Sunday, October 10, 2010

10.10.10 - a gorgeous autumn day

a gorgeous Summer-like weather in Fall.


A trip to the best ice cream place in town with the cutest sight to see ~ a tiny car which fits only one person, a BMW Isetta and its lime green!:) A classic. the owner said that its more than 50 years old.


Definitely looks a lot like Mike Wozowski of Monster Inc character:) don't you think?:)



Saturday, July 17, 2010

Bananarama II: Steamed Banana dessert - Pais Pisang/Lepat Pisang

pais pisang aka lepat pisang

Bananas for banana I am as you may have seen from my previous entry, 'BananaRama- I run for bananas!' During these past few weeks, the bananas I have bought have been ripened at a speedy rate, I cannot even keep a perfect ripe one longer than 2 days even though I bought them while they are still green! the temperature has been so high lately. Those oh so ripe bananas do not go to waste in my kitchen. Made them into fried banana dumpling (picture at bottom of page) and just now, steamed banana dessert that is wrapped in banana leaves. This brought me back to my Mom's kitchen.

Mmm..still steaming as I took that picture. For my friend, Haniz:) here's the very simple step you can follow.

Ingredients:

Banana leaves for wrapping ( cleaned and cut them into 6 inches wide, making sure to handle them ever so gently, as the leaf tears easily )

8-9 large ripe banana
1/2 cup of shredded Coconut (optional)*
1/4 cup sugar ( optional especially when the bananas are so ripe. it is sweet on its own)
pinch of salt
2 cups of All Purpose Flour (or more if you like it firmer)
[an option of replacing 1 cup of AP flour with 1 cup of Whole Wheat Flour]

* this ingredient reminds me of a lady whom we waited every morning at our college dormitory for my favorite version, lepat with coconut center.


Mix them altogether.


On one leaf, scoop about 3 tablespoon of the mixture, fold part of leaf as shown, then fold the other half to cover. Finally, fold the ends and tuck them at each end, like shown.

Get your steamer ready. As you can see, I am using a wok with a rack placed halfway with water enough for steaming. Make sure you have the water boiling and ready to steam. Put the ready wrapped banana mixture onto the rack. Cover and steam for about 15-20 minutes till it is firm to touch.

Makes about 18-20.


Voila! you have yourself, wrapped steamed banana for dessert. Enjoy!

Ah, I should not forget my all time favorite. Cekodok pisang. Fried Banana Dumpling. Cucur Jompot in my language.

'cekodok or jemput pisang' in Malay, more like a banana fried dumpling [cekodok - looks more like a toad, hence the name, a dark frog curling its body; jemput pisang is little drops of banana. ]

cekodok pisang; fried banana dumpling

Monday, March 8, 2010

Coconut Chocolate Marble Tea Cake

I was working on some designs and my head was not where it was supposed to be. I kept thinking of what I have in my pantry and how much eggs in the fridge. It's baking, again. Remember the Coconut Tea Cake that I had here? I have been playing and tweaking the recipe. This time, I lessen the sugar and oil and added 3 more ingredients. Cocoa, Vanilla & Water which was absent in the first one. So here goes,

baked and sliced
Coconut Chocolate Marble Tea Cake
- by yours  truly:) first made successfully on March 8th, 2010.
Rich & moist without too much guilt, I think:) eat at yr own risk:)


Heat your oven to 325ºF

Plain Batter:

Ingredient 1A:
2 eggs
1/2 can coconut milk ( 200 gm)
1/2 cups sugar ** ( see notes below)
1/4 cup canola oil ** ( see notes below)

Ingredient 1b:
1 1/2 cups of flour
2 tsp of baking powder

Ingredient 1c:
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 tblspn of water

Chocolate Batter:
Ingredient 2a:
2 eggs
1/2 can coconut milk (200 gm)
1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup canola oil

Ingredient 2b:
1 1/4 cups of flour
1/4 cup of cocoa
2 tsp of baking powder

Ingredient 2c:
1/4 tsp vanilla
2 tblspn of water (**I find that cocoa seems to produce a bit of a dry cake so adding this would help)

Get ready two separate bowls,  one for the plain batter and the other for the chocolate. Both ingredients are pretty much the same. The only difference is the Cocoa, for chocolate batter.

Mix ingredient A well till nice and smooth but not over mixing in each bowl. Then, add in Ingredient B, then C.

before and after
Making the Marble.

Pour the plain batter one layer, and pour the chocolate batter next and repeat. It will spread flat so don't worry if it looks a bit messy.
I am using 2 loaf pans but you can use 8x8 pan.
Pour in a greased and floured or lined with parchment/grease proof paper.

Bake in 325ºF for about 1 hr or till skewer comes clean.

**NOTE: I have reduced the sugar from the original recipe from  a total of 2 cups to 1 cup. I prefer it less sweet and with the cocoa being 1 cup, it will taste more like dark chocolate. Feel free to add sugar if you like. The same goes to the Canola Oil. Reduced from 1 to half cup. I found it is still moist because of the coconut milk.

*Conversion:
1 all-purpose flour - Cup US = 125 gram - g
1 cup oil = 8 fluid ounces( fl oz)

Happy Baking, Bakers!:) these are really good with plain unsweetened hot tea or coffee.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Chicken with Tomatoes. Recipe by Ramona Ariffin

My tummy was rumbling and I was out of ideas of what to make for dinner today. I suddenly remembered the recipe given to me by a dear friend from back home while chatting. Here's to you Ramona, I have made this today and it is superb! Simple yet so tasty! My kind of recipe:) Thank you.

This recipe is given to Ramona by her sister-in-law. Just by its little and fresh ingredients, I know I have to try it! You can try them too and tell us what you think of it.

Chicken with Tomatoes. Recipe given by Ramona Ariffin.
Ingredients
Half a chicken ( cut to small pieces)
1lb or half a kilo of tomato, diced or thinly sliced
Sliced red/green Chilie peppers - to your own heat level
1 large Red Onion OR 3 to 4 small yellow onions
2-3 tablespoon of Oil [I prefer olive, for sauteing]
Salt to taste

Saute onions till caramelized, add in the diced or thinly sliced tomatoes. Once tomatoes are softened and well mixed, add in chicken, salt to taste.


Notes:
**~to add more flavor to the the dish, Cloves, Anise Seed, Cinnamon can be added while sauteing the onion. Add fresh ground pepper towards the end.
**~ if you like it to have curry taste to it, then you can add Curry powder to the ingredient

Recipe was passed to Ramona by her Sister-in-law.

Thanks Ramona, for sharing!!:)


I tested it today and it came out amazing! Just as I thought it would. Image seen here is from sauteed Onions, caramelized, add Cinnamon, Star Anise, Cardamom, Cloves & a quarter of teaspoon of Chili flakes (replacing fresh sliced chili.) Add sliced Carrots, then diced Tomatoes. Once tomatoes have softened, add in Chicken, simmer till chicken is cooked and tender. Salt and freshly cracked Pepper to taste. Serve. Enjoy!:)

Another friend, Musdi, posted his picture (above) of what he had made from the same recipe. We'll see how many will be trying this recipe.