Magic in the Kitchen : Tomato, Beef, Lentil Soup

Just a lazy Saturday afternoon,  doing my office work at home.  Let's make something hot to slurp.  I am craving for them warm bread at Charlie's Place BBQ and Grill!  They serve the best bread selection ever!

While I crave for good food...  Let's make Tomato Beef Lentil Soup!

Ingredients :
Half palm sized cheap beef
1 onion
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup lentil
1/2 cup tomato
1" Cinnamon
1/2 star anise
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorn
1/2 teaspoon coriander seed
1/2 teaspoon paprika powder
Salt to taste

Method :

Wash and boil lentil till soft.

In a different pot,  melt butter.  Add cinnamon,  star anise,  coriander seed,  black peppercorn.  Add and brown beef. Add tomatoes and cook till mushy. 

Remove beef from pot.  Deglaze pot with boiled lentils and boiling liquid.  Blend to your desired consistency.

I like extra crunch in my soup, so I usually add 1 tablespoon of chopped almond to my soup.  

Add everything to slow cooker with beef.  Cook on auto for 3 hours. Salt to taste and serve with bread.

Magic in the Kitchen : Clear Beef Soup with Baby Potatoes and Winter Melon

I am not hungry though my craving is all over the place.  Been putting off making this clear soup since...  I can't remember but just now I was hit with a pang of craving for something beefy,  soupy and winter-melon-ey... 

So let's bring out the slow cooker and let 'em  simmer!

Ingredients :

3/4 kgs of the cheapest,  toughest beef money can buy

1 small winter melon

1 handful of baby potatoes

1 small onion

1 inch cinnamon

1/2 star anise

1/2 teaspoon black peppercorn

Method:

Brown beef in a pan.  Add cinnamon, star anise and black peppercorn. 

Add onion,  winter melon and potatoes till fragrant.  Add to slow cooker. 

Cover with hot water and cook on high till boiling and switch to low/auto. 

Simmer for 4 hours.

*kitchen tips -  when using a slow cooker,  buy the cheapest,  sinewiest meat cut,  but avoid fat!

Liquid in slow cooker does not evaporate significantly,  keep that in mind when adding fluid.

When using a slow cooker,  anything higher than 3/4 full is considered overfilled!

Do not add salt until everything is almost well cooked as the flavour of the ingredients will leach out.  Taste when done and only then add salt to taste.

The medium sized slow cooker works the best for me!

I'm Wide Awake : This is so stupid... Am going to stop... Let's make perfect Dippy Eggs

You know sometimes the simplest of thing can be pretty hard to achieve,  consistently.  

Like perfectly boiled hardboiled eggs (non-rubbery delicious hard boiled eggs with bright yellow firm yolks) ,  perfectly boiled soft boiled eggs (non-rubbery whites with soft/runny yolk) and my favourite -  Dippy Eggs (hingus/snot consistency!)

So let's make them Dippy Eggs

Ingredient:

Eggs

Method :

Bring enough water to cover eggs about 1 inch. 

Slowly add room temperature eggs to water (I avoid using refrigerated eggs because they have a tendency to Crack in hot water). 

Boil eggs exactly 2 minutes. After 2 minutes,  remove from heat,  cover pot and leave for 2 minutes. 

Once the 2 minutes is up... Remove from water,  Crack open and enjoy with toast and marmite...  Adoyai!

I'm wide awake: Let's Make Pancakes!

I craved for them,  I made them...  Simple as that...  In life...  You can't be too dependant to other people. Relatives,  friends or otherwise...

So let's make Pancakes.

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup milk
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp melted butter / vegetable oil
2 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn salt

Method:

Mix everything and fry on lightly buttered pan. Makes about 4 pcs.  Serve with Maple syrup,  honey,  strawberry jam,  salted butter.  Done.

I'm Awake : Let's Make Pineapple Fried Rice

I have been craving for a good plate of Pineapple Fried Rice for so long...  The best one can be found in Sungai Petani  (my hometown)  at De Sabai Restaurant,  somewhere in Taman Zamrud Industrial Park,  although I am not sure if it's still in business or not...  Last time I was there,  I was 20-ish and very desirable...  Hahaha...

Personally,  a good plate of Pineapple Fried Rice should taste of dried shrimp,  sweet from the pineapple,  the sourness of the raisins and Sambal belacan.  The sausage should be crispy.

I am salivating!

I have been putting off making this because I usually forgot to buy the ingredients...  

Normally I would go shopping and buy canned pineapple and forgot to buy cashew and I would eat the canned pineapple and go out and buy the cashew and forgot that I ate the pineapple and am out of dried shrimp and my sausages gone bad in the fridge...

Today I bought the most expensive cashew nut ever.  The price was rm12.70 and I gave the cashier girl rm23.00 and she gave me 30 sen... And I didn't notice until I was back at home...  Bloody brilliant! 

Anyway...  I won't be poor with the rm10 and she will not be rich from the rm10...

So let's make Pineapple Fried Rice.

Ingredients :

1 cup cooked rice (cooled,  preferably overnight,  kitchen tip #1 : for good dark fried rice, mix rice with 1 tbsp thick black soya sauce)

1 garlic (chopped)
1 tbsp dried shrimp
2-3 tbsp cashew nut
1 sausage
1 fishcake (kitchen tip #2: instead of slicing the cakes as we normally do,  try slanting your knife at 45° angle and thinly slice them)
4 fish ball
1 serving of white cabbage
1 tbsp raisin
3 tbsp canned pineapple cubes with syrup

1 tbsp fish sauce
1tbsp oyster sauce
Pepper

1 tbsp oil

Optional:
Chicken meat, squid,  shelled prawn, mushroom 

Method:

Heat oil.  Fry garlic,  dried shrimp &  cashew nut, remove.  Fry sausage,  fishcake,  fishball,  remove.

Add rice to wok.  Add fish sauce and oyster sauce.  Fry till done.  Add pineapple,  cook till pineapple turn transparent(ish).

Add cabbage and everything else.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with lettuce,  tomato,  cucumber and Sambal belacan.

Kitchen tip #3: to keep from everything other than rice turning brown (example- prawn,  Chicken meat,  fishball, fishcake)  add thick soya sauce to rice and fry everything else separately. 

Kitchen tip #4: soak dried raisins in cold water to rehydrate them. 

Kitchen tip #5: frying everything else and using the same oil to fry rice will incorporate the flavor into rice. 

Kitchen tip #6: adding garlic and dried shrimp to oil before turning on the heat will bring out stronger aroma. 

I'm Awake : Let's Make Rasmalai

Nothing beats cold, slightly sweet and slightly rose scented Rasmalai on a unnecessarily stressful day at work...

Rasmalai is traditional cottage cheese, served cold in rose scented, sweetened fresh milk flavored with cardamom and saffron and almond and sometimes crushed pistachios and cashew...  But I like to experiment in the kitchen and explore the Shortcuts...

Let's Make Rasmalai!

The balls (paneer)

1 cup full cream milk powder
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ghee/oil (to help the dough not sticking to your fingers)

The sweetened rose scented cardamom flavored almond milk

1 litre full cream / fresh milk
2 tbsp sugar
2 crushed cardamom
1 tbsp chopped almond
A dash of salt

Method:

Bring milk to boil on low heat. Add sugar,  cardamom, salt and stir. Add almond.

Mix paneer ingredients.  Shape into small fingertips sized balls. Oil hands while shaping dough.

Slowly drop balls into milk and cook till done.  Balls will increase in size.  Cook for 10 minutes and let cool.

Add rose water and chill.

I am Awake: Shortcuts in the Kitchen

I have been craving for Ayam Masak Merah and Nasi Minyak but...  A.  I am too lazy to cook the traditional way and B. My pantry doesn't have everything needed...

I remember when I was 17 in school,  my form 5 Catering teacher taught me a valuable lesson. 

We would come in the kitchen on Tuesdays and have our breakfast.  She will come early and cook for us a complete meal for all 30 odd students and after having our breakfast,  we will try and guess the recipe.

Some creative recipes cropped up.  Recipes like making tomyam by adding kaffir leaves,  lemongrass,  onion, birds eye chillies into chicken stock and adding meat (chicken or prawn or cuttlefish) and veggies (mushrooms,  baby corn,  carrot,  tomatoes  and cauliflower) and adding lemon juice before serving. 

I guess from this guesstimate method I've developed a good sense of how to taste and guess what ingredients needed for certain recipes.

I will come back and add the original recipes but for now...  I am too lazy!

Example: Ayam Masak Merah/Ros

Cheat Ingredients :

3 chicken wings (cleaned,  cut,  marinade with salt,  turmeric and paprika) fried till 3 quarter done.

Mix 5 tbsp bolognaise sauce,  1 garlic,  cardamom,  anise seed,  chili flakes and add chicken. 

Cook till chicken is done and oil separates. Add canned green peas.

Nasi Minyak

Cheat Ingredients :

2 cups rice (cleaned,  drained)

On the stove.  Fry 1 onion (thinly sliced) with 1 tbsp oil till caramelised,  add ginger, cinnamon and clove. 

Add rice.  Add 1 tbsp butter. Fry till translucent.

Add water and 1/2 chicken cube. 1 tbsp creamer powder. If desired- add chopped cashew nut and raisins.

Stir and cook in Rice cooker.