sambal gesek

for the life of me, i don't know how to translate this particular dish. all i can say is that this can be categorized as an appetizer.

the whole house has been feeling a little bit under the weather for the past few weeks. and when you're not feeling too good, your taste buds will go all weird. nothing tastes good and you will have absolutely no appetite to eat. so, in an attempt to awaken my taste buds, i made this. it's really simple and not to mention really nice. the taste of the ikan bilis (dried anchovies) is enhanced with the lime juice, squeezed directly on top right before you serve it. mmmm...just thinking about this makes me want to go right to the kitchen and scoop some hot rice on a plate already. haha!

what are you waiting for? you guys have two choices, you either come over for lunch (but i don't think this will still be here by the time you guys get here. sorry. :-p) or you guys can just go to the kitchen and whip this out yourself. i promise you, it will not disappoint you!

here's what you need:

5 red chillies

10 bird's eye chillies

2 shallots

2 cloves garlic

1 cup dried anchovies

5 lime

salt to taste

the how to:

1)  clean and soak the dried anchovies so that they become soft.

2)  pound the red and bird's eye chillies.

3)  add in some salt, the shallots and garlic and pound some more.

4)  lastly, in goes the anchovies and pound away.*

5)  squeeze some lime before serving.

*senang citer, add everything in the mortar and pestle away! (???, you know what i mean, right?)

easy peasy right? you can even do it with your eyes closed. haha! luckluck you guys!!

recipe source: 1 hari 1 resipi by chef hanieliza

spicy squid

or sotong goreng berempah.

i don't know, when i saw the word 'goreng' (fry) in the recipe, i would imagine frying the squid, which has been coated with spices, in hot oil. but, this is a totally different method. well, we are all about learning something new, right?

my take on this dish is that, it's like a typical nasi kandar squid dish. spicy but not hot. pak aji sukalah ni! hahaha!

wanna give it a go?

let's go!! :-p

you will need:

(a)

500g squid

2 tbs of curry powder, mixed with a little bit of water to make a paste

½ cup of tamarind juice

1 big onion, cut in rings

2 tomatoes, cut into 4

2 tbsp of cooking oil

salt to taste

(b)

things to saute

1 tsp of mixed spices

ginger, about 1", sliced thinly

3 shallots, sliced thinly

2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly

some curry leaves

the how to:

1)  heat oil in wok and saute (b) till fragrant.

2)  add in the curry paste, stir and let it cook for a bit.

3)  in goes the squid*, tamarind juice and salt. let it simmer for a while.

4)  add in the big onion rings and tomatoes.

5)  ready to serve.

*since i don't like my squid to be all macho and tough due to it being overcooked, so what i did was i waited for the gravy to start boiling, then i added in the onions and tomatoes. once the tomatoes became a little bit soft, then only i added the squid.

luckluck!! :-)))

image of mixed spices taken from: resepisedap-nennie.blogspot.com , thank you!!

recipe source: 1 hari 1 masakan by chef hanieliza

croissants

okay, so everyone knows how much i love bread. ahhhh....bread... (here we go again with the singing...)

okaylah, croissants are NOT bread, they are pastries. but it involves the usage of yeast. hmmm...maybe it's not the bread that i am in love with...maybe it's the yeast...hmmm...

so, i made them. i was blog surfing and came across this blog with a totally different way of making croissants. well, the pastry butter bit, that is. one of the main reasons why i haven't attempted croissant making is because of the beating (the life) out of the butter to flatten it so that it can be wrapped in the dough process. if you know me, you'll know that i don't like to make my life a living hell (baru kau tahu ye temahhh) and i like everything to be easy peasy, campak-campak and jadi. so, that was one of the reasons...and then...there was the folding process. the roll, fold and wait, then roll, fold and wait again, times four! FOUR!!! haihhh...what did i get myself into...

BUT! But, everything is forgiven and forgotten once your house starts to smell like a bakery. my dear croissants (and all the tedious steps) i forgive you.

okay, here's the report on my very first batch of torture croissants. the texture is a little bit to dense and it didn't actually double in size after the 1 hour proofing/resting period and the taste of the yeast is a tad too overpowering.

now, i might have done quite a few things wrong. firstly, instead of refridgerating the dough for 5 hours or overnight, i decided to give the dough an extra night in the fridge. heyyy...i was with migraine yesterday....*alasan*.

secondly, the recipe did call for a neutral oil to be used, but i used olive oil. degil much?

or...maybe i just need to do it the traditional way? well, whatever it is, sedap ke tak sedap ke mak temah, aku tengok pak aji dengan lajunya telan banyak jugak. okaylah tu, kan?

hehehe...you guys want to give it a go and lemme know?

okay, for the recipe and the step-by-step on how you can make your own croissants...please click here.

now, i would like to go and sit in a corner and think about how i messed this one up.

have a fantabulous loooong weekend people!!

recipe source: www.nasilemaklover.blogspot.com (thank you!!)

M.I.S-S.I.S-S.I.P.P.I mud cake

M.I.S-S.I.S-S.I.P.P.I (please use the Mickey Mouse Club theme song melody when you spell). hehehe...it is only befitting that i dedicate this cake i made today, to the friend who taught me how to spell Mississippi. (i still use the melody when i spell it okay...haha). Puan Ave Haryati, thank you so much. because of you, i can spell mississippi (still, with the melody in my head)

and also to a very special friend whose birthday is today. ita, happy birthday! i wish you could enjoy a slice of this cake with me...tapi, i'm sure you're enjoying yourself even more, wherever you are. Muahhh!!

my mum came over today, with my future sister-in-law...sporting kan mak-mak sekarang...siap boleh berjalan dengan future daughter-in-law lagi. jaman den dulu...jangan harap dot com dot my.

roomie and i have been feeling a bit under the weather for the past week now, but since i have HannaH with me...under the weather or not, antidott still needs to put up a brave front and make sure that our precious niece is happy and well entertained. but, this post is not about that. it's about my baking mojo. it disappeared about a month ago. seriously. i don't know where it went to. i just don't feel like baking anything. but today, since my mum came with ain (the future sister-in-law) i decided to jumpstart my baking mood. what better way to do it, than to bake something with chocolate in it. yes? yes!!

i got the recipe from the 500 Chocolate Delights book...for those of you who know me, you'd know i really swear by this book, because most of the time, the recipes in these books will never fail you.

needless to say, the cake was a hit! it is super chocolatey, super moist and super yummy. it's not too sweet. it's just nice. half of the cake 'disappeared' minutes after it came out of the oven. *i obviously didn't take the instruction to cool the cake for 10 minutes before serving advice seriously.* i mean, seriously? who could resist a slice or, two or three of warm chocolate cake on a cool rainy day, right?

i am very happy that the cake turned out exactly like i imagined it to be. what a way to coax my baking mojo to come back. kan? *eh, banyak pulak orang sakit ni mengomel*

anyways, you guys ready for the recipe?

ready? set? go!!

you will need:

250g (9 oz) unsalted butter

175g (6 oz) plain chocolate, broken into pieces

340g (12 oz) light brown sugar

300ml (10 fl oz) hot water

1 tbsp instant coffee, i used a sachet of Nescafe Gold

200g (7 oz) plain flour*

55g (2 oz) self-raising flour*

55g (2oz) Dutch-process cocoa powder

2 eggs, beaten

icing sugar to dust

the how to:

1)  preheat oven to 160°C (325°F/gas mark 3).

2)  grease a 23cm (9 in) square cake tin and line with parchment paper. i didn't have a 9 in bla bla bla, so i used a round 8 in cake tin.

3)  place the butter, chocolate, sugar, water and coffee in a bowl over a pan of simmering water and heat until melted. stir until the mixture is smooth, then cool for 15 minutes.

4)  transfer the cooled chocolate mixture to a bowl, sift in the flour and cocoa and stir in the eggs.

5)  using an electric whisk, beat until smooth. (i used the help of Giant for this)

6)  pour the batter into the cake tin and bake for 1 to 1¼ hours

7)  transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. (sorry, didn't exactly follow this)
:-p

8)  dust with icing sugar and slice to serve.

9)  store in an airtight container for up to 5 days. (i don't think the cake will last this long because it is SO sedap!)

*i didn't have any self-raising flour, so what i did was i used 255g of plain flour, but added 1 tsp of baking powder and 1 tsp of baking soda.

this recipe is definitely a keeper. it's delish and easy to make. aaaand will taste even better with a scope of vanilla ice cream or even some whipped cream. but, i didn't have any. so, i served the cake just as it is and it's just as good. if you guys don't believe me, then...get crackin'!!!

till next time. have a fantastic weekend!!!

recipe source: 500 Chocolate Delights by lauren floodgate
mickey mouse theme song taken from youtube. thanz horrr...