Philadelphia Cheese Steak Sandwich

woops! the hoagie bun is upside down!

from the first time i sank my teeth into the buttered bun at chilli's, i was hooked. and that was years and years ago. unfortunately though, when i dined at chilli's last month with mozie, the cheese steak sandwich was off the menu. they must be crazy because it's damn good! deprived of my favourite sandwich, i, as usual, searched for the recipe so i could relive those moments of sheer happiness. i found this recipe on BHG.

Ingredients

• 1 12-ounce boneless beef rib eye steak
• 2 tablespoons margarine or butter
• 2 medium onions, thinly sliced and separated into rings
• 1 medium red or green sweet pepper, cut into thin strips
• 4 French rolls or hoagie buns, split
• 4 ounces thinly sliced cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Partially freeze beef. Thinly slice beef across the grain into bite-size strips. In a 10-inch skillet melt margarine or butter; add onions and pepper. Cover and cook over medium-low heat about 10 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally.(i added in some soya sauce as well as some black pepper)

2. Remove onion-pepper mixture from skillet with a slotted spoon. If necessary, add additional margarine to skillet. Add beef; cook and stir over medium-high heat for 2 to 3 minutes or until done.

3. To serve, spread rolls open face on a baking sheet. Divide beef and onion-pepper mixture among rolls. Top with cheese. Broil 4 to 5 inches from the heat for 1 to 2 minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve immediately. Makes 4 servings.

Homemade Spicy Chicken Burger

it's so easy to just go and buy McD (especially for me, because it's just a 2 min walk from home) or if you have a family or on a tight budget, you'd figure it out that buying Ramly is a better deal than the expensive McD. however, what people choose to ignore (because of convenience and time constraint) is the fact that those burgers are loaded with extra calories - from the animal fat and all the other parts of the animal, MSG and god knows how much more alien sounding preservatives are added.

i was tempted to buy at McD, but instead i made my way to MaxValu and bought some minced chicken, low fat cheddar cheese and some organic lettuce. i made my own recipe, loosely following jamie oliver's recipe - which calls for some breadcrumbs and some ground onion. my own concoction is as follows

some minced chicken
toasted cumin and coriander seeds, ground
chilli powder
hungarian paprika powder
some fresh breadcrumbs
chopped onions
salt

if you find that your meat mixture is dry, then add in an egg to bind everything together. shape the meat into patties and grill.

My mother's karipap recipe

most karipap recipes use curry powder, hence the name. however, my late mother decided to make some changes and used terengganu kurma powder instead. the result? a fragrant and mild tasting karipap, suited for those who do not favour the overpowering curry taste. i used to remember when i was in form 2 returning to SSP after 2 weeks of leave due to chicken pox, my mother made probably around 100 karipaps for my siblings and they smelled heavenly on the plane.

unfortunately though, i can't give the full scale recipe as i like to throw things without measuring them.

pastry

all-purpose flour
butter (my mother used to put some ghee which smells and tastes delicious!)
water
a pinch of salt

mix all and knead until the dough becomes smooth

filling

beef, cubed
potatoes, cubed
shallots, chopped
some kurma powder (use terengganu kurma powder and not the white kurma powder found in most stores)
salt

heat some oil. mix ingredients in a pan and cook for awhile.

roll the dough and use a round cutter. fill in the filling and seal the edges by crimping. a few years ago, my mother made the filling and it was up to me and my niece nana to do the rest. being true gourmand eaters, nana and i made the biggest karipap - probably the size of two palms held together. those were the days *sigh*

Pulut Gaul Nyor - Sticky Rice with Grated Coconut

This morning i thought of making scones at first, but as i neared the kitchen i remembered that i still had some fresh grated coconut (frozen) and some glutinous rice. so i made the simplest breakfast, eaten by Terengganu folks for breakfast. yes, you can find this in any local food stalls in terengganu early in the morning.

soak the glutinous rice, i took only half an hour to soak. then i cooked the rice just like any normal white rice. prepare the coconut filling by mixing with salt and sugar (the filling must be sweet). fry or grill a fish, as an accompaniment to the dish. enjoy!

Tiramisu

Malaysians now begin to like tiramisu, an italian dessert named such (Pick me up) because that's what the courtesans fed their lovers. there are a lot of recipes on Tiramisu. some are just mere imitations, and not fit to be called a Tiramisu. a popular Malaysian eatery serves tiramisu but sadly, it's just a cake, and not a tiramisu.

so, what is the real mccoy tiramisu?

it is layers of spongefingers soaked in coffee syrup (to which liqueur is added), mascarpone cheese, whipped cream and meringue, and finally dusted with cocoa.

now, that's the real tiramisu, of which you can see when Nigella shows it on tv.

here i'm going to share with you the recipe that i used, taken from the Better Home & Garden's Italian magazine.

Liqueur syrup

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tb espresso

Stir and let boil until 1 minute. cool.

Mascarpone filling

500g mascarpone cheese (this is really expensive and those made in italy can cost RM30 a bar)
1/4 cup sugar
vanilla

Mix.

Whipped Cream

1 1/2 cup cream
3 tb sugar

Beat until soft peaks form.

Meringue

3 egg whites
1/3 cup sugar

beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. add sugar then continue beating until it reaches hard peak stage.

6 oz spongefingers
2 tb cocoa


Add 1/2 of the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture. place half of the spongefingers into a dish of 9 x 9 x 2. brush with half of the liqueur syrup. on top of the spongefingers, put half of the mascarpone cream. layer it out. then put half of the whipped cream, layer it out. put half of the meringue mixture, layer it out. dust with 1 tb of cocoa. repeat the same process with all the other half mixtures, ending with another dust of 1 tb of cocoa. refrigerate 4- 24 hours before serving.

Kuih Cucur Badak

the cucur badak fried for bekal. the karipap ikan is made by my friend shidah




of all the kuih melayu, i like currypuffs, kuih cucur badak and serimuka. which means it is an imperative that i become a connoisseur for these kuihs and know how to make them, and make them well.

i tried to make cucur badak several attempts, but although those were edible, it was nowhere near perfect. or at least, my standard of perfection. the sweet potatoes were always too soft, although the filling was okay.

i couldnt remember how, but a few days ago i had this craving for cucur badak. i did my research through my small library of recipe books, and after ditching Betty Saw's recipe (because nowhere was sweet potatoes stated, probably it was a misprint) i finally settled for a recipe in Berita Publishing's Traditional Malaysian Cuisine. and i must say, after making it, the recipe was not bad, the most important thing is, the skin made of sweet potatoes was just nice, and the filling was tasty. okay, i know i didnt have the pic of my cucur badak, i keep them in the freezer for any emergencies. here's the recipe for it.

skin

300g sweet potatoes
a pinch of salt
water
1/2 cup flour

boil until the potatoes are cooked. scrape the skin and mash the potatoes. add 1/2 cup of flour and knead until soft. divide into equally sized portions (you can make about 6-8 depending on the sizes)

Filling

1/2 grated coconut
to be ground together:
20gs dried shrimps (i used fresh ones. don't grind the fresh shrimps with the spices)
1 stalk lemon grass -
2 fresh red chillies
2 cloves of garlic
2 shallots

1/2 tsp turmeric powder (i used fresh turmeric)
salt and sugar

mix all the ingredients together and fry in 2 tbs of oil until dry (usually until the coconut is light) take 1 portion of the sweet potato mixture and flatten slightly. put in 1 tsp of the filling in the centre and seal. heat oil and fry the cakes until golden.

Steak with Garlic Brown Sauce, Mashed Potatoes with Chives and Corn-on-cob

i always crave for different things to eat everyday. a few nights ago, i suddenly had this urge to eat steak - something i try to avoid since it's pure red meat. i marinated the steak in garlic and pepper for one hour (they always recommend 4-24 hours of marinating but i didnt have the time, i was hungry!).

while marinating, i boiled some US potatoes which is waxy, but never mind, i was hungry! following Delia Smith's book, i mashed the potatoes and added some butter and milk. and since i grow chives at home, i chopped the chives and added them in.

meanwhile, i boiled an ear of corn with some butter (this according to chef michael smith, works...unfortunately i didnt taste any butter when i ate) and sugar. then on a hot griddle, i fried my steak (which i had put on some oil and salt). it didnt take that long, probably a few minutes on each side, depending on your preferred doneness.

and finally, for me a steak won't be a steak without sauce so with the dripping on the griddle, i made some roux with some flour and olive oil (actually the recipe calls for butter but i thought i had too much butter in the potato and the corn) and then added some homemade beef stock. cook until it's thickened.

and then voila! time to eat!!