Nasi Kurma

dates boiling. do not over-cook. they cook easily.

combination of dates + rice puree

puree yang dimasak dengan penuh kasih sayang..

We can never doubt the nutritions and benefits of dates. Why not extend it to our babies? Too lazy this time, I simply combined dates puree with rice puree right away and store.

gendang gendut tali kecapi
kenyang perut, tido camgitu sekali!

Apple Puree

apples.. apples.. and more apples


lovely, eh?

**Photos above - credit to Wikipaedia. The flowers are actually apple blossoms.

Info below is taken from University of Illinois Entension in Urban Illinois webbie.

You've heard, "an apple a day will keep the doctor away." While it will certainly take more than a daily apple to keep you healthy, it is a step in the right direction. Apples are delicious, easy to carry for snacking, low in calories, a natural mouth freshener, and they are still very inexpensive.

Apples are a source of both soluble and insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber such as pectin actually helps to prevent cholesterol buildup in the lining of blood vessel walls, thus reducing the incident of atherosclerosis and heart disease. The insoluble fiber in apples provides bulk in the intestinal tract, holding water to cleanse and move food quickly through the digestive system.

It is a good idea to eat apples with their skin. Almost half of the vitamin C content is just underneath the skin. Eating the skin also increases insoluble fiber content. Most of an apple's fragrance cells are also concentrated in the skin and as they ripen, the skin cells develop more aroma and flavor.

There are hundreds of varieties of apples on the market today, although most people have only tasted one or two of the most popular such as Red Delicious or Granny Smith. Apples can be sweet, tart, soft and smooth or crisp and crunchy, depending on the one you choose. There is an apple to suit almost everyone's taste, so why not choose one. Have an apple today!

Apple Nutrition Facts
(*One medium 2-1/2 inch apple, fresh, raw, with skin)

Calories 81
Carbohydrate 21 grams
Dietary Fiber 4 grams
Soluble Fiber
Insoluble fiber
Calcium 10 mg
Phosphorus 10 mg Iron .25 mg
Sodium 0.00 mg
Potassium 159 mg
Vitamin C 8 mg
Vitamin A 73 IU
Folate 4 mcg

*The nutritional value of apples will vary slightly depending on the variety and size.

Source: USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory -- Apple

i use granny smith green apple. good combination of sweet and sour.

combination of rice puree and apple puree

keep the puree in lidded-ice cube-tray. bought these from Parkson, Alamanda

Carrot Puree

Yes. The photo (taken from Wiki) above has connection with Carrot Puree. Those are carrots flowers. Lovely, aren't them?

Anyway, here's some info I got from Wiki..
The carrot gets its characteristic and bright orange colour from β-carotene, which is metabolised into vitamin A in humans when bile salts are present in the intestines.[3] Massive overconsumption of carrots can cause hypercarotenemia, a condition in which the skin turns orange (although hypercarotenemia is not itself dangerous unlike overdose of vitamin A, which can cause liver damage). Carrots are also rich in dietary fibre, antioxidants, and minerals.

Lack of Vitamin A can cause poor vision, including night vision, and vision can be restored by adding Vitamin A back into the diet. The urban legend that says eating large amounts of carrots will allow one to see in the dark developed from stories of British gunners in World War II who were able to shoot down German planes in the darkness of night. The legend arose during the Battle of Britain when the RAF circulated a story about their pilots' carrot consumption as an attempt to cover up the discovery and effective use of radar technologies in engaging enemy planes.[4][5] It reinforced existing German folklore and helped to encourage Britons—looking to improve their night vision during the blackouts—to grow and eat the vegetable.

Ethnomedically, the roots are used to treat digestive problems, intestinal parasites, and tonsillitis or constipation.

Another lovely photo from Wiki

Anyway. Where was I? Oh... carrot puree. Carrot has its own natural sweetness that appeals to baby tastebud. At least my baby. Making puree is actually a breeze. I scrape off the outer layer of skin, cut into small pieces. Simply boil over high heat until it boils then lower down the flame. Give these guys another 10-15 minutes or until soften. Leave to cool then blend. The stock can be used for cooking rice for puree.

carrot puree. seen in ice-cube tray. i term this as 'sayur'. why? look below..

carrot puree+rice puree.
note of caution - please feed your baby carrot puree first for 3 days before attempting any combination. If he/she is okay, then you can introduce new puree/new combination.

Batch Cooking Baby Food

one happy baby, isn't he?

(Adam at 5 months)

As I said in my last entry, I batch-cook. I use this method since 2005 when my 2nd child, Iman was small. I don't have the luxury of time to spend everyday cooking babyfood. Instead, I spend say, 1/2 a day cooking in large quantity. After blending them up (at this point, still finely blended to suit Adam's age), I freeze them. Later on, I just take out a small quantity as per Adam's need and reheat. Yes,.. reheat and feed.

You can check Ms Annabel Karmel's website for more information on batch-cooking. She offers great ideas and recipes too.

This is from her site as well...

As a baby only eats tiny amounts especially in the early stages of weaning it saves time to make up larger quantities of puree and freeze extra portions in ice-cube trays or small plastic freezer pots for future meals. Thus in a couple of hours you can prepare enough food for your baby for a month using the weekly menu planners.
• Once food has cooled down, freeze as soon as possible.
• Freeze baby food in a flexible ice-cube tray with a lid, which you should label clearly with the contents and expiry date.
• Thaw foods by either taking them out of the freezer several hours before a meal, heating gently in a saucepan or defrosting in a microwave. Always reheat foods thoroughly, allow cooling and testing the temperature of the food before giving it to your baby. If reheating in a microwave, make sure that you stir the food to get rid of any hot spots.

-> Never refreeze meals that have already been frozen. The exception to this is that raw frozen food can be returned to the freezer once it is cooked. For example cooked frozen peas can be re-frozen.
-> Do not reheat foods more than once.
-> The temperature of your freezer should be 0F (-18C) or below.
-> Baby purees will keep for 8 weeks.

As seen in photos below, I use Avent's Via Cups for storing. These cups can easily be bought in deparmental stores. Check out onlines stores as well as sometimes they offer much cheaper price. These are 5oz cups but I fill in just 3oz. Adam doesn't eat that much (yet) I guess!

Always, always label the content and date for easy tracking. Frozen baby food keeps for 8 weeks but I don't keep that much stock in my freezer. I need to reserve some space for adults' food as well. Usually the stock lasts for 1 week. The most pun 2 weeks only.

6 hari punya stock. He eats twice a day.

cups tak cukup, botol pun jadi...

Adam's First Solid

Before I start ranting about babyfood, let me introduce you to this little guy, Adam. He was born on 11th May 2009 (on Mother's Day that is), at 3.20am. The fairest and heaviest among his siblings. He was 3.74kg at birth. Previous gynea has warned me about having baby with estimated birth-weight of more that 3.5kg but Allah has other plan for me. Despite his size, this is the shortest and easier labour among the three.

Adam, seconds after birth

To cut the story short, came October, Adam is 5-months old. He was interested seeing others eating long ago, he turned and toss in bed despite nursing every hour. I was excited to feed him solid (excitement that came along with the expectation to buy eating bowl, cute fork and spoon, the bibs and whatnots) But based on my readings and recommendation, I postponed solid until he is 5-months old.

His first solid is Plain Rice Puree
See, I got them lined up real nice for the photo-shoot.

In pom-pom mode somemore (staking on one another)

To ease things up, it is recommended to soak the rice overnight. It will take shorter time to cook. Once cool, blend into fine consistency.

Then try feeding your baby. If he/she rejects, then wait for another 2-3 days. Then introduce back. From what I read, if he/she thrusts his/her tongue out, he/she is simply not ready for solid so.. please keep your excitement at bay (but you can always shop for the cute feeding bowl, fork and spoon, bips and whatnots despite that).

Another thing is that, I always batch-cook. This is something I will blog later. I am a working mom and at the same time a traditional-and-conventional one. I am a strong believer of 'khasiat air tangan'. Especially we mothers'. To strike a balance, I batch cook. It may not appeal to some (I am not saying this is the best method as well, ain't I?) but this is how I do best in feeding my Adam with homemade food.

By the way, I don't have a maid.

As if that matters eh?

*eyes roll*

Puding Roti

Uihh... lamanya saya tak update blog yang ini. Bukan tak masak.. tapi kurang mencuba resepi baru. Minggu lepas, sedara dari Tgg datang ke rumah saya. Bimbang laparr, saya beli roti bantal Gardenia. Beberapa hari lepas tu, saya terbeli lagi sebantal. Sudahnya ada 2 bantal yang sekeping pun tak berusik. Sayang nak buang. Nak makan sampai 2 bantal tak lalu rasanya. Jadinya saya buat Puding Roti. Memandangkan hajat saya nak beli oven belum kesampaian, saya buat versi kukus.

At first, saya bercadang nak guna nnisang kerek as pemanis tapi malaslah pulak nak parut atau cairkan. Saya guna gula perang saja. Tebby kata, kalau guna brown sugar, layaklah namanya Puding Roti.. ala-ala mat salleh gitu. Kalau guna nnisang kerek, alamatnya eloklah dinamakan Koleh Roti Bata (bata = bantal in Terengganuspeak)

So here goes...

1. Roti putih - 6-8 keping. Buang kulit tepi.
2. Mentega
3. Susu segar - 3-4 cawan
4. Gula perang - 1-2 cawan
5. Telur - 2 biji
6. Epal hijau - 1 biji. Kupas, buang biji dan dadu kecil
7. Kismis - secukup rasa (saya guna sunmaid hitam)
8. Esen vanila - 1 sdt

• Sediakan kukusan dengan api sederhana.
• Campurkan susu segar, gula, perang , esen vanilla dan telur dalam mangkuk. Pukul sedikit hingga sebati.
• Sapukan mentega pada roti putih. Sapukan nipis sahaja. Potong-potong roti menjadi cebisan kecil.
• Rendamkan roti dalam bancuhan susu dan biar lembut.
• Masukkan kismis dan epal ke dalam bancuhan.
• Masukkan dalam bekas yang sesuai untuk mengukus. Lengserkan sedikit mentega supaya kuih tidak melekat.
• Kukus 20-45 minit, bergantung kepada saiz loyang.
• Setelah masak, sejukkan dan kemudian pindahkan ke dalam peti sejuk.

Anak suka.. Ibu setuju. Abah pun kata sedap. Abahnya is not a dessert guy. Kalau dia puji sedap tu, maknanya sedap betullah tu. Acecewahhh... apa kata orang ni.. masuk bakul angkat sendiri!

Prawn Toast

This one was for breakfast. We had some slices of breads at the verge of expiry. So, not to waste anything, I did this. They may look like 'roti telur' but I added prawns for flavour. Kakak loves this one very much.

Bahan-bahan

1. Roti - 6 keping

2. Telur - 2 biji

3. Udang - 10-12 ekor (saiz sedang), buang kulit, basuh dan toskan

4. Garam - secukup rasa

5. Lada sulah - secukup rasa

Cara-cara

- Masukkan semua bahan kecuali roti ke dalam blender dan blend sehingga konsistensinya menjadi seperti 'kaya'. Ia akan lebih mudah disapu pada roti.

- Panaskan skillet dan lenserkan sedikit minyak masak.

- Sapukan pada roti, on one side. Letakkan di atas skillet panas, bahagian bersapu ke bawah.

- Sementara bahagian bawahnya masak, sapukan pula bahagian atas.

- Setelah bahagian bawah masak, pusingkan roti untuk memasak satu bahagian lagi.

- Hidangkan panas-panas.

Lempeng Makaroni & Udang

Having small kids at home means to constantly have food on the table. When hunger strike, they barely know how to be patience (at least my kids lahh..)

Prepared this for tea yesterday.

Bahan-bahan

1. Makaroni - 3 cawan, rebus dan toskan

2. Udang - 1 1/2 cawan, basuh, tos dan potong dadu

3. Bawang besar - 1/2 labu, potong dadu

4. Cili besar - 1 biji, buang biji, potong kecil

5. Daun bawang - 1-2 batang, potong kecil

6. Kiub ikan bilis - 1

7. Telur - 2 biji

8. Tepung gandum - 2 sudu besar

9. Sedikit air

10. Garam - jika perlu, secukup rasa

Cara-cara

- Campurkan semua bahan dan gaul rata. Tambah garam jika tidak cukup masin.

- Panaskan kuali dengan sedikit minyak.

- Gorengkan kedua-dua belah hingga kekuningan.

I did 2 versions. For the kids, I omitted cili and scallion.

Sambal Ikan Bilis

Semalam buat Nasi Lemak for lunch. To accompany the rice, saya buat Sambal Ikan Bilis. Kalau balik Losong (satu kawasan di Kuala Terengganu yang famous dengan keropok), mak mertua saya akan buat sambal yang agak berkuah, siap dengan telur rebus keras, ikan bilis dan juga ikan aye (tongkol) singgang. Boleh berulang-ulang makan. Memang sedap. Di KL susah nak cari ikan tongkol hitam (which my MIL uses). Yang ada pun ikan tongkol 'kurik'.

Bahan-bahan

1. Bawang kisar (bawang merah, bawang putih + bawang besar -> I always keep a tub in my fridge)

2. Halia - hiris

3. Bawang besar - hiris melintang

4. Cili boh

5. Asam keping

6. Gula

7. Garam - Saya suka guna garam kasar. Rasa masakan lagi umphh.

8. Telur rebus keras - buang kulit

9. Ikan bilis - basuh dan toskan

10. Minyak untuk menumis

Cara-cara

- Panaskan minyak.

- Tumis bawang kisar dan halia hingga naik bau.

- Masukkan cili boh dan tumis lagi.

- Masukkan gula dan garam kasar, tumis lagi hingga agak garing

- Masukkan sedikit air dan biarkan mendidih sekejap.

- Masukkan bawang besar, didihkan sehingga agak layu.

- Masukkan ikan bilis dan telur rebus. Didihkan sekejap.

- Masukkan asam keping.

- Masak sehingga agak kering.

Nasi Minyak Tokmi & Gulai Nasi Minyak

These, were what we had for Eidul Adha.. Although we did not get to go balik either my or Tebby's kampung, this Nasi Minyak & its accompanying gulai, surely brought us back.. tho not physically. And I know I accomplish something when Tebby commented 'just like Mi does it'.

I've shared the recipe of Nasi Minyak TokMi here. Last time I did it with Gulai Ala Akhni. This time I made the real Gulai Nasi Minyak. However, as I learned this from my MIL, there's no specific measurement. She simply 'main campak-campak and agak-agak only'. So your judgement is important. But I try to share for about a kg of beef. Here goes the recipe..

Ingredients

1. Meat (I used beef) - Cut into medium sized chunks. Wash and drain.

2. Fried shallot (bawang goreng) - You need quite a lot, for a of beef, you're gonna need about 6-8 tbsp of this. If you're too lazy to do this yourself (like me, but let's call it convenience), you can use the ready-made fried shallot. So far, the best I found is 'Maju Limbat'. Bought it in Pasar Sungei Besi.

3. Rempah Gulai Nasi Minyak - 6-8 tbsp. This, was given by my inlaws. Cap Dayang Suri. I don't know where to get it here. I always got my supply back from Terengganu.

4. Susu pekat manis - 1/2 of small can

5. Susu cair - 1/2 - 3/4 of small can

6. Bawang besar - blend

7. Bawang merah - blend

6 & 7 should come to about 6-8 tbsp

8. Sos tomato - 6-8 tbsp

9. Cili boh - 4-6 tbsp

10. Bawang putih - 2 ulas, hiris

11. Bawang meah - 2 biji, hiris

12. Daun pandan - 2 helai

13. Minyak sapi - 2-3 tbsp MIL advises us to always use BBQ brand

14. Kulit kayu manis, bunga lawang, bunga cengkih, pelaga

Cara-cara

- Mix item 1-9 and leave to marinate for 1-2 hours.

- Panaskan minyak sapi.

- Tumis item item 14 hingga naik bau diikuti dengan item 10 - 12.

- Masukkan bahan yang telah diperap.

- Biarkan hingga menggelegak sedikit dan air agak kering.

- Tambah air dan garam dan biarkan mendidih hingga masak. (anggaran masa 45-1.5 jam, baru elok empuk)

This is the rempah btw. It comes in plastic-packaging. I transfered the content into a glass jar and cut off its label and pasted it here. Senang nak refer what else can be done with it!

Udang Ala Mamak

This, was done by Tebby. Haven't got the chance to ask him what the ingredients are. Obviously he used lemongrass.

Tebby's Nasi Ayam

Tebby is d*** good at making Nasi Ayam. It sent me eating lunch way before lunch time!

Agar-agar Telur 'Nnisang Kerek'

Agar-agar Ikan, the kids called it. Much to their delight.

The Kelantanese call these 'Nise' as opposed to orang Terengganu - 'Nnisang'

Terengganu people have this inclination to use 'nnisang kerek' when making porridge - namely Bubur Jagung, Bubur Gandum or even as one of the ingredients when making their Gula Ikang Aye (Gulai Ikan Tongkol) to be eaten with yummy Nasi Dagang. Kinda weird when I refer the Terengganu people as 'they' when I myself have blended (hey, I'm married to a man from there) with them.

I remember asking my FIL to bring along some 'kerek' of that 'nnisang' and, like always, he brought more than I asked for. If I requested for just 3, he'd bring along like 7 or 8. This 'manisan' come in round flat disc, around 1/2 inch thick. For those who happen to have have the experience mandi di telaga, you might know that round cement mould stack onto one another to make a telaga. Those are called 'kerek' in my kampung. So I guess that Nnisang Kerek's kerek, refers to that shape (kot - just my assumption) I still have a few discs in my fridge. The other day, I did agar-agar with that.

Bahan-bahan

1. Dried agar-agar strips - soak 1/2 hour and clean

2. Daun pandan

3. Nnisang kerek

4. Gula pasir

5. Air

6. Telur - beat till stiff

Cara-cara

- Cook nnisang kerek in a bit of water until fully dissolve.

- Add water to agar-agar strip and boil till dissolve.

- Add dissolved nnisang kerek (strain through sieve as you do this). Add a bit more of gula pasir if needed. Let to boil a while.

- Add beaten egg and stir until well mixed.

- Strain into mould and leave to cool. Better still, put into fridge.

Ayam Sos Tiram

weekend lepas kononnya nak memasak. buka-buka freezer, alamak.. ada udang dengan chicken breast aje. nak pegi membeli, malas lah pulak. sudahnya masak ajelah apa yang ada. udang saya masak seperti entry sebelum ni. ayam pulak saya buat AYAM SOS TIRAM.

Bahan-bahan:

1. 1 1/2 Dada ayam - potong serong setebal kira-kira 1/2cm, basuh, tos dan dengan menggunakan tuala dapur, keringkan sedikit air daripada potongan ayam

2. 1 biji telur

3. 4-5 titik sos Worchestershire

5. Tepung jagung

6. 5 ulas bawang putih - hiris nipis

7. Halia - hiris nipis

8. 1/2 biji bawang besar - hiris melintang

9. 2 sudu besar sos tiram - dibancuh dengan 1/2 cawan air

10. 1/2 kiub ikan bilis

11. Garam - jika perlu

Cara-cara

Penyediaan ayam

- Pecahkan telur dalam mangkuk, kacau perlahan.

- Masukkan sos Wochestershire, kacau sebati

- Masukkan potongan ayam dalam bancuhan telur tadi dan gaulkan.

- Angkat ayam dan gaulkan dengan tepung jagung (tak perlu bancuh dengan air) sehingga 'well coated'.

- Goreng hingga kekuningan. Goreng sedikit demi sedikit bagi mengelakkan ayam menjadi 'soggy'.

- Angkat dan toskan.

Penyediaan sos

- Panaskan minyak.

- Tumis bawang putih, halia dan bawang besar hingga naik bau dan 'translucent'.

- Masukkan sos tiram. Biarkan mendidih sedikit.

- Masukkan kiub ikan bilis dan kacau rata.

- Masukkan garam, jika perlu.

- Siram di atas kepingan ayam yang telah digoreng.

- Hidang segera bagi mengekalkan kerangupan ayam.

Jika suka pedas, bolehlah ditambah cili. Anak sulung saya tak makan pedas, jadi saya tak masukkan cili.

Udang Telur Masin

First time saya jumpa masakan ni semasa di Manila, April 2007. Rata-ratanya masyarakat sekitar Metro Manila (where Tebby and I was staying for 6 days) memang suka makan 'ba alif ba ya'. Walaupun kami diberitahu KFCnya halal, dek sebab ragu-ragu maka kami tak sentuh ayam or daging sepanjang di sana. Seafood.. YES!! Sehari dua okaylah. Masuk 4-5 hari, naik jelak jugek! Dalam puluh-puluh kedai makan tu ada jugaklah satu dua yang halal dan diusahakan oleh muslim. Kebanyakannya macam lauk-pauk kita juga - ikan goreng, gulai (gulai nangka pun ada!), telur dadar etc.

Saya makan 'Prawn with Salted Egg' di area Greenhills, tempat menjual mutiara berkualiti (saya pun tak tau bab-bab mutiara ni but kawan-kawan yang saya berikan pearls as souvenirs said so) murah-murah. Di samping itu juga ada banyak fake designers handbags (which I did not buy any selepas memborong di Seoul tahun sebelumnya) dan baju-baju branded yang murah-murahan. Kalau tak mengenangkan imigresennya yang muka masam dan garang sesangat tu, harus saya borong sampai sendat-sendat bag.

Ok, back to the recipe.

Bahan-bahan

Udang - 500gm

Telur Masin - 1 biji

Bawang Putih - 2-3 ulas, hiris

Halia - hiris

Garam - secukup rasa

Gula - secukup rasa

Daun Ketumbar - secukup rasa (boleh tukar dengan daun bawang if you don't like coriander leaves)

Cara-cara

- Gaul udang dengan sedikit garam dan perapkan seketika

- Panaskan sedikit minyak dan goreng udang seketika

- Angkat dan toskan udang

- Tumis bawang putih dan halia hingga naik bau

- Masukkan udang dan goreng lagi

- Pecahkan telur masin dan kacau hingga telur masak dan sebati

- Masukkan separuh dari daun ketumbar

- Perasakan dengan garam dan gula

- Hiaskan dengan baki daun ketumbar

- Hidangkan panas-panas

ps - kalau ada rezeki saya ke Manila lagi, harus saya membeli-belah dengan gamak di Greenhills tu... qada balik...

Chicken Ball

I pre-prepared this for weekdays dinner. To add up to a bowl of soupy noodle.


Ingredients:
2 pcs - chicken breasts, washed, drained, cubed
1 pc - chicken cube, grind into powder or use the powder form straightaway
Corn flour - just a bit
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 slice - wholemeal bread, grind, pan-fried without oil until a little bit crispy


Steps:
Mix all ingredients together. Rub a little bit of cooking oil onto your hands. Make balls while ensuring enough oil while doing it to prevent the balls from sticking together.


and VOILA.....

Garlic Rice With Prawn

Did this recipe last two weekends. I modified the original version, which can be found in About.com: Southern U.S. Cuisine. The result was just right in taste and texture.

Ingredients:
2-3 cups - rice, washed and drained
12 prawns - shelled and cleaned
1 1/2 tbsp - butter
1 tbsp - lemon rind, grated
6 cloves - garlic - minced finely
1 pc - chicken cube
A few strand - coriander leaves
to taste - salt & pepper

Steps:
- Heat butter in a pot.
- Add garlic and lemon rind. Fry for about 10 minutes.
- Add prawn and cook until they turn orangy.
- Add chicken cube and a bit of water. Bring to a boil.
- Add more water and add rice. Add coriander leaves.
- Transfer into a rice-cooker.

Udang Masak Lemak

Bahan-bahan

1. Udang - 1 kg - bersihkan tanpa buang kulit.

2. Bawang putih - 5 ulas - A

3. Bawang merah - 5 ulas - A

4. Kunyit hidup - 1-1.5 cm - A

5. Cili - Secukup rasa - A

6. Serai - 2 batang - titik

7. Asam - 1 keping

8. Santan - 2-4 cawan dari sebiji kelapa

9. Sedikit air

10. Gula & Garam

Cara-cara

- Kisar bahan A bersama-sama.

- Masukkan bahan A dalam periuk dan renehkan sebentar kira-kira 10 minit di atas api kecil.

- Masukkan santan dan biar mendidih. Kacau sekali-sekala bagi mengelakkan bergentel.

- Masukkan udang.

- Masukkan gula dan garam.

- Biarkan mendidih 5-10 minit. Kacau sekali-sekala dan masukkan asam keping.

- Sedia dihidang.

TIPS: -

Biasanya saya beli santan yang siap diperah di pasar-pasar. Semalam bapak saya beli kelapa parut. Min-Alif-Lam-Sin punya pasal, saya masukkan dalam blender dan tambah air. Blendkan sekejap, pastu tapis untuk santannya. Senang kan.

Fried Apple-Pie

There's a McD joint near our house where we can just conveniently drive-thru and place our orders and voila, your dinner. Despite the fast-food campaign huh! Anyway, among all, my kids love McD Apple-Pie. The pastry is rightly between soft and crispy and the filling is just righly sweet and sour. Sold at RM2.90 each and if you add one more, they are 2 for RM3.00! Tambah seposen aje tu. If they can sell it at RM1.50 each, imagine how much they mark-up the price!

Anyway, seeing Kakak and Iman munching their pies dengan gamak sekali, it prompted me to try my own. Furthermore, it's fried and not baked. We still haven't bought an oven yet so whatever experiment needs to exclude one with oven. After googling, I found a few recipes on the net.

Naturally, I did the filling first. It reminded me of the good-old-days when Iman was just a baby. His favorite food was applesauce and the apple pie filling recipe is exactly like applesauce. Only with sugar and it is not blended down into saucy-consistency.

FRIED APPLE-PIE
FILLING
Ingredients
1. Green apples - 3-4 apples, peeled, cored and diced.
2. Sugar - 1/2 to 3/4 cup.
3. Good dash of cinnamon powder.
4. A bit of water

Step-by-Step
- Put apples in a pan and add just a little water. You may not want the filling to be watery as this will 'soak' the pastry.
- Add sugar and cinnamon powder.
- Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduced to low flame. Let to simmer for 10-15 minutes until the apples are a bit soft.
- With a fork, mash some parts of the apples while leaving some part solid. So will have a nice combination of 'saucy' and cruchy apples.
- Let to cool.

The next day, I did the pastry and eventually the pie. It was such a tough task. It's hard to get even simple things done when I have many assistants. Kakak insisted to help so she got her portion of pastry that she rolled, knead and whatever until it turned blackish. Iman, who was already sleepy while I was rolling the dough thin, insisted that he needed to sleep right between my legs. So there was I, with all the 'assistance' I needed!

PASTRY
Ingredients
1. 2 cups of multi-purpose flour (I used the usual tepung cap-sauh).
2. 1/2 cup of shortening/butter (I used shortening and I used 3/4 cup of it).
3. 1 tsp salt
4. 1/2-3/4 cup water

Step-by-Step
- Mix flour with salt. Then 'ayak' (apa omputih cakap ayak ek?).
- Rub shortening with your fingers. (of course the mixture got a bit lumpy)
- Add water and knead into dough (the original recipe said 'use a fork' but I prefer to do with my hands)
- Roll the dough into desired size.
- Lay the filling and fold the pastry.
- Use a bit of water to 'glue' the pastry.

Since it was getting late and Kakak got overly excited with the kneading and rolling and Iman was trying his best to fit and snug himself between my legs, I decided to abort the last operation - frying. Maka jadilah 'frozen food'. Malam semalam baru goreng 2 ketul. (I got 6 pies. Had I not throw away some ingredients, I may have gotten 8. Errr... they are all of many shapes and sizes).

Anyway, a few additional information
1. Shortening
2. Rub method

before & after