Stir Fried French Bean and Tofu

Hey everybody,

Today I wish to share a simple Malay vegetable dish. Why did I post this recipe? Because each and every country has their own way of preparing a vegetable dish. I wanted to show and share how our vegetables were cooked in this Asia continent.

By the way, when I google, I found three different names for this bean. French bean, String Bean and Green Beans. I chose french beans.

Let's take a look at what's needed :

Some onion, garlic , chili and french beans

10 french beans (cut as picture above)
1 piece of tofu (cut into cube and stir fry a little. Put it aside first)
a handful of cut squid or little shrimp (it will lend a good aroma to the dish)
1 egg
1 red chili sliced
1 onion sliced
1 tea spoon of turmeric
2 tea spoon of fish sauce (if you don't have it, use salt instead)
1 tbl spoon of dark sweet soy
3 garlic crushed and cut in tiny pieces

Tofu & some squid and clam leftovers

First, as usual we need to heat up the cooking oil. Take about 2 table spoon of it and put it into the skillet.
Next, throw in the onion and garlic. Let the garlic brown a little.
Now, put in the squid or clam or whatever your heart fancy and pour a little water (1/4 cup) to moisten it a little.
Let all the ingredients incorporate.
Once the squid is cooked, throw in the green beans together with the lightly fried tofu.
Make a hole in the middle of the vegetables. Break an egg into it and stir until it thickens.
Now, you may add the sweet dark soy sauce, the fish sauce or salt and the sliced chilies.

Cooked for just about two minutes. Put off the fire and scrape it out from your skillet and place it in a plate.
It's ready. Takes not more than ten minutes to prepare and cook.

Fully nutritional. You can either eat it on its own or with a plate of rice. As for us Malaysians, we definitely will go with a plate of rice along with a few other dishes.

Happy cooking!

Rose
25th.Nov '13

Kerang Rebus Dan Sos Nenas

Assalamualaikum semua,

Dah lama tak nampak kerang kat pasar. Kerang yang dah siap di kopek ada la. Tapi saya tak berapa gemar sangat kerang tu.
Jadi, pagi tadi bila nampak kerang , terus saya teringat nak buat kerang rebus dan sos manis. Lama sungguh tak buat sos ni .

Jom kita sediakan bahan-bahannya:

1 kilo kerang (dicuci bersih dan di rebus)
Air hanya separuh dari jumlah kerang di dalam periuk.
Bila kulit kerang dah terbuka, tutup api dan toskan.

Untuk sosnya pula :

air nenas anggaran 1/2 cawan

1/2 biji nenas (saiz sedang) dikisar dan di ambil jusnya anggaran 1/2 cawan
3 biji cili kering dan 5 cili api di kisar bersama dgn sedikit air
2 sudu besar sos tiram
2 sudu besar kicap manis (saya pakai kipas udang)
3 sudu besar gula merah
2 sudu makan air asam jawa
1/2 cawan kacang tanah
3 sudu makan minyak masak
sikit garam

Kita mulakan dengan panaskan minyak dalam kuali.
Bila minyak dah panas, tuangkan cili kisar tadi dengan sikit air. Biar sampai air hampir kering dan cili masak.

Sekarang masukkan air nenas tadi beserta dengan sos tiram, kicap manis dan gula merah.
Cuba rasa dulu, kalau dah cukup masin, tak perlu tambah garam.
Terakhir masukkan air asam jawa dan taburkan kacang tanah dan tunggu sehingga sos agak pekat.

Bila dah cukup pekat, bolehlah ditutup api dan biarkan sejuk sikit sebelum di sajikan.

Nota : Sos ni juga boleh dimakan dengan lain-lain pembuka selera seperti rojak buah atau salad.

Anggaran Cost :

Kerang            : RM 5.00 sekilo
Nenas              : RM 1.00
Lain-lain bahan : RM 2.00

Jumlah                RM 8.00 untuk 4 orang

Rose
23rd.Nov '13

A Boring Day

Hey everyone!

How's life with you guys out there? Doing great? Good to hear that. We need all kind of good news every now and then to perk our day once in a while. As for me, life has been easy on me these days. I am happy the way I am leading my life at this very moment. I had had enough of deadlines and headaches a couple of years ago to last me a lifetime.

Much of the time I have at hand these days were filled with daily routine. I am always on the go from dawn till later in the evening. That way I don't feel my life being wasted away. But like any other people out there, there were days when I felt unproductive. There's no challenge for me to take on. What challenge? You're fifty years old. You may say. I know, I know, but it's not a sin right, for a fifty year old to want to have a little challenge to spice up her life? Oh well, I try to  figure out something some day.

Wondering why I am grumbling about my life? Nothing much. Just that yesterday was an awfully boring day for me. As usual I got up early and made some light breakfast for Sara before she left for school. My husband was out early. Soffian was with his friends holidaying in Koh Lipeh, Thailand and Ariff was in the morning shift. I was all alone at home. Just so you know it, I love being alone at home. I am free from cooking and washing. And I am free to write my blog with no disturbances whatsoever. But yesterday was, I don't know how to say it, something like empty. Most probably it was raining outside and the sky was dark and my radio was playing As Time Goes By by Kenny Rogers. It all added up together.

I went out for a while on my own to pay up our utility bills and grabbed some grocery to stock up my kitchen cabinet. I planned it in such a way that I was on the dot to pick up Sara from her school. Since nobody was at home, both of us had lunch at a nice little cafe close to my place. I had Fish & Chips while Sara had a nice grilled chicken. That was quite good.  We got home at close to one o'clock in time to catch a repeat of a Running Man episode.
Ariff got home a little bit later. Gave me a weak smile and headed towards kitchen. "Ma, what did you have for lunch?" He asked. I said casually, "Oh, Sara and I had our lunch outside, since nobody was at home today". I heard him grumbling how hungry he was and that he hadn't eaten anything since this morning. I turned to him and said, "I don't understand you. You worked in a hotel, you worked in one of the hotels kitchen and for heaven's sake you're making cakes and chocolates everyday for the desserts and you came home grumbling to me that you're hungry. I honestly don't understand you."
"Ma, I had enough of hotel food. I even can tell what food they're serving in the cafetaria by the smell of it."
"Oh really? For all you know, I got tired of my cooking too. I too know what's the taste like even before the food was inside my mouth." I countered back.
He will not back down when he continued,"Are you cooking tonight?"
I said I don't know. I will if I feel up to it and I won't if I don't feel like it.
He made a face and cheekily said to me before running hurriedly upstairs, "You will cook then right?"
I shouted back I don't know yet.

It was nearly six when my husband got home. He walked slowly towards the dining table and saw nothing on it.His way of questioning it,"What did you guys had for lunch just now?"
"Oh we had our lunch outside." I answered.
"Anything to eat? I am hungry."
I don't understand them. They were out all day and going places and they can stop anywhere to have that cup of tea but no, none of them did that. They came home and automatically their eyes and hands will reach the dining table to see if there's something that can be eaten. Or the fridge. They will open the fridge to see if I've placed a mystery dessert inside there. Well I do at times, since I have a food blog. But not always and I need to get away from the kitchen too every now and then.

A few hours ago the house was quiet and I thought I'd die of boredom and now I wish that boredom would creep back so that I could lounge a bit more, instead of having this squabbling moment with them.
Guess what happen next? I ended up going into the kitchen. I prepared the easiest and safest dinner for all. Home-made paratha bread with chicken curry and tuna sandwich.

Ariff came down later and saw some food on the table and I can see him grinning and stealing a quick look at my direction. As if I didn't see him.
"What are you smiling about?" I purposely put on my firm voice.
"Oh nothing, just that I think Genie had brought me some food." He said teasing me.
"Genie? Sure, the Genie you're talking about is the same Genie talking to you at this very moment".
He laughed and walked to get his plate and doesn't seem to bother with my remarks.
My husband was next on line to get his plate.

And so my boring day had turned into a normal day. I maybe can stay away from the kitchen when we were away somewhere on holiday.
Dinner served, everybody's happy. Now it's my time to sit back and enjoy a few hours before calling it a night.

Good nite everybody!

Bye for now,
Rose
20th.Nov '13

Biskut Kracker Rapuh & Coklat

Baru-baru ni saya buka satu blog Australia ni: taste.com.au, ada resipi coklat yang menarik perhatian saya.
Agak susah nak faham apa yang dia tulis tapi nasib baik anak teruna saya, Ariff, ada di rumah hari tu. Jadi dia tolong bagi tau apa yang patut di buat. Sebelum ni, tak pernah sekali pun dia buat kek atau cookies kat rumah walaupun itu memang kerja dia di hotel.

Saya ubah sikit2 untuk bagi senang kita nak buat.
Bahan bahan yang diperlukan :

Golden syrup dan single cream

125gm single cream ataupun pouring cream
1 potong dark cooking chocolate
(kedua-dua bahan utk coklat ganache)

3 sudu makan susu pekat manis
2 sudu makan golden syrup
1 sudu makan butter
(ketiga-tiga bahan untuk lapisan manis)

120gm butter (di cairkan)
1 packet cream cracker (dihancurkan)
(kedua-dua bahan untuk biskut rapuh)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

saya sengaja pakai cream crackers ni sebab nak contrast kan rasa coklat dan susu yang sangat manis.

Pakai sepotong saja dah cukup

Untuk membuat coklat ganache, kita hanya perlukan sepotong dari dark coklat ini. (pecahkan coklat mengikut outline dia)

Coklat ganache

Buka api perlahan. Masukkan coklat tadi bersama dengan separuh dari single krim (125gm). Kacau jangan henti sehingga coklat cair dan halus. Tuangkan ke dalam mangkuk dan biarkan sejuk.

Untuk membuat manisan susu pekat pula, masukkan susu pekat, golden syrup dan 1 sudu butter dan masak atas api perlahan sampai butter cair dan semua mixture menjadi sebati. Tuangkan kedalam mangkuk dan biarkan sejuk.


Sekarang nak bakar biskut pulak. Mula-mula panaskan oven kita pada 170celsius.
Pada masa yang sama juga, ambil cream cracker yang dihancurkan tadi dan campurkan dengan butter yang kita cairkan tadi. Gaul rata.

Ambil acuan muffin dan letakkan cup cake liners kedalam acuan (utk mengelakkan dari melekat).
Sekarang ambil adunan crackers tadi dan masukkan kedalam acuan dan tekan kesemua bahagian base/bawah dan tepi.
**Ingat ya, biskut rapuh ni memang betul-betul rapuh. Pegang kuat sikit dah berderai.
    Ada satu adunan tu, saya campurkan dengan sikit putih telur utk melekatkan adunan.

Biskut yg dah dibakar. Senang berderai. Mesti dimasukkan ke peti sejuk dulu

Bakar selama lebih kurang 7 ~ 8minit. Biskut akan menjadi kekuningan seperti diatas. Masukkan kedalam peti sejuk selama 1/2 jam dulu.

Keluarkan biskut dari peti sejuk. Sekarang masukkan manisan susu/golden syrup tadi (anggaran 1 sudu makan setiap bekas) dan biarkan dulu. Jangan dimasukkan coklat ganache dulu. Lebih elok kalau disimpan didalam peti sejuk selama 20minit.

Selepas 20 minit keluarkan semula dari peti sejuk dan sekarang bolehlah di siram dengan coklat ganache kedalam biskut cracker kita.

Lagi sekali, masukkan kedalam peti sejuk dan biarkan selama 20 minit. Sekarang barulah boleh dimakan.

https://www.facebook.com/Ariffisma?fref=ts
pictures by Ariff  Ismail

Sangat sedap! Bahan-bahan yang harus digunakan agak mahal tapi kita boleh simpan untuk masakan lain seperti single cream tadi tu boleh kita gunakan untuk membuat pasta sauce. Coklat pula memang banyak kegunaan dia.

Anggaran cost :

Cooking coklat  : RM 3.00 (pakai separuh )
Single cream      : RM 4.50 (   "         "       )
Cream cracker  :
Butter               : RM 4.00
Lain-lain bahan : RM 3.00

Jumlah               RM 14.50
                         (Boleh dapat 12 biskut)

Rose
19/11/13

Tropical Salad With Peanut Sauce / Gado Gado

Hey there everybody!

I am back again with yet another recipe, a salad recipe. My readers especially those in the U.S, the Great Britain, Germany,Poland and a few other European countries should try this recipe at home. I try to make it as simple as possible so that you too can enjoy it as much as we do out here in Malaysia.
This recipe is most probably originated from Indonesia.  I had to put this in writing so that there won't be any misunderstanding from my Indonesian readers with regards to this recipe.

Let's take a look at the ingredients :

The roasted dried chili

7 dried chili 
Roast in dry skillet
Use your food processor and grind it until it became powdery
Mix a cup of water into the chili powder. Put it aside
300gm of peanut 
Also roast it without oil and allow to cool.
Then use your hand or a piece of cloth to scrunch out the peanut skin.
Grind it using your food processor until half of the peanuts became fine and the other half still chunky
2 tbl spoon of tamarind juice
( Available at any Asian store)
Take about the size of a ping-pong ball and put a little water in it. Squeeze it until it produces the brownish juice. Scoop about 2 tblspoon and put aside.

2 tblspoon of cooking oil
1 cup of coconut cream
3 garlic (crushed)
a pinch of salt
3 tblspoon of sugar
2 table spoon of brown sugar

** Don't get daunted by my explanation above. It isn't as complex as you may think. In fact it is so easy once you get started.

Tamarind

Now lets make some sauce:

Place the cooking oil in a skillet. Let it heat a little.Throw in the garlic for just a minute. Don't burn it.

Next, pour in the chili paste that we put aside just now. Cook under medium heat. Let it boil.

Then, add the crushed peanut into the boiling chili paste and stir it so that it doesn't turn lumpy.

At this time, you may pour in the coconut cream, sugar, salt and tamarind juice all at once.

Let it simmer until the sauce thicken.

Oops, one of my long bean had jumped into the sauce!
picture by ariff ismail

Once fully cooked, the color of the sauce should change into vibrant brownish as the picture above.

See, it's as easy as 1,2,3.

This is how it should be eaten

You should eat it by pouring a lot of the sauce onto your salad and mix well. Not dipping into it.

Take a look at the picture above.

Right, now that you've succeeded with the making of your sauce, let's get your vegetables ready

You will need :

bean curd or tofu and water spinach

300gm of water spinach (blanched for a few seconds, if you can't find them, just leave it out)

3 piece of beancurd (lightly fried and cut into cubes)
2 potatoes (boiled)

2 hard boiled eggs (cut any way you like)

100 gm of bean sprout (blanched for two seconds)

100gm young corn (blanched for about a minute)

8 long beans or snake beans (cut it into 2 inches long each blanched for a minute)

You may add any other vegetable to suit your taste buds.

And that's it. It's ready and it's superbly delicious and nutritious. Please try it and let me know.

Rose
17/11/13

Pengat Pisang Sekaya Pandan

Tiba-tiba rasa teringin pulak nak makan pengat pisang. Dulu arwah tok rajin buat pengat pisang ni. Pengat pisang yang saya nak kongsi ni ada sikit kelainan, saya buat kuah santan berasingan. Jadi bagi sesiapa yang menjaga pemakanan bolehlah ikut resipi ni. Makan pengat saja tanpa santan didalamnya.


Bahan yang di perlukan :

7 biji pisang masak ranum (pisang emas lebih manis)
1 cawan tepung ubi
1/4 cawan gula putih
3 sudu makan gula merah (utk memberi warna)
1/2 cawan air
sikit garam


UTK sekaya pandan pulak :
1 cawan santan
sikit garam
2 sudu besar gula putih
2 sudu besar tepung ubi
1/2 cawan air pandan

Cara nak buat sekaya pandan ni, senang saja. Sediakan periuk kecil, masukkan air pandan, gula putih dan garam. Bila gula dah larut, masukkan pula tepung ubi. Bila dah agak pekat baru dimasukkan santan. Tutup api dan angkat.

Pisang yang di lenyek

Untuk membuat pengat pisang:
Mula-mula kisar pisang agak kasar (tengok gambar di atas)

Di dalam satu mangkuk asing, campurkan tepung ubi, kedua2 jenis gula, garam, air dan gaul sekata.

Kemudian masukkan pisang tadi kedalam campuran tepung ini.
Gaul hingga gula hancur dan sebati.

Panaskan steamer kita. Griskan sikit permukaan loyang. Tuangkan adunan pisang tadi kedalam loyang dan kukus selama lebih kurang 30 minit.

Tutup api dan keluarkan dari steamer.

Penat bekerja? Take a break dengan pengat pisang 

Biarkan betul betul sejuk. Bila dah sejuk, potong kecil2 pengat tadi dan tuangkan sekaya pandan keatasnya.

Nota : Pada saya, saya lebih suka pengat pisang saya dimasak memakai tepung ubi drp tepung gandum yang selalu kita guna. Tepung ubi rasanya lebih "light" atau ringan pada perut. Bak kata orang Kedah, tak sebu perut.

Anggaran Cost :
Pisang              : RM 2.00
Santan             : RM  2.00
Lain-lain bahan : RM 1.00

Jumlah            : RM 5.00

Rose
16th.Nov '13

The Down Side of Me

Hello readers and friends,

It's 3.36pm Sunday afternoon when I started writing this post. Let's see how many days will I take to finish up the writing. I could complete it today if I put my mind to it or stay focused, who knows.

Now, at this moment, I am feeling totally worn out. It's totally legit for me to say that, since my day starts at 6am. Everything needed to be done in exact time such as sending Sara to school, preparing my little business ( the packed lunch, remember? If not, you can revert to my April post,  A Little Side Income
 Yeap, I am still doing it. Why, that's what helped me to vacationing in Chiang Mai last August.
My packed lunch business must be ready by 10am. Then it had to be sent over to the vendor soon as I am done packing.
 I usually finished the whole regiment, that include doing the dirty laundry and dish washing and lunch cooking by 12:30pm. By now my spinal cord is crying for me to slow down. It wouldn't be so bad if I am still in my thirties. But fifty? Well, think it this way. It's a good form of exercising.

I got some time to relax after 2 o'clock and that's  the time when I can start my blogging. But what usually deter me from writing religiously was my strayed mind. I can't stay focus. There were so many things on my mind that is interfering with my creativity. I prided myself as someone who thinks like a man, yet I am an ultra sensitive person. I cried easily and I dwell on some unnecessary matters longer than it should.
That's what I hate most about myself. I give one example. Lets say, Sophie didn't call me for just about two days and she didn't even text me. Just because of this little slip up, I thought the worse of it. Maybe she's bored talking to me or worse, she had nothing to talk about with me. I found myself assuming things that she herself didn't know about. Then I started feeling sorry for myself. See what I mean?

There's one other thing that I hate about myself. I like to keep things to myself. I may be at my boiling point with someone or anyone (especially those closest to me), but I kept the dissatisfaction bottled up inside me. I can't bring myself to blurt out what/how I truly felt. I thought they would get hurt if I am being honest and truthful.
It didn't help to make the situation better. It only make the matters worse and make me feel terribly stressed. And to wonder how on earth  did I get the cancer!

I also have a heart of jelly. Too soft hearted which could put me in a disadvantage position occasionally. My husband and the two girls knew me like the back of their hands. A number of times they had to stop  me from being overly generous. Not that I am rich, no ma'am, of that I am sure. It's just that, I am a sucker, for sad story. (doesn't sound cool for a fifty year old to use that kind of word,huh?)
If anybody were to walk up to me and tell me their sob story and asked for some donation, he or she wouldn't leave empty handed. When I was at the wet market in the morning, there were some old men selling their home grown vegetable or old ladies selling their home-made cakes, I am torn.To buy or not to buy. Half of me is saying it's gonna go into waste as I don't need those at home, the other half  is urging me to buy. It only cost a pittance. I won't go broke by buying their goods. Honestly, I really don't need those things at home yet I felt sorry for them. It's a back breaking job to toil the land with their bare hands to cultivate some produce and sell it on their own for how much? RM 3.00 for a kilo of sweet potatoes. And the ladies, they had to sacrifice their sleep having to wake up at three or four o'clock in the morning to prepare the Malay cakes and sell at 0.30 a piece. I am pretty sure you guys would do the same as I do. I had toughened up a bit lately but like they say, old habits die hard.

I've got this bad habit of not looking into a person's eyes, as and when I am upset with that particular person. I can feel my facial muscle contracting and my whole body synchronizing as if in agreement with my feeling at that moment. I tried changing the way I behave but I doubt I'll be able to do that at this point of time.

What else? Oh yes, when I am in my foul mood at one of the inhabitants at home, everybody else will feel the heat too. Lets say Ariff was the source of anger for that day, rest assure he wasn't alone. Whoever dares to cross my path will feel my wrath too. Even though I wasn't the nagging type or the yelling type, my quietness and my curt responses will make everyone around uneasy. It took me a longer time to cool off the temperature.

The last one is my forgetfulness or shall I say absent-mindedness? Are the two the same in meaning? Same meaning or not, I am both of the above. I always seem to forget the recent event or conversations that I just had with someone. By far, the worse is when I am driving, be it on my own or with any one of my family members. I tend to forget where I am heading. At times I even forget the route I am taking. What I'd do (if I am alone) I would stop the car and had to take a moment to think back before I left the house. Sound creepy, doesn't it?  Just the other day, coming back from town with Sara and upon reaching home, I asked her if my cell phone was with her. She said no. I walked back to the car and began searching everywhere. I was about to think that Sara is playing me up. Then she pointed to my hand. It was in my left hand all the while. Funny thing is I have a clear and vivid mind for long term memories. I must be suffering from short term memory loss.
The most terrifying thought is I might ended up being an Alzheimer patient. Touch wood! Even to think that I had to depend on people for every single thing can made me cringe.

Despite all the weaknesses and flaws that my mind and body is and was going through, I am blessed for being who I am. I love me.

I finally finished my writing today (Friday 15th) after starting on this topic last Sunday.
Have a nice evening everybody, wherever you may be!

Rose
15th.Nov '13