Meatloaf Fasha & ChuChore Wiz

I was in a cooking mood this weekend, rasa macam nak try sa'neka recipe. First on the list was of course Meatloaf Fasha. Memang sedap and just like what I thought it would be. The kids cakap macam makan burger patties but with more flavour. We just ate it like that and will definitely be making this again. Thank you so much Fasha for a wonderful recipe. Fasha's recipe's here :-

American Style Meatloaf

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

1 egg

1 onion & garlic, chopped and saute in butter till soft

1 cup milk

1 cup dried bread crumbs

A tablespoon worchestershire sauce

salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons brown sugar (kalau rasa manis sangat kurangkan)

2 tablespoons prepared mustard

1/3 cup ketchup

3 boiled eggs

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a large bowl, combine the beef, egg, onion,garlic, milk and bread OR cracker crumbs and worchestershire sos. Season with salt and pepper to taste . Place half of the meat in a lightly greased 5x9 inch loaf pan. Press the hardboiled eggs in a row down the middle of the tin. Pack the rest of the meatloaf mixture into the tin. Make sure you cover all the eggs. Smooth the top!

In a separate small bowl, combine the brown sugar, mustard and ketchup. Mix well and pour over the meatloaf.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour.

Then it was Chuchore Wiz. Fabulous results too. You can get the step-by-step recipe here. Thanks so much Ija aka Wiz for these delicious morsels. Crunchy and cheesy with the goodness of tofu and veg. Syira said that this is the Western version of our cucur bawang with the addition of cheese. Give me cheese, eggs and tofu anytime and I will be very happy. Variations are endless.....maybe next time I will put some prawns as well as chopped daun ketumbar, kinda like East-Meet-West version.

The keropok lekor without the tepung sagu. Although enough to satisfy the craving, it was not perfect. Rasa macam keropok lekor yang jual kat kantin sekolah kat Malaysia, kalau sejuk keras and liat.

Also for the first time attempted to make keropok lekor, sajer nak makan kat rumah. The recipe requires tepung sagu to ensure that the keropok stays soft tapi kat sini mana nak dapat tepung sagu. Pakai jer la tepung ubi so liat la sikit...tengah panas ok, kalau dah sejuk mau tercabut gigi palsu! Anybody has any idea what to substitute for tepung sagu? Ada somebody suggested corn starch but yet to try.

In addition, I tried to make a couscous dish. Dah lama teringin nak buat but only now the itch came when I saw packs of couscous at the Turkish supermarket. Will blog about it in another post.

Other than the cooking frenzy, we went to Hakeem's class Parents-Kids Get Together today organised by the Homeroom Mom. The kids had fun running around playing in the gym. Food was on a potluck basis so everybody brought something. I made karipap and popiah goreng, a watered-down non-spicy version of course since yang nak makan semua Mat Saleh and some Japanese.

Hakeem, Emille F from France and Santiago from Spain.

Hakeem is quite good at badminton so he was trying to teach one of his best buddies, Emille to play.

Parents-against-kids indoor soccer. The kids were quite good, excellent team work, menderu-deru they come fighting for the ball and passing it amongst them. That goalie there in blue shirt can deliver a mean kick, the ball flew very far.

Dah lama tak pegang racquet badminton, berpeluh jugak main dengan Abah and Hakeem. Abah penat main with a Japanese dad. Although short and kecik molek jer, that guy was very good at it.

Having fun playing bench ball. Team members have to pass the ball to one another and get the member standing on the bench to catch. Kalau dapat, the one yang passed the ball kena naik bench jugak The team with no more members on the court menang. The orange team won.

Abah lepas gian main basketball.

Karipap in the making.

The food spread including the popiah goreng and karipap. I should have made a lot more sebab somehow they like "exotic" food plus it wasn't spicy.

That's all folks. Penatttttt....but puas hati sebab dapat try good recipes yielding wonderful results. Now nak put my feet up in front of the telly, hopefully there's a good movie. Lepas tu nak kena kemas and cuci rumah before retiring for the day sebab esok my cleaning lady will come. The kids bising...."Mama..why must we clean the house for the cleaner? Good question kids! But sorry guys....clean we must!

Demam Quiche

Being a big fan of quiche, hari ni jadi terlebih rajin sebab terkena demam quiche selepas menjengok blog Aida. She's one hell of a blogger, the things that she writes are so bersahaja but very warm and entertaining, makes one feel very comfortable with her and wants to get to know her. better Her foodie photos....Oh sangat cantik ok....very creative too, covering interesting angles.

Back to the quiche, inspired by the Zucchini Quiche that Aida made, punya tak sabar nak makan, I stopped by the supermarket belakang rumah after office tadi and attempted Aida's recipe. Do visit her blog here for the recipe. The only difference is I lessen the zucchini sebab kat rumah ni I sorang jer yang suka this vege, added a couple of mushrooms and a dash of cream in the egg/ cheese mixture. And the result is yummy. By the way, I was looking for ready made pastry kat supermarket tadi but the ones available semua ada letak alcohol, so no can do la. Kena la buat crust sendiri walaupun malas sesangat rasanya tadi. Ingatkan nak buat Quiche Boleyn (boleyn is Perak for naked..he..he..), tapi tak sampai hati pulak nak boleynkan dia, so cari simple crust recipe on the internet and jumpa yang ini :-

175 gm plain flour
75 gm butter(cut into cubes)
Pinch of salt
2 tbs cold water

Mix flour and salt.
Add butter. Rub until mixture resembles breadcrumb.
Add water and mix together until it becomes a firm dough.
Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 1/2 hour.
Ready to be rolled out onto baking pan.
You can either bake blind first before putting in the filling and bake again or bake together with the egg/ cheese/ vege mixture as per Aida's recipe which I did.

All in all, a very satisfying and delicious recipe. Thank you so very much Aida for sharing a wonderful recipe!

Look at my pastry crust, memang fail...sungguh tak cantik, herot benyot, nak cepat sebab dah tak sabor nak bagi dia masak.

Relaxing Weekend

Hakeem wanted meatball pasta. Thus, inspired by Jamie Oliver and due to a scarcity of halal meatballs here, I made an attempt at making them today. Here's what I did :-

Mix the following together :

1/2 kg mince meat

1 egg

Salt, pepper to taste

Half packet of crushed cream crackers (any plain cracker will do)

Recipe requires freshly chopped rosemary and oregano (I omitted coz there were none in stock). Maybe one can substitute with a mixture of dried Italian herbs which I also did not have in my pantry

Roll into balls of equal size

Pan fry in olive oil for some minutes until evenly browned

Ready to be used in pasta dishes

This is the white sauce version which is Hakeem's fav. Just tumis bit of chopped garlic in extra virgin olive oil, add meatballs, add pasta, give it a stir, add mixture of an egg with cream. Quickly stir everything up as we don't want the egg mixture to curdle. Season to taste. Give it a couple of stirs and it's ready. Grate a good amount of Parmesan cheese on top.

This is the red sauce cheat version as I used ready-made bottled pasta sauce. Should have added some bay leaves but none in stock too.

Overall, we had a swell time this weekend. Our newfound friend Zura and his mega cuteness son was here and we spent a lovely sunny but cold Saturday makan-makan and lepak-lepak. Zura is such a cool Mom, pandai menjahit pulak tu, cuba tengok hasil jahitan Zura di sini. She handles Mick herself since birth and look at Mick now....pride and joy to both his Mama and Papa. I wouldn't have managed on my own. My darling Mama was with me throughout the confinement period of all my kids and sungguh manja saya di kala dalam pantang coz Mama said tak boleh buat anything strenuous...takut bentan...to the extent of tak boleh baca buku even, for fear of it being a strain to the eyes. The first baby memang ikut arahan completely. Then for the second one, I was a bit degil. Three weeks into the pantang period dah pergi Carrefour sebab rasa dah sihat and tolak heavy trolley up the ramp. Balik rumah jer esok started bleeding rather heavily. Of course I had an earful after that, terus takut and dengar jer cakap Mama. I love you, Ma.

Big White-haired Red Giant Uncle.....for some reason Mick takut kat Uncle Eddy. Dengar suara Uncle dia yang teringin mengagah Mick, terus Mick terperanjat sampai nangis. Aperahhh Uncle ni...go pick people your own size!

Lovely tulips from Zura...one of my favourite flowers apart from daffodils. They brightened the otherwise dreary winter weather.

We had mee kari, nasi ayam and popiah basah.

Old Town white coffee and chocolate cake with creme brulee ice cream. Sinful but nice....so today became the "what the heck day".

Ni tengah tengok muka Uncle la ni...terus sebek and nak nangis.

Sangat comel Mick. Uncle was definitely not in sight!

Mick and his lovely Mama.

By the way, this is a follow-up version of popiah basah after my first attempt hari tu. So Fasha dear, kalau nak buat sekali makan, dapat dalam 24 keping, use this recipe yer. Kak Yong dah cuba, tried, tested and adapt here and there. Kalau tak der sengkuang, I suppose can omit that, taste wise tak lari sangat.

Kulit Popia (adunan ni dapat dalam 24 keping kulit)

Bahan-bahan

4 cawan tepung gandum

2 biji putih telur

Garam

4 tbs cuka makan

4 tbs oil

1 ½ - 2 cawan air (agak2x sampai texture mcm buat cucur udang, boleh dijemput)

Cara

1.Campurkan semua adunan kulit. Gaul hingga sebati.

2.Rehatkan tak kurang dari sejam.

3.Tuang sedikit minyak ke dalam kuali non-stick for the first time jer. Sapu kering dengan kitchen towel. Panaskan kuali, then turn down heat to low.

4.Jemput kulit popia dan letakkan atas kuali - pakai tangan, lengserkan kuali dengan adunan starting from the outer circle to the inner part. (The first one dia selalu melekat sikit, lepas tu bila kuali dah season, dia ok).

5.Biar dalam seminit, then balikkan, biar sekejap then angkat. Boleh peel dari kuali, tak melekat.

Inti Popia

Bahan-bahan (sukatan ni lebih dari cukup untuk sukatan kulit popiah di atas)

Segenggam udang kering ditumbuk lumat and some fresh prawns

100 g taugeh

1/4 biji timun

Sebiji sengkuang kecil

Sebatang carrot

10 g bawang goreng

2 biji telur, dibuat dadar

Boleh tambah tauhu goreng juga.

Kacang tanah.

Cara

1.Celur taugeh

2.Shred timun

3.Parut sengkuang dan carrot, kemudian ditumis dengan udang basah dan udang kering. Campur garam/gula secukup rasa.

4.Goreng tauhu, kemudian potong halus-halus

5.Shred telur dadar

6.Sangrai kacang tanah dlm oven, tumbuk.

Kuah popia

Bahan-bahan

Kismis 1 1/2 cawan (boleh ganti dengan kurma, guna separuh kismis, separuh kurma pun sedap)

Cuka 2 sudu besar

Cabai kering 10 biji (ikut selera kepedasan yang dikehendaki)

Gula 3 sudu besar (ikut selera kalau nak manis tambah lagi tapi kalau guna kurma, kurangkan gula)

1 sudu besar petis udang

Sedikit air

Sedikit garam ikut rasa.

Cara menyediakan kuah popia

1.Rebus kismis/ kurma, kemudian kisar dengan cabai kering

2.Masukkan kismis/ kurma yang dikisar dengan cabai kering ke dalam periuk. Masukkan sedikit air

3.Campurkan petis udang, cuka, gula dan garam secukup rasa.Masak dengan api yang kecil sehingga kuah pekat

Last sekali assemble popiah macam biasa…sapu kuah atas kulit, letak all the inti starting with campuran sengkuang/carrot, timun, taugeh, telur dadar, bawang goreng, kacang, gulung. Sapukan kuah kat atas sikit.

Award

Got this from Fasha. Adoiiii....sungguh tak layak menerima this award but thanks anyway Fasha dear. So kena jawab soalan yer? Susah ni but let's see...

Apakah masakan pertama yang anda masak dan bilakah anda mula memasak?

Actually I can't remember. Would goreng ikan and goreng keropok be considered as masakan? Yang tu primary school dah kena buat but my guess, a full-fledged dish would be cucur bawang sebab when I was anak dara pingitan kat Assam Kumbang Taiping nun, my Mama selalu suruh buat teh and hidang whatever finger food yang ada or boleh masak kat dapur untuk her friends and my Opah's friends yang bertandang kat rumah and there was always someone coming especially dalam pukul 3 tu when it was so syok to take my afternoon nap. So kalau dah nampak kereta neighbours masuk gate jer, saya pun kena memulakan tugasan paksa rela itu and the easiest to be done in a jiffy would be cucur.

Sapa yang menggalakkan anda masak…

Hmmm....at first cooking was a chore, and selalu kalau my Mama suruh masak, ada jer alasan...yang paling kuat is of course nak buat homework. But I suppose since I'm the only girl in the family, dari kecik dah kena tolong Mama/ Opah kupas bawang la, kukur kelapa la (ni paling saya tak suka ok), kopek ikan bilis la....maybe the interest sedar tak sedar melekat juga seeing that my Opah is a fabulous cook and she reigned as the Master Chef in our family for many-many years until her numerous strokes rendered her immobile and my Mama takes over. My regret is not compiling my Opah's recipes when she was in her heyday. The recipes are all in her head and she goes around cooking by agak2x and always the dishes would come out perfect. When she was well, I once asked her whether we can switch brains and she just laughed it off.

Masakan yang paling anda suka masak dan digemari orang2 kesayangan anda

If it were up to me and my kids, I like cooking western dishes, savoury and sweet dishes alike tapi hubby dearest is a Nasi Man....pening dia kalau tak dapat his daily dose of nasi such that the rice cooker is our constant companion kalau berjalan. Masak nasi dalam toilet pun jadi to avoid the smoke alarm being trigerred. Ada sekali tu tak ada plug point dalam toilet so berselimut la rice cooker tu with a wet towel while happily bubbling away.

Tag 5 orang blogger masak yang sering berkunjung ke blog anda..
Jangan risau kalau anda tak ada masa atau malas untuk membuat soalan di atas, kumpulkan saja award ini dan tampalkan di dinding Blog anda!

I don't have many that frequent my blog because it started as a semi-private blog specially for my eldest daughter in Malaysia, families and close friends to keep up with us. here Then when Fasha and Mami linked us last year, we now see a teeny weeny bit more traffic. So, rasa2x macam tak dapat cukupkan 5 blogger masak jer yang selalu berkunjung kat sini for me to give the award to although I'd love to give it again to Fasha, my cousin Wiz, my cousin Alin and Mami. So what's left are the following....

Wid he..he..sorry babe....your Kak Yang was already tagged by Fasha and Alin was tagged by Ija, so that leaves you my dear to be tagged by me. Anyways, your cookies and brownies rock! And the latest I heard, your nasi kerabu too!

Miaw, my cousin Yop's wife and SIL to both Wiz and Wid. She's the master of chocolates. Her other signature dish is bread and butter pudding.

Millipedemom, she's Wid's friend who's Fish Pie recipe I absolutely love to make. Her other recipes are equally yummy.

Done with the questions, now I would like to share a recipe for popiah basah. The recipe is courtesy of Wiz's good friend Linda who's also my friend now. She based her recipe on Kapten Redeye Mom's recipe which she tweaked here and there. She's one great lady and a very warm hostess to all her guests...welcoming them with open arms including me whom she's never met before. Memang ramai friends and families singgah her place in Newcastle, murah rezeki Linda sekeluarga, insyaAllah. I wish I can tag her but she doesn't have a blog. Must ask her to start one, she'd be a great blogger I just know. Anyway, thank you so very much Linda (and Kapten Redeye) for a wonderful recipe, terubat my kerinduan for popiah basah kat Ampang Park which used to be my staple diet.

Kulit Popia

Bahan-bahan

Tepung gandum 1 Kg

Putih telur 2 Biji

Garam

(I added 2 tbs cuka makan)

(Like Linda, I added 2 tbs oil)

Cara Membuat Adunan

1.Bancuh tepung dengan air bercampur garam

2.Pukul putih telur hingga kembang

3.Masukkan putih telur ke dalam adunan tepung tadi

4.Gaul hingga sebati.Pastikan adunan boleh dijemput. (Texture is like cucur udang kental)

5.Simpan di dalam peti ais selama setengah hari - rehatkan tepung tu

Cara membuat kulit popia

1.Keluarkan tepung dari peti ais, biarkan buat sementara waktu at room temp.

2.Sapu sedikit minyak ke dalam kuali. (I used non-stick pan and the oil in the batter prevents it from sticking anyway)

3.Satu kali sapuan minyak boleh digunakan untuk membuat 3 kulit popia

4.Jemput kulit popia dan letakkan atas kuali - pakai tangan, starting from the outer circle to the inner part.

Inti Popia

Bahan-bahan

(I added segenggam udang kering ditumbuk lumat and some fresh prawns)

100 g taugeh

1 biji timun

250 g sengkuang

(I added shredded carrots)

10 g bawang goreng

2 ketul tauhu (I omitted)

(Like Linda, I added shredded telur dadar too)

Cara menyediakan inti popiah

1.Celur taugeh

2.Cincang timun

3.Parut sengkuang,kemudian ditumis dengan 2 biji telur kuning dan udang/ udang kering (if using). Campur garam secukup rasa. (I added shredded carrots to the sengkuang)

4. Goreng tauhu, kemudian potong halus-halus

Kuah popia

Bahan-bahan

Kismis 2 cawan

Cuka 2 sudu besar

Cabai kering 10 gram

Gula 1/2 Kilo

(I added 1 tbs petis udang)

Cara menyediakan kuah popia

1.Rebus kismis,kemudian kisar dengan cabai kering

2.Masukkan kismis yang dikisar dengan cabai kering ke dalam periuk.Masukkan sedikit air

3.Campurkan petis udang (if using), cuka, gula dan garam secukup rasa.Masak dengan api yang kecil sehingga kuah pekat

Since ada balance sengkuang from the popiah, ada orang mengidam kuah rojak pulak so tak dapat kuah rojak Mak Bee, kuah rojak ni pun sedap. The recipe is from Kak Hanieliza's blog, terima kasih Kak Liza, mohon halal cut and paste recipe kat sini :-

15 biji cili api tumbuk (I used only 5 biji cili api sebab cili kat sini tersangat menyengat)
1/2 cawan air asam jawa
1 s/b belacan
1 s/b petis udang
1 cawan kicap lemak biasa
3 s/b gula (I used gula merah)

1 s/b bijan goreng tanpa minyak
1/2 cawan kacang tanah, digoreng dan dtumbuk kasar

Cara:
1. Mesinkan semua bahan A dalam blender..
2. Masakkan dalam kuali sehingga pekat
3. Bila telah sejuk masukkan kacang tanah tumbuk dan bijan.

Cuti-Cuti Jaja

Time sure flies when we're having fun. Had fun we did with Jaja here with us albeit cuma 2 short weeks. The house is full of fun and laughter with loads of catching up to do, sakat menyakat sudah semestinya and ada jugak yang menangis lepas kena sakat dik Kakak. Went for a short vacation ke UK since it was many, many years ago that Jaja last set foot there. Katanya masa tu kecik lagi so tak ingat dah so kena la bawak sekali lagi. Apart from pusing-pusing London, we took the opportunity to visit Oxford and Cambridge Universities, dengan doa dan harapan Jaja will get the opportunity to do her Masters at either one of them later, insyaAllah.

Baru lepas telefon ehem..ehem...ke?

Clowning around depan Buckingham Palace while waiting for the changing of guards ceremony.

Bakery shop on the way to Portobello Market

This Alice shop dekat Portobello Market is a treasure trove of all things nice.

Three huge shallow pans of paella being prepared by the street vendor at Portobello Market

The canteen at Malaysia Hall. We had our fill of nasi lemak, paru berlada, sup tulang, roti canai with kuah kari and teh tarik. Rather expensive but delicious.

King's College,Cambridge, founded in 1441 by King Henry VI.

Mathematical Bridge, between 2 parts of Queens' College, Cambridge. The college was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou (the Queen of Henry VI)

Radcliffe Square, Oxford

Bridge of Sighs, New College Lane, Oxford

We got these macarons at Laduree branch in Harrods. They are way too sweet despite all the glam surrounding the brand.So very expensive at 11 pounds for a box of 6.

This dumpling soup noodle and spicy beef noodle are both so sedap. We ate them dekat Malaysian-owned Halal Chinese restaurant in Bayswater, London

Laksa specially made by Jaja. This is so good...even if yang cakap ni Mama dia. Pandai anak Mama!

Sushi as requested by Hakeem but since they're loved by all except Abah, these were walloped in the blink of an eye.

Tried this recipe from Wiz. It lives up to its name...Pudgy Fingers. May have overdone it...way too pudgy and tembam but they scored high in the taste department and stayed soft even the next day.

Congo Bars again. We can never get jelak with them. Feels like eating half-baked chocolate chip cookie dough.