Work in progress

Just experimenting with the layout. I promised Azzura to get my hands on the layout and stuff, but I never did. So I guess you can say, work is in (veryyy slow) progress heheh.

Anyway, selamat hari raya to everyone, wherever you are.

Chocolate Eclairs

After watching Paula Deen of the Food Network channel making chocolate eclair on the television, I'm just itching to get my hands on those big, chunky eclairs but I keep putting off buying it. So one day, I said to myself, 'buat lah sendiri!'

The whole process was tedious, since you have to make three different things - the pastry, the filling and the chocolate icing. My kitchen was a mess.

However it's worth all the hard work baby! Look how it turned out:

Messy I know, kasi chan lah, this is my first attempt. My housemate took 1 piece, and when I asked him how it tastes like, he simply said 'okay lah'. Rasa nak baling periuk kat dia.. Penat2 aku buat, dia kata okay jek??

'Sedap lahh, sedap gila actually' and took 2 more eclairs from the kitchen. Hehehe Alhamdulillah....

There are so many chocolate eclairs recipe online, but this is the one I use:

Pastry:
1 cup water
1 stick margarine or butter
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
4 eggs

Filling:
3 cups milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla

Icing:
2 (1-ounce) squares chocolate
2 cups sugar
1 cup whipping cream

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Heat water and margarine or butter to boiling point. Add flour and stir constantly until mixture is smooth and forms a ball when tested in cold water. Remove from heat and let cool. Beat in 4 eggs, 1 at a time and once incorporated, place into a pastry bag. On a greased cookie sheet, pipe out dough in thick lines that form eclairs. Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until light brown. Set aside to cool. Prepare filling by combining milk, sugar, salt and flour. Cook slowly until thickened. Add 3 beaten eggs and continue to cook until mixture is even thicker. Remove from heat, cool and add vanilla.

With a serrated knife, slice pastry puffs lengthwise, but not all the way through. Pipe custard mixture into the center. Melt chocolate for icing, add sugar and cream. Cook over medium heat until soft ball stage. Let cool and beat until smooth. Ice tops of the eclairs.

(Source: FoodNetwork.com)

CUCUR KURMA

Mak would always make cucur kurma in Ramadhan, so since I'm away from home, I gotta learn how to do it myself lah kan. It's really easy to make, really.

CUCUR KURMA (for approx. 24 small-sized fritters)

6 large dates, cut into quarters ( I cut my dates into quarters because I like my fritters small)
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup coconut milk
Water
A dash of salt

-Heat oil in pan

- In a large bowl, pour coconut milk into flour. Mix batter well. If batter is still stick, add water until batter is runny, but not too runny lah okay (macam batter cekodok pisang tu, geddit?)

- Add a dash of salt to taste

- Drop a piece of date into batter, and form a small ball shape. Fry until golden ball. Repeat lor.

RAISIN SCONES

Greetings from NY! Sorry for the long silence, I haven't really been adventurous in the kitchen due to ehem..budget constraints and lack of motivation to try something new. However, I tried these when I invited two of my friends for the other day, and when Yanti heard the word 'teatime', she laughed. 'Oh, sounds very British. Are we going to have scones with jam and buttah?

So I browsed the Internet for a good raisin scones recipe, and found it here.

The recipe calls for buttermilk, but if you don't have any, just try these:


For each 1 cup buttermilk called for in a recipe, use 1 cup plain yogurt or sour cream;

OR

1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar plus enough milk to make 1 cup


Anywayyy, my scones turned out heavenly, eventhough it looked a bit like fritters. Eat it with strawberry jam and butter - peghhhh!

Ugh I can feel flabs on my waistline already.

bubur lambuk ayam

• 100 gm rice
• 1 medium onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tsp finely chopped ginger
• 200gm chicken (chopped/minced)
• 1 pc sup bunjut adabi
• 2 tbsp oil
• 2 liter water
• 3/4 cup of coconut milk
• 1 pc chicken cube
• 1 cup of mixed veggie.
• salt and pepper
• spring onion and fried shallots for garnishing

1. heat the oil, and brown the onion, garlic and ginger.
2. add chicken, stir in the rice, sup bunjut, chicken cube and water.
3. when the rice is cooked pour in the milk and bring to boil. salt and pepper to taste
4. served with the garnishing

bolognese edited

Every year during Eid I will prepare this dish in addition to my mom's traditional rendang and kuah kacang. This sauce is ideal for spaghetti, but also can be used with any kind of pasta (tri-color spirals and shells are my fave)- great for Lasagne as well. This is not a true original bolognese though, but quite a variation. Usually, I tend to prepare large amount and freeze it up for later use. It can be saved up to a month in the freezer. (or until it taste weird and the color turn green..:P.. which is usually the case if u have a large freezer and don't know exactly what have u put in there half a decade ago.)



Here's a serving for 5 to 6 people.

• 500g minced beef
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1½ cup chopped onion
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 1 can tomato puree
• 1 cube beef stock (try the “no msg by Maggi”)
• 1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
• 2 cups mixed vege of carrots, celery,green capsicum, mushroom, or broccoli.
  and milk (a quarter of the tomato can) to rinse out the leftover tomato puree.
  Salt and pepper

how to:

1. Pour olive oil in a large saucepan. Brown the onion and garlic.
2. Crumble in the beef cube.
3. Add the meat, stir well until meat is browned.
4. Pour in the tomato puree, fresh tomatoes and milk. let it simmer for about 20 min.
5. Add the vegetables and cook for another 15 mins. or u can add the vegetables later ifyou want them crunchy.
6. add the oregano, salt and pepper.
7. Meanwhile, prepare the pasta as instructed on the packaging. add a tsp of oil to the water before draining out the pasta so that they wont stick together.
8. serve sauce over pasta. add grated parmesan if desired.
   
   
   

mira's meat pie

Thanks to my bestfriend mira for this super easy to do pie. Ready to it in an hour from the moment u take out the flour from the cabinet. Honest! it may take even shorter than that if i wasn't chatting on YM while making the dough. (one hand in the bowl and the other on the keyboard!hahha terer tak ? terer tak?)

ps. sorry for the terrible pic. erghh... i really need to get a new camera.

for the dough:
2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt1 cup softened butter
1 egg yolk [save the white for later]
2/3 cup milk

for the filling:
1 packet of Ramly minced beef [about 300 gms]
1 large onions [chopped]
1 bay leaf [optional]
1 cup chopped carrots
2 large potatoes [boiled and chopped]
green peas
salt n pepper
ketchup
thick soy sauce and worcheteshire sauce

how to:

for the dough - add the flour, salt and the softened butter in a large bowl. Use hand to mix it all together until mixture resembles breadcrumbscam crumbly, add in the egg yolk and milk. Knead gently until it comes together resembling a dough. Form into a disc and use rolling pin to get an even pastry piece. brush a bit of butter to the pie pan and line it with the dough. they will be enough left for the top.

for the filling - sautee the onion and bay leaves. add the carrots, green peas and potatoes. Let it simmer for a while, stir in the beef, salt, pepper, ketchup, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Be generous with the ketchup so that it won't dry when baked. Cover the pan and let it sit for a while [not until fully cooked tho, as u will be baking it afterwards.

Place the mixture into the pastry, then cover rest of the dough. Glaze the top with the egg white, then poke some holes on top using fork. Then bake in preheated oven temperature 180 degrees Celsius. Bake for 30-40 minutes.

serve warm. yum!

note: Due to time constraint, i substituted the potatoes with canned mushroom and use celery instead of peas. if u opted for potato, make sure it is not boiled until too tender. just al dente as it will be baked in the oven.

Thin Crust Pizza

This is an easy one to make. You don't need much ingredient except what u may already have in your fridge. Preparation time would only take about 30 min and about 12 to 15 min to cook. Thin crust pizza bases are perfect for pizza those who prefer to taste more of the sauce, cheese and other toppings and don't want to be filled up too quickly. I just finished wipe off half the pan (sheesh!) for my "buka puasa" .

I'm going to give here the recipe for the crust. The ingredients:

1 envelope of dry yeast (About 1 tablespoon)
1/4 teaspoon of sugar
3/4 cup of lukewarm water
1 3/4 cups of flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt

As for the topping, u can't go wrong with the topping. Just throw in whatever you like, really. But for a start, here's a simple one.

1/2 cup of tomato paste (or ketchup)

1/2 cup of sliced mushroom

1 small tomato (sliced)

1/2 cup of bellpepper (sliced)

2 slices of cheddar cheese (cut into smaller pieces)

1/2 cup of mozarella cheese (grated)

1. Combine dry yeast, sugar and water. Mix a little and let sit for 6-8 minutes.
2. Combine flour with salt in a bowl.
3. Pour the water combination into the bowl and mix until ready to knead
4. Prepare a lightly spinkled surface with flour. knead the dough for around 2-3 minutes. Lightly sprinkle more flour if the mixture is a little sticky.
5. Roll out by hand for a 12'' base. (if u don't have a pizza pan, any pan will do. I made a square pizza in a cookies baking sheet)
6. Place in the dough in the pan.
7. Spread the tomato sauce or ketchup, sprinkle the rest of the ingredient and top with the cheese.
8. Cook in a pre-heated over (500F) for 12-15 minutes
9. Remove from oven, slice and voila!

Cream of Mushroom Soup Teluk Emas

I large onion (finely chopped)
3 cups of fresh button mushroom (chop la ikut suke.. byk mane pun ikut suke)
1 cup of milk or 3 tbsp of thickened cream ( or combination of both .. depends on how creamy u want it to be)
3 tbsp of flour (mix with water to prevent clumps)
water (sukati nk pekat ke cair ke)
1 chicken cube
salt and pepper
parsley

Panaskan butter and tumis bawang. Biler dah wangi masukkan mushroom. pastuh masukkan la garam and pepper,
nak pedas lebihkan pepper. then letak cube ayam yang ko dah crumble kan.. pastuh kacau kacau sket.
then air, tepung, dah sebati sket masuk kan milk or cream tu.. kacau kacau.. ko rase la sket.. dah agak macam lidah
leh terima tuh ko tutup la api..
then tabur la sket parsley..
siaaaap

Salmon Pasta with Italian Parsley

I bought a bunch of Italian Parsley the other day, thinking that parsley and Italian parsley is the same thing. How wrong I was! Italian Parsley has a sharper, pungent taste than normal parsley. I learnt a bitter lesson when I put it into my soup.

Not wanting the whole bunch to go to waste, I searched online for recipes that use Italian parsley. Voila! Good 'ole Google managed to get me a nice pasta that uses Salmon AND Italian parsley, two ingredients that I already have in the kitchen. Yeayyy!

So here goes the recipe...


SALMON PASTA WITH ITALIAN PARSLEY





Serves 4

2 tbs extra virgin oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and squashed with the knife blade (I used garlic puree)
3 frozen salmon fillets, cut into small pieces (alternatively you can use canned salmon, just drain well and flake it)
1 medium can of tomatoes, crushed (I use 2 large fresh tomatoes)
1/4 tsp chili pepper flakes (optional for that extra zing)
2 tbs fresh Italian parsley, chopped
salt
1 lb pasta ( I use thin spaghetti)
Water to boil pasta

1. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat
2. Sautee the garlic until slightly brown
3. Add salmon pieces. Cook for a few minutes over low heat, stirring occasionally
   
4. Add the tomatoes and chili pepper. Simmer for about 10 minutes. The tomatoes will be the juice for the pasta
5. Cook the pasta according to the package instruction. Add a dash of salt to prevent the pasta to stick together
6. When pasta is done, drain the water
7. Pour sauce over pasta
8. ENJOY!
   

Zura's choc chip cookies

Click Image for the recipe. Will update it here whent got the chance to.

3 in 1

holaa. another new recipe.. haha. This is a quick 3 in 1 recipe for those who wants it quick. Veggies, chicken and pasta in one approximately 30 min meal.

INGREDIENTS

Chicken fillet (cut into small pieces)
Macaroni (soak)
Shitake Mushroom (thinly slice)

Chopped ingredients
½ cup onion
2 cloves garlic
½ cup carrot
½ cup celery
½ cup capsicum

½ tsp black pepper (crushed)
Salt and pepper to taste
Light soy sauce

DIRECTIONS
Soak the macaroni in hot water for 20 minutes.Marinade the chicken in soy sauce and the black pepper.
Heat oil in a saucepan and stir in onion and garlic till fragrant. Add in the chicken and macaroni and ¾ cup of water and cover and cooked for about 15 minutes. Add in the rest of the ingredients and let the veggies cooked. If preferred, add kicap manis and soy sauce instead of salt. Pepper to taste.

Garlic chicken

Yeah, let's get started to our first recipe entry nyeh. I found the recipe from allrecipe.com. Instead of using chicken breast i used chicken thigh and spring onion instead of parsley and modified the measurement. here's my customised recipe fit for 2. Owh being a typical Malaysian, I can't help to "ala-kan-best-kalau-ade-sos-cili". hee

INGREDIENTS
1 egg
3 cloves garlic, chopped
4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon chopped spring onion
1/2 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. In a glass dish, beat egg with garlic. Place chicken in egg mixture, and turn to coat. Cover dish and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight if possible.


2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).


3. Melt butter and pour into the bottom of a baking dish. Mix together the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, spring onion, salt and pepper. Dip marinated chicken in crumb mixture. Place coated chicken in baking dish, and pour remaining egg mixture over.


4. Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes on each side, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

YUMS! owh the picture is not that good tho, hehe. and that weird red thing is ketchup on bbq sauce.

Cheers from New York baby, this is my story!

Before I came here, I'm not much of a cook. Why? Malas is one thing (ya, saya mengaku saya malas), time factor is another thing and last but not least, it's quite infuriating how Mak would scrutinize the way I cook and how it'll turn out, expecting the dish to look and taste just like the way she does it. I know she means well, but still....

*sigh*

So anyway, being jauh di perantauan forces me to cook. And how I cook here, and I think I made a rather good job (oh bring the gag bag already!) despite the limitation of some ingredients and ehem.. $$$.

a z z u ra and I have two obvious things in common besides having the word 'wicked' in our email addy:

1. We love to eat
2. We wanna eat healthily

Thus along with our usual men-bashing talk, we swap knowledge on everything food and healthy living. Nutrition, howtomakethatpizzamargharitaohmygodsedapnya, how to work the abs properly - you can figure out the rest.

This blog would be my first blog to share all the food experiments that I made. Hopefully it'll inspire other 'kaki makan' on preparing healthy and yummy dishes.

Au revoir!

Greetings

Haha. a new blog for every "stuck in a moment" moment. I think this would be my 5th or 6th blog? kihkih.

This time it wd be different, where i won't blog about the "shiteziness" or "kebengongan" of the day I;ve been thru. It will be all about food. hehe. to be more specific, all the food that I have prepared here.

Kak Liza pun tanye what do I eat here. Makan nasi ke kat sini. Alang pun duk tanye, since I kat Malaysia dulu "malas" (heh, look who's talking!) nak masak, kat sini leh survive ke? hahaha. kat sini orang creative tau kat dapur.

I have invited another friend to contribute to this blog.. Miss plainwicked... hehe another wicked mind (hence the blog title!:D). She's another X scholar, but doing her master in New York. Since I can remember we have been sharing cooking tips intead of discussing Faculty's strategic planning for the ISO what-ever-things. Haha. Our typical conversation will be something like this...

wickedR: hey u. really pening la, assignment nih macam haaarrem jek nak buat
Pwicked: hoho. tell me that! I got heaps of reading to do by 6 tonight. Ade graded discussion.
wickedR: Hmm.. tough la takleh wat keja ni. Dah la dengan issue yang tak berkesudahan.
Pwicked: Owh, speaking of issues... Kitaro is so vavi... guy sucks-hate men-love them-hate them conversation apply here
WickedR: hmm ...in total agreement.... yeah.. so what do we do now?
Pwicked: what else. eat, so what's for dinner girl?

.... and how-t0-peel-avocado-easily will be discussed in great details here.