Friday 30 October 2009

Episode 404 - Sweet Pumpkin With Dried Shrimps

My Aunt gave us some pumpkin the other day and my Mum asked me to cook it. It was my first time cooking pumpkin and I must say it came out pretty good though I just "hantam" the ingredients and how to cook it. It's really "lemak" because of the coconut milk but yet all the vege just blends well with the dried shrimps and sambal. This, you got to try. Great for "makan-makan" with the family.

Pumpkin with Dried Shrimps

Ingredients:

A:3/4 cup dried shrimps; soaked in hot water, drained & cleaned, 1 chilli; deseeded, 2 shallots, 1 garlic, 1 tspn ready made "Sambal Belachan" (get it from the Supermarket)

B: 3 cups of Pumpkin; cut into large cubes, 1/4 cabbage; cut into 2" x 2" size, A few strings of long beans; cut into 3" length, 1 tomato; quartered, 2 cups of Coconut Milk , 1 cup of Water or less


Method: Blend ingredients A or pound them using a Pastor & Mortar. Put 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a small deep pan and saute the blended/pounded ingredients until you can smell the aroma. Pour in the coconut milk and water and stir it. Let it simmer for a few minutes under medium heat and place the rest of the ingredients in and simmer for another 5 minutes or until the pumpkin and veges are tender. Add salt, sugar and stir. Switch off fire and cover with the lid. The trapped heat will let the vege continue cooking in the pan.

Serves: 4

*Tip*: Add fresh shrimps into this dish because it will just double the sweetness!
Btw I know the pic doesn't really look appealling but I promise you it really taste better than it looks. I just don't have the photography skills :p

Thursday 29 October 2009

Episode 403 - Potato & Egg Salad

Hi guys! This is one of my favourites when it comes to gatherings and parties. It's also one of my friend's fav because he loves potatoes. It's a real filling Salad but taste really good as it's creamy and packed with goodness (Warning- high content of Carbs :0). You can go creative by adding other things in like Salami, tuna, leftover chicken chunks, macaroni, capsicum, strips of fried beef bacon or even fruits like cut apples! Regardless, this is a basic potato salad which you can improvise and add other ingredients as you like!


Potato & Egg Salad


Ingredients:
5 Medium sized Australian Washed Potatoes; boiled, skin peeled off & diced into 1-1.5 inch cubes
2 Hard- boiled eggs; sliced or diced
3-4 tbspns Mayonnaise
1 tbspn Cream Cheese
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 tspns each of dried Basil & Parsley


Method:
Mix all the ingredients gently and serve.


Serves: 3


*Tip*: To boil potatoes, place a teaspoon of salt in the water. To check if potatoes are cooked, use a bamboo skewer/ or "Satay" stick to poke through. If it the stick goes through easily, your potatoes are cooked! Medium sized potatoes should take around 15-20 minutes on medium low fire. Potatoes can also be peeled then boiled. For abit of heat, you can add a lil chilli powder and also Paprika for colour/ presentation. For a bit of a heavy taste, you can add chopped large onions, not too much as the taste can be overwhelming! For those who love abit of sourness in this salad, you can add a teaspoon of sourcream or a squeeze of lemon juice! SLuRpS


So remember, you can add anything into this recipe just as long as it suits your guests and your taste! More recipes to come,so don't barge! XO)

Tuesday 27 October 2009

Episode 402 - "Bubur" Durian/ Durian Pudding

NO DURIANS? Not in my life...

DURIANS! The King of fruits! Some may be disgusted by this pungeant smelling fruit but some can just eat one whole of it like there is no tomorrow! This recipe my friend, is something which my Dad loves to cook! It serves well as a desert or an afternoon snack but I love this and really don't mind having my durian cooked this way. Most importantly, you must get a darn good durian, those huge ones with small seeds and lots of flesh! And of course, the flesh must taste sweet and durian-y. haha. Mmmm.. Let's start!


"Bubur" Durian/ Durian Pudding

Ingredients:
6 strips of Pine/ "Pandan" leaves; tied together into a knot
15 cups of Coconut Milk
2 cups of sugar
600g of (ripe) Durian flesh
200g of Biscuit Osborne ("Cap Ayam")

Method:
Bring the coconut milk and pandan leaves to a boil. Lower the heat after putting the sugar in and let it simmer until you can smell the aroma of the pine leaves and coconut milk. Put the durian in and stir well. Lastly, put in the biscuits. Simmer for around 15-20 minutes (or longer) until the biscuits are soft and puffy.

Serves: 5-7 (in small portions)

*Tips*: The flesh of the durian can be taken off the seeds for a better presentation. More coconut milk and sugar shall be added during the simmering process especially when the biscuits are added as the biscuits tend to suck in the coconut milk. You must use this particular brand of biscuits as it is much more dry, less tasty and works really well in this recipe. And yes, it is exactly called "Biscuit Osborne"! :oD Serves great warm or cooled in the fridge.

For those durian lovers, this is one recipe worth trying!

Episode 401 - Squid Salad

Welcome to the fourth installment of my-kitchen-2-yours! I apologise for not updating and posting for a month. But guess what? I'm back! :0) For this new season, I'm featuring some of the recipes which I have gathered throughout the past month. All ranging from local fruits to simple 5 minute dishes for the busy workaholics!

To start, the following recipe is for those who can make good food even if it's from a can! Well, I do this if my fridge is out of food. This is a very good dish if you are short of time to make a fully prepared meal. It has pretty much of a local taste to it. Try it out!

Squid Salad


Ingredients:
1 can - 175g "Sotong" or Squid in Soya Sauce (Rex Brand); shredded into rings & tentacles separated out. 1/4 of Large Onion; sliced. Half a shallot; sliced. Half an inch of Ginger; stripped. Half a Chilli; sliced. 1 1/2 tablespoon of Sweet Dark Soya Sauce. 2 "Limau Kasturi" or Local Lime; Juiced

Method: Drain the can of squid but leave a tablespoon of the sauce in. Place the shredded squid into a bowl and the rest of the ingredients together. Toast well and serve!

Serves: 2-3

Simple right? This dish taste good as it is but eating with steamed white rice compliments it well. It can be a very good starter to your meal as well as a side dish to add to your meal! Enjoy and I'll catch you in the next post very soon! XOXO