lamb shank n DURAN DURAN

LAMB SHANK CURRY

Ma, you tumis curry yang you selalu buat utk tulang rusuk tu, shank is on its way back!

That's the instruction I received from Mr hubby who was outside groceries shopping with our two kids . I was at home with my eldest at that time.There was Duran Duran:One Night Only on TV2 and I wouldn't want tomiss it for the world! being a long time fan of the group and SimonLe Bon especially, with their song REFLEX ,Wild Boys, Hungry Like The Wolf,Rio, and many other great songs.

Those 8os era,when Spandau Ballet was famous with it's 'True',GeorgeMichael with his Careless Whisper or wasit WHAMwith Wakemeup before you go go",Love 'em.....watching the programme yesterday brought me backto Ilford Lane,Barking,EastLondon., although Iwas doing my A Level inMalaysia when Ifirstheard Duran Duran.The sametimeIknew Prince,WhenDoves Cry.

DURANDURAN 30 YEARS LATER

Where's thelamb shank?

haha...side track a little bit.

ok, here's how Imake my version of LAMB SHANK CURRY:

First and foremost , boil the shank in a pressure cooker ( I do the same ifIwere to cook my ribs)
in the mean time, in another pot,heat up cookingoil,and fry 'sambal' ( acombinationofblended dry chillies,onion, and garlics)
Add in:
cinnamon stick/kulitkayumanis
cloves/bunga lawang
staranise/bungacengkih
anddaunkari/curry leaves
fry till it is cooked.
Add in curry powder ( mixed with water) and stir till the spice is well cooked
Add in some water from the shank stock if the spice is a bit dry
Then,add in THE SHANK(  not SHARK YA!...HEHE...)

Stir till you feel that they bond together (mesra mesra gitu), add in some more water,milk ,salt and sugar to taste.
transfer allinto the PRESSURE COOKER and simmer for anothertwo hours or more ( to ensure that the meat is really tenderandjuicy)
You caniadd in some diced tomatoes if you like which what I would normally dowhen making my ribs currybut for last nite's dinner SHANK,didn't put in the tomatoes because my hungry other halfkept coming to the kitchen and was asking if his shank was ready.

And it WAS READY!!!!

It was a success,he said. He loves it, my kids love it,me, I am not abig fanof lamb but am glad everybody loves it. So,since it was a success,Iguess we will be making more shanks in the near future.in the mean timeIwill still try tolook for the other recipe which I had been Longing to try.This recipe will also go into my other recipe book,justin case I forgot how to make them.

CREAM PUFF

CHOUX PASTRY


250 ml water
75g butter, cut into even pieces
150g plain flour
3 eggs
1 pinch salt

Water and butter in a pan, place over low heat and bring to a simmer
when the butter has melted and the water has come to the boil, shoot the flour into the liquid all at once. Stir over a steady heat until the mixture comes together into a coherent mass and leaves the sides of the saucepan ( word for word from a book )
.
Transfer to a bigger bowl and let it  cool for a minute or , and then
Add in 3 eggs ( with a pinch of salt )- which was beaten lightly with a fork., bit by bit, beating either with by hand or an electric mixer until even.
continue to add the eggs until the mixture reaches a smooth , stiff dropping consistency. The batter is now ready for use.

bake 200C- 20 minutes

( note: make sure you get the ingredients right, i learnt my lesson when I accidentally miscount the eggs. It didn't rise !!!!but don't panic, it is still within repair.....trust me, i have done it......hehe...learn from your mistake )

CUSTARD:
1 tbsp custard
1 tbsp corn flour
3-4 tbsp sugar ( i prefer 3 only)
1 cup fresh milk
1 egg or 2 egg yolks
1 tbsp butter.

BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING

BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING

8 pieces of white bread - cut into triangle, spread butter on each slice
lay the pieces in a baking dish ( greased with butter too,toavoid it from sticking)

spread raisins ( about 50g) on the bread slices.

meanwhile, heat up 3 cups of milk in a pan ( but not to boiling point)

in another bowl, whisk 5 eggs and 100g sugar,
pour onto the milk ,mix well and then pour on to the bread. Leave for about 10 minutes ( soak the bread)

sprinkle some sugar on top before baking.

Bake in a pre heated oven ( water bath method )  at 175C for 35 minutes

I made this yesterday,on the 6th day of Ramadhan, this evening I saw two other vesions of howtomakethis bread andbutter pudding,one is called Bread peanut Butter Pudding ( Anna Olson ) and bread andApple Puddingby our very own topChef, Dato' Chef Wan. They both look appealing. I might try tomake their versions some other day ( I wonder when that 'some  othee day' will be. It took me quite sometimetoeven make thistraditional versionof the good old Breas andButter pudding.
I like things the traditional way, traditional applepie, traditional trifle and traditional B&B pudding

Traditional apple pie

TRADITIONAL APPLE PIE ( Mak Muda, this one's for you) :

PASTRY:

350g plain flour

pinch of salt

85g butter or margarine, cut into small pieces

85g white veg fat, cut into small pieces

about 6 tbsp cold water

beaten egg or milk, for glazing

method:

sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. add the butter and fat and rub( gaul dan ramas ) in with the fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the water and gather the mixture into a dough.Wrap the dough and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

preheat the oven to 220c.
FILLING:

750g - 1 kg cooking apples peeled, cored and sliced

125g soft brown sugar or caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling

1/2 to 1 tsp ground cinnamon. mixed spice or ground ginger

1 - 2 tbsp water ( optional)

methods:

mix the apples with the sugar and spice and pack into the pastry case ( roll out almost two thirds of the pastry thinly and use to line a deep 23 cm/ 9 inch pie plate or pie tin)

the filling can come up above the rim.Add the water if needed, particularly if the apples are not very juicy.

roll out the remaining pastry to form a lid.Dampen the edges of the pie rim with water and position the lid, pressing the edges firmly together.

trim and crimp the edges.

Using the trimmings, cut out leaves or other shapes to decorate the top of the pie, dampen and attach. Glaze the top of the pie with beaten egg or milk, make 1 or 2 slits in the top and place the pie on a baking sheet.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 180c, and bake for another 30 minutes, or until the pastry is alight golden brown. Serve hot or cold, sprinkled with sugar.
Vanilla sauce recipe:

( yet to google.....:-) )

but this apple pie can be eaten with vanilla ice cream too.

happy baking!

Kek cawan "merah Baldu"

a request from my school mate who is in India, sorry Nozi, took so long to write this, hope this helps, a recipe extracted from one of my collection of cookbooks.

RED VELVET

2 1/2 cups cake flour- sifted
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
( whisk all three )

1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup veg oil
( with an electric mixer on med high speed, whisk these two until combined

Add eggs ( 2 ) one at a time. beating until each is incorporated.

mix in:
1/2 tsp red gel-paste fod colour
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

reduce speed to low, add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk ( 1 cup ), whixking well after each.

Stir together:
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
and 2 tsp distilled white vinegar, in a small bowl ( it will foam);

and this mixture to the batter, and mix on med speed 10 sec.

pour into your papercups or into the muffin tin lined with papercups, about three quarter full, bake for about 20 minutes in a pre-heated oven ( 350F )

nice to be eaten with cream cheese frosting

My first reaction when I ate this Red velvet was mixed. I didn't quite like it at first, it tasted rather funny , but when I tried it again, I just had to have more, one cup was not enough and I ate it even without the cream cheese frosting , but it tastes much better wth the frosting.

Ayam Masak Minangkabau

my ancient/antique 'gem/treasure'

"Zue, nak resepi", the subject /title in my email inbox.

more than two decades ago, i would not ldream of getting such remarks from anyone

why?

because I coud not cook!

not that I am a good cook now, but much better than I was twenty five years ago!:-)

thanx to my Sains Rumah Tangga classes, my umi ( who wrote in my 'ancient'recipe book, sambal ikan bilis, sayur air ,etc ), my housemates, when I was studying in UK, and all those cooking programmes on TV . Gradually I learned to cook, from the basic to more difficult ones, and sometimes I did it the other way round, like this dish for an example.from me asking for recipes from people and now it's the other way round. It's an achievement to me......ye lah, for someone who did not know how to cook . then, there's this other recipe too, delicious too, ayam Masak Portugis.

but here I am talking about this frequently cooked ( I think I made this more than I made chicken curry in my kichen )

ayam Masak Minangkabau,

the name itself is a bit complicated , with its spices, cumin, fennel seed, coriander seed, etc.....( well, at least, to me...) , unlike the more normal ones like curry, masak merah, masak kicap, kurma but I knew how to make this one than the others. It took me sometime to be able to make my first chicken curry!


With this dish, there's no ready made paste like the curry or kurma ( even kerutuk has its ready made paste ), I have to prepare them myself.

I will share with you the recipe which I had been using since my school days ( when I first learned how to make it but only started making them in my universiti years. ( or was it during the school break ( after my SPM exam )?

straight from my 'kitab' , this is a re-written version after some of the words in the original version became almost invisible.

the original recipe.

but I will write it here anyway, just in case some of you are not able to read my tiny handwriting

AYAM MASAK MINANGKABAU

(Charmey dear, I copied it word for word from the book )

4 tah ayam- potong dan sapu garam

BAHAN A ( digiling ):

4-5 cili kering

5 ulas bawang merah

2 ulas bawang putih

2 camb minyak

1 camt tomato sos

1/4 camt gula

BAHAN B (digiling):

1/2 inci belacan

1/4 inci lengkuas

1/2 camt jintan manis

1/2 camt jintan putih

1/4 inci kunyit

1/2 camt ketumbar

1/2 pt santan ( 1/2 biji kelapa)

1/2 camt susu cair

1/4 helai daun kunyit

1/4 cawan air

CARA-CARA:

1. Panaskan minyak. Goreng bahan-bahan yang digiling*

2. Masukkan ayam 5-8 minit

3. Masukkan sedikit air panas jika ayam melekat

4. Masukkan susu cair, sos tomato, gula, perasa,daun kunyit dan air.

Masukkan santan.

5.renih hingga empuk dan kuahnya pekat.

6. Hias dengan daun bawang dan hidang dengan nasi tomato



Nota: * bahan A dan B

sedap dimakan bersama nasi putih panas, atau dengan ketupat ( sebagai ganti rendang ) and also makan roti canai....sehingga menjilat jari you....

Macaronii au gratin...again....

What can I say, they like it, alhamdulilah,My kids love it and so do my customers.

this re-entry of macaroni au gratin recipe was prompted by a request from a lady in chennai.
this recipe was from one of the other bloggers and I thank her for sharing this wonderfully delicious and scrumptious recipe


200g macaroni- boiled
70g parmesan cheese

Filling:
200g chicken, prawn, squid, fish filamen
50g minced meat
1 potato, thinly sliced
1 onion, chopped
2 tsp black pepper

white sauce
4 tbsp butter
5 tbsp wheat flour
2 1/2 cup fresh milk
1/2 cube chicken stock ( melt with 1/2 cup of warm water )
2/3 tsp salt

1.fry mixture for filling, pour in some water to soften the potatoes. keep aside.
2. for the white sauce, melt butter over med flame. put in flour and continue whisking not to let the batter crumble.Pour in milk, chicken stock mixture & salt. Keep on stirring till the sauce thickens, turn off the heat.
3. pour in filling mixture into 2 and blend in well.
3. mix together macaroni into 3, pour into desired caserole dish, sprinkle with the parmesan. ( I like mine with lots of cheese and therefore I added cheddar and lots of mozarella on top.)
4. Bake in a preheated oven of 220 C for about 15 to 20 minutes or until all the cheese melts ....yummmm or it turns golden brown, like in the picture ( err....this is how I like it )

macaroni au gratin, baked and ready to be enjoyed
bon appetit!

p/s hope this recipe helps Aslamah! Don't forget to try it for berbuka.