FOODIE WEEKEND - Butterless Banana Muffin

Happy weekend everyone!  Hope you all are having some nice time.  

Yesterday we received a couple of guests from Italy that will be staying with us for the next 3 weeks. I can foresee this weekend is going to be a fun one as tomorrow, Sunday the 1st of July, Italy will meet the defending champion, Spain in the final of UEFA 2012 or European Cup 2012.

So, some snack while watching the game is essential and I thought I would try out this recipe that was given to me by my neighbour (the one that bakes so well).  I love this recipe because it does not use even a bit of butter.  Instead it calls for a small amount of vegetable oil of your choice.  Intrigued as I was? Allow me to share this recipe with you, then :)

Butterless Banana Muffin

Ingredients (makes 12 - 14 muffins)

1 1/4 cup of all purpose flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

A pinch of salt

1 cup of sugar

1/2 a cup of vegetable oil (I used canola oil)

2 eggs

1 cup of mashed banana (about 2-3 bananas)

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

Muffin paper cups for baking

Method

Mix flour, baking soda and salt together, set aside

Using the electric mixer, whisk sugar, oil and eggs until smooth and fluffy.

Once fluffy, add banana and vanilla essence and beat some more

Then gradually add flour mixture to the bowl and beat until well combine

Pour the mixture into the paper cups lined muffin tray.  Be careful to 

fill only 3/4 full of the cups.

Bake in the pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for about 25 - 30 minutes.

This muffins are fairly easy to make (trust me, if I can bake this without any 'tragedy', anyone can!) and they are soft, light and tasty too! 

FOODIE WEEKEND - Mama's Succulent Lasagna - Step by step picture recipe

Hi, everyone!  How's the weekend so far? Hope you all are having some nice time with family and friends.

Last 1st of June, Captain celebrated his 44th birthday and when I asked him what was it that he  wish for his birthday, he just said "One of those awesome lasagnas of yours!" Aww.. wasn't he sweet?  Well, I don't normally like to blow my own trumpet but lasagna is one thing I can cook well!  Well, they might not look super elegant but they surely taste good :)

If you asked me what is the secret to a good lasagna, I would say it is the 'ragu' or the meat sauce filling.  If you are interested you can get my version of recipe here. Another secret is in the bechamel sauce or cheese sauce used to ensure the moist texture and creamy taste of the lasagna.  Of course being generous with your ingredients helps too.

In this post I will lead you step by step in preparing this lasagna beginning with the bechamel sauce!

Bechamel Sauce

Ingredients

80 grams of butter

1 1/2 tablespoon of flour

3 cups of milk

1 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese

1/3 cup of shredded parmesan cheese

1 piece of bay leaf

Salt, pepper to taste

Method

In a sauce pan melt the butter

Add the flour and stir for 1 -2 minutes until the flour is fully incorporated

Take the pan off the heat and gradually add in the milk, stirring constantly until smooth

Return the pan to the heat add the bay leaf and cook over medium heat 

until boiling and thicken. 

Be sure to stir frequently.

Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer for a while.

Finally add in the cheeses, salt, pepper and cook until smooth.

Set aside.

Once you have your ragu and bechamel sauce ready, you are set to start the layering process.  Here I use the fresh lasagna sheets I bought when I was in Venice recently.  Fresh sheets make  softer lasagna but you can always use the instant or semi instant sheets that you can get from the local supermarket. Lets start, shall we?!

You will need :

Lasagna sheets

Ragu

Bechamel sauce

Shredded mozzarella cheese

Shredded parmesan cheese

1)  Line a well greased lasagna dish with a few sheets of lasagna 

 2)  Cover the sheets with a layer of ragu. 

3)  Spread some bechamel sauce on top of the ragu

 4)  Sprinkle generous portion of shredded mozzarella cheese

5)  Cover with another layer of lasagna sheet.  Repeat the process twice more.

 6)  After the last layer of lasagna sheet been placed, spread some bechamel sauce on top

 7)  Sprinkle some shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheese.  Cover with aluminium foil and

make some tiny holes using the fork

 8)  Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

My children and Captain love the top part a bit brown with the parmesan and mozzarella cheese crusty.  To achive this I use the top griller in the oven only for the final 3 minutes of cooking.  Let it rest for 10 minutes before serving and Buon appetito!  Enjoy!

FOODIE WEEKEND : Chicken in Tomato and Chili Sauce

What a feast today we had for lunch!  It was nice to see AB (the older twin) who does not fancy rice, go for a second portion!  It was a victory to me.  He is truly a pasta man while his brother AD is more of an all rounder, eats anything and is less picky.  But every time I cook this dish of chicken to go with coconut flavored steam rice, AB would eat without the usual moan and complaint of having to eat rice!

This dish is a typical dish of my country of origin, Malaysia.  Normally it is served during weddings with tomato rice and other condiments.  It has a great balance of sweet and spicy taste to it.  If you are used to Mexican or Thai food, this dish is perfect for you while it can be a bit spicy for those who are not. I would rate this dish as very mildly spicy to my asian taste bud.

Chicken in tomato and chili sauce

Ingredients (serves 3-4)

2 chicken breasts cut into peices

1 ripe tomato chopped

1 medium size red onion chopped

2 cloves of garlic                                                                                                                

3 tablespoons of tomato ketchup

1 tablespoon of chili paste

2 tablespoon of honey

4 spices (1 star anise, 5 cloves, 3 cardamom, 2 inches of cinnamon stick)

Salt

Vegetable oil for frying

Method

Blend together tomato,onion and garlic and set aside.

In a hot pan, fry the chicken pieces until half cooked.  They should be slightly golden outside.

Set them aside.

In another pan, heat 3 tablespoons of oil and stir in the 4 spices until fragrant. 

Be careful not to burn them.

Add in the chili paste and stir fry until the color starts to change, about 2-3 minutes

Then add in the blended ingredients of garlic, tomato and onion. Cook for about 10 - 15 minutes constantly stirring.  It is important for the onion to cook properly or you'll end up with bitter taste. The mixture should have a darker intense red color and no bitter taste when ready.

Add in the chicken pieces, tomato ketchup and honey.  You can add a little bit of water if the mixture is too dry.

Once the chicken is cooked, you can add salt to taste.

Serve with coconut flavored steamed rice, cucumber slices and roasted peanuts.

Enjoy!

Tips:

You can reduce the amount of spiciness by reducing the quantity of the chili paste.  Another tip is to make your own chili paste by de-seeding the chilies and boil them in water for 10 miutes to reduce the spiciness. Don't hesitate to contact me should you have any question!

FOODIE WEEKEND : Coconut flavored Steamed Rice

In my country Malaysia, coconut is widely used in everyday cooking especially in Malay dishes.  Back in the past, it was a normal thing for families to have their own coconut trees in their backyards among other trees like of banana, mango, papaya and guava.  Well, now things have changed and it is very rare to see coconut trees in someone's backyard especially if you live in a big city like Kuala Lumpur.  Your best bet to see coconut trees would be at the beach!

Anyway, this dish called 'Nasi Lemak' in the malay language (Nasi : Rice , Lemak : is the rich flavour produced by the coconut) is basically rice steamed in coconut milk.  Can you imagine the flavor? It is amazing, so amazing you can even eat it on its own!  

Rice is a staple in Malaysia.  In the Malay community especially, some still eat rice 3 times a day for breakfast, lunch and dinner, something that I wouldn't do personally but that is the fact.  I think this is because originally in the past, Malays were mostly farmers or fishermen and doing these hard work they needed all the energy carbs could give, hence the rice 3 times a day!

This recipe is best cooked in the rice cooker.  You could cook it on the normal stove but seriously I am not an expert without my rice cooker *shame*

Nasi Lemak / Coconut flavored Steamed Rice

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

2 cups of basmati rice or jasmin rice. 

1 can of coconut milk

3 inches of ginger, roughly sliced

a pinch of salt

Pandan leaf optional (for fragrance)

Method

Wash the rice thoroughly and toss the final batch of water

Pour in the coconut milk and add in water until the rice is submerged.

Keep adding the water if needed until the water level is an inch above the surface of the rice.

Add in the salt and ginger and stir slowly to mix well.

Knot the pandan leaf and drop it in

Cook in the rice cooker until cooked.

Serve with fried chicken or Chicken in Chili and Tomato sauce.  Recipe coming soon!

Current Obsession - Fedora and Panama

Greetings everyone! Hope the week has been treating all of you well so far.  My boys finished their exams and it is time now to exhale, kick back and relax!

I sometimes consider myself as sort of a 'late bloomer'.  Sometimes it takes me a while to find the 'courage' to try something; be it new activity, new gadget or even trend.  Take this hat trend for an example; I've always adored the look but couldn't bring myself to try until now.  Why?  Maybe because I don't see myself as the hat kind or that I am stylish enough to wear this trend without it wearing me instead.

But, one day I found the guts to just grab one and confidently placed it on my head and it once I found the right one for my face shape, there was no turning back.  Now I am obsessed!  I had to  close my eyes and walk away when I see them in many beautiful colors and style looking so fun and pretty so that I will not end up with a closet full of fedoras and Panamas!

 Maison Scotch

Bop Basics

Oasap

:: SPLURGE VS STEAL! ::

SPLURGE! Fedora by Gucci

 STEAL! Fedora by Forever 21 

STEAL! Fedora by Forever 21 ( my first fedora )

 STEAL!  Fedora by Asos 

SPLURGE!  Panama by Gucci (eyeing for this!)

STEAL! Panama by Reiss 

STEAL!  Panama by Forever 21 

STEAL! Panama by Oasap 

Summer companion!

Summer is just around the corner and since this year we will spend it here in Dubai mostly, I started planning on things to do.


I have always love reading.  I guess it is a habit I picked up growing up with reading parents.  We were not well to do and for an average income family with 4 kids, it was tough to keep everybody entertained on a small budget.  So, we read! The highlight of each year was the Annual Book Festival when we get to choose 2 books each to read and exchange among us siblings.


So, this summer I planned to read a lot (on top of hitting the pool and investing in my relationship with the kitchen).  I have an unread book that I received from Captain recently here and I also pulled out a few that I have read but worth a million more read! 

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt, (1997 Pulitzer Prize winner, The National Book Critics Circle Award  and The Royal Society of Literature Award) is a memoir based on the childhood of the author.  It is by far the best read ever for me.  I have read it a few times and even watched the movie but I can confirm, nothing beats the book. Your heart just ache and reached out for little Frank and his siblings.  How he survived his childhood and became who he is today is a miracle!  I just love how McCourt worded the book from the point view of a child and that is priceless! 
Highly recommended especially if you are feeling sad about an out of reach bag or shoes, this will truly changed your mind.  Oh, Kleenex box nearby is a must!

Now if heart wrenching true story of poverty is not for you, maybe something funny, light and close to our hearts instead?  I can't decide which of Sophie Kinsella's books is the funniest!  They really make me laugh out loud every time I read them! Sophie Kinsella the author of the Shopaholic series, is truly a girl's girl.  She knows her stuff, our stuff and you can't help but feeling like she was writing about you! Everytime I read her books I would feel sorry when the pages left gets thinner.. I don't want them to end!  I would highly recommend the 2 books above plus Undomestic Goddess with the sexiest male character I've ever come across in my years of reading novels! Eerr, that is including Mills and Boons I have to say.
Warning : Don't read this while travelling alone on a train or plane.. people might look at you strange as you'll be laughing out loud, seriously. 

Even if I read and so does Captain, ironically the boys are not big on reading.  They are getting better but only with certain types of books.  Last year they learned about the World War 1 and 2 and they developed an interest in books about this era. Goodnight Mr Tom and Private Peaceful are the books I bought them and they read it cover to cover!  But this particular one, Good Night Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian really tugs the heart. I read it too and it is an excellent moral filled book with the war as background and suffering it created from a different eye, a child's.  Heart warming, filled with love and hope. Great for age 11 and up. I planned to read this book again with the boys this summer. 
If you like Angela's Ashes or love victory for good people and cause, this book is for you. Make it 2 boxes of Kleenex then.