Apom Polka Dot

Ingredients: (makes 12 muffin size apom)
3 cold eggs
200 gm sugar (original recipe uses 220 gm sugar)
275 gm all purpose flour
150 ml evaporated milk (can use normal milk)
2 tsp baking powder (original recipe uses 3 tsp)
1 tsp condensed milk (original recipe uses ovalette)
coloring (Lazy cook uses red and green)
filing (Lazy cook uses strawberry jam)

Method:
1. Whisk the egg and the sugar, lazy cook uses only 200 gm sugar because she finds the original recipe too sweet.  Add the flour and milk, alternately.  Finally add the baking powder and condensed milk.  Continue to whisk, lazy cook uses a mixer, till a smooth mixture.
2.  Take 2 tbsp of the mixture and place them in a bowl, this is for the polka dot.  Add the coloring, lazy cook adds red to the big batch of mixture and green to the small batch. Can use other coloring, if no coloring is used the mixture would come out white in color.
3.  Line the muffin tray with muffin cups, then fill a tablespoon of red mixture into the muffin cups.  Add a teaspoon of strawberry jam.

Half filled apom with strawberry jam

4.  Fill the rest of the apom with the balance of the mixture.  Then using a piping bag with a very small hole, dot the apoms.  Let the apom stand for 30 minutes.  I did not let the apom stand in the muffin tray but in the mixing bowl, so my apoms, after steaming does not have a smooth top.

Ready for the steamer

5.  Steam the apom for 10 - 15 minutes.  Remove, cool and enjoy!

Mom's Kalipok

Mom's kalipok

Coming from a big family, mom makes kalipok to supplement my dad's income.  A recipe that is handed down from my maternal grandmother who also makes kueh for a living. Growing up making kalipok, the ingredients are all agak agak, here it is!

Ingredients:
100 gm onion, cubed
500 gm potatoes, cubed
200 ml coconut milk
800 ml water
3 tbsp oil
salt and pepper to taste

Curry Paste
2 tbsp ground shallot
1 tsp ground garlic
10 gm shrimp paste (belacan)
1 serai, ground
1/4 tsp tumeric powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala

Pastry
 2 cups all purpose flour
 1/3 cup and 1 tbsp peanut oil
 1/3 cup water, add 1/2 tsp salt and mix

Method:
1.  Make the pastry by adding the oil into the flour, till it becomes like bread crumbs.  If you use other oil you may need to add a bit more oil. To check that there is enough oil, squeeze the pastry in your palm and if it does not crack, like in the picture, there is enough oil.

Pastry does not crack

2.  Add the salted water to combine.  Let the pastry rest while preparing the filling.
3.  In a wok, add 3 tbsp oil, then add the curry paste. Cook the curry paste for a few minutes, then add the cubed onion.  Cook till the onion is transparent then add the cubed potatoes.

Cubed potatoes and cubed onions

4.  Stir for a few minutes to combine, then add the coconut milk and water.  Add salt and pepper to taste then let it simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours till thickens. As it thickens, stir continuously so that the potatoes does not stick to the wok. Remove and let it cool.

5.  Once the filling has cooled, roll out the pastry.

Divide the pastry into 2

Rolled out pastry

Then fold into half, continue to roll out the pastry

After folding over 4 times to get a rectangular shape pastry

Pastry rolled up, set aside and roll out the second pastry

Once the 2nd pastry is rolled up, cut the first pastry evenly

Flatten the pastry and rolled it thinly

Pastry rolled out and ready to fill

All ready to be fried

6.  Fry till golden brown. The filling is enough for 2 batch of pastry.  Lazy cook makes a big batch and freezes the kalipok.  

Baked Chicken Wings

Baked Chicken Wings

One of the family favourite and easy to put together.

Ingredients :
1.5 kg chicken wings
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup soya sauce
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 cup honey
1 clove garlic minced
 salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1.  Marinade the chicken wings in olive oil, soya sauce, tomato ketchup, honey, garlic, salt and pepper for at least 4 hours or overnight.
2.  Line the baking dish with aluminium foil (easy to clean the baking dish after), place the wings in the baking dish, well spread out, then cover the baking dish with aluminium foil.
3.  Bake for 1 hour at 190°C.  Remove the aluminium foil the last 10 minutes of baking to brown the wings.
4.  Remove from oven and serve immediately.

Muffin Jambon-Fromage (Ham and Cheese Muffin)

Ham and Cheese Muffin

My daughter is a picky eater, and she loves the combination of ham and cheese, and she adores this ham and cheese muffin, recipe from Journal de Femme.

Ingredients for 6 muffins:
2 eggs
salt and pepper
100 gm all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 pot of natural yoghurt (125 gm)
3 tbsp oil
100 gm ham (in cubes or stripes)
75 gm grated emmental cheese

Method:
1.  Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2.  Whisk the egg until it becomes like omelette. Add salt and pepper, not too much because the ham and cheese is already salty. Then add the flour, baking powder, yoghurt and oil, whisk to combine.
3.  Add the ham and cheese, mix well.
4.  Fill the muffin mould up to 2/3 full ( butter the muffin mould, if using the silicone muffin mould no need to butter).  Bake for 20 minutes till it puffs up and brown.
It is possible to replace the ham with bacon and the emmental cheese with parmesan cheese.

Chu Chu Kueh (Kueh Bingka)

Chu chu kueh

My mom use to plant tapioca in our garden and when she harvests the tapioca, she would take them to the shop to grind them to make this mouth watering chu chu kueh (kueh bingka or tapioca kueh).  I looked through a lot of recipes till I found the one that was how my mom does it in Kuali.com.

Ingredients

• 1kg tapioca (cassava)
• 200gm sugar
• 400gm thick coconut milk
• 50gm water
• 3gm salt

Method

1.  Peel tapioca, split and remove the fibrous core in the middle (do remember to remove as it will cause bitterness in your kuih). Finely grate the tapioca. Squeeze off the juice from the grated tapioca as it will cause the texture to be slightly dense and wet. Combine grated tapioca, sugar, coconut milk, water and salt into a saucepan and cook over low heat until it thickens. Lazy cook buys frozen tapioca, ready peeled, then she cuts them into cubes and add coconut milk, water and places them in the blender.  The water added does not follow the above measurement, enough for the blender to work.  Then she places them in a saucepan with some salt, sugar, a few drops of yellow colouring and cook over low heat till thickens.



Frozen tapioca



Tapioca blended ready to cook over stove with blender at the side



Cooked tapioca ready for the cake pan



Cooked tapioca ready for the oven



2.  Then pour into greased 8in square cake pan and bake in a preheated 200 degrees Celcius oven for about 40 -45 minutes until golden brown.  Lazy cook bake in 190°C oven for 40 minutes.





Chu chu kueh

3  Cool thoroughly before cutting into slices.





Chu chu kueh ready to serve

Kueh Talam

Kueh Talam

I love kueh talam, and the recipe that I have uses green pea flour, searched high and low and still cannot find. Anyway, saw some blogs that uses green bean flour, so I made mine using green bean flour instead.

Ingredients:
Green Layer
80 gm rice flour
40 gm tapioca flour
30 gm green pea flour/green bean flour
230 gm sugar
700 ml pandan juice (from 20 pandan leaves)
1 tsp alkaline water
White Layer
40 gm rice flour
30 gm green pea flour/green bean flour
1 tbsp tapioca flour
500 ml thick coconut milk (from 2 grated coconuts)
1/2 tsp salt

Method:
1.  Combine the ingredients for the bottom green layer in a saucepan and cook over a low flame until batter thickens slightly. I use a tsp of pandan flavour and add some green colouring.

Green layer in greased tray

2.  Pour into a 20 cm(8") square, greased tray and steam for 10-20 minutes.  Open steamer every 5 minutes.

Cooked green layer  before putting the santan layer

3.  While steaming the bottom layer, cook the top layer.  Combine all the ingredients for the white layer in a saucepan and cook over the lowest flame until mixture slightly thickens slightly, stirring all the while. I use a can of 400 ml coconut milk and add 100 ml water.
4.  Pour the batter for the white layer over the green layer and steam covered for 20 minutes, open the steamer lid every 5 minutes.

White layer over cooked green layer ready for steamer

5.  Cool for 3-4 hours before cutting into diamond shapes.

Kueh talam

Cheesecake au potimarron et aux epices ( Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake)

Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake

I love cheesecake and in France with the wide choice of cheese, it's a kitchen adventure to try out those cheeses.  

Ingredients :

Biscuit Base

  150 gm bastogne/speculoos biscuit, crushed

  50 gm unsalted butter, softened

  50 gm chopped walnut

  50 gm brown sugar

Cheesecake

  200 gm pumpkin puree

  250 gm ricotta 

  50 gm carre frais cheese

  3 eggs

  75 gm sugar

  1 tbsp corn flour

  1/3 tsp ginger powder

  1/3 tsp cinnamon powder

  1/3 tsp nutmeg powder

Method:

1.  Mix all the ingredients for the biscuits and put them in the cake mould.  Press them down to form the base for the cheesecake.  Leave them in the fridge while preparing for the cheesecake.

2.  First have to prepare the pumpkin puree as they are not available in tin form.

Pumpkin 

Pumpkin, all cut up

 3.  Cut the pumkin into small pieces, add a pinch of salt and some olive oil and bake them at 190°C for 30 minutes, stir the pumpkin every 10 minutes.  You can also steam them but I love the taste of roasted pumpkin.

Pumkin, all roasted

4.  Puree the roasted pumpkin, then add all the ingredients for the cheesecake in a bowl and mix them all up till a smooth mixture.  Place them on top of the biscuit base and bake at 160°C for 40-50 minutes till firm.  Leave in oven with door open to cool before removing.  Cool in the fridge overnight.

Spiced pumpkin cheesecake