Recipe : Homemade Cooking

Salam guys,
We just got back home from our short trip to Italy,and I must say,we enjoyed it this time a lot more
 than last time!

I can't believe that I once called Italy a country with ugly buildings(that time my pregnancy hormones were up and down giving me a hard time :P).After that,I miss Italy terribly,especially its food so we decided to drive there last weekend.

Well,I still have to first finish my updates on Swiss,and later on Italy.

But before that,here is another update on my homemade cooking.I hope you will get some idea on what to cook for dinner tonight haha.

Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Casserole

I came across this recipe on youtube by a famous cooking blogger www.natashaskitchen.com.
This chicken recipe was a hit and such a recipe to keep.It is so creamy,eaten with tagliatelle to tone down the creaminess of the chicken.
This recipe is also good if you don't want to turn your kitchen into chaos :P

Here goes the summary of the recipe

1.First coat chicken breast cut into medium-sized pieces with flour.2.Heat oil in a skillet and cook the chicken until golden brown.3.Now scrap the remaining of the flour and oil,and cook the mushroom cut into slices and diced onion until golden brown.4.Arrange the chicken in a casserole followed by mushroom on top.5.In the same skillet,heat some butter until it melts.6.Add in 2-3 Tbs of flour and keep stirring.7.Add in cooking cream and keep stirring till the white sauce is thick on slow heat.8.Add in crushed garlic,a bit of lemon juice,chicken broth(I dilute a chicken cube in water),salt and pepper,mix well and turn off the heat.9.Now,pour the sauce on top of the mushroom in the casserole.10.Into the oven for 30 minutes or so at 180 degrees.11.Serve with pasta,bread or even rice!

Nasi Goreng Paprik

My favourite menu if I eat in a local gerai or Malay restaurant in Malaysia.


For my beef/chicken paprik recipe

1.Heat a few Tbs of oil in a pan.2.Saute blended dried chilli (pre-boiled) until fragrant and cooked.3Add in kicap manis/sweet soy sauce,ketchup,chilli sause and a bit of oyster sauce.4.Keep stirring until the gravy boils and now add the pre-boiled beef or chicken,followed by veggies like carrot,cauliflower,green beans and also red onion,add water as well a little bit.5.To give the aroma of the paprik,add bay leaves/daun limau purut and crushed lemongrass.6.Season with salt and turn off the heat.

For the fried rice recipe

1.Crush red onion and garlic using pestle and mortar/lesung batu.2.Heat the oil in a pan and saute the crushed onion/garlic until fragrant.3.Add in few Tbs of oyster sauce,keep stirring and pour in the pre-cooked white rice.4.Add mixed veggies(carrot,corn and peas)and season with salt and pepper.

Pandan Cupcakes

I am always a fan of pandan-infused food.In Malaysia,we have a lot of kuih made using the pandan extract that gives such a natural green color to the dish,and the taste of pandan makes everything good :)

Lately,I came across many pictures of pandan cupcakes,some even infused the cupcake with gula melaka/palm brown sugar to suit people's tastebud and cupcakes is generally known by many people in this world.

I tried making my own pandan cupcakes lately,instead of infusing the gula melaka inside the cupcakes,I pour the melted gula melaka on top of the whipped cream and garnish with dried coconut flakes to give more "malay" element in this dish.

The pandan cupcakes can be found everywhere on the internet.

Nasi Lemak

Once a while I will have a craving for Nasi Lemak.It's Malaysia's signature food,eaten everywhere at any time by anyone in Malaysia,be it Malay,Chinese or even Indian.

Well,the secret to good nasi lemak is its rice and sambal.

Here goes my nasi lemak recipe my version.

For Nasi Lemak

I used Basmathi Rice because it's cheap here,a good amount of coconut milk,crushed lemongrass,pandan leaves and a bit of salt

For Sambal

This is quite tricky,because let's say,everyone's tastebud for sambal might be different.People might explain the best sambal tastes like this and that,while others might explain it something else.
Here is my way of cooking Sambal for Nasi Lemak.

1.Blend Red onion,garlic,ginger.2Pre-boil dried chillis and later blend well using blender.3.In a pan,heat a few Tbs of oil and saute the blended onion until cook.Now pour the blended dried chillis and cook well until pecah minyak.The amount of blended onion and dried chilli must be in ratio of 1:1. 4.Cook all well on low heat and this might take a while until you see the oil is on top.This means your sambal is thoroughly cooked.5.Now pour some tamarind paste,adjust the sourness of the sambal well by adding salt and sugar.6.Add in crushed lemongrass,cook for few more minutes and turn off the heat.

 

Mini Murtabak

I'm sure that once a while leaving far far away from Malaysia makes Malaysians abroad miss this dish.It's murtabak!Well,don't say you've never been to Pasar Malam,because you might miss a lot of its goodness!

Well,other than the original version of making murtabak,which is time-consuming and I might add,talent is a must because not everyone can make the wrapping that is soft and tastes good(Me :P).So this is a short-cut way and I was so satisfied.I used Spring Roll wrappers/Kulit popia!!

How genius is the person who invented this murtabak short-cut version!

For the murtabak filling

1.Heat a few Tbs of oil in a pan.2.Saute diced onion until golden brown.3.Add small pieces of beef and cook well with the onion.4.And then add in the beef curry paste(Mix curry powder with water) and cook some more.5.Add in diced boiled potato.6.Season with salt,sugar and pepper.

For the wrapping process

1.Pop eggs inside the beef curry filling and chop some cellery leaves or daun sup to give some aroma.2.Put the filling in the middle and wrap the popia skin nicely.3.Shallow fry in the pan for a few minutes until mini murtabak turns golden brown.4.Serve with onion and vinegar,curry gravy or chilli sauce.

Apam Balik

Another pasar malam dish that I miss sometimes too is Apam Balik!I was always mesmerized by how the people who sell this dish at Pasar Malam or Pasar Tani make them.While waiting for Apam Balik to cook,I would observe how they do it.But I was always unsatisfied of how much sweet creamy corn they put as the filling inside the apam haha :P

I make Apam Balik at home occasionally too,and every year I will bring back one can of sweet creamy corn from Malaysia specially for making this,because I cannot find such corn here or elsewhere in Europe.

For the batter

1.Whisk 1 egg and half cup of sugar till frothy.2.Add in 1 1/2 cup of water and keep mixing.3.Add 2 cups of flour,half tsb of baking powder and half tsp of soda bicarbonate.4.Let it rest for at least one hour before use.

Bihun Sup Ayam

This is a comfort food during cold season especially with the spicy kick of the sambal kicap!
Easy peasy recipe as well.

For the chicken soup recipe

1.Saute Cinnamon stick(Kulit kayu manis,star anise(Bunga lawang),clove(Bunga cengkih) and cardamom(Buah pelaga) and sup bunjut followed by onion,garlic and ginger.2.Add chicken,mix well until thoroughly cooked.3.Add water as much as you want.4.Add carrot,cellerie,and potato and cook for a while.5.Add a bit of Soup powder(I bought Adabi brand),a chicken cube,salt and pepper.6.Simmer for a while and turn off the heat

For Sambal Kicap Johor

1.Using Pestle and Mortar,crush Garlic and a lot of green chillis(As I am a coward of spiciness,I use less hot green chillis :P).2.Put in a condiment bowl,add kicap manis,a bit of the soup,salt and sugar.