Spaghetti with Tomato Plum Sauce

I have been making spaghetti with tomato sauce all the time but it is always differ from one another as I like experimenting with different kinds of tomato produce that is out there in the market. From fresh tomatoes to the pureed one and the canned souped one. I can never feel satisfied with the outcome as it was never the same compared to the restaurants one when we go out to eat.

Watching some of my favourite cooking shows on the Travel and Living and AFC channels, I noticed that when they make the tomato sauces for spaghetti these chefs uses plum tomatoes. I wondered why... So, I ventured out to get my hands on these plum tomatoes. Since I couldn't get them fresh, I opt for the canned version...Whole plum tomatoes in tomato juice.

Verdict: I must say using plum tomatoes are way better than any others. They make the sauce taste whole and awesome. Never again I am using any other....

Since I made this, I might as well share.... :) the recipe :))

Ingredients:
Spaghetti
1 can of plum tomatoes (I used whole ones)
Minced beef
1 clove of garlic, diced
2 onions, diced
10 Button mushrooms, sliced ( I like a lot of them)
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper
Oregano
Basil
Parmesan cheese

Method:
1. Cook the spaghetti according to the package instructions.
2. Heat up the pan and add in the onions and garlic, cook until transparent.
3. Next, add in the minced beef - cook till done.
4. Once cooked add in the canned plum tomatoes. You can mash the tomatoes. I left mine looking roughly mashed as I love them looking like homemade :). Leave it for 5-7 minutes till it thickens up.
5. Add in the oregano, salt and pepper.
6. Depending how you like, one can serve the spaghetti and sauce separately or add the spaghetti into the sauce.
7. Garnish the spaghetti with basil, Parmesan cheese and a drizzle of olive oil. Ready to be served.

Aglio Olio - Basil, Bell Peppers and Beef Bacon

Aglio olio is basically pasta with olive oil and garlic. The magic of this pasta is that it can be transformed to any kind of pasta that you want it to be.... you can add mushrooms, veggies, shrimp and more according to your likes!

Mine I added some chili flakes, I like it with a bit of tang since I am Asian. I threw in a couple of things too - basil, bell peppers and beef bacon to give it some body.

Aglio Olio with Basil, Bell Peppers and Beef Bacon

Ingredients

A fist of  spaghetti

1/4 Cup of Olive oil

2 Cloves of garlic, sliced thinly (if you like more add in more)

Chili flakes

1 Bell pepper, sliced thinly

Beef bacon

Basil

Salt and Pepper

Method:

1. Cook the spaghetti according to the package instruction but not to over cook it. Just about half cooked.

2. Heat a pan and cook the beef bacon till crisp with the olive oil.

3.Next add in the sliced garlic and chili flakes, cook till the garlic slice looks transparent.

4. Once the spaghetti is ready, drain and keep some of the water that the pasta was boiling in.

5. Add in the pasta into the pan full ingredients and add in the water bit by bit.

6. Then add in the bell peppers and season the pasta with salt and pepper.

7. Serve the pasta and garnish it with basil and Parmesan cheese.

Note: 

- Make sure you don't burn the garlic when cooking or you have a bitter taste pasta.

- Adding in the pasta water will help the binding of the pasta with the oil. It will look soupy but trust me it is ok once it's done

- I added in the bell peppers last because I wanted the crunchiness to be retained .

Potato Leek Soup

henever I need to comfort myself, I always found that soup makes the best comfort food as it is hearty and warm.  I just love curling up on the sofa with a mug full of warm soup. Yums!

My favourite soup for this kind of occasion would be the potato leek soup... and it is so easy to make!

Potato Leek Soup


Ingredients:
 4 medium size potatoes, peeled and diced
3 medium size leeks, diced
2 large onions, diced
Water
1 chicken stock cube
salt and pepper for taste

Method:
1. Place the diced potatoes, leeks, onions and the chicken stock cube in a pot.
2. Pour in the water till it covers all the ingredients and boil until it turn soft.
3. Once it is soft, blend the soup and return it back to the pot to simmer another 5 minutes.
4. Season the soup with salt and pepper for taste. Serve it hot or warm :)

Wonderful comfort soup for the soul!

Heys!

Here are some dishes that I managed to cook up after my long road to recovery.... not much but feast your eyes first...will give you the recipe asap! :))

One Month Break But Wait...

I am taking a month break from any kind of cooking and baking.... We will see lah okies... Once I am well enough to on my feet then I will start again..... But no need to worry I be posting some dishes that will be cooked by my mum for me.... You see I am undergoing an operation tomorrow and will be on confinement for a month.

Sorry to dissapoint you guys ... No, I am not preggers... Just a minor surgery that needs to be done at that delicate place.... For the whole month of November I will post the food photos and confinement receipes for you to try out or just for keeps!

Till then......Pray for my fast recovery and all....

Kiwi Pavlova

I have been wanting to eat this particular dessert for such a long time! Kept seeing it made on the Asian Food Channel (AFC) and it seemed so easy to do....

Pavlova is a dessert named after the Russian ballet dancer - Anna Pavlova. A cake made out of meringue with a crispy crust and soft light inner... it is like a marshmallow!!! Just simply divine...

I got this receipe from the Earthbound Farm but I have modified it to make it my own :)

Here we go:

Ingredients

Meringues:
4 large egg whites at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sugared Almonds (the receipe was for Pistachios):
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup almond nuts (diced)
2 tablespoons sugar

Whipped Cream:
1 cup heavy (whipping) cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sugar

To top it:
5 kiwifruits, peeled and sliced
(any fruits that is sweet and sour can be used too)
Honey

Directions

Preheat to 350 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Place the egg whites in the bowl and beat on high speed until the whites to form soft peaks. Gradually add the sugar and beat until the mixture is thick and very creamy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the cornstarch and vanilla and beat another minute on medium speed.

Place the meringue mixture on the prepared baking sheet. Make a shallow well in the center of the meringue with a small ladle or soup spoon. Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and reduce the heat to 250 degrees F.

Bake until the meringue dry on the exterior but remain soft in the center, 40 to 50 minutes. Place the baking sheet on a wire rack and allow meringue to cool completely.

For the sugared almonds, melt the butter in a large nonstick pan. Add the almonds and cook over medium heat until the nuts are hot and begin to turn golden brown, about 5 minutes. Raise the heat to medium-high and sprinkle the nuts with the sugar. Stir until the sugar melts and the nuts appear shiny, 5 to 10 minutes. Watch carefully! The nuts can burn very quickly during this step. Spread the nuts on a piece of aluminum foil and let them cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Place the cream in a cold bowl and whip until it starts to thicken. Add the vanilla and sugar, and continue beating until the cream is stiff.

To serve, place a meringue shell on a plate. Spoon a dollop of whipped cream in the indentation and top with some of the kiwi slices. Sprinkle with candied almonds and drizzle the honey around the base of the each shell. Serve immediately.

I added 1 passion fruit and a banana to the topping....

Yums!

Muffin Catastrophe

It has happened! The muffins that I wanted to make it not turn out to be edible at all… I guess it must have been the flour that I used :P … It looked a little different when I opened the flour container! Sucks… I had to throw it out and it was a lot me tell you … Suatu pembaziran betul! Sigh….

Orange Choc Swirl Cuppies

Ah finally I made time to make these lovely cuppies....so yummy and so easy. It is like child's play! Kids will love these.... Just look at it...

The receipe came out from a book that I bought ages ago - Cupcakes and Muffins (Collector's Edition)...Beli dah lama tak tak cuba-cuba pun hampeh! So I managed to try out one today - Orange and Chocolate... Yes they go well together... So let me share the receipe with you :)

Ingredients3 eggs
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup milk
2 cups self raising flour
juice of 1/2 orange
zest of 1/2 orange
1/4 cup cocoa powder

Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 160'C. Line the cupcake pan with cupcake papers.
- In a medium size bowl, lightly beat the eggs, add butter and sugar, then mix until light and fluffy
- Add milk and flour, and stir to combine. Beat until light and creamy
- Divide mixture into 2 bowls. In bowl 1, add orange juice and zest. In bowl 2, add the cocoa powder.
- Put some of each mixture into the paper cup and stir with a skewer to get the marble effect.
- Bake for 18-20 mins. Once done, allow to cool.

Try it!

Kuih Makmur (Ghee Balls)

Date: 11/09/09 (Friday)

These cookies are my favourite ones that I look out each year during Raya but over the past years it is hard to get the ones that taste like the ones my tok makes… How much I miss them!!! Some of the ones I tried were either too hard, no taste of ghee or just plain horrible… So this year I made the decision to make them myself though I never made them alone it is always under the guidance of my aunt…

So, I went in search of the recipe… And found this one but never heard of using eggs to it… As far as I know kuih makmur does not use eggs… After much discussion with a colleague of mine on what is the usage of eggs in the recipe and how does it change the taste… I decided to give it a try… Who know it will turn out alright.

Recipe taken from Jo's Deli Bakery blog:

INGREDIENTS:
(Makes 150)

• 500g cake/superfine flour, sifted
  
• 350g peanuts
  
• 250g ghee, melted and cooled
  
• 1-1 half tsp of salt
  
• 2 eggs
  
• Icing sugar (sifted) for coating

METHOD:

• Fry sifted flour over slow fire until it is dry, light and leaves the sides of the pan/wok
  
• Fry peanuts over slow fire until fragrant. De-skinned them and grind while they are still warm.
• Combine the fried flour, ground peanuts and salt in a mixing bowl. Mix well.
  
• Add the eggs and the melted ghee to the dry ingredients. Mix them together until dough is formed.
  
• Form dough into small balls (size that desired by you). Place them on a tray.
  
• Bake in a preheated oven at 180 deg C for 10-15 minutes.
  
• Cool the cookies. Once cooled coat them with the icing sugar and store in an airtight container.
  

Note:

• The cookies may look ugly but it is yummy… trust me.
  
• It should have the melt in your mouth texture.
  
• Though you can add the grinded peanuts together but I stuffed the balls with them… much harder to do.
  
• Not sure what the eggs did to the cookies but I tend to keep it in mine but for a more traditional one no need to add in the eggs.

Well, my 1^st attempt wasn't that bad really :) ...look at the picture... looks yummy right???... and it taste almost similar to the ones my tok makes… Now, I just need to perfect it.

Frankly, the ones my tok makes does not use peanuts but uses cow's milk… It is heavenly… Need to get aunt to show me how…

Spread the Love

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It is so simple, all you need to do is click on the banner of the charity that you'd like to support and DiGi donates RM5.00 to it! Easy huh!

For more info go to LOVE to SAVE

So, lets spread the lurve around..... Please help DiGi and me raise money for my choosen charity - IJN by clicking once on the banner below..... Thank you!

You click, DiGi donates...



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Simple Eggless Choc Chip Cookies

I made this and how it snapped up so fast in the office. Don't remember where I got this receipe.

Ingredients:

Group 1

1/4 cup margarine, melted

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup of maple syrup

1 tspn of vanilla essence

Group 2

1 cup of all purpose flour

1 tspn baking powder

1/2 tspn salt

1/4 cup choc chips

Directions:

Preheat oven 180 celcius

Mix all group 2 ingredients

Separately combine group 1 ingredients

Then combine group 2 & 1 ingredients, mix well till batter combines

Roll the batter into small balls and place them on a baking sheet, spacing the an inch apart

Bake for 10-12 minutes