Friday- Ang Ku Kueh

Since I still have tonnes of banana leaves inside the fridge, so I Google-d out recipes that will make those leaves away hehe and I ended up with Ang Ku Kueh. 

There are lots of Ang Ku Kueh recipes on the net, but I found Sonia's Nasi Lemak Lover version was very helpful with a clearer methods and aided with pictorial. Thanks Sonia! You can get the recipe from the link above. 

It was my first Ang Ku Kueh and I did it while Adam took his afternoon nap. I had all the time that I want to try this new recipe. It turned out well, even though the Chinese character on the top part weren't that clear hehe.. May be I should press the dough into the mould harder next time. 

The kueh was not too sweet, just perfect for my taste buds. and BigDaddyO's. hehe I love this kueh so much but it was very rare to find it in my area.  as long as I could remember, the last time I ate it would be 2,3 years back..

Adam anyway refused to eat it and only get to taste it after the kueh was almost finished. I make 10 kuehs and ate 3 of it.. the rest went to BigDaddyO tummy. hehehe

Thursday- Nasi Lemak 20 cent

BigDaddyO and I watched TV show a couple night ago and we saw this nasi lemak wrapped in banana leaves on it and it drool me big time that night hehe.. Straight away I planned to skip the meal on the menu planner for this nasi lemak. 

So, early in the morning, Adam and I went to the wet market to find banana leaves and it cost me SGD3 for 10 big banana leaves. "Take it or leave it, cannot buy less than that.." and I went home with a bulk of banana leaves with me.. T_T

Nasi Lemak 20 cent is a simplified version of all the nasi lemak we have in town today. Today nasi lemak was so overrated with all kind of side dishes and it's way too much for me. I.e. of side dishes are fried chicken, fried fish, hot dog, sambal udang up to sambal puyuh, all type of veges, all type of fish ball and fish cakes.. way too much..and yet for this nasi lemak 20 cent, it was so original and humble. Only egg, sambal and fried anchovies are allowed inside. And sometimes, cucumber and nuts. 

This 20 cent nasi lemak was very easy to prepare since it would only require nasi yg betul2 lemak and sambal yg betul2 sambal  hehe the rice must has a balance taste of coconut milk, ginger and salt with nice pandan fragrant.. and for the sambal, it must be in between sweet, sour and salty. The extra accessories as fried anchovies, cucumber, nuts and eggs are up for you to put. I forgot to buy egg, so no eggs for the wraps. 

The best part is when you unwrapped the banana leaves. The combination fragrant of banana leave with the rice was so aromatic. Remember to smoke the banana leaves first before you wrapped the rice and etc inside. 

Any nasik lemak recipe [go google..hehe] will do for this nasi lemak 20 cent. the most important is the wrapper, the banana leaves itself. 

that'll make a big different.. and I still have tonnes of banana leaves in my freezer..huhu

p/s: this really reminisce my early school days..my mom always used banana leaves to wrap nasi lemak, nasi goreng, or nasi bungkus for my Ko-Q days. My dad would take the school bags with him [after the school time over] and handed us the wrapped home-made lunch. and then, my sister and I would eat it in a quite canteen corner and wait together until the club session started. ...Oh I miss her..

Wednesday-Pandan and Coconut Ice Cream

This is my first home-made ice cream! I love the taste combination of pandan & coconut, and the taste became even better with nut & choc sprinkles on top. I will try to experiment this recipe with other flavor soon. hihhi..

Adam didn't like it. Baguslah hahaha maybe it's too cold for his tongue..

BigDaddyO [yes, from now on, he'll be address as that] liked it very much but told me it became sweeter scoop after scoop towards the end.. hmm..I guess it was less sweet during solid form and it became more sweet as it gradually melt..hmm maybe..just maybe.. okay...less condensed milk next time.. :)

okay, why dont' you guys give it a try and report back hehe.. here's the recipe..taken from Ellie's Almost Bourdain.. She served this ice-cream with brioche and palm syrup as a dessert and some claimed it's Better Than Sex [BTS] dessert..thee.. There are tonnes of mouth-watering recipes in her blog that I've bookmarked and yet to try.. hehe Thanks Ellie!

Pandan and Coconut Ice Cream Recipe {Source: Almost bourdain}
Ingredients

395 g sweetened condensed milk
300 ml thickened cream
270 ml coconut milk
1 tsp pandan essense
1/4 tsp pandan paste

Method


-Combine all ingredients in an electric mixer and whisk together until thick and light. The mixture should be thick enough to leave a trail on the surface.
-Pour the mixture into a covered container, stick it in the freezer.

Oh how I wish my diet program is over and I could savor all the food that I've prepared more and more and more.. I only allowed myself to eat a scoop of ice cream and really had to refrain myself from opening the freezer door. ;p I could only peep but cannot eat..Hey that's kindda rhyme! ;p

Bekas aiskrim tuk aiskrim 

Monday-New Maid KA

My new Kitchen Maid hehe.. 

I'm still in belek2 mode and still kissing it every seconds haha

 *grinning from ear to ear* :D

Big thanks to Hubby for this lovely, lovely gift. Muah 1000x

Sunday-Banana Bread

Our day started as early as 630am[not that early haha]. Adam woke me for milk, as usual. After that, everybody had a quick shower except for Adam and off we went to Thompson Mall. We always prefer to go to FairPrice to stock up our pantry staples. 

I bought so many fruits and vegetables. Haha I'm still sticking my b*tt in my diet routine. No rice, less sugar and eat side dishes only. I ate fruits for just now lunch, and had to hold my saliva from dropping while preparing hubby's quick lunch [a yummy chicken[left over form chicken rice]  mayo sandwich]. And for dinner, I'm planning to re-heat my black pepper beef. 

So today munchy-munchy is banana bread. This recipe is such an ABC recipe and so yummeh, so busy moms with kids are highly recommended to keep this recipe in your pocket. In case you have ripe bananas and other basic baking ingredients, this recipe can turn that bananas into a warm buttery banana bread. Preparing time is 20 minutes, baking will take about 1 hour, and it will took just seconds to finish it off. 

Okay, all you need is;

 "1/3 cup of butter [ i used SCS butter], 4 ripe bananas [mashed up], 1 cup of brown sugar, 1 egg, beaten, 1 tablespoon of vanila extract, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, a pinch of salt and 11/2 cups of flour."

"Preheat your oven to 180C. Grease a 30x23-cm bread tin. Pour the mashed bananas into big mixing bowl. Mix in butter, sugar, egg, & vanilla extract. Add the baking soda and salt and mix in the flour. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 1 hour. Remove and cool"

-Banana Bread, Sophie Dahl'-Miss Dahls Voluptuos Delights-

Hubby loved it and asked me to baked it often hehe. I ate a slice only and I love it too.. So this recipe is totally a keeper!

Friday- Pear and Ginger Muffin

I made this for our brunch today. I love the bread-y texture so much and the sweet-spongy mixture between oats, raisin, and diced pear is so unique and tasty. My kitchen smells so nice with the nutmeg-cinnamon-ginger fragrant from the baked muffins. I can keep munching of those muffins if I wasn't on diet.. hehe I'll definitely baked this often..and perhaps try to replace those pears with other fruits. 

The recipe is originated from Sophie Dhal's Voluptuous Delights book. But I'd adjust the ingredients with what I have in my pantry. So below is the recipe excerpt from the book;

"Ingredients [Serves 12]:

Sunflower oil

2 teaspoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1teaspoon of ground ginger

1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg { I used ground nutmeg}

11/4 cup spelt flour {I used all-purpose}

11/2 cup of rolled oat 

1 cup of pear puree { I blend 2 pears and make puree}

4 egg whites-lightly beaten

1/2 cup of natural yogurt

3/4 cup honey { I omit}

1 firm pear, diced

3/4 cup raisin"

"Preheat oven to 190C. Grease a 12-hole muffin tray with sunflower oil. Sift the baking powder, baking poweder, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg into large mixing bowl. Stir in the flour and the oats. Make a well in the midldle of the dry ingredients and add in the wet ingredietns, the diced pear and the raisins. Stir very gentle until all the dry ingredients are folded into the batter. Pour the batter into the tray filling each cup two-third full. 

Put in the oven and ake for about 25-30 min, until the tops of the muffins are brown."

-Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights-

 As far for my diet, it's still on track. I ate half banana and half portion of muffin for my brunch. and slurped on plain water instead of coffee. 

So, today is Friday. I have a childhood friend named Friday. Hehe.. Happy Friday, Friday the Fourth!! ;p Check his blog here. He's good in creating some magics in the kitchen too. :D 

Thursday- Hainanese Chicken Rice

We have this for dinner. I always love Banquet's Chicken Rice. For my taste buds, it's the best chicken rice I've ever tasted so far! The tender and juicy chickens with fragrant-ginger and garlicky rice. Yummeh! 

{but I believed the downfall of this dish is the chicken broth/soup, it's just a plain soup with no cilantro, fried shallots, spring onions, etc..so plain..and that's why some ppl prefer "Malay-version" chicken rice}

I've been trying to 'copy' the same taste for months, and always ended up with 'almost-near' taste.I believed the main ingredient for the rice is still missing.. They must be using some kind of ghee/butter to make the rice so so fragrant and so so yummy.. hehe I tried to add butter {all brand from SCS, Buttercup, Lurpak} previously, but maybe I should replace it with ghee. Hmm.. {BTW, QBB Ghee is halal again! :D}

Nevertheless, will try to make this chicken rice again and again. 

Okay, from now on, apart from posting some 'what-I-eat' today, I will put some update on my diet also. The diet resolution is simple, according to to Dr. Ping, just avoid rice, eat side dishes only, and avoid sugar! Sounds simple kan, and up until this hour, I still can stick my nose to this new resolution. I don't know how tomorrow gonna serves me..Will I break the rules?

Jeng..jeng..jeng..

Wordless Wednesday- Tears

Inspired by TheKnot's Wordless Wednesday.

Sunday Durian Mousse Cake

I saw this cake at Bakericious Blog last week and quickly added it my 'cake-to-do' wishlist. Since there still 2 boxes of durian left from last weekend baking project [read: Durian Cream Puffs], I decided to turn those durians into cake. :)

I simply bought a ready-made chiffon cake to make my job easier hehe and did the durian mousse myself. You can get the recipe from Bakericious Blog. 

Ok..Adam is really into my keyboard now.. I can't type properly..Ciao..

Sunday Durian Cream Puffs

Ciao bella! I made this for my Mom-in-law for her birthday. [other people would bring cake instead of puff..aiyok!] and I really 'kembang' when everybody especially hubby loves the puffs to bit! :") :") hahaha

The recipe is originated from Christine's Recipe Blog and it's a good pictorial blog on baking and cooking stuff.. So do visit her blog HERE. Thanks Christine!

I wanna write more in this entry but it's almost 10pm and I had a horror-movie-date with hubby. Ciao!