KAMPUNGBOYCITYGAL A MALAYSIAN FOOD & TRAVEL BLOG

This year, we had a quiet New Year’s Eve at home. Knowing that KampungBoy will be all worn out by the time he arrives KL from his 5 hours coach ride, I suggested a cozy dinner at home. He was a bit skeptical at first, but I proved him wrong when my roast chicken turned out perfect! (*kembang*)

I’m adapting Jamie Oliver’s roast chicken with lemon and rosemary roast potatoes recipe, with slight variations here and there.

You’ll need:

• 1 whole chicken (I used a smaller bird ~ 1.2 kg)
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 – 4 potatoes, peeled
• 1 large, preferably unwaxed, lemon
• 1 whole bulb of garlic, broken into cloves
• fresh thyme
• olive oil
• rosemary
• ~ 25g of butter
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Days before Chinese New Year, my family would give the house a thorough cleansing and “makeover” to sweep away all the bad luck and make way for good luck for a new year. My mum loves to decorate the living hall with paper cutouts of zodiac of the year and upside down “fu” that symbolize luck of fortune has arrived. Various food and offerings are put up at the altar of god and ancestor as appreciation for their blessings.

Here comes the fun part, Chinese New Year cookies/snacks making. My siblings and I will help mum out in whipping out goodies; from deep frying crab filament sticks, arrowhead crisps and chicken floss spring roll to baking goods like almond cookies and groundnut cookies. Of course, some cookies that is pain stakingly tedious such as kueh kapit (love letters) and chicken flavour biscuit (gai zai beng) are bought.

The most important part of would be the New Year Eve cum reunion dinner among our families. My parents are so going to kill me if I’m absent from any of these dinners. Family members would gather around a round table, having the obligatory steamboat and a beer or two. Steamboat is less hassle to prepare where all various ingredients such as sliced meat, sea cucumber, fish ball, jelly fish, leafy greens and tofu are cooked in a simmering broth. To some people dismay, the leftover are use for some stir fry dish on the next day.

After the dinner, we often stays till the wee hour, as it was long believed that by doing so our parents would live a longer life. In return, our parents would give us some age suppressing money (ya sui chien) to be placed under the pillow to signify infinity good luck.Stay tuned for more Chinese New Year posting, then you’ll be able to understand the sudden bloatedness in me.

Daisy Mocha Cookies (Recipe from Agnes Chang’s I Can Bake)

A:200g butter/margarine, 120g castor sugar, 1 eggyolk, 1 1/2 tsp coffee paste

B:420g plain flour, sifted, 60g chocolate rice

1. Cream ingredient A in a mixer till well combined.
2. Mix in ingredient B and form into a dough.
3. Place the dough in between 2 layers of grease proof paper and roll it to 3mm thick. Cut with cookie cutter and arrange them on a greased tray. Decorate with chocolate chip.
4. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for about 15-20 minutes. Cool on rack before storing.

Special Melting Moments (Recipe from Agnes Chang’s I Can Bake)

Ingredients:
200g butter/margarine
80g icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla essence
¼ tsp salt
120g self raising flour, sifted
120g corn flour, sifted

1. Cream butter, icing sugar, vanilla essence and salt till just combined.
2. Add self raising flour, corn flour and mix into a soft dough
3. Spoon mixture into a piping bag fitted with a big star nozzle. Pip into a greased baking tray to form the shape of a rosette.
4. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 170C for 15-20 minutes.
5. Cool on rack, sprinkle some icing sugar or chocolate chips if desired.
6. Store in air tight container before serving.

Macarons? Is it the coconut laced chewy cookies? Not to be confused over macaroons and macarons, macaron is actually these ethereal dome-shaped cookies with a beautiful ruffled layer beneath. Not to forget the heart melting cream filling sandwiched between.

It is something that I wanted to experiment with since ages ago those horror stories about macaron failure refrained me from doing so. Glad that I joined Sunny’s class, I realized that with the right technique and ingredients, baking macarons is such a breeze!!

So I’ll let the pictures do the talking while you guys gasped (or rather surprise that this girl also can bake?!).

The Making…

Taaa-Daaa!

The Entrements…

What does Christmas smell like to you? Mint? Candies? Nutmeg? For me, the sweet smell of Christmas would be cinnamon. The smell that tempts my senses and reminds me that Christmas is just around the corner when I’m nibbling on my aunt’s home baked fruit cakes during my younger days.

To bring up my fond memories and relieving all the Christmases that I’ve had, I’m going to bake a fruit cake! Lo an behold, did I just mean a dense fruit cake filled with pre-soaked fruits in rum, brandy or other liquor that is deeplu spiced and full of surprise? I’m pulling back my words, an easy and yummy apple crumble sprinkled with lots of cinnamon will do.

The crumb topping is wonderfully light and muesli added an extra bit of delicious texture and crunch to this heartwarming dessert. I smell Christmas with the cinnamon scent in the air, the delicious smell is tempting my senses. It tasted divine when it is still fresh from the oven or even better when it is chilled. Serve it with maple syrups and a scoop or two of ice cream.

Filling:
8 apples, peeled, washed and sliced
3 tbsp of brown sugar
2 tbsp of cinnamon

1 cup of raisin (soaked in rum, if you prefer)

Crumble:
2 cups of natural muesli
2 cups of flour
125 gram of butter
2 tbsp of brown sugar

In a large mixing bowl, combine crumble ingredients other than butter. Rub in the butter into the mixture using your fingers or two knives to mix thoroughly. Sprinkle the crumbles over the apples. Bake 30 to 40 minutes in a preheated oven at 180°C.

The other day when I was holding the remote control switching from one channels to another, Nigella’s Feast on Channel 11 caught my eyes. It’s all about chocolate, from the delicious and simple old-fashioned chocolate cake with a thick chocolaty frosting, to chocolate cheesecake and chocolate caramel crispy cakes. The crispy cakes seems fuss free and I have some Mars bars sitting in the fridge, so why not try to make some for CNY?Nigella Lawson Chocolate Caramel Crispy Cake

Ingredients
4 (2-ounce) chocolate candy bars (recommended: Mars Bars or Milky Way)
1/2 stick unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups crunchy sweetened corn cereal (recommended: Cornflakes) Special equipment: approximately 40 mini muffin paper

Break the candy bars into bits and drop them into a saucepan. Add the butter and melt, over lowish heat, stirring frequently with a rubber spatula. When everything is melted (the nougat-like layer takes the longest to go), tip in the cereal and turn them, with your rubber spatula, in the chocolate mixture until they are all pretty well coated.

Fill the mini muffin papers with the mixture using two tablespoon and put in the refrigerator, on a small sheet pan or tray, for at least 1 hour.

It took me less than one hour from scratch. These little crispy cake in muffin cup hands up those who have a weakness of chocolates. You can try doing it at home too!

The other day when I was holding the remote control switching from one channels to another, Nigella’s Feast on Channel 11 caught my eyes. It’s all about chocolate, from the delicious and simple old-fashioned chocolate cake with a thick chocolaty frosting, to chocolate cheesecake and chocolate caramel crispy cakes. The crispy cakes seems fuss free and I have some Mars bars sitting in the fridge, so why not try to make some for CNY?Nigella Lawson Chocolate Caramel Crispy Cake

Ingredients
4 (2-ounce) chocolate candy bars (recommended: Mars Bars or Milky Way)
1/2 stick unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups crunchy sweetened corn cereal (recommended: Cornflakes) Special equipment: approximately 40 mini muffin paper

Break the candy bars into bits and drop them into a saucepan. Add the butter and melt, over lowish heat, stirring frequently with a rubber spatula. When everything is melted (the nougat-like layer takes the longest to go), tip in the cereal and turn them, with your rubber spatula, in the chocolate mixture until they are all pretty well coated.

Fill the mini muffin papers with the mixture using two tablespoon and put in the refrigerator, on a small sheet pan or tray, for at least 1 hour.

It took me less than one hour from scratch. These little crispy cake in muffin cup hands up those who have a weakness of chocolates. You can try doing it at home too!

It was my younger sister’s 18th birthday last week and it happens that I’m in the mood for some whisking and stirring. So I came out with an chilled oreo cheecake that noone can resists. I’m so glad that it was a hit among her friends.

Sis, wishing you a birthday as lovely as you are, as special as the things you do, and as happy as the times we’ve shared together.

Ingredients

For the base:
200g Oreo biscuits (cream removed, leaving only the biscuit), finely crushed
100g chocolate sponge cake, mashed
60g butter, melted

For the topping:
500g cream cheese, at room temperature
Finely grated rind of 1 lemon
65g butter, at room temperature
100g castor sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
3 tsp gelatine

1 1/4 cups whipping cream, whipped until just stiff

50g Oreo biscuits (cream removed), crushed coarsely

Method

1. Lightly grease a 20cm spring form pan.

2. Melt butter in a small container on power medium high for five to 10 seconds in a microwave oven.

3. Mix melted butter, biscuit crumbs and chocolate sponge cake until evenly mixed.

4. Transfer mixture into the spring form pan; spread evenly.

5. Use a flat-bottomed glass and press mixture evenly over the base.

6. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm.Blend cream cheese, sugar and lemon rind until smooth; add butter and continue to blend until smooth.

7. Mix lemon juice and gelatine in the microwave oven.

8. Heat on power high for 30 seconds, uncovered.

9. Stir until the gelatine is dissolved, then pour the gelatine mixture into the cheese mixture.

10. Gently fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture. Stir in biscuit crumbs and pour mixture into a prepared cake tin.

11. Refrigerate for at least three to four hours or until set.

12. To remove, run a knife around the inside of the tin and turn cheesecake out onto a serving dish.

13. I julienne the lemon skin and spread it on the top of the cake as I love the bitterly taste of lemon peel.Recipe by Amy Beh from The Star Kuali

My cravings for something sweet have been constant and hard to ignore, especially after my meal. I just need something SWEET to flush down the smell of onions garlic and ginger that stays in my mouth. Weirdo! Like any other addiction, sugar intake can be a tough one to kick.So this time I adapted this blueberry cheese tart recipe from Jo’s Deli and Bakery for my sinful cravings.

Instead of blueberry filling, I made use of the st dalfour’s fruit jam sitting in the fridge. I found some recipes that make our life much easier too! Pastry that use cracker crust is the perfect foil for the cheese filling. All you have to do is process the crackers finely, add in cream butter and sugar, and finally bake it under 180 degree for 15 min.

I try using both fire at the first 10 minutes and then turn to bottom fire only later as suggested by the recipe from Jo’s Deli and Bakery. The cheese filling turn out just nice.

Tada! Looks awful but tastes good! Love the soft and airycream filling and the juicy fruit compote. I made all four flavours of tart – black cheery, wild blueberry, thick cut orange and raspberry. Guess the way you arrange food on a plate is just as important as the way it tastes. Presentation is crucial to attract people, especially young kids like my sisters that goes “Ewwwww izzit edible?” *Sniff*

Some of you might be wondering what’s so mysterious about French Toast? Even six years old kiddos can make it by their own. It’s extremely easy, widely available and generally likeable. What about a piece of great frenchtoast? I used to make very good frenchtoast during my schooling day that my sisters craved for it every single day. I’m not bragging and boasting! It’s a fact indeed. Haha but it just gone rotten after years of slacking in practises.

I just decided to tied up the apron and give myself a full practise of localized french toast on a nice Sunday morning.

Ingredients needed: 1 Jumbo Sized Gardenia Bread (breads from those old school bakery with dry texture would be better), 5 large sized egg, 1 tbsp of milk with every eggs used (5 tbsp of full cream milk), dashes of sugar to taste, local brand condensed milk and butter.

First in a big mixing bowl, crack in the eggs, add in the milk and sugar and beat them up. Next heat up a flat frying pan, add in some butter and let it melt. Dunk the bread with the beaten eggs, coating both side evenly. Fry the bread till it turn a bit brownish and crispy and finally serve with some condensed milk!

Notes:
1)Do not predip the bread with the beaten egg as the bread will get soaked up fast and the inner part will be undercooked while the surface of the bread is burnt. So just dip the bread few seconds before you wana get it fried.

2)To get some smooth custard, filter the foamy bubbles arises from beating.

3)Fry in slow fire! Patience is the key.

4)Use day old bread. In my case, I store the fresh bread in my fridge overnight to get some harder and dry texture.

It’s not as good as those that I made few years back. Hahaha. But still quite nice la, you can’t go wrong with french toast and condensed milk.

My hands were itchy during my weekend in Ipoh plus my youngest sister keep on bugging me to “play bake bake”, so I got this banana coffee muffin recipe from Jo’s Deli and Bakery. Whenever I wanted to come out with something new, I search from this site for some recipes and do some modification to my own preferences. I hope that my sister will bring it to school and proudly tell her friends that I made her those muffins during waktu rehat. : p

INGREDIENTS:

Makes 12 large muffins 180g all-purpose flour
195g superfine flour
5 tsp baking powder or 2-1/2 tsp double action baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
210g castor sugar
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
250ml milk
4 tbsp instant coffee powder
130g butter, melted and cooled
3 ripe bananas, mashed
Coffee powder to dust muffin surfaceMETHOD:
Preheat oven at 200 degC. Line muffin tray with paper cups.
Sift flours, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl. Add sugar into the flour mixture. Use a whisk to lightly blend the mixture.
In another mixing bowl, dissolve coffee powder in milk. Add egg and melted butter. Mix well.
Make a well in the middle of dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and mashed bananas. Mix just until all the flour is moistened. The batter should look lumpy. Do not overmix.
Divide batter into 12 muffin cups. Dust surface of muffins with a little coffee powder.
Reduce temperature to 180degC and bake muffins for 25-30 minutes or until well risen.
Transfer to wire racks to let cool.

Notes:
Use ripe bananas for stronger fragrant.
I doubled the amount of bananas because my sisters love bananas and I cubed them instead of mashing them.
I cut down the amount of coffee powder because I wish to have more banana-ly taste and smell.
Boolicious from masak-masak shared out her family recipe of banana cake too. If you wish to come out with banana cake instead of muffins, do adapt her recipe.