#27 BIG FAT CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES: recipe #16

My children love anything with chocolate chips. Dayini in particular was requesting a yummy chocolate chip cookies. I go to the allrecipes.com and found an interesting recipe contributed by Elizabeth, too try. With some modification particularly the sugar content, I managed to bake the yummiest chocolate chip cookies I ever made. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter ( melted)

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1/2 baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips ( I used Hershey's)

steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 165 degrees C

2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt... set aside

3. In another bowl, cream together the melted butter, sugar until fluffy. beat in the eggs till light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients and stir in the chocolate chips ( the mixture is quite sticky, not like the usual biscuits).

4. Drop cookie dough into the baking tray , cookies should be 1 inch apart.

5. Bake for 15 minutes. Take the cookies out from the oven and leave them on the tray for about 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Beleive me ... these cookies will " disappear" in no time :)

#25 MUSHROOMS

When I was in the lower sixth class in Maktab sains, we were required to come up with a project. Since our tutor that time, Dr Hyde was a mycologist, he suggested our group to study fungi. The activities ranged from collecting rotten fruits from the girls hostel, went to the forests to observe the wild varities of fungi in Tutong, which happened to be my friend's ( Mulliza) home. I also went to the forest nearby my house alone to collect bracket fungi that grew on trees and rotten tree trunks. In these field trips, I had observed the famous " fly trap" fungi, the " bird's nest" fungi, "jelly-fungi" of various forms and colour as well as the poisonous red-coloured mushrooms. We also did the growing of oyster mushrooms in our own lab using the saw-dust as the substrate. I personally was quite sceptical when my tutor told me that he ate the puff-ball fungi... because people said it originated from dog's urine.. but as a biologist, fungi grow from spores. Anybody/anything could be agent of spores transmission.

By the way....what are the benefits of edible fungi...?e.g mushroom.. check this out people.. after reading this you might want to consider to include mushroom in your diet :)

Mushrooms has a high amount in total dietary fibers, including those associated with cholesterol-lowering (chitin) and healthy hearts (beta-glutan).
It's also known to be anti-cancer.

#24 CARROT CAKE MUFFINS: recipe#15

A friend at work was asking if I have a good recipe for a carrot cake. I told her I was not sure but would try to find one for her. I found one from my slightly successful first time attempt and had modified the recipe by reducing the sugar by 3/4 and adding vinegar to the mixture. Here's the recipe

Ingredients: makes 12 muffins

3 cups grated carrots

2 eggs, beaten ( medium size)

1/2 cup oil

3/4 to 1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup raisins ( cut to small pieces)

1/2 cup roasted almond- chopped ~ walnut is also a good substitute

3/4 tsp bicarbonate of sugar

2 tsp cinnamon powder

1 tsp vinegar

1 and 1/2 cup all purpose flour

steps:

Mix well all ingredients except flour in a bowl.

Add in the flour little by little to the mixture.

Put the mixture in the muffin tray lined with the muffin paper cups.Bake in a pre heated oven with temperature of 140-160 degrees until done.

#23 MEE MAMAK : recipe #14

I feel a bit better after resting the whole afternoon, so as usual , the appetite to eat increased. So, at about 5.00p.m I went to the local supermarket to buy the fresh ingredients for my "Mee Mamak". But off course, it is nothing like "Mee Si Ali of Maktab Sains" which was popular back in the 1980's. I do find though the Mee Mamak nowadays are not up to my tastebuds as they used too much tomato sauce. I learnt this recipe through "words of mouth" from a dear friend of mine, Annie or better known by our students as Miss Annie ( Thank you Annie!!).

Ingredients:

Yellow mee ( I used fresh mee in this recipe 0.5kg)-you can cook the dry ones as well.

3 medium size tomatoes cut into wedges

2 chicken breasts ( or meat /fish cakes etc)

3 stalks sawi hijau (mustard green? not sure)

1 green chili-sliced

1 red chili-sliced

1 potato-diced and fried ( oops! I forget to put this in today!!)

3 tbsp LINGHAM chili sauce ( very important ingredient)

1.5 tbsp tomato chili sauce

Soya sauce to taste

1 egg ( I omitted this today)

3 cloves garlic

3 shallots

steps:

heat oil in a non stick pan

fry onions and garlic

add in the meat until cook

add in all the sauces and all the vegies including potato

add in the noodles

mix well

adjust the taste... add in more of the sauces to suit your tastebuds

If you use egg, make a well at the centre, put a little oil, add in the egg, when the egg is half cooked, mix the whole mee again.

Wa~laa people you'll get your very own Mee Mamak !!!

#22 SIMPLE MALAY SALAD: recipe #13

Back in the old days, when I was a teenager, My cousins and I used to help families preparing their wedding feast. Back then, "caterers" didn't exist except maybe for royalties or for the Hot shots. So, a week before the big day, usually families will be already busy with the ingredients preparation including peeling the onion skins etc. And the aftermath? even worse... washing dishes including the pots and pans. You don't even want to look at your skin or nails.. they were simply "terribly unattractive" . Acar /Achar was one of the common menu . I remembered we had to slice about 300 -500 cucumbers about 100-200 carrots and open around 100 cans of pineapples for the dish. Simply exhausting... ... I don't think many teeagers nowadays have the experience the ones that we had. Anyway, at the age of 15, I made my first Acar. From then onwards, it's one of the "must have" dish that I prepared whenever I cooked Nasi Briyani or Nasi Minyak.

Ingredients

6 cucumbers

2 carrots

1 can pineapple/ slices of fresh pineapple

6 dried chinese " lobak" ( turnip??not sure)

2 cloves garlic

1 inch old ginger

2 shallots

1 red chili

salt and sugar to taste

lime ( limau kesturi)- usually people use white vinegar, but I prefer lime juice... it's stomach friendly :)

steps:

cucumbers & carrots to be cut lengthwise

pineapple and lobak cut into small pieces

ginger , shallots, garlic to be sliced thinly

chilli julienned

juice the lime - you can also slice the lime to be included in the dish.

- mix all the prepared ingredients, add in salt and sugar ( usually the ratio is 1 tsp salt to 1 dsp sugar) and leave for 30 minutes before serving. If you want to prepare this ahead to time keep this in the fridge to slow down the osmosis rate.

#21 NO COOKING DAY!!! yahoo!!!

I am on Mc today, had viral infection , doctor said it's common in our area. Therefore today I would like to share My favourite song that has a meaningful lyrics... When you Believe (Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston)

Many nights we've prayed
With no proof anyone could hear
In our hearts a hopeful song
We barely understood
Now we are not afraid
Although we know there's much to fear
We were moving mountains
Long before we knew we could
[Chorus:]
There can be miracles
When you believe
Though hope is frail
It's hard to kill
Who knows what miracles
You can achieve
When you believe
Somehow you will
You will when you believe
In this time of fear
When prayer so often proves in vain
Hope seemed like the summer birds
Too swiftly flown away
Yet now I'm standing here
My heart's so full, I can't explain
Seeking faith and speaking words
I never thought I'd say
[Chorus]
They don't always happen when you ask
And it's easy to give in to your fears
But when you're blinded by your pain
Can't see your way clear through the rain
A small, but still, resilient voice
Says help is very near
[Chorus]

TO EVERYONE, ESPECIALLY TO MY STUDENTS.... YOU WILL WHEN YOU BELIEVE

#20 FLAPJACKS OR FLIPJACKS AS THE BEARS CALL IT: recipe #13

One day I was watching Hisyamuddin's favourite show " The little brown bear" , the episode when the little brown bear was preparing breakfast with the daddy bear. They prepared the so-called " Flip Jacks". The ingredients was simple... eggs, salt, flour, butter and milk. I experimented with the ingredients and found that "Flip Jacks" was actually a kind of pancake which is very delicious. After a few trials especially in the amount of ingredients used (the bears didn't gave this) ..Here's the recipe....

Ingredients: makes 6

1 and 1/2 cup self -rising flour
1 large egg
1/2 cup oil
1 pinch of salt
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Enough milk to make the consistensy of the batter like the heavy cake batter or "cucur"batter

steps: batter preparation
mix everything except milk in the bowl.
add in milk until the mixture reached the required consistency.
beat well until you obtain the thick and smooth consistency.
: cooking
heat oil/butter in a heavy non-stick pan
Place 1 tbsp of batter in the pan ( you can place 4-5 FLIP JACKS batter in the pan!)when the bottom side of the batter is cooked, flip the batter and cook the other side till done

serve warm with "kaya", "honey", Jam, Nutella etc...

#19 LAYERED PENNE : recipe #12

MY "LABORATORY"

At home, if I mention the word "laboratory", it has to be my kitchen. My kitchen is a simple kitchen. I don't have dry/wet kitchen, but just a kitchen. In this kitchen, I created a lot of delicious simple recipes. I spend a lot of time in this special room , to prepare food for my loved ones...

Today , I made penne layered with beef sauce and white sauce.

LAYERED PENNE

Ingredients:

500g Penne or any other shaped pasta (boiled)

Beef sauce

* 450gm minced beef

* 1 onion-diced

* 2 cloves garlic-minced

* 1 can diced plum tomatoes

* 3 tbsp Maggi tomato sauce

* 1 tsp Italian herbs

* a dash of cracked black pepper

* salt/ chicken stock

white sauce

* oil

* 2 tbsp flour

* milk- adequate amount

cheese

Method:

1. Simmer the ingredients of the meat sauce for about 25 minutes.

2. for the white sauce,: heat oil in a pan, add in the flour, add in the milk until thick gravy is formed. Add a little amount of salt for taste. If you happen to have the cheese granules you may add them to this as well.

3.To layer : place 1/2 the amount of penne into a casserole, place 1/2 of the beef sauce as the second layer and all of the white sauce as the third layer. Place the rest of the penne as the fourth layer and cover them with the rest of the beef sauce. To finish off, add a generous amount of cheese. ( I used the individually wrapped cheese slices :) )

4. Bake at 100 degrees for 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted ( use grill function)

#18 KEBAB AND SIMPLE SALAD: recipe #10 and #11

Today's dinner

I kind of tired ( in Brunei "baus") to eat malay food, so today I prepared something different. I also have to consider My Hubby " healthy diet". So, I prepared Kebab, salad... cheese garlic bread for the kids and I and baked french fries also for everybody except my hubby.

Kebab

1/2 kg meat -cut into small cubes
grated ginger 1 inch
2 cloves garlic ( grated)
2 tbsp curry powder
1tsp masala powder
salt to taste
slices of raw papaya ( to tenderise meat).

steps:

1. Mix all ingredients above for 3 hours
2. put meat into bamboo skewers, throw away the papaya
3. grill gently in a grill pan
4. baste with oil
5. when meat is nearly done on both sides, baste with honey.

SALAD
1. 2 handful shredded purple cabbage
2.1/2 can whole corn kernel
3. yoghurt
4. 2 dsp low-fat salad dressing
5. salt and cracked black pepper to taste

steps: mix everything and serve.

#17 GASTRIC ~ HEALTH TIPS

picture retrieved from http://www.aldia.atonra.com/?p=389


While I was in my SM collegue room, another collegue of mine was asking me about gastric, and if I'm not mistaken, food that can alleviate gastric or gastritis. I only experienced gastric everytime I was pregnant.. believe me, it is not something that I looked foward to. I have to be extra careful of what I ate or had to suffer from hyperacidity Which ended up in vomitting...

It is very important to know why gastritis happen. The Root Causes of Gastritis includes the following...
Toxins accumulating in tissues and blocking circulation.
Poor nutrition.
Poor digestion.
Imbalance of the nervous system.
Accumulation of physical and mental stress.
Lowering of natural resistance and immunity.
Disruption of natural biological rhythms.
A side effect of certain medication
exercising right after eating
smoking


For Annie's mom or others who suffers from gastritis conditions, here is for you all:
oods to Eat
Eat at regular times each day.
Keep your intake of milk and dairy products to 3 servings per day or less. Choose lowfat or fat-free dairy foods whenever possible. This will also help control stomach acid production.
Eating soft or light diet.



Foods to Avoid
*black and red pepper

*chilies..chili powder.. hot peppers ( yang sewaktu dengan nya) often irritate the stomach lining.

*Foods with caffeine can increase the amount of stomach acid. e.g.teas, colas, cocoa, chocolate.

*Limit your intake of tomatoes, tomato juice, peppermint, fatty foods, and citrus juices.

* Limit intake of food that cause you to have extra gas. e.g dalca , broccoli, cabbage, onions, milk, cooked dried beans and peas, and some fruits. ( To me, corn and milk also cause gas, so I avoid these. I drank soya bean instead )

I hope these helps..

#12 Lassi: recipe #9

Home-made Lassi

I like to drink Lassi/yoghurt drink as long as I can remember. I was first introduced to it by a friend about 24 yrs ago back in the MSPSBS girls hostel at jalan Muara. Back then, we the English Medium students aka Science School students have to "menumpang" in the Maktab Melayu Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan building. That's why back then the school was known as MMPSBS/SS.

So much for the information.... anyway 1 small container cost about B$1.20 . Through an Indian friend I learnt how to make home made yoghurt so.. I am able to consume them without limit... :)

Ingredients:

20ml plain yoghurt

500ml milk

beat both ingredients in a big bowl... leave in a warm place for 4-6 hrs... wa~laa, you get a containerful of yoghurt.... anytime you need some more yoghurt.... all you have to do is to repeat the above steps over and over again

For the Lassi.. for 1 glass

fresh fruit of your choice

1 dsp sugar

200ml milk

some ice

blend the whole thing for a thirst quenching drink

#11 BASIC BISCUIT RECIPE: recipe #8

My basic biscuits recipe

I was brought up and thankfully able to observe my grandmas cook. One of the skills that I think that I master from them is to cook by estimation. Sometimes, its difficult to explain to people why I do not have a particular recipe. This is simply because I do not have them. I experiment with ingredients and wa~laa , "menjadi". I do have trouble especially when I tried to do kek lapis or kek gulung, because estimation will not make them "menjadi". That's why I don't like to venture to these two in particular. However, here is my basic recipe for my cookies:

1 cup butter

1 cup icing sugar

flour

and that's it!!! ... eggless and no measurement of the flour because I usually mix different kinds of flour e.g. custard, potato, almond powder etc depending on the availability of stuff in my Kitchen or my imagination. Sometimes, I put in lemon essence or coffee oil into the dough to make variations to my cookies. I know when I have to stop putting in the flour , i.e. the moment when I am able to shape them into little balls.

Topping make a difference, for a more sophisticated gorgeous looking biscuits, try using chocolate or icing... topping.. It works...

#10 HIGH FIBRE MUFFIN; recipe #7

I did mention in the previous post that my hubby is into this "health" thingy. Last night, he had challenged me to bake a "healthy" muffin. So, this morning, I went to my kitchen, rummaged through the kitchen cabinets and this is the recipe I came up with...... :) Warning " THIS RECIPE IS NOT FORTHE SWEET TOOTH"

"THE" muffin

Ingredients:
1 handful big raisins
1 handful walnut
1 handful rolled oats
2 handful cut apples
1 medium egg
1/3 cup sunflower oil
1/3 cup skim milk
1dsp honey
blueberry for filling
1 and 1/3 cup self -rising flour

steps:
-mix everthing in a bowl
- fill in the muffin cup halfway.... put in the blueberry and top up with the mixture
-bake at 160 degrees celsius until done.

Eat while warm..... mmmmmmm....

#8 HOMMUS AND PASTA SALAD: recipe #5 and #6

Sunday Breakfast
After 2 weeks of never-ending makan and endless invitation to "open-houses" , My hubby said he wanted to have a healthy start for today. You see,just after puasa he lost about 3 kg and he's gaining...more than 3 kg. :)
As a biologist, let me explain why this happens. During puasa, for most of us, especially those who do lots of work outs and didn't do it during puasa, our body experiences 2 "things" . 1- lowering of metabolism... meaning our body has a lower tendency to burn the fats into energy due to lesser activities. 2- our cells which have been deprived of "food" as a result of lesser intake of food during puasa become an efficient storage for fats when puasa ends. So as a result, if we are not careful, we'll gain double what we've lost.

Back on today's topic...
So today I prepared My hubby His favourite snack vegies with Hommus dip and green tea. Whereas My Kids and I had macaroni salad. Here are the recipes:

Hommus dip ( Arabic dip)
1 can chick peas ( kacang kuda)
3 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup tahini ( sesame paste: sesame seed soak in water for a day, crushed to seperate bran, soak in salted water for an hour, toast and grind to make paste)
1clove garlic
4 roasted garlic
1/2 tsp salt
a pinch of white pepper

steps: blend everything to form a paste.

PASTA SALAD

Ingredients:
1/2 pkt pasta ( macaroni, fettucini, shells, spaghetti)
1/2 onion
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup milk ( can be replaced by 1/4cup cream or1/4 cup mayonnaise)
patsarami ( smoked beef can be replaced by tuna or chicken slices)
1/2 tsp mixed italian herbs
cracked black pepper
salt to taste or use chicken stock powder
capers ( optional) but I love them!!
tomatoes

steps:
1. Boil pasta with salt and oil. drain
2. shallow fry the garlic and onion till soft add the milk the meat, herbs,pepper
3. Add in the pasta , tomato and capers....


and... for me I end my breakfast with this.... coffee and I put cinnamon stick in it....mmmmmm... heaven.

# 7 CHOCOLATE TREAT: recipe #4

This year this " treat " is a "sold-out" item in my house. The base is made up of crushed graham Crakers, butter, icing sugar and peanut butter made into a dough and pressed into a non-stick cake pan. Melted chocolate was poured over the pressed dough. I cooled the "thingy" before cutting it to small pieces. The pieces were then wrapped in coloured plastic. Yummy!!!

#6 BRUNEI CUISINE RECIPE: recipe #2 and #3

When I was waiting for my A'level results , I used to stay with my 80 yrs old grandma and from her, I learnt how to cook delicious yet simple Brunei cooking. These are amongst the many recipes that I learnt simply by observing her cooking.



Tengiri rebus air
Ingredients:
4 slices tengiri/mackerel
1 tsp tumeric powder
1 dsp blended dried chilli paste
10 asam aur-aur ( see pic above. My friends in Malaysia and Indonesia said they couldn't find this there, so I assume this is native to Borneo)
4 shallots and 2 garlic
I stalk of lemon grass
salt and chicken stock to taste

Steps;
In a pan, mix tengiri with chili and turmeric, add shallots and garlic. add a bowl of water (about 500ml). Simmer at medium flame until boiling. When boiled, add in the rest of the ingredients and adjust its flavour.

Nangka Masak Air


Ingredients;
1. I bowl 3/4 ripe Nangka ( Jackfruit)
2. I red chilli ( julienned)
3. I lemon grass
4. 3 red onion
5. salt and chicken stock to taste

steps:
Put all ingredients into a pan add 1/2 bowl water , cook until tender and adjust flavour.... enjoy

#5 SELAMAT HARI RAYA!!

Syawal is here....

Today is 11th Syawal, a busy time for muslims to celebrate, renew friendships, visiting relatives and friends. Here and there the phenomena of " Open Houses" , just like a virus is infecting Brunei . I missed the days when people just come to the house without having have to ask before hand .... "Bila u open house?". You see, when people came to the house during the so-call " open house" session, we will hardly able to have a decent conversation with them simply because they are so many people that we need to attend to. That is the reason why I do not have an "open house" session. I simply cook whenever I feel I like it, call my core family for makan and others who happen to come to the house will eat , whatever is being served.

So a few days before Hari Raya I was so busy making biscuits and cakes for the joyous occassion and I still am because most of my "kueh raya" has finished and I need to replenish them... to everyone here... Selamat Hari raya Maaf zahir dan Bathin...