..I saw my cousin making these a few months ago and had a taste of it too..Thanks to Yan. 

I got excited when I saw someone mentioned that they had Kimchi..It reminded of days when we used to have a share in operating a Korean bed and breakfast in Bukit Bintang. Our Korean partners wife used to make loads of them and we used to eat them whilst having dinner together..those happy days..but I never get to learn how to make Kimchi eventhough she offered  to teach me many times. I love her cucumber Kimchi, very crunchy and nice..

Anyay, I am a person who cannot sit and wait..so I went to my nearest Tesco and look around for Kimchi..hahaha they have it but it was selling like RM9.90 for a small cookie jar..OMG I exclaimed to myself..no way am I going to pay that much for Kimchi no matter how desperate I as to eat it...(pssst does not look great anyway)..so I Googled and found what I think would taste like my Korean friend's Kimchi..

.( ahaha I can know the taste by just looking at the pictures hehehe)

Anyway, the original recipe is here..have a look at the video and then u will understand more.

Picture taken after I put the Kimchi paste.

Ingredients:

2 large size napa cabbages (about 8 pounds: 3.6 kg) and 2 Korean radishes (about 4-5 pounds: 2 kg) - I used only a 2.5 kg green Chinese Cabbage

1 ½ cup of Kosher salt - I used about a cup of sea salt

 ½ cup  sweet rice flour, ¼ cup sugar, water - I used plain flour

4 cups of hot pepper flakes - I used a packet of Tesco chili flakes

1 cup fish sauce,- i don't have at home so I replace with a cup of light soya sauce plus a teaspoon of ikan bilis stock

1 medium sized onion, minced (about 1 cup)

1 cup of  fresh garlic, minced

1 tbs minced ginger - I used about 2 tbsp instead

7 stalks of green onions, chopped diagnolly - I used 4 local daun bawang ( top green part I mixed with the kuchai below) and a stalk of leek

2 cups worth Buchu (Asian chives), chopped, - this is kuchai 

2 cups of matchstick-cut radish - did not use 

fresh oysters (optional) - did not use

Directions:

Cut the cabbages in half, and then slit each half through the core, but not through the rest of the leaves.

(Our local chinese cabbage is always eaten by bugs so I cut them out and clean them individually..so everything from here is done as such)

Soak each piece in cold water and sprinkle salt over the each leaf , and then set it aside for 2 hours.

*tip: the stems should get more salt than the leaves

Peel 2 kg of Korean radishes and cut them into 1 inch cubes. Do this by cutting them into several disks, and then cutting horizontally, and then vertically. Put them in a big bowl and sprinkle them with ¼ cup of salt. Then set these aside, too.

2 hours later, turn the pieces of cabbage over so they get salted evenly. Turn the radishes as well.

Another 2 hours later, you will see the cabbage look softer than before, and it should have shrunk.

*the total salting process will take 4 hours

Rinse the salted cabbage and radish with cold water 3 times.

Making Kimchi paste:

Make porridge

Put ½ cup of sweet rice flour and 3 cups of water into a skillet and mix them up. Then cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.

When you see some bubbles, pour 1/4 cup of sugar into the porridge and stir one more minute. Then cool it down.

Place the cold porridge into a big bowl. Now you will add all your ingredients one by one.

Add  fish sauce, hot pepper flakes, crushed garlic, ginger, and onion

*tip: it’s much easier to use a food processor.

Add green onions, Asian chives, and radish.

Add  2 cups of frozen oysters, but this is optional. (I found out lots of people can’t eat them.)

Mix all ingredients well.

Are you ready to spread our paste on the leaves and make your kaktugi?

* I recommend you wear rubber gloves so that you don’t irritate your skin.

Spread the kimchi paste onto each leaf of the cabbage, and make a good shape out of the leaves by slightly pressing with both hands.

Put it into an air- tight sealed plastic container or glass jar. ( I used plastic containers)

Mix your leftover paste with your radish cubes (this is kaktugi).Check out my kakdugi (cubed radish kimchi) recipe if you want to make only kakdugi.

You can eat it fresh right after making or wait until it’s fermented. Put the Kimchi container at room temperature for 1 or 2 days and keep it in the refrigerator.

How do you know it’s fermented or not?

One or 2 days after, open the lid of the Kimchi container. You may see some bubbles with lots of liquids, or maybe sour smells. That means it’s already being fermented.

  

The recipe gives me 2 plastic containers..
Ps: Next time I will try with the fish sauce..but this i already good enough to me.

Try it and let me know.

MOIST SUGEE CAKE

Salam and good day to everyone..been blog walking for a long while duk cari this particular recipe...found the one that I like and I think is worth keeping..I am really sceptical, when the recipe calls for separated egg and whip the white egg and add in later by the folding method..my hands are grubby and I do not think I can be gently folding the foamy beaten egg white into the cake mix...hehehe...well I tried to be gentle and was laughing inside..the things u do to make a cake become a cake..anyway, I am surprised that the cake was lovely and moist so the end of my search for a a good sugee cake..definitely making another one soon.

Special thanks to Rima for the lovely recipe.

250 gm butter, softened

250 gm caster sugar (reduced to 220 gm)

125 gm SRF ( used AP Flour + 1 tsp b/powder)

1 tsp baking powder

125 gm semolina flour

50 gm cashews, ground ( used ground almonds)

1/3 cup evaporated milk

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tsp buttercream essence/ rose essence ( did not use any)

5 eggs plus 1 yolk, the whole eggs separated

1. Preheat oven to 150 C

2. Put semolina flour, SRF, baking powder and nuts together in a bowl and sitr. Set aside.

3. Separate the eggs.

4. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

5. Add yolk one at a time.

6. Add cold milk, vanilla extract and buttercream essence and mix well.

7. In another bowl, beat egg whites till stiff.

8. Fold in the flour mixture into the cream mixture.

9. Then fold in the beaten egg white gently until well mixed.

10. Bake 150C for 50-60 mins until skewer comes out clean. ( depending on your oven).

** decorate with slivered almonds befor baking.

RED AND BLUE VELVET CUPCAKES

One day, whilst I was cruising around some of my friend' blog..I saw so many versions of Red Velvet cupcakes/cakes and everyone profess that their version of Red Velvet is good..I suppose everyone is entitled to form their own opinions..I made several version of it until I gave up and am confused again which particular recipe I used for these...OMG back to square one againnn..tough luck.. 

RICH OREO BROWNIES

 Round kat Rima nyer blog..amboiii gambaq dia semua menunjukkan brownies dia sedap2 belaka..so buat this for my kids..tahan la dua hari ajer..sedap and moist..

RICH OREO BROWNIES- 

taken from bisous atoi

Ingredients 

225 gm butter

240 gm cooking chocolate

3 Grade A eggs

1 tsp coffee powder ( I did not put)

1 tp vanilla essence

250 gm caster sugar

60 gm flour**

40 gm cocoa powder**

½ tp baking powder**

1 tsp salt** (**sift together)

1 ½ packet of oreo break and mix ith 15 gm flour ( I used 1 packet only)

 Method

1. Melt chocolate by double boiling and add in butter and mix till smooth. Let it cool.

2. Whisk eggs, coffee powder, vanilla essence and sugar till smooth.

3. Add in chocolate mixture and stir till ell combined.

4. Fold in flour mixture and mix it slowly. Add oreos.

5. Bake in a preheated oven at 170C for 45 minutes using 13 x 12 x 2 cm pan ( I bake for 35 mins and I used a 10 x 10 pan

6. Once cool cut brownies according to your preference.

BLACK PEPPER TOFU

Salam...sudah lama x buka blog ni...banyak yang tertunggak ..uhmmm anyway, masih sibuk but dalam kesibukan pun kena lah jugak update blog demi anak2..supaya saya x lupa mencatatkan resepi and happening harian ni..Resepi asal dari Plenty by Yotam Ottelenghi dan saya ambil dari blog The Patterned Plates..best jugak..vegetarian dish..saya dah ubah suai sikit untuk kegunaan saya..

Bahan2 nya:

8 pieces of firm, fresh tofu ( halved or quartered)
oil for frying
12 ulas bawang merah
9 ulas bawang putih
1.5 inci halia
1 sb lada hitam
1 sb sos soya manis
1 sb sos soya cair
1 sb sos soya pekat
sedikit daun bawang d potong 3cm
3 biji cili merah, d buang biji dan d racik halus
gula secukup rasa.

Cara2:

1. Panaskan minyak dan goreng tofu hingga kuning keemasan di permukaan nya, angkat dan ketepikan.
2. Bawang merah, bawang putih, halia dan lada hitam d blender kan sekali.
3.Tumis bahan yang d blender tadi hingga naik bau wangi.
4. Masukkan sos soya manis, sos soya cair dan sos soya pekat. Masukkan gula sedikit dan didihkan sebentar;
5. Masukkan tahu, dan cili potong tadi;
6 Gaul mesra dan biar kering sikit dan mauukkan potongan daun bawang sambil gaul.
7.Angkat dan hidang.

PIZZA ROLL BUN

Dah lama tak buat roti ..so today( not exactly so..) with a little bit of rajin-ness for me..buat la roti Pizza Roll Bun for the 4th or 5th time dah. the kids love them..very soft, cheesy and they are very mengenyangkan. This was for tea on one of those days last week.

I used Cik Mat Gebu's recipe and u can find it here..Hve fun trying....the ingredients looks like a longgg list but don't b scared..just give it a go..I have to make double recipe to cater for everyone at home..for me one resipi make 12 so 2 recipes makes 24 buns.