Chicken: Ayam Panggang

MY THOUGHTS

I sent both my daughters back to the places where they are studying today. Even though it was my husband who drove to and fro, I was exhausted. He would not let me drive as my driving license had expired. Though of renewing it before leaving but I was so busy cooking for guests until I forgot my intention.

      Anyway, having my two girls away from home, I feel a bit lonely even though the three boys are still with me. Whenever my girls are at home, we do not actually sit down and chat all night long but still I feel lonely without them.

      My advice to those who are reading this, especially to those newly weds, you must really treasure the moment when your children are still with you. You should enjoy their presence and let them enjoy your presence as well. In other words, you should make time for your children.

     When my children were small, especially the girls, I was too busy looking for money as money was not enough for us. Actually, money was okay. It was just me - wanting to live in luxury. So I had more than one job.

      Time with the children is really precious especially as time flies very fast. Be with them. REad to them. Play games with them. Have fun and so you will not miss them so much like I do.

THE INGREDIENTS

* Ketumbar (fry this without oil. One teaspoon is enough. Then, pound it or grind it.)
* galangle (If it is fresh, it should the size of a female thumb. Pound this as mine is dried, I grind mine.)
* lemon grass (two of this. Pound)
* chilli boh ( 3 - 5 tablespoon. Fry this using oil.)
* Oil (Just enough to fry the chilli boh. Once the chilli is nicely fried, add in the other pounded stuff.)
* tamarind paste (1/4 of a cereal bowl))
* lime juice (2 normal size. Squeeze out the juice.)
* cream coconut
* sugar
* salt
* quail ( I had about 10. Wash them properly. Pre heat the oven. 200. Once the gravy is boiled, dip in each bird and arrange them on the tray nicely. Remember to line the tray with aluminum foil as you need to collect the stock from the cooked chicken. Pour the oil into the gravy.  The quail should be left in the oven for at least 20 to 30 minutes. Make it a habit to turn the tray at half of the set time.)

* coriander leaves ( it is nice to eat the quail with fresh coriander leaves. If you do not have quails, you could always replace it with chicken.)

MY OPINION

This dish is very easy to make. Serve this with mashed potatoes or just plain soup. It would be especially good to serve for dinner.

Pengat Pisang

MY THOUGHTS

To win a man's heart is through his stomach. Is this true? It works for me though. He loves it when I cook and groan whenever I pass the job to my maid.

What is so difficult about cooking especially if there is a maid to assist you in the kitchen?

THE RECIPE

This is my hubby's favourite

Coconut milk (almost half of the pot. I prefer using the Vision pot. You could simply put the pot on the table.)
Gula Melaka (one whole lot. Pound it a bit so that it would melt faster.)
Sagu (this will make it slightly thicker. My hubby prefers a thick sauce.)
Daun Pandan (one piece is enough.)
A pinch of salt (people say that you need to add in a bit of salt if you are making something sweet.)
Banana (slice the banana but not to small. Slightly bigger than one's mouth. Add this in when the Gula Melaka is hundred percent melted.)

**My hubby loves to have this dessert cool rather than hot.)

POINT TO PONDER

Sometimes we are really fussy. At times, we need to let go. However, I could not stop being meticulous as I need to make sure that whatever I spend is worth it. Most people do not like it - this includes the salesman. Should I be worry about it?

Soto Ayam

MY THOUGHTS

My second daughter requested for Soto Ayam, a dish which I don't quite like. Thus, to cook it is something which is not possible as I do not know how it should be tasted like. Still, remembering an Ustaz's advice, fulfilling someone's wish especially your own child is something the parent need to do while the child is healthy. Often, the Ustaz reminds that parents only try to fulfill the child's wish is when the child is really sick and then later, when the child is no longer around, the parents start to regret.


THE RECIPE 

Pot - medium sized metal pot.
Chicken (If you do not wish to boil the whole chicken, choose the part with a lot of flesh. Boil the chicken.
              Once the chicken is cooked, take it out and tear out the cooked flesh into small strips.)
Ginger (slightly bigger than my thumb. Peel off the skin and bruise it. Put it into the chicken broth.)
Lemon grass ( I used two. Clean and then have it bruised.)
To be pounded: (to be added into the chicken broth)
- Jintan manis (1/2 tablespoon)
- Jintan putih (1/2 tablespoon)
- Ketumbar (1 tablespoon)
- galangle (slightly smaller than my thumb. Preferably, it should be getting the same treatment as the ginger but as mine has been sliced and dried, I decided to pulverize it.)
Salt
Black Pepper (1 teaspoon - pounded)
White pepper (quite a lot of dashes)

The sauce:
Chilli Padi ( about ten)
Garlic (about 6 cloves. Blend the two items but instead of adding water, replace it with soya sauce. Then
           pour the blended items into a pot and have it boil.)

Begedil (an essential item when having Soto.)
MInce meat (one cereal bowl)
Potatoes (about 6 large ones. Cut them up like oranges and then fry them. Later, you mashed them up. This
                is followed by adding in the mince meat.)
Fried Onions (Put in about 2 1/2 tablespoon of it into the mixture(
2 eggs
White pepper
salt
Flour (1 ladle scoop of it)
**mix all the ingredients well. Then make balls out of the mixture and deep fry them. Make sure the oil is hot before putting them in.)

Serving:
The soup
Garnishes (stripped chicken, sliced spring onions, blenched beansprouts, compressed rice.)

POINT TO PONDER

As a muslim, are we expected to tolerate with every rubbish that people throw upon us? Ideally, I suppose so but, at times, you just cannot take the bull-shit (excuse the language). Just to please the boss, we simply put down a figure and hoping that our boss will be impressed.

           I could still remember SIGS late headmistress used to say 'If you wish to do something, do it well or else don't do it at all.' However, this is not the case nowadays. Figure first, the action comes later. If people remember, we do it. If our boss forget, we should forget.

Bee Hoon Berkuah

MY THOUGHTS

I do appear to bold and brave. Some  say I would be able to face anything. Some of my acquaintances who are holding the same positions often believe that I could solve any kind of horrible problems that they are facing. Little do they know that I am scared most of the time.

THE RECIPE

It has been quite some time since I could post the pictures of the food that I cooked. Ever since I took over my husband's handphone, such luxury is no longer for my pleasure.

Today is the forth day of fasting month and the first day too for me to cook for my children after so many ....

Bee Hoon (My maid made a mistake by soaking the whole packet. In actual fact, just two 'plank' would be
                  enough.)
Cooking oil (about six tablespoons)
Chilli Boh (once the oil is hot, put in five tablespoons. Stir it until you see the colour change.)
Peeled prawns (3/4 cereal bowl of it.))
3 tauhu (cut them into small pieces. FRY them first. Make sure they are light brown in colour.)
**Add in the Bee Hoon after the prawns are properly cooked and the fried tauhu is well coated with the chilli.
Beansprouts (pinch off the tail before cooking.)
Soya sauce (add in just enough. )
THE SAUCE:
Cooking oil (once it is hot, you start putting in other ingredients)
Garlic (about three cloves. It would be good if you could pound them finely together with the tauchu but do make sure that the garlic changes to yellow first. )
TAuchu (two big tablespoons.)
Water (Add in four mugs full)
**let it boil.

POINT TO PONDER

When we were having our dinner, my youngest announced his dislike towards bee hoon. I was shocked as this has never came to my attention.

Well, being a mother of five, it is surely not easy to please every individual. Every one seems to have their own taste.

Soup: Fish ball

Point to Ponder

Good things should be our habit. At initial stage, it would definitely be difficult. For instance, having to pray 5 times a day. With your deadlines and responsibilities, at times, praying is difficult. However, you should always force yourself to do it. Make it as a habit. If you do it too often, not doing it will make you feel uncomfortable.

The Ingredients

3 cloves of garlic (Slice them thinly)
Olive oil (You just need a bit only. Once it is hot, put in the garlic. When you could smell the garlic, pour in water.)
Water (the amount is up to you. How much soup do you need? That is the question you need to ask yourself.)
Chicken (about two portion of meaty chicken. Cut them into bite sized. Add it into the pot)
Carrot (cut it as thick as your finger but should not be as long. Try to have it bite sized as well))
Potato (about two. Cut them into bite sized as well)
SAlt
White Pepper

Leave it to boil. When you serve it, garnish it with fried onion and daun sup.

My Opinion

I love to serve my children with all kinds of soup. As they are used to it, they love having soup especially on hot days.

Macaroni: Baked

Point to Ponder

Sometimes you wonder what is important in your life - your career or your children. I was confused initially or perhaps so much influenced by colleagues at work. Many of them believe that one should work hard so that one can be promoted very fast or have the highest qualification for recognition purposes. 

Before this, that was what I wanted - to be DH 54 with PhD before I retire. However, after a while - especially after a number of incidents, I realise that my priority should be my children. They should come first. I should make sure that they are prepared for adulthood. They are prepared to join the working life.

I believe that if Phd is mine, I will get it. If DH 54 is mine, I will get it.

The Ingredients

Macaroni (I used Sem Remo. You should boil the whole packet. Once it is ready, drain out the water and leave it in the pot.)
2 medium-sized carrots (cut the carrots into cubes. Reasonably small ones.)
2 medium-sized onions (cut them into cubes as well.)
lamb (slightly more than half a kilo. Cut it into small pieces.)
A man-thumb-sized ginger, 5 cloves of garlic, one onion (blend them)
Cummin /Jintan Kasar (blend this dry or pound this)
Cheedar chesee (make sure it has been cut to small pieces. You should have slightly half of the cereal bowl. )
Cream crackers (pound them but it should not be so fine)
White pepper
Salt
Evaporated milk (only half of the tin)
Chilli Boh (2 tablespoons)
2 eggs (beat them well)
How to do this?? Very easy. Put the lamb, macaroni, carrots, onions together. Then add in cummin, the blended ginger, onion and garlic. Do not forget the salt and white pepper. These two, you should add them to your liking. Mix everything well. Once done, add in the evaporated milk and and half of the cheese. Put in a little bit of the cream crackers as well. . Once the mixture is mixed well, pour it into the Pyrex square casing. A big sized one. Press the top part a bit making sure all the spaces are covered with macaroni. then sprinkle the rest of the cream crackers and cheese on top of the mixture. Pour the beaten eggs nicely on top. Then put it into the oven. Leave it for about 40 minutes with 190.

Reminder - The oven must be preheated for 20 minutes. Preheated means you have the temperature in full at 20 minutes. This will help to clean the oven.

My Opinion

My hubby likes it. As for my second daughter, it goes without saying. As she was about to put in her second spoonful of macaroni, she murmured "sedapnya" Hearing that I was happy.

I made the Baked Macaroni because I was pretty lazy to be in kitchen. It took me only a few minutes to prepare.

Tummy Upset Remedy

MY THOUGHTS
I finally managed to complete a one and half page long article. It was quite a struggle.The first attempt, my husband found the article appalling.  So, I had to study it again and rewrite everything. The second version, he was more agreeable.

THE REMEDY
 This is gathered from my hubby's friend and wife.
If you have a tummy upset, go and buy the red guava canned drink. Drink as much as you can. The result, you will vomit and, according to them, after that you will be okay.

COUGHING REMEDY

COUGHING REMEDY

MY THOUGHTS
Today I found out how naughty my boys have been - especially the twins. Both, being 13, think that they could get away with anything under the sun. They have forgotten the fact that their mother was young at one time and, I have to admit, I was as challenging as they were too. 
Sorry boys but I had to whack you up. I really do not want you to have any regrets in your lives especially when you are so immature and unable to make good decisions. Believe me, whacking you up really hurt me but I have to do it. Judging with the way other parents let go of their children - the freedom they bestow upon their children - I could not do the same as these children keep on making mistakes and laugh about it without realising that they are heading no where near the light. 

THE REMEDY
My younger sister taught me this. 
Fresh milk - Pour a mug full of fresh milk into the pot and add a teaspoon of powdered turmeric. 
                   Boil the mixture but do not forget to keep on stirring. 
Honey -      Once the mixture is boiled, pour it back into the mug. Add a tablespoon of honey and stir. 
Drink it while it is hot. 

According to my sister in which she got the remedy from her doctor, the mixture helps with the phlegm. My experience was, after drinking it twice - we had it before we went to sleep - I vomited.     

POINTS TO PONDER

 One of the Ustazs in my department explains that honey does wonders to one's health. However, it should not be taken on its own. If you wish to have it, you must mix it with plain water. 

Another Ustaz states that mixing the water with honey has its own method. If you wish to take the honey for health purposes, then the honey should be added into the mug before pouring the water. However, if it is for coughing, then the honey should be added after the water.  

SAUCE: BLACK PEPPER

MY THOUGHTS
  I feel rather sad for what has happened at the office. I cannot simply blame anyone for this. The sicko is simply sick while the victim...the victim will definitely be in trauma for quite sometime. 

  One thing I know, life must go on. Things like this should not pull down my spirit but one thing for sure my spirit is no longer for the department. I am tired...I want to look into my own development rather than others. I need to move on. People get what they dream for. I am a human too. I too have a dream and I am going to make sure that it will come my way. 

God, please help me make my dream comes true. 

THE INGREDIENTS
  Still have technical problem. I cannot attach the photo.

Pot (heat it)

Cooking oil (About two tablespoons.)

One Onion (medium-sized. Cut it into cubes. Put it into the pot and stir it until limb.)

Chilli Boh (You need only one tablespoon. Stir it well. Make sure it is properly fried.)

Two tomatoes (cut them into cubes. Small cubes. Once the chilli is ready, pour them in.)


Black pepper (I prefer to have them pound. You need one mount full teaspoon. Pour it into the hot mixture.)


Vegetable broth (a bowl of it)

Corn Flour (one tablespoon. Mix it well with the broth and then pour it into the hot mixture.)

Soya Sauce (If it straights from the bottle, as the hole is rather small, 15 dashes)


Ayah loves the sauce. He thought I bought it from the supermarket. Cheh...I can cook!

Pumpkin: Baked with Custard

 

 
MY THOUGHTS
 I have not been cooking for quite sometime now due to perhaps laziness and complacency. Two days ago, I was going back memory lane, thinking about how my own mother was behaving during my confinement periods. If I am to go on being lazy and expecting everything to be done by my maid (she might be gone at the end of this year though), I might turn out to be just like my mother...whom my daughter calls 'Princess'.

Therefore, whoever is following this blog of mine, you can expect a frequent updating from me....I am praying hard to God now...please God, do get rid this lazy attitude of mine and replace it with an outstanding energy which will not only drive me to carry out my household chores as I used to but also to achieve the dream that I have set for.

THE INGREDIENTS
  Long and I tried to make Baked Custard Pumpkin but, unfortunately, I got a bit baffled with the ingredients. Now I understand why people usually lay out the ingredients first before they start cooking. I thought I was an expert. Apparently, not. Instead of using custard, I added in Corn Flour...Nonetheless, my hubby likes it. Thank God.

(picture will be attached later. technical problem)

1 pumpkin (cut the top part to make in which will be used as the cover. Clean out the seeds. Remember to was the pumpkin thoroughly inside and outside but not with soap. Darling sons, you know what I mean yeah. Scoop out a bit of the pumpkin flesh in which you need to cut them up into small pieces.)

Fresh Milk (the amount of milk depending on the size of the pumpkin in which it should 1/4 less. Pour the milk into a baking bowl.)

Eggs (For half of Ayah's centung milk,  I used three eggs. The centung is actually referring to Ayah's favourite drinking cup that I abhor. It is the Indian aluminum cup.)

Sugar (I put in four scoop of sugar. The tool that I use to scoop is the formula scoop....baby scoop.)

Custard /Corn Flour (The mistake that I made was to put in the Corn Flour, In actual fact, it should have been custard, I believe it would be sweeter but Ayah likes it. Surprise! Surprise!)

Aluminum Foil (to make it easier for you to take out the pumpkin, use this to make a basket in which you place your pumpkin in. The basket should have handles. Thus, you need quite a big piece of foil.)

Fresh milk, eggs, sugar, custard / corn flour and pieces of pumpkin are mixed in the bowl thoroughly. Then pour the mixture into the pumpkin. Steam it for 45 minutes.

Salad with Fried Potatoes

MY THOUGHTS
What worry me the most is my hubby's health. He was, when he was young, a sports person. It is true as they say that when a sports man stops being active, they start to gain weight and contract different types of illness.
My main task is to make sure he is healthy. That means his food and exercise. I, for one, do not like exercising but because of him, I go to the gym at least twice a week with him.

THE INGREDIENTS
Salad - wash and cut them to bite size
Onion - not a lot. Just slice it thinly.
Two really fat potatoes - cut them into cubes. Bite size. Fry them. Take them out once they are nicely brown. Scoop them into a bowl lined with kitchen paper. Let the paper absorb the oil.
One stalk of spring onion - slice them finely.
Two fat tomatoes - slice them like an orange. The slices should not be so thick either.

Salad with Fried Potatoes

Black pepper - Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, Add in a few dashes of black pepper and salt.

Fried Rice: Simple

MY THOUGHTS

It was a restaurant when I heard a talk about family. The owner of the restaurant was playing a video on an Islamic talk. The preacher was talking about how giving your children what they want...of course within your mean. 

I sincerely agree with the preacher. In fact, when I was young, each time I requested for some kind of food and my mother could not give me immediately, she would ask me to lick my right palm first - hoping that I would not think about it too much. My mother believes that if we keep on thinking about the food, we might fall and injure ourselves. 

THE INGREDIENTS

Heat up the wok. 

Margarine - put a tablespoon into the wok.

Two eggs - beat the eggs and add in a little bit of white pepper and salt. Make scramble egg. How? When you pour in the beaten eggs, keep on stirring it. It will then start to become dry and curdle. Scoop them out. 

Margarine - put in another tablespoon into the wok. 

Anchovies - wash a hand full of anchovies. Put them into the wok and keep on stirring until they are nicely brown. Then push the fried anchovies to the side of the wok. 

three cloves of Garlic (fat ones) - slice them and put them into the wok.

One red chilli - slice and put it into the wok. 

Simple Fried Rice

Rice - cook two cups of rice. Once it is cooked, let it cool before putting it into the hot wok. (In fact, this should be done before you start your frying activity.) Make sure the garlic and chilli are really limp before you put in the cooked rice. Mix the ingredients well. Add in the scrambled eggs and a few dashes of soya sauce. If you wish to add salt, do not put in too much as the soya sauce is already salty. 

Pasar Pandan, Johor, Malaysia - FOOD SPOTS

MY THOUGHTS
My twins did not get the kind of results that I wanted. I was so disappointed and took out my anger on them. This is of course wrong. When I realised it, I seeked their apology and explained to them.
I believe that everything happens with a reason. There must be a good reason why God does not allow my sons to get the results that we wanted.
The good thing is that they are still with me - to love, to hug and to talk to. Perhaps, the bond between us is not strong enough for us to be apart. If they had had the desired results, we weren't surely be together most of the time.

LOCATION
You should go to Pasar Pandan. It is a corner shop and from the shop you could actually see the wet market. It is called Restoran Mem.
From the main road, you need to drive further in.

THE FOOD
Nasi Goreng Kampung is its speciality - the taste is out of the world.

Nasi Goreng Kampung

As the restaurant is very near to the wet market, the prawns served are really fresh. The fried rice should be eaten hot too and together with the sambal belacan. Sambal belacan is a home-made thick sauce. It is made out of belacan (prawn cake?) and chilli. The two main ingredients are pounded together with salt, sugar and other secret stuff. Each person has their own unique style making the sambal belacan.

Larkin, Johor Bahru, Malaysia - FOOD SPOTS

MY THOUGHTS
No matter how busy we are with our work, we should find time for our family - especially the children as they need us the most. One thing that I regret the most is that I hardly make an effort to be with my children when they were young. I was too busy making sure we had enough money to spend. Now, I am missing their baby antic.

LOCATION
There is a row of stalls facing the main road beside the fire station. Parking is not easily available - rather limited. You must know how to manoeuvre your car well as some people fail at parking properly.

THE FOOD
There are a few lovely food here. My hubby loves the Ice Kacang. There are two stalls that sell Ice Kacang. The best one is the one closest to the fire station. If you ask for Ice Kacang Special, they will put two scoops of vanilla ice-cream on top.

Then, next to this stall, you can get lovely Beef Steak but be warned, at times, the meat is rather hard. To eat the steak, you must it when it is hot. Once cold, it is not worth dying for.

A few stalls away, you can get Kacang Pol. This is an arabic dish and seems to be the favourite of many in Johor. This too must be eaten hot. Taking it back to be eaten for breakfast does not taste so good. Unfortunately, for this particular dish, I have forgotten to take a photo of it.

Beef Steak

Ice Kacang Special

Damansara, Selangor, Malaysia - FOOD SPOTS

MY THOUGHTS

Having my children and husband with me is the best moment of my life. Thus, during public holidays or even when everyone at home, I believe that the whole family should go galavanting together. If we are to stay at home, the tendency is that every body will be in their own rooms doing their own thing. Being outdoor ensures all of us talking and doing things together. 

LOCATION

The Curve in Damansara. This is my, as well as my children's, favourite place. Each time we are in Kuala Lumpur or even Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, we would make a point to visit IKEA. Apart from shopping or rather window shopping, we love to dine here. 

THE FOOD

IKEA Restaurant

It is famous for its Daim Cake. I do apologize as we have forgotten to take a picture of it. 

We should also not forget IKEA's curry puff - the Malaysian version. They put in a quarter egg in it, I think.

Sweet Chat

Durian Pancake

This is located at The Curve. (If you happen to be in Seri Kembangan, there is also an outlet.) My favourite, a friend of mine introduced this, is Durian Pancake. There is a small spoonfull of durian in the centre which is coated with cream and wrapped by a soft layer of pancake.

They also serve Herbal Soup that tastes somewhat like La Chee Kong (not sure of the spelling). 

Herbal Soup

 

The Herbal Soup is rather sweet. So you should also order mineral water to wash it down. 

Asam Pedas Melaka

My Thought

My hubby really adores the asam pedas from Melaka and, being a possessive wife, I envy those who can cook this particular dish. (Must do something so that my hubby would boast to everyone about my Asam Pedas Melaka)
I found out that the dish is not even called Asam Pedas - unlike the Johorean. Though the texture is about the same, there is a distinctive different that could make one hook to it.
Betty Yew has the recipe in her Rasa Malaysia. (page 26) Mine, as usual, I modified a bit.

My first Asam Pedas Melaka

The Recipe
3 big slices of fish (Ask for fish with tender and fine texture. You may want to buy Pomfret or even Garoupa. However, there are many other kinds. Don't forget to wash the fish using tamarind pulp.)
Cooking oil (I like to use Cap Buruh. Pour in until it nearly cover the base of the pot.)
Chilli Boh (Onions - a lot, Garlic - 1/8 of the onions, fresh tumeric - about the same amount as the garlic, and dried chillies - should be able to cover the onions. Soak the with hot water and then blend them finely. Put in about four scoop of a big wooden ladle into the hot cooking oil. )
Dried shrimp paste (The Malays call this Belacan. Sprinkle about slightly more than a teaspoon. Once you see the mixture starts to release oil, only then you add in the next ingredient.)
Aniseed / Jintan Manis, Coriander,  Black Pepper  (for each item, you only need one teaspoon. Grind them. Then pour them into the pot.)
Tamarind Pulp (Squeeze the juice out of about two handful. You need about three mugs of water. Be careful with the amount of water. We do not want watery gravy.)
Kerisik (Don't know what this is in English. You make this out of roasted grated coconut. In Malaysia, you can always find the ready-made one. Put in about two teaspoon.)
Salt and Sugar (The amount I would say according to your taste bud or even health.)
Halba (I am not sure what this is called in English. Malays usually use this when they cook Nasi Lemak. Put in about two or three pinches of it.)

I prefer using wooden ladle. 

Leave the dish to boil for a few minutes or until the fish is cooked.













The Outcome

My hubby loved it. I was very happy seeing him dishing out the gravy time and again. My second son loved it too. Anyway, be a bit cautious if you do not like very spicy dish.