AFC Dream Asia Midnight Football

onz and some of her kids

panjangnya title. haha. this entry is not about the dream asia midnight football...it's about the kids and also...heh heh...about food.

♪ ♫ ♩ ♬ food glorious foooooood...♪ ♫ ♩ ♬

when onz told me about this camping event her company is organizing i thought maybe i could contribute something, after all they are doing something good for the society...why not give something back, right? so, i told onz that i will be baking something for the boys.

i wanted to bake something not too sweet but at the same time fun and filling. so i went online and got a recipe from here.

chocolate chip muffins

my only problem is that the muffins, although they look quite alright, are not what i imagined them to be...they were not sweet at all...yeah, yeah, i know i told you earlier on that i wanted to bake something not too sweet, but not sweet at all? aiyerrr...fail! the texture is also a bit 'off'. i dunno. i'll share the recipe with you guys and maybe you guys can give it a go and see what happens. i baked them according to the recipe and also by using the suggestions provided by those who have tried. needless to say that i won't be baking these again... *sedih*

here's the recipe:
ingredients:
250g all purpose flour, i used normal flour
100g white sugar
3tsp baking powder
½tsp salt
100ml milk
80ml vegetable oil, you can also use melted butter
1 egg
130g mini semi sweet chocolate chips
40g white sugar & 25g brown sugar, combine them together

the how to:
1)  heat oven to 205°C and line muffin tin with cups.

2)  in a medium bowl combine flour, sugar, chocolate chips* and salt, mix well.

3)  in another bowl combine milk, oil and egg, blend well.

4)  add dry ingredients all at once; stir until all the dry ingredients are just moistened (batter will be lumpy).

5) fill cups 2/3 full. before baking, sprinkle the tops of all muffins with the combination of the brown and white sugar.**

6) bake for 20-25 minutes or until done.

* i always add the chocolate chips last.
** apart from the combined sugars, i also added more chocolate chips on top of each muffin, for cosmetic reasons. haha!

you can read more about the AFC Dream Asia Midnight Football and AFC's social responsibility program here. :-)

by the way...HAPPY BIRTHDAY ONZ!!! you will forever be the one and only mother sengkuang kuang kuangggg. mmmuah!!!



recipe source: allrecipes.com

 

have voucher will

paw and claw mani-pedi?

bought this voucher for a mani-pedi at mexico kukubar bangsar. i bought three so that i can spend some time with the sistahs a.k.a. the lazarus girls women. i cannot remember when was the last time i spent time with both of them. so, i thought maybe we should all go and get our paws and claws groomed nicely. i heard about this kukubar place a long time ago...and being in bangsar i thought, maybe the place is cantik properlah...but i guess it has seen better days kot?

the place was just okay...our session was a bit disturbed by this hairdresser guy who was going on and on and on talking about his trip to pakistan. i mean this guy was L-O-U-D and he wouldn't stop talking. talk about spending some time relaxing while getting your paws groomed.

overall, i think the service was not consistent. the lady who attended to me, did not file my heel and the foot massage was just so-so, my manicure was also just so-so there were parts of my nails that were not buffed properly...not only that she did not massage my hands and apply lotion. she didn't even push my cuticles. why didn't i say anything? well, to tell you frankly, the lady intimidated me a bit. i scared.

lazarus woman no.1, i think she had a wonderful foot massage and also her pedicure was done properly by the owner (?). i'm very happy for that because lazarus woman no.1 (from now on shall be known as 'the daughter') just gave birth to 'the cucu' and God knows how much she needed that foot massage.

as for lazarus woman no. 2 (from now on, she shall be known as the wife. yes, she's the sister to 'the daughter' and don't ask me how this 'family' works, aight?) i think she had an okay experience as well. good for them.

i? i had a wonderful time spending time with 'the daughter' and 'the wife'. that's all that matters to me.

before that we went to lunch at Delicious, Bangsar Village. Courtesy of 'the daughter'. thank you daughter. i had the pesto pasta with grilled chicken. sedap gilosh. 'the wife' had this lamb stew thing. tak sempat nak amek gambar, she was too hungry. for dessert, we all shared the sticky date pudding with butterscotch sauce. i don't know where the dates are in that sticky pudding, i could taste a hint of cinnamon though...but it was delish!



after our session, we went back to have tea and this time it was a treat from 'the wife'. thank you wife. we had the banana bread pudding with butterscotch sauce and also the banoffee pie. the banoffee pie was just so-so, nothing to shout about, i will try other banoffee pies though just so i can have some sort of a comparison. nanti ye.

what a wonderful closure to a wonderful day spent with wonderful people. will i go to mexico kukubar again? i dunno...

but will i go to Delicious again with the daugther and the wife? most definitely!!!

* just when i thought i could change the stereotype of this blog and make it more neutral...i went and made yet another entry about food. cheh!

this, is not

a food blog, is it?

i don't know.

i want to write something else, but i don't know if i should. at the same time, i don't think i want this blog to be ALL about about food, i mean, i do have other things that i might want to share, right?

we'll see.

singgang sotong

nope. i kid you not. this entry is about singgang sotong. and let me tell you, this is the first time i've tasted and made singgang sotong.

i haven't been feeling too good for the past few days...and my appetite is craving for the weirdest i don't know whats...so, yesterday i decided to make singgang. not fish, like the kind i'm used to, but sotong. i took the recipe from chef hanieliza's book, again.

i dunno...maybe it's because i'm used to fish singgang...or maybe it's because i'm not feeling too good, but to me, squid and singgang, just do not go. the taste of the squid was really bland, not like fish when the flesh of the fish sort of absorbs the singgang gravy...i dunno. maybe you guys can give it a try and let me know.

here's the recipe.

ingredients:
500g squid
2 cloves garlic, pounded
2 lemongrass, lightly pounded
2 red chillies, sliced
1 cucumber, cut in strips - i used just a little bit
3 stalks chinese celery, i used only a litle bit for garnishing
2 asam keping, or asam gelugor
½tsp turmeric powder
2 cups water
salt to taste

the how to:
1)  clean the squid and set aside.

2)  in a pot, put everything inside except for the squid and the chinese celery.

3)  let it simmer till it starts to boil.

4)  add in the squid and let it boil once again.

5)  take the pot off the heat and it's ready to serve.

recipe source: 1 hari 1 resipi

sup ikan

or a.k.a. fish soup. hmm...somehow, fish soup does not sound too appealing, huh? but, it you're looking for something light to have for dinner and you don't want to cook like a gazillion dishes, this is a good choice to make. you have your fish and you can add in your veg, like celery or even potatoes...or a fruit, like tomatoes. kan?

i am not feeling too good today, hence the craving for something soupish.  well, here's the recipe for you guys.

ingredients:
(a)
1 red snapper (ikan merah), i used about 2 cuts
1 sup bunjut, it looks like this and inside it has all of these inside
3 cups water
1 tsp ground black peppercorns
2 stalks chinese celery
2 stalks spring onions
salt to taste
cooking oil

(b) slice
3 shallots
1 clove garlic
2" ginger

the how to:
1)  clean the fish and set aside.

2)  heat oil in pot and saute (b) till fragrant.

3)  add in the water, black pepper and sup bunjut.

4)  once the water starts to boil, you can then put in the fish and add a little salt. let it boil one more time and then it's done.

5)  garnish with chinese celery and spring onions.

YUM-MAY!

recipe source: 1 hari 1 resipi
sup bunjut image take from: abam google and from here. thank you so much!

daging goreng lada hitam

or also known as black pepper beef. i think this one, malay style.

okay folks, i might have gone a lot bit overboard with the thick soy sauce here...because the colour of this dish is the colour of the night. the darkest night without the moon or the street lights...or flashlight, or any kind of lightlah...you get my drift, yes? you drift? okay, good.

taste wise, i think i also did something that i shouldn't have done which is to reduce the amount of black pepper. my bad. nama pun daging goreng lada hitam right? not daging goreng hitam. aiyerrrr...anyways, it was still edible just minus the black pepper 'umph' that anyone would expect to get when we tell them that we're presenting them with black pepper beef. why am i rambling? i don't know. lack of sleep? let's blame it on lack of sleep. okay, lack of sleep it is.

here's the recipe....

ingredients:

(a)

500g beef, sliced into strips

2 tbs dark soy sauce

2 tbs cornflour + 1 cup water (mix together)

2 tbs black pepper (pound, i grind mine fresh <--- eksyen. sorry.)

cooking oil

salt to taste

(b) things to saute

5 shallots, sliced

2 cloves garlic, sliced

1" ginger, sliced

1 big onion, cut in any way you like

(c) garnishing

2 stalks of chinese celery

2 stalks of spring onion

1 tomato, cut into six

2 red chillies

2 green chillies

the how to:
1)  heat oil in wok and saute (b) till the shallots are shiny and clear.

2)  in goes the beef strips and fry till they are tender.

3)  you can now add in the cornflour and water mixture, along with dark soy sauce, ground black pepper and salt.

4)  cook till the gravy thickens and you can add in (c).

5)  ready to serve.

i love recipes that only have about 5 steps to make...wait...this one has only four! haaaaa...

go on, give it a go!

recipe source: 1 hari 1 resipi.

have silpat will macarons?

NOT!

look at that...even the box has macarons on them. talk about no pressure, huh? okay, to be fair, i do have all the ingredients already. i have that box of whipping cream, just waiting in the fridge. and the almond meal...they are all ready...

i

just

do

not

have

the

courage

to

attempt

it

just

yet.

capische?

thank you.

i love you too.

light oat bread

bread? again?? tak masak ke minah ni??? masak noks...but i just have to share this recipe. OMG! seriously? i will make this bread again and again and again and again and again and again...(got my drift?) and again AND again!!!

what i love about this bread is (what don't i love about any bread, kan?) is that the crust is super crusty but the inside is really, really soft. unbelievably soft. seriously? seriously! i no lie. you try. trylaaahhh...my roomate told me that i should bake this everyday...waaaahhh...so senang like that HOH! well, we'll see. as it is, the loaf is already gone and i'm contemplating on whether i should start another loaf or not. what say you?

i wasn't planning on baking any bread but narnee kept on mentioning peanut butter and bread, bread and crunchy peanut butter...and since i don't have any bread at home, why not just bake a loaf... *file nails, trying to look very nonchalant* haha...

this time round i got the recipe from here. iyelah, takkan hari-hari nak pegi kacau pook punya blog...already i'm a stalker there...sometimes she needs a break from me. haha!!!

okay, on to the recipe, yes?

ingredients:
295ml water, next time i will experiment with milk and see what happens.
25g margerine, i used butter
6g salt, mengada-ngada tau 6g, a.k.a 1 tsp salt
375g all purpose flour, i used bread flour, will try wholemeal next time.
40g rolled oats
25g brown sugar
6g active dry yeast, or 1½ tsp active dry yeast, or half a packet

okay, this recipe is actually for a bread machine (will from now on be known as BM) but since i don't have a BM, i thought maybe i can play around and make my own version. i mean, how bad can it be, right? here's what i did...

the how to:
1)  combine the yeast, sugar and warm water.  let it sit for about 10 minutes, till it's frothy.

2)  in another bowl combine all dry ingredients.

3)  mix the dry ingredients with the yeast mixture along with the butter.

4)  with the hook attachment, knead the bread on low speed (no. 2) for about 8-10 minutes. (i usually wait until the bowl is 'clean' and the dough is sticking only at the bottom of the bowl. check to see if it's elastic, if it is...then you're good to go!)

5)  take a big bowl and brush it with some butter, i spray EVOO. take the dough and coat it with some of the oil in the bowl so that it will not stick. cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave it to rest for about an hour or until it doubles in size.

6)  once done, slowly and gently and with ALL the love that you have...PUNCH the dough to let some of the air out. and then shape it in whatever shape you want. what i did was, i kneaded the dough lightly and then placed it in a pre-greased loaf pan.

7)  let the dough then rest for another half an hour. (this is when you heat your oven to 190°C.)

8)  before you bake the bread, be sure to brush a little bit of water on the dough and sprinkle some rolled oats, for beautification purposes. :-)

9)  bake it for about 15-20 minutes. once done, tap the bottom of the loaf, if it sounds hollow then, your bread is ready. *YEAY!! happy dance*

also good with butter and jam, YO!

try it, you WILL NOT be sorry. i promise you. if you don't like your loaf, email me for my address. hehehehe...

recipe source: allrecipes.com

soft raisin bread

"acorns were good, till bread was found"
 ~ francis bacon, english philosopher, statesman (1561-1626)

couldn't agree with you more mr.bacon sir. hehehe...anyone who loves bread deserves to be in my good book. har har!

once again, i took this recipe from pook's blog and as usual her recipes do not disappoint me. this very nice very easy to make bread, is very nice AND very easy. :-p

one thing though be sure to drain the raisins waaaaaay before you start making the bread, because i made the mistake of using them almost immediately and had to endure the task of kneading soggy bread dough. not fun! eventhough most of the hardwork was done by Giant, i still needed to incorporate the raisins into the dough by hand. kalau suruh Giant buat, i'm sure all the raisins will be pureed. we don't want that now, do we? apart from that, i think it's a very nice and very easy (dejavu?) bread to make.

you want the recipe?

i give recipe.

ingredients:
200g bread flour
1 tsp instant dry yeast
2 tbsp sugar
½ tbsp salt
25g unsalted butter, softened
140ml whole milk, i used LF
100g raisins, soaked for a minimum of 2 hours or overnight
2 tbsp dark rum, i used water, of kosh!
egg wash (1 egg + 1 tbsp water)

the how to:
1)  butter or line a loaf pan with parchment paper.

2)  put flour and yeast in a bowl. whisk to combine, then add sugar and salt, whisk again.

3)  pour milk into the bowl and use a large spoon to mix together into a gooey dough.

4)  with a hook attachment, knead the dough using low speed (i used no.2) for about 8-10 minutes. until the dough is elastic and nice. (for those of you who wants to knead the dough yourself, you can go here and there's a step-by-step on how to do it.

5)  with a rolling pin, roll the dough out and then sprinkle the raisins on to the dough, then knead lightly (i did this step).

6)  you can then place the dough into a lightly buttered bowl and let it rise in a warm place for about an hour or until it doubles in size.*

7)  after that, gently take the dough out, take a rolling pin, press and roll the dough into a circle. after that roll the circle into a cylinder.

8)  cut the dough into half and roll both of them into a ball and place them into the loaf pan.

9)  cover the bowl and let it rise for about 30 minutes or until it doubles in size. you can now switch on your oven to 180°C.

10) brush with egg wash before baking, and bake for 15-18 minutes.

*because my dough was really soggy, i had to add in a little bit of flour and the rising time was around 2 hours.

okay, guys. time to get your bread flour out and enjoy this! luck luck!!

recipe source: http://dailydelicious.blogspot.com/

apamku merekah, merekah

merekah lagi....

i don't know...this is either some kind of a joke...or a curse. the apam curse. miahahahaaha!! behold my fourth apam in two days. i made three yesterday, two of which 'smiled' like that and the last one i made, hopefully, turned out okay. i have yet to ask jules about it.

today is my MIL's birthday and since she can no longer enjoy cakes and other sweet stuff, i thought maybe i should make her an apam pelangi, considering the fact that the last time i made it for her...it did not 'rise' (read: bantat) properly. but, i guess the Almighty has other plans for me, maybe He wants me to seek the silver lining behind this repeated problem. maybe i should be smiling more? yes? i dunno.

maybe i should take a break from apam making. maybe i should concentrate more on other stuff. maybe i should just stop over analysing every single thing and just stop and smell the roses. maybe i should blame the steamer? the fire? the mixture? myself?

or, maybe i should just give up?

latest update:

this happened a few minutes before we left for MIL's. Once done, robot placed the apam on a cooling rack (as per usual) for it to cool down. when the time comes for her to put the apam in the container, somehow the centre of the apam leaked and out came this gooey mess of uncooked apam batter...refer to picture below.

what-the....i dunno, i made them exactly as per the other times i've made them...

i
give
up!

ayam halia, or

ginger chicken.

i made this quite some time ago. i don't know what happened, but somehow the post for this recipe got tossed aside...maybe because i was too busy serenading my bread posts, kot? haha!

one thing about this dish, you need to eat it immediately because the gravy has cornflour as the thickening agent, and once cooled the dish is not as good...and the gravy will become very, very sticky. we don't like.

here's the recipe for this dish.

ingredients:
(a)
500g chicken
3 tbs oyster sauce
1 tsp cornflour (mixed with ½cup water)
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 stalk spring onions
1 tomato, cut into four (or more if you like)
2 tbs of cooking oil
salt to taste

(b) - to be sliced
3" ginger
3 shallots
3 cloves garlic
3 red chillies

the how to:
1) heat oil in wok and saute (b) till fragrant.

2) add in the chicken and stir. next, add in some water.

3) cook the chicken till tender.

4) you can then add in the cornflour and water mixture along with the oyster sauce, black pepper and salt. allow the gravey to thicken.

5) add in the tomatoes and spring onions. stir to incorporate everything.

6) ready to be served!

let me know how yours turns out okay?

luck luck you guys!


recipe source: 1 hari 1 resipi

sup cendawan

or, oyster mushroom soup.


motif boh gambor sebesar alam kat sini? entah...sker oranglah! kaaan??

you know, there are days when you just want soup. just soup with veg and with a little something else. that's all. i have those kind of days. but then again, i can live with only bread and soup. (aaaahhh....bread, what can you say about bread that hasn't already been said...hahaha..still in my 'i love you, bread' mode, okay?) so, i made this, and it's fabulous and i think you guys should give it a go. yes? yes!

ready? let's go!

ingredients:
(a)
2 packets of oyster mushroom, shredded
1 carrot, cut into small pieces...or you can 'flower' it
100g prawns
2 cups water
1 stalk spring onions
1 stalk chinese celery
2 tbs cooking oil
salt to tase

(b)
3 shallots, sliced
1 clove garlic, sliced

the how to:
1) clean all the veg and drain them.

2) heat oil in pot and saute (b) along with the prawns, till fragrant.

3) add in water and salt. let it simmer til it starts to boil.

4) this is when you add in the oyster mushroom and carrots. let it simmer til it starts to boil once again.

5) heat off and garnish with the spring onions and chinese celery.

6) ready to be eaten.

YEAY!!

luck luck you guys!!


recipe source: 1 hari 1 resipi.

basic butter rolls

aahhhhh....bread. *sigh* what can you say about bread that hasn't already been said... if i am a poet i would write and dedicate 10,000 poems and/or poetry about bread and bread alone. just bread.

my bread and i.

we make a wonderful couple.

just us two together...

fresh out of the oven (the bread, i mean...not me!)

happy, happy...

okay, okay...i won't quit my day job and i'll stop. happy now?? cheh!

today i made basic butter rolls. i took the recipe from pook's blog - Dailydelicious. i tell you, this woman is something else. she is REALLY talented. my inspiration. as usual, the ever so nice Pook has made a pictorial in her blog, so you guys can go there for the pictorial. okay?

right, are we ready for the recipe? let's go!

ingredients:
300g bread flour
4g salt
30g sugar
40g butter
30g egg (lightly beaten)
6g yeast
150ml water

the how to:
1) sprinkle yeast over water and let it rest for 10 minutes.

2) mix flour, sugar and salt together.

3) pour the egg, water and yeast mixture and butter into the bowl containing the flour mixture.

4) mix until everything is combined and it becomes a soft dough.*

5) take out off the bowl and knead until smooth.

6) put the dough into a lightly buttered bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until it doubles in size, about 1 hour.

7) you can then shape the dough.

8) once done, cover the shaped dough with a damp cloth and let it rise, or becomes double in size. roughly about 30 minutes.

9) you can now preheat the oven to 180°C.

10)make the eggwash for the bread by mixing about 1 tbs of water with the remaining egg. brush it on top of each dough.

11)bake for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown.

12)once done, cool on a wire rack.

try it! you'll be hooked!!

* i cheated, i didn't knead the bread, because of my wrist. so, i used Giant instead. :-)


recipe source: http://dailydelicious.blogspot.com

ikan masak masam manis

or sweet sour fish

for dinner, i made sweet sour fish with the recipe, once again, taken from

this book. and as always, the book will not disappoint you. but, hehehe...(ni nak puji diri ni, sila sediakan baldi or barf bag, okaaay) my roomate prefers my version of sweet sour fish, with pineapple and everything else.

the recipe is very simple and basically does not call for any additional veges, but i decided to add some capsicum...all three colours of it, some big onions (cut into rings) and some cucumber.

baiklah, puan-puan...let's get on to the recipe, shall we?

ingredients:

(a)
2 kerisi, i used medium sized silver pomfret
salt and turmeric powder.

(b) for the sauce
5 shallots, sliced
3 cloves garlic, sliced
½" ginger, sliced
5 tbs tomato sauce
3 tbs chilli sauce
2 red chillis, thinly cut
½ cup water
1 tomato, cut into 6
1 stalk eacho f spring onions and chinese celery
salt and sugar to taste
cooking oil

the how to:
1) coat the fish with turmeric powder and salt and fry till golden brown.

2) make sure the fish is equally cooked, then set aside.

3) heat the oil and saute the shallots, garlic and ginger.

4) once fragrant, add in the tomato and chilli sauces along with the water.

5) when the gravy has thickened, pour it on top of the fish.

6) garnish with spring onions and chinese celery.

siap dah!

luck luck you guys!

recipe source: 1 hari 1 resipi

mihun sup ayam

i nearly cancelled my plans to make this. why? because the robot was not paying attention when i told her to prepare stuff for this recipe. all she heard was the word 'ayam' and assumed that i wanted to make sup ayam or chicken soup.

but, since some of the items needed for this is similar to chicken soup, i decided to go ahead with it.

all i can say about this recipe is that, it needed the extra 'kick' for the umph! factor...mendelah yang aku cakap ni. soooo...we made sambal kicap. which is pounded bird chillies, garlic and then mixed with soya sauce and some lime juice. then, it became sedap! :-)

now, onto the recipe, shall we?

ingredients:
1 packet of mihun or rice vermicelli (soak in warm water till soft then you can either boil in water for 2-3 minutes then drain, or just soak till it's soft enough to be used)
200g chicken, cut into small pieces
100g cabbage, sliced
1 small carrot, sliced thinly
1 tsp freshly ground black peppper
2 liters of water
2 tbs cooking oil
1 stalk each of chinese celery and spring onions, cut
50g fried shallots, bawang goreng
salt to taste

item (b) things to saute
3 shallots, sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
2" ginger, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise
5 cloves
2 cardamom seed

the how to:
1) heat oil in wok and saute (b) till fragrant.

2) add in chicken and carrots. stir.

3) next, add in the cabbage, water, salt and pepper. let it simmer til it starts to boil.

4) once it starts to boil, you can pour the soup into the bowl with the vermicelli.

5) you can then garnish with some fried shallots, the chinese celery and spring onions.

6) bon appetite!

recipe source: 1 hari 1 resipi

ayam masak lemak

cili api.

this is for my wife.

for you, my heart. ripped from my chest. eviscerated i am...eh, silap poem untuk silap entry. okay, wife, as per requested, this is the recipe for ayam masak lemak cili api. i don't know how to translate ayam masak lemak cili api to ingrish, perhaps you can help me, yes? good girl.

okay, you be ready for the recipe now? here it goes...


ingredients:
chicken, of course, hence the title
3 potatoes, cut into 4
1 turmeric leaf or daun kunyit
2 cups thick coconut milk (from ½ a coconut)
salt to taste

(b) items to blend
20 bird chillies, cili api - i used only 10, tu pun dah pedas giler
2" fresh turmeric
2" ginger
2 lemongrass
1 cup water


the how to:
1) in a pot add in everything except for the coconut milk, let it all simmer and come to a boil and also until the chicken and potatoes are cooked.

2) add in the coconut milk and stir constantly till it starts to boil once again - very important.

3) add in salt and taste. if everything's okay, take the pot off the heat.

4) serve with steaming hot rice. yum!

well? what are you waiting for? go and try it!!


recipe source: 1 hari 1 resipi

a personal favorite...

revisited.

if you look at the watermark on the picture above, it says 2009. well, i think that's how long i've been using this recipe. (macam dah seratus tahun. hahahahaha)  i could've taken another picture of the freshly baked biscottis from today. i did, i took it because of an experiment that i tried on the biscotti dough. hehehehe...



Exhibit A

you see, if you make it according to the recipe, you will have to shape it into two flat loaves before baking it. once done, you need to slice the loaves so that you can bake the sliced biscottis again. todaaaaay, i thought maybe i should put the dough in a loaf pan and see if, when i cut them up, they will all be the same shape and not have the tapered bits at the end.

so i did that. the best part about putting the dough in the loaf pan is that when i cut them up, they all have the same size. the not so best part about it is that, my roomate does not like it. he says it's untraditional. haha! to show you guys what he means, please refer to exhibit A. the top image is from the loaf that i put in the loaf pan and the bottom one is made the traditional way. he doesn't like the straight untraditional looking biscotti. okaylah tartle...i will  make 'em traditional for you from now on, okesss?

oh, before that, aeons ago i made a step-by-step pictorial on how to make these. here's where.

right, shall we?

ingredients:

300g (10oz) plain flour

200g (7 oz) caster sugar

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

3 eggs - i use grade A

2 tsp vanilla essence

100g (3½ oz) whole blanched almonds

the how to
1)  pre-heat oven to 150°C (300°F/Gas mark 2).
2)  grease and flour two baking sheets - i just use parchment paper.

3)  mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

4)  whisk the eggs and vanilla essence together then stir into the dry ingredients and then add almonds.

5)  the dough WILL BE sticky. don't worry.

6)  divide the dough between the baking sheets and shape into two flat loaves about 25cm (10in) long and 5cm (2in) wide.

7)  bake for 35-40 minutes until pale golden brown.  remove from oven onto a chopping board and immediately slice into thin pieces about 1cm (½ in) wide.

8)  lay the slices back onto the baking sheets and cook for 10 to 15 minutes.  once done, turn over each slice and cook for a further 10 to 15 minutes, or until the slices are golden brown.

9)  remove from oven and allow to cool.

10) store in an airtight container. the biscottis will keep for a couple of weeks...if not devoured immediately. hehehe...

there are also variations for this recipe.

a)  you can make lemon & pistachio biscotti, by substituting the vanilla essence with the grated zest of a lemon (2 to 3 teaspoons) and pistachios for the almonds. - have yet to try.

b)  chocolate chip & raisin biscotti - with the basic dough, substitute the almonds with 75g (3 oz) raisins and 75g (3 oz) plain chocolate chips. - tried this once, but not a favorite.

c)  fig & fennel biscotti - same thing, prepare the basic dough and substitute half the almonds with 75g (3 oz) chopped dried figs and the vanilla essence with 2 tsp of fennel seeds. - also haven't tried.

well? anyone game to try any of the variations? awww...come on! take the challenge. yes?

recipe source: 500 cookies by philippa vanstone

daging dendeng

i've always wanted to try making this dish. the only thing that is pulling me back is the process involved in making daging dendeng. let me just tell you guys this, i haven't always been the cook in the family. i even surprised my own mother. MY MOTHER!! haha!!! i started to seriously cook, very, very recently. i believe that there is always room for improvement and that i should try something new all the time, so that i won't be a boring person. haha! what a reason. aaaand, it also helps that i have an everwilling, very sporting, foodie of a husband, who eats everything that i make, without any complaints...so far...hehehe...Alhamdulillah.

back to this dish. everytime i go to a kedai minang, or something like that, this would be one of the dishes that i would order. and one thing about me, i have this very strong sense of curiousity...okaylah, call it busy body. and whenever i like something, i will try to find ways to make it...and also at the same time, try to find ways to make it easier.

but, with daging dendeng, i don't think you can skip THE most important step, which is the pounding of the meat (something that i was not looking forward to) but, like they say, there's always the first time for everything, right? i only have one thing to change about the recipe...i will write it down at the bottom of this post okay? now, on to the recipe, shall we?

ingredients:
(a)
1 kg beef
2" ginger, crushed
3 lemongrass, crushed
2 cups water
oil
salt to taste


(b)to blend
10 dried chillies
15 red chillies
10 shallots
3 cloves garlic
1 tbs kurma spice
1 tbs brown sugar (gula merah)

the how to

1) clean the beef and coat with salt. once done, boil with the ginger and lemongrass till it's tender.

2) once done, slice the beef thinly, then fry till a little crispy.

3) next, pound the thinly sliced beef using any equipment that you have. i used my mortar and pestle for this.

4) in the wok, heat a little bit of oil and saute (b) till fragrant.

5) once that is done, put the beef into the wok and stir till everything is evenly mixed.

6) add salt if necessary.

and we're done.

what i think about this recipe:

1) well, i must remember next time to NOT cut the beef too thin because it will turn to powder when pounded. HAHA! powdered beef, anyone?

2) i think the taste of the sambal is a little bit bland, i would, next time, add a little bit of coarsely pounded coriander seeds.

that's my take. what about you guys?try it and then let me know, okay?

recipe source: 1 hari 1 resipi