Exhausting week

Hi...I am back again. It has been a long exhausting week since few of my colleagues are enjoying their well-earned summer vacation and we are short handed.  Apa apa pun..pekerjaan itu satu tanggungjawab bukan bebanan..betul tak? hehee.

 

Anyway I am waiting patiently for my 3 weeks summer break in a few weeks time. Yippeee.

 

As per my previous entry, we are very much on track with eating moderately during iftar. In fact I am very pleased with myself that for the first time in years, I actually spend less time in the kitchen preparing menu for iftar. Unbelievable!!!  

 

Few pictures of foods for iftar this week.

 

Sabsuka a Mediterranean cuisine and epok2 sardine.

Jemput jemput pisang bom.

Bubur masjid aka bubur lambuk and keledek goreng.

 

Roti canai served with dalca, popiah sayur and tausuan.

 

Spend less time in the kitchen and more time with my family and yet we still able to enjoy delicious, homemade meals every day.  The trick is to be efficient. Simple comfort food..nothing fancy.  

 

*Ramadan - fasting not feasting.*

 

Iftar day 1 and 2

This Ramadhan we have agreed and make an effort to eat moderately and most importantly not to waste food.  I am keeping the more ‘elaborate’ meals for the Eid celebration. Afterall Ramadhan is a month of Fasting and not Feasting.

Hence I will cooked just enough for iftar and suhoor.

Iftar day 1 - Lontong set and chicken ala2 kfc.

Iftar day 2 - Honey chicken rice set and epok2.

Oh by the way...as Ramadhan tradition, we break our fast with dates. It is Sunnah to Break Fast with dates or water.

Selamat meneruskan ibadah puasa...

Ramadhan al-Mubarak

Alamak entry terlambat. Anyway it's better late than never..kan kan kan.

I would like to wish to all my muslims brothers and sisters, Ramadhan al-Mubarak.

Semoga Ramadhan kali ini lebih baik dari tahun-tahun sebelumnya dan semoga Allah swt menerima segala amal ibadah kita. Amin.

Lazy Sunday

Salam..
Lazy lazy Sunday.  Dear hubby is out helping a friend who are moving to a new house. Helping out mana yang termampu kan.  I am stucked in the house since Danish is still unwell. Get well soon sayang, ibu.

Both Danish and Sofea requested for pancakes for breakfast. I guess pancakes are among kids' most requested breakfast foods.  So I made light and fluffy American style pancakes for our weekend breakfast treat.

No specific recipe..just campak2 and agak2..voila menjadi!  Pancakes served with marple syrup, butter and strawberry jam. Don't forget orange juice or coffee. Heaven!!!

AND...i made onde-onde keledek too. Wahhh so rajin! hehehee..

Recipe? hmmmm..sweet potatoes, glutinous rice flour, gula melaka/palm sugar, dessicated coconut.
Thats it. Super easy kuih.

OK...it's time to iron a week load of clothes..arghhhhh...

Beef Madras

Assalammualaikum...

Alhamdulillah my daughter is back on her feet again after suffering from high fever for 3 days.  Bersyukurku kehadratNYA kerana dengan izinNYA, anakku kembali sihat seperti biasa and thanks to all our friends for their well wishes.

 

Today i have decided to try out a recipe from the famous TV chef and food writer, Anjum Anand.  Sungguh sedap I tell you..worth to try. *smile*

 



 



 

 

Source: Original recipe by Anjum Anand (http://www.redonline.co.uk)
Ingredients
2.5cm cinnamon stick
10 green cardamom pods
8 cloves
10 black peppercorns
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp coriander seeds
3-6 dried Kashmiri red chillies or chilli powder
5 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, sliced
½ tsp turmeric
1-1¼ tsp garam masala
Salt, to taste
500g diced beef
20g fresh root ginger
7 garlic cloves
2 tomatoes
2-5 green chillies
4 tbsp single cream
Handful of chopped fresh coriander
4 small potatoes (I added)

Method
1) Using a spice grinder, grind all the whole spices and chillies to a fine powder.

2) Heat the oil in a large non-stick saucepan. Add the onion and cook until well browned. Stir in all the spices, salt and a splash of water, and cook for one minute.

3) Add the beef and brown in the spice paste for a good six to eight minutes over a moderate heat. If it starts to stick, add a splash of water.

4) Meanwhile, blend the ginger, garlic and tomatoes until smooth, using a little water to help. Add to the pan with the green chillies, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer gently until the liquid has reduced. Check after 10 minutes, give the pot a stir and leave it for another five minutes.

5) Now increase the heat and brown the beef and sauce together until it has been absorbed by the beef. Pour in enough water to cover, bring back to a boil, cover and cook until the meat is tender - it will take around 1¼ hours.

6) Uncover the lid and reduce the sauce in the pan until it is creamy. Add the cream and chopped coriander, taste, adjust the seasoning and serve with pilaf rice, Naan or Indian flatbreads.

Beef Madras served with naan bread.  Superlækker mad!

Simple French strawberry tart

Yet another entry on strawberry.  I am determined to use up all these little lovelies that we hand picked from the local farm.  I googled for a quick and easy strawberry dessert recipes and came across recipe by Silvana Franco from deliciousmagazine.com.

 

First you need to prepare the shortcrust pastry.

Shortcrust pastry
source: own recipe
200 grm all purpose flour
pinch of salt
100 grm margarine
about 4 tbsp cold water

Method
1) Sift flour with a pinch of salt
2) Cut the fat and rub into the flour with fingertips
3) Add sufficient water to bind into a stiff dough
4) Knead lightly and leave it to rest for 30 mins in a fridge.
5) Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4. Line the pastry case with baking paper and fill with baking beans or rice (as per above picture) and blind-bake for 15 minutes.
6) Remove the beans/rice and paper, then cook for a further 10-15 minutes until golden. If the edges look too dark, cover with foil. Leave for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the creme patissiere
source: by Silvana Franco (http://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk)
350ml whole milk
1 vanilla pod, split lengthways
4 large free-range egg yolks
100g golden caster sugar
25g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

Method       
1) Put the milk and vanilla pod in a large pan, bring to the boil, then turn off the heat. In a large bowl, whisk the yolks and sugar for 10 minutes until voluminous, then beat in the flour and lemon zest. Strain the warm milk slowly into the egg mixture, whisking continuously. Clean the pan, then pour the mixture back in and gently bring to the boil, stirring constantly until it has thickened. Take the pan off the heat, cover the surface of the crème pâtissière with baking paper and leave to cool.
2) Spoon the crème patissiere into the tart, then level the surface with the back of a spoon. Place a strawberry half in the centre of the tart, then arrange concentric rings of fruit around it until all of the crème patissiere is covered.
3) Gently warm the jelly with 2 tbsp water until melted, brush over the strawberries and leave for 2 minutes to set. Serve.

Tadaaaaaa...and it's ready!  This tart looks super tasty and I hope it tastes as good as it looks. Will wait for dearest hubby to return from work before we could savor the flavor of this summer tart.

- Every summer has a story - Unknown

Simple & quick strawberry muffins

What to do with the rest of the strawberries? Hahaha..I basically have half bucket full of berries left in the fridge. While browsing through for simple and quick recipe using strawberries, I came across this recipe from Allrecipes.com and decided to give it a try.

The children were more than happy to lend me a hand in the kitchen.

 

Source:- Allrecipes.com (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/strawberry-muffins/)

Original recipe makes 8 muffins
Ingredients:-
1/4 cupcanola oil
1/2 cupmilk

1egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup white sugar

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup chopped strawberries

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
1/4 cup of brown sugar

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) oil an 8 cup muffin tin, or use paper liners.

2) In a small bowl, combine oil, milk, and egg. Beat lightly.

3) In a large bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. Toss in chopped strawberries and stir to coat with flour. Pour in milk mixture and stir together.

4) Fill muffin cups. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 25 minutes, or until the tops bounce back from the touch. Cool 10 minutes and remove from pans.

 

 

The muffins are soft, moist and not too sweet and the kids love the fresh-baked flavor. Perfect for our dessert. Thanks Allrecipes for the great recipe.

 

 

 

 

 

Strawberry picking day

June is a strawberry season in Denmark and continues for about 5-8 weeks.   We drove about 45 minutes to a local farm for some fun family activity.  Spending time outdoors with the children and working together on a simple project i.e, strawberry picking is one of life's sweetest pleasures. It's an inexpensive and a fun activity that all ages can enjoy.

We went to Bakkegården  on a lovely Sunday afternoon for our outdoor activity. The place is just amazingly peaceful.

 Nothing beats the taste of local strawberries in season. 

 

He was super excited. He basically ate the berries straight from the field.

 





 

Miss Curious was overwhelmed by the beauty.  She diligently picked them so that I could make her favorite muffin. (hehe)

 





 

The berries were riped, sweet and tender they need nothing to coax them into deliciousness.  The only down side is that berries does not stay fresh that long, so you must be prepared to eat or bake what you picked.

 

It only took us 40 minutes to fill our bucket with these little lovelies and time to be heading home.. 

 

It was indeed a great way to end our weekend. -Anything done as a family is worth doing-