Anchovies Pancakes

It is interesting to create something new once in a while - to break the boredom of eating the same thing over and over again. I ran out of butter and, thus, could not bake any cakes or bread. (I know, I know, I can use oil but I prefer to use butter). Going through my fridge, I saw the anchovies that I bought online from Sabah. They were cheap and, more important, clean. The idea then came to me - why not anchovies pancakes? They turned out so yummy that I will definitely make them again.


Ingredients:

• 125 g all-purpose flour
• 25 g rice flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 200 g/ml water
• 1 tsp salt (or less if your anchovies are very salty)
• 1/2 tsp white pepper powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper powder
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 50 g anchovies
• 2 eggs
• 60 g big onions
• 10 g green onions
• 30 g red and yellow capsicum
• 1-2 pcs chili padi
• Cooking oil

Method:

• Wash and dry the anchovies. Heat up kuali with some cooking oil. Fry the anchovies till they are crispy. Remove them from the kuali and set them aside.

• Chop up the big onions. Heat up kuali with some cooking oil. Fry the chopped onions till they are translucent and soft. Set them aside

• Wash and cut up the green onions into small pieces.

• Wash and cut up the red and yellow capsicum into little cubes.

• Wash and cut up the chili padi into little pieces.

• Add all-purpose and rice flours and baking powder into a mixing bowl.

• Add water and stir till a smooth batter is formed.

• Beat the eggs and add them to the batter.

• Add all the ingredients - anchovies, big onions, green onions, capsicum and chili padi to the batter. Stir to mix them up evenly.

• Add the seasonings - salt, light soy sauce and white and black pepper powder to the batter. Stir to combine. (I tasted a bit of the batter at this point and added whatever seasonings that are lacking.)

• Heat up a non-stick pan with some oil.

• Scoop some batter into the pan. Use the bottom of your scoop to spread the batter thinly on the pan.

• Cook the pancake till the bottom is golden brown.

• Flip the pancake to brown the other side.

• Once the pancake is browned, remove it from the pan.

• Repeat till all the batter is finished.

• Serve while they are hot.

Brownies - the Fudgy ones

I have made brownies which are chewy before

(https://al-luckylady.blogspot.com/2018/09/brownies.html). Equally delicious are the fudgy ones although our fingers can get a bit messy eating them. Add a scoop of icecream to take your fudgy brownies to the next level of satisfaction.

Ingredients:

• 450 g chocolate chips
• 150 g butter
• 130 g brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 120 g flour
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder

Method:

• Add chocolate chips, butter and sugar into a bowl.

• Put the bowl over a pot of boiling water to melt the chocolate chips, butter and sugar.

• Once these ingredients have melted, stir so that they are well mixed up.

• Set the bowl aside to let the mixture cool down.

• While waiting, grease and line an 8 inch by 8 inch square pan. A 7 inch by 7 inch square pan may be used to have thicker and even more fudgy brownies. However, the pan must not be bigger than 8 inch by 8 inch as the resultant brownies will be too thin and will not be fudgy.

• Pre-heat oven to 175 degrees Centigrade.

• When the mixture has cooled down, break the eggs into the bowl. Stir to incorporate the eggs into the mixture.

• Sieve the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder and add them to the mixture in 3 batches. Stir so that they are well incorporated.

• Pour the mixture into the pan.

• Bake the brownie batter for 40 minutes.

• Take out the brownies from the oven.

• Let them cool down completely. Then put them into the refrigerator.

• Cut and serve.

Chocolate and Plain Buns

As I mentioned before I do not usually make the same bread or buns for my family. I will vary them so that my family, especially my children, are not bored with them. The same recipe can be tweaked by adding colour, for example, adding cocoa powder or pandan juice, by varying the shape and by altering the fillings. Today I made some 2-colour buns - plain and chocolate - to make their appearance more pleasing to the eyes. In these buns I have embedded some chocolate chips to further improve the taste.


Ingredients:

• Yeast Activation:
• 150 g/ml warm milk
• 30 g sugar
• 1 tsp yeast

• Dough:
• 325 g bread flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 45 g butter
• 2 tsp cocoa powder
• Chocolate chips
• White chocolate chips

• Egg Wash:
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp milk
• Or
• 10 g melted butter

Method:

• Activate the yeast. Add  sugar to the warm milk, stirring to dissolve the sugar and then sprinkle the yeast onto it.

• Once bubbles have formed (after approximately 10-15 minutes), the yeast mixture is ready to be used.

• Add flour to the bowl of your stand mixer.

• Add salt.

• Start the mixer on low speed to mix up the flour and salt.

• Add the yeast mixture into the mixing bowl.

• Break the egg into a small bowl (not directly so as to prevent any rotten egg being added) and then add the egg to the mixing bowl.

• Knead until a dough ball is formed. Once that is achieved, add in the butter.

• Continue to knead until the butter is incorporated into the dough.

• Continue to knead until the dough passes the window pane test.

• Divide the dough into 2 equal portions.

• Grease 2 clean bowls.

• Transfer 1 portion of the dough to 1 of the clean bowls. Cover the bowl with a cling wrap and put a wet towel over the cling wrap.

• Transfer the other portion to the bowl of the stand mixer.

• Add cocoa powder to the bowl.

• Start the mixer and knead till the dough and cocoa powder are fully incorporated.

• Transfer the dough into the other greased bowl, cover the bowl with a cling wrap and put a wet towel over the cling wrap.

• Let the 2 dough proof until they are double in size.

• Slightly flour or grease the table top .

• Transfer the plain dough onto the table top.

• Roll the dough out into a long rectangular shape (horizontally).

• Fold the dough into 3 by bringing the right part onto the centre part followed by the left.

• Then roll the dough out again into a long rectangular shape (vertically) and fold into 3 again.

• Do this process at least 6 times (alternating between vertical and horizontal roll-outs).

• Once this is done, cut the dough into 5 pieces of about 61 g each.

• Roll these pieces into little balls and cover them with cling wrap.

• Repeat the same for the cocoa dough.

• Take a plain dough ball and use a rolling pin to flatten it.

• Put 2 tsp of chocolate chips in the centre.

• Pick up the dough, go round and seal it up.

• Roll it on the table top into a smooth ball and place the ball onto an oiled round baking tray. Repeat this for the other plain dough balls. Leave a space between the dough balls for the cocoa dough balls.

• Repeat this with the cocoa dough. Fill each cocoa dough ball with the white chocolate chips. Place the cocoa dough balls between the plain dough balls.

• Cover the baking tray with a towel and let the dough balls proof till double in size.

• Pre-heat oven to 175 deg C.

• Beat 1 egg with 1 tablespoon of milk to form the egg wash. Brush the dough balls with the egg wash just before baking. Or, melt 10 g of butter for use after baking.

• Bake the dough balls for 20 minutes. (If your oven is very hot and the balls brown too fast, tent them with a piece of aluminium foil.)

• When done, remove the buns onto a metal rack. (If you had not egg washed the dough, then brush the buns with the melted butter.)

• Store them when they are completely cooled down.

Vegetarian Instant Noodle Omelette

I have never heard about this dish,Vegetarian Instant Noodle Omelette, before. I would never have thought about creating such a dish. My husband gave me this idea and told me roughly how it could be done. I took up his idea to try it and here it is. It turned out to be, surprisingly, delicious.  It can be eaten with rice or it can be eaten as a snack perhaps with tomato or chili sauce.

Ingredients:

• 1 packet of instant noodles
• 3 eggs
• 1 pc of cabbage
• 1/3 red capsicum
• 1/3 yellow capsicum
• 1/3 green capsicum
• 1 pc carrot (2 inches)
• 1 small onion
• Cooking oil
• Salt, pepper and light soy sauce

Method:

• Boil the instant noodles till al dente. Throw away the water. Set the noodles aside.

• Julienne the cabbage, red, yellow and green capsicum, carrot and onion.

• Heat up a wok with some cooking oil.

• Fry the cabbage, carrots and onion till they are soft.

• Add the capsicum and stir fry for about 3 minutes.

• Remove the vegetable from the wok.

• Beat the eggs.

• Add the instant noodles and vegetables to the egg.

• Season the egg mixture with salt, pepper and light soy sauce (to taste). (Discard the seasoning that comes with the instant noodles.)

• Heat a non-stick pan and grease it lightly with cooking oil.

• Pour the egg mixture into the pan.

• Let the egg mixture turn golden brown before flipping it to the other side.

• Once the other side is golden brown, remove it onto a serving plate.

Tangy Roast Chicken

I would say that the Tangy Roast Chicken is a twist to a normal roasted chicken whatever way you have marinated. it.  The orange and lemon juice added takes the roasted chicken to another level. So there is tangy, salty, natural sweetness, peppery and herb taste all in one dish.


Ingredients

• 1 chicken (about 2 kg)
• Marinade:
• 1 tbsp cooking oil/butter
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp white pepper powder
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp rosemary
• 2 oranges - 1 for juice and 1 for decor (may add more for juice) 
• 1 lemon (may add more)

Method

• Wash & let the water run off from the chicken.

• Use a skewer to poke as many holes as possible all over the chicken.

• Place chicken on roasting pan & rub it with cooking oil/butter, dark soy sauce, salt, pepper & minced garlic.

• Sprinkle rosemary on the chicken.

• Let the chicken sit in the fridge for at least 2 hrs. (But I like to keep it overnight to ensure that the chicken is well marinated.)

• Roast chicken for 1 hr at 200 degree C, turning midway.

• Slice 1 orange thinly.

• Squeeze out the juice of 1 orange (or more) & 1 lemon (or more).

• When chicken is done, place it onto casserole. Arrange orange slices around chicken.

• Pour orange & lemon juice over it.

• Carve the chicken just before serving.