ayam gajus

aiyer...why is it sooo hard for me to find 'the' font for my blog? i keep going from one font to another, trying to decide. fickle, fickle, fickle.

aik! this is no entry about fonts. this is an entry about 'ayam gajus' or 'chicken cashew nuts'. one of my favorites and after testing out this recipe, once again, the author of the book did justice to this recipe. sodaaaap banget!


okay, now for the recipe.

ingredients:
(a)
600g chicken fillet diced (i cut mine in strips)
1 tbs cornflour/cornstarch
1 tsp salt

(b)
100g cashew nuts, fried
3 dried chillies (cut to about 1" strips)
2 big onions, diced (i used the yellow kind)
4 garlic, thinly sliced
2" ginger, thinly sliced
1 green capsicum, cut to strips (i used about half of green and another half of red)
3 tbs oyster sauce
2 tbs tomato suace
1/4 cup water
2 tbs oil

the how to:
1. coat the chicken fillet with cornflour and salt.

2. heat oil in wok and fry the chicken fillet till golden brown, then put aside.

3. fry the dried chillies and set aside.

4. saute ginger, garlic till slightly brown and add in the big onion.

5. next, add in the capsicum, chicken fillet, oyster sauce, tomato sauce and water.

6. once the water has reduced, turn off the stove and stir in the cashew nuts.


that's it. like i told you guys, it's very easy.

luck luck you guys.

recipe source: 1 hari 1 resipi by chef hanieliza

vanilla cupcakes

sometimes you don't need to go all fancy schmancy to be happy.

i had the weirdest craving for vanilla cupcakes today. the whole day. no joke. i don’t know what brought it on. i shall blame it on the mones. they’ve been very naughty lately. very, very naughty. baaaaad mones.

so, what’s a girl to do, when she’s too lazy to go out and get herself that vanilla cupcake? well, she does something waaaay better, that is to whip ‘em up herself.

you guys wanna try this? this is a super easy super fantastic recipe. i’ll share it with you guys. ready?

ingredients:
225g unsalted butter, softened
225g caster sugar
225g self-raising flour (i used normal flour)
1 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
the how to:
1. preheat oven to 175°C (350°F/Gas mark 4). Line muffin tin with paper baking cases.
2. place all the ingredients in a medium bowl and beat with an electric whisk until smooth and pale, about 2 to 3 minutes.
3. spoon the mixture into the cases. Bake for 20 minutes.
4. remove muffin tin from oven and cool for 5 minutes. then remove the cupcakes and cool on a rack.
5. store in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Now, what did i tell you? easy peasy right? i managed to get about 18 2" cups. (boleh fehem?)
okay, another fantastabest thing about this cupcake recipe is that you can make variations out of it.
say, if you want to make
saffron cupcakes, all you need to do is to make the basic cupcake recipe, add a pinch of saffron to 2 tbsp of boiling water. infuse for 5 minutes. after creaming the cupcake ingredients, just stir in saffron and water.
you want another variation? how about almond cupcakes?
okay for this, again, you make the same basic cupcake recipe and add 3 tbsp of ground almond to the mixture and instead of vanilla essence, you substitute it with almond essence. easy, right?
or, if almond is not something that you fancy, you can make vanilla and sultana cupcakes. all you need to do is to stir in 75g (3oz) sultanas in the cupcake mixture. voila! if you noticed in the picture, i added coffee chips to the cupcake mixture. the possibilities are endless. (i sound like a dayum iklan...sowwy.)
okay, geng. luck luck. lemme know how your cupcakes turns out and hey, if you have other variations, perhaps you can share it with me?
recipe source: 500 cupcakes and muffins by fergal connolly

ikan asam tumis

it seems as if i've been cooking more instead of baking...rinduler pulowk.

today's recipe is called ikan asam tumis. again, taken from here. i think the taste is similar to the dish that my MIL once made. so, okaylah tu! kan? hehehe...




personally, i think this is one of the easiest dish that i've made. i also have the recipe book to thank because the instructions are not that many and pretty easy to follow. kenapalah masa aku muda-muda remaja dulu, masa tak reti masak dulu tu, takde orang nak kuarkan buku macam ni, kaaaan?



aneeways, here are the ingredients needed to make this super simple dish. ready? let's go!
ingredients:
(a)
2 slices/cuts (?) of spanish mackerel/tenggiri
1 cup tamarind juice
1/2 teaspoon tumeric powder
1 tomato (cut into 4)
salt to taste

(b) these should be thinly sliced

3 shallots
2 cloves garlic
1" ginger
1 green chilli
1 red chilli
1 big onion

the how to:
1. clean the fish thoroughly and coat with turmeric powder and salt.
2. deep fry the fish until it's cooked and set aside.
3. saute all the sliced ingredients (b) until shiny and fragrant.
4. add in the tamarind juice and the 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder.
5. once the gravy starts to boil, add in the fish and tomato.
6. add salt to taste.

haaaa...what did i tell you? easy, right? well, what are you guys waiting for? get to the kitchen already!!

1 hari 1

resipi.




a friend of mine suggested that a few of our friends get the same book so that maybe one fine day, we could all get together, choose a particular recipe and then try it out. well, yesterday i just flipped open a page and tried one of the recipes and true to what is claimed on the front cover of the book, 'gerenti jadi'. which brings me to another issue. i've been asked by friends to share recipes before. i was shocked that one day a friend asked me for a recipe and also said at the same time that "it's okay if i don't want to share". hmmm...this really was something new for me. because i love to share recipes and see what others make out of them. i was also shocked to learn that some recipes 'dont work' or is 'not reliable'. question is, why put out recipes but at the same time 'hide' a few ingredients? or why even put it out, at all? well, knowledge isn't knowledge until you share it with others. that's what i believe.

okay, back to the book and the first recipe that i tried. yesterday, i made Ikan Tiga Rasa. i must say that the taste is really good. (perasankah? takpelah...sendiri masuk bakul, sendiri angkatlah...) and i can even say that it's similar to that i've tasted at the many tomyum shops around town. so, nak resipi? betul ke? okay, i share.

ingredients:
(a)
fish - the books says use either pomfret or asian seabass (siakap) but i used kerisi (itu je yang ada kat dalam fridge mak temah)
1tbs of corn flour (to coat the fish with) - i opted
3 shallots, peeled and sliced thinly
1 onion, peeled and sliced thinly
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced thinly
2" of ginger, thinly sliced
some oil to fry the fish

(b) for the sauce. in a bowl mix these together:
3 tbs of tomato sauce
3 tbs of chilli sauce
3 tbs of oyster sauce
3 tbs of water
1 tsp of sugar
(c) garnish
some spring onions
2 red chillis - i opted
2 green chillis - i opted
2 tomatoes - cut into four
method
1. coat the fish with cornflour and fry till golden brown.
2. once done, place the fish on a serving dish.
3. leave about 2 tbs of the oil used to fry the fish in the wok and use that to saute the sliced ingredients until fragrant.
4. add in item (b) and let it simmer and stir once in a while.
5.once done, pour the sauce onto the fish and garnish sesuka hati.

luck luck guys!
book cover taken from: here
recipe from the book: 1 Hari 1 Resipi, 365 Resipi istimewa Chef Hanieliza