I do find solace in the kitchen when I'm just doing my thing alone or cooking with my sisters.
With that,I am TRULY exited looking at kitchen wear and appliances.I should start saving money to buy myself a serger
Things that makes life easier
and also
Gorgeous no?
Anyhoos,was walking back home this morning and stopped at this place called the Urban Outfitter,they have outfits,accessories,furniture and guess what?kitchen stuffs too!THEY ARE INCREDIBLY ADORABLE!!!
Heart shaped measuring spoon
Guitar shaped spatula
Ellie and clown waffles!
I died!
Side view of measuring cups
Front view,A-meow-zing!
The circus waffle maker sure did bring back some good ol memories,1) I know my sister Ahya' have always wanted one and she bought one already i think. 2)Ahya' and I will never look at circuses the same again after one fun evening of playing outside..;p (I LOVE YOU!)
Btw,the appliances are less then 40$,I know that of all times,now I should save money for certain reasons..but lets just hope they still have them a year from now and pray that I can actually stop myself from buying things that i don't really need.Hang on.i do need the donut maker.=(
University life is never easy and never relaxing.The never ending workloads,quizzes and test.boy oh boy.In a about a month time,I'll be lazing around under the Malaysian sun,cuddling with mum and put more fat in myself.Anyhoos, my mum is a fan of chef wan.This one particular time,she excitedly copied down one of his recipes called Pla Sam Rot which means,3 flavored fish if i'm not mistaken.In the past,i didn't remember being a huge fan of it,but i know my sister Ahya' LOVES it! The thing about being away,you start craving for food you don't even like.
Pla Sam Rot
2 Fillets of fish (I used Cod Fish)
1 Egg yolk (lazy me,i just used the whole thing)
4 tablespoon of cornstarch
a pinch(or two) of salt
8 red chili
2 cloves of garlic
a handful of coriander
2 tablespoon of vinegar
3 tablespoon of fish sauce
1/4 cup of diluted tamarind juice
2 tablespoon of sugar
Fish/Pla
1)Cut the fish fillets into smaller pieces.
2)Beat the egg, cornstarch and salt in a bowl.Cover the fish fillets with this batter and set it aside.
3)In a sauce pan,fry the fish fillets until its golden brown.
Fish in batter
Fried ish
Sauce
1)Chop the coriander finely.
2)Blend the chilies and garlic.
3)In a saucepan,sautee the blended chilies and garlic.
4)Add fish sauce, tamarind juice,vinegar and sugar.Mix well
5)Stir in the coriander until it is slightly wilted.
Serve with white rice.=D
Ingredients for the sauce
Fish and sauce
=D
For some reason,my pla sam rot does not taste as good as mom's.There's this bitter after taste.Yikes.
Plus,it'll look wayyyyyy better if you use red chillies instead.
Anyhoos,talking about Thailand,the first thing that will come to my mind is Banyan Tree.
The place where I learned to listen to New Age music,my favourite one yet,
These past few days, I've been trying to make McConnell library my second home because I simply can't study at home.I have no idea why.Maybe the table is too small.(Don't ask me whats the connection between small table and studying).Studying makes me hungry=(.Anyways, I've been feeling pretty tired too.I wake up tired and falling asleep in my classes.*not good.not good*and i ate a lot too!Yesterday alone i ate a hash brown,2 waffles with butter and syrup and hot choc for breakfast.For lunch i ate a bagel with cream cheese and hot chocolate again (the weather was chilly) and in the evening i ate rice with tofu and egg tom yum and for dinner i finished the rice with the tom yum and had another bagel with creamceese AND jam and ice cream.YEAY.To which my mum asked "kawan2 tak marah ke,kapi makan banyak sangat karang diorang xdapat makan?".No worries mum!Makanan blana kokna!Plus she said I look chubbier.I call this Happy Fat.
I found some frozen ground beef in our fridge and first thing that pops into my mind is tomato ground beef stuffed pita that my mum always made for us when we were younger.It was heavenly especially during Ramdhan.So because I miss mum and her food,I decided to make ground beef stuffed pita using my own recipe.=D Spinato is actually spinach and tomato.hah!Sounds Italian no?I know I'm lame as it is..now this?haha..
Spinato Ground Beef
3 cloves garlic
1/2 of onion
1 bowl of spinach
1 big tomato
2 tablespoon tomato puree
Olive oil
500g ground beef
a handful cilantro
1/2 tablespoon chili flakes
Kalamata olives
A LOT of cheese
Salt
All Italian seasoning
Tomato paste,spinach paste,ground beef and chopped cilantro,garlic,onion and olives.
1)Chop the garlic,onion,tomato,olives and cilantro into small pieces and put a side.
In a food processor or a blender,put in the spinach,quarter of the cut tomato and oil.Puree until smooth.
3)In a big saucepan,dry then cook the ground beef.
4)After it is cooked,put aside and pour in oil and sautee the onion and garlic until it is cameralized (i didn't wait that long because i was running late)=)
4)Then add in the spinach puree,tomato puree,ground beef, olives and cilantro.Mix well.
5)Add the seasoning and salt to taste.
Yeap.We're done!
Yeay!
So this is how you put it together,(I used Greek style pita and mozzarella cheese=)
CHEESE,tomato and pita bread.
Slice the bread into 2.
Put the ground beef on one slice of the bread.
Add the tomatoes and cheese.Then, toss them into the oven.
Dig in!
Instead of using cheese,maybe you can try using cream cheese and add MORE chilli flakes to make it spicier or paprika even.Next time,we'll try arab style ground beef.=)
Don't you just lovvvvveeee cilantro?!I DO!The smell boy oh boy!!Call me crazy but i love to go and sniff things..especially in grocery stores oh wait.the florist comes first..anyways..I was at this Asian restaurant the other day and I was sniffing my laksa loudly at the counter (trust me,I am the only one who is able to SNIFF loudly..speaking loudly is not enough for me)..and the guy in front of me turned around and just looked at me (no surprise)..and I was like,"Reminds me of home" and smiled.He just looked and left (i don't remember if he smiled but whatever).I've been telling everyone that I don't need anyone to help embarrass myself.I'm just sooo good at it.Wait till i tell you about Enrique!Haha!I'll tell that some other time.Lets just say that thank goodness he is hot enough to be embarrassed about.
To some, chocolate is their comfort food.Me on the other hand,would dive in a pool of cheese. Craving for something cheesy and Italian, I made spinach n cheese lasagna AGAIN! Super yummy.!We haven’t been eating meat for quite awhile and the idea of eating meat now seems a bit erm..weird..Who knew veggies can be so yummy? This is my second time making lasagna on my own. Mine ends up a little bit too dry so here is the altered recipe. =D
1½ can of tomato sauce
1 tomato
A bunch of spinach
4 to 5 stalk of button mushrooms
½ onions
5 cloves of garlic
¼ cup of butter
¼ cup (more or less) flour
3 cups (or more) milk
2 tablespoon of chili flakes
1 cup of cheese(of your choice)
¼ cup of breadcrumbs
Oil
Salt and spices
The red sauce
1.Heat the oven to 300 degree Fahrenheit (more or less, I told you how old my stove and oven is, there’s no dial on it! Hooray!)(thx Aneesah!=D)
2.Chop the onion, garlic, tomato into small pieces.
3.Sautee the garlic and onion until it is slightly browned
4.Add the mushroom and stir.
5.Pour in the tomato sauce and chopped tomatoes
6.Season it with spices and add some salt (if it tastes fine without the salt then omit it)
7.After a few minutes, let the spinach into the hot tub. Let it simmer.
(if the sauce is not thick enough leave it on the heat a little bit longer. But seriously, the more saucy it is, the better)
(You could make the white sauce only for the top layer, but for me, I put it on EVERY layer)
If you want to make ONLY for the TOP layer, here is what you need
2 tablespoon of butter
2 tablespoon of flour
1 cup of milk
1) On a stove, put the butter in a saucepan and add flour to it.
2) Add milk and stir.
3) Add the flour and continue stirring.
Mind you that the roux thickens really quickly so don’t leave it unattended(Note to self)
As it starts to thicken, turn off the heat.
If you’re like me, white sauce biggest fan, follow the same direction using the initial measurements.=D
If it’s too thick add more milk, if it’s too thin add more butter and flour.
Putting it all together
White sauce,red sauce, lasagna noodle,cheese and breadcrumbs
1.Layer the bottom of a big casserole dish with the red sauce.
2.Arrange the lasagna noodle on top of it.
3.Cover it with red sauce then white sauce and then half cup of cheese.
4.Repeat that step.(I can only make two layers in my dish)
5.On the top most layer, after putting on the cheese, cover the top with breadcrumbs.
6.Throw the baby in the oven for 45 minutes to one hour and dig in!
The arranged lasagna noodles
the red sauce
white sauce and cheese
breadcrumbs at the very top
Hot from the oven
side view=D
To be honest, for mine, I didn’t layer the bottom of the dish with sauce. That tip was given by my beloved Trisha. She said that it’ll help make the bottom pasta more soft and easier to lift..I didn’t use enough sauce in mine so my lasagna was delish nonetheless yet a bit chewy. Pasta should melt in your mouth along with the cheese. Lesson learnt .MORE SAUCE! The amount of white sauce I made this time is different from the previous attempt. Since the consistency differ everytime, feel free to make more if you don’t have enough. Seriously, you’ll never have more than enough. It’s super yummy. The fact that it has flour in it makes the lasagna more erm..presentable. Lasagnas are yummy and can be messy.(or that could only be for me, I'll 20 this year and I’m still a messy eater. there. confession, done!) anyways,the flour makes it look neater in a way.
There you go!Have fun making lasagna. Add capsicum or any thing you like in it.If you’re an artist,the pot is your canvas.(okay lame, I know)
Btw am super excited for Yanni Voices live in Montreal!Just bought the ticket yesterday.So Alhamdulillah. Can’t wait!Here one of my favourites..(i don't speak German btw)
A few months back my sister suggested that i try substituting avocado for mayo.Mayo is yummy but if you can find something that is even yummy-er and not as fattening,then why not? Mind you that mayo is made out of oil, egg yolk and vinegar. Avocado on the other hand is a natural antioxidant and rich with vitamin E and vitamin B6,folate, vitamin A in the form of beta carotene and beta-cryptoxanthin.(okay,i copied some of the names from the net and i can't even pronounce it). All i'm saying is that your sandwiches can taste wayyyy better and healthier.Plus,you can save a lot for not buying mayo too!(it works for me because i only have sandwich once in awhile).Say no to Mayo.Oh wait,not mayo.Say no to Fat!
So here goes
Avocado Spread
Avocadoes(depending on how much you want to make them) Black Pepper Lemon/lime juice
Cut the avocados in halves and spoon it out in a bowl. You can cut them in smaller pieces if the avocados are too hard. Use a fork or potato masher and mash them until they're soft and all gooey.(if you have a hand blender,it'll do you wonders and save all the hassle and mess) Add a dash of black pepper and about a spoon of lemon juice for each avocado used.(Not too much though) Yup!Thats it!
I think adding some paprika or cayenne pepper would make it smokier.You can add some all-italian spices too if you like.(although i don't think it'll taste good) anyhoos,like normal mayos,you can flavor it the way you like it!
Usually i'll spread some of these avocado yummyness on sliced baguette, put small pieces of crabstick and cheese on top and put them in the oven.*ULTIMATE YUMMYNESS*
today however,i tried eating them with chicken breast.It doesn't taste as good.Perhaps because chicken tastes like..well..chicken..Less exotic.Or maybe because i didn't put any cheese in it(I'm trying to cut the fat remember?) Never mind..Will try to make it yummy-er next time.
Plus,my handphone is covered with avocado.I think my phone hates me now.It works slower than usual.Or maybe it is because it is always in the kitchen.Phones don't belong in the kitchen.
