Baked me own B'day cake: Double Chocolate Peppermint Sponge

have nothing better to do than baking me own birthday cake as i personally feels that store bought cake is too commercialized... blurghhh~ the thought of secret recipe's cake made me vomit in my mouth a little... i'm so sick of it no offence to the business owners their cakes are good but i'm just sick of it...(you know that i'm telling the truth when i actually had to repeat the word 'sick' twice)

anyway this time i wanted to try something different so i jazz it up with peppermint!

hey, why buy when yo u can BAKE!

besides we loved it....and you probably would too!

175g butter -

150g flour

2tbs cocoa powder

1tbsp baking powder

150g caster sugar

3eggs

1tbsp milk

40g peppermint chocolates, chopped - i use Andes after 8 chocolate mints

some chocolate spred to decorate

1. pre heat oven at 180c. grease two 20cm/8" sandwich cake tins
2. sift flour, cocoa, baking powder into a bowl set aside.
3. melt butter and chocolate chunks and set aside.
4. in a mixer fitted with a whisk beat eggs with sugar until volumed and pale.
5. lower the speed, and add in the flour mixture just until almost mixed.
6. then add in the butter mixture and gently fold in the butter until JUST mixed! (coz we don't wanna loose too much air)
7. pour into the prepared baking tins and bake for 25-30minutes or until set. DO NOT OVER BAKE THE CAKE or it'll be dry!
8. once cooked, let it cool just for a bit then turn out and finish cooling on the wire rack
9. Sandwich together the cakes with the chocolate spread, then drizzle more on top to decorate.

for the spread :

i simply melt (using double boil method) beryl's dark chocolate about 100g-150g or so, then i add in 1/4c of whipping cream, 1tbs butter, a 1.5 tsp of light corn syrup and 1/2tsp of peppermint essence. mix well and ready to spread!

p/s: beryl is a malaysian brand chocolate.

hope that you'll enjoy my wacky creation for myselfon my birthday hehehe~ (i hope that i don't sound pathetic)

Moist LEMON Sponge Cake

look at that texture...just gorgeous and its moist too!

before i start, i'd like to wish to all my christian friends and also to those whom enjoy this particular holiday *you know who you are* a very happy happy Xmas and Happy New Year!!

today i'll be posting my all time fave sponge cake recipe...i was contemplating should i share this incredible recipe or just keep to myself? then after much consideration i decided to share this lovely recipe that i hold it dear in my heart hehehehe ~

this recipe is highly recommended , extremely easy to make with no time to spare...

errr this recipe was actually individual cakes (like bake in a remikin for individual consumption) but i was lazy to make such way so i just poured the batter into a 9" baking tin which is not so advisable...but it still turned out great...

LEMON SPONGE CAKE

3 eggs

1/2c sugar

1/2c all purpose flour

1/4tsp baking powder

1/4tsp salt

1/4c melted unsalted butter

1/2tsp vanilla extract

1tsp lemon zest

2tsp lemon juice

1. preheat oven at 180c .grease and sugar the remikins and place a disk of parchment papers at the bottom of remikins.
   
2. beat eggs and sugar until pale and airy with whisk fitted mixer. this will be more or less 10-15minutes
   
3. mean while sift together all dry ingredients
   
4. combine butter, zest and juice and set aside.
   
5. reduce speed on mixer add dry ingredients quickly but not all at once until just almost blended.
   
6. add in the butter mixture and mix until just blended.
   
7. spoon cake mixture into individual remikins leaving 1/2" for cake expension.
   
8. bake for 20-25minutes
   
9. best serve warm

if yo uclose your eyes and eat this just for a moment you'll actually think that its cotton soft cheese cake!

BEST RESTAURANT @ BANGI

THE BEST RESTAURANT @ BANGI

1. WONG SOLO: offeres indonesian food such as their famous ayam penyet but gotta warn you that the 'sambal' is extremely HOT! dinners will have the authentic Indonesain culinary experience restaurant located behind old town kopitiam @ sec 9
   
2. BERLAUK: offers authentic Kelantan cuisine the restaurant is located in sec 7
3. YANKEES: offers great 'ikan bakar' and ala thai food...although this restaurant has a very BAD service be prepared to have a 1-2hrs delay in eating your food.

THE WORST RESTAURANT @ BANGI

1. CHICO : a chinese muslim restaurant that ironicly did not serve chinese food! went there the 1st week of their opening and it was extremely dissapointing i sincerely hope that they improve their menus.
2. YANKEES: food are great but service is minus 5
3. CHICKEN KING: the idea is there but unfortunately they had to 'cut' down their wastage and serve customer 1-2days old chicken ultimately made the chicken very dry!!

this list will be updated from time to time. i mean no harm but people have to know have the right to know and the right to enjoy their food!

birthday delima

these few weeks were horrible for me coz my family were sick. started of with my son having the viral fever then my husband he is until now not well...its so frustrating coz this weekend is my birthday and my family wanted to celebrate my birthday @ sentosa island, singapore plus that would be alot of fun for my children too..

but i guess that we're not going..what a bummer! i was looking forward for the trip...my mom asked my if i could leave my husband and just go with the kids and suggested hubby to stay at his mom's house...well that's a thought but it doesn't feel right leaving him when he's not well like that. its sad that my kids was too excited and very looking forward to the trip.......

i don't know...i somehow don't feel like going either coz..its just don't feel right celebrating my birthday without hubby although even if i stay we're not celebrating anyway in this situation no one wins!

homemade seasoning for meat and burger

today i have nothing to do and have nothing to cook from my freezer we only have our frozen home made burger patty so i decided to make burgers for dinner. its a rainy day today but lucky for me that it was sunny this morning up to 2pm or so...got my laundry done..so happy.

anyway i wanted to have a different taste to my 'original' burger so i thought i could add some seasonings on to my burgers while cooking it...my usual store bought seasoning was out (argh~ haven't been to the supermarket for the longest time) so i decided to mix my own...
and it turned out fantastic.


my MEAT and BURGER seasoning:

1tsp of :

1. mix herbs (oregano, parsley, bay leaf, rosemary...can't remember but you can buy it ready made for this one)
   
2. paprika
3. black pepper
4. ginger powder
5. sugar

and 1/2 tsp of white pepper.
3tbsp salt

blend or grind all of this until it become powdery then ready to use..keep it in an air tight container.

i don't have pictures for this one coz no point its all dark and gloomy...sorry!

Hi fiber bread/ loaf

first of all i'd like to apologize on the fugly pictures its been raining and gloomy lately its no condition for picture taking so please bare with me...but i can promise you this though that this is a great healthy bread recipe and a MUST TRY. with this same recipe you can ,make variations its so wonderful!

ingredient (A)
200g bread flour (you may also use all purpose flour)
50g bran mix
25g wholemeal
10g sugar
1/2tsp salt
2tsp instant yeast (my fave brand is saf instant they never fail me)

ingredient (B)
1.5tsp honey
170ml cold water or milk

ingredient (C)
2tsp shortening (you can use butter instead it gives better taste but texture wise shortening somehow gives more fluff so its your pick)

optional ingredient (D)
35g chopped walnuts or pecans or seeds what ever tickles your fancy

bread making:

1. mix ingredient (A) then add (B) in your mixer with bread dough fitted blade (just in case; its the one that looks like a cork screw), let it knead or mix to form a dough.
2. add (C) and continue kneading until its becomes smooth and elastic dough.
3. then add (D) and mix til combined.
4. cover dough with clear film and let it rise in a warm place for 45minutes to 1 hour or until it doubles the size.
5. divide the dough into equal pieces, mold them into balls nad leave them to rest for a further 10 minutes.
6. then as you would when making white bread, flatten the dough and roll it and give it a firm roll to make sure that the seams won't break during baking and coat them with some flour and put them on to the parchment paper make sure that its seam side down.
7. let them proof for another 40 minutes. the last 10 minutes preheat oven at 200c
   
8. then use a very sharp knife to cut out leaf shape (as per photo)
9. bake at 200c for 25 minutes.

TIPS:

1. when ever making bread it is often a MUST to make sure that at the end of the kneading that the dough become elastic. its important because this is the key for a long lasting softness of your bread. if you have that moment where yor bread is only soft freshly from the oven but when cooled it turned as hard as a rock? this is why. so please its important!
2. what do i mean by elastic? to test, rub your fingers with some oil or butter and try to stretch the dough if its breaks easily then there's a whole lotta kneading to do but if its streacthable to a thin film like then that's elasctic.
3. ample proofing is also a must for a soft and fluffy bread so don't be a smart ass and reduce the proofing time.

for variations:

A) for rye bread - omit the bran mix add 50g of rye flour and the rest is the same

B) white loaf - use 250g of bread flour instead of 200g bread flour omit wholemeal and bran mix.

Best Slow Cooker Chicken Stew

I've always wondered what makes a good stew...have you? i've eaten a lot of stew in my life and i basically love them all except that if you had bland stew then that's different...

if you ask me, a good stew must have good ingredients i mean it has to be fresh...mmm well actually having leftovers and turn it into stew also makes good stew but my point is that the initial ingredient must start fresh..i know what i mean? anyway the spice must not be too overwhelming that you can't even taste the main ingredient which in this case would usually be either beef or chicken of fish or other seafood...i always have this at the back of my mind when cooking " the main 'cast' must always be in the limelight "

apart from that it has to be serve hot or at least warm and to be honest...i love having a big bowl of hot stew just on its own or with lightly toasted home baked bread with butter on a rainy day or night...i think soups and stew taste their bestes during those time or if you're in a 4 season country during winter, its warm you up on no time.

made this last night with a high fiber loaf (which i'll post my recipe later)...ohh its healthy and tasty...

since we are using slow cooker then if you're making it fo dinner then you'd need start cooking at 2pm but if you're working then you can do this before you go to work its fine.


Ingredients:
1/2 chicken
1ltr chicken stock (preferably home made if not store bought is fine)
2celery sticks cut into rough chunks
1-2 carrots cut into large cubes
3-4 potatoes but into large cubes (you can adjust teh amount to your liking)
2 large onions cut into large chunks
2clove garlic crushed

for thickening the stew:
1.5tbsp corn flour

seasonings:
salt to taste
1tsp black pepper
1/2tsp white pepper
1tsp sugar

methods:

simply dump in all the vegetables in the slow cooker then put the chicken on top. pour in the chicken stock.

if you are making this at 2pm then set the slowcooker on high and let it do its thing. around 6:30pm or so you make go and have a looksie and see if the chicken is cooked and tender. it should be very tender by now, take out the chicken and set a side to cool. then shred the chicken for easy consumption. then put the shreded chicken back in the stew.

in a small bowl, take some of the stock from the slow cooker and dissolve the corn starch to thicken the stew. stir the stew and see it thickening if the stew is too thick to you liking then you can adjust it by adding more water. then let it simmer just for a bit say for another 5 -10 minutes on low heat. don't forget to have a taste before you serve do the final 'touch ups' (adding additional seasoning to taste if necessary). then ready to serve.


p/s: if you are making this before going to work then set the slow cooker on low heat the rest is about the same.

if you have left overs which i doubt you can use it to make chicken pie or chicken pot pie all yo need is the short crust or puff pastry and some remikins...

chocolate souffle

this souffle is actually a lot higher but it deflate a little while i was trying to take a picture and fyi i made this in the middle of the night say at 11pm ish...crazy huh?
then i've found out that i don't have any powdered sugar to drizzle it so this look less impressing.
non the less the satisfaction eating it just priceless!
souffle in the oven..look at it rise!! beautiful ain't it?

this is a borrowed recipe...so click here for the recipe

Simple roasted beef

this roasted beef looked all done but its actually medium well and still have a touch of pink in the middle...which is purrrrrrrrrrrrfect!!!

this dish was one of those movie inspired dish...mmm namely the desperate housewife where argh can't remember the red head character's name this is annoying...oh yeah Bree, the 'perfect' housewife cooked a 'perfect' dinner (this was i think the 1st season where she still cook the restaurant worthy food)...

so my mom and i instantly had that craving so we immediately went to the market (pasar tani) that afternoon to look for a prime beef and some other ingredients to accompany the roast beef.
it was a simple recipe and also very satisfying dish. we didn't even have left overs, it was that good!

so here's the recipe:


Roast beef
a log of prime beef - if you are not familiar with the parts of beef, ask your butcher. its mmm how can i explain it one of those beef that is near the ribs its the best part. (correct me if i'm wrong though)
carrots
parsnip
celery sticks

seasoning:
salt - generous amount
freshly cracked black pepper as much as you like, personally the more the better.


side dish:
corn on cob
your fave garden veges
potatoes wedges season with salt and paprika


for this roasted beef you'd need to season it generously. why?
1. because its a big chunk of beef, any less you'll end up with bland roast
2. because we didn't marinate it, marinating is not necessary here.

as for the balck pepper you don't need to put it too much at first coz we'll need to season it with black pepper again later just before serving.

pre heat oven at 200c.
cut carrot, parsnip in big chunks, potatoes in wedges and line them in a buttered casserole dish together with celery sticks. then top it with the beautifully seasoned beef. roast it for 15 minutes.
reason being is that i wanted to some sort sear the beef and have that gorgeous browning effect around the beef and have that very tasty beefy outer crust. at this point you'd need to keep a special eye coz you might want to rotate it every now and then for even browning.

after 15minutes turn the heat down to 160-170c and let it roast for a further 1.5-2 hours depending on your desired done-ness. i like my beef medium well so with my oven it only take about 1.5hr.

once the beef out the no 1 cardinal rule of roasting beef is that YOU NEED TO LET IT REST for at least 15-20 minutes or so. why? because if you don't you'll end up with somewhat dried roast...so for this purpose you'll need to let it rest on a wire rack. this is important because this step will help the roast beef retain all the juice in side. if you notice when you roast beef and let it sit on a plate or tray and later on you see that your roast beef is in a pool of its own juice? this is what we want to avoid and what we want is to keep as much as moisture left in the beef as possible....

i hope you understand my explanation coz i feel like i'm talking gibberish... anyway let the roast sit on the wire rack and cover it with aluminum foil. after the 15-20 minutes rub it again with freshly cracked black pepper for extra kick and slice it and serve it. simple as that.

i need to also point out here is that the veges from the casserole dish is very flavorful and its abit too salty to eat it on its own so you'll need to incorporate it with your gravy.

to make the gravy just heat a knob of butter in the sauce pan mean while pour in hot water (about 2cups or so) in the casserole dish to loosen all of those flavors and pour it in the sauce pan. then add in about 1-2tbsp of corn starch to thicken the sauce, season it with salt and pepper to taste.

as for the side dish:
garden vegetables : just blanch it in hot water then set aside.
then heat a knob of butter and saute chopped garlic until almost brown then dump in all of the garden veges and toss it then season it with salt and pepper to taste. then ready to serve.

corn?...this is to easy for me to write this down, common go figure!


mmmm i just realized that i've forgot to take my gravy picture...sorry...but i do hope that you'll give this recipe a try and i can promise you this that this is and easy dish that will impress anyone who have a taste of it!

food i've made

Carrot cakes...cupcakes with cream cheese topping. made these as cupcakes for easy consumption...

easy to make tuna puffs : use store bought pastry then prepare your desired fillings, then fold in triangle shape, glaze it with egg wash.

pop overs, you can eat it for breakfast with fruit butter or eat it as a savory treat with hotdogs or breakfast beef strip.

hearty beef stew

made this sometime ago and i think i've already posted the recipe so do i still have to post the recipe??

anyway this is one of the best stew i've made and my chicken stew is also a 'fast seller' on my dining table....i will post in the recipe in the next entry coz i'm unable to upload my pictures...

this is surely a MUST TRY recipe

Steamed Garlic prawns

i just love steamed food they are ever so easy and simple to make....

what you need:

150g prawns de vein
2tbsp light soy sauce
1tsp sugar
1tsp lime juice
1" ginger finely sliced
5-8cloves garlic finely chopped
1sprig spring onions finely chopped
1sprig coriander finely chopped
1-2 bird eye chili (this is optional and if you like it hot then by all means go crazy with the chilies)

combine everything in a steaming bowl the steam for 8 minutes of until cooked through. the ready to serve.

maid frustrations

its been a crazy week...*long sigh~* I've been maid-less for quite sometime now and i'm desperately need a maid...i need a maid not because i'm selfish and wanted more free time for myself altho it did cross my mind...but its more of because my children needs constant attention and i basically can't clean the house while looking after the kids at the same time...my children are hyper active i can't turn away just for a second and someone will get hurt or something got broken and its tiring...REALLY...coz as it is now my only time to clean the house is at night when the kids are asleep...to be honest its taking a toll out of me...i've become cranky and easily annoyed due to lack of rest and sleep.

to my luck, a friend of my mom offered me if i want a maid...and i was like "yeah! sure do!" the whole thing will only cost me about RM4k only which is extremely cheap, discussed it with hubby and agreed on taking up a maid from her. since we didn't go through agent we have to register and apply working visa ourselves...everything was fine until after we submit and wait for the approval...after 3 working days we then found out that our application got rejected. we asked why and we were told that it is due to the age limit. the age requirement was 21-45years old. and mine was 45 of age...which shouldn't be a problem as she is still in the age requirement. so we appealed and now we have to wait for another 2 weeks to know the final result. with all this i have to go up and down the immigration office and the waiting is what killing me the most...*argh~* its so frustrating...if it got rejected again then my RM2k burnt just like that and that will surely blow our heads off... such a waste of good money....i'm still waiting pray for me ...i really need the maid so that i can go to work again...i can't go to work if i don't have anyone to babysit the kids...

sooooooooo frustrating....

new layout...

oih~ i've been sitting here trying to configure the html layouts from this blogger templates...sighhhh~ for some reason the templates just simply didn't want to work but i just love this template so i keep on try n error and finally i got it done!

you like?


but unfortunately all of my other widgets bloglist etc are lost somewhere in the cyber world so...if you are not listed please DO come forward and paste your url at the comment area...honestly i only remember some of the blogs/sites so i'm really really sorry about it....but again pls do come forward or else i wouldn't know whre to find you next time ;)


all in all....pls do enjoy my new blog templates...you can most certainly look for some other cool templates here heheh but i do hope that you won't choose the same templates as mine =`D

one interesting blog to follow

you know i have just stumble upon this one blog that intrigues me. and this blogger is trying to be mysterious as s/he do not reveal his or her name but what s/he has to say is kindda interesting. his/her blog is about beauty and i suppose health too and s/he write about things that actually make sense to me i mean...

her/his latest entry is about so called natural products and the presumption. it never really occur to me that 'natural' product is not necessarily be safe and from what i understand from his/her writings that a chemical substance that were copied from its natural from can still be 'natural' and safe.

and the fact that natural stuff does not keep well is very true...just like coconut milk they don't last long unless you freeze it but even so it'll taste somehow different. so logically, we need to add in preservatives in order to preserve it, correct? and we all know that preservatives are very bad for us. so it make sense well at least to me..

this alias dude is newbie in the blog world coz there were only 2 entries but i'm looking forward in his/her next entry....

if you're curious you can have a looksie at beauty private investigator and the blog name i think its very fitting too don't you think?

Sate Lilit Bali with Sambal Jeruk / wrapped balinese satay with spicy lemon dip

my husband is fasting today and i'm feeling creative and also craving for that 'ole ole bali 'sate lilit. 1st of all if you're wondering what's an ole ole bali? its actually means souvenir from bali (an indonesian island) but thats not it as its actually a name of a restaurant that serves indonesian food and i personally think the restaurants is an exotic place to dine i mean the ambiance is superb... to malaysian have you eaten there yet? its worth a try the outlet ones that i know of is at seri hartamas and sunway piramid...

anyway...i like the fact that the sate is being wrapped around the lemongrass its very fragrant i love it....i uses chicken meat with prawns i think the original sate lilit uses seafood such as ermmm tuna/mackerel fish flesh or any meaty fish combined with other seafood such as squids or prawns.

this Sate or satay lilit is different from our malaysian sate which is skewered with a bamboo stick. the marinade is also different.

ok ok enough blabbering here's the recipe:
SATE LILIT BALI

300g chicken breast meat minced
150g medium sized prawns remove all shells and minced
9-12 lemongrass ;cleaned
blended ingredients / marinade paste:

1/8tsp coriander spice (serbuk ketumbar)
11/2tsp palm sugar or brown sugar
salt to taste
1/2" ginger
1" galangal (lengkuas)
1clove garlic
1cm fresh tumeric
60-100g desiccated coconut (this depends on your liking)
*1tbsp corn flour (+-)

1. mix the marinade paste with the minced prawns and chicken breast. mix well.
2. let it sit for awhile.
3. if the mixture is too loose you can add in the corn flour as you see fit. but please do not put too much of its render taste. but if you already put more than 2tbsp corn flour yet your mixture still too loose, add in more desiccated coconut instead. then let it sit in the fridge for 10 minutes.
   
4. then wrap the mixture around bamboo skewer or lemon grass
5. let it sit in the fridge for another 5 minutes or so then grill it until cooked

-> choosing lemongrass: for this purpose look for skinny lemongrass rather the plump fats ones if you can't find lemongrass you can always use bamboo skewers.


Sambal Jeruk/ spicy lemon dip :
10 red chillies remove all seeds
1/2tsp shrimp paste /belacan
1 lemon cut into a fine wedges
1shallot
1tsp palm sugar
salt to taste
1tsp lemon juice


=> mix alll ingredients except lemon wedges, blend until smooth.
=> with a teaspoon of heated oil cook the chili paste until fairly dry but if you like watery dip its really up to you.
=> have a taste and adjust the taste to accordingly then mix in the lemon wedges, ready to serve.

you can use lime instead of lemon like i did; no lemon so i improvised ;)

blog idle : been trying to improve my popover skills

hi,
i know that this would probably be my longest blog idle ever! well i do have my reasons yet one after another but lets just say that i've been on some unfortunate events.

anyway while i'm having 'that' i've been trying and trying to make popovers...and i failed each time and i'm not quite sure why. but too many failures made me just crazy to get it right! ...ok it all started when i saw that show about restaurant makeover @ afc the chef made a popver and the crazy dish did literally pop out of the freaking muffin pan....(i really do get frustrated with this 1 dish) and ever since that show i've been craving popover so i tried to get the recipe but it was not on afc website so as you may have guess by now i've been hogging the net looking for that perfect popover recipes.

my 1st try :
this was like last january i think...my popovers look like a square muffin and i know straight away that is not right..its tasted ok but only when its hot butr became as hard as rock when cooled.

2nd try:
still the same but with different recipe

3rd try:
not even close to the pictures posted all over the net!

4th and countless tries:
i am still far than close to the right texture & look and probably the taste too

then yesterday:
yet another failure and i got really REALLY frustraited so i actuallt studied about how and what makes a perfect popovers (yes you can say that i have becoming obsessed with this)

then this morning:
all smiles and FINALLY that perrrrrrrfect popover <---this comes together when i finally understand about popovers...mmmi'm asian and obviously popovers are not our daily staples heck its not even in the staples so zer0 knowledge about popover. how do i get it right??? well 1st of all what is popovers? popovers is actually a quick bread family can you believe that? i was almost certain its more of a pastry than a bread but...its not however it is the 1st cousin of cream puff/chox pastry. A popover is a big, puffy, steam raised quick bread with a crusty outer shell and a hollow interior. The crisp, golden brown shell has a tender, moist lining. and theres also the whole history of englishman and popovers something to do with yorkshire pudding bla bla which is not relevant at least i think so (lived in the UK but never have i tried the yorkshire pudding so the history doesn't really help at least to me) popover main ingredients are all purpose flour and eggs..oh and a very high temperature say like 230c but latter reduced the heat after 15mins of baking

When making popovers, all purpose flour or bread flour is essential because it contains a large amount of gluten when mixed with a liquid. As the batter is beaten, the gluten develops an elastic quality that later allows the gluten to stretch to form the shell around the expanding steam. At the same time the gluten is stretching, the starch in the flour swells to produce the moist, tender lining.

The amount of egg in popovers has a great effect on the final volume. most recipes that i found calls for 3 eggs and apparently the standard proportion is 2eggs per cup of flour! anyway the beaten eggs streatches along with the starch during high temperature baking...the process is somewhat similar to chox pastry (it is also supposed to look like choux pastry after baking choux pastry in a cup!)

Other ingredients are also important in popovers such as milk (the liquid ) and salt adds flavor. Although popovers could be made without shortening or oil, these ingredients contribute greatly to the tenderness of the final popover product.

mmm bare in mind that the popover batter should be thin unlike choux pastry batter that is thick/stiff. one of my tried an error findings... *wink* i had actually thought that the batter should be one like the choux pastry i mean logically if it turns ous like cream puff pastry/choux pastry the batter should be like choux pastry right???WRONG! it turned out like muffins minus the fluffyness.

anyhow...you need not to beat the batter very long but i find when making this, using the blender is highly recommended heheheh....easy and fast and somehoe provide better texture...and some recipe requires you to heat the muffin pan/cups 1st but i find it not necessary somehow as to me it doesn't quite make that much of appreciateble difference...(hehehe in a more straight forward language no difference lah!) so don't trouble yourself by heating the pan bla bla...and mmmm....what else huh?

oh yeah....i also find that using oven heat with fans gives better fluff (probably because the oven heat become hotter all the better to bake the popover) but if your oven have no fans its ok it'll still fluff.

some other tips:

you'll need to lightly and i mean LIGHTLY grease the muffin cups for easy removing if and IF you are feeling generous with the greasing you'll end up with a flop pop! so note the world LIGHTLY people!

and please like choux pastry DO NOT PEEK while baking popovers...its not the time to be a peeping tom =p

As the popovers complete the last few minutes of baking, prick them with a fork to prevent sogginess. Since the structure of the popovers has already been set, the popovers will not collapse when this is done. Then, when the baking time is up, if you prefer dry, crisp popovers, turn off the oven and leave them in the oven 30 minutes longer with the oven door ajar.

FUN FACTS:

1. you can actually substitute choux pastry with this quick bread to make cream puff it is EQUALLY as GOOD! so you have a choice which is easier and faster?
   
2. there's many way to eat this great food! you can go savory or sweet
3. you can eat it as breakfast with butter fruits,,yeah you heard me BUTTER FRUITS its my latest food creation....i'll give the recipe later with pictures of course... so you'll need to stay tune! but other wise eating it with regular butter and jems is good too.
4. go savory : couple it with some salads and roast beef or grilled chicken or simply with a bowl of soup...

ahhh i just love this popover its soooo multi-purpose not to mention filling too.

*paused* after much blabbering about this i just realised that i can't upload my beautiful popover pictures! uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa~

....nvm ...perhaps some other time argh this entry is boring, no pictures!....mmmmaybe i just borrow pictures from other site??...i'm gonna make these again and hope that it'll still turn out as good heheh~

popovers: 1cup milk 1cup bread flour 2 large eggs 1tbsp butter 1/8tsp salt what you do is..: blend it crazy in a blender hehehe kidding. just blend it until smooth then pour it into a LIGHTLY greased muffin pan. fill it 1/2 way. bake at 230c for 15minutes then reduce to 180c and bake for another 25minutes.

this is how and what popover should look like! picture thanx to gastronomicaljourney

H1N1 ALERT...

HI, ITS BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE I'VE UPDATED WITH THIS BLOG. THE TRUTH IS THAT I'VE BEEN BUSY WITH WORK AND CARING FOR MY SICK HUSBAND. HE GOT DENGUE AND WAS IN A PRETTY BAD SHAPE...BUT NO WORRIES HE'S ALL GOOD NOW, STILL A BIT WEAK BUT BETTER. ITS ALL THAT MATTERS NOW!

ANY HOW...THIS PANDEMIC SWINE FLUE IS REALLY SOMETHING HUH? I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU BUT I'M LOOSING MY FRIENDS WITH THIS FLUE. ITS FUNNY THAT PEOPLE JUST DIED LIKE DRIED LEAVES IN FALL. WE ARE IN BAD SHAPE RIGHT NOW , DON'T KNOW IF YOU REALIZE IT OR NOT BUT PEOPLE ARE DYING 30% OF THOSE WHO DIED IS SOMEONE I KNOW AND ANOTHER 5% IS SOMEONE I KNOW OFF...THAT IS SCARY...

MY NEIGHBOR JUST TOLD ME THAT HE LOST HIS COUSIN TO H1N1 AND HIS WHOLE FAMILY IS CURRENTLY BEING QUARANTINED. IN BANGI A 6 YEARS OLD GIRL DIED OF H1N1...SHE WAS 1ST SUSPECTED OF THE FLUE BUT LATER WAS DISCHARGED BY THE HOSPITAL AS SHE SEEM TO BE RECOVERING. BUT WHEN SHE WAS TREATED AT HOME HER HEALTH PLUMMETED DRASTICALLY. HER PARENTS TRIED TO GET HER ADMITTED TO THE HOSPITAL BUT NO HOSPITAL ACCEPT HER CASE. THEN THE DESPERATE PARENTS WENT TO AN NUR SPECIALIST AND BEGGED FOR HELP AS AT THAT POINT OF TIME THE LITTLE GIRL IS DYING. THE GOOD DOCTOR DID WHAT HE HUMANLY COULD BUT FAIELD....SHE DIED.

ITS SAD AND SCARY AT THE SAME TIME. I DON'T GO OUT UNLESS NECESSARY - YOU SHOULD TOO! I WEAR MASK ALL THE TIME WHEN I'M IN PUBLIC OR CROWED AREAS AND I ALSO USE OUR PRODUCT NATSHIELD FOR MAXIMUM PROTECTION.

The Sensible Advice About H1N1!

How to prevent H1N1 - An eMail forward is reproduced below:


Friends,

Thanks to media hype about H1N1, several people who trust me have either approached or called me to advice. The hype in media about the utility of face masks and N95 respirators as a tool for general protection against H1N1 can't be deplored enough.

Yesterday, a friend who listened wanted me to write down briefly what I advised so that he could tell others in similar words. Hence this short email to friends whom I have advised recently (and others whom I haven't yet).

Please realize that this is not an official advice, especially the one about face masks or N95. Most N95 respirators are designed to filter 95% particulates of 0.3µ, while the size of H1N1 virus is about 0.1µ. Hence, dependence on N95 to protect against H1N1 is like protecting against rain with an umbrella made of mosquito net.


Tamiflu does not kill but prevents H1N1 from further proliferation till the virus limits itself in about 1-2 weeks (its natural cycle). H1N1, like other Influenza A viruses, only infects the upper respiratory tract and proliferates (only) there. The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/ throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible not coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions.

Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is.


While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps - not fully highlighted in most official communications - can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):


1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications).


2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat or bathe).


3. Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don't trust salt). H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.


4. Similar to 3 above, clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water. Not everybody may be good at Jala Neti or Sutra Neti (very good Yoga asanas to clean nasal cavities), but blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.


5. Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (Amla and other citrus fruits). If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.


6. Drink as much of warm liquids as you can. Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.
7. All these are simple ways to prevent, within means of most households, and certainly much less painful than to wait in long queues outside public hospitals.

Happy breathing!

Best regards,
Dr.Ashutosh Mundkur

WHAT IS NATSHIELD? NATSHIELD IS THE ONLY SANITIZER THAT CAN KILL H1N1 VIRUS! IT ACTUALLY KILLS A WIDE RANGE OF INFLUENZE VIRUSES, BACTERIA,GERMS AND FUNGUSES. WE DO NOT SIMPLY CLAIM THIS BUT OUR PRODUCT WAS TESTED AND VARIFIED BY A CERTIFIED W.H.O LAB!

EVEN OUR KKM DIRECTOR GENERAL APPROVE OF THIS PRODUCT. WHAT MAKES NATSHIELD SPECIAL???

1. WE ARE USING BLUOXY AS OUR ACTIVE INGREDIENT. 20YEARS OF RESEARCH WAS DONE ON THIS ACTIVE INGREDIENT IN THE U.S.
   
2. WE ARE GIVEN THE RIGHTS TO DISTRIBUTE AND USE THE PRODUCT FOR ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD EXCEPT U.S (U.S IS OUR PRINCIPLE COMPANY TERRITOTY)
   
3. ITS 100% NATURAL AND WE ONLY USE PLANT EXTRACTS (PLANT BASE)
4. NON ALCOHOL IN NATURE - THEREFORE IT LAST LONGER. NORMAL SANITIZER ONLY LAST FOR 15SECS DUE TO THE ALCOHOL NATURE WHEREAS OUR LASTED FOR 1 HOUR + DEPENDING ON THE ENVIRONMENT
   
5. NATSHIELD CAN BE INGESTED AS IT CAN BE ADMINISTERED TO THE MOUTH/THROAT AND BE APPLY IN NOSETRILS
   
6. NATSHIELD IS SAFE TO USE FOR CHILDREN, ADULTS AND ANIMAL
7. CAN BE USED IN ANY SURFACE
8. ODORLESS
   
9. ESPECIALLY GOOD FOR TRAVELLING BUSES,TRAIN OR PLANE (CONFINED AREA) AS IT'LL GIVE YOU PROTECTION.(NATSHIELD KILLS VIRUSES UPON CONTACT)
10. WE ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO STILL WEAR MASK EVEN WITH NATSHIELD FOR OPTIMUM PROTECTION. SPRAY ON THE MASK, CAR AIR CON UNITS AND OTHER SUSPECTED AREAS APART FROM APPLYING ON TO THE NOSETRILS AND THROAT.

THIS IS NOT A MEDICATION ITS A PREVENTIVE DEVICE/TOOLS!

Honey glazed chicken / ayam masak madu

yesterday we had nasi minyak literally translated to "oil rice" what an odd name for food!
anyway...one of our menu to be eaten with this nasi minyak is the honey glazed chicken or Ayam masak madu or Ayam madu...

i learn how to make this when i was studying in the UK ...because i was craving for Ayam madu and one of my friend so happened to know how to cook this dish and using short cut too!

But for this recipe i have tweeked the original recipe to suit the taste buds of my ever so picky family...so here it is

what you need:
2 chicken thigh or any other parts of chicken you like
1 orange
3tbsp honey or as much as you want
1 tsp blended dried chillies /chillie Boh /dried chilie paste (boiled dried chillies then blended to a paste)
2tbs chillie sos
2tbsp tomato sos
1 tomato - sliced into wedges *optional
fresh chopped coriender

blended items:
1 bombay onion
1 clove garlic
2" ginger

Spice:
1 anise star
1 piece of cinnamon
4 coriender pods
4

ALL ABOUT FLOURS

this is one of the basics of baking...one should understand the purpose and types of flour available to ensure a successful baking. i for one (obviously wasn't paying any attention when we had our theory lecture on this topic) but i shall explain as best i could base on my dusty old notes hehehe~

you may or may not know that there are many and i mean many types of flour in the market and all are set for different purposes...

1. high protein flour
2. low protein flour
3. all purpose flour
4. soy flour
5. bleached and un bleached flour (is basically all purpose flour)
   
6. whole wheat flour (high fiber flour, gluten content is not that high and you would usually have to mix with all purpose flour or bread flour when use in recipes)
   
7. organic flour (its organic!)
   
8. durum flour (i call it pasta flour as it is great for expending and stretching)
   
9. tapioca flour
10. rice flour
11. corn flour
12. glutinous flour
13. samolina (also great for pasta...and for kueh heheh)
    

...is there more? however i hardly pay any attention to any other flour except for high, low protein and all purpose flour.

high protein flour :
this type of flour also known as bread flour. as it name suggested its HIGH in PROTEIN which also mean that its has high gluten content. it is milled from hard wheat and is best for yeast products.

low protein flour:
this is the opposite of the above *DUH* its has low gluten and also known as pastry flour. this flour is most suitable for a more delicate cakes and pastries such as pie crusts.since it has a low gluten level and is usually used for angel food cakes and cookies. This flour is used when the desired effect is a texture that is tender or delicate.

all purpose flour:
is one of the most accessible and commonly used types of flour. You can buy bleached (i.e. white flour chemically bleached to reduce spoilage) or unbleached all-purpose flour. Bleached flour is good for most pastries, cookies and pancakes, and unbleached flour is great for strudel, cream puffs and éclairs. to sum it up, if you cant find high or low protein flour all purpose flour would substitute just fine as it DOES sits in between the high and low proteins content...

so with all these information i think you'd probably could make your own conclusion on which flour is good for what and why ...(i supposed) mmmm my notes are still long but i'm basically tired of typing and scanning to extract the gist of it... hope you dun mind...but i promise that i'll add on information gardually as we go along so bare with me....

now...have i ever made an entry about the difference between cupcakes and muffins?????

arghhh~ i'm so lazy to check mmmmmm~*contemplating "to write or not to write..indeed tha question"*

Ultimate Banana Muffin<---how can i stay slim this way?

lately i've been craving for a sinful chocolate cakes and muffins..REALLY REALLY fluffy muffins doesn't matter what kind so long that its fluffy ...the story behind this muffin cravings is that last week i went to a flea market in cyberjaya street mall and there was this lady who sells really light n fluffy muffins and its also moist at the same time! the week before that i went there and bought some muffins and last week i was late and her muffins are all sold out and she was packing her stuff already.

i missed her muffins last week hence my craving for muffins arghhhhhhhh~~~~

anyway i went to the wet market this morning after a rather eleborate meeting with my son's preschool teacher <---this is a long story i'll blog about it later . so i was in the market wanting to buy some grated coconut and coconut milk then i saw this huge yam and beside it there's this beautiful banana (pisang emas literally translated as gold banana) its beautiful in shape and its ripeness is just right, just right for baking or making any traditional kueh. and i thought to myself i've got to have it and banana muffin came to mind. that and i also have to have that yam coz its also unusually large and fresh looking spud so i bought that but i have no idea what am i going to do with it yet but i've cleaned,cut and dice the spud. boiled it and keep it frozen until i finally decided what to do with it.... anyhow...in my search of fluffy recipes i failed to find one all somehow turned out to be dense and rather heavy<---this is even when i hand mix to avoid over mixing...now i wonder why... with frustration of failing to get the perfect recipe i decided to call a friend of mine Pastry Chef Roslee or was it Rosly sorry mate m not sure of your spelling. We had a long chat and he refresh my memory about lavenings, flours etc....(bare in mind although i AM a certified pastry chef but i do not practise only at home, had a year of internship and thats about it...) after that fruitful chat, i put my chef hat on and start my muffin making experiment...and with LUCK i have baked the ULTIMATE and may i say PURRRRRRRRFECT muffins although i do imitate lydia's style of decorating the muffin ;) hope you dun mind.

what you need : (A)

2 c low protein flour/pastry flour
3/4 c caster sugar <--if you were to add the chocolate chunks reduce this slightly

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

(B)

1 cup mashed ripe banana (since pisang emas is a very small and cute banana it takes almost the whole bunch) 1/2 cup melted butter 2 eggs 90ml fresh milk

100g chopped milk chocolate <---i add this as i so happen to have some left overs

50g crushed hazelnuts

and some whole hazelnut for decoration

Directions

1. preheat oven at 180c.
   
2. in a mixing bowl, mix all dry ingredients together
3. in a different bowl mix melted butter, banana, chopped chocolates,crushed hazelnuts and milk together
4. meanwhile beat the eggs until fluffy then fold in with the other wet ingredients
5. make a well in the dry ingredients mixture then pour in the wet mixture and gently fold in and mix until just combine few lumps is forgiven.
6. AVOID over mixing as it'll make it dense and somewhat dry and oily <--wierd combination huh? but thats how it'll be so try not to mix it more than 5 strokes.
7. then use ice cream scoop to scoop in the mixture into muffin tin
   
8. decorate it with a slice of banana and a single hazelnut on top and bake for 20 minutes or until done

i will explain about types of flour and its usage and other stuff later in my next entry

CUCUR UDANG aka kuih malas aka prawn fritters

this is a tea time snack my family lurve so much...its an all time malaysian snack usually can be found in the night market or sold in a stall by the road side together with banana fritters. But i usually avoid buying them as they tend to be very oily and less prawn so i prefer to make my own...

my recipe is slightly tweeked to suit my family taste (i add crabe filamen/artificial crab meat) so...
p/s: it taste better with real prawn meat

what you need
50g fresh prawn cleaned, de shelled and cut in half
5pieces of crab filamen cut in small pieces
carrot grated (grate as long as possible)
1/2 stalk of chives
1 egg
1 cup of flour (plus minus)
1cup water
salt to taste
1tsp baking soda

mix flour, egg, salt, baking soda and water. mix well control the dough texture by adding more flour or water as the dough should not be too lose.then add in all other ingredients.use spoon or your hand to make a dolop drop and deep fry the fritters. then ready to serve...

Sambal Durian - Chili Durian Paste

as we all know that we are having durian season. its all durian...last 2 weeks me & the kids balik kampung its been a while since i went back to my home town KELANTAN the land of culture..its basically the same except the Pasar Khatijah is undergoing an upgred and those undercontruction roads are all done, its beautiful and clean.

anyway my late grandfather had a some fruit gardens i can't say its a plantation cos its quite small to be a plantation but i think its quite big for a garden...hack i don't know what to catagorized it...but anyway we have pamelo fruits, duku,rambutans, durians, lime,oranges, kaffir lime trees and mangoesteen....i think that's about all we have in the gardens.
my son got really excited running around in the fruit garden...my mom took the opportunity to pluck some limes, chillies and kaffir lime leaves.

anyway its a durian season and we had durian from the garden. there was soo many durian until we are basically sick of it..well except for my dad..he LOVES durians...with all of those durians there are bound to be some that are too ripe, soft and soggy yet sweet to taste. its a waste to throw it away so we ended up making sambal durian and it always gone by the end of the meal...

How to make this? so simple just take few chilies (add more if you want it hot and vis a versa) and pound it with motar & pastle, de-seed the durians and take the durian and mix with the chilies add some salt to taste and sugar if its not sweet.

Beautiful mangoesteen from the garden

Duku ; also from the garden

Some of the durians from the garden

do you know what flower is this??

Limes that my mom picked

This would probably the sweetest pamelo that i've ever tasted

That's my mom having fun plucking stuff....does she look 55 to you??wanna now her secret email me at anothercupofsugar@gmail.com