Thursday 17 July 2014

of raya plans & moist choc cake with choc ganache

I am behind target.
Target ibadah.
Target persiapan raya.
Dan macam-macam lagi...
 
Yang boleh agak dibanggakan ialah, saya sangat kurang berbelanja untuk hal-hal remeh seperti tahun-tahun sebelum ini. Baju raya sorang sepasang, yang simple simple aje so that lepas raya nak pakai pegi ofis pun boleh. Idok le segan pakai ke ofis sebab merelit macam nak pegi kenduri kawin.
 
Konon nak buat sendiri kukis raya, tapi entahlah.. macam makin berat je nak angkat sudip dengan mixing bowl hehe. Kalau tetiba rajin pun, mungkin 2 jenis je.. PB and Jelly Bars dengan Cranberry Coconut kukis. Kononnya hari tu cuti Nuzul Quran nak buat kukis.. kononnn la kan. Sebok dengan urusan duniawi apa entah, satu pun tak jadi. Siap butter yang dah softened masuk balik fridge hehe. But cakes, insyaAllah I will bake. I have 3 in mind now, Baked Blueberry Cheesecake, Kek Nanas and Moist Choc Cake with Choc Ganache.
 
Sebetulnya saya banyak menjahit tahun ni. Baju kurung siap sepasang. Satu pasang lagi kainnya belum siap. PJ bottom kakak dapat 4 helai. Alter kaki seluar 8 pasang (that's 16 legs and that's a lot by my standard hehe) I have 2 skirts for anak sedara bongsu yang pompuan in Q .. or she calls it as seluar labuh.
 
Anyway.

I found a Moist Choc Cake recipe yang by far, I like most. I used to use cooking oil as ingredients but this one uses butter. And I substituted my choc powder to imported choc powder. With all due respect, bila guna bahan yang berkualiti, hasilnya insyaAllah better. True, they come with good price-tag. Now I understand why some people sell a box of cookies bearing the same name at RM15 and some sell at RM20+. Kalau ikut tastebud saya, butter yang best is SCS, marjerin I use Daisy. Cream cheese so far guna Tatura coz murah and bila compare dengan other brands yang more expensive, rasanya tak jauh beza. If that's the case, I'll go for cheaper ones :-)
 
Actually plan nak buat kuih lain but my elder two nak kan choc cake. Layann. Original recipe from Love2Cook. I changed a bit by using low fat milk coz I didn't have susu sejat cair at home that time.

Ingredients
1. 100 gm self-raising flour
2. 50 gm chocolate powder
3. 180 gm butter
4. 180 gm sugar
5. 2 eggs
6. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
7. 200 ml milk (I used low fat milk)

- Combine flour and choc powder.
- Beat sugar and butter till light and pluffy.
- Add eggs one by one. Beat until well mixed.
- Add vanilla extract.
- Add flour and milk gradually. Mix well.
- Pour into a 9x9 baking pan.
- Bake at 180d for 40-45 minutes.

Saya guna api atas bawah but no fan. Kalau guna fan, saya reduce to 160d. I baked mine for 35 minutes only.

For choc ganache, saya guna resepi from Nigella. Banyak resepi call for cream but I didn't have cream at home masa tu. So gunalah resepi without cream.

Bahan-bahan
1. 100 gm milk chocolate coin (I used beryl)
2. 100 gm dark chocolate coin (I used beryl)
3. 50 gm butter
4. 100 ml milk

- Satukan semua and masak atas dapur. Saya tak guna kaedah double-boil coz saya malas nak cuci banyak periuk (boleh?). Tapi saya guna heavy-bottom sauce pan and guna api paling selow.
- Dah cair, masak sampai nampak cantik and likat sikit, then tuang atas kek.




Tuesday 15 July 2014

of achievements & jelly-custard recipe

Ramadhan 2014 - Day 16. Dah lebih separuh bulan puasa. Alhamdulillah. Mari doakan saudara mara kita di Gaza yang sedang diuji hebat. Dan kesemua saudara mara kita yang ditimpa kesulitan tak kira di mana pun mereka. Yang mampu bersedekah wang ringgit, sedekahlah. Paling tidak, berdoalah.

Hari Isnin minggu lepas, Kakak terima watikah perlantikan sebagai Pengawas Pusat Sumber sekolah. Finally! Berbulan-bulan lamanya acara sepatutnya diadakan, baru Isnin lepas betul-betul terjadi. Waktu dia tamat sekolah kebangsaan, kami galakkan dia to be an active student. Waktu sekolah kebangsaan, she was an intovert, quiet student. When she told us she was appling for Pengawas PSS, ofkos lah kami sangat galakkan. And maklumkan dia that jawatan comes with responsibility and that she should not take lightly on the roles she's entrusted with.


On the same day, Iman told he nama dia kena panggil naik stage masa perhimpunan. Ahhh sudahh.... ingatkan kena denda ke apa. Rupanya dia dapat badge, Murid Mithali. Congrats Abang.

Exactly Ramadhan 10 years ago way back in 2004, I was heavily pregnant with him. On 20th Ramadhan, I gave birth to him. Never expected Allah to select us to raise a special child. It was (and still is) not sugar-and-spice-and-everything's-nice kinda thing. It was an emotional ups and downs. It was a winding road. Nevertheless, alhamdulillah, banyak belajar tentang banyak perkara. And I know more about myself. Susah nak explain, it's like mencari diri sendiri.

Of late, he's been all curious and asks lots of questions about lots of things. If he's not satisfied with our answers, he googles them up the net. Everytime there's Hari Akademik, the same comments on him being unable to concentrate, fidgeting and whatnots. And the latest, his class teacher commented that he does not act his age. He's 10 but he's 7. Imagine him back in 2011, starting year 1 at 7 years old but inside him is like a 4 years old. Must be pretty scary to be (almost) alone without us fimiliar faces in a big school.

Anyway, I am happy with his curiosity. Go explore. Go widen your world boy. I will always hold your hands until you let mine go.


Di bawah ni, saya kongsikan resepi Jelly Custard. Similar with puding trifle, cuma bahagian bawahnya tak swiss roll, instead buat custard. First time makan this combination (jelly+custard) kat rumah Elin waktu visit dia and her baby. Sejuk-sejuk... sedappp.


Bahan-bahan
1. 1 tin susu sejat cair
2. 1 tin air (sukat guna tin susu yang sama)
3. 3 sudu besar tepung custard
4. 3 sudu besar gula
5. 2 kotak jelly serbuk (saya guna Nona)
6. 1 tin buah pic dalam tin (saya guna sliced peach) - ambil buah saja

- Masukkan susu sejat, 1/2 tin air dan gula dalam periuk. Masak atas api sederhana hingga mendidih perlahan dan gula hancur.
- Campurkan 1/2 tin air dengan tepung kastad.
- Alih periuk berisi campuran susu dari api sebentar. Tuang campuran tepung kastad ke dalam campuran susu sambil mengacau.
- Kembalikan periuk ke atas dapur, teruskan memasak hingga agak likat. Hati-hati jangan sampai campuran berketul. Sentiasa kacau. Personally, saya lebih suka gunakan whisk.
- Tuang dalam acuan dan biarkan sejuk.

- Masak jelly serbuk seperti arahan pada kotak.
- Susun buah pic atas campuran kastad yang telah sejuk.
- Tuang jelly yang masih panas secara perlahan-lahan ke atas custard. Pastikan susunan buah pic tidak huru hara :)
- Biarkan sejuk sedikit, kemudian masukkan ke dalam fridge.


* Saya tambah sedikit cream corn dalam adunan kastad. Tapi anak-anak lagi suka plain, with no corn.
** Boleh juga di makan dengan whipped cream (gemok gemok!)

Selamat mencuba dan selamat meneruskan Ramadhan dengan lebih khusyuk lagi..
 
 
 
 

Monday 7 July 2014

of kids' fasting & resepi rendang paru sempoi

Cepatnya masa berlalu. Hari ni dah pun 9 Ramadhan. Nak menghampiri 1/3 bulan dah pun. Kids are doing okay. Well, almost. Perhaps yang paling segar is, suprisingly, Iman! I thought he'd be all grumpy coz dia ni suka makan. Kakak pulak yang terkesan sangat. Penat katanya. Muka pun monyok je. As for Adam, the longest he can tahan so far is sampai pukul 6:00 petang. But he has his sahur at 6:30 btw hehe. Puasanya cuma kalau ke sekolah. Kalau kat rumah bukan main kencang makan. Walhalkan hari biasa takdelah makan macam tu..
 
5th day. sempat lagi lena.. nak suruh buat air teh-o pun rasa tak sampai hati..
 
guess who joined us for sahur on 5th day? sudahnya tak makan ponn... minum solivite jek.
 
Ibadah-wise, I haven't been doing lots of things, really. Missed terawikh once due to backpain. Read few pages of Quran per day. Salute to those who read Quran, one juz per day. I try not to miss Dhuha. I try to give more to the less fortunates. When there's something inside me stopping me, I know it's me and myself control. *ponder & reflect*

In the kitchen department, alhamdulillah, we are blessed to be able to do homecooked spread so far for iftar and sahur. Tebby and me went to pasar ramadhan once and bought otak-otak. Agak kecewa dengan rasanya... Dah rezeki penjual tu kan. Maybe it was just my taste bud that didn't agree with those otak-otak. Only one or two was eaten.

Anyway. Back to our iftar spread. Normally sampai rumah at around 6:30pm, which means we have ample time to cook in aman-aman-saja mode. Once, we got home at 7:00pm but suprisingly everything got onto the table just in time azan Maghrib kedengaran. Well, almost everthing la. Our microwave was beeping masa azan tu.. baru selesai panaskan nasi.

Last week, it was nasi for 7 days straight! My miniscule family, we don't do nasi sangat for dinner on normal days. This week, Tebby dah request menu non-nasi. But I want nasi. Semalam I did roast chicken for iftar with potatoes and baby carrrots. Selesai solat terawikh, laparrrr hehe. I had slices of bread cicah rendang paru. I did my first rendang last weekend. Good news, it turned out well, at least by my standard. Good news, orang lain semua taknak makan coz of the paru. So I had all for myself hehe. No lah, I was hoping they would enjoy it as much as I do. Kakak was super excited at first, tapi lepas tau itu paru, terus dia taknak. Next time k Kakak, Ummi buat rendang daging special for you.

 

the battlefield. bila dah mula mendidih tu, merata kena percik kuah..
 
Bahan-bahan
1. 600 gm paru, potong dadu, cuci bersih dan toskan.
2. 3 sudu besar kerisik
3. 1kg santan
4. 7 biji bawang merah
5. 5 ulas bawang putih
6. 1 inci halia
7. 1 inci lengkuas
8. 2 batang serai
9. 1 sudu besar cili boh
10. 1 sudu teh rempah kurma
11. 1 sudu teh rempah kari
12. 1 keping asam keping
13. Garam & gula secukup rasa
14. Rempah 4 sekawan (bunga lawang, cengkih, kulit kayu manis, buah pelaga)
15. 2 sudu besar minyak untuk menumis

 
- Bawang merah, bawang putih, halia, lengkuas, serai di potong kasar dan kisar dengan sedikit air.
- Satukan bahan kisar dengan paru.
- Tambah serbuk rempah kurma, rempah kari dan cili boh.
- Gaul rata dan perap sebentar.
- Panaskan minyak, tumis rempah 4 sekawan hingga naik bau.
- Masukkan paru yang diperap, masak hingga air agak kering, kacau dari masa ke masa supaya tidak melekat.
- Tuang santan, masukkan kerisik.
- Masukkan garam dan gula.
- Masak hingga hampir kering, kacau supaya tidak hangit.
- Campurkan asam keping, masak lagi hingga kering
 
Ada banyak versi resepi rendang, I ofkos ambik yang paling mudah. Daun limau purut tak letak. Ada orang masukkan santan pekat dulu, then baru santan cair. Tapi saya tak rajin camtu. Ni la yang Mok saya selalu membebel.. banyak benda nak short cut hehe... but ofkoslah, rendang Mok saya always the best. Tak boleh lawan.
 
 
 
 

Wednesday 2 July 2014

of Ramadhan & kids .. and meatloaf recipe

Today is already 4th of Ramadhan. Alhamdulillah first day fell on Sunday. We spent the day mostly at home, did groceries and fresh provision yess.. I love pegi pasar basah for the coming week while the kids were at Global Art and in the evening masak-masak in relax mode for iftar. While parents with anak-anak di perantauan took the chance bersahur and berbuka bersama-sama.
 
I remember last Ramadhan's first day fell on weekdays and we had to brace maaaadd craaaazzyyy traffic to go home. Sampai rumah lagi 15 minit nak berbuka. Kelam kabut sangat walaupun menu simple. And years before, Maghrib masuk barely 7:00 pm. That time anak-anak belum mula puasa. Minum air dulu, solat then only we had proper meal.
 
Kakak has been fasting full month for years now. And this year as well, insyaAllah. Unless she gets her period within this month! She's all cranky and moody and on first day, at 7:00 pm she thought she was digesting herself coz all sahur food digested oredi!
 
Iman, so far, is doing good. No complaints. When asked, dia kata dia lapar tapi lepas tu tengok TV berdekah-dekah ketawa. I think he's getting along well with this fasting matter. I also suspect his energy reservoir is pretty much impressive! (read: body fat). Warned not to gain anymore weight, nanti baju raya tak muat.
 
While my elder 2 are at that, Adam took his sahur at 7:00 am and broke-fast at 12:00 noon on first day. And he was an energy bunny mode, full power pulak tu for the rest of the day. Not a good combination I'd say.. an energy bunny and a tired mom. On second day he told us Mama Azah (pengasuh taska) yang suruh dia buka puasa waktu balik tadika. Well, I have to check hehe.
 
Like the past years, and like most wife and mom out there, I aim for homecooked meals for iftar. On weekends maybe boleh beriya-iya sikit la the spread. On weekdays simple-simple je. Anyone yang bekerja area yang femes dengan traffic jam would agree on one thing. Time is crucial. Hence eloklah perancangan menu dan persediaan bahan-bahan dibuat terlebih dahulu.

Memula buat menu. Then only we know what to buy. Wet-marketing (read: shopping lauk and sayur di pasar basah) is done weekly. Balik pasar silalah spend few hours untuk membersih, menyimpan, memerap, memotong, mengisar dan sebagainya. I only perap provision untuk iftar for the next 2 days. Lama-lama sangat nanti tak sedap. Unless we're making pekasam here. And the night before, I check on my menu and do the necessary preparations. Kalau nak buat sayur, I sliced bawang besar, bawang putih and whatnots siap-siap. In short, sampai rumah after work, masak je. Tak perlu nak prepare memotong, menyiang, menggaram dan yang sewaktu dengannya.
 

At Pasar Kajang last Sunday. Bought few types of fishes, a chicken, beef ribs and some vege. Yang vege tu.. amboi.. ambik sikit je pun sampai berbelas ringgit..

Below, I am sharing Meatloaf recipe. Orang melayu cakap apa ek, Lof Daging? Bantal Daging? Kalau hari-hari bekerja, saya prefer masakan jenis roast. Senang, masukkan dalam oven and while it's roasting, bolehlah tuan punya diri pegi mandi dan angkat kain dan sebagainya. Ada orang cakap sebab pemalas, suka hati lah kan nak cakap apa.
 
2 packs minced beef, jadi lebih kurang 550 - 600 gm kesemuanya.
1 pack mushroom. Nak guna yang dalam tin pun boleh.
 
 3 keping roti, rendam dalam susu secukup-cukup aje. Jangan banyak sangat susunya, nanti meatloaf soggy
 
 3 biji telur
 
 1-2 sudu besar brown sugar
Perasa garlic power
Serbuk lada hitam
dann..
garam.. takde dalam gambar
1/2 labu bawang besar, dadu halus..
 
Koyak/hancurkan roti berendam susu tadi. Masukkan telur dan bawang besar. Gaul rata.
 
Kendian tambah brown sugar, serbuk lada hitam, perasa garlic powder dan garam
 
Masukkan minced beef sama mushroom yang dihiris nipis. Gaul lagi.  
 
Minyakkan keliling loaf pan. Masukkan bancuhan tadi dalam loaf pan. Bakar 30 minit suhu 160d api atas bawah, lepas tu kurangkan suhu ke 140d, bakar lagi 15 minit. Untuk uji dah masak ke belum, cucuk meatloaf, kalau cecair yang keluar itu jernih, makanya dah masak la tu..
 
Kalau suka makan berkuah, boleh buat mushroom or blackpepper sauce. Our sauce pulak guna sos cili dan sos tomato (sama ratio), tambah sedikit perasa garlic powder dan brown sugar. Tak perlu masak.

Owh ya, hari tu kat Pasar Kajang, ada nampak mamat Arab ni bawak balik satu plastik beso minced beef. Mungkin boleh beli daging and mintak dikisarkan. Kot? I have to check next time ke sana.

Salam Ramadhan dari Kak Mon sekeluarga.