AJL26 - Parti Kisah Hati

Tiap-tiap tahun, Anugerah Juara Lagu adalah paling dinantikan. Mostly, kebanyakan orang akan cancel segala appointment termasuk PS..opppsss semata-mata nak mengadap depan TV and nak tengok artis mana pakai lawa, persembahan mana yang meletop dan lagu mana yang akan menang. Tak terkecuali nak tengok, suara siapa yang terkucil masa nyanyi. Yang lebih meriah, mereka-reka ini akan menjadi Ketua Juri mengalahkan Ooi Eow Jin (hidup lagikah??) yang pernah jadi ketua juri selama lebih 10 tahun *tak nak lepas takhta sangat ko kannn.. mengomen itu ini sejurus artis tuh habis buat persembahan...overkann?? :-).

Well, apa yang iol nak citer kat sini is not about AJL, but the party that we had at Mulberry Cottage..sekali lagi iol punyer cottage dipilih sebagai venue party (dah jadi macam dewan FELDA Merak Kayangan), for watching AJL this year. Alhamdulillah, iol punyer soulmate bermurah hati untuk mensponsor party ini sepenuhnya semuanya kerana LOVE dengan kengkawan tercinta and iol pun seperti selalu akan memasak dengan penuh kasih sayang...Thank you so much, soulmate!!! May Allah Bless You Always.Amin.

Apa yang dihidang pada malam AJL tuh?? Let's take a look!

Chicken Sausage in a Golden Blanket

This is very easy to make. You just buy ready made chicken sausage, roll with white bread and then you soak in the egg. Then, you deep-fry. I like to tip fresh basil, paprika and a pinch of salt in the egg to give a little extra taste to the sausage.

Potato Croquettes

Another party-munchy-bingy food. You can prepare them in advance, freeze and when it is ready to serve, bake in the oven for 20 minutes.It is breaded mashed potato that is fun to make. Nice to dip it with homemade mayo or just chili sauce. Yummmmm.

Crab and Tuna Stuffed Yorkshire Pudding with 

Mozarella and Fresh Basil 

Yorkshire Pudding, again??? Yes, it is season favorite food. This idea only came up 2 hours before iol started cooking. I thought about making classic British food, Toad in a Hole. Tapi, sebab dah ada sausage kat atas, so I decided to stuff the Yorkshire Pudding. Crunchy and tasty with chewy mozarella. Macam makan pizza lak rasa :).

Homemade Meatballs with Rich Tomato Sauce

A request from the guests after they read this lovely meal in my previous entry. So, I made it again and they loved it a lot!. Tak yah laa nak explain bebanyak. nak tahu, bacalah entry sebelum ni. :)

Sticky Dates Pudding

This gorgeous pudding made by my loveable cottagemate. I asked him to make something for the dessert and he baked this. The cake is very nice and moist. It is baked to perfection.

It was just a simple party meal yet elegant and delicious. More important, the night was about connecting with one another over meals, sharing lots of LOVE, CARE and JOY, hopefully.

This is what we called L.O.V.E.. well keep veranganssssssssss, yehh!

Ciao Bella!!!

Cooking for A Yorkshire Lad

Agak lama jugak iol tak post anything here sampai kene carutan dalam keindahan dari pembaca tegar blog ini. Kata pelangot blog I nih  "You all dah baca latest blog mrhotmuffins??" kat MukaBuka memberi tamparan wanita pada iol. iol feel so tired last week and iol do have some materials to write here but my fingers are so lazy to type.ehhh?? sampai George Clooney pun whatsapps iol bila nak update blog  nih. *mode verangan ON.

"Babe, update blog hari-hari yek. Boleh abang baca  kat Iphone4 abang masa
Academy Awards nanti untuk hilang bosan masa  tunggu results. Love your blog to death !!"
*Ko mampooo???

Last week, my best friend came to visit me at my cottage. He asked me to cook dinner for him. Katernyerr welcome home dinner since he came back from his study leave. Yang diminta makanan western sebab katernyer rindu his time kat Leeds, UK ehhh??...iol faham sangat perasaan dia...hihihihihi. So, iol bukak kitchen cupboard nak tengok apa yang ada. With the recipe provided by my mentor, Jamie Oliver, here is what I served for my Yorkshire friend :). I will also show how these fantastic meals were prepared.

Main

Linguine & Meatballs with Rich Tomato Sauce

The Ingredients

Tip all the ingredients: mince beef, chopped onions, breadcrumbs, parsley, dried oregano, Dijon mustard and egg yolk into a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Mix them all well with a wooden spoon. Boleh gak guna tangan janji bersih yer.

This is how it looks like after I mixed them well

With your hands, roll the mince mixture into a golf-size meatballs. Drizzle the top of meatballs with olive oil and fresh thyme (optional). Put in the pre-heated oven to 200C/gas 7 and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. You can  pan-fried the meatballs until brown with olive oil if you do no have an oven.

Meanwhile, make the sauce. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the garlic and onion and sizzle for one minute. Then, tip in chopped celery and cook until it begins to soften. Stir in chopped tomatoes, parsley, tomato puree and seasoning. Simmer for 15-20 minutes until slightly thickened. Please, don't you forget, I beg *macam lagu Adele tak? you not to use sauce from a jar like Prego. It tastes horrible. Make your own sauce from scratch, ok? 

Also,do not forget to boil the pasta (I use linguine here). I think everybody knows how to do it. When the pasta is cooked, drain it and put aside until it is ready to serve. Sorry, tak ada gambar sebab lupa nak ambil :-)

When the mince turns into brown in color, take out from the oven. Pour the tomato sauce over the cooked mince and sprinkle some parsley.

People like to eat with some bread. Well, for a change, I ate it with Yorkshire pudding to scoop out every bit of sauce left in the bowl. :-)

Ta daaaa :)

Dessert

Sticky Toffee Pudding with Vanilla Ice-Cream

If you asked me my favorite dessert, this one surely will be on my top list. Sticky toffee pudding is a classic British steamed dessert consisting of a very moist sponge cake, packed with chopped dates, covered with hot toffee sauce and often served with a vanilla ice-cream or vanilla custard. *terliur already???

I remember this would be my dessert, everytime, after having a Sunday roast years ago (tak yah la mention bila and di mana, kang ada yang letak tangan atas bahu, mata naik ke atas). It is quite rare to find this pudding in a restaurant around KL. I had it once in a very famous restaurant in the city centre but I did not like it so much because the cake was dry and it served with very little toffee sauce. It is very important to serve with a generous amount of sauce so you can scoop out the cake with the sauce into your mouth. It is very sweet, I warn you, but it tastes really good.... yum yum yum.

So, it was my first ever attempt at making the pudding. My friend loves it and he took all the left-pudding home, and I had to make an extra sauce for him. Sorry, no pictures how it was done but if you really want to know, maybe i will show you next time :-).

Ciao Bella!!!

Mulberry Classic Chocolate and Walnut Brownies

"Mana sambungan post sebelum nih haaa?? tak sabar iol nak baca laaaa."
*ayooo mode Angry Bird betina sgtsss

Yelaaa, nak cite laa nih. tak sabar-sabar nih. 

Okay. Ini laa sambungan daripada entry sebelum ni, *matilaa kemaruk post dua entry dalam satu hari!!...

Tak lengkap rasanya bila dah makan-makan tapi tak der dessert. It is also incomplete when people come to Mulberry Cottage without having dessert. Dessert is a MUST!

So an hour before the guests arrived, iol went into my heaven's kitchen to find out what I have for dessert. So I decided to bake brownie. And also found an easy brownie recipe in my cooking binder. The results reveled that *macam bentangkan hasil scientific research ..the guests loved the brownie I baked so much..sampai ada yang bawak balik and had breakfast with it the next day *mode naik stage dah ON :)

Iol had some positive comments *which is great..BUT iol also have  my own comments and feelings about the brownie I baked. So, Iol decided to bake again and improve the recipe. The results?? jeng jeng jeng.. I LOVE this one MORE!!

Here iol show you guys how it was done.

The Ingredients

Use the best quality ingredients if you can. Kalau tak, yang murs-murs pun ok but you have to try the recipe until you get the taste that you expected :))

Step 1

Cut the butter into small cubes and break the chocolate into small pieces. Then, tip them into a medium bowl. Sit the bowl on top of a small saucepan fill with a quarter full of water with a low heat to melt the butter and chocolate. You must ensure the bottom of the bowl did not touch the hot water.

Step 2

Occasionally, stir the mixture to mix them well. When it is done, leave the melted mixture to cool to room temperature

Step 3

While waiting for the chocolate mixture to cool, break the eggs into a mixing bowl and tip in the sugar. Using an electric mixer *well mine is Kitchen Aid..*matilaa riak :), whisk the eggs and sugar in a maximum speed until they look thick and creamy. How would you know? The mixture volume will double in size and they look pale.

Step 4

Sieve the the cocoa powder and flour into a bowl. This is to ensure that we get rid off all of the lumps.

Step 5

Pour the cooled chocolate mixture over the eggs and sugar mixture. Then, gently fold together with a rubber spatula until the mixture color  is a mottled dark brown.

Step 6

Tip in the flour and cocoa powder into the bowl. Gently fold them together with the chocolate mixture. Avoid overdoing the mixing.

Step 7

Stir in the chopped walnut and chocolate chunks into the mixture until they are dotted throughout.

Step 8

Prepare a shallow 20cm square tin and line the base with baking parchment. Pour the mixture into prepared tin and scrap out every bit of the bowl with the spatula. Put in the heated oven, 160C/gas 4 for 25-30 minutes. 

Step 9

When it is cooked, leave it in the tin until it is completely cold. Then, take it out from the tin and remove the baking paper. Serve on a plate and cut the brownies into squares.

Yummmylicious! A fudgy and decadent brownies, studded with
extra chunks of chocolate and chopped  walnut.

What I like about this batch of brownies is the runny extra chocolate chunks in the middle (see the pic above) when I cut the brownies. It soft and dense in the middle but firm outside. It surely melts in your mouth and best to serve with a scoop or two good quality vanilla ice-cream. Heavenly!!! I sure make this brownies over and over again. :))

"Bole tak uolss buatkan untuk mek punyer 30th Birthday??
Kanda William suker sgts Brownies tapi mek tak reti buat"
*Boleh uolss..sambil sujud merafak sembah

Ciao Bella!

Chilli Con Carne atau Kachang Pool?

Kachang Pool

Chilli Con Carne

                         VS

2 hari lepas, iol menerima kunjungan yang disangka *maksudnya orang tuh dah cakap nak datang..  ke Mulberry Cottage iol yang tak seberapa ini bagi menunaikan keinginan iol merasa masakan orang Johor yang teramat laa popular katernya.

Arakian, sambutan tahun baru sekumpulan kengkawan iol yang cantek ni telah pergi ke Johor jalan-jalan cari makan *feeling-feeling Maria Tunku Sabri laa tuh... so they stopped by one of the famous deli which serve kachang pool. Tunjuklaa gambo dengan girangnya mereka dapat makan kachang pool di FB. Seperti biasa, post2 tipikal FB terhadap gambo makanan seperti berikut: tak hajakkk, nak jugak, tolong bawak balik sikit (yg ni memang statement nak makan free je laa) dan macam2 lagi. tapi iol pulak bertanya dengan kekwats nye "What is this?? Is it similar to chilli Con Carne?"...hamik ko dikecamlaa iol ni penjajah..as usual hihihi

So, to cut the story short, my dearest lady friend ni cooked kachang pool and brought to Mulberry Cottage for dinner. Melompat keriangan laa iol orang bawak rezeki dan Malaikat Rahmat ke cottage iol *nyaman rasa. A few of us had the kachang pool. 

Inilah Kachang Pool yang dimasak oleh Duchess of Ipoh.
Cantek tak bekas tagine iol?? :)

Komen tukang makan:

Tukang makan 1: Sedapnyaaaaa, memang sangat sedap makan dengan roti especially makan orang    Arab, eh??? silap makan dengan roti Arab.

Tukang makan 2: Betulaa sedap. nih memang kene makan dgn telor mata kerbau 

Tukang makan 3: Senyap..mulut penuh dengan roti. *Lahap sangat perangai ko!

Tukang makan 4: Boleh tahan juga, aku bagi B+! *Pitammmm

Tukang Makan yang makan sampai licin!!!
Yang tengah tu laa roti Arab yg best :)

Persamaan

a) Dua-dua ada bahan mince beef. kalu pakai mince lamb lagi kawwww

b) Dua-dua makan cicah dengan roti pun boleh

c) Dua-dua manusia boleh makan..ehh, ada ke avatar makan?

Perbezaan

a) Satu guna kachang pool aka kacang parang aka macam baked beans, satu lagi guna red kidney bean

b) Kachang pool guna spices ala2 mediterranean+asian, con car ne pakai herba2 eropah *tetapp kann

c) Kacang pool rasa pedas2, con carne rasa masam2 sikit sebab guna tomato sebagai kuahnya.

d) Uniknya kachang pool dihidang dengan telur mata kerbau.

Kacang FOUL??? kacang ni main bola sepak jugak kot

Hanya yang terbaik dari British *larikkkkkk

After all, I love both of them and I really enjoyed the dinner, so did my friends :)...really many thanks to Duchess of Ipoh for bringing Malaya food to my humble abode..your generosity, Your Highness is very much appreciated. On behalf of House of Windsor, we thank you. *macam Penyimpan Mohor Besar British ehhhh?

Ciao Bella!!

p/s: Dessert yg dihidang selepas itu. Nantikan ceritanya pada entry akan datang! Preview sikit gambo hihihihi :)

Apa nih???? Tungguuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

Mulberry Classic Seafood Pie

*Matilah kiterr kene jadik hidangan manusia

Banyak barang2 kat dalam peti ais tuh kene clear. Kalu tak, expired cenggitu jer. Gagahkan jugak tangan ini untuk memasak.*maskulss sangat laa tangan iol nihhh

So, today's entry I'd like to share a recipe. Nak dijadikan cerita, ada peminat2 fanatik *ada ka peminat?? charutzzz aka marah kat iol yg katernyer asyik tunjuk gambar makanan je tapi resepi tak nak dikongsi. Macam mana nak kongsi resepi, entry2 sebelum ni makanannya sampai lebih 5 jenis! Kalu dikongsi resepi semua sekali alamat jadi buku masakan laa blog nih kan. Kalu ada publisher macam Cambridge Press or Pustaka Minerva nak publish oklah jugak *mode verangan ON. Demi memenuhi harapan menggunung peminat tercinta, disertakan sekali resepi untuk masakan kali ini. *Jangan tak cuba pulak yerrr!!

Ready, Steady, Cook!!

Step 1

Sekadar foto hiasan uhuk uhuk uhuk...harap-harap in the future merasalah
Aga Oven and Cooker di dapur iol *menadah tangan berdoa

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas 6. Kalau tak ada oven, pinjam oven orang sebelah rumah pun boleh. *larikkk

Step 2

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Peel 700g potatoes and 300g carrots and cut into 2cm chunks. I like to use carrots because it gives a nice color of the pie top. Guna potatoes saja pun boleh. Once the water is boiling, add the potatoes and carrots and cook for around 12 minutes.

Step 3

Cut 300g of white fish into bite-size chunks and add to the tray with 300g medium-sized fresh prawns, 300g calamari and 200g crabsticks. Zest 1 lemon and squeeze over the juice from the lemon, drizzle with olive oil *bukan minyak masak cap Buruh yerr, a pinch of salt and pepper and mixed them well together.

Step 4

Add grated of 1 carrots, 2 sticks of celery and 150g mature cheddar cheese and mix everything together really well.

Step 5

By now, your potatoes and carrots should be cooked. Drain them in colander and return to the pan. Use potato ricer and spread evenly over the top of seafood and vegetable mix. Jangan risau, if you don't have a potato ricer, you can mash until nice and smooth. *boleh lenyek dengan tangan sendiri tapi merasa tangan ko melecur.

Step 6

Drizzle with some olive oil over the top of mashed potatoes and carrots. Scatter some chopped fresh flat parsley (optional). Bake until golden brown.

Step 7

Inilah hasilnya apabila dah masak. Bolehlah dihidangkan dengan tomato ketchup, baked beans, steamed vegetables or leafy green salad. Tapi kalau lidah Asia tu tebal..oppssie...boleh laa tuang sos chilli setengah botol!! Macam kawan baik iol selalu buat  hihihihi.

This is how it looks like when you scoop out from the oven-dish.
Pinggan classic sangatsss :)

Ciao Bella!

Birthday Party Hearty

Hello, we allzs datang nak makan kek jer, hadiah tak bawak.
 *Pengsannn

2 hari yang amat meletihkan tetapi sangat menyeronokkan sampai ke tahap kegembiraan macam 4 articles published at tier 1 high impact factor journal! *motiff bunyi akademik??? Absolutely sounds academic! sebab yang nak di jamu adalah mereka-mereka yang bekerja bertungkus lumus memastikan negara melahirkan graduan yang berkualiti dan memastikan pentadbiran universiti berjalan lancar (patriotik sangat iols kannn muahsss!)

Anyway, the person that we celebrated last Friday was very special in his own way and had devoted himself in the academic world for 30 years! (betulkannn?, well at least). So we decided to throw him a birthday bash and I was appointed as a cook for the party (memang pressure banget, *mode sinetron). Again, my lovely cottage was a place for Arisan! (matilaa terpengaruh dengan Astro Indo Pek!)

Due to the success of the Year-End Dinner party *propah kann but true , banyak sponsor telah membuka mata terhadap kebolehan iolss di dapur (mode verangan tetap ON yeh). Maka bertubi-tubi sponsor dari company-company contractor Kelas F masyukkk.

Ok let's talk about what I served for this occasion. Ini juga telah dipersetujui oleh sponsor2 tersebut utk majlis special ini.

Entree/Nibble

1.  Deep Fried Chicken  and Mushroom Wanton with Spicy Oriental Sauce

Favorite salah seorang guest. Katanyerr sedap munchy-munchy sambil push button *one way of naikkan angin seseorang dengan mentioned nama seseorang yg dibenci! . Agaknyer kunjungan beliau di negara matahari terbit baru2 ini byk sangat makan wanton soup agaknya. Whatever it is, this one is very common  snack and you can prepare it easily while you are playing with your cat! *merasalah makan bulu kucing rangup!

2. Tortilla Chips with Chilli Con Carne Dipping

Usually, tortilla chips are best to go with tomato salsa or guacomole. Untuk kelainan, I chose chilli con carne or 3C, one of my ultimate favorite dish. So whether it is Girl's  Nite In or Boy's Football Nite (macam jiran bujang sebelah umah..opss), this dip cannot be missed. A friend told me that  3C is similar to Johor food called Kachang Pool. I ve never tasted kachang pool but I'd love to try and see the difference.

3. Prawn Cocktail on Toasted Rye Bread

Yes, always be creative to improvise the presentation of the food to something different. I decided to serve prawn cocktail on rye bread because I could not get ciabatta bread!. One of my friend asked why not serve on roti Gardenia or Federal?? I said the texture of those bread is soft hence the bread will turn soggy after a while.

4. Roasted Vegetables Fussili 

Sapa2 yang nak berdiet try this dish. Roast the vegetables in the oven, boil the pasta, then mix it together with olive oil and it is ready to eat!..simple and healthy! *Gym bunnies muscle merry mesti tak setuju sebab pada mereka pasta is not healthy...tapi tetap telan Haagen Daz or ice-cream Walls kannn bila kene reject...opsss!

Main Course

1. Grainy Mustard and Honey Glaze Turkey with Caramelised Onion Gravy

Before the glaze

After the glaze

Turkey in January??? tak salahkan. Macam orang jual lemang kat tepi jalan MRR2 tuh. Tiap-tiap hari ada. Padahal both food are seasonal tapi people can get them anytime they want. So I decided to roast turkey instead of chicken or beef because it is a special occasion. Besides, it is easy to roast one big bird then 3 medium-sized birds to feed 13 people (masih sempat ke KLCC beli kek sementara tunggu turkey masak!)

2. Mixed Salad Leaves with Fresh Tangerine, Sweet Tomatoes and Lemon Dressing

It is just salad leaves. You can throw in whatever you have in the kitchen *jangan campak masuk sabun Fab pulak. This time, I have tangerine so it gives sweetness taste to the salad.

3. Red and White Potatoes with Horseradish and Creme Fraiche

Kalau dah bosan dengan roast potatoes, try boiled potatoes lak. kalau tak dapat the red one, you can always use the white one only. When I taste this dish, it reminds me of Russian Salad.

4. Mulberry Classic Yorkshire Pudding

Maseh lagi nak buat "kuih Akok tak bergula nih!". Atas permintaan seorang guest jugak *macam DJ tunaikan permintaan lagu la pulak :). I tried different recipe this time. Looks better than before but still not what I expected. Will try and try again!

Dessert

Harusslah birthday cake. Tetapi dah habis makan baru teringat nak amek gambar. It is Tiramisu cake. I don't bake the cake. Tak sempat uolss. Beli je kat Sun Moulin, Isetan KLCC. (nih dapat ke royalti advertise kat blog iols nih??)

Antara komen-komen tetamu yang hadir:

1. "Thank you for a fabulous time at the Mulberry Cottage. Good British foods, great friends and fabulous Grand British Hostess with the mostest! Hopefully, it was a pleasant surprise for AA. xoxo." *Macam ucapan Miss Angola.

2. "Thank you host aka pemilik Mulberry Cottage merangkap chef  dan b'day boy kerana berjaya ditipah tertipukan (ko hengat shooting citer Ali Setan ke?) dan ahli2 komplot yang lain.It was a blast esp during the push button session. Lebih meriah kalau semua ahli jemaah ada." *Jangan keliru, ini bukan perhimpunan jemaah Ayah Pin yerr.

3."Thank for the lovely dishes, you alz. The dip was so good. The pasta and the turkey were excellent as well." *Bunyi komen cam majalah Saji keluaran Utusan Publishing.

4. "Sedap kopi nih. Macam rasa kopi cap Tupai yang sedap tuh pun ada." *Ternganga mulot! Kopi Waitrose, London (tetap mention!) disamakan  rasa kopi cap Tupai??


Cukuplah tu. Kang dibubuh komen setiap orang merasalaa riak. Marah juara Imam Muda Musim ke-2, ehh??. Apa2 pun, million thanks to everyone kerana percaya akan masakan iols.

Kalu tak best, takkan laa turkey 5kg lebih dilapah sampai sebegini lunyai???

To birthday boy, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Just remember, one year older is another year cuter. :))

Ciao Bella!