Kaya Balls

Found this recipe in Rinnchan's blog. So made this balls using kaya Kluang brought by Mak Enn in October which I still kept frozen in my handy freezer. It somehow were oval instead of round as I used the kuih cara mould. Does anyone know where I can get hold of kaya ball mould?

Ingredients:

250gm flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

125 gm butter

75 gm castor sugar

4 eggs

200ml milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

Serikaya

Method:

1. Sieve flour, baking powder and salt.

2. Whisk butter and sugar till fluffy.

3. Add eggs one by one.

4. Add milk and flour alternately.

5. Add vanilla essence.

6. Pipe the thick batter into the mould, add kaya and then cover with more batter.

7. Turn the kaya balls a few times till it is cooked.

Cous cous with beef ghoulash

Cous cous after adding hot water

Ainsley Cous Cous

The kids were enjoying themselves making snowman and snow girl in the backyard. I was trying to crack my head for a winter warmer recipe and found this, one of my favourites. The kids love it too. Simple , I use Ainsley Cous Cous- bought in Costco for 3.99, sale price, normal price 4.99. Just add hot water into the cous cous and cover for 5 minutes and it is ready. Then prepare the simple tomato soup called hungarian ghoulash. However I have modified it to make it a little more spicy. Omputih mana makan pedas2 kan..

Beef/ Lamb Ghoulash

1/2 kg beef/ lamb

1 onion- chopped

3 garlic

1 inch ginger

1 tbs ground coriander

1 tbs ground cumin

1 tbs chilli powder

1 can tomato soup

chopped veges eg courgettes, carrots, parsnips, celery.

1/2 cup milk (optional)

Method:

1. Fry chopped onion with garlic and ginger.

2. Add chilli, coriander and cumin powder.

3. Add beef/ lamb.

4. Add water/ stock and tomato soup.

5. Add salt and a bit of sugar to taste and all the veges.

6. Serve with cous cous/ garlic bread/ rice.

Cup cake decor

I have been longing to learn cup cake decoration for a long time. Finally my doa was answered when Yan came to Birmingham. Yan is good at cup cake decor and she had agreed to show me the basic of icing decor. Thanks Yan for the free lesson. I know we had to pay a hefty sum for cup cake decor classes in Malaya.

Here is my first roses on the cup cakes. Not bad uhh?? Cam ni boleh ambil order la pulak..hehe..

Need to order Wilton icing nozzle next.

Basic Butter Cream Icing

250 g butter

250 g vegetable fat/ TREX

5-10 cups of icing sugar (depending on how sweet you want the icing to be)

Method:

1. Whisk the butter till fluffy, add the veg fat.

2. Whisk for about 5-10 min.

3. Add the icing sugar bit by bit.

4. Divide into several bowls and add the desired colourings.

Rolled Mince pie

It's christmas holiday, school and uni are closed for 2 weeks, grrr what to do in this snowy season? Tummy rumbles every 2 hours due to extreme cold weather, just had my lunch at 12 and at 2 pm I am hungry again. This is what happen in winter....The kids had been requesting choc cake since yesterday but I told them, let's try make Gordon Ramsay's simple rolled mince pie. I searched for the frozen ready made jus roll pastry in my cheest freezer in the garage..alhamdulillah, there is one more box left. It's so easy with this ready made stuff. I know Mr Dentist must like this as he loves raisins so much. According to Tok Bak, his dad used to bring Mr Dentist raisins whenever he visited them when he was small.

Rolled Mince Pie

Ingredients:

1 cup mixed fruits

1/2 cup sultanas

1/2 cup ribena (in replacement of red wine/ brandy)

2 tbs sunquick orange

3 tbs honey/ golden syrup

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsc ground cinnamon

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tbs orange skin

1/2 cup water

Method:

1. Place water in the pan, add raisins and all the above.

2. Simmer till it thickens.

3. Leave to cool.

4. Spread the ready made pastry.

5. Spread the raisin fillings on the pastry. Roll halfway to the middle, then roll the other opposite half to the middle. Tighten the roll and freeze for 30 min.

6. Cut the roll into 1 inch slices.

7. Bake at 180 C for 15-20 min till golden yellow.

Maybe I should try the fillings on bread dough one day, it's just like cinnamon rolls.

Lebanese Magloba (Nasi ayam oregano)

Got this new recipe from my Libyan friend, Afaf again. Sedaap.....

8 pieces of chicken
4 Holland onion- chopped
potatoes- sliced
carrots- sliced
cauliflower
aubergine- sliced
green peppers- sliced
3 cups of rice
3 tbs Ghee
1 inch ginger
1 tbs oregano


Method:

1. Boil chicken with salt, ginger, oregano and water. Keep about 3 cups of chicken broth.
2. Fry the chicken in butter and set aside.
3. Fry onion in ghee till fragrant and add green peppers.
4. Place the fried onion, layer with potatoes, chicken.
5. Place the aubergine and carrots at the side/ rim of the pot. Pour the rice mixed with more oregano.
6. Pour chicken broth over. Cover the pot.
7. Cook on slow fire for 20 min till the rice is cooked.
8. Once rice is cooked, flip over the content in a big plate and serve. The carrots and aubergine will be seen lining the outer part of the rice.

Libyan Rishda

Yesterday I brought Afaf a pack of nasi lemak to let her savour Malaysian food. Glad that she loved it. Today, in return, she gave me a tupperware of rishda, a home made pasta dish with salted dried meat sauce. It tastes like curry mee with salted beef. Got this recipe from her.



Libyan Rishda

Ingredients:



2 cups home made pasta( can be replaced with tagliatelle/ spaghetti)

1/2 kg salted dried meat (gargosh)

2 tbs tomato sauce

1 tsp turmeric powder

2 tbs coriander powder

1/2 cup chick peas

1/2 cup fava beans

1 Holland onion



Methods:

1. Fry the sliced salted meat/ lamb with chopped onion.

2. Add 2 tbs tomato sauce.

3. Add chilli , coriander and turmeric powder.

4. Add hot water, chick peas, fava beans.

5. Add the pasta. Serve hot.

Libyan Mbaton

Have a new lab mate named Afaf, an O & G consultant from Libya, also doing PhD like me. Afaf had recently passed her Part 2 MRCOG exam and had been very generous to bring some food for us the whole lab to celebrate her success. Unfortunately I was off sick on the day of the party, but still could have a taste of Afaf's food as she had some food spared for me in her fridge.

Today I have tried this modified version of Afaf's recipe called mbaton, it's actually potatoes with mince meat filling. The kids and Mr Dentist love it.

Libyan Mbaton (the spelling is kind of weird isn't it?)

1/4 kg mince meat

2 tbs korma powder

1 Holland onion (chopped)

1 tbs garlic & ginger paste

5 big potatoes (peel and slice 1/2 inch thick with a slit in the middle to place the filling)

parsley or coriander leaves

2 eggs- beat lightly

4 tbs KFC flour or any other coating flour

Method:

1. Fry the chopped onion with garlic and ginger.

2. Add mince meat.

3. Add salt, black pepper and white pepper to taste.

4. Add the coriander/ parsley.

5. Fill the slit in the potatoes with mince meat above and dip the potato slices into flour, then egg then flour again before deep frying them till golden yellow. Serve hot.

Merdeka Carnival 15 August 2009

Among the crowds.

Bouncy castle.

Opened a food stall at Merdeka Carnival in Hertfordshire today. Alhamdulillah, sold 80 pieces (quarter chicken) of ayam percik (Malaysian BBQ chicken in coconut gravy), a cooler box of nasi dagang and a cooler box of nasi kerabu, laksa johor, beef and sardine curry puffs. Thank you Allah for the lovely weather. The kids had nice time too participating in the telematch, musical chairs and all sorts of games.

The white building is the Tun Razak Research Centre and the stage was located strategically in front of our stall.

Setting up the stall and the BBQ grill.

Our share partners, Mat Razak and wife, Fiona in front of their house in Solihull.

Tokey ayam percik in action.

Mama serving the customers and Fiona the cashier.

Wan frying curry puff in the background.

Well, everybody had a fun time. Looking forward for the next Merdeka Carnival in 2010. Come over to celebrate the joyous occassion with your families.

Simple Lamb Kuzi

Ingredients

1 kg of lamb
1 tbs crushed ginger
3 tbs blended onion
5 garlic
2 tbs kuzi spice (powder)/ briyani powder
2 tbs tomato sauce
1-2 tbs tomato puree
2 tbs chilli boh (optional)
2 cups milk/ evaporated milk
3 tbs blended fried onion.
salt
2 tbs sugar (this dish is meant to be a bit sweet, but i don't like it too sweet)

Methods
1. Place all ingredients in the pressure cooker and cook for 20 min till the lamb is tender.
2. Turn off the gas, cool the pot under running cold water, open the lid and add salt and sugar to taste.
3. Add fried cashew nuts, almond, sultanas/ raisins. Ready to serve with rice/ bread.
Awaiting photos of lamb kuzi.

Kuih Bakar Durian

Craving for something sweet after coming back from the lab today. Thinking of what to do with my lempok durian in the freezer. Thanks to my beloved Mum who had taken all the trouble making lempok for me. Alhamdulillah Abe Yoh had succeeded in smuggling it into the land of the queen. Saw this recipe in Kak Nor's blog. It tastes yummy. Better than the normal pandan kuih bakar.

Ingredients:

900 ml coconut milk
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups plain flour
3/4 cups sugar
100 gram durian (I used lempok)
1/2 tsp salt
yellow colouring
2 tbs butter

1. Put all the ingredients(except the butter) into the blender and blend for a few min.

2. Place butter in a baking tray and heat up in the oven at 180 C till boiling.

3. Pour the batter into the baking tray and bake for 1 hour.

4. Allow it to cool before cutting.

Guests from Plymouth, UK

Sunday 2nd August 2009, 9.50 am, when I was about to perform Solat Dhuha, suddenly felt like having a peep at my handphone, in case I had missed any incoming text messages or any missed calls. True enough, one message was waiting to be answered, it was from a good old friend from Sains Raub Secondary School, a shy but intelligent boy who used to sit behind me in the class for 2 years, in 4 Science 1 and 5 Science 1. The guy who I used to compete in exams. We used to take turns to be the first in class, if i were the first, he would be the second and vice versa. The guy I meant is Azlisham, so many girls had a crush on him, I wonder if he is aware about this fact or not.

The message said 'Asm, r u free today? We are in Manchester now & if u r around may visit u circa noon time or a time that suits u & family. Azlisham, Semesra 87'.

I replied, 'Drop by for lunch, we'll be around'.

So at 1.30 pm, the 6 of them arrived, Azli, his wife and 4 kids. Azli looked the same as before, a bit of weight gain though. The same old shy guy but much more talkative now. His funny chuckle remains. His kids look more like his wife, hardly any Pakistan features of Azli.

Had prepared briyani rice with lamb kuzi and fried tandoori chicken. Alhamdulillah Azli and wife makan bertambah, sedap la kot...Makan sambil borak till almost 4 pm.

Guess my lamb kuzi is the most simple version, just dump everything in the pressure cooker and after 20 min it's ready. Will post the recipe later specially for my good old friend in the faraway land, Farina.

Azli, Ros and their 4 kids with my family and mother in law.

Time to go back to Plymouth. Wished they could a spend a night here.

Banana Walnut Cake

Last Friday we had two more guests cum relatives from Malaysia. Mr. Dentist called at 2.30 pm while I was in the lab, cracking on my Western blots which had been such a pain to get them working.

'Let's go to down to Gatwick Airport to fetch Awang and Nani. They are arriving tonight at 8 pm', said Mr Dentist.

'What? Now? No, I need to finish my work first, let's go around 5 pm.' I bargained.

' Okay, we'll go to Abe Yoh's house first to send Skin's baby cot and after dinner we'll push off to Gatwick', said Mr Dentist.

So we met Awang and Nani at 9.30 pm at Gatwick and drove them back to Birm. Stopped at one of the services to fill some petrol and at Mac D to get some fries and coffee. Arrived in Birm at 1.30 am. Wan had prepared delicious fried rice with coriander fried chicken.

Saturday morning, brought our guests to Middleton Carboot and then to Maisarah and Amir's Hari Anugerah Sekolah Malaysia Birmingham. They had invited Ustaz Erfino Johari, the MSD officer to give a talk on Educating Children In Islam. An excellent talk indeed. Wished I had recorded his talk on Do's and Don'ts in upbringing the children based on Tarbiyatul Aulad Series.

After lunch, hurriedly drove back home to send the kids and then rushed to Portmeirion, Stoke to beat the closing time. Portmeirion was 400 pounds richer today from our shopping.

Sunday 26th July 2009, another carboot day at Redditch and Studley. Redditch stuffs were of good quality. It was really worth it. Awang got himself a pair of Timberland shoes just for £5, sling bag, shirts and Nani got an exclusive jacket just for £3.

Studley carboot wasn't that huge that day but still finished £20 from my pocket. From the vege and fruit stall, Wan, Nani and myself bought 2 kgs of over ripe banana each, not knowing that each one of us had already bought similar packets of bananas. We ended up having 6 kgs of bananas at home today. So Wan made banana balls (cekodok) and I made banana cake.

Here is the recipe. It always turn out nice especially when biting the crunchy walnuts within.

Banana Walnut Cake

3 ripe bananas- mashed
1/2 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of brown sugar
2 cups of flour/ self raising flour
3/4 cup of vegetable/ corn oil
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sodium bicarbonate
1/2 cup of roasted walnut- chopped
3 eggs
1/2 tsp salt

Methods:
1. Beat sugar and eggs till fluffy. Add oil, mashed bananas.
2. Fold in the flour (already sieved with baking powder and sodium bicarbonate)
3. Add the chopped roasted walnut.
4. Pour in a greased baking tray.
5. Bake for 45 minutes at 170 C.

Mama's Sizzling Yee Mee

Photos by Haji Esa MY

Upon request of Princess Maisarah, I made sizzling yee mee today. Tastes delicious, how I wish I could put in some crushed bird chillies, but for the sake of the kids young tongues, I had to for go the wish.

Ingredients:

4 crushed garlic

1 inch crushed ginger

1 tbs black pepper powder

chicken/ beef/ prawns

shitake or any mushrooms

soy sauce

oyster sauce

leafy green vege (i used brits spinach)

sliced carrots

yee mee ( I used spaghetti)

3 tbs cornflour (mixed with cold water)

3 cups water/ chicken stock

Methods:

1. Stir fry garlic and ginger till yellow.

2. Add chicken/ beef/ prawn.

3. Add carrots, water/ stock, soy sauce, oyster sauce, black pepper.

4. Add corn flour mixed with cold water.

5. Season to taste. Put the sauce/ gravy aside once it has thicken.

6. Boil the yee mee and then sieve.

7. Place the mee in a sizzling pan. Pour the gravy on top.

8. Add green veges and one egg. Let is simmer till the egg is cooked.

9. Ready to serve

Sambal taucu ikan bilis

Photo taken by my f.i.l cum photographer Hj Esa Md Yunos

Salam siaran..today I will be posting the recipe of sambal tocong Wan. That is how Wan (my mil) pronounce it. I think is has been over a year since I last ate Wan's sambal tocong cicah pucuk ubi kayu. Since there is no pucuk ubi here, we can replace it with watercress leaves, rockets, spinach or other greens you could find on salad shelves in ASDA, TESCO or Sainsbury's.

Ingredients:

5 shallots- sliced

3 garlic- sliced

1/2 inch of turmeric- sliced

1 inch ginger- sliced

10 bird chillies/ red/ green chillies

1 cup of ikan bilis/ anchovies

1 1/2 cup of coconut milk

1 tbs taucu

1 tbs tamarind juice

Methods:

1. Stir fry all the sliced ingredients in little oil till fragrant.

2. Add the anchovies, coconut milk, taucu and tamarind juice.

3. Simmer for a few minutes and season to taste. May omit salt since the taucu is already salty. Nice to be eaten with steaming hot rice.

Soft Cotton Japanese Cheese Cake again

Today, demonstrated this cheese cake to my mum in law. I know she just loves cheese cakes. Easy peasy, lemon squizy Maisarah said and yummy too. It took only a couple of hours for the whole cake to disappear from the baking tray.

Here is the recipe:

250 g Philadelphia cream cheese (now on sale at Sainsbury's for 75 p per tub of 300g)

1/2 cup of milk

1/2 cup of sugar

2 tbs butter

3 eggs (separate the egg white)

1 tbs lemon juice

1 tbs cornflour

4 tbs self raising flour

1 tsp cream of tartar(tak taruk sebab tak dak)

For the icing:

4 tbs icing sugar

1 tbs cream cheese

2 tbs butter- mix all these ingredients well

* To make it less moist and more spongy, U can increase the flour and reduce the cheese.

Methods:
1. Melt in a double boiler the cream cheese, butter, lemon juice and milk. Let it cool and add egg yelow.

2. Add cornflour and SR flour in the cheesy mix.

3. Whisk egg whites till it forms a soft peak/ stiff , add sugar bit by bit, then fold it gently into the cheese mixture.

4. Bake for 45 min at 160 C in a waterbath (au bain marie).

5. Allow it to cool before putting the icing on.

Knowing your personality type

Last 2 weeks I was invited by Majlis Syura Muslimun UK Eire to give a talk on Organising Your Family In A Muslim Perspective. Duh!! What do I talk about? I told the organiser I was not the best person to talk about this issue but they insisted that I would be the most suitable candidate based on my experience. Not to disappoint them, I managed to scrutinize some web pages to gather some points for my talk. Alhamdulillah it went well. I was rather relieved looking at the young naive audience of about 65 people. Hopefully they found my talk useful in some way or another. My talk was scheduled at 2.30 pm followed by my demonstration of making curry puffs. The silent lecture hall turned to be full of giggles and laughter when the boys demonstrated their dodgy curry puffs of all sorts of shapes and finishings.

In order to listen to the morning lecture by a psychologist Dr Isam Ghannam, I came early around 10 am with Cikgu Ju, Madeehah's baby sitter. Obtained some new knowledge on the different types of personality dwelled in us. In summary there are 4 types of personalities:

1. Sanguine- fun and always full of excitement
2. Melancholy- a perfectionist
3. Choleric- a born leader
4. Phlegmatic- too relax, could't be bothered

After the personality test I found myself to be 48% choleric, 30% sanguine, 15% melancholy and 8% phlegmatic. I was quite perplexed but guess that was quite true though. The web says that choleric are usually married to a melanchoy. I think they are right, I am married to a melancholy. Do you agree Mr Dentist?

So for this weekend Majlis Ilmu Wanita Birm I was invited to give a talk on any topics, guess this would be quite an interesting topic to cover, knowing your personality and the people around you. Once you know the personality of a person better, it is easier to deal with the person. So try this website www.oneishy.com and get to know your personality.

Bubur Lambuk Wan

Since my mil is here in Birmingham, I will be posting her recipes. One of our favourites is bubur lambuk. Made this modified version of bubur lambuk for breakfast on Saturday before leaving for St. Mary's carboot sale in Harborne with Mak and Bak while others (the kids and their Papa) were still asleep.

Ingredients:

1 can of tuna in brine

1/2 cup of anchovies

1/2 cup small prawns or dried shrimps-optional

1/2 Holland onion-sliced thinly

1 cup of santan

3 cups of rice

9 cups of water

1/2 packet of fresh British baby spinach

turmeric leaves

kesum leaves

1 tbs black pepper

salt

Methods:

1. Boil rice in water for 20-30 minutes then add onion, blended tuna and anchovies, black pepper, coconut milk.

2. Add spinach, turmeric leaves, kesum leaves and salt to taste before serving. Garnish with fried shallots.

After two months, my kesum has grown quite a bit (despite being plucked so many times for my asam pedas). This shot was taken by Bak just before I plucked the leaves for the bubur lambuk. From 1 vase I managed to grow them into 3 vases already. Currently I am also growing coriander, tomatoes, chives and pumpkins. Jalal's mum taught me how to grow coriander since I am an avid user of coriander leaves.

Lamb steak again

Everbody seems to love lamb here including Tok Bak. So prepared this dish for our dinner last night and for Wan's iftar. Wan is on her day 3 of Rejab fasting. Baked together with baby potatoes and mushrooms when the lamb is halfway done. For black pepper and rosemary marinade, please see previous grilled lamb recipe. It's the same ingredients. Baked in the oven at 200 C for 1 1/2 hours and the lamb was so succulent and juicy. Emm yummy.....

Kuih kasoi

Bahan:

1/2 kg tepung gandum
3 cawan air gula merah
3 cawan air
1 tsp garam
1 tsp air kapur


Cara:
1. Masakkan gula merah dalam air untuk hasilkan 3 cawan larutan gula merah.
2. Campurkan tepung dengan 3 cawan air, kemudian masukkan air gula merah, garam dan air kapur.
3. Tapis adunan dan masukkan di dalam dulang. Kukus selama 1/2 jam.
4. Sejukkan dan potong dan golekkan di dalam kelapa parut yang dicampurkan dgn sedikit garam.

Kuih Tako Ibu Mertuaku

Bahan

Utk lapisan bawah (hijau):
1 paket 55 g tpg HanQue
1 1/2 cawan gula
1 cawan santan
3 cawan air
5 biji sengkuang cina/ water chestnut (kat Wing Yip, ada dlm tin)- potong dadu kecil2 5 mm saiz
1 sudu besar esen pandan

Utk lapisan atas (putih):
1/2 cawan tepung jagung
2 cawan santan
2 cawan air
1 tsp garam


Cara:
1. Masukkan tepung HanQue, air, santan, gula, esen pandan ke dalam periuk dan kacau atas api sederhana sehingga pekat atau meletup-letup. Masukkan dalam cawan puding atau takungan daun pandan. Jangan lupa masukkan sengkuang cina yang telah didadu dahulu.
2. Masukkan santan, air, tepung jagung dan garam dan kacau atas api sederhana sehingga pekat. Tuangkan atas lapisan hijau tadi.
3. Sejukkan dalam peti ais hingga sejuk dan hidangkan.

EBV Meeting, Brighton

Attended the Europen EBV (Epstein-Barr Virus) Meeting at University of Sussex Medical School in Brighton, South England with 8 other lab members including Paul, my supervisor. Stayed for nights with my Sri Lankan buddy, Zumla as my room mate at The Lanes Hotel right infront of the pebbly beach. The weather was lovely with loads of sunshine. The 2 day meeting was attended from delegates from all over UK and Europe. The talks were very good. Well at least I managed to understand more things about molecular pathology as compared to when I first came 1 and a half year ago. Hehe...Took some shots unfortunately the camera batteries went flat.

On the way back by 1 pm Southern Train to London, stopped over at Oxford Circus station to meet Aunty R, her daughter inlaw, I and daughter Z. Went shopping at Bond Street while waiting for my 7.23 pm Virgin Train to Birm. In and out of Bally, Cartier, Ferragamo, Chanel, LV, Burberry, Mulberry, Gucci and a lot more. Had a nice time though touching all the expensive handbags, shoes etc and then putting them back on the shelves after looking at the price tag, 750 pound for a hand bag? Gulp!! Fof God's sake, I can buy 750 handbags at carboot..haha but not from the same brand lah....who cares? Being a half choleric and half sanguine, handbags and shoes are not my priority. I am the type who sticks to only one handbag and 1 pair of shoes and will only buy another one if the current ones are torn by wear and tear. I hardly use handbags since living in the UK anyway. Shoes?? My Clarks boots are comfie enough, hopefully it will last till the end of my PhD if not longer. Why waste money right, when you have 7 mouths to feed?

Navarin of lamb

Navarin of Lamb


Ingredients (serves 8)
2kg lamb grilling chops, trimmed
30g butter
2 slender leeks, trimmed, halved, washed
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 1/2 tablespoons plain flour
4 cups beef stock
8 sprigs thyme
3 dried bay leaves
1/3 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
2 bunches baby turnips, peeled, trimmed
1 bunch Dutch carrots, peeled, trimmed
3 small parsnips, peeled, roughly chopped


Method
Cut lamb into 3cm pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Melt butter in a large, heavy-based saucepan over medium-high heat. Add half the lamb and cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until browned. Remove to a plate. Repeat with remaining lamb.
Cut leeks in half crossways. Return lamb and juices to pan. Add leeks and garlic. Cook for 1 minute. Add flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
Add 3 cups stock, thyme, bay leaves and half the parsley. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover surface with 1 sheet baking paper. Cover with lid. Simmer for 1 hour 15 minutes or until lamb tender.
Discard baking paper and bay leaves. Add turnips, carrots, parsnip and remaining stock if required. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with remaining parsley. Serve.

Brussels, Belgium

Arrived at Kak Shikin's mansion at 6 pm. Besonya rumah org kedutaan ni yer...After tea, went straight to Grand Place and Mannekin Pis as the roads around the city will be closed for Brussels Marathon tomorrow.

Infront of Kak Shikin's house

Kak Shikin's backyard

On the wall is the famous Belgian tapestry, beautiful isn't it?

Grand Place at night.

Grand Place just before sunset

Bonjour Paris

Woke up as early as 4 am and started preparing mee hun for our lunch boxes to Paris and Brussels today. Our VW Sharan had a flat tyre so we had to travel to Europe with one car instead of two. Aiman and Anas were quite happy to be left with their cousins Shasya, Rina, Nat and Aqil at Daddy Yoh's place. Journey from Egham to Falkestone took one and a half hours. Alhamdulillah boarded the eurotrain safely on time, we were ahead of time infact. Journey across English Channel took 30 minutes. Arrived at Calais, France at 8.20 am and continued our journey to Paris which took almost 3 hrs plus stopping for mee hun, keropok lekor and sandwich break.

Driving into the eurotrain. Our car was at the back of this car. Fascinated with the smooth system of getting on board.

In the eurotrain.

Stopping for lunch at one of the roadside parks.

City of Paris, crowded with tourists, hot and rather dusty.

Mama, Wan and her 3 grandchildren. Long Qs to go up the Eifel Tower. So went straight to Brussels.

Arc de Triompe, one of the famous tourist attractions in Paris.

3 pm, headed towards Brussels. After 1 hour, had to replace the sleepy driver. Drove all the way to Kak Shikin's place in Brussels. Alhamdulillah for the smooth ride.

Welcome aboard Mak and Bak

29 th May 2009

Dream finally came through. Mak and Bak arrived at Stansted Airport at 12 midnight with Yazid and family. Tears was dripping on my cheek when I hugged Bak. Never thought that I miss both of them so much. It has been a year since their previous departure. How time flew. Reached Egham at 3 am.

Potato bread

Peeping into the oven.

Today is history, first time in my life baking potato bread. Was initially rather anxious to see the outcome, but when the bread started to rise in the oven I was so convinced that the recipe worked alhamdulillah, just that I felt I should have added a little bit more sugar to the bread dough. It was so soft with delicate texture. Emm pas ni projek meroti la pulak...hehe.....Recipe from Hana Yappoon. Halal ye Hana.

Potato bread


Bahan-bahan
250 gram tepung roti/tepung high protein
70 gram kentang yang telah direbus dan dilenyek baru ditimbang
120ml susu segar ( klu takde leh ganti dengan air suam ataupun bancuhan susu pekat manis ataupun susu kacang soya.)- masukkan susu skit2 sbb adunan agak lembik klu masuk semua.
2 sudu besar susu tepung
2 sudu besar gula
2 sudu besar marjerin
4 gram yis ( 1 sudu kecil)
1 biji telur (dipukul sedikit)
(untuk bancuhan sos kastard ) 2 sudu besar tepung bird custard
1 cawan susu segar
2 sudu besar gula Cara-cara

1. Buat bancuhan kastard dulu- Campurkan semua bahan sos custard dlm periuk dan kacau hingga pekat, guna api perlahan ye, kacau sentiasa supaya tak bergentel, klu jadi terlalu pekat boleh tambah lagi sedikit susu, sejukkan dan akan di piping atas bun nanti.
2. Kemudian buat doh roti pula, kalau ade BM tu leh lah masukkan semua bahan dan pilih menu Dough dan On je, kalau takde masukkan semua dalam bekas adunan dan uli hingga tak melekat pada tangan. Pastikan Doh betul-betul lembut ye.
3. Kalu guna tangan untuk menguli, tips untuk dapat doh yang lembut, ambil plastic bersih dah letakkkan doh di dalam plastic tu, ramas-ramas beberapa minit, lebih kurang 5 hingga 10 minit, keluarkan dan uli semula dalam bekas adunan, anda akan dapat doh yang elastik.
4. Kemudian perap doh dan tutup bekas adunan dengan plastic wrap dan biar doh naik dua kali ganda. Selepas itu tumbuk-tumbukkan doh bagi mengeluarkan angin. bahagi doh pada 10-12 bahagian kecil dah susun atas dulang pembakar.Biarkan naik sekali lagi, kemudian paipkan sos kastard di atas permukaan bun .
5. Bakar pada suhu 180 darjah selama 25 minit atau sehingga permukaan nye perang. Glis permukaan bun dengan sedikit marjerin supaya berkilat. Anda akan dapat doh yang lembut dan gebu walaupun bun ini tidak menggunakan bread softner, Ok dah siap.

Spaghetti with White Sauce

My kids love this. Usually made this for breakfast.

White sauce

1. Stir fry chopped Holland onion and garlic.

2. Add chicken pieces, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, celery.

3. Add 3 tbs flour and fry till yellow.

4. Add milk and lastly cornflour to thicken the gravy, salt and pepper.

5. Serve with spaghetti or any othe types of pasta.

Cheeky Monkey Pancake

Had this pancake in London last few weeks, it's yummy, so made some for the kids's breakfast and lunch boxes. They love it.

Ingredients:

4 cups plain flour

2 cups fresh milk

1 cup water

1 tsb salt

2 tbs melted butter

2 egg

Fillings can be choc spread, peanut butter, jam, honey, kaya, golden syrup and lemon.

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients together and blend till smooth.

2. Place a tbs of butter onto a non stick pan and pour about a ladle of batter.

3. Swing the pan around to form a pancake.

4. Brush some chocolate spread on the pancake and slice some bananas on the choc spread.

5. Fold the pancake into half and then into quarter. Done.