:: homemade jeruk mangga asam boi ::

Jeruk mangga asam boi (preserved mango with plum) has been trending on my Facebook wall since a week ago. Friends posted photos of theirs or their friends' and they looked tempting. Those photos intrigued me to find out more about it... and hey it is so easy to make one!

Sharing is caring so here is the recipe for you to try.

Ingredients:

- Unripe mangoes (sliced into thin pieces, wash and dry)
- Coarse sugar
- Preserve plums (asam boi masin)
- Chilli (sliced thinly)
- Salt


Steps:

1. Pour in sugar and a pinch of salt on the sliced mangoes and mix them well together. I actually bought the packed fruit from petrol station nearby, but most probably it was equivalent to 2 small mangoes and I used 8 tablespoons of sugar. It is fine to put in extra sugar, but only a small amout of salt.

2. Add in sliced chilli and preserve plums, according to preference. Mix together with the mangoes and sugar. No need to add any water. Close the container and keep it cold inside the fridge for at least 6 hours. The longer the better as I found it tastier when it was kept overnight.

3. The sugar will transform into water through out time and 'jeruk' is ready to be served.

p/s: Unripe mango can be substituted with green apple, kedondong or other soury fruits.

 

The Verdict:

Sour, sweet, salty with a tinge of 'hot-ness'. Totally addictive.

 

^__^

 

 

*keywords: resipi jeruk mangga asam boi

:: egg n cheese in d basket ::

I always love checking links that Facebook friends shared on my news feed, especially when they are regarding fashion, architecture or tips & tricks on food and organising stuff. These days among the things I do after waking up from sleep during weekend is checking my Instagram and Facebook updates. So on Sunday a week ago, someone shared photos on creative ways to cook and one of it intrigued me to try for breakfast.

I have weakness for simple breakfast recipes, mainly because (1.) I want to see and eat the end result as fast as possible (2.) I am less keen to spend long time in the kitchen first thing in the morning during weekend - just look forward to chillax with a hot cup of chocolate drink & pleasant food to fill up my tummy before I face the day.

So here is the recipe / tutorial that I am telling you. The actual recipe included a slice of beef salami but I don't normally have that in the fridge so I just proceed with an egg and a slice of cheese... and oh, I just knew from a colleague that this recipe is initally called "egg in the basket". I changed it to "egg and cheese in the basket" because I still want to give credit for the cheese in there.

 

Ingredients:

- a slice of bread (white / brown)

- an egg

- a slice of cheese

- salt & pepper

 

Steps:

1. Cut a square shape in the middle of the bread with a sharp knife.

Heat the pan with a tea spoon of oil and place the bread frame.

 

2. Pour the egg inside the bread frame and leave to cook.

 

3. Add in a pinch of salt & pepper.

 

4. Place the slice of cheese on top of the egg.

 

5. Place the remaining square bread on top of the cheese. Wait for few seconds and flip over the bread. Need to be extra careful if you want to preserve the yolk from breaking.

 

 

...and that's the end of it cuz like I told ya, it's so simple.

 

 

I have been making this for breakfast and also for dinner because I love it so much. Imagining the taste of hot melting cheese and egg will leave me salivating and made me repeat the menu again and again. I always eat it as it is, but I believed it can be eaten with ketchup. Like the original tutorial, we can also add in beef salami or other fillings to try. It's a good breakfast for the kids too. Enjoy!

 

 

*keywords: simple breakfast recipe, bread recipe, simple breakfast for kids, healthy recipe for kids

:: recipe: when bok choy meets taucu ::

It all started during the fasting month of Ramadhan, when I hosted an iftar with my girlfriends at home. The menu was rice congee / porridge and I was more than happy to serve it with my all time favourite ikan bilis goreng cili api (spicy fried anchovies). We girls love eating vegetable and to have it as a condiment for that day I somehow got a new idea of cooking chinese cabbage or better known as bok choy, with taucu.

It was a trial but the combination was not bad at all. As a person who loves salty food, I personally love the combo and I have been cooking the same recipe for few times. Here is the super simple recipe and how the result looks like.


p/s: no need to add in salt as the taucu is already salty and bok choy may also be changed to other green, leafy vege.


*keywords: resipi sayur senang, sawi masak taucu

:: recipe: kung pao bilis ::

Two weekends ago husband requested "ikan bilis masak kicap" (fried anchovies in soy sauce) for dinner. I never knew or heard such menu so he explained and told me his friend used to cook it during univ. Apparently the dish is similar to cooking fried egg in soy sauce. I improvised it by using dried chillies though and unexpectedly the dish tasted like kung pao cooking style. My other half loved it so that made me smile from ear-to-ear :-D

Last night I received a request to repeat the same menu for dinner - the 'kung pao bilis' which I decided to name it. Sometimes a simple dish can increase our appetite and the kung pao bilis is that kind of dish. Just serve it with fried eggs and you are good to go. The verdict: everything was clean and clear.

For reference, the recipe is as below. Tips: Use small amount of cooking oil to make the sauce thicker. Last night (pic below) I wanted to have more sauce and the cooking oil was a bit extra.

I love simple, traditional dishes and now I couldn't wait for our "pekasam daging" to arrive.

What is "pekasam daging?"

That I will share later.

Kung Pao Bilis Recipe

 

 

Ingredients:

- Anchovies

- 1 shallot

- 4 dried chillies

- Sweet soy sauce

- Cooking oil

 

Steps:

1. Slice shallot thinly and cut dried chillies evenly (around 1 inch long)

2. Fry anchovies in hot cooking oil until crispy. Remove from pan.

3. Fry shallot slices and dried chillies together until you can smell them

4. Pour sweet soy sauce into the pan and stir

5. After few minutes, turn off the fire and pour the anchovies into the sauce

6. Mix the anchovies with the sauce only for few seconds to sustain crispiness of the anchovies

7. Ready to serve with rice

 

:: sinful moist choc cake ::

I am a chocolate lover. I used to munch a lot of chocolate bars (yeah, munching it not sucking it like some people hence explains many holes in my teeth) and the greatest achievement is when I managed to finish up the largest size of Cadbury bar in 30 minutes during univ days. Maybe due to over consuming I don't really eat chocolate bars often these days but I still prefer chocolate above other flavours for my ice cream (chocolate cookie crackle from Baskins Robbins), sundae (chocolate sundae from McD) and cake (chocolate fudge from Secret Recipe).

In early Ramadhan my friend shared on her FB timeline about this rich moist chocolate cake she bought from Petronas. Few days later I got stuck in the rain under a tent in Pasar Ramadhan and somehow the cake was sold there so I bought one to try. I have been a fan ever since that. Anis Choc Moist Cake definitely fulfill my craving as a chocolate lover. Rich, moist, tasty and errr...so sinful - the succulent texture dissolves into my mouth one after another till everything is gone. Sedap giler!

I usually buy the cake from Petronas station near my home at RM5.00 while a large version in rectangular container is sold at RM11.00.

Note to all chocolate lovers: try it to believe it.

:: chicken shepherd pie recipe ::

This is what I cooked for dinner two nights ago. Although I returned home from office nearly 8:00 pm I was still determined to make it so I rushed to the kitchen just after I arrived. I am a bit unsure whether to call it shepherd pie or chicken pot pie because it is a combination of both. The combination that I meant is the mashed potato topping from the shepherd pie and the creamy chicken filling from the pot pie. The difference between the two is shepherd pie normally uses beef with vege as filling while pot pie normally uses pie crust as the topping so lastly I decided to call it Chicken Shepherd Pie instead. It was my first try and glad it turned out perfectly. Above all, my baby loved the pie a lot and even asked for more. He made me a happy mother.

INGREDIENTS:

- Potatoes

- Boneless chicken

- Carrot or mixed vege

- A can of Prego's Mushroom Alfredo (can also use cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup or carbonara sauce)

- Onion

- Garlic

- Salt

- Pepper

- Butter

I used a 9.5" x 5.5" deep baking tray because I have a small oven so amount of ingredients are according to size of my tray. I love that tray because I bought it at only RM5 from Daiso.

STEPS:

1. Prepare mashed potatoes

- The traditional way is to peel potato skin and boil until they are soft and tender. I used the modern way: peel potato skin and put 2 potatoes inside microwave for 5:18 minutes (my microwave has auto setting for baked potato).

- Mashed potatoes with butter and a pinch of salt then put aside.

2.  Pre-heat oven at 180 degrees.

3. Prepare the filling

- Cut boneless chicken into small pieces.

- Cut carrots into small cubes but this is not necessary if using mixed vege. Boil the carrots / mixed vege until tender.

- Cut garlic into thin strips and cut onion into small cubes. I used 4 cloves of garlic and 1 onion for this.

- Heat a table spoon of butter and saute the garlic and onion. Use olive oil for a healthier option.

- Pour chicken inside the pan and fry until they almost cook then add in vegetable.

- Pour in can of sauce or soup and mix some water if it is too thick. I used mushroom alfredo because it was available in my kitchen for ages. Didn't regret using it because the distinctive mushroom taste gave umph to the chicken filling.

- Add in salt and pepper according to taste.

 

4. Pour the filling into the baking tray then spread the mashed potatoes on top. (Next time I want to try grating some cheese on top of the potatoes...yumsz!).

 

5. Bake at 180 degrees for 30 minutes. 

READY TO SERVE.

:: mac n cheese n champignons n crispy beef ::

Hello world. I'm not sure why but I couldn't load any photo from my pc to Blogger since two weeks ago which eventually explains my disappearance from updating this blog. I have few stories to share but typing on a touch screen does not give me much pleasure but I still have to do it now to break the silence. Anyway, as stated in the title.....



That is something I cooked for dinner last Friday. Macaroni and cheese with champignons and crispy beef strips. I should have shot the one with fresh grinded pepper because it would look more lively but that portion in the picture was supposed to be shared with Ady. He used to like eating mac and cheese but he spitted it out that night maybe because he was having fever. In the end I finished eating the entire bowl and continued eating another one of that creamy, fatty macaroni. Very sinful.

I have shared on how to cook mac and cheese in this blog earlier but the crispy beef is something new. Previously I have asked a chef at Dorsett Subang about their crispy beef pieces they served with baked potato and sour cream. He told me they were baked in the oven but I never try it because oh well, it involves baking. The other day I saw an ex-schoolmate posted a photo of her carbonara with crispy turkey strips on top so I asked how did she do it and good news, they were only fried in hot olive oil. I was craving for the crispy beef ever since that day and finally made it. They were m.f.e.o with the mac and cheese and I couldn't wait to have them again, next time with baked potato instead. Yummmmzz.

*m.f.e.o = made for each other (reminds me of the babyface singer Kavana. Have you heard of him?)

posted from Bloggeroid

:: bread butter pudding ::

Baking is not my forte. Honestly I only bake once in ... years but ever since I have a child, I wish I could be like typical American moms I saw on TV who bake fresh homemade cookies for their kids. Although that moment has not yet arrive, I am still happy because the little oven we got as wedding prezzie has started being busy and it began two days before new year when we invited our parents and siblings for a housewarming. Despite the local menu (tomato rice, ayam masak merah, beef kurma, acar nanas & timun, papadum) I insisted to bake something for dessert. Knowing my capability, I chose something very simple and that is Bread Butter Pudding.

I asked Nor for the recipe. She used to make it with chocolate chips but I only did a plain one with almond strips instead because I wanted to serve it with custard sauce, just how I like it. Glad they (I baked 2 trays because of the small oven) turned ok, I then repeated baking another one last Saturday but have to admit it didn't turn as good as the previous ones though *sad face*.



Bread Butter Pudding

Ingredients:
- a loaf of bread (stale bread is better)
- 2 eggs
- butter
- milk (full cream is better actually)
- vanilla essence
- castor sugar

Steps:
- heat oven at 180 degrees
- pour 500ml milk into a bowl, add and stir sugar according to taste
- drop a teaspoon of vanilla essence and stir
- whip eggs in another bowl and mix together with the milk
- grease baking dish with butter
- tear bread into pieces, dip into the milk mixture and arrange inside the baking dish
- make 2 to 3 layers of bread and put small chunks of butter in between the bread randomly
- sprinkle some almond strips on top and bake at 180 degrees for 35 minutes

Custard Sauce

Ingredients:

- custard flour (bird's custard is always the best choice)

- milk

- sugar

Steps:

- heat 500ml milk with sugar according to taste on small fire

- mix 2 tablespoons of custard flour with cold water in a bowl

- pour the flour into the boiling milk and stir continuously

- tips: add more milk if the sauce gets thick

*Serve the bread pudding with hot custard sauce on top.

*keywords: bread butter pudding recipe, easy bread butter pudding

posted from Bloggeroid

:: kenny rogers buy 1 free 1 red day ::

Woot woot... Kenny Rogers Healthy Eating Day is back and it means buy 1 free 1 Kenny's Quarter Meal for all of us.

I think this is the third or the fourth year (I lost count) I have been sharing about this but Kenny Rogers Red Day is an annual affair that I hardly missed. Just wear something RED either clothing, accessories or shoes and you will one complimentary Kenny Quarter Meal with purchase of one Kenny Quarter Meal.

Let's wear RED tomorrow - 9 January 2012, Wednesday and visit any Kenny Rogers outlet from 10 am till 10 pm.

p/s: don't know what is happening but I could not upload any pic from my desktop to this blog :-(

:: strawberry crepe ::

Durian crepe? Overrated.
Now, say hello to these pink fluffy pillows...

...and they are strawberry crepe.

Not bad in taste but a bit sour due to strawberry used. Thank you Nor for sharing the treat. So what's next? Rambutan crepe? Jackfruit crepe? Pineapple crepe? Do surprise me :-P

p/s: this post is done while battling the traffic

:: durian crepe fever ::

Durian crepe aka. durian pancake is currently famous on the cyber world, especially on social media space. I am not sure why but I was quite surprised with the sudden craze because I have been introduced to it since a year ago. My BFF Nor used to buy it during our lunch visits to Mid Valley and she said it tasted good. I am a person who loves eating durian but only the original flesh. Tempoyak is ok but I don't like durian ice cream, dodol durian or even bubur durian so when Nor introduced me to the durian pancake I immediately rejected (sorry for the rejection, babe :-P)

*image source: google*

One day few months ago I went to Mid Valley alone during lunch and intended to buy something for my colleagues. Since one of them does not favour donuts or cookies I somehow remembered about the durian pancake and bought a pack of six (6) at RM10. After taking a bite I realised I have been missing something awesome because that yellow little thing tasted really good. It was like eating a rich, seedless durian flesh. I know many have tried making their own homemade durian crepe but for those who are curious to taste without making it you can just buy from this booth located between Mid Valley and the Gardens. Remember to close your mouth while burping because the durian smell is very strong :-D

Sumptuous Desserts is at the Lower Ground floor in between Big Apple and CIMB Bank / Chatime. I could not remember what is the exact shop opposite the booth but I believed it is still easy to find. When I was on my way to Chatime from Mid Valley just now I could see the empty display booth from afar. There were few ladies standing around there and from their body language they were waiting for the durian pancakes. Honestly, all these while that display rack was never ever empty. I have been to Mid Valley many, many times and it was empty for the first time thanks to the current craze. Anyhow, durian season is here so if the durian pancake is sold out just head over to supermarket to buy the packed flesh or stop by at roadside for king of fruit galore.

Writing about durian reminds me of roti canai durian at Armada Hotel Petaling Jaya. That one is also scrumptious and I recommend you to taste it. It used to be available during lunch time and can also be ordered during tea time. As for now I better stop writing because one durian is waiting for me outside and I am going to have it for supper. Goodbye!
*keywords: where to buy durian crepe, where to buy durian pancake, durian crepe kuala lumpur, durian crepe mid valley

:: domino's regular pizza at 10 cents only! ::

Yesterday I woke up with a Whatsapp message from Rabby telling me about Domino's pizza 10sen pizza promo. It was too good to be true (but it was true) because apparently Domino's is having a promotion starting yesterday where 1 regular pizza worth 10 cents only for 100 minutes and 100 walk-in customers each day at 100 selected outlets (2 outlets per day) through out the promo period. Coincidentally, one of the first two outlets to be chosen was Taipan USJ which is near our house so we took our chance to grab the offer.

The promotion started at 12:30 pm yesterday and people have been queuing since 11 something. Each customer is allowed to purchase only one (1) pizza and we were lucky enough to be the 95th and 96th customer although arrived at 12:40 pm. It took us almost an hour of waiting to get the pizzas but it was worth it because we only paid 20 cents (no tax)for the Extravaganzza and Classified Chicken. At normal price each regular pizza is priced at RM23.80 so we have saved RM47.40 for two pizzas (yeay!). Another best thing is despite the promotional price, customers can still select toppings and crusts but surcharge applies for Cheese Burst Double Decker Crust, Extreme Edge Crust & First Class Pizza range. 

This promo is yet the best so far and kudos to the Domino's team for making it real. Refer Dominos Pizza Malaysia FB page to learn more about the 10sen pizza promo and here are outlets involved through out November:

Please note that the 100 minutes time differs everyday. Yesterday the promo started at 12:30 pm until 2:10 pm but for today, it is going to be at 8:00 pm until 9:40 pm.

Happy pizza-ing! :-D

:: sushi king rm2 each ::

Hi, I just came back from having a sushi fiesta at Sushi King. Did you know that Sushi King is having the Sushi King Card Bonanza and if you are a member, you can bring up to 5 people to enjoy a plate of sushi (any colour) at only RM2 each. Too bad I just knew about this but if you are staying around Selangor and KL you still have time until tonight.

Anyway, today is Nor's birthday so we went out to Mid Valley for lunch with our bride-to-be-friend Ita who is the Sushi King Card member (this is what we call friends with benefits...lol). We had to queue for 20 - 30 minutes and the moment we sat down at our table, we just grabbed what ever expensive sushis that were moving on the kaiten belt. We ended up eating (only) 16 plates at only RM32, half of the total original price of RM69. Sushi King Card Bonanza is among the best food deal ever existed (not forgetting Kenny Rogers buy-1-free-1 day). Thank you for the treat Ita and hopefully we could tag along with you again in the next offer *wink wink*.

p/s: Happy Birthday to my dear bestie aka. partner-in-crime. Wishing you an everlasting happiness and good health...and thank you for being such a great friend.

:: pretty in pastel ::

On Friday (14.09.2012) two weeks ago, I had a fun time with my usual girlfriends. It was supposed to be a Raya gathering but everybody except Fila knew that it was also a surprise belated birthday celebration for her. Prior to D-day, the three of us (Nor, Rabby and myself) have been exchanging emails on the preparation in concurrent with another set of communication which included Fila. Organising a surprise party was exciting and I almost jumbled up the communication, yet we still managed to keep everything below the wavelength.

The gathering was set to be held at Wondermilk Citta Mall and the theme was 'pretty in pastel'. Nor and I arrived earlier to set up tables and chairs with balloons and our handmade party props while Rabby was in charged to usher the birthday girl. Soon as Fila entered Wondermilk, we gave her a loud "SURPRISE!". Since her birthday was two weeks earlier (30.08.2012), she was a bit confused and asked us "what is the surprise for?" :-P Haha... sorry for the delay Fila, but this kind of delay made you extra surprised right? (ayat kaver line).         

  The props and the belated birthday girl when she was being surprised

Girls will always be girls. We spent almost 30 minutes chatting and taking photos - posing with the props and the cupcakes before we ordered dinner. I brought along photobooth props I made for my unit's raya gathering so it was quite hillarious! It was a truly all-girls affair because for the first time after 15 months Ady did not tag along at our gathering. Sorry baby, next time you'll join us again okay.  

Each of us ordered Wondermilk El Presidente dinner set which consists of burger, fries and drinks for RM22.90. I took the Ultimate Super Burger with a thick beef patty and their Lemon Crush wondercooler for drink. We also ordered a baked potato which was shared between us. Their food was not so bad in taste and portion but to me their cupcakes were a bit too sweet for my liking. They were RM50 for 12 pieces and although the designs were uber cute, they were quite small for a 'maxi'.

Although it was Fila's birthday celebration, she was not the only one receiving gift because Nor, being the kindest girlfriend gave each of us a copy of "Yasmin How You Know?" book which is a compilation of fond memories her friends have about the late Yasmin Ahmad. For awhile, a social gathering became a book club meeting because everybody was indulged with the writings. 

The evening passed by with more giggles, laughters, smiles, photo shots... and a visit to Chatime. It was a fun night out and thank you God for giving me those wonderful ladies as my besties. Till we meet again, girls!        

The birthday girl received a gift coupon from Nor.

My prezzie will reach you soon ye Fila ;-)

So, did we look pretty in pastel?

:-P

 

:: special iftar sessions ::

Ramadhan is getting closer to the end. Only a day left before celebrating Syawal and many have left for their hometown since two days ago. I am still in the office though. As usual we will be celebrating the first Eid in Seremban and then travel all the way up North on the second day. Before we all start talking about our Hari Raya celebration, I would like to share about special iftar sessions I had this year and they all happened in the last weekend.

The first session was on Saturday and it was an invitation by Cosmoderm for their Duit Raya contest winners, fans and bloggers at Bukit Jalil Golf Club. The theme was green and yellow so I just wore my yellow maxi dress with mint green cardie to match the requirement. The event was simple and I got the chance to mingle around with new people and meeting other Cosmoderm bloggers like elya shazleen, amoi heaxa and lyda rosli. We all brought home goodie bags which include product samples and also sambal jawa goreng. Will share about sambal jawa goreng next time because it taste really good and big thanks to Nana for inviting us to the event. 

lydarosli - me - elyashazlen - amoiheaxa

On the next day was another memorable iftar and it was a session with my besties. Rabby suggested us to buy Hadramawt buffet iftar from Groupon at only RM30 per person and we did considering the price and the fact that we never dine at any arabian restaurant together. Rynn did not join us this year because she already bought the same coupon with her colleagues, so we shall see you in Raya potluck ya?

Anyway, I want to skip telling about our (confusing) journey but still want to highlight why must Yemeni restaurants named their restaurant Hadramawt and in Jalan Ampang itself there are Hadramawt and Wadi Hadramawt! I know it is a place in Yemen but don't they have any other cities or places to be named of? :-/ Ok since I am in a rush now, I also have to skip telling about our bad parking experience at the restaurant and go straight to the food and fun time we had. Overall rating, the food was not so bad but they are incomparable to Saba and Al-Rawsha (but we may come again for the delicious goat cheese samosa).

As usual, one eating place is never enough for us and we later got our dose of coffee / chocolate at Starbucks in Great Eastern Mall. Ady was very happy because he was able to walk around the mall in freedom. He even took away Nor's 'santa bag', took out her gift and due to that we started the gift exchange session. Giving and receiving gifts is so exciting. This year each of us received a shawl from Nor; and face mist as well as lipstick from Fila. Love each of them and thank you so much girls!

What they got from me:

Dorothy Perkins's skinny belt plus a handmade hair clip for Rabby's daughter

The weekend does not stop there. Monday was a special day because it was my beloved husband's birthday and it called for a celebration. We went out in the afternoon and later I surprised him with an iftar at the highest restaurant in KL city, on top of the KL Tower.

I have went to KL Tower many times for work and events but never with hubby so it was a memorable moment for our small family. The food was scrumptious and the ambience was very relaxing. Ady really enjoyed the food and he was the first one to start and last eating. We think Ady loves buffet because he could taste different kind of food. After eating we then went to KLCC and brought home 5 new tops for Ady. 

So that's it. I have to rush home to pack and prepare because we are going back to Seremban tonight. Let us cherish our last days of Ramadhan and with His blessing, hopefully able to meet the next Ramadhan. Insyaallah.

Selamat menyambut Hari Raya Aidilfitri dan Maaf Zahir Batin to all. 

:: mac and cheese ::

Do you love cheese? I like eating cheese and due to that I could never resist a hot plate of mac & cheese. I usually eat Secret Recipe's prawn macaroni with cheese but if I want to have it at home I just buy instant mac & cheese by either Kraft or San Remo because they are easy to cook. The limitation of eating mac & cheese from Secret Recipe is its price because a plate costs RM16++. It is okay for once in a while affair, but it is not okay if a plate is insufficient to fulfill a big appetite and what if you keep on craving for it every week? Can go bankrupt wo! Meanwhile, although instant versions are cheap in price the taste on the other hand is incomparable to the cooked version because it is not as rich and satisfying.

I have seen my bestie, Rabby who is always good at cooking posted pic of her mac & cheese on Twitter twice and they looked delicious. The other day she shared her mac & cheese recipe and I was surprised that it is so easy. I don't know why I always thought it is not easy to cook mac & cheese (and not even bother to google, duh). Well maybe I was used to cook the instant version so it is already stuck in my head that instant food is always the easiest.

I have planned to cook mac & cheese for Ady and of course I am not giving him the instant one so yesterday I followed what Rabby taught me and impressed with the end result because it looked yummy. Even Ady liked it a lot and ate until his tummy was round and packed.

look can be deceiving but not this one

Now I can eat as many mac & cheese as I want and the best of all is having it in my own preference with more creamy, cheesy and extra sauce. (Fattening or not I don't care). I have sought for Rabby's approval and I'm sharing the recipe here for future reference. I have changed the step a bit and this is how I cooked mine:

Easy Mac and Cheese Recipe

Ingredients:

- butter

- fresh milk

- flour

- sliced cheddar cheese

- mushrooms (optional but I used champignions)

- salt & pepper

- macaroni

Steps:

1. Boil water. Pour macaroni when the water is already boiling and leave until cook.

2. In a sauce pan, heat butter (2-3 tbsp) until it melts.

3. Pour in fresh milk depends on how much sauce you want.

4. Stir the milk and butter until half boiling.

5. Mix some flour with water. Pour slowly into the pan and keep on stirring until the sauce is quite thick.

6. Put in the mushrooms, salt and pepper to taste.

7. Tear cheddar cheese (3-5 pcs) into small pieces, put into the sauce and stir.

8. Pour cooked macaroni into the sauce and mix them all together.

9. Ready to serve.

posted from Bloggeroid

:: daging goreng kunyit berlada ::

It is already 6th of Ramadhan. Alhamdulillah, it is almost a week now and we should thank God for His endless blessing. So how is your Ramadhan so far? Do you cook for iftar or are you enjoying glorious choice of food from the Ramadhan market? After so many months break from 'visiting' the kitchen I have managed to make a come back and brush up my amateur cooking skill although I still don't cook every day. Now it is less than 5 hours to iftar. Many of us may have started thinking and planning what to eat or cook for this evening and I am happy to share that I will be cooking nasi lemak because my bestie, Fila will break fast together with us tonight (yeay!).

Actually I wanted to share about this dish we had 3 days ago during sahur and it is daging goreng kunyit berlada (chilli fried beef). It was my first time cooking it and just a simple one, but for me this kind of dish could entice my appetite more than having curries during this fasting month. I was happy because Mr. Husband requested to have it again for iftar on the next day so it must be good eh? {Ahak ahak.} Anyway, during the sahur I paired the spicy beef with pajeri nanas but on the second time, hubby wanted to eat it only with sunny side up egg, sambal belacan and soy sauce. Very simple but he managed eating 3 plates of rice with the dish and I feel so sorry that his tongue is now sore due to the spiciness.

So now, how to cook daging goreng kunyit berlada?

What we need:

a. Meat - cut into thin, small pieces 
b. Large onion - sliced thinly  
c. Chillies (cili api) up to your own preference
d. Turmeric powder (serbuk kunyit)
e. Salt
f. Cooking oil

What we have to do:

1. Pour some turmeric powder and salt on pieces of meat. Mix them all well together.
2. Heat the cooking oil.
3. While waiting for oil to heat up, crush the chillies well with a bit of salt then lightly crush the onion.
3. Fry the meat until they turned brown then put them aside.
4. Fry the crushed chillies and onion until the onions are golden.
5. Pour the fried meat into the pan again and mix it well with the chillies and onion.
6. Done and ready to be served.

As my boss said to me earlier, oily cooking is not good but it is ok to consume it once in a while. Happy break fasting peeps! :-D

:: first ramadhan ::

Alhamdulillah once again we are blessed by Him to meet the holy month, Ramadhan. We are lucky this year because the first fasting day falls on Saturday so many took the chance to have their tarawih, sahur and iftar with family back in home town. I am here in Subang though. Planned to go back Seremban next weekend instead and I look forward for it. Besides meeting my parents and sister, a must have thing to do is going to the Bazaar Ramadhan at the stadium area. Hopefully the booth that was selling nice putu piring is there, like last year. Despite being encouraged to do good deeds and all, the most talk about subject through out the Holy Month is no other than food. You can't run from discussing about what for sahur or iftar everyday. Like now, I want to share what we had for the first sahur this year because I cooked something I never cook before.

(telephone conversation - translated from Malay language to English)
Hubby: What are we going to eat for sahur?
Me: That's why...what do you want?
Hubby: Tomato rice?
Me: (pause) hahaha *nervous laugh*

Tomato rice is hubby's favourite but I never cook it through out my entire life. Hubby said it is ok if I don't want to do it but I took it as a challenge. Googled few recipes but ended up calling his mother for instructions. Eventually it is not as hard as I thought and MIL's version is the easiest when compared to recipes on Google. I started cooking at midnight together with side dishes and the end result of the set looks like this:



Hubby wanted the red sauce to be separated with the chicken so we had tomato rice, fried chicken, red chilli sauce and green curry potato. Too bad I'm having tongue pain right now thanks to over consumption of garlic peri peri sauce and kimchi. They were very spicy until they 'burnt' my tongue and causes my tongue lost its senses so everything I eat tastes blunt. I even had to ask hubby to taste everything I cooked. Hopefully this is temporary or I will become so thin due to lost of appetite.

Well that is just a brief story about our first Ramadhan this year.
The Holy Month is not about fasting and food but an opportunity for us Muslims to gain as many pahala as we could through Quran recital, prayers, doing charities, zakat and many more. We would not know whether we are allowed to go through the next one so let us treat this like the last one. May all of us have a bless Ramadhan and happy fasting to all Muslims out there. Peace and love, always.

posted from Bloggeroid

:: one happy weekend ::

Weekend is hours away. Before it arrives I wanted to share about the previous weekend. We started our Saturday with a wedding at Titiwangsa. Not the Titiwangsa lake, but Jalan Titiwangsa somewhere around there. It was my ex-hommie's wedding - Julie or better known as Opet to us with her partner, Aie. The bride and groom looked fab in their white songket. Besides the tasty main dishes and cendol, they also served putu piring which is my favourite kuih. I guess this is the first ever wedding that served putu piring and I like that brilliant idea. Welcome to married life, sweet couple. We are happy for you and wishing you an everlasting love.  

Ady couldn't stop staring at the bride and groom

We did not know where to go after the wedding so I suggested us to drop by at Mid Valley for the Maybank Treatpoints Fair. It is an annual event for Maybank card members where we could redeem our points for items and get extra bonus points for spending. We used to go to the fair but never redeem anything because I was so stingy but that day I intended to utilise some of the points. The crowd was huge. We did not know what to get at first but hubby then suggested on getting garment steamer. We looked at two brands but finally settled with one by Faber instead of Phillips because Faber's came with adjustable hanger rod, which is really convenient. We even tested the item on the Poplook's chiffon maxi dress that I was wearing. The result was convincing until another lady who helped me ironing my dress took one steamer home too. There goes 47,600 of my treatpoints. 

:: specially baked for bread lovers ::

Recently I have found a new addiction and that is munching while driving home from office. My snacks are usually buns and junk food so when I was searching for something to buy at myNews Menara TM two weeks ago, I found this:

a new line of bread from Gardenia

"Specially baked for bread lovers" was printed on the packaging so as a bread lover, I was tempted to give it a try. What's more, it was said that the brown bread is baked with sundried tomatoes and olives too. Wahhh for real?

I do not normally eat a slice of bread just like that because I normally prefer it to be toasted but I could not wait to reach home to try it. I ended up eating two pieces. It was fresh and the packaging did not lie because they were real olives and tomatoes! (...and olive is one of my fav).

I knew the bread would taste better if toasted and my instinct was right. It produced nice smell, crispy outside and soft inside.  If you are used to eating Subway sandwiches, the bread is almost like the Parmesan Oregano type and I bet we can produce a Subway-like sandwich with this Passione Italiana too because it is made of herbal mediterranean mixed grains. The packaging suggested it to be toasted and eaten with a butter spread but our refrigerator was out of butter spread or margerine so I had my toasts with my all time favourite ingredients - cheese and baked beans. Man, it tasted so good. I had four slices of bread with similar toppings and they were gone in just mere minutes.

Simple but yumzzz

I was very satisfied with this Passione Italiana bread and seemed to be addicted to it already. Eventually, there are other two types of bread in the same line; the Sommerset Cottage and Bonjour. While the Sommerset Cottage is an English loaf with wholesome grains and seeds, Bonjour is a classique loaf topped with black and white sesame seeds. They are all priced at RM4.20 each, double the price of an ordinary Gardenia white bread but I can asssure you the cents are worth spending.

Click here to learn more about the three tasty european cottage style bread by Gardenia. They even share few recipe suggestions too. Bon appetit~!