Classic Nasi Lemak

Hey everyone!

It's weekend and it's nasi lemak time for me..A relaxing weekend calls for a classic nasi lemak, a dish that I have wanted to make since last week. Nasi lemak is an all day dish, so I'm pretty sure I can treat myself on a classic nasi lemak during the weekend.

Since I'm far far away from home in Malaysia, I must admit that I don't eat this dish often now and the truth is I don't make this dish often too but when I do, I will do the best I can. I grew up on classic nasi lemak and I love it.

CLASSIC NASI LEMAK

Ingredients;

2 cups basmati rice
1 cup coconut milk
1 1/2 cup water
2cm ginger, sliced
1 shallot, sliced
A pinch of salt

Method;

- Wash the rice until the water runs clear. Transfer in the rice cooker and add coconut milk, water, ginger, shallot and a pinch of salt. Press the cook button and just let the rice cook itself.

NASI LEMAK SAMBAL 

Ingredients;

1/2 onion, thinly sliced
10-15 dry chilies or more, boil or soak in hot water until chilies softened
1 onion
2 garlic
1 cm ginger
1/2 cup tamarind juice, from 1 tablespoon tamarind paste
Salt and palm sugar/brown sugar to taste

Method;

- Blend chilies, onion, garlic and ginger with a bit of water into fine paste.
- Heat up about 1/4 cup oil in a wok or saucepan and fry sliced onion until fragrant.
- Add chilies paste and cook until the oils separate onto the surface, about 4-5 minutes.
- Add in a bit of water little by little if it too dry. Stirring frequently.
- Add tamarind juice and season with salt and sugar.
- Simmer over low heat and let the chilies paste cook for 20-30 minutes or until the sauce are thickened as desired. The sambal has a good balance of sweetness, saltiness and spiciness taste.
- Serve nasi lemak with basic condiments like sambal, fried anchovies, fried peanuts, hard boiled egg and cucumber.

Happy weekend and enjoy a classic nasi lemak!

Pandan Butter Cake

Hello,

The weather was not so good in the past few days with beneficial showers on several days, some days there is a light drizzle and the weather was cold and cloudy. We hope that next week will be warmer than this week, fewer clouds and more sunshine.

I've made butter cake again this week with pandan flavour because I need a simple cake, something light, moist and buttery, just like my previous chocolate marble cake. This time the pandan butter cake it is!

PANDAN BUTTER CAKE

Ingredients;

250g butter, soften
200g sugar
4 eggs
250g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
100ml milk
1/2 teaspoon pandan essence
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
A few drop of green food colouring

METHOD;

- Preheat oven to 160°, grease and prepare baking pan.
- In a mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Fold in sifted flour and baking powder and stir in milk, mix well.
- Divided batter into two portions, add in pandan essence and a few drop of green food colouring if needed into one of the bowls.
- Add in vanilla extract in another bowls.
- Pour vanilla batter into prepared pan and follow with pandan batter.
- Bake for 50 minutes-1 hour or until skewer comes out clean.

Happy baking!

Spéculoos Cheesecake

Bonjour,

I've made mango cheesecake few months back and recently I made another cheesecake but with spéculoos. This no bake spéculoos cheesecake is made with spéculoss biscuit base and spéculoos spread mix with cream cheese, in fact this spéculoos cheesecake similar to the Nutella cheesecake.

Making cheesecake is not difficult, but the waiting time for the cheesecake to be set in the fridge can be quite long indeed! Though it takes a little time to make a wait, but it's worth the effort because this spéculoos is delicious.

SPECULOOS CHEESECAKE

Ingredients;

250g Lotus speculoos biscuits
80g butter, melted
450g cream cheese/mascarpone
80g powder sugar
200g speculoos spread
200ml heavy cream

METHOD;

- Prepare springform pan with a parchment paper around, set aside.
- Using a food processor to blitz or crush the speculoos biscuits into fine crumbs.
- Mix with melted butter, stir to combine and spread the crumb mixture into prepared pan, press firmly. Transfer to the fridge while making cheesecake filling.
- Using a stand or hand mixer, combine cream cheese, sugar and speculoos spread and mix until smooth.
- In another mixing bowl, beat the heavy cream until stiff peaks form.
- Gently fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture, mix well.
- Spread the mixture over the biscuit base and chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- For the topping, melted 150g speculoos spread and pour over the cheesecake, continue to refrigerate until set.

Enjoy the speculoos cheesecake!

Pan Fried Salmon With Creamy Leek Butter Sauce

Hello,

There was a time when the price of fresh salmon in the market quite a bit cheaper than the usual price because salmon is typically much more expensive especially here. Talk about fresh salmon, my favourite way of preparing salmon fillet are either baked, pan fried or grilled.

Creamy leek butter sauce go really well with salmon, that's our personal preference. This buttery leek sauce is sure became our favourite because it tastes really good with grilled or pan fried salmon.

PAN FRIED SALMON WITH CREAMY LEEK BUTTER SAUCE

Ingredients:

2 large salmon fillets or 4 small fillets
Salt, pepper and dried or fresh thyme
1 small leek, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2-3 tablespoon butter
200ml heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD;

- Generously season the salmon fillets with salt, pepper and thyme.
- Put little oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat, add the salmon fillets and fry for a few minutes on both sides until crisp.
- For the sauce, melt butter in a small sauce pan over medium heat and fry garlic until fragrant.
- Add leeks, simmer and stirring occasionally for a few minutes until they are soft.
- Add cream and season with salt and pepper.
- Simmer until the sauce slightly reduced, about 2-3 minutes.
- Serve with rice, vegetables or potatoes.

Bon appétit!

Chocolate Marble Cake

Hello,

Few days ago I was thinking about making white chocolate mousse but ended up making this marble cake though this cake wasn't something I'd planned to make. At the end, I'm so glad I did it because this was a really good cake, light, buttery and moist.

Recipe adapted from bbcgoodfood.com, I slightly increase the quantity but the basic recipe it remains the same. Really good recipe indeed! Cake came out perfectly and it's delicious.

CHOCOLATE MARBLE CAKE

Ingredients;

250g salted butter, softened
250g sugar
4 eggs
250g flour, sifted
70ml milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoon cocoa powder

METHOD;

- Heat oven to 160° and prepare baking tin, set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Add the flour and milk alternately in small amount, beating well after each addition.
- Add the vanilla extract, mix until the mixture is smooth.
- Divide the mixture between two bowls. Stir cocoa powder into one of the bowls.
- Take 2 tablespoons and use them to dollop the chocolate and vanilla batter into the tin alternately.
- Bake the cake for 50 minutes-1 hour or until a skewer comes out clean.

Happy baking!