Dah seminggu asik 'jalan' merata tempat cari makanan..malam ni ingat nak lepak kejap lah. Bukannya lepak sbb pegi dinner kat luar, tapi lepak sbb nak 'jalan' ke Italy balik. The little misses and the other half wanted to have 'pizza movie nite' tonite. We usually have movie nite on Friday since it's the last day of the week and they don't have to wake up early for school the next day. But, after having pizza every Friday nite for nearly a month, the other half and I got a bit sick of it so we stopped it for a while,hehehe...Pizza is delicious but having it once a week was a bit too much for us.

Tonite's pizza was a mixed-n-match version. The toppings were sausages (leftover from wednesday nite), shredded roast chicken (leftover from last nite), button mushroom, capsicum, pickled chilli and sauteed onions on ours and BBQ sauce and loads of mozzarella n grated cheddar. We watched Walt Disney's Sinbad tonite,hehehe....

I also made caramel mud cake this afternoon to eat for dessert tonite. It was really dense and caramelly but not too overly sweet. The little misses really liked it. I had to give half to the next door neighbour because I don't want too much temptation lying around in the shape of a mud cake! hahahaha...

It's still very hot today and probably going to get hotter tomorrow. I heard it got up to 41ºC today but it was even hotter in the car. It got up to an unbelievable 46º in the car this afternoon when I went to pick the kids up from school. I've never seen it gone up that high. The car thermometer must be playing up! Luckily 1 more day of school before a 3 day weekend. Monday is a public holiday here in WA for Labour Day holiday.

Since I was so unmotivated to cook last nite, I thought I would make it up tonite by cooking something nice,haha...Malam tadi dah balik Perth balik with the BBQ so malam ni I wanted to continue the food journey somewhere further. Still tak 'singgah' Malaysia lagi ni,hehehe...Maybe this weekend lah akan 'singgah' kampung halaman. Or bila terasa nak makan nasi again nanti,hehe...

For tonite's dinner, we 'flew' to Morocco or Maghribi in Malay. Tonite's dinner was Roast chicken with Moroccan couscous. Couscous ni asal dari North Africa terutamanya di kalangan kaum Berber, tak silap lah, my food history is a bit rusty ;-). But I know that couscous is made from durum wheat, the same wheat that pasta is made out of from, tapi bentuk dia lain sesangat lah compared to pasta. Couscous ni bentuk dia like very small grains. Nowadays, it's so easy to get instant couscous from the supermarket. You just have to pour boiling stock or water into it and the grains will puff up. Then, you can flavour it with whatever you like basically. I added pistachio, currants, onions, peas, capsicum, spices and some mixed salad leaves to the fluffed couscous. Lain lah rasanya dari makan nasi or pasta or kentang hari2. Kadang2 boring jugak makan benda yg sama aje hari2 kan,hehehe...

And for dessert, the kids wanted fruit n marshmallow skewers again. I was happy to oblige, hehe...

I wonder where we'll go next,hahahahahaha.....

p/s Little Miss soon-to-be-9 received a merit award at school for 'her acrostic poem about moths'. Huh?, hehehe...That's what I said when I heard the word. That's what the other half said when he heard the word. We had to open up the dictionary to find out the meaning of acrostic, hahaha....

Hari ni panas betul kat Perth ni. Dah nak dekat end of Summer, makin naik temperature bukan makin turun. I think it got up to 38ºC today. Dah nak maghrib ni pun masih lagi berbahang kat luar tu. Selalunya bila panas2 macam ni, mood nak masak bukan sama naik macam ikut temperature outside, makin turun adalah, hehehe....

In Australia, when it's summer they love having barbies which is the shortform of barbecues. Aussies love to shorten names..BBQ to barbie, umbrella to brollie, sausages to snags or sangers, afternoon to arvo, pavlova to pav etc. It's like learning a different language altogether,hehehe....

Anyway, back to dinner or more specifically, the lack of enthusiasm in cooking dinner tonite...

Last nite we went to India in our culinary journey. I was thinking of stopping over in Malaysia tonite but like I said earlier about being malas, I straightaway 'flew' back to Australia. I opted for the easiest dinner, snags on the barbie but without the barbie since we don't have one and it's too hot to cook outdoors! I'm not too sure the origin of sausages in a bun or hot dogs. Some people say it's the Americans who invented it, some people disagree. But I guess now, every country would have some kind of dish of meat in a bread based 'holder'.

We normally have our sausages with sauteed onions, tomato sauce, mustard, grated cheese and some baby rockets in a sausage bun. And also not forgetting the most important side dish, chips. Well. we had potato nuggets instead of chips but it still originated from the potatoes once! Told you I'm so lazy to cook tonite.

After 'going' to Spain, Italy and Mexico for the past few days with our dinners, malam ni terasa nak 'balik' Malaysia pulaknya...Tapi instead of going straight to Malaysia, ter 'detour' ke India pulak,hehehe...The other half has asked when we are going to have rice and curry again so nak tak nak terpaksalah menyimpang ke India sekejap,hahaha...

I wanted to make a very mild curry so the little misses can have it as well without them running to the hose! The mildest of all the curries I've tasted would probably be Butter Chicken. It originated from Northern India. There's so many different versions of butter chicken, every indian restaurant has its own secret recipe. But I think it's based on butter (hence the name), cream, tomatoes and some spices. I made it even milder tonite by only using half of a green chilli just in case the little misses could actually taste the chillies. I made it from scratch, not out of a bottle,hehehe...The other half found it too mild because he felt like having a fiery curry tonite but I'll save the fiery sambal for when we 'visit' Malaysia or Thailand on our culinary journey.

I made indian style vegetables to go with the curry, poppadum and omelette. I also bought instant capati but it didn't turn out that great. It's probably me cooking it wrong. To finish dinner off, I 'made' payasam which is Indian sweet 'soup' out of a packet. I love having all these ready to cook packet stuff, it makes life so much easier for me. The payasam photo didn't turn out that great, sorry about that!

Tonite we go Mexican, ole! Malam tadi we went to the Mediterranean with the pasta, malam ni kita pegi Central America pulak nya. Well some would dispute that Mexico is in North America but walau apapun they've got some really lovely dishes :-). Actually, selalu gak buat nachos and tacos and tortillas...I guess since I'm making extra effort to teach the little misses of the origin of their dinners and also to go global with my food so I'll post where my dishes originated from on the blog. Sambil2 tu orang lain pun boleh learn a few things right,hehehe...



So, dinner malam ni was beef nachos. Basically nachos ni the base is made from corn chips and then we pile a cooked minced beef mixture on top of it with avocado and tomato salsa, grated cheese and sour cream. jadi bila makan, very crunchy from the corn chips then soft from the mince mixture. It's very moreish! Tapi rasanya kalau bagi kat my abah kat kampung, he would find it very strange ye lah sbb memang lain sesangat dgn roti or nasi ni, hehehe...He would say, kerepek jagung buat dinner, ish ish ish, sian kat budak2 tu, sure lapar tak dpt makan nasi,hehehe....




Then we finish dinner off with Baked pears with caramel sauce n ice cream. Sampai skrg ni masih kenyang lagi,hehehe...Lost 2 kilos in 6 wks, gained it all back and then some more in 1 nite,hahaha...That's the story of my life!

Pagi tadi cadang nak pegi playground with the little misses. We stopped at the other half's workplace first to drop some stuff. Then we saw so many cars n people around and banners and tents. Found out there were having Perth's writer festival there for the past few days and today was family day. So, melencong terus ke the festival, tak jadi lah pegi playground. It was quite fun. Little miss soon-to-be-9 enjoyed it the most because she loves writing and drawing and making stuff. Little miss 4 1/2 I think would have preferred the playground more :-) but she did enjoy the open theater. They also had kite and lantern making activities which the misses both enjoyed.






Tonite's dinner originated from Italy but I bought the ready made sauce from the supermarket, hahaha...Punyalah malas nak masak tonite so went through the pantry and freezer and found some beef, a jar of stir through pasta sauce and rigatoni. So, I sliced the beef thinly and stirfry it, cook the rigatoni, mixed them together in a big pot with the sauce and some tomatoes and voila! tonite's dinner which was ricotta and spinach with pecorino cheese rigatoni with beef and tomato.
I've made similar dish before but from scratch but tonite the rajin fairy has eluded me tu yg guna sauce from a jar. It's got a really good taste. Hmmm, maybe from now on I can just buy the sauce instead of making it from scratch,hehehe...

Pagi tadi awal2 lagi the other half dah keluar hantar the car for service. Then we found out the coolant n the brake fluid also need replacing. Oh, not to mention the front tyres as well.There goes $900 in 1 day....We could have used the money to go to Rottnest,hehe...But since we've only got 1 car, I guess we really need to keep it in tip top condition. I love my Zafira, it's the best car we've ever had, not that we've had that many! I basically had to force the other half to buy the Zafira, well, I had to force him to have a look at it. His knowledge of cars are basically zilch so he had no idea what kind of car the Zafira was. And since it's a Holden, he doesn't mind that I wanted it so much.

Dulu cuma ada 5 seater Ford aje, sikit nya susah ke nak bawak guests jalan2 sbb tak cukup seats. Kat Australia ni pulaknya, the rules are very strict, tak boleh bawak lebih passengers dari seats. Unlike kat M'sia, nak sumbat 8 orang dlm Kancil pun takpe,hehehe...Tu yg bila sampai Perth aje, terus cari kereta baru yg 7-seater. And we found this Zafira at the right price so we swapped the Ford with a Holden and I loooovvvve my Zafira. My next car (bila this one dah mencapai usia yg lanjut) would be something in the line of Honda Odyssey. It's slicker than Zafira and much cuter,hehehe...






Hari ni terasa sgt nak buat roti yg manis sbb dah lama tak buat. Tapi malas nak buat yg complicated sgt so belek2 buku resipi, doughnuts jumped out. Budak2 pun suka doughnuts so pagi tadi buatlah 1 adunan. I buat doughnut tak pernah yg ada lubang, setiap masa buat doughnut balls aje sbb yg paling senang.

Hari tu I was telling someone I want to go global with my food, hahaha... Not that I want to pasarkan my dishes, cuma nak buat resipi2 dr se antero dunia. Actually, memang tiap2 hari buat resipi fr around the world but I'll make more of an effort to find and try these exotic recipes,hehehe, kalau rajin lah...



So, dinner malam ni was Chicken Paella from Spain I guess. Rupanya lebih kurang risotto, pilaf, pilau, briyani, claypot rice tapi the taste lah yg I guess membezakan all these rice dishes and it uses arborio rice /short grain rice. Yang buat I suka, it's a 1 pot dish so tak lah banyak periuk belanga nak kena basuh,hehehe...

Little miss 4 1/2 spent the day at home again today. Luckily she didn't throw up last nite so we managed to get a full nite sleep, woohoo! When you haven't had a baby in the house for so long, you tend to cherish your uninterrupted sleep very much. We used to be able to function on 2 hours of sleep but not anymore...
Malam ni dinner kononnya baik sikit sebab semalam dah makan fish n chips. Hari tu beli soba noodles which is japanese buckwheat noodles. But yg I beli ni made in Australia,hehehe... Kononnya nak buat japanese soup with dashi and what not tapi tak confident lak lagi. Dalam banyak2 food yg I pernah cuba masak, japanese food ni yg I rasa paling tak confident nak masak, don't know why....

But since I've bought the soba noodles, I might as well use it first instead of buying some other noodles. Pikir punya pikir, buat mee goreng pun rasanya sedap jugak guna soba ni. Nak kata japanes dish pun bukan, malay dish lagilah bukan,hahaha...definitely fusion food my style. I added thinly sliced beef, sliced spring onions, julienned carrots, sugar snap peas and shitake mushroom. I only used the tiniest of oil to sear the beef first and thin soy sauce and a bit of kicap manis to flavour it. Itu yg perasan healthy compared to last nite's dinner. The other half was dreading tonite's dinner when I first told him what I was cooking since he's never had it before and he's not a big fan of noodles either (he's a rice man!). But he said it was surprisingly tasty for a noodle dish,hehehe... So, tonite's dinner was Soba Goreng aka Fried Soba.

Malam tadi memang tak cukup tidur. Little miss 4 1/2 had a bad nite with really bad runny nose, coughing and throwing up all her digested dinner when she was already asleep. Poor kid, she was so upset. So, she spent the nite in our bed and the other half spent the nite on the futon, lucky him! We kept her at home today, might do the same tomorrow. Her coughing is getting worse though and she's already got a husky voice,hehehe...Hopefully, we can all get a good nite sleep tonite.

Dah lama tak makan Fish n Chips since the other half's gone on a health kick. Tapi hari ni terasa sesgt nak makan benda2 bergoreng ni,hehehe. Maybe sbb tak cukup tidur malam tadi, tu yg terasa nak binge eating,hehehe...But nak sedapkan hati, kenalah makan dgn semangkuk salad. Kat rumah ni, klu makan Fish N Chips, kena makan dgn tomato sauce bukan dgn chilli sauce. Bila lama2 dah terbiasa makan dengan tomato sauce aje, sedap pulaknya walaupun takde pedas langsung.

Since I'm throwing out the healthy diet tonite, I might as well have dessert as well. Dessert malam ni is fruit n marshmallow skewers with caramel sauce. The kids loved it! At least, healthy lah jugak kan sebab banyak buah2an yg dimakan. This is what I love about summer, all the fruits. Tapi kejap lagi habislah musim summer ni and we won't see the fruit again for the next 9 months...

I'm exhausted! I haven't exercised for a couple of days but tonite it really felt like I haven't exercised for years. The Eliptical machine felt like Mount Everest..Maybe it's teling me I'm getting old,hahaha! So, to conserve energy, I'm not going to babble on and on tonite (as though that would happen :-) ).

Tonite's dinner was Roti Canai and Kare Ayam. Notice the 'kare' spelling? I made Indonesian style chicken curry so that's why it's spelled kare not kari which is Malay. I had the kare with roti canai but the other half had it with rice, what else is new! Since the kare was a bit hot, I made Kurma Ayam for the little misses. Thank God for instant Roti Canai, otherwise we would have had to wait for dinner for a very loooong time...

Menu malam ni: Sausage rolls aussie style

Mlm ni the other half balik lambat for dinner and dia dah ckp awal2 yg dia nak makan seafood pasta yg disimpan dlm freezer tu. So, senanglah kerja sikit tapi kesian pulak kat the little misses sbb haritu baru aje makan. Nak bagi leftovers nasi goreng semalam, we all dah perabiskan buat lunch tadi. Nasib baik ada sausages and puff pastry in the freezer, tu yg buat sausage rolls. The little misses love their sausage rolls as well even with the hidden veges in it! In Australia, sausage rolls slalunya means sausage meat mixed with veges and seasoning and wrapped in puff pastry. And the sausages are different to the 'sausages' in Malaysia. Since Australia is the land of BBQ, there's so many different kinds of sausages you can choose from...Yang lagi best nya, I can freeze the rolls for the little misses to have for their school lunches. They still have vegetables for lunch which is so good and it makes life so much easier for me in the morning,hehe...It's a win-win situation.

I also baked a cake today since I've got a lot of ripe bananas tu use up. You know it's Summer when there's abundance of bananas at home. Belek2 recipe terjumpa a recipe called Hummingbird cake. Don't ask me why it's named that way..It's got dessicated coconut, walnuts, bananas and crushed pineapples in it so it had to be tasty right! Sent some to the kids' school for the teachers since we definitely won't be able to finish the whole lot. It's got a really good flavour and very bananaey. However, I did fiddle a bit with the recipe and added lots more bananas than required, maybe that's why it's so bananaey,hehe...It's supposed to have cream cheese icing on top but I was too lazy to make it. It still tasted nice without the icing and definitely less fattening!

Resipi Bergedil Ayam campak2/ chicken rissoles khas utk Ibusha.

-4 biji kentang, medium sized, peeled and diced
-400g chicken mince (lebih kurang)
-3-4 tbsp fried onions /bawang goreng (saya guna yg dah ready made)
-1 tbsp either daun sup atau daun coriander (saya campur dua2)
-serbuk ketumbar (around 1-2 tsp)
-powdered chicken stock (sy rasa semlm saya letak about 1 tsp aje)
-1 egg grade A/size XL/59g (kacau sedikit)
- Sedikit minyak utk pan frying

Boil or microwave the potatoes until cooked. Then drain well until really dry. Mash the potatoes while still hot and let it cool.
Campurkan chicken mince to the cooled mashed potatoes.
Tumbuk fried onions dan daun sup/coriander together dlm lesung hingga hancur. Campurkan into the chicken potato mixture.
Then add serbuk ketumbar, powdered stock and the egg into the mixture. Kacau until well mixed.
Basahkan tangan dan bentukkan the mixture into a ball and flatten it slightly. Buat sampai habis.
Panaskan sedikit minyak dlm flat non stick frypan guna api medium high. Bergedil ni saya goreng guna minyak yg sikit macam goreng meatballs sbb nak kurangkan penggunaan minyak dan saya tak celup lagi sekali ke dalam telur.Goreng bergedil in batches dan terbalikkan selepas 1 side is browned.
Makan panas2 dgn sos tomato atau sos cili pedas.

Harini tak tau nak masak apa. Malas pun ada sebenarnya...Tapi dah keluarkan chicken mince dr freezer so nak tak nak, kenalah gunakan the mince malam ni. Dah dua malam masak western so malam ni kena masak oriental dish. Ingat nak buat wonton using the mince tapi bila selongkar freezer, tak jumpa pulaknya wonton skin so tak jadi lah buat. Dah tak jadi buat tu, teruslah datang malas nya. Last2, masak nasi goreng and makan dengan chicken rissoles/bergedil ayam and keropok goreng. Selalunya kalau masak nasi goreng, mesti ada sambal tapi tadi dah sibuk buat bergedil, lupa pulak nya nak masak sambal. Sian my hubby tak dapat makan sambal kegemarannya,hehe...

Especially for Rincewind, Zie, Rozee & Ika. harap2 berkenan kat tekak masing2,hehe...

Mushroom and black pepper sauce

-20g butter
-1 tbsp plain flour/tepung gandum
-2 cloves garlic, minced finely
-100 -150g fresh mushroom, sliced (I pakai swiss brown mushroom, klu kat M'sia oyster mushroom pun sedap gak guna)
- 2 tbsp cream (nak bagi lemak lagi but it's optional klu tak suka)
-1/2 -3/4 cup fresh milk
- salt and pepper to taste ( I put lots of black pepper nak bagi kick sikit. Klu bole guna biji and then tumbuk sikit sbb rasa dia fresh lagi. Klu guna yg serbuk dah takde kick sgt)

Melt the butter in a frypan until berbuih sikit/foamy on a medium heat. Then add the garlic and mushroom until garlic and mushroom are cooked.
Add the plain flour and stir it until the flour is cooked about 2 minutes.
Then add the milk and cream and stir until pekat sikit and heated through, klu nak lagi bnyk kuah, tambah susu lagi but jgn bnyk sgt nanti cair sgt pulaknya.
Then add salt and pepper secukup rasa.
Sudah sedia utk dihidang bersama steak or lamb chops. Senang kan!

Steak
-about 100g piece of nice fillet steak per person, 1cm in thickness (this size is enough for me)-daging batang pinang ok gak kan?
-black pepper tumbuk kat lesung (amount to bergantung pada selera sendiri)
-a pinch of salt

Mix the pepper yg dah ditumbuk tu with a pinch of salt and then put it on a flat surface. Coat the steak with the pepper mixture.
Heat your grill pan/frying pan and cook your steak to your liking, rare or well done. Selalunya saya guna high heat and sear both sides of the steak first pastu masak berapa lama tu ikut ketebalan steak tu. Kalau lama sgt, it'll be very tough, klu kejap sgt, it'll be rare in the middle still which I don't like. Rest the steak for about 5 minutes before eating it.
To serve, spoon the sauce onto the steak and enjoy it with green salad and fries/ roast potatoes.

Khas utk Kak Cik..

Mummy's Baked Chicken recipe.

-1 kg chicken pieces (klu nak guna drumstick atau wings aje pun boleh)
-100g cornflakes crumb (slalunya saya beli cornflakes cereal kemudian hancurkan sekejap dlm grinder, jgn sampai hancur sgt sbb tak berapa crunchy nanti)
-2 sudu kecil powdered chicken stock (brand apa2 pun boleh, sy pun tukar2 brand jugak)
-1 1/4 tsp serbuk ketumbar/coriander
-1/4 tsp dried mixed herbs
-Oil/oilspray for coating

-Panaskan oven to 190ºC. Lapik baking tray dgn baking paper utk memudahkan kerja2 mengemas dan mencuci :-).
-Campurkan cornflakes crumb, powdered chicken stock, serbuk ketumbar/coriander, dried mixed herbs in a bowl until well mixed.
-Sapukan sedikit minyak ke setiap chicken pieces. Make sure semua bahagian ayam tu kena minyak tapi jgn salut bnyk sgt sbb nanti berminyak sgt pulaknya. Lebih senang klu ada oilspray in a can. Minyak ni fungsinya utk bagi coating tu melekat kat chicken.
-Kemudian letak chicken pieces tu one at a time in the bowl with cornflakes crumb mixture. Salut seluruh permukaan ayam dgn crumb mixture dan letak atas tray. Ulang sehingga semua chicken pieces are coated.
-Put it in the oven and bake for 40-50 minutes (depends on berapa besar size chicken pcs tu dan berapa tebal coating).
Selepas 30 minutes, terbalikkan ayam so the other side is brown as well. Masak sehingga golden brown in colour dan coating tu rangup.
-Makan dgn sos apa pun boleh, kami selalu makan dgn sos cili thai yg manis sikit tu.

Kalau dah cuba, Kak cik bagilah comment ye, mana lah tau, tak sedap pulaknya,hehe...

Semalam dah makan mixed seafood and chicken laksa, tapi tadi masa pegi shopping nampak cantik sgt marinara mix kat kedai tu, terus teringin nak makan spaghetti marinara. I guess laksa and pasta have completely different taste eventhough both use seafood, so tak lah terasa macam makan benda yang sama 2 nites in a row. Dah lama juga tak makan seafood pasta ni, tu yg teringin sgt2 :-). Dlm marinara mix tu pulaknya ada big chunks of snapper, big mussels, calamari and prawns, manalah tak nampak sedap..The little misses don't mind the fish and calamari but they don't like mussels that much, more for us then!

For dessert, the little misses asked for meringues again and since it's easy to whip up, I made them again. I also made strawberry sauce to go with it. I broke the meringues up and mixed them with whipped fresh cream and yoghurt and fold the strawberry sauce into the mixture. Unfortunately, the photo didn't turn out quite that good. I still have to play around with the camera flash. I'm so thankful it's all digital now, or else I would be wasting so many films taking photos of my 'creations'...

Malam tadi member fr MyResipi minta resepi pizza roll. Ini sy bagi resepi dough pizza yg paling mudah dan resepi pizza sauce yg mudah. Inti pizza roll ni terpulang pada citarasa sendiri, nak letak apa aje pun boleh. Yang saya buat haritu, saya letak pizza sauce, crushed pineapple, poloni/ salami dan grated cheddar cheese. Kalau untuk saya dan hubby, saya selalu tambah chopped up pickled green chilli/ cili hijau jeruk nak bagi pedas dan sliced mushroom/ capsicum. Kiranya sy guna apa yang jumpa kat dlm fridge tu lah,hehe...

Khas utk Zie..

Pizza dough:
-2 sudu kecil instant yeast/ dried yeast
-1 1/4 cawan air suam
-2 sudu kecil gula biasa
-2 sudu besar minyak (saya guna olive oil, klu boleh guna minyak yg takde rasa sgt)
-1 sudu kecil garam
-3-31/4 cawan tepung roti (klu takde tepung roti, tepung gandum biasa pun boleh. sukatan tepung ni bergantung jugak pada keaadaan cuaca dan humidity sesuata tempat. Masukkna sukatan yg sedikit dulu, klu masih melekat dia tangan semasa menguli, tambah tepung lagi sampai takde dough yg melekat kat tangan)

Larutkan gula dlm air suam in a small bowl just by stirring it. Setelah gula larut, taburkan yeast ke dlm air dan kacau perlahan. Masukkan minyak dan kacau sedikit dan cover bowl with cling wrap dan rehatkan for 15 mins or until mixture berbuih.
Di dlm mangkuk lain yg besar, campurkan tepung bersama garam. Tuang yeast mixture yg dah berbuih ke tepung. Uli adunan sehingga tiada tepung melekat di tangan dan dough is elastic and springs back when you press lightly, about 10 minutes. Kalau tak rajin menguli, boleh guna mixer yg ada dough hook attachment.
Letak dough dlm mangkuk besar yg disapu minyak sikit so dought tak melekat kat mangkuk masa tgh naik and cover the bowl with cling wrap and put in a warm place for 30-40 mins. Selepas dah naik 2 kali ganda, punch the dough again and uli balik for about 1 min.

(This is the basic pizza dough resipi, u can use this resipi to make pizza, pizza roll, mini pizzas, pita bread, breadsticks dan mcm2 lagi :-).)

Pizza roll- Divide the dough into 2. Roll each one on a well floured bench/meja into a rectangle about 40x50cm or until thin. Then put the pizza sauce on it, taburkan the diced poloni/salami, pineapple, whatever else you want to put in it, grated cheese. Lepastu, roll the dough mcm cara roll swiss roll, make sure you roll it a bit tight, klu tak, nanti isi semua jatuh keluar. Then, angkat the rolled dough carefully onto a tray lined with baking paper. Pastikan yg lipatan/end is underneath so bila dlm oven dia tak unroll balik.
Bake in 200°C until golden brown, maybe around 15-20 mins.

Easy pizza sauce:
1 bawang besar, sliced thinly
1 biji bawang putih, crushed and minced
1 sudu besar minyak
400g canned diced tomatoes (klu tak jumpa, boleh juga guna tomato puree tapi kena adjust rasa masam dia)
dried herbs (oregano or rosemary klu ada, klu takde takpe)
salt & pepper to taste

Panaskan minyak dlm saucepan menggunakan api sederhana. Saute bawang dan garlic until wilted. Masukkan canned tomatoes dan biarkan simmering sehingga kuah pekat. Klu nak cepat pekat, drain the canned tomatoes and buang airnya. Masukkan herbs, salt & pepper. Cool it before using it on the pizza.

My other half calls it laksa and I call it mee kari. For me, growing up in Selangor, laksa means rice noodles in a hot sour fish 'soup' with cucumbers and hard boiled eggs as garnish. My mum would make the soup with mackerel/ikan kembung and plenty of chilli paste for the heat and tamarind to make it sour. But when I came to Australia, the Mat Salehs have a different kind of laksa. I guess it comes from the Chinese or is it the Peranakan which calls their mee kari laksa so the name's stuck. So, everytime we have laksa at this house, it means the curry laksa instead of the assam laksa that I grew up with. I've tried making the assam laksa a few times but it was never as nice as I remember it to be back in Malaysia.

I was going to wait until the weekend to have laksa but the weekend seemed so far away ;-). It's either the laksa or the leftovers from last nite. Laksa won hands down! Rice 2 nites in a row doesn't seem appealing, says the only full blooded Malay in this house...whereas the other half is quite happy to have leftover rice again.

We haven't had dessert for quite some time now due to the other half's diet. But I really felt like meringues tonite. So, to make it a bit 'healthy', we had it with strawberries and blueberries. The other half and I had it with fat free yoghurt and the kids had it with vanilla ice cream. It was really delicious! Oh, and some grated chocolate on top :-) .

Tonite's menu: Nasi berempah simple

Rendang daging orang malas :-)
Ayam masak kicap santan(for the little misses)

Sayur goreng

Keropok goreng

Dah seminggu tak makan nasi so my other half pagi tadi asked for rice dinner,hehehe...Nasib baiklah dapat mat saleh yg suka makan nasi and lauk pedas so tak lah susah sangat nak masak kalau dia mintak nasi. Selalunya klu dah lama tak makan nasi, my other half yg akan ketagih dulu. Kira seminggu tak makan nasi ni, lama jugak lah for him,hehe...

Hajat hati nak buat mee kari, dah siap beli bahan2 nak buat mee kari tapi bila balik rumah, tengok2 mee kat dlm fridge dah ada kaler lain sikit pulaknya so terpaksalah tunda hajat nak makan mee kari, sedih betul...Padahal belum pun lagi reached the expiry date mee tu, tapi ntah kenapa dah tukar warna. Dari sakit perut, baiklah buang masuk tong. Weekend ni lah buat mee kari, yummy, meleleh air liur bila teringat...

Hari ni disebabkan ada orang tolong promote my blog kat My Resipi website, tetiba aje traffic to my blog terus bertambah2, hehehe. Thanks to all yg sudi jenguk my blog yg tak seberapa ni and also thanks to the forum members yg tolong promote tadi. Macamni kenalah I make sure my blog cantik berhias setiap masa and also kenalah I make sure semua hidangan yg I buat, nampak sedap2 belaka, hehehe...Ye lah, bak kata pepatah, dari mata turun ke hati..

Dinner mlm ni western style again. Since mlm tadi dah dinner sempoi, tonite's dinner required a little bit more preparation than the toasted sandwich. Not a lot more, just a little bit more. The easy part was putting everything in the oven after all the preps done.

Tonite's menu: Baked coated chicken with roast potatoes and coleslaw

The chicken tastes so much like the fast food chicken but is so much healthier because it's baked so the other half was happy for me to make it everytime. The kids called it MBC (mum's baked chicken) instead of KFC...I don't think MBC is as catchy as KFC though,haha.

Sesiapa yg nak recipe, janganlah segan to ask from me ye,hehehe...

Khas utk nana, resipi macaroni cheese yg paling simple :-).

-400-500g macaroni pasta (kalau nak guna shape lain pun boleh)
-30g butter (klu guna margerin mungkin rasa dia tak lemak sgt kot)
-3 sudu besar tepung gandum
-2 cwn/500 mls fresh milk (boleh jugak buat dari susu tepung+air)
-1/2 sudu teh paprika (kdg2 I guna chilli powder nak bagi ada kick sikit)
-1/4 sudu teh serbuk buah pala/nutmeg
-2 cwn/200g grated cheese (I guna cheddar + a bit of parmesan, any tasty cheese will be nice)
-salt and pepper ikut rasa
-extra grated cheese or breadcrumb

-Masak pasta seperti arahan di packet.

-Cairkan butter in a pot/saucepan hingga betul2 cair atas api sederhana. Kemudian, add tepung dan kacau selama 2-3 mins, kacau sentiasa utk elak tepung hangus.(I slalu guna whisk bila nak buat cheese sauce ni so senang nak kacau).

-Kemudian, masukkan susu 1/2 cawan at a time. Kacau sentiasa menggunakan whisk utk pastikan takde lumps in the sauce. Kacau sehingga sauce menggelegak sedikit dan jadi pekat sikit. Nak jadi pekat ni kdg2 boleh ambik masa gak so be patient. Ulang lagi sehingga semua susu habis dan sauce jadi agak pekat. Jangan lupa kacau sauce selalu utk elak kerak at the bottom. Biarkan sauce menggelegak about 1 min dan tutup api.

-Masukkan cheese, serbuk buah pala, serbuk paprika/chili. Kacau hingga cheese melted dan sauce is smooth and creamy. (Heat dari sauce yg baru masak tu akan cairkan cheese so tak perlu guna api). Bubuh salt and pepper mengikut rasa.

-Drain the pasta and stir through the cheese sauce. Boleh di makan terus atau taburkan extra cheese/ breadcrumb on top, then put it under the griller to brown and melt the cheese topping.
Eat it hot and enjoy!

p.s Kdg2 I letak cooked beef rashers on top of the cheese topping to make it more interesting. Kat M'sia I think it's called beef bacon tak silap lah..

Dah lama tengok choc waffle hani tapi baru tengahari tadi ada masa nak buat. Makin berjasa my waffle maker ni, berbaloi lah beli,hehe...Boleh katakan every wknd the kids ask for waffles for breakfast and now with this new recipe, I can use it a lot more. But with any recipe, i like to tinker with the ingredients a bit. So, I kurangkan sikit the eggs, sugar and cocoa and it still turns out delicious. Little miss 4 1/2 and soon-to-be-9 spent 30 minutes sitting at the dining table after school eating the waffles one by one, dunking them in cold milk...I had to tell them to stop eating so they could still have some space in their tummies for dinner! And they've already asked to take some to school tomorrow for lunch,hehehe...Thanks hani .

It has been quite hot today, it got to nearly 37° C so bila panas2 macam ni, terasa malas pulaknya nak masak lebih2. Since the other half won't be home in time for dinner, I decided to make somethinge really simple. I think the kids were still full anyway from the milk and waffles. The easiest dinner is normally toast for us but poor kids if I were to give them just toast on a school nite...So I jazzed the toast up a bit and made toasted sandwich with scramble eggs, mince & carrot filling. There's protein and vegetables in it so I'm happy :-).

Resepi Pasta Alfredo with beef & broccoli (my mixed & match style) -atas permintaan Liasari
-hope you'll enjoy it too..

300g beef, sliced thinly across the grain
1 tbsp oil
20g butter
1-2 cloves of garlic, crushed and minced finely
300g broccoli, sliced
1 cup of thin cream (I use low fat)
1/3 cup mascarpone cheese ( I substitute it with ricotta cheese cos it's a bit expensive. You can also substitute it with softened cream cheese mixed with thick cream or just sour cream)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese ( you can use less if you don't like it)
1 tomato, cut into wedges
salt & pepper secukup rasa
350g of pasta ( you can use any type or shape)
extra grated parmesan and shredded basil leaves (optional)

Heat a pan with the oil. Saute the beef until it's changed in colour and cooked. Take beef out of the pan and keep aside. On medium heat, put butter in the same pan until melted. Then add garlic and broccoli until broccoli slightly wilted.
Reduce the heat to low and stir the cream, mascarpone cheese or the substitute and simmer for about 5-10 mins until slightly thickened. Then add the parmesan cheese and beef back to the pan and cook for a further 2 mins. Season with salt and pepper. Add tomato and turn off the heat.
Cook pasta following the packet directions until tender. Drain and return to the pot. Pour the cream sauce onto the pasta and mix well until pasta is well coated.
Serve with grated parmesan and shredded basil leaves.

Basically, the main ingredients are the cream and parmesan cheese. The rest you can add whatever you like and substitute with whatever you have in your fridge. You can replace the beef with chicken or even canned tuna (but I don't like tuna that much!). The broccoli can be replaced with carrots..cauliflower maybe (tak pernah cuba). Just add whatever you like and see if you like it or not.

Hari ni nak tulis dlm bahasa melayu pulak lah..Hari2 asik guna English aje, nak jugak sekali sekala guna bahasa melayu. Nak guna bahasa lain, tak reti pulaknya. Dulu masa kat uni buat elective Italian and Spanish, masa tu mmng lancar gak 'borak' in those languages. Tapi sayangnya sbb dah bertahun2 tak dipraktik kan, terus hilang semua...Tu yg nak guna BM harini, manalah tau kan boleh terhilang lak nya, susah nanti...;-).

Malam ni dinner western again. Mlm tadi dah makan pizza, malam ni pulaknya makan pasta..Memang ada affinity dgn Italian food ni, senang nak masak and sedap pulak tu. Budak2 pun kalau hidangkan pasta, memang habis lah selalunya. Bapak budak pun gerenti licin mangkuk tu selalunya and then siap tambah lagi. Tapi semenjak dua menjak tgh berdiet ni, 1 mangkuk aje dia makan tadi. Tapi nampak sgt dia nak tambah lagi,sian betul,hehehe....Tapi bapak budak seronok sgt tadi sbb dah turun 6 kg dlm masa 6 minggu. Tapi masih bnyk lagi lemak yg kena buang sebelum dia boleh betul2 celebrate,hehehe. But anyway, congrats dear hubby for sticking to your diet!

Menu dinner hari ni: Pasta alfredo dgn beef and broccoli

Alfredo selalunya hanya pasta and cheese sauce. Tapi nampak tak best pulaknya takde green and meat. Tu yang tambah sliced beef, broccoli and tomatoes kat cheese sauce tu. Kononnya nak bagi healthy sikit lah. Tu yg bapak budak tak boleh makan bnyk2 sgt sbb bnyk cheese,hehehe...

After all the baking I did today, I still had to do some more baking for tonite's dinner. The oven is really getting a good workout today..The kids wanted pizza again but I'm not in the mood to eat 'normal' pizza so I made stromboli aka pizza roll aka pizza gulung. The kids thought it was a new dish that I made up. Little miss 4 1/2 tried to say stromboli but could only managed "strom...", and then told me it's not a word at all..:-). Told her it's Italian...Dessert for the kids was just ice cream cake sandwich. The other half had 'no fat yoghurt' and I had fresh mango, yumm! I'm definitely running a restaurant here!

p/s the other photo is just Little miss 41/2 showing off her curls!

Lazy Sunday...But when you are the house manager, Sunday is like any other day. Loads of washings to do, baking to be done, house to clean..After hanging out the 3rd load of washing, the kitchen beckoned. Wanted to bake cupcakes for the kids for school and also something for the other half to take for lunch. Went through the chiller bin and found some nice portobello mushrooms. I decided that a mushroom and onion tart would be nice for the other half's work lunch this week and he agreed.

Supposed to use shortcrust pastry for the tart but I was just too lazy to make my own and there's only puff pastry in the freezer...The tart doesn't look that bad with the puff pastry base. Next time I make it again, I might use shortcrust pastry just to taste the difference.

I've made vanilla cupcakes last week so this week added cocoa powder and choc chips to the batter and voila!..double choc cupcakes. And since I think blue and brown go together really well, the cupcakes icing had to be blue. The kids didn't dare say anything about the colour combination, wise move kids!

As promised, tonite we had our CNY dinner. A few days late, but heck, who's counting! As long as it involves eating, we love any kind of celebration..

But to start the day of, I foolishly insisted my other half to trim my hair. He told me he would stuff it up and guess what, he was right! I told him to cut it off at the shoulder level, but maybe english is not his mother tongue because obviously he doesn't know what shoulder level means! I'm so thankful that I wear scarves when I go out or else I would have to start wearing a beret everywhere now. The moral of the story is, no matter how expensive hairdressers are, it's more expensive and humiliating to fix it afterwards! Well, it's partly my fault because the last time he tried to trim my hair, he nearly took half my ear off. Obviously, I haven't learned from past mistake. Husbands...need I say more...

The kids wanted waffles for breakfast this morning. Since it's Saturday, I didn't mind taking out the waffle maker and making them a batch. At least, the waffle maker is getting used...

Back to tonite's lavish dinner..I started in the morning making the mango jellies and cooking the tapioca balls so they would have had time to set by dinner time. The spring rolls and wontons are already waiting in the freezer. I made them and froze them a long time ago, I just hope they are still ok. Even the kids were eagerly awaiting dinner! They must think that their mum can cook :-).

Dinner menu: Fried hokkien noodles with mixed veges

Honey sesame chicken

Steamed chicken and shiitake mushroom wontons

Vegetable spring rolls

Mango jelly, sliced mango and tapioca pearls in milk