Wednesday, June 10, 2009

:: Nasi Lemak Hijau ::

i browsed through my favourite blog to look for something nice to cook for breakfast on sunday morning, and i cam accross this and this.

i decided to give it a try, knowing that it's a RISKY one as i'm hopeless in cooking sambal. tak pe la, kasik cuba dulu. i altered the nasi's recipe to preserve the taste of nasi lemak. omitted all kayu manis dan adik beradiknya.



nasi lemak hijau
ingredients:-

2 pot beras
2 cup santan
0.5 cup santan yang diblend dengan plus minus 6 helai daun pandan
bawang merah (sliced)
bawang putih (sliced)
halia (sliced)
1 batang serai dititik
salt

method:-
1. basuh beras sehingga bersih.
2. pour everyhting in and season with salt.
3. masak guna rice cooker. jangan lupa kacau to avoid nasi mentah.

sambal sotong
ingredients:-

sotong (obviously)
bawang besar (thinly sliced)
bawang merah (tumbuk)
bawang putih (tumbuk)
cili kering yang dah diblend
1 sudu kecil asam jawa adabi
1 cawan santan cair
gula perang
garam

method:-
1. tumis bawang besar sehingga perang at sides.
2. tumis bawang merah + putih sehingga naik bau.
3. masukkan cili blend dan continue tumis sehingga terbut minyak.
4. masukkan santan + air asam. kacau sehingga masak.
5. masukkan sotong. continue kacau sehingga sotong masak.
6. season with gula perang and garam.

untuk my boys, since the sambal tuh pedas, i gorengkan ayam for them. (my boys tak suka makan telur)

serve the nasi lemak hijau with sambal sotong, ayam goreng and telur goreng.
ps ~ i totally terlupa nak beli timun or kangkung dan condiments lain. so layankan jek nasi lemak separa lengkap gizi dia. but all in all, it's worth trying when i saw my OH tambah 2 kali. it's either the nasi is damn good or he's extremely hungry. i hope it's not the latter! ;P

:: Brocolli & Carrot Masak Kicap ::



sayur wajib ada dalam hidangan (walaupun tukang masak seniri agak liat nak memakan sayur). since there's nothing children friendly other than ayam goreng, so i decided to masak sayur goreng kicap so that at least nasi anak teruna kembar itu tak lerr kering sangat.

anak teruna no, 2 (adib) sangat suka brocolli. tapi dia makan batang jek. florets dia, hmm, normally dia kunyah² pastuh buang. alahai anak²ku.

ingredients:-
brocolli
carrot
ikan bilis
bawang putih
kicap manis
oyster sauce
air

method:-
1. heat oil in a wok.
2. tumis bawang + ikan bilis ampai agak garing.
3. masukkan kicap manis + oyster sauce.
4. masukkan air.
5. masukkan carrot. last sekali masukkan brocolli. terus angkat and serve warm.

ps ~ i like my vege to be crunchy, so selalunya, kalau masak sayur i akan masak sekejap sangat.

:: Chicken Wings Goreng Belasah ::

another dish yang i buat to accompany OH's green curry (read ~ lauk budak) :D



ingredients:-
chicken wings
garlic (crushed)
2-3 tablespoon kicap manis
tumeric powder

method:-
1. marinade chicken with garlic, kicap manis and tumeric powder,
2. heat oil in wok.
3. fry chicken till cooked.

:: Lamb Green Curry ::

OH will be working in a far, faraway land. oleh kerana saya ini adalah isteri yang mithali (self proclaimed), makanya, saya pun memasak dengan gigih over the weekend kerana kasihankan sang suami yang mungkin terpaksa makan nasi himpit dengan kuah kacang sebagai lunch dan dinner kerana kesukaran untuk mendapat makanan halal di sana.

OH requested me to cook green curry (i tarak penah masak ini lauk). oleh kerana ada paste di dalam peti ais yang menjerit² minta digunakan, maka saya pun masakla guna green curry paste instant itu. green curry paste yang saya beli tuh ala² pes tomyam, so i still buat segala mala tumis to make it taste better.



ingredients:-
2 tbsp (lebih kurang) green curry paste
1 mangkuk santan pekat
2 mangkuk santan cair
thinly sliced lamb
1 batang serai dihiris halus
bawang merah & bawang putih ditumbuk lumat
daun limau purut
daun ketumbar
1 batang carrot

method:-
1. panaskan minyak di dalam periuk
2. tumis bawang dan serai sehingga naik bau
3. masukkan pes dan teruskan menumis sehingga terbit minyak
4. masukkan lamb dan kacau sehingga lamb masak
5. masukkan santan cair & carrot dan kacau sehingga menggelegak
6. masukkan santan pekat pulak. masukkan sekali daun limau purut
7. just before serving, masukkan daun ketumbar yang dah dihiris halus. reserve some for garnishing.

we had this green curry with this :-

white rice

and this:-


sambal bacang - specially made by MIL. sangat sedap!

:: Fish and Chips ::



one simple food that OH loves.

(i pun terus suka gila makanan ini sebab senang nak mampus sangat nak buat. hehe)

ingredients:-
fish fillet (ikan sebelah)
tepung tempura
shoe string fries
a bag of mixed salad

method :-
1. bancuh tepung tempura as directed.
2. coat the fish with the batter.
3. heat oil in a large pan.
4. fry till golden brown.
5. serve warm with a wedge of lemon, tartare & chilli sauce, warm fries and salad dressed with thousand island.

verdict : simple and yummy! save you RM15.90 per plate kalau makan kat kedai. :D


Wednesday, June 3, 2009

:: Cik Mek Molek ::



i attended a course in kelang, and they served me with superbly delicious 'cik mek molek', a traditional malay cake (kuih) from east coast of malaysia. i'm pretty shy to indulge on the food (am being a little bit 'ayu' here), i put up an attempt to make one at home.

the recipe is pretty much based on 'best estimate' concept that adopts the methodology of 'agak²' and 'campak²'. :D

ingredients:-
sweet potato (yellow orangish potato)
water
salt
wheat flour

filling:-
sugar

method:-
1. boil the potato with salt till soft.
2. mash the potato, and add in wheat flour, a tablespoon at a time to avoid overadding flour. (too much flour will make the kuih a tad hard, and u'll lose the taste of potato)
3. repeat step 2 till the mixture leave the side of the pan clean but still sticky on your hand.
4. pat your palm with some flour. roll the mixture to a ball, sized 1-1.5".
5. press the balls flat and dent the middle with your finger.
6. sprinkle some sugar as filling in the dent, and roll the mixture back to a ball and press it till desired thickness.
7. fry it till golden brown and serve warm.

tips - best eaten with hot weak tea (teh o) or black coffee (kopi o). sangat tradisional!

:: scones ::

one of my favourite breakfast dish - scones. fills up the house with sweet smelling scones, freshly baked from the oven on weekend morning. the feeling is simply beautiful!

this recipe is from Betty Crocker's Cookbook, with some alteration.



ingredients:-
1.75 cups of self rising flour
3 tbsp sugar
1/3 cup firm butter/margerine
1 large egg, lightly beaten
0.5 cup raisins
4 to 6 spoons milk
1 tspn vanilla essence (i used buttervanilla essence instead, as i ran out of vanilla essence that day)
additional milk for glazing

method:-
1. heat oven to 200deg celcius
2. mix flour and sugar in a large bowl.
3. cut in butter and mix with flour and sugar till it looks like fine crumbs.
4. stir in egg, current and just enough milk so the dough leaves side of the bowl.
5. drop dough to desired size on ungreased baking sheet.
6. brush with milk
7. bake 15 - 20 mins (or till golden, depending on oven). immediately remove from baking sheet.
8. serve warm with butter and strawberry jam.

ps ~ i had tried putting in orange rind in the batter, and it definitely tasted much butter! give it a go, and u'll impress your loved ones with this simple, basic recipe.

:: ikan sepat dan nenas masak lemak cili api ::

mom and dad both origin dari negeri sembilan. so, kalau takde lauk masak lemak cili api nih memang pelik.

cuma yang uniknya the way my mom masak lauk lemak cili api aka gulai kuning in our house, is that, mak tak pernah tumis. semua main campak saje, and she always say that 'nih lauk orang malas!' lepas tuh, kalau mak masak lauk kuning nih, jarang sangat la terasa cilinya. nama jek orang negeri sembilan, tapi yes, kami tak kuat pedas.

let's see how malas can we go with this dish.



ingredients:-
1 biji kelapa, diperah santannya (i selalunya buat 2 kali perah, dapat santan pekat and cair. macam la selalu sangat pun!)
ikan sepat masin
nenas (i used the one dalam tin je, malas nak kupas²)
2 asam keping
garam (jika perlu)

bahan ditumbuk lumat:-
bawang merah
bawang putih
cili api (up to you berapa banyak nak letak)
kunyit hidup
* bahan tumbuk - make sure betul² lumat. kalau tak nanti gulai tak cun.

method:-
1. sediakan periuk atas dapur.
2. masukkan semua bahan tumbuk, ikan sepat, nenas + santan cair.
3. masak di atas api sederhana. always kacau. (petua dari mak supaya santan tak pecah minyak)
4. bila santan cair dah masak (bubbling), masukkan santan pekat, nenas and asam keping.
5. kacau sehingga mendidih lagi and finally season with salt if needed.

ps 1 ~ lauk nih jugak sedap dibuat cicah untuk kuih seperti cekodok bawang. sangat terangkat! (juadah wajib abah ketika berbuka puasa : cekodok bawang)

ps 2 ~ we had this lauk with this ~ MIL's famous sambal belacan. (i tak reti nak buat sambal belacan. sila jangan gelak!)

ps 3 ~ mak kata, to make sure gulai kuning nih betul² sedap, santan tuh kena betul² masak. i pun tatau camana nak justify. :D