Posts Tagged With 'halal'

  • Jun
  • 07
  • 2014

satay sauce | peanut sauce

My sister has been asking for satay the past few weeks, and it just never happened. So this week, she firmly said “I’m making satay!” and I told her I’d make the peanut sauce to complement her satay. I’ve never made peanut sauce (kuah kacang) ever, but I was excited to give it a go. Although I’m not a huge satay fan, I do love my satay sauce and we usually eat it with nasi impit (rice cubes). You know how westerners love their dipping sauce? Well, I smother my rice cubes in this peanut dipping sauce. So, I was up at 1am (dont ask why!) cooking this. And I’m glad it turned out delicious!

*excuse the dark poor quality pic, it was taken at night*

I went on google and typed ‘kuah kacang’ and clicked the first link I saw. I’m glad it had really good photos (because we eat with our eyes right?) so I used this recipe.

 

RECIPE FOR SATAY SAUCE/PEANUT SAUCE/KUAH KACANG

Adapted from this recipe

with slight adjustments
Makes: a big wok!
Prep & cook time: 1.5 hours

To blend:
4 candlenuts
1 tsp fennel powder
1 tsp coriander powder
20gm dried prawns (about big handful)
5 small red onions
3 cloves garlic
20 dried chilli
2 lemongrass (bruised)
1/2inch dried shrimp paste (belacan)

Ingredients:
600gram peanuts (roast first in a wok)
1.5 cup palm sugar
1/2 cup oil
2 tsp tamarind paste
Salt to taste
2-3 cups Water

Method

1. In a large wok, dry fry the peanuts, stirring to make sure it doesn’t burn easily. This would take about 10 minutes. Then remove half of the nuts and put it together in the blender with the blended ingredients. Blend all the ingredients.

2. Using a food processor, process the remaining half peanuts. The consistency you’re looking for is not smooth like a paste, but more texturally lumpy. Just make sure all the peanuts have been processed thoroughly & there are not huge bits.

3. Heat up wok again with oil . Add in the blended ingredients and cook until the oil separates. This should take 15-20mins.

4. Add the processed nuts and 2-3 cups water. Add the lemongrass. Simmer on low for an hour, the add in palm sugar and salt. Simmer for another 20minutes. Make sure to keep stirring so it doesn’t burn.

5. Once 1.5 hours is reached, you’ll notice the sauce thickening up and has darkened in colour. The oil should also separate and you’ll know its ready. Serve with satay and/or rice cubes (nasi impit)

 


  • May
  • 05
  • 2014

shepherd’s pie | cottage pie

When you’re a busy mumma to 3 small kids, sometimes you just need a quick meal, but tasty of course. A lot of shepherds pie that I’ve had in the past, seem to have too much meat and very little mash. In my family, shepherds pie is made with a ratio of 1:1. Equal amount of meat to potato, can never have too much mash?!

 

RECIPE FOR SHEPHERD’S PIE/COTTAGE PIE
Serves: 4 in a 13x22cm (5×9″) oven dish
Prep time: 30minutes
Cook time: 20minutes

Ingredients
1 tbsp oil
1/2 onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
500g beef mince
1 carrot, finely diced
1/4 cup peas
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp stock paste (If using liquid stock,add some flour to thicken it)
A couple of pinches of mixed herb
1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese
500g potatoes, peeled & quartered
1/4 cup milk
50g butter
Salt & pepper to taste

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C.

2. Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Then saute  onions & garlic.

3. Meanwhile, place potatoes in a pot and cover with cold salted water. Bring to the boil over medium heat and cook until tender (10-15 minutes).

4. Add beef mince, a couple of pinches of mixed herbs and cook until mince is brown all over before adding the vegetables.

5. Once vegetables are added, put some stock, worcestershire sauce & tomato paste and cook for 10 minutes making sure to stir every few minutes.

6. Back to potatoes: Drain potatoes and return to pot. Add milk & butter then mash until smooth. Season with salt & pepper to taste.

7. In an oven dish, layer the pie filing and then mashed potatoes, and top it off with some mozzarella cheese. Bake for 20 minutes. Serve hot with some garlic bread!


  • May
  • 05
  • 2014

pumpkin soup

 

Its been very cold lately in Melbourne and its not even winter yet! Particularly in the past week, it has been raining everyday so my husband has been asking for winter comfort food-pumpkin soup! He absolutely loves pumpkin and especially that we’ve grown our own pumpkin this season, he was very excited almost like a little kid receiving a present, lol!

This is a very simple and easy recipe, but according to my husband, superbly tasty!

 

RECIPE FOR PUMPKIN SOUP

Ingredients

2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp butter
400g pumpkin, peeled roughly cut into cubes
1/2 tsp cummin
1/2 cup thickened cream
2 cups stock (or I use a homemade chicken stock paste and use 2tsp)
2 cups water (add more water if you’re using a stock paste)
salt and pepper to taste

Method

1.Heat butter and saute garlic.
2. Add the pumpkin pieces, cummin, stock and water.
3. Cover with a lid and bring it to a boil. Then let simmer for 20minutes.
4. Using a handheld stick blender, blend all the ingredients thoroughly in the pot. If you’re using a blender, wait a couple of hours until all the ingredients have cooled down before putting it in your blender.
5. Once blended, add salt, pepper and thickened cream and let simmer again for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve hot with some bread on the side!


  • Apr
  • 17
  • 2014

creamy garlic butter prawns


When you have 3 small kids, making dinner can be quite tough when you have 1 clingy baby, 1 throwing tantrum toddler and 1 demanding little girl. Some days, I just want to get dinner over and done with, so this is a perfect meal to make in just under 15 minutes.  Although it looks simple, its packed full of flavour! If I find I have a bit extra time, I’ll make some steam veges on the side, or whip up a quick soup to go with it.

 

RECIPE FOR CREAMY GARLIC BUTTER PRAWNS

Servings: 2
Cook time: 10-15mins

Ingredients
2-3  clove garlic, crushed
1 – 2 tbsp butter
20 prawns, deveined (about 200g)
1 cup thickened cream (or less)
1 tbsp cornflour
2 tsp stock paste (if you’re using a liquid stock, you might need more cornflour to thicken it up)
Salt & pepper to taste

Method
1. Saute butter and garlic for a few minutes then add the cream and stock, cover and bring to a boil.
2. In a small bowl, mix 1 tbsp cornflour with 1 tbsp water then gradually add it to the cream mixture.
3. Add prawns in a single layer and cook for a minute on each side. Stir until sauce thickens.
3. Finally, serve hot with some white rice*

*Making rice will also take approx 15 minutes, so make the rice first before making your creamy garlic butter prawns. Your rice will be ready just in time when you finish cooking the prawns :)


  • Mar
  • 25
  • 2014

carrot soup

When my dad brought out his carrot soup over the weekend when we had dinner at their place, I thought I wasn’t going to like this. I was wrong! I loved it. I think its the suttle spices that are sauteed that make it so flavourful. So I decided to make this for dinner tonight, the perfect entree to our ‘vegetarian dinner night’. Dinner was spinach & ricotta lasagne which is another favourite of mine.

RECIPE FOR CARROT SOUP
Recipe from my dad
Serves: 4 entree bowls

 

Ingredients
1/2 medium size onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, diced
400g carrot, roughly chopped (about 5-6 carrots)
1 tsp cummin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
3-4 cups liquid stock (I use homemade veg stock)
salt & pepper to taste

Method

1. Saute onions and garlic in some oil until soften but not burned.
2. Add in spices then saute until aromatic for about a minute or two.
3. Put in the chopped carrots and stock then cover, bring to a boil.
4. Put stove on low, seasoning well with salt and pepper. Leave to cook for another 15minutes
5. Turn off stove and leave to cool for an hour. Once cooled, blend mixture in a blender.
6. Return soup to saucepan and bring to a boil. Serve hot with some bread.

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