Mexican Chicken

Hi gals,

Tried this recipe today - it's actually very nice (kids sapu habis) and easy to make (jenis campak2 and bake). Got it from a british cookbook - it also required tarragon vinegar and white wine which I conveniently omitted.

We had it with mashed potatoes and pasta salad.
75 gram butter
4 chicken joints
4 small whole onions
25 gram flour
2 tablespoon tomato puree
300 mls chicken stock
4 cloves
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 green pepper, deseeded and sliced
salt and pepper
100 g seedless raisins
12 stoned green olives (optional)

lightly fry the chicken in the melted buter
transfer to a large ovenproof casserole.
Toss the onion in the butter and add to chicken
Remove pan from heat, blend in the flour and then the puree, gradually add stock
Stir to keep free from lumps
Replace over heat, stir till thickened
Pour over chicken
Add cloves, garlic, pepper slices
Season with salt and pepper, cover, cook in moderate oven (180 deg c) for 1 to 1 ½ hours
Add raisins and olive for the last 15 mins

Serves 4 

Pancakes

Finally found a recipe that gives fluffy and thick pancakes, courtesy of Betty Crocker's. Lovely saturday morning breakfast. Once again, recipe to follow.

Pancakes (betty crocker’s – thick and fluffy)

1 large egg

1 cup all-purpose flour (if using self-raising omit baking powder and salt)

¾ cup milk

1 tablespoon granulated or packed brown sugar

2 tablespoon vegetable oil

3 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

butter, stick margarine or shortening

1. beat egg till fluffy, beat in remaining ingredients except butter just until smooth

2. for thinner pancakes stir in additional 1 to 2 tablespoon milk

3. heat griddle or skillet, grease if necessary

4. for each pancake, pour slightly less than ¼ cup batter, cook till bubbly on top, puffed and dry around edges, turn and cook other side until golden brown.

My version of the choc chippie

Quite ugly to look at and a bit too soft, but it's very yummy in the tum tum... ;o)

Maybe I'll put in more flour the next time around!

Shina's Cheesebuns

Decided to try making these cheese bun in a different bekas - so they expanded vertically since no space to go horizontally. Got this from mamafami cheesebun recipes. Had no grated cheese so slice cheese had to do (which, I discovered, is difficult to grate - it's lembiker than that solid block of cheese). Rating - thumbs up from the kids.With the breadmaker doing most of the work, I only had to put the mix into the breadpan, prepare the bekas, cut the dough into those ball shapes, and spread with milk/cheese. Baking time only 15 mins.

saturday nov 11th

Made Lala's cheesecake but it was only after we ate 3/4 of it that i remembered to take pics! Tonight we had a mat salleh dinner - cod, potatoes and beans. Plus i tried these buns i got from resipidiana.blogspot - superb.

Mixed fruit bun (resipidiana.blogspot.com)

A - mix all
350 gram bread flour
150 gram superfine flour (I used all bread flour)
100 gram sugar
1 teaspoon salt
30 gram milk powder
1 teaspoon bread improver (optional)
1 teaspoon bread softener (optional)
4 teaspoon dried yeast

B
Water
1 small egg – beat a bit
(mix till get 265 mls)

C
40 gram butter
40 gram shortening (or either one both)

add B to A and mix well
add C and knead till doesn’t stick to fingers
prove 30 – 40 mins
beat once
divide into 200 gram and add 50 grams of mixed fruit/raisin into each 200 gram dough;
make into balls

leave 30 – 40 mins
Roll dough thinly,
Cut strips with sharp knife dipped into flour onto one side
Roll from uncut side

Leave 30 mins
Brush with egg + fresh milk mixture
Oven – preheated 180 deg, for 20 mins
(if you want to see the process step by step, go the resipidiana site)

the smaller cut one was supposed to be red bean stollen, but had no red beans but used choc nutella - same princip of making it. 

hot cross buns

This morning i tried this. easy (with breakmaker which did all the uli uli work) and nice to eat when hot. bila sejuk tak sedap sangat.

recipe to follow later.

Hot cross buns (The bread book)

500 gram strong white flour (I used bread flour)

3 tablespoon butter

3 tablespoon caster sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground allspice

¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg

1½ teaspoon fast=action dried yeast

1 egg , beaten

275 mls milk

125 raisins

for the crosses

125 gram strong white or plain flour

8 – 9 tablespoon water

to glaze

4 tablespoon milk

2 tablespoon caster sugar

with breadmaker – milk, egg, sugar, butter,flour, salt, spices, yeast set.

Tip onto lightly floured surface, knead well.

Cut into 12 even pieces, shape into balls. Put buns spaced well apart on to greased baking sheet.Cover loosely with oiled clingfilm, leave in warm place to rise 30 mins

Sift flour for crosses into small blow, gradually mix water to make smooth paste. Spoon onto piping bag – pipe crosses over buns, bake in preheated oven 200 deg c, 15 mins till golden brown.

Meanwhile put milk + sugar into small saucepan, heat gently till sugar dissolve, boil 2 – 3 mins till syrupy, brush hot glaze over buns.

Allow 5 mins, transfer onto wire rack to cool.

Lindek's Ayam Percik

Ingredients :
1.5 kg Chicken, cut into 6 pieces
100 ml Water
300 ml Thick coconut milk
50g Tamarind paste

Spices
6 Shallots
3 cloves Garlic
2cm Ginger piece
1 stalk Lemon grass
3 teaspoons Chili paste
1 teaspoon Cinnamon powder

Seasoning
2 teaspoons Salt or to taste
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Ground black pepper

Method :

Mix the tamarind paste with the 100 ml water and squeeze to obtain tamarind juice. Set aside.

Combine and ground the spice ingredients. Then add the tamarind juice and thick coconut milk.

Put the chicken pieces in a large mixing bowl.

Pour in the combined spices with coconut milk and tamarind juice before adding in the seasoning.

Mix well until the chicken is coated with the marinade.

Keep in the refrigerator for several hours or preferable overnight.

Remove and grill the marinated chicken pieces over a charcoal pit or bake in the oven until meat is cooked and slightly charred.

Ami's Lamb Cous Cous (as experimented by Lindek)

From North African cookbook (belum pernah try)

Sweet Lamb Cous Cous (Couscous T’Faya)
Serves 6-8

200g dried chickpeas
1kg lamb shoulder, on the bone, cut into 4 pieces, excess fat removed
½ tsp freshly ground ginger
1 stick cinnamon
¼ tsp saffron
1½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 small bunch fresh coriander
1 small bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley
8 Tbs olive oil
1kg large sweet onions
sea salt
125g dried raisins
1 Tbs clear honey
1 tsp ground cinnamon
500g pre-cooked cous cous

Soak chickpeas in plenty of water for 24 hours. Bring a large pan of water to the boil, add the chickpeas and boil hard for 10 minutes then drain.

Place the meat in the bottom of the couscoussier (I don’t know what a couscoussier is! Try and find it on the internet). Add water to the ¾ level, bring to the boil and skim the scum from the surface. Add the chickpeas, ginger, cinnamon, saffron, ½ tsp of the pepper, the herbs tied together in a bunch and 3 Tbs of the olive oil. Grate 1 onion and add that to the pan. Simmer actively for 1 ½ hours.

Meanwhile peel the remaining onions and slice into fine half moons. Heat the remaining olive oil in a heavy pan over a low flame, add the onions and leave to cook slowly for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

When the meat and chickpeas have cooked for 1 ½ hours add the raisins and salt to the pot. Continue to simmer for another 30 minutes. Meanwhile steam the cous cous according to the instructions on the packet. Stir the honey, ground cinnamon and remaining black pepper into the caramelised onions and cook for a further 15 minutes.

Pile the cous cous onto a large plate and moisten with plenty of broth. Remove the meat from the broth, place on the cous cous and pile the onion and raisin mixture on top. Serve with additional broth.


Harissa Sauce

8 large dried red chilli peppers Water
6 cloves garlic, peeled 1 tsp coarse salt
2 tsp ground coriander seeds 1 tsp ground cumin seeds

Remove the seeds and tops from the chillies and leave to soak in just enough water to cover. Meanwhile crush the peeled garlic cloves with the salt. After 1 hour remove the chillies from the soaking liquid and process them with the garlic and salt to a slightly crunchy paste, adding just enough of the soaking water to achieve the right consistency. Stir in the spices and refrigerate. Serve with cous cous.

The Mat Salleh version (this is actually the one I use)

Moroccan Lamb (serves 8)

1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground ginger
1.5kg boneless shoulder of lamb, cut into chunky strips
2 Tbs olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
200g ready-to-eat dried apricots, halved
200g ready-to-eat stoned prunes, halved
700 ml hot lamb stock
6 tomatoes, roughly chopped
grated rind & juice of 1 lemon
4 Tbs roughly chopped coriander
1-2 tsp harissa
salt, black pepper

Preheat oven to 180C/fan oven 170C/Gas Mk 4. Mix the spices with salt & pepper, then rub them into the lamb. Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole & cook the lamb for 2-3 minutes, stirring until beginning to brown.

Stir in the onion & garlic & cook for 1-2 minutes until just starting to soften. Stir in the apricots, prunes, hot stock & tomatoes, bring to the boil. Cover & transfer to the oven for 1 ½ - 2 hours until meat is tender. Serve with cous cous or saffron rice.


Harissa Sauce

Blend 6 seeded fresh chillies & 4 garlic cloves. Stir 3 Tbs olive oil (need just enough to make a paste). Add 2 tsp of white wine vinegar, 2 tsp of ground coriander & salt & pepper.

Kalau malas nak buat Harissa Sauce, beli kat Sainsbury. They have Harissa Sauce made by Belazu in their Special Selection, and it is pretty good. I always keep a small jar in the fridge for emergencies.

Note: kalau sesiapa dah try (or Lindek herself maybe) boleh lah tolong post a pix, ye? '-)