Pumpkin Layered Cake / Talam Labu Lapis

Today i'm in the mood of making some 'kuih' (desserts). At first i thought of making french bread coz my mom just came back from cambodia and she brought back yummy breads but then I don't have bread flour and i'm too lazy to go out and buy coz today its been raining all day since noon here. then i thought of making a cake again i don't have enough ingredients *long sighh* then while i was rummerging my fridge i found some coconut milk and pumpkin and i thought i better use this before it expires! then my sister told me to make extra so that she can sell it at my aunt's restaurant.

so i started cooking and making pumpkin layered cake, lucky me it turned out GREAT hubby ate bulk of it its a compliment coz he hated pumpkin so it must be good...

here's what you need to make this lovely kuih

70g shredded pumpkin
100g cooked pumpkin flesh (just steam it until tender)
100g rice flour
125g sago flour
300ml thick coconut milk
200ml water
200g sugar
250 water
4 blades of screwpine leaves / daun pandan

1. to make syrup, cook sugar with water and screwpine leaves until sugar dissolves.
2. combine rice flour, sago flour, thick coconut and water. mix well then add in the syrup. strain the batter reserve 200ml batter mixture.
3. cook the rest of the batter mixture in a non stick pan over low heat until it begins to thickens. add shredded pumpkin, mix well.
4. pour shredded pumpkin mixture in a greased 8" cake tin lined with plastic sheet. level the surface, cover and steam over high heat for 15 minutes.
5. blend the reserved batter with steamed pumpkin flesh until smooth. remove then pour into no.4. cover and steam at medium heat for 15-20 minutes till cooked. let cool before cutting

=> this recipe was actually taken from my mom's cook book...i can't remember the title of the book but its a good recipe...worth trying!

all packed for the restaurant! hope people like it ...;)

yoo tiaw aka cakoi

currently this is my family's fave food right now...especially my parents they absolutely loves it. it all started when they or we had our eyes checked out in mid valley. we were hungry and looking for something to munch while waiting for my brother and sister eyes being check and we saw this i love yoo stall they specialized in yoo tiaw/cakoi and their cakoi is really good during lunch time their stall were always packed they also serve porridge i.e dried scallop and dried oyster porridge and they were good too. the cakoi is served with warm soya milk or porridge. we've tried both and we love it!!

and i personally think that my parents are addicted to it *lol* coz everytime they were there or in pavillion its a must buy item...so due to this craziness of yoo tiaw or cakoi i went online searcheing for a great cakoi recipe and i found one at MYR by skyblue. it definately turned out great..my only complain is that the dough is very soft and hard to work with! nontheless my parents loved it they finished it in a blink... now thats a REAL compliment!

here's the recipe from MYR by skyblue

• 1 c water
• 2 c bread flour
• ¼ tsp instant yeast
• 1 tsp sugar(i put 1 tbs of sugar coz i like it slightly sweet)
  
• 1 tsp salt
  
• ¾ tsp alum / tawas
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp ammonia atau Nutre Powder
• 1 tbs vege oil
• oil for frying
• sesame seeds for garnishing
  

how you do it...

1. Add in all ingredients and knead using dough blade until smooth and elestic. when done, take the dough out and hand knead it for a while and use some more flour coz the dough is very soft. divide dough into 2 parts and roll it into a 40cm long dough. close it with a plastic wrap to let it rest for about 45mins or until it doubles the size.
2. when done, level the dough with hands and let it be about 1cm high and 5-6cm thick. cut into a 2.5cm long and let it rest again for another 10-15 mins.
3. 
   Heat oil to deep-fry with a small heat. take a dough and sprinkle or spread a bit of water using a bambo skewer as per picture.
4. 
   put another dough on top and press inthe middle of the dough with the skewer to dent it a little.(this will stick the dough together and make it look like a bone like bread)
   
5. Hold at both ends of the dough and stretch it gently then toss it in the hot frying wok/pan. Stir it a little when it starts to float so that it'll expend more and fry until golden brown

i sprinkle some sesame seeds on the dough when resting it at the final stage.. this is optional...

aparently skyblue is actually lydia ehheeheheh i didn't know and i got the recipe from MYR (my resipi) not from her blog so i didn't know but the original posting is at her blog http://mykitch3n.blogspot.com/2007/03/blog-post_22.html <--i sure do hope that this can be link to her blog coz i've tried severl times but failed...if this didn't work just copy n paste the url do it old skool ;p

Serikaya Labu / pumpkin with egg custard

I bought this pumpkin last week and had forgotten about it coz our family had a terrible flu and all of us was just so tired and lazy (you know how it is with the spinning headaches, muscle sores, running nose etc) so today i was cleaning my fridge and i saw the pumpkin and lucky for me the pumpkin is still in a good shape. then i was wondering what can i do with the pumpkin then i remembered a pumpkin dessert i had in a thai restaurant. so i thought 'ok let try and do that...couldn't be that hard...'

It turned out great and try this recipe:
you'll need...
1 fairly ripe pumpkin - medium size
8 eggs
200g brown sugar
50g granulated sugar
250 thick coconut milk
1/4tsp ground cinnamon
1/2tsp salt

method

1. cut the upper part of the pumpkin, together with the stem, to a diameter of about 12cm. set aside the cut portion.
2. Remove the pumpkin seeds to create a hole. clean it and drain the excess water.
3. in a bowl, beat eggs and brown sugar and the granulated sugar well until dissolved.
4. Add in the coconut milk, ground cinnamon and salt, stirring well.
5. in a sauce pan heat the custard mixture until slightly thick or when you see steam coming out from the custard - use medium heat. then set a side whilst continuing stiring.
6. sieve the custard and pour it into the pumpkin shell filling it to the brim. cover with the cut piece.
7. Steam in a medium heat for about 45mins to an hour. leave cool before cutting

=> note: If the pumpkin is huge you'll need to steam it a head for about 15 mins then pour in the custard mixture.

Make Your Own Sausage/Hot Dog

This is how the sausage/hotdogs looks like when wrapped with the plastic wrap

It all started when hubby became allergic to chicken...we (my son and i) wanted to buy hot dogs but in the market its mostly chicken hotdogs which hubby couldn't eat so i was browsing the net searching for recipes and i finally found one good one so i owe it to Ringo from MYR. Although I've altered it to our liking ^_^ but the method is the same non the less... so here it is...

You'll need...
500g minced meat
1tsp salt
1tsp sugar
1/2tsp nutmeg
1tsp ground black pepper
1tsp oregano
1tsp Parmesan cheese
1tsp grated garlic


Cling/plastic wrap
heat proof ziplock

1. mix all ingredients until well blend and smooth.
2. divide the mixture into 6-8 portions (depends on how many grams you want your hotdogs be) i make a 50g hotdogs
3. roll the mixture into a 5-6" log, then wrap neat and tightly, twist and tie a knot at each end of the hotdog.
4. repeat until all finished. pack the wrapped hotdpgs in a heat proff ziplock.
   
5. boil water in a sauce pan when it starts to simmer then put in the hotdog pack and weight it with a heavy plate or such.( the pack will float you you need to keep it down)
6. boil in a low heat for 45mins. then let cool and you can enjoy your sausage/hotdogs as you wish ^_^

-> originally the recipe calls for potato starch about 2 tsp. but i omit it coz i wanna that PURE meaty feel heheheh~
->i haven't take any picture of the final product...i'll update soon

North Indian: Chicken Masala, Shish Kebob & Tomato Curry Gravy

Tonite I'm in the mood of the Northern Indian Cuisine, thought of going out for dinner but i think the price of these Northern Indian food is way over the top so I wanna make some on my own but i couldn't find any recipe that I like or at least ones that I'm missing ( the food that i used to eat when i was studying in the UK) so I whipped my own masala dish...and it turned out superb! better than i expected even my son had his 3rd helpings...and for the first time in this house, we finished it all and that rarely happen coz my hubby is a small eater...
so here's the recipe...

Masala Chicken:
marinade
2 quarter chicken
2 tbs of generous Sour Cream (you can use plain yogurt)
salt to taste
1tsp ground cumin
1tsp ground corriander
1 tsp of freshly ground black pepper
1tsp grated ginger
1tsp paprika
2 tsp garam masala
1tsp chili powder <--(i didn't add this coz i dun haf any but i think it'll really add some color to it)

• add all ingredients mix well and marinade the chicken minimum of 1 hour but its best over night
• when done grill the chicken, you can also roast it but i think grilling will give much better result. ( i don't have grill so i roast it for a while then i fry it just to crisp the surface a little)

Shish kebob
350g minced meat
1tsp garam masala
11/2tsp sour cream
a pinch of ground cumin and corriander
1tsp tumeric powder
salt to taste
some ghee for frying

• mix all ingridents in the minced meat.
• tradisionally you should mould it into a sausage like thingie on a skewer but i have non of it so i just mould it like a little tiny burger
• fry it in a little of ghee until your desired done-ness

Tomato curry:
1 large tomato - blended
1/2 large onion - blended
1clove garlic - blended
1/2 large onion - diced
1tbsp tomato kechup
salt to taste
sugar to taste
120ml of heavy cream
1/2c water
1tbsp of ghee
1tbsp vege oil
1tbsp curry powder
1tsp garam masala
1tsp ground cumin
1 small stick of cinnamon

• Saute all blended items with ghee & oil until its reduced a little then add in the spices (cumin, garam masala,cinnamon and curry powder). cook further until fragrant then add in the diced onions and the tomato kechup.
  
• then add in heavy cream, stir well in a medium heat. if the curry is too thick to your liking, add in water. (i add some water).
• Add salt and sugar to taste

so that's basically our dinner for tonite...

And the winner for the FOOD FEST contest is.....

wah its hard to choose...coz you guys are so creative and such an excellent baker! but you gotta do what you gotta do...right? after much consideration and evaluation i simply can't decide...*sigh* its tough...so today i finally made up my mind and will announce the winners...yes i said winnerS ^_^
Drum roll please....

The winner is....Daybab for her creative butterfly birthday cake!!! CONGRATULATIONS

Here's the award
Please the grand winner pick up the award...^_^

for those who didn't win...don't give up there's always next time!! and for the record i also love mat gebu's cake its simple yet presentable worthy for any dinner party, and lydia's cheese tart was nicely done its like mini new york cheese cake bite size! and kak ummie i know its a lot of effort making decorative cuppies my son loved it he said 'comei la mommy, daniel nak' and cuppies is alway fun to make and eat...and mamafami your buttercake is ever so simple yet you manage to give it a wonderful rainbow look so it'll be fun and appertizing for any children to eat, although i am a little bit dissapointed as i'm hoping for something more than a buttercake (coz i know you're an excellent baker!)...but its still a good entry. Better luck next time guys...

and guys, if you want hadiah saguhati....please email me your mailing address at seventh_chakras@yahoo.com especially for daybab email me your address so that i can mail you your prize!!!

Blogging for more

hello...salam...

been awhile i went MIA. i did my lasik surgery last Wednesday and been on recovery since then...the surgery was simple, i mean it was an out patient thing....so that afternoon after lunch i went to MidValley eye clinic they prep me for about 45 mins or so. first they gave me numbing eye drops then a pil of vallium (is that how you spell it?) coz i was so very nervous. actually there's nothing to be nervous about the procedure but thanx to my siblings (they all did lasik b4 me) they told me all sorts of nerve wracking stories so i was nervous! anyway after that they cleanse my eyes put few other drops to compeletely numb my eyes then off i go to the surgery room. the surgery was simple that it only took 1 minute per eye!! first they insert scallum (its something that they use to prevent you from blinking. then they cut your cornea, then laser your eyes, thats it. after surgery, you'll see better but its hazy. then you feel that your eyes are very dry-they give you eyedrops for that.they 1st 6hrs you'll feel irritated,itcy and uncomfortable. you must remember not to scratch your eyes or expose it to water meaning no swimming, no washing hair unless in salon so that you can avoid water contact with eyes also no cooking at least for a month!!...and they even give you eye protective mask or shield for you to use when sleeping...

anyway...after this long rest i just can't resist to blog and cook anymore so i'm starting my blogging and cooking now (i cook with my sunnies oh yeah after surgery no direct eye contact with the sun which means have to wear sunnies ech time you go out). So now I'm evaluating all the blogs and i shall announce the winner soon...