Chicken Macaroni Casserole

Something simple, easy to make and can be frozen and reheat for later! This menu is especially practical to have for Sahur in Ramadhan :)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups light cream
2 cups chicken broth
Cheddar cheese (shredded)
1 1/2 cups macaroni, cooked
3 cups cubed chicken (cooked)
Mushroom (halved)
Mixed vegies
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste

Direction:

1. Saute onion in butter until fragrant.
2. Stir in flour. Mix well.
3. Add cream and chicken broth. Stir until thickened.
4. Add the cheese. Stir until melted.
5. Add in mushroom and mixed vegetables. Mix well.
6. Stir in macaroni, chicken, salt and pepper. Remove from heat.
7. Pour into a baking dish.
8. Sprinkle with mozarella cheese on top.
9. Bake at 350ºF for 40 minutes or until heated through.

p.s. This is probably my last entry for September and October 2008. We're leaving to Mil4n for holiday and then fly straight off to Malaysia to celebrate eid. Hope to see you all soon! Meanwhile, for those celebrating, have a blessed Eid Mubarak! :)

My favorite sambal ikan bilis (dry)

An easy-peasy sambal ikan bilis recipe handed down by a friend's mom.

Ingredients:
1 onion
3 shallots
Shrimp paste
Chili paste
Brown sugar
Tamarind juice (optional - but I don't usually use it)
Fried anchovies
Fried anchovies (grind)
Potatoes, thinly sliced and fried (optional)
Shallots (thinly sliced)


Instruction:
1. Grind onion, shallots and shrimp paste together.
2. Heat oil on saucepan. Saute grinded onion and shrimp paste until fragrant.
3. Add chili paste and brown sugar. Stir for about 5 minutes. If chili paste is too dry, add small amount of water.
4. Add grinded anchovies. Continue stirring.
4. Add tamarind juice (optional). Continue stirring.
5. Add anchovies and potatoes; cook for another 3-5 minutes.
6. Stir in sliced shallots and cook for another minute or two.
7. Serve with warm white rice.

Hmm .. lovely :)

Sambal ikan bilis is usually served as a side dish along Malaysian Coconut Rice aka Nasi Lemak (please bear with the not-so presentable food presentation!) or can also be used as filling for your sandwich!

Enjoy!

Cinnamon Rolls

There are hundreds of cinnamon rolls recipes on the net but this is my favorite, mainly because it does not call for a lot of ingredients, is fairly easy to do and most importantly, taste as good as the famous Cinnabon (even without the frosting!). Tested and approved! :)

Happy cinnamon roll-ing! :)

Mi Bakso

This is my first attempt of cooking Mi Bakso aka Indonesian Meatballs Soup. This recipe was handed down to me by a friend's Indonesian helper but as I don't remember her exact measurement, I followed this recipe as guidance.

Meatballs Ingredients:
Grounded lean beef
Tapioca starch
2 eggs
Salt
White pepper
Garlic powder

Gravy Ingredients:
Chicken/Beef stock
Garlic, onion and nutmeg (grind together)
Salt
White pepper

Condiment:
1 pack of rice noodle (bihun), soaked
celery leaf
fried shallots
Sweet soy sauce
Cabbage, thinly sliced
Bean sprouts (optional)


Direction:
1. In a food processor, grind lean beef with crushed ice cube until sticky
2. In a bowl, add ground beef, eggs with the rest of the ingredient. Mix well.
3. Shape mixture into balls
4. In a saucepan, drop meatballs in a boiling water until they float up the surface. Set aside.
5. In a saucepan, heat oil and saute garlic, onion and nutmeg until fragrant.
6. Add broth, salt and pepper.
7. Add meatballs.
8. To serve, prepare and mix all condiment in a bowl and serve with meatballs gravy while it's hot.
9. If you like it hot, garnish with sliced chili in soy sauce.

Verdict? Not bad at all :)

Claypot Chicken Rice

I am all for simple, quick and less messy dish and thus Claypot Chicken Rice really fits the bill. It's really easy and quick to prepare so you can always whip this up (especially) on those days when laziness overpowers your spirit (like in my case today, haha!). So anyway, here goes ...

Note: This is a recipe for 2 (or for one, if you're a big eater!).

Ingredients:
1 cup rice
2 cups chicken broth
boneless chicken (as many you like), cut into bite-sized pieces
3 tablespoon oyster sauce
2 tablespoon dark soy sauce
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
ginger, sliced
4 dried shitake mushrooms (soaked, stem removed and cut into half)
Carrots, thinly sliced
2 eggs (optional)
Sesame oil


Instruction:
1. Marinate chicken with oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar and pepper for 20-30 minutes.
2. Heat oil on medium heat and fry garlic and ginger until aromatic.
3. Add mushroom and carrot and fry for 5 minutes.
4. Add marinated chicken and stir-fry for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
5. Wash rice well and put in a claypot. Add chicken broth.
6. Cover anc cook on low heat until almost dry.
7. Place chicken mixture over rice, cover and leave on low heat until rice mixture is dry.
8. Remove from fire. If you like, break eggs on top of chicken. Leave pot covered for few minutes before serving.
9. Drizzle some sesame oil and garnish with fried shallots and sliced chili in soy sauce.

Enjoy your dinner!

Profiteroles in a jiffy

A friend was craving for some profiteroles, so today I decided to bake some for her for Iftar. Original recipe is from here but as usual has been improvised a little to suit my own personal preferences. Please note that this recipe is only meant for those in a hurry, so if you have ample time please follow the original recipe instead to achieve better results.

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1 cup all-purpose flour (sifted)
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs

Filling:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 tablespoon baking cocoa

Glaze:
Chocolate chips
Hot water

Directions:
1. Preheat oven at 450 degrees F (230 degrees C)
2. In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil.
3. Add butter and stir as it melts, then return to a boil.
4. Add flour and salt all at once and stir vigorously until mixture forms a ball.
5. Remove from heat and add eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each until smooth.
6. Drop by heaping tablespoons by 3 inches apart, on a cookie sheet.
7. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

For filling:
7. In a mixing bowl, beat cream until soft peaks form.
8. Add sugar and cocoa. Continue beating until almost stiff.
9. Split puffs and add filling (in my case, as I was running late and didn't have time to split the puffs, I injected the filling into the puffs. Saves a lot of time and less messy!).

For glaze:
1. Melt chocolate chips in a microwave.
2. Add some hot water, mix well.
3. Drizzle over puffs.

Voila!

p.s. I think you can see how in a hurry I was just by looking at the chocolate drizzle! Hehe!

Apple Crumble

We invited some friends over for Iftar and this is what I prepared for desert. Original recipe is from here, but in this recipe I lessen the amount of sugar as my husband doesn't like it too sweet. Enjoy!

Ingredients

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups regular oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
1/2 cup apple cider
1/4 1/8 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
Dash of salt
10 cup sliced peeled baking apples
Cooking spray

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup, and level with a knife. Combine flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a small bowl. Add butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla; stir with a fork until moist and crumbly.

Combine 1 teaspoon vanilla, cider, granulated sugar, cornstarch, and dash of salt in a large bowl; stir with a whisk until sugar dissolves and mixture is smooth. Add apples, tossing to coat. Spoon apple mixture into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with oat mixture. Cover with foil; bake at 375° for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 30 minutes or until browned and bubbly.

There you go! Oat in the toppings really does make a difference in this recipe as it makes it crispier and just lovely! Serve with vanilla ice cream and be prepared to be blown away :)