kacang pool haji demon

Dedicated to my friend the Rainmaker...

Ingredients:

2 cans foul medammas / kacang parang
500 gm ground beef (jangan pakai Indian meat tau.. hehehe)
3 yellow onions
7 cloves garlic
2 tbsp coriander seeds (ketumbar)
1 tbsp jintan manis
2 tomatoes
Rempah tumis (kayu manis, bunga lawang, etc)
2 packets rempah briani (apa2 brand la.. but I think Faiza is good)
1 tbsp curry powder (bagi colour dia tak bosan)
Sugar
Salt

Garnish/Condiments:
Green chilies, sliced
Red onions, diced
Limau kasturi
Telur mata lembu with the yolk still runny a.k.a sunny side up

1. Roast the ketumbar and jintan in frying pan (no oil, ah)
2. Blend onions, garlic, ketumbar, jintan, tomatoes.
3. Tumis the blended ingredients together with rempah tumis until fragrant.
4. Add in the rempah briani and kari, and water (agak-agakla berapa banyak).
5. Add in the ground beef and cook for about 5 minutes.
6. Add in the kacang pooooool and let it simmer for about half an hour. Add salt and sugar to taste.
7. Serve with the garnish/condiments above.
8. Call the gang to whack la....
9. Lepas ni hang jangan nak suruh aku masak menatang ni lagi k...

My slave...

cocktail sausages hors d'oeuvres

Dang, the container is so messy - this was for a kids only party ok. And I have photos to prove it too..

This is easy peasy and can be done in a jiffy. That somehow rhymes.

1 packet Ayamas cocktail sausages (the big 'un)

4 cloves garlic, minced

3 shallots, minced

Hunt's hickory bbq sauce

Heinz ketchup

3 drops of Maggi seasoning (please use sparingly!)

Italian herbs

Olive oil

Heat olive oil in your pan, stir fry garlic and shallots till aromatic. Throw in the bag o' sausages. Mix it about for 3-4 minutes, add in the Italian herbs followed by the bbq sauce and ketchup. Mix well. For extra kick, add in some ground black pepper.

Which reminds me, I need a pepper mill.

banana and strawberry trifle

I go nuts over anything banana-n-strawberry. My two little kitchen elves Medina and Yunus had fun helping out with this one. Ali, as usual, was completely nonchalant about the project and preferred to be with his PS2. It's a great dessert to make with the kids cuz it's not that messy and it's quite simple and they LOVE arranging the banana and strawberry slices. This one is an improv of the normal trifle that uses fruit cocktail (i don't really like canned fruit).

1 vanilla swiss roll

5 bananas

1 punnet (250gm) strawberries, halved

1 box instant jello, strawberry flavoured

Whipped cream (either the aerosol canned one or the Kool Whip tub one, whichever you prefer)

For the custard:

2 tbsp Bird's custard

1 pint milk

2 tbsp sugar

Start with:

Slice the swiss rolls and line them up in your trifle bowl / casserole / or whatever glass container that you wanna use for your trifle. Prepare the instant jello as per directions on package. Pour over the swiss roll base, refrigerate while you go to the next step which is:

Preparing the custard:

In a bowl mix the custard powder and 5 tbsp milk and the sugar. Pour the rest of the milk in a saucepan and heat up for 2 minutes. Pour in the custard mix and stir well. Let boil, while stirring like a madwoman so that it doesn't stick to your pan. Remove from heat and let it cool for a while.

Take out your trifle base from the fridge and layer banana slices on the jello layer. Pour over the custard very slowly. At this point make sure that your custard is not too hot. Let it set, and refrigerate for about 1/2 hour.

When custard is set, smother with whipped cream and decorate with fresh strawberries. Put it back in the fridge for a couple of hours and enjoy!

southern potato salad

I call it southern potato salad because I got the recipe from this platinum blonde classmate I had in Notre Dame. She's from Alabama hence the "southern" namesake - and I'm from the south too... Johor lah! Anyway, this potato salad will make you wanna say "Sheneneh.. git yo' big phat ass ovah heahhhhhh....."

6 Russet potatoes (even better if you can get Yukon Gold or red potatoes because they are "waxy" and will not crumble easily)
3 celery sticks, chopped
5 hard-boiled eggs, chopped coarsely
1/4 cup sweet relish (i punya secret ingredient for that extra kick!)
1 cup mayonaise - adjust to your taste some prefer more/less
a sprinkling of Seasoned Salt (McCormick's) - if not you can use normal salt and pepper
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp yellow mustard (optional, but personally i don't quite like it)

Let's Start!
Boil potatoes and be careful not to overcook them. Peel and let cool. Then chop coarsely.
Put mayo in a mixing bowl and add in the seasoned salt, pepper, sugar, yellow mustard, sweet relish. Mix them up real well. I do this first before putting in the potatoes to avoid over mixing the salad and it becomes all mushy. Then add in the potatoes, celery and eggs, mix gently. Cover your bowl with plastic cling wrap and chill in the fridge. Best kept overnight so that the flavours can mingle :)

lamb chops a la jazzmatazz

By popular demand, here's the recipe for the lamb chops. These can either be barbecued/grilled or pan-fried.

8 pieces lamb chops (lamb shoulder or lamb cutlets)

1 big bulb of garlic (approx 15 garlic cloves), peeled and pounded

3 tbsp dried mixed Italian herbs

2 or 3 springs fresh rosemary leaves (crushed / torn to small pieces - somehow I never cut my fresh herbs with a knife it tastes much better mutilated by your hands)

3 tbsp honey

3 tbsp Kikkoman Teriyaki marinade

5 tbsp Hunt's Hickory barbecue sauce (or any other brand but Hunt's works well for me)

juice of 1 lemon (this will help tenderize the meat and lessen the baa baa black sheep smell)

Wash the lamb chops. Drain all the extra water. Marinate with the rest of the ingredients and leave for AT LEAST 3 hours. Grill over burning coals or you can pan fry in a skillet with a little olive oil.

Akak punya tips on bbqing lamb or steaks:

1. Don't flip the daging too many times, it'll get dry and toughen up

2. Towards the end of bbqing you can baste the meat with the juice from the marinade, don't baste too early it'll get burnt because of the honey

Enjoy!

seafood marinara sauce

Please excuse the blurry pic

My 2nd favourite pasta sauce after the olio :)

You need:
5 cloves garlic
1 large yellow onion
1 can of tomato paste
1 can diced tomatoes (or you can use fresh tomatoes, diced, if you have time)
2 cups apple juice
a bunch of fresh basil leaves, torn up
5 squids, cut into rings
10 pieces green mussels
2 salmon steaks, cut into chunks (i used dory the other day and it tastes quite good)
some shrimp
1 cup scallop meat
salt and pepper

Steps:
Saute garlic and onions until fragrant and translucent. Add in tomato paste, diced tomatoes, water and apple juice. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes. You can add in the salt now if you wish but please be very cautious as the seafood will make the dish saltier as you cook it. Add in seafood and fresh basil leaves. Turn down the heat and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. Serve with your favourite pasta. Mine is the Barilla spaghetti No 5 or vermicelli or angel hair.

cheese seafood dip

Best eaten with Ritz crackers - although some of my friends prefer to eat it with tortilla chips. For a lighter alternative, spread over Carr's table water crackers. Tapi kalau makan satu kotak tu sorang2, it's still not healthy :P

What you need:

1 bar (250g) Philadelphia cream cheese
3 tbsp mayonnaise
1/2 small tub plain yogurt
Juice from 1 lemon
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 stalk spring onion, sliced fine
1 yellow (Bombay) onion, diced

1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped fine (purely for aesthetics reason!)
Boiled prawns, chopped
Boiled crabsticks, chopped
White pepper
Salt & sugar to taste (optional, I don’t really put any additional salt/sugar)
Paprika

It's bloody easy to make too:

Mix them all up starting with the cream cheese! Sprinkle with paprika and garnish with extra lemon slices. By the way, tastes better if kept overnight in the fridge.