When the clock strikes 12, you start thinking what to cook for Iftar. Sometimes I just feel like heading to the Bazar Ramadhan and get our cooked food there, but they are always not up to my standard. I’m not a picky eater but at times you can tell that the food isn’t fresh. Some of my favourite blogs shared great cooking tips and recipes. Blogs like tiffinbiru.com, cooking with marina mustafa and from intan’s kitchen gave me heaps of cooking ideas. For today’s iftar, I used Azlita’s recipe of Dendeng Daging & Marina Mustafa’s kuzi but made a few amendments. I am the type of cook who doesn’t use a standard measurement. I normally “campak-campak” the ingredients into the pot and cook based on my gut feeling. So, here’s the recipe.

Cucur Udang ala Utara (hubby’s favourite)

Kuzi Ayam & Telur
Chicken

Onion – fry & blend

I bought some Raya cookies from my friend, Abid. But those are not for Raya. We ate them after our Terawih every night. The cookie making was Ain’s idea when she wanted to make cornflakes & honey cookies. Since my son, Nasri is having his semester break, I thought it would be a good idea to make cookies at our kampung every weekend. So I hunt down for recipes and prepared the dough a few nights ahead. On Saturday, right after our Iftar, the girls (Ain, Suaidah, Nina & Wani) started making the cookies while my sons joined in after the Terawih. So 2 weekends and 6 cookies we made!

Forgot to snap Zul’s char keoy teow….Credits goes to travelerfolio.com for this picture.

I’m lucky to be back with my family for the auspicious Ramadhan this year. On the first night of the taraweeh, we had our prayers at the Tan Sri Ainuddin Wahid Mosque. The first day of Ramadhan was quite a challenge for us as we have spent 3 Ramadhans in New Zealand. Ramadhan in NZ was cooler and at a shorter time. But with this weather, it was difficult for us (mcm lerr tak penah puasa di msia sblm ni…) We spent our “buka puasa” at my kampung in Pontian. As usual, I prepared the dish (sotong goreng hitam, sambal kering kentang & tempe, beef & vege clear soup) to complement our rice…while hubby said he would prepare the Char Keoy Teow. When I reached my kampung, my 2nd sister and her family were already there, busy making fried mee. Towards the breaking of the fast, my 4th sister and family came with their laksa goreng, kuih bakar and red bean bun. My 3rd sister who lives next to my dad came over to break the fast with us. The family brought with them murtabak spore, nasi goreng & bubur lambuk…So, all my siblings joined together in this uncalled breaking of fast…It wasn’t planned. There were plenty of food…oh ya, and I forgot about the drinks…from lychee to soya bean to honeydew drink…plus coffee and tea.

My dad wanted to fast but he broke his fast at 9am because of his gastrics and old age.

That night, I felt too heavy to perform my 2nd taraweeh, but made a point to do it at the kampung’s mosque.

Today is the 2nd of Ramadhan. I prepared a simple dish for the family like chicken curry and fried beans to complement the rice. Zul made sardine roll, and before the “azan” I managed to make a quick serawa durian to be eaten with Gardenia bread. Anga went to the Bazar Ramadhan just across the street from where we live but he came back empty handed. I asked him “why no drinks or kuihs?” “ohh…they were all MERAPU stuff…”

For teraweeh, we headed to Tan Sri Ainuddin Wahid Mosque.

When I saw this pizza in New World’s flyer, I started to drool…okay, I had to google for some recipes & try this one out. This pizza unlike the others which I have tasted was really really yummm…the taste of the caramelized onions was just right for me…

Ok, you can try this at home…

Pizza base (this is not the usual pizza base recipe…as huuby doesnt quite like the usual ones…so I used a bun recipe for my pizza base)
3 cups of flour ( I used 1 cup whole-meal flour, and 2 cups high grade flour)
3 tbspn of margarine
1 tbspn sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 packet of yeast
200ml fresh milk

Dump all the above in your breadmaker. Once it’s ready, you can start rolling your base.

Pizza toppings
1 large aubergine (terung lah), peeled and sliced
2 T olive oil
2 sweet onions, thinly sliced
1 c pizza sauce
Cheddar chesse
Feta cheese

Coat the ‘terung’ with olive oil. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 400 for 10-12 min or until lightly browned; set aside.

In a large saucepan heat some oil and fry the onions stirring frequently until caramelized; set aside.

Spread pizza sauce over crust. Top evenly with the grilled aubergine,& onions. Sprinkle with cheddar & feta cheese.

I made biryani masala for dinner tonight. A very simple dish that goes with indian dhal and malay salad….It’s quite similar to Nasi Arab, but briyani masala is quite hot & spicy with no cream/milk. Quite healthy, I assume.

To those looking for what to prepare for dinner, here’s the recipe.

1 kg chicken
1 kg biryani rice
3 tablespoon beriyani mix
Onion
Garlic
Ginger
Chillies
Tomatoes
Cashew nut
Kaskas powder
Salt
Butter

1. Blend garlic, ginger, chilli
2. Crush cashew nuts & kas kas. Make it into a paste.
3. Fry onions in butter. Add no.1, no. 2 and sliced tomatoes.
4. Add beriyani mix.
5. Add chicken pieces. Let it cook.
6. Soak rice in 15 minutes.
7. Fry it in butter till dry.
8. Add water and boil.
9. Mix the rice and chicken. Pour butter over it.
10. Cover it and cook till done.

INDIAN DHAL

1 cup lentils
3 cups Water
2 tablespoons Oil
1/2 teaspoon Black mustard seeds
Onion
Garlic
1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
1 tablespoon Hot green chiles chopped
4 whole Cloves-cengkih
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Turmeric
Knorr Ikan bilis

Preparation

Cook the lentils until mushy (20-30 minutes). Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan and add the mustard seeds. When these begin to pop, add the cumin seeds and saute briefly, being careful not to let them burn. Blend onion & garlic, and add them in. Add the chopped chilies (if using), cloves, salt, knorr ikan bilis and turmeric to the frying pan and continue frying for few minutes. Add the cooked lentils.
Stir well and reheat gently but thoroughly. I add a selection of diced vegetables like tomatoes, capsicum, celery and cauliflower.

There never needs to be an excuse to eat spinach and feta – as they are a marriage made in heaven! The spinach and feta is a super classic combination. I love spinach and feta pizza, and my kids love them too. I remember having spinach and feta muffins somewhere, but it’s just too difficult to recall the cafe. The feta gives a delicious smooth, creaminess that’s too difficult to explain unless you have tried it!. I suddenly had the urge to have one last week. I googled the recipe, and found this one. After sending Along to work this morning, I stopped by Magic Fresh to get some spinach. This savoury muffin would make a great brunch meal this morning!

Ingredients
200mls vegetable oil
1 egg
2 cups milk
2 cups raw spinach (compacted)
600g plain flour
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp black pepper (ground)
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
200g diced feta

Method
Preheat the oven to 190deg C fan bake or 200degC regular bake.
Put the oil, egg, milk and spinach in food processor and process until finely chopped. In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients together. Fold through feta until just coated, leaving a few small cubes for placing on top of each muffin. But I didnt as I decided to use sunflower seeds instead.

Add spinach mix and combine, do not over-mix.
Place in greased muffin pans. I put some sunflower seeds on top and bake at 190degC for approximately 25 minutes. This is great with chutneys. I just eat them with butter spread.

Bon Appetit!!!!

I was too busy typing and writing when hubby presented me with a plate of yummm food. See the picture was taken on top of my pile of work…We used to eat this at JJ Secret Recipe (the goreng version), but hubby made me a grilled one.

Last Sunday, Adnan & Asna hosted a pot luck tea with the other Hamiltonians. I made some curry puffs for the shared tea. The recipe was taken from As’ blog at

Hubby caught two humongous stingrays last two weeks and kept the liver. It’s been a while that the liver was left untouch in my fridge. Last week, some FB friends gave me suggestions on how to cook it. Amongst them were asam pedas hati pari, cake pari (oh my!), pari lemak, grilled pari and countless of suggestions were given.

I was thinking of what’s for dinner tonight. It’s about time I do something about the liver, but I just didn’t know what to do with it! I googled the net for some stingray liver recipe but none caught my eyes. I texted hubby and asked if it was alright to make a sumptuous asam pedas with blackpepper and heaps of vietnamese mint leaves. But hubby said “hancur”, so I decided to create my own recipe.

My meal was ready in less than an hour…
For the recipe…I used

Onions, Garilic, Ginger, Fresh Tumeric, Lemon Grass, Tamarind water, Cili padi, Chili powder, Blackpepper, Some milk, Kerisik, Salt, Sugar, Kafir Lime leaves…Semua agak2 aje…( I always cook using my gut feeling)

Now, all is done…I have to take a longgggg shower. I smell very ‘hanyir’…

Hati Ikan Pari Masak Pedas The stingray liver from my fridge

Jean, a friend from Silverdale and also the owner of Newstead Apple Orchard, gave me this great & easy recipe which she has tried and tested. But before making it, be sure that your freezer has some space…you need to freeze it for 4 hours before serving it…What I did was to prepare one night ahead…

Thanks Jean for the recipe!! My guests, the kids and I love the fluffy!! it’s really heavenly…It’s like eating strawberry icecream, but a little lighter and less fatter….;)

Last week I had a taste of Zu/Lee’s trifle ice cream. I thought that it might be worthwhile for me to give it a try….