Sunday, April 29, 2012

From the cook's room -- Saturday's Dinner!

Butternut squash soup & Fried angel hair with beef and mushroom.


Last Saturday was just a relaxing day for me and Mr. S as we had nothing planned. For once we were just hanging out without any activity in our calendar. But we went to KLCC and had to change his shirt that I bought for him during Isetan Member Pre-Sales because both of its sleeves are up on his elbow (Oh we are talking about long sleeve buttoned shirt!) Sigh sigh! What can I say, I married a giant! Lmao.

Despite not having anything to do in the house, I must admit that I was super lazy. While Mr. S busy vacuuming the whole house, I put clothes to wash and fold those that were already dried on the racks. Head was racing trying to figure out what's for dinner. I knew Mr. S is not a big fan of rice but am just too tired of making steaks and sandwiches. And then, ting! ting! ting! Hey, let's try something new. Heeee...

Looking inside the refrigerator and thinking I should finish what is left inside this. Urghhh! Tadaaaaa....there you go. Dinner on the table:)

To those that kept asking me for the recipe for the above, here you go! (I told you I just chuck everything in my refrigerator. Spring clean it, that is what they called it.)


Butternut Squash Soup:


Half of a medium sized butternut squash (if you can't find it, pumpkin is good too!)
2tbsp of black pepper, grounded finely
1tbsp of salt
500ml beef/vegetable stock
1 cup of milk or cream
1 medium sized onion
2tsp cooking oil
2 sprigs of fresh thyme

1. Roughly chop the onion and cubed the butternut squash into bite size chunks. It doesn't matter really because all these will be blitzed and pureed.

2. Sweat those onion until it is soft before adding thyme to it. Once onion is golden brown, add in the butternut squash along with vegetable stocks enough to cover the chunks.

3. Bring it to boil and once your vegetable softens, turned off your stove and let it cool down a bit.

4. Liquidize your soup into smooth consistency and add some generous pinch of salt and pepper to taste.

5. Depending on to your liking, you can either use milk or cream for your soup. If you prefer to use milk, bring your soup back to stove and add in a cup of milk. Let it simmer for couple of minutes and serve it with hot baguette. If you prefer to use cream, serve it in a bowl with a dollop of cream in the middle.



Fried Angel Hair with Beef & Mushroom


1 packet of San Remo Angel Hair pasta
2 cloves of garlic
1inch of fresh ginger
6 small chili
5 cherry tomatoes, halved
A bunch of spring onions, chopped finely
1 medium sized lime
4 portobello mushrooms, sliced
350g lean beef, diced
Pinch of salt & pepper
Knob of butter


1. Boil some water with a pinch of salt. Add in angel hair and cook it until al dente. Toss it and add a knob of butter to it.

2. Peel garlic and chop ginger to thin slice (it will be easy for you later). Using pestle and mortar (you can use food processor, if you want), pound garlic, ginger and chili to paste.

3. Heat couple teaspoon of vegetable oil and saute the garlic, ginger, chili paste and also chopped spring onions till fragrant. Add beef and stir fry till its tender before adding slices of mushrooms and tomatoes.

4. Pinch in some salt and pepper and toss in the noodles that you have prepared. Mix well. Squeeze some lime juice before serving.


Happy cooking all!



Love,
Iliyana I. Ramjaun

Saturday, April 28, 2012

From the cook's room -- Scones :)

Fresh out of the oven for breakfast tomorrow morning.


Just felt like baking the other day and the result was above. Despite living in the middle of KL city area, I have never came across any good scones apart from the one in Boh Valley in Cameron Highland. With fresh cream and strawberry jam as their condiments, along with hot fresh brewed tea...it's definitely HEAVEN!

Felt like bringing something to the office therefore I baked more than enough for everybody to enjoy. For this one we enjoyed it with just butter and assorted jams. It still beats those hard-like-rock scones they sell in cafes. Haha.



Ingredients:

500g light Italian or plain flour
1tsp of baking soda
2tsp of cream of tartar
1tsp of salt (skip this if you are using salted butter)
125g chilled unsalted butter, cubed
25g castor sugar
1 egg, beaten
275ml buttermilk
50g castor sugar (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 220°c.

2. Sift the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt into a large bowl. Use your fingertips, rub in the butter until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add in the castor sugar and mix well.

3. Set aside about a third of the beaten egg and combine the rest with buttermilk, then add to the flour mixture. Mix briefly to combine into a moist dough.

4. Place on a lightly floured surface, knead gently and lightly just to bring them together. (Do not knead like kneading your bread or your scones will be hard)

5. Press to a thickness of 2cm and using a round cutter, cut out approximately 18 scones (depending on the size) and place it on a floured baking tray.

6. Add about a teaspoon of buttermilk to the remainder of the beaten egg to make an egg wash. Brush the scones with egg wash and dip the scones into the sugar (This is to your liking, usually I did not!).

7. Bake in the oven for about 10-12minutes or until golden brown on top. Serve with some clotted cream and hot tea.


Go ahead and give this a try!




Love,
Iliyana I. Ramjaun






Wednesday, April 25, 2012

It's just that time of the year...

Ordered this bouquet from PureSeed KL.



A MOTHER is the truest friend we have,
when trials, heavy and sudden fall upon us;
when adversity takes the place of prosperity;
when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine,
desert us when troubles thicken around us;
still will SHE cling to us, and endeavour by her kind percepts
and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness,
and cause peace to return to our hearts.

YOU'RE MY WALKING MIRACLE!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!


Love,
Iliyana I. Ramjaun