Home-cooked meals - Perth Trip 2014

Moussaka version 2

Assalamualaikum and Good Day,

It's been a long time that I have last posted an entry in this blog. Sorry guys, I lost my camera and all of my latest baking project pictures, hwaaa!!

Therefore, as you might have noticed, there are no pictures whatsoever in this post.

Sigh.. :(

Anyway, on a positive note, referring to my last entry, I have done many more moussaka's after that. Even during Raya! It has been a great hit!

However, I changed the way I layer each item. Instead of starting with the meat dish, I started with the potatoes, then the brinjals, then the meat. Then start again with the potatoes, brinjals and meat. Lastly, top it up with the white sauce and cheese.

Yummylicious!

Try it. I'm sure you will not be disappointed!

Moussaka

Assalamualaikum and Hi everybody,

In today's entry, I would like to 'showcase' my latest baking project, which is, moussaka. Moussaka is a savory, casserole Greek dish. I found the recipe from from Min, bakingproject.com. You can find it here.


I reproduce the recipe here :

Oil
2 egg plants (the long type)
600 gm of potatoes

Beef layer
1 big onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
600 gm minced beef
400gm stewed tomato (in can) / fresh tomatoes
2 tablespoon of tomato puree
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
Italian herbs (in bottle) /or mixture of thyme and marjoram (I don't have these, so I use black pepper only)
Sugar, salt, white pepper to taste
Water

White sauce
600 ml full cream milk
60 gm butter
50 gm all purpose flour
salt and pepper

150 gm cheese – mixture of cheddar, mozzarella, parmesan or just use the cheese blend for Pizza. 

METHOD

First prepare the eggplant and potatoes.  Slice the eggplant to 1 cm thickness.  Peel the potatoes and and sliced them too (scalloped).  Fry both veggies in hot oil just till they are halfway done (you could also steam to reduce the oil content).   Set aside.To make the beef layer, sautéed the onion and garlic for 2 minutes.  Add the minced beef and fry till they are no more reddish in colour.  Then add the stewed tomatoes with all the juices and tomato puree.  Continue cooking till the beef is cooked.  Add some water if the sauce is too thick.  Lastly, add the oyster sauce, Italian herbs, sugar, salt and pepper.  Try to balance the taste to ensure it is not too sour.

The next step is making the white sauce or roux.  Heat the milk till it is warm (not boiling).  Melt the butter and and add the flour gradually.  Stir and let the flour cook for about 2 minutes.  Then slowly add the milk.  Keep stirring till you get a thick sauce, consistency similar to whipping cream.  Season with salt and pepper.


To assemble the dish, first oil a casserole.  Then pour a bit of the minced beef at the bottom.  Followed by the potatoes and egg plant.. repeat the layers.  Lastly, pour the white sauce on top, and sprinkle the cheese all over.  Bake at 180C for about 45 minutes.  You can increase the top temperature slightly to 200C for the last 10 minutes to ensure the cheese is all golden and nice.

Although it took quite a bit of preparation for this dish, I think it was worth my time and and effort because my family loved it! (Though I have to admit, the potatoes were quite hard. I need to improve it if I plan to bake it again next time :) )

So, here's the results:

View from top.

Another view of the moussaka.

From side.

The inside.

I brought it to my MIL's on the usual weekly visit and glad that the dish was devoured!

Thanks Min for introducing the dish to me!

My First Mini Cakes!

Assalamualaikum and Hi Everybody!

I am so excited! At last, I got the chance to unleash my (ahem) creativity on these mini cakes..

Thanks Inaz for this opportunity, although it did not turn out EXACTLY as you want :). Of course, I want to inject my own style, lor!

*in actual fact, I could not create the shade of green as in the given photo, so, I had to improvise!

 Here's the first of the cakes..

 A little close-up...

 All five of them mini cakes..

 View from top... In retrospect, I shouldn't have put them too far apart... Hmmm, I shouldn't have glued the doilies in the first place, I couldn't move them even if I want to! LOL!

Here's another close-up. Aren't they beautiful? I love the flowers, I think they call them daisies...

Happy Engagement Inaz dear! Semoga berkekalan!

I would also like to thank my baking buddies, Akmalazura and Daalia for their support and advise. Thanks a lot gals!

Cheesy Buttery Cake to welcome a new little bundle of joy

Assalamualaikum and Hi Everybody!

Last weekend, w were invited to a baby-welcoming party at Sri Gombak. Here was what I managed to prepare, in-between helping Little Chef Hasif on his Cupcake Project...

I forgot to take the cakes picture in its uncut form... oh well, better have something rather than nothing!

All nicely cut and neatly wrapped for the journey to Sri Gombak.

View from the side, before we wrap them..

Another view from the side, AFTER we wrapped them..

Okay, darlings.. please wipe out your drool.....

Hikhik..

Teaser: White. little flowers

Assalamualaikum and Good Day!

Here is one of the projects that I did during he weekend, together with my daughters. We had a fun time doing these little white flowers with fondant. I don't know what is its name, but as long as it is cute, sweet and pretty, it's enough for us.

They are sooo pretty... (if I may say so..hehe)

This is supposed to be a closed up look...

This is the beginning of a significant project, planned by middle of this week..

Please look out for more postings on this project...

HEHEHE..

Little Chef Hasif

Assalamualaikum and Good Day!

Nowadays, kids are so lucky. They got to do interesting projects for their homework. For example, Hasif, who is only on Year 2 (8 years old), had to bake cupcakes as one of his homework requirements. It is in his textbook! He simply dragged his mummy to the kitchen to help him bake the cupcakes!

I was pleasantly surprised that Hasif willingly did all the requirements, such as measuring the ingredients, whisking the eggs, whipping the butter and sugar and spooning the batter into the paper cups. I just need to help him a little, especially on the baking-in-the-oven job.

The recipe was very basic, but everyone praised Hasif's cupcakes as they were very good! (better than mummy's ones...).

Here is Hasif with his prized cupcakes, still hot from the oven..

I have to admit that he has what it takes to be a chef.. :)

Here's a closer look of them cupcakes. Aren't they a beauty? They tasted great too!

Mummy and her little son had a great time doing this project. It was a great bonding time!

Bravo Hasif! Looking forward to more tasty little cupcakes from you!

Happy Birthday Atok and Dalilah!

02 March 2013.

That's exactly the birthday date and at the request from Atok, we managed to book a table for 30 at Hadramawt, Jalan Ampang to celebrate the event.

Everybody of Atok's children, children-in-laws and grand-children managed to attend he event except for 4. We had a grand time eating and talking, just the family.

Since it was  birthday celebration, the restaurant gave us a cake! Yahoo! I don't have to bake a cake this time! Anyway, although this cake look beautiful, I prefer a homemade cake anytime..

The cake had some fruits on it, put together with some whipped cream and chocolate shaves.. I like!

The waitress had an 'accident' during handling, thus the smudged look at the side..

It's okay. as long as it stayed on the plate!

  

The birthday girl and 'boy', cutting the cake. 

The granddaughter and the grandfather having the same birth date...

Happy Birthday Darlings...
May Allah bless you both, Atok and Dalilah...

This and that...

Assalamualaikum and a big HI everybody!

It's been a loong time since I last updated this blog. I just caught up with a lot of things.. no excuse, actually. Just plain lazy, hahaha...

Let's see some of my projects, these are this year's projects, which I managed to catch on camera:

These are some durian crepes that my SIL taught. This was my second batch of crepes. 

Now that the durian season is over, I don't think I'll be doing it for a while :)...

Seems familiar? Yes, these are some sushi that I made. This was my second try. Special request from a special son :)...

See the trifles? I made this for my daughters birthday last month. My first try, hmmm, not too bad.. (in my opinion)...

Some fruit tarts for my cousin's wedding reception. It was a sort-of a last minute thing, and I wanted to do some cheese tarts but couldn't find Philadelphia cream cheese anywhere. So, I substituted with fruit tarts instead, since I have already bought the shells from Daalia's.

Here's the cute little fruit tarts in a box, ready to be transported to Sungai Buloh.

Expect more news from me in the next couple of days!

Bye for now!

Advert: Still no baking.. :)

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Advert: Printing Business.. (no baking today)

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Note: The e-book is in Malay, okay :).. Have fun!

Recipe: French Buttercream

A number of people asked me the recipe of French Buttercream after reading my previous few posts. So here it is! 

The ingredients are simple enough:
Sugar 122 gm
Water 34gm
Egg yolks 73 gm (room temperature)
Butter 271 gm (soft, at room temperature)

Make a sugar syrup by boiling the sugar and water in a small saucepan.   Keep track of the temperature, the sugar needs to reach the soft ball stage at 118C.  In the meantime, put the egg yolks into the mixer and whisk until light and fluffy. Once you get the right sugar temperature, lower the speed and slowly drizzle the sugar into the egg yolk.  Whip at high speed until the mixture is cool.  Do not add the butter if the mixture is still hot.

Once the mixture is cool, stir in the soft butter bit by bit. Mix until everything is nicely emulsified.  At this stage, you may add any flavourings such as vanilla, etc.   Don’t panic if at any point you see the buttercream being sloppy and separated, just keep on whisking and it will turn out ok.  The French buttercream can be kept in the fridge for about a week.  Make sure it is well covered.

I copied from bakingproject.com. Thanks Min :).

Happy Birthday Dalilah!

Hi All!

This is a long overdue post. Dalilah's birthday was celebrated last month, a private affair at KFC, invited only her girl friends.

It was a joyful event, thanks to all BBS KFC staff and Dalilah's brothers who cooperated to make this a successful event. I became the Project Manager cum Event Manager cum baker too, ho ho ho!

Dalilah, the Princess of the day (with tiara) with her two birthday cakes, one from KFC and 

another from you-know-who! Chicky from KFC was there too!

Dalilah and friends in a group picture.

Because I booked the event late (a few days before the event) KFC cannot guarantee a cake (it should come FOC with the booking). However, to our surprise, the Manager managed to 'secure' a cake for Dalilah. Thanks a lot KFC!

Hence, the two Birthday cakes for Dalilah... 

Here's the cake that I made, butter strawberry cake with French Buttercream. The first time I tried French Buttercream, and I love it! It tastes more like pudding than icing. I like!

Eleven swirls for an eleven-year-old girl!

Cupcakes for the party, for the grandparents and for Diana when I visited her the next day. One cupcake missing here! Who stole it?

All in all, it was a great event. Happy Birthday my darling Princess Dalilah! We love you!

Happy 17th Birthday Diana!

It's Diana's Birthday!

It seems that it was only last week that gave born to this girl....(*sigh*).

I prepared this choc moist cupcakes with strawberry-chocolate writings.

Simple. No messy icings.

Happy 17th Birthday Darling! Love you very much!

Congo Bars for Dalilah's Ustazah

Suddenly, out of the blue, at 7.30 pm, after I arrived home from work, weary and tired, Dalilah threw me a surprise:

Dalilah: Ibu, tomorrow there will a farewell event for my Ustazah. I have to bring something to school, some food...

Me: Oh no! Why didn't you tell me earlier? I can drop by and buy some chocolate wafers or something from the shop... Now I have to call Ayah, if he can manage to drop....

Dalilah: NO, NO, NO... I don't want to bring those things, everybody would bring the same things... (*with teary eyes*)

Me: Okay, what would you like to bring? Chocolate cake? I think I have enough ingredients available for a simple cake...

Dalilah: No, I am tired of chocolate cakes already. Can't you do something else?

Me: At this time of the night? Are you kidding?

Dalilah:... *eyes teary already*...

Me: Okay, let me check what can be done.... *nearly fainted*

Luckily I have enough ingredients for a recipe of Congo Bars. Though I have some walnuts in the fridge, Dalilah requested me to omit it. She does not like any kind of nuts in her cakes or cookies.

Here's the recipe:

Congo Bars

2 3/4 cup all purpose flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup butter (I used margarine, that's the only one available)

1 lb light brown sugar (I used only 3/4 ib)

3 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

11.5 oz milk chocolate chip

1 cup pecans (I skipped this).

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl.

Stir brown sugar and softened butter, until all butter disappears and well incorporated.

Add eggs one at a time, stir well. Add vanilla.

Add chocolate chips and nuts, mix well.

Add dry mixture ie flour, baking powder and salt.

Bake in a 13/9 inch ( I used 11 x 11 inch) pan at 170 degrees Celcius for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden. Like baking Brownies, never over bake or you will have a hard brownie!

Thanks kitchen guardian for the recipe!

Yours truly, cutting the Congo Bars, with Dalilah at the background...

All bars, nicely cut (11x11 bars)...

Ready in the container, all 42 pieces of them bars..

I wanted to put more in the container but Dalilah said 42 was enough. She's too lazy to bring back any leftovers. It turned out that the bars were a great hit that it was not enough!

I have brought the remainders to the office... serve her right!

Story ends.

Bread Banana Pudding and Apam Polkadot

For this post, I just feel like sharing some recipes which I recently tried. Great recipes, tried and tested ones. The first recipe was baked using my newly purchased 8 x 4 inch Pyrex dish. Just to try it out :)! The amount of this recipe can just perfectly fit into the dish.

1. Bread Banana Pudding

4 pieces of bread (tear to pieces)

1 200ml box of full cream milk (I used Dutch Lady)

3 medium-sized eggs

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

4 tablespoons sugar

half teaspoon salt

1 medium sized banana (cut to small pieces)

1 tablespoon butter

Place the teared bread and banana pieces in the baking dish. In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, eggs, vanilla essence, sugar and salt. Beat until all the sugarget dissolved in the liquid. Pour the mixture into the bread+banana-in-the-baking-dish and let it set for about 10 minutes. Put the butter randomly on top of the mixture (sort of sprinkle it). Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, 170 C.

Ta-da! Here's the results, I mean, what was left of it... :)

This second project is not a baking project, it's a steam project, but what the heck!

Dalilah has been bugging me to do this and I have to find the recipe in the Net. I got it here and so far Dalilah love it!


2. Apam Polkadot

I'm too lazy to type it here, but you can find the recipe here :)...

Have a nice day celebrating Maulidur Rasul!

Happy Birthday Kak Long!

I have been dreaming of trying the basketweave design again on any cakes. The last one I did was during my brother's housewarming event - here is the link.

I got the chance during for Kak Long's birthday cake. Awesome!

Actually, this cake was made and decorated on the same day as in my previous post. The cake is the same, strawberry cake. I purposely made the buttercream icing for two cakes (and use the same colour, too lazy to prepare so many colours *smile* ).

The difference is the shape of the cakes and of course, the deco.

Let's see what I prepared for Kak Long....

I lost the Wilton tip to do the roses *sad*, so I have to be satisfied with this easy-rose design.

Can you see the basketweave design?

There's still room for improvement (RFI), I know... *smile*.

View from the side of this square cake. Notice that some part of the 'grass' is white? I ran out of green-coloured icing and ran out of time,

thus have to be satisfied with white-coloured grass, lol!

Oh, there's something new which I have not tried before, notice the white-picket design at the sides? It was Dalilah's idea! I think it looks great on this cake!

After the intricate basketweave design with the sweet roses around it, I failed on the handwriting again*grin*. Well, there is RFI!

Another view from the side...

Happy Birthday to my lovely niece, Kak Long Ameera Farisha! We love you!

Congratulations Zaharah & Hj Mohd Raimi

Dear Zaharah,

Thanks a lot for the invitation to your lovely wedding reception at Bukit Aman recently. I'm really happy for you. I'm sure Tuan Haji would be a fine husband/ partner for you and a great step-father for your children. Yes, you will gain a step-son too, and a whole entourage of great in-laws! Very glad to know and witness that they really welcome you into their family wholeheartedly!

I sincerely hope and pray to Allah SWT that this marriage will bring happiness to both of you in this world and the Hereafter too.

As a little token from this humble friend, here's a little cake for you & family. A butter-strawberry cake as I have some strawberry juice from my vacation to Cameron Highland recently, which I think would be a lovely for you. The all-white buttercream icing with some pink roses seems so fitting with the occasion...

Here's the cake before putting any wording's on it. I tried some string-work on the sides.

Hmm, looks like I need some improvement on that area :)

Here' the top view...

Yours truly is finishing-up some final touches to the cake...

The final output, at last ....:)

All packed and ready to be presented to the bride and bridegroom at their house.

Hope you like the cake Zaharah, and again, Congratulations!

Barakallahu lakuma

Wa baraka alaikuma

Wa jama'a bainakuma

Fil khair...

Sheriman's Wedding Cake Part II

I can't help creating a second post on Sheriman's Wedding Cake, credit to family members who painstakingly took hundreds of The Cake pictures for me. Err, wellll, not exactly HUNDREDS, but there are SO MANY of The Cake pictures that it took me HOURS to go through all those pictures and to select some for this post.

PHEW! (anyway, thank you guys... you know who you are ;), I love you all..)

So, without further ado, here's the second part of The Cake, at the venue itself... K-Club, Taman Melawati.

TA-DAAA!

The Cake, situated near the Wedding Dais, sharing the glamour...:)

View from the Wedding Dais, you can see some guests eating at the round tables...

Aha, the most precious picture, the groom and his bride cutting The Cake.

They are so adorable, aren't they? (hmmm, maybe I'm a little bit biased here...:))

Another view of the cake cutting ceremony....

The Cake, before they cut it...

Yes, it's yours truly, cutting the cake for the guests...

The cake on the plate, ready to be eaten...

Again, dear Sheriman and Noriah, here's some prayers from this auntie:

Barakallahu lakuma wa baraka alaikuma wa jama'a bainakuma fil khair..

(from Maher Zain's song - Barakallah , check-it-out!)