Penne with Mushroom Sauce

Recipe yang ini saya categorize sebagai quick-cooking sebab ada menggunakan bahan yang mudah didapati, iaitu Prego Alfredo Mushroom Sauce.  Untuk kali ini, saya menggunakannya, kalau ikut versi yang betul, saya menggunakan heavy cream, dan grated Parmesan cheese.  Saya mengelat sikit sebab tak rajin nak pergi beli barang2 tersebut dan sebab utamanya, heavy cream dan Parmesan cheese adalah MAHAL.  Saya tak nak nanti kawan2 kata recipe saya menggunakan bahan2 yang mahal dan sukar dicari.

Saya SUKA makan pasta...apa saja jenis. Ada orang yang tak suka, tapi tak mengapalah... bagi mereka yang suka, saya share recipe ini dengan anda.

Penne with Mushroom Sauce

Bahan-bahan
2-3  cawan penne pasta, dicelur
1      labu bawang besar dipotong dadu
2      biji bawang putih dicincang
1      red bell pepper, dipotong dadu
1      pack white or black sliced button mushroom (fresh mushroom), kalau agak besar, potong dua
1      tin Prego Alfredo Mushroom
1/4   cawan susu cair brand Ideal
1-2  sudu teh brown sauce powder (kalau takde pun takpe)
1/2   kiub ayam
sedikit black pepper
sedikit butter
sedikit minyak masak
sedikit hirisan daun parsley untuk dimasak dan hiasan

Cara Memasak
1.     Panaskan periuk, masukkan butter dan sedikit minyak masak, tumis 2 sudu teh bawang besar yang telah didadu, sehingga naik bau, kemudian  masukkan mushroom slices, kemudian Prego Alfredo Mushroom, tambah 1/4 tin air, 1/4 cawan susu cair Ideal, kiub ayam, black pepper dan kacau2 untuk cairkan Prego sauce yang dimasukkan tadi. Letak 1 sudu teh brown sauce powder dulu dan rasa. Brown sauce rasanya agak masin, so please taste your mushroom sauce before adding another teaspoon of brown sauce powder and salt to it.

2.     Setelah mushroom sauce anda cukup rasa masinnya, biarkan ia pekat sikit kemudian baru masukkan baki bawang besar dan red bell pepper yang didadu dan akhir sekali hirisan parsley.  Bila sudah cukup pekat mengikut citarasa anda, maknanya mushroom sauce anda sudah masak dan sedia untuk dihidangkan.

3.     Hidangkan penne pasta anda dalam mangkuk leper, tuangkan mushroom sauce dan tabur sedikit hirisan parsley.

Y U M M Y ! ! !  ... It's really easy to make.

Cooking VS Baking

Penat pula rasa selepas berjam2 mengacau dan menunggu daging Rendang Kasturi tadi empuk. Mana tak lama, saya slice daging tu tebal2... lambat la ia nak empuk.  Tetapi kalau hiris nipis2 daging jadi keras dan kurang sedap.  So nak tak nak, kena sabar menunggu daging tu empuk.  Kalau nak kurangkan masa memasak, guna daging batang pinang, atau gunakan pressure cooker.  Kalau guna pressure cooker, bila dah empuk dagingnya tinggal keringkan kuahnya dan masukkan daun limau purut serta kecilkan api untuk bagi naik sikit minyaknya.  Masakan Melayu ni selalunya cantik kalau naik minyak pada lauk pauk yang kita masak tu.

I love cooking as compared to baking.  Why? Cooking consume so much less time in contrary to baking.  Most of my dishes are quick-cooking.  I usually come up with a new recipe at the moment I start cooking. I don't really like to be in the kitchen for too long. I think it makes me fat just by inhaling the aroma of all those tasty food thus disliking long hours in the kitchen.  However, some meals need longer time to cook for example the rendang I cooked earlier this afternoon.  Meat usually takes longer to cook as opposed to fish, squid, shrimp, chicken but meat like beef and lamb cooking produce very delicious meals.

My cooking usually takes short preparation and cooking time, I could create anything out nothing.  Baking, on the other hand, requires measurement. One wrong measurement would spoil ur baking product. Besides, it takes quite a while to finish baking and it devours your electricity consumption!  That, I had experienced when I was really into baking pies at one time.

I'm not a great baker, but I bake for fun and self-satisfaction.  I don't bake anything classified as intermediate level and above.  Cooking is more of a passion to me and I think I will stick to that for now.  Baking?...errr... bake the chicken, pie, meat, fish, I would do that anytime...baking cakes...simple ones yes. Susah2 punya... I kena consider banyak kali dulu. :-)

Kasturi Baked Wings (a.k.a. Buffalo Wings, my version)

Takmo tulis banyak2, I'm in the midst of my exercise routine, am taking a break to rest these legs for a while before I start mengayuh balik. Makan memang SANGAT SUKA, tetapi sebab suka makan yang sedap2, kenalah exercise. Nak share recipe chicken wings yang berjaya dibuat semalam...ada yang dah bertanya. So here goes:

Kasturi Baked Wings

Ayam yg diperap dalam ziplock plastic bag

Sedang dibakar...

Setelah siap dibakar, dipping sauce di dalam cawan

A sharper photo of the chicken wings

Bahan-bahan A
(untuk dikisar)

10    keping kepak ayam
3      ulas bawang merah (yg besar2)
2      2 ulas bawang putih (yg besar2 juga)
1/2   inci halia
* boleh tambah potongan cili padi merah jika suka sangat pedas


Bahan2 B
1     sudu makan melted butter
1     cawan sos cili padi AgroMas
2     sudu makan lemon juice (lebih kalau suka masam)
1/2  sudu teh brown sugar (tak letak pun tak mengapa sebab sos cili AgroMas sudah agak manis)
1/2  sudu teh karam kasar (ikut citarasa sendiri)

Bahan2 C
Baking tray
Aluminium sheet
Sedikit minyak untuk menyapu aluminium sheet (jangan guna butter sebab senang hangus)

Cara memasak
1.     Bersihkan chicken wings dan keringkan dengan paper towel.


2.     Campurkan bahan2 A & bahan2 B di dalam ziplock plastic bag dan gaul2kan kepak ayam di dalamnya (sila kempiskan bag dan zipkan sebelum menggaul2).  Kalau takde ziplock, marinate saja dengan tgn dan masukkan ke dalam mana2 bekas yang ada.  Kemudian biarkan di dalam peti ais sekurang2nya 1 jam.

3.     Setelah diperap di dalam peti ais selama sekurang2nya 1 jam, panaskan oven ke 220 Celcius selama lebih kurang 10 minit (letak la timer dalam 70 minit).  Sementara itu lapiskan baking tray dengan aluminium sheet, dan sapu rata sedikit sahaja minyak supaya ayam tidak melekat, kemudian susunkan ayam di dalam tray, bahagian yang banyak kulit di sebelah bawah dan tidak bersentuh antara satu sama lain.

4.     Total baking time adalah 60 minit, selepas 15 minit pertama, sapukan baki marinate sauce tadi ke atas ayam. Selepas 30 minit, terbalikkan ayam dan sapu marinate sauce di atas ayam.  Pada minit ke 45 naikkan suhu oven kepada 250 Celcius untuk menggaringkan kulit ayam dan biarkan sehingga timer oven anda berbunyi.  Jika suka lebih garing, tambah dalam 10 minit lagi tetapi hati2 jangan sampai hangus pula.

5.     Untuk dipping sauce nya pula, cairkan 1-2 sudu makan butter dalam sauce pan, kemudian tumiskan baki bahan marinate tadi.  Jika sauce tersebut kurang, anda boleh tambah sos AgroMas, garam dan lemon juice, tetapi lemon juice hendaklah ditambah sebelum anda tutup api dapur sebab kalau lama sangat nanti lemon juice akan menjadi pahit. Biarkan dipping sauce anda pekat dengan mengecilkan api. Bila sudah pekat, baru perahkan lemon juice dan biar sebentar, tidak lebih 10 minit supaya tidak menjadi pahit.

* Nota tambahan:
Dipping sauce ini sesuai juga dijadikan sambal untuk nasi ayam.  Silalah cuba. Saya tidak menggunakan cuka dalam recipe ini dan menggantikannya dengan lemon juice untuk rasa yang masam tapi tidak terlalu tajam.

The Long Holiday

All things must come to an end.  So must the long Chinese New Year holidays.  Tau2 sudah tamat cuti yang panjang ini. How I wish it's extended until Friday, so we can all have a real LONG holiday.  Walau bagaimanapun, bila cuti panjang2 ni, kita jadi MALAS.  I spent my long holiday with my family members...went to my parents' and played with my little nephew, Harritz yg dah pandai nak bercakap2. I cooked, baked and eat with my family members. my parents and brother and his family came over to my little apartment here and dined here. It was a holiday well spent and I feel content.  I will share some recipes of the dishes I made later. Do follow my blog if you like what my recipes.  Thanks for blogwalking at my blogsite.  Now that the long holiday is over, I hope everyone is geared up to finish the week with 3 days to go until it's weekend agaain. Happy working everyone!

Daging Rendang Kasturi

I LOVE my mak's rendang daging.  She cooks her rendang using beef muscles and they taste REALLY good, but it takes hours to cook.  However, I wouldn't eat too much of her rendang as it contains so much santan to make it tender and yummylicious. Today I made my own version of rendang, and I'd like to call it "Rendang Kasturi" and it's cooked without santan, so it's a meal with LESS fat. When it's cooked it turned out to be quite delicious, with a little less fatty taste in it.  So here is the recipe...

Daging Rendang Kasturi

Bahan-bahan
Daging untuk 3-4 orang makan, dihiris tebal (kalau nak cepat masak, guna daging batang pinang)
2     senduk saiz sederhana penuh dengan cili boh (please refer to my recipe) atau lebih jika suka pedas
4-5 sudu makan serbuk ketumbar
2     sudu makan sos tomato
1     sudu makan brown sugar
1/2  tin diced tomato in a can
2     batang serai diketuk
2-3 helai daun limau purut
sedikit garam

Cara memasak
1.     Panaskan minyak di dalam kuali, tumis cili boh sehingga terbit minyak, masukkan diced tomato dari tin, tumis sedikit lagi, masukkan serbuk ketumbar,  sos tomato, dan serai. Kacau2 sedikit dan masukkan daging.  Masukkan sedikit air, dan bila telah mendidih masukkan sedikit garam (jgn terlalu banyak sebab nanti terlalu masin bila kuahnya kering) dan brown sugar.

2.     Tambah air jika perlu dari masa ke masa sehingga daging empuk. Setelah daging empuk, biarkan kuahnya kering sedikit. Siat2 daun limau purut dan masukkan ke dalam rendang, kecilkan api dan tutup api selepas 10 minit. Daun limau tersebut hendaklah dimasukkan akhir sekali supaya tidak terlalu lecuh dan pahit rasanya.

3.     Hidangkan dengan nasi putih atau nasi impit atau dengan roti.

Resipi ini tidak menggunakan santan untuk mengurangkan kadar kolesterol yang biasa terkandung di dalam lauk rendang yang biasa dimasak.

Resipi Cili Boh (home made)

I am a Johorean. I love asam pedas and my favorite is asam pedas ikan pari. At home, Mak cooks asam pedas every alternate day for Ayah coz it's his favorite too.  My Mak learned to cook tasty asam pedas from my late Chinese grandma (Ayah's late mother).  Oh yes, my late grandma Salamah cooked the best asam pedas ever! ...and she "giling" the cili boh herself and my Mak has inherited her golden fingers in cooking the asam pedas (which explains why my Ayah eats asam pedas every alternate dayat home).  These days, we don't have the time to "giling" cili boh, nevertheless it doesn't mean we can't cook a delicious asam pedas dish, after all it's the right ingredients and the "air tangan" that makes it so tasty. For a Johorean asam pedas, any meat could into it - fish, chicken, beef and we usually put in some herbs namely daun kesum and sometimes some black pepper. We make our own cili boh to cook asam pedas or any other dishes which require "cili boh" in the recipe. For those who'd like to make their own cili boh, here's my Mak's recipe, I'll write it in Malay for easy understanding.

Cili boh untuk asam pedas (Johor style)

Bahan-bahan
2     genggam cili kering atau semangkuk penuh, digunting pendek2
4     labu bawang besar
8     biji bawang putih
1     saiz ibu jari halia
1     saiz ibu jari kunyit hidup
1/2  saiz ibu jari belacan yang dibakar sedikit hingga agak kering, bukan sampai hangus!  (lebih sedikit kalau suka, tetapi jangan melebih saiz 1 ibu jari)
sedikit air


Cara membuat
1.     Rendam cili kering dalam air bersuhu bilik sehingga lembut (15-20 minit sahaja) kalau rendam terlalu lama, cili akan menjadi lembik.  Setelah lembut ramas2 sedikit untuk mengeluarkan biji cili, bilas2 dan toskan. Merendam di dalam air panas juga tidak disyorkan sebab mudah basi dan kurang tahan disimpan lama.

2.    Bawang besar, halia dan kunyit dihiris kasar dan dimasukkan ke dalam blender bersama cili kering yang telah direndam dan ditoskan, juga bersama bawang putih dan belacan yang telah dibakar. Tuang air sedikit demi sedikit untuk memudahkan bahan2 dikisar. Jangan biar cili boh terlalu cair.  Anda juga boleh menambah sedikir minyak masak (saya syorkan minyak kelapa sawit) selain dari air. Jangan gunakan minyak yang akan mengubah rasa cili boh seperti minyak zaitun atau minyak kacang.

3.     Setelah semua ramuan lumat, bolehlah disimpan dalam bekas dan simpan di dalam freezer anda supaya tahan lama. Cili boh saya ini boleh tahan 2-3bulan di dalam freezer dan masih elok untuk digunakan dalam semua masakan saya.  Inilah ramuan cili boh yang saya gunakan untuk masak asam pedas kegemaran saya dan Ayah saya yang tercinta.

Selepas ini bolehlah anda memasak asam pedas style Johor dan letak daun kesum serta lada hitam kasar untuk menambah aroma dan rasa. Selamat mencuba.

Nasi Goreng Lekas ala Cina

Hari ini saya keluar mengukur lantai Mydin USJ 1...bukannya ada banyak sangat barang nak dibeli, but being me...kalau pergi hypermarket, takkan pernah keluar dengan tangan kosong.  Malah silap2, penuh dua tangan ni dengan beg2 plastik berisi barang2 dapur.  Itulah yang terjadi pada hari ini di Mydin, saya keluar dari hypermarket tu dengan barang2 dapur penuh satu recycle bag besar saya. Dalam hati ni berkata, tak mengapa... I'd be using the stuff any how. Dengan happy nya  pulang ke apartment tapi boleh singgah pulak di Giant untuk membayar bill. Hati melonjak kerana rupanya bill cell phone sudah terlebih bayar maka tak perlu bayar apa2 bulan ini.  Kaki ni singgah juga ke dalam Giant Hypermarket tu...beli juga fried chicken dan satu large baguette.

Bila sudah sampai di apartment, saya terfikir pula, kenapa beli fried chicken tadi ya? Sambil menyimpan barang2 yang dibeli tadi, saya tinjau2 apa bahan2 yang ada untuk dikosongkan dari peti ais.  Nasi putih semalam pun ada banyak lagi...ayam yang saya masak dengan brown sauce semalam pun ada lagi baki sedikit. Mixed vegetables ada sedikit lagi dalam freezer.  Time untuk merekacipta quick recipe lagi...

Nasi Goreng Lekas Ala Cina

Bahan-bahan
2     mangkuk nasi putih (untuk 2 orang makan)
3     ulas bawang merah dihiris
2     ulas bawang putih dihiris
1     ketul ayam goreng yang disiat2 kasar dan dipotong kecil2
1/2  mangkuk nasi mixed vegetables (lebih kalau suka)
2     sudu makan oyster sauce
1     sudu makan minyak bijan
3     tangkai cili padi merah
sedikit garam jika perlu
sedikit minyak untuk menggoreng
baki lauk ayam masak brown sauce yang saya ada, kalau tiada, ayam goreng shj pun boleh

Cara memasak
1.     Panaskan minyak dan masukkan bawang merah dahulu, kemudian bawang putih dan kacau2 sehingga naik baunya.  Kemudian masukkan mixed vegetables, ayam goreng yang disiat dan dipotong kecil tadi, baki lauk yg berasaskan brown sauce tadi (hanya kalau ada, kalau ada lain2 lauk lebihan yang tak pedas, masukkan sahaja) kemudian masukkan oyster sauce dan sedikit garam. Kacau2 sehingga garam sudah sebati dengan semua bahan2 yang dimasukkan.

2.     Masukkan nasi putih, kacau2 hingga nasi dan bahan2 lain sudah digaul mesra, masukkan minyak bijan dan hirisan cili padi merah tadi, nasi dibalik2kan lagi sehingga semuanya mesra. Sudah siap nasi goreng kita!

3.     Boleh dihias dengan daun parsley yang dihiris halus, timun, atau apa saja yang anda suka.

Inilah nasi goreng paling senang sekali nak dibuat, dengan bahan yang paling sedikit dan agak murah. Rasanya boleh tahan sedap...kalau tak percaya cubalah, kalau tak percaya juga, mari saya gorengkan untuk anda :-)

Mushroom Sandwich Fillings

One of my all time favorite food is sandwich.  Any sandwiches - tuna, sardine, chicken, beef, egg... you name it. I love my sandwiches with meat, any kind of it, as long as it's halal, of course. I must say I love sandwiches in any form they come in, normal sandwich bread, coney dog, ciabatta, baguette, I even consider bruschetta as a sandwich. There time when I was on a no-rice diet, I lived on sandwiches. Last Ramadhan, I practically break-fast with sandwiches on every single week day throughout the month.  As a result, I lost some kilograms and I felt good on 1st Syawal knowing that I felt "lighter".  Lately I have this craze over vegetarian sandwiches and I made myself a stock of vegetarian sandwich filling which last me for about a week, storing it in the refrigerator for my convenience any time of the day.  How easy could it be, huh? Well, life is simple, so live simple.

I want to share this vegetarian sandwich filling recipe with those who love sandwiches, as a matter of fact with anyone who wants to give it a try.  Oops..."vegetarian"? I just remembered, one of its ingredient is chicken cube... not so "vegetarian" perhaps? but that's the only item non-vegetarian in the recipe.  It makes the sandwich filling taste a little meaty. Check out the recipe, yeah?

Mushroom Sandwich Filling

filling with yellow bell pepper

filling with red bell pepper

Ingredients

1     can of straw mushroom, halved then sliced into quarters vertically
1     bell pepper of any color, diced
       *I find yellow and red sweeter and in this recipe I used yellow
1     onion quartered and sliced
2     cloves of garlic
2-3  tbsp of oyster sauce
1/2  chicken cube
Some coarse black pepper (to your own preference)
Some butter to sautee the ingredients

Method

Melt some butter into your pan, fry the mushroom to eliminate the "bau tin", then add in the onion and stir until they turn translucent. Thrown in your diced bell pepper and season with half a chicken cube, oyster sauce and black pepper. You don't need salt as the chicken cube and oyster sauce are sufficient to season the other ingredients.  This is a stir-fry method, which means you shouldn't overcook the dish. If you like other vegetables, you can also add them as part of the ingredients...such as celery, spinach, shredded carrots, cherry tomatos, basically ANYTHING you like!

Now, how easy is the recipe? I think anyone who is capable to fry an egg can do this.

How to eat the meal?  In any way you want it. It's nice on a hot dog bun, or even nicer on a baguette.  Slice your baguette and toast it for a while with butter spread on them and rub a clove of garlic on it. Top the baguette with the sandwich fillings and it becomes a bruschetta.  Try it, it's tasty!

Nasi Goreng Sambal Tumis Udang - food reconstruction

A mother will always be a mother...she'll never let her children go hungry. This afternoon I checked through what's in the fridge, I found a container of sambal tumis udang, probably about 5-day old. I tasted it, it's still good but I don't feel like eating white rice with it. I also saw a container of white rice which Bill didn't eat for dinner yesterday...what else... hmmm... white eggs, leftover from the cake I baked yesterday.  I wanted to clear the fridge so I thought maybe a resconstruction will help.

I came up with an idea to fry Nasi Goreng Sambal Tumis Udang, incorporating all the three ingredients.  I think this is one of the simplest yet very filling dish to prepare. Let's get started!

Nasi Goreng Sambal Tumis Udang

Ingredients

2      cups of white rice

1      beaten egg (I used the white eggs left over)

2      shallots, sliced

1      garlic, minced

1/2   cube of ikan bilis or chicken to enhance flavor

Sambal tumis udang (peel the skin, please!) 

some oil to fry

some coarse black pepper (if you want it more spicy)

salt, if needed.

Method

1.     Heat up your pan, and with some oil in it, scramble the eggs and put it aside.

2.     Put in the shallots, stir until translucent then add in the garlic, then put in the sambal tumis 

without the prawn, the ikan bilis/ chicken cube and let the sauce reduce.  When sauce is reduced, put in the white rice, the peeled prawns, stir well.  Taste if it needs more seasoning, this is the time to add only a little salt and black pepper.

3.     Add in the scrambled eggs, stir well and taste again, if you still need salt, just sprinkle some more and stir the rice again, and we're done. Ready to be eaten.

I call this "food reconstruction" as we're creating a new meal from the meal that has already been cooked. 

Cake Doughnut Balls

I have always wanted to make doughnuts but never got down to making them...but I think I did once, a longggg time ago. Anyway, one of my god sister cracked the idea of making some, sharing the thought on Facebook and I thought perhaps it's a good idea for me to make some here at my Elysium. I browsed for an internet recipe to refresh on how to make doughnuts.  Unfortunately I landed on a lousy recipe.  The measurement of one of the ingredients was totally OFF perfection. I ended up throwing the whole batter into the tong sampah. By the way, I keep wondering how some people could share their recipes and when we try them out, the outcome isn't even close to what it's supposed to turn out to be.  If you were to share recipes with others, please write out recipes what will turn out fine.  I'm not saying it has to turn out like how you do it, but at least the outcome is something you can call "mesti jadi" minus the human factor such as air tangan and preference in taste.  So, anyway, I started from scratch with the second batch of batter for the doughnut, eyeballing the measurement of the ingredients.  So, I would like to share this recipe with my friends here and if you think you'd like to add a little more or less of the ingredient, please do so...after all we have our preferences.  Please bear in mind, I don't use yeast for this recipe, so the texture of the doughnuts isn't as light. However it will still turn out nice, insya'Allah.

Cake doughnut balls

Doughnut balls for tea time

A closer look...

Dry ingredients
2    cups multi-purpose flour
1/2 cup bread flour
1/2 tsp vanilla powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder (1/2 tsp if you like cinnamon)
1    tbsp baking powder
=> sift all the dry ingredients and mix well with 1/2 cup of sugar ( I used brown)

Wet ingredients
2    tbsp melted butter (cooled a little after melting)
1/2 cup milk
1 egg lightly beaten
Some oil for frying
some icing sugar + cinnamon powder for dusting

Method:
1.     Make a well in the center of the mixed dry ingredients and add half the milk, melted butter, egg and knead. Then add the other half of the milk gradually and knead the dough again.  Refrigerate for about an hour, but I didn't so so as I was running after time.

2.     Roll the dough into smaller balls and fry them in a medium heat, but do not crowd your wok with too many doughnut balls.

3.     After frying, let them cool a bit before dusting them with cinnamon-icing sugar.  It's easier if you put the icing sugar + cinnamon powder in a container or ziplock plastic bags and shake your doughnut balls in the container or ziplock to get a nice coating on them.

Sleeping Disorder

Just when I thought I have finally overcome my sleeping disorder, it revisits me.  Last night I was deprived of a good sleep albeit the work out I did at the gym.  I thought I could fall asleep soundly after burning so much calories but I guess I was wrong. Tonight, I'm having the same problem, plus my hungry pangs reverberated in this tummy. Geez!

I'm writing this to make myself feel sleepy...coz when you try to do something productive, that is exactly the time when your eyelids will fall heavy and you just want to hit the sack.  Yesterday, Friday; wasn't a productive day for me as I didn't do much to fill my time and how wasted I felt at the end of the day. The only thing I am glad I did was to make up for the much needed sleep, and due to that, tonight I am having the difficulty to sleep again.  Sigh...nevertheless, I think I would fall sleepy in a short while.  I am trying to keep up with one-entry per day for this brand new blog, and it's not easy to fulfill the idea and putting in effort. I have yet to post my recipes as I've promised myself to do but I'll get around it soon, hopefully!

Okay, I could feel these heavy eyelids forewarning me to quit and tuck myself in bed.  So here I halt and will try to write again in the day. Good night and sweet dreams.

Today's Lunch

It took me a few hours to think of what to cook for lunch @ dinner.  Lepak punya lepak sambil berfikir, idea tak datang juga. Last2 pergi ke dapur tengok apa yang ada dalam fridge. Ayam...cili boh...canned tomatoes, coriander leaves yg dah nak habis. Still thinking...what should I cook? Dried out of ideas, I just took out the items from the fridge and started doing something.  Alhamdulillah...composition dalam kepala ni berjaya juga direalisasikan menjadi lauk makan tengahari untukku, dan dinner untuk Bill. Ini masakan "campak-campak" menggunakan apa yang ada di dapur yang terlihat oleh mata dan tercapai oleh tangan.  So, I'm calling this dish Chicken & Mushroom in spicy brown sauce.  Rasanya boleh tahan lah, dimakan dengan nasi putih.  Saya ni boleh memasak tapi tak pandai la nak snap gambar cantik2, lagi pun tak sempat ler kalau dah siap masak...terus makan.

Chicken & Mushroom in Spicy Brown Sauce

baru siap dimasak...masih dalam periuk

Served with white rice

Kali pertama ni saya nak share recipe masakan saya dengan kawan2...

Bahan-bahannya:

1 1/2 keping dada ayam potong ikut suka (bite size lagi bagus)
1 tin button mushroom (dibelah dua, dihiris2 kasar)
1 labu bawang besar potong bujur
3 hirisan halia dicincang
2 biji bawang putih dicincang
1 sudu makan cili boh (lebih kalau mahu pedas)
1 sudu makan tomato dalam tin (didadu)
2 sudu teh serbuk brown sauce
1 sudu makan oyster sauce
1 sudu teh sweet paprika (takde pun takpe)
1 sudu teh brown sugar (white sugar pun boleh)
1/2 kiub ayam (kalau ayam fresh, tak perlukan kiub tapi kalau nak letak juga pun boleh)
1 sudu teh daun ketumbar dihiris halus
3/4 - 1 cawan air (ikut keperluan)
Sedikit garam


Cara memasak:

1. Tumiskan cendawan yang telah dihiris untuk menghilangkan bau tin. Setelah itu masukkan cili boh dan tumis hingga terbit minyak, masukkan bawang putih dan halia, kemudian tomato dalam tin yang telah didadu.

2.  Masukkan ayam dan bahan2 lain seperti oyster sauce, serbuk brown sauce, sweet paprika, brown sugar, kiub ayam dan gaul2kan sebentar dan masukkan air sedikit demi sedikit, terpulang nak pekat atau cair sedikit. Garam tak perlu diletak kerana brown sauce dan oyster sudah cukup masin, tetapi jika rasa kurang masin bolehlah ditambah.

3.  Akhir sekali masukkan hirisan bawang besar, kacau2 sehingga mendidih dan taburkan daun ketumbar, gaul2 sedikit lagi. Siap untuk dihidangkan.

Try this, it's really a quick-cooking dish and lean meal. I put the onion last to preserve its crunchiness.

Happy New Year 2012

Today is already 5 days into the new year, and I find myself not wishing many people as much as I used to in the previous years. Nevertheless I'm taking this opportunity to wish everyone (although no one is reading this) a Happy New Year.

I am motivated by my aunty, Mak J; to start blogging again and share recipes here. This is a fresh blog and I will start everything afresh here.  No more sedih2, pilu2, nangis2 yang perlu diingat lagi, kan?  I'm leaving all those behind and will live life as a happy woman.

Will try my best to keep sending entries everyday.  Jealous juga tengok Mak J ku yang rajin blogging sekarang ini.  Until I write again, keep smiling.