Can I Have Some of Your Lilies?

 I have been nurturing this lily species for quite some time now.  The row of bulbs I planted a few months back are presently flowering profusely, much to my delight.  To tell you frankly, not all the flowers and plants I have in my small garden were bought from nurseries; in fact, most of them were given to me by friends all over the place.

This flower in particular was given to me by one of the cleaners in a school where I was invigilating.  I was taking a breather from my duty, walking around the examination hall taking in the sights, when I chanced upon this small pot crowded to the brim with lily plants, the bulbs protruding from the soil.  I was so fascinated by the shades of pink of the flower that I braved myself and asked the cleaner for one lily bulb.  To my delight, she gave me ten lily bulbs! 

This lily flowers continuously, but in this tropical weather of ours, the blooms don't last for more than two days. However, I am enjoying the fruits of my labour; or in this case the blooms of my labour!

A Take at Banana Cake!

I was actually feeling rather tired after driving for one hour today after a whole day of examining some candidates for a local oral examination.  I always feel that cooking is the best way for me to relax as it seems to take my mind off thinking about work.  I noticed that I still had three very ripe bananas, so the obvious choice would be for me to bake a banana cake albeit for the first time.  It may not have looks, but what it lacks in beauty, it makes up many times fold in taste and texture!

• 3 bananas, mashed (I used 'berangan')
• 250g self-raising flour
• 160g soft brown sugar
• 180g butter
• 4 tbs fresh milk
• 3 medium-sized eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• a pinch of salt

Pecal Azizah



The salad part consisting of blanched bean sprouts,
long beans, kangkong and tapioca shoots.



 It is strange how your memory of someone tends to become more intense as a significant date about that person draws near.  As for me, I have been having this sudden craving to have 'Pecal', and I found it difficult to stop thinking about it!  And today as I was preparing all the ingredients to make this tradititonal salad, all in the way my mother used to teach me, it dawned upon me that the reason for this was, today would have been my mother's 71st birthday!



The salad is tossed with a dressing made from
dried chilis, shallots, shrim paste, tamarind juice,
peanuts and cekur roots.



The most special thing about this salad is not in the salad itself, but in the way how it was taught to me by my mother!  I remember sitting beside her as she painstakingly prepared everything from beginning to end, all the time telling me about the finer points of making the dish, giving some tips on making it taste better and keep longer and persistently making sure I remembered and understood; which until now, I still do, with a note of gratitude from the depth of my heart.

Like I said, this salad is special to me because of the way my mother taught me how to make it!  You may have your version of 'Pecal', which in any case may taste better, but mine is superior to me, thanks to my mother!

 



Manja-manja For Si-Manja!

My kids have always asked me to make my own pizza, especially after they found out that my colleague has made a business of selling frozen pizza dough from the basic recipe that I discussed and talked about two weeks ago.  I don't really mind actually, but I thought that my children were right when they said that I should make my own pizzas.

So, last Sunday before going to school, I whipped up the simplest pizza I knew, slathered on top of it, the sauce that I had made about a week ago; leftovers from a spaghetti sauce and a few choices of toppings according to what my children liked.  Suffice to say that it will be a long time before anyone of them ask to go to a pizza restaurant again! 

Manja!

The following recipe is for three medium-sized pizza base :

*250 g high-protein flour

*10 g sugar
*1 tsp instant yeast
*150ml tepid water

*1 tsp salt

*25 g olive oil

Mix all the ingredients above, knead about ten to fifteen times and set aside for half an hour until double in size.  (While you are waiting for it to rise, you can start grating the Parmesan chesse and slicing the rest of the ingredients!)

Banana Flower Power!

Banana Flower Kerabu

I have been having this craving to eat banana flowers for almost a month now.  I have been searching to buy this elusive flower at the Saturday Market for the past three Saturdays to no avail, and I felt like I couldn't hold back my hunger pangs for this flower any longer.  However, today, lo and behold, I managed to buy one after asking about it from every single vegetable seller!  I am happy how my 'Banana Flower Kerabu' turned out and am enjoying the fruits of my labour!  Of course, I have tweaked this recipe here and there to cater to my tastebuds!

*1 banana flower, quartered, boiled until tender and

  shredded.

*3 medium mackerels, boiled, deboned and shredded

*10 small shallots, thinly sliced
*10 birds eye chillis, thinly sliced (more of you like it 
  hot!)
*1 cup instant coconut cream (I used from a carton; it 
  claims to be cholesterol free!)

*1 large 'asam keping' (or stir in juice of two limes before turning off fire)

*5 or 6 (or more!) Vietnamese mint
*a handful of rice, dry roasted and pounded until fine

My Mint

Daun Kesum



"Why buy what you can plant?", I always ask myself.  This is true for all the herbs that we generally use in our daily cooking; because it doesn't really make sense to buy twenty to thirty stalks of a particular herb when all you want to use is just a few leaves.  And, for heaven sake, don't ask to buy only a few leaves of that herb from the vegetable seller for he may just laugh at your face!

So, I always find it useful to plant a bit of everything in my tiny patch, especially herbs that I often use.  Of course, you would have to buy some of the herbs in order to propagate them or better still, ask some from friends.

One of the herbs I have in my patch is the Vietnamese Mint or affectionately called 'Daun Kesum' locally.  It is widely used in local delicacies like 'Asam Laksa', 'Kerabu', 'Asam Pedas' and 'Laksam'.  And in every one of the dishes, one would only require a few leaves of the herb or at the most a stalk or two. 

So, it's worth using your two cents to save a few dollars!

Super Spaghetti

Chicken Meatballs

Five days of preparing and executing a long list menu, was in a nutshell, demanding on the nerves and energy, so much so that I finally suggested that we have something simple for dinner tonight.  I proposed that we have my version of Spaghetti Bolognese; one with chicken meat balls instead of beef meet balls!

• 1/2 kg minced chicken meat
• a pinch of Italian herbs
• some salt and pepper

Mix everything together, form into bite size balls and leave covered for about twenty minutes.  Then fry in a little oil until lightly browned.

Bolognese Boleh!