Macaroons

 ........my favourite snacks and such a luxury.... bought from Singapore through a colleague who went there over the weekend. The one in the box is a gift and the four colors macaroons outside the box cost S$21.60 (>RM50) for 18 pieces which are pricey but don't mind paying for something I really love. I think I've got to jog more rounds this week to get rid of more calories...hehee, I'll worry about it later and for now I just want to enjoy every bites of these lovely macaroons.

Arrowheads Chips (Kerepek Sengkuang Cina)

 Through the blogging world I learned about this chips.... there are several blog friends who have made it before. Making this is just a breathe compared to making banana chips which has sticky skin to peel. The problem is that it only emerged once a year closer to CNY season and not cheap. The taste...? My whole family loves it because of its mild natural flavour.

By: Roz@ HomeKreation
METHOD:
1. Peel & wash the arrowheads (don't cut the stem - use it as holder).
Rub with a bit of salt.

2. Heat up oil for deep frying in a wok.
Slice the arrowheads directly into the hot oil.
Fry until crispy & drain on kitchen paper.
Cool.

3. Keep in air tight container.

BAHASA MALAYSIA VERSION

Tak taulah nama dalam BM tapi Along pandai2 sendiri namakan sengkuang sebab rupa macam sengkuang pun.

By: Roz@ HomeKreation

CARA2:

1. Kopek kulit Arrowheads & basuh bersih (jgn potong tangkai nya, supaya senang nak slice).

Lumurkan dgn sedikit garam.

2. Panaskan minyak yg banyak dlm kuali.

Dgn menggunakan slicer, slice terus masuk dlm minyak yg panas.

Goreng sehingga rangup.

3. Apabila dah sejuk, simpan dlm bekas kedap udara. 

Banana Chips II

 

I've got abundance of bananas, so I have to come up with different varieties of products. So far, this week I have made Banana Chips, Banana Fritters and a cake. I have turned the last batch of unripe bananas into this Banana Chips of different shape than the one I typically made in the past. The problem with this version that it is gone before you actually realise it because it is so light & fine shape.

Apart from Roses, I love Lavenders....

Recipe created by: Roz@HomeKreation
INGREDIENTS:
Unripe Bananas
Salt
Oil for deepfry

METHOD:
1. Cut bananas into the required length if using Horn Bananas. No need to cut for smaller types.
Grate bananas (lengthwise) into match stick shapes.
2. Sprinkle salt & mix well.
3. Deep fry until crispy.

 This is the grater that I used:

Banana Chips (Again)

 Our house is kind of blessed with bananas... never ending banana supply...hehe. While I still have three bunches on the trees backyard, my PIL sent a big box of Horn Bananas (Pisang Tanduk). May be because they thought their DIL is so "rajin" in making banana chips... haha not really true.... Anyway it is worth the effort because my family enjoy this snacks very much.

 I've posted this numerous times already and tonight I manage to fill up 1 big & 1 medium size containers. My lovely hubby helped me to peel the bananas while I was doing the slicing & frying. Luckily we finished the job before midnight.

For recipe, refer here.

Chocolate Cornflakes Macaroon

 

Lovely cookies that I made before Hari Raya but only now I have the opportunity to do the posting.

Source: Amy and here
Makes >100 (forgot to count)
INGREDIENTS:
115ml Egg White
210g Icing Sugar
225g Choc Chips (or any amount)
140g Cornflakes - lightly crushed 
1/2 tsp VE

METHOD:
1. Beat egg whites at high speed until soft peaks.
Add in sugar gradually & beat until stiff.
Add in VE, choc chips & cornflakes.

2. Drop 1 tsp into paper cups.
Bake at 130C for 30-45 min until surface is dry.

Translation:
BAHAN2:
115ml Telur Putih
210g Gula Aising
225g Coklat cips
140g Cornflakes
1/2 tsp VE

CARA2:
1. Pukul telur putih sehingga berbuih pekat.
Masukkan gula sedikit2, sambil di pukul, sehingga telur bertanduk.
Campurkan VE, coklat cip & cornflakes.

2. Masukkan 1 st ke ldm cwn kertas.
Bakar 130C selama 30-45 min sehingga kering.

Cornflakes Cookies

My third homemade cookies.... This is really good and very crunchy. I've been looking for a good recipe and the few versions I tried earlier on were not as expected and very glad that I found what I've been wanting finally. The texture is light with moderate sweetness and most importantly the cornflakes stay crunchy after baked.

By: Roz@HomeKreation
Source: Sue (forum)
Makes about 100 pieces
INGREDIENTS:
150g Butter
80g Icing Sugar
1 Egg Yolk
50g Cornflour
180g Plain Flour
80g Cornflakes - crushed

METHOD:
1. Cream butter & sugar until fluffy.
Add in egg yolk & beat until well mixed.
Add in cornflour & mix well.
Add in plain flour gradually.
Add in cornflakes.

2. Roll into small balls and coat with more cornflakes.
Bake at 175C for 10 minutes.
Cool & keep in an airtight container.

Marble Shortbread II

My second homemade cookies.... The first shortbread version I made uses almond powder and I wanted to make another version without it and found this one. I think the one with almond tastes better & crispier too.

Source: Forum (by Anasue) - recipe modified to fit 12" sq tin
Makes 12" x 12" --> 100 pieces
INGREDIENTS:
380g Butter
160g Caster Sugar
400g Flour
75g Rice Flour
1/2 tsp Salt

TOPPING:
280g Cooking Chocolate*
1.5 tbs Veg Shortening* (* melt & mix) 
90g White Chocolate

METHOD:
1. Cream butter & sugar until fluffy.
Add in flour & salt.

2. Grease tin & cutter.
Spread & press the dough into the tin.
Prick the surface with fork.
Place the cutter on top of the batter & press in.

3. Bake 180C for 20 minutes.
Rest for 10 min before removing the cutter.
Cool completely.

4. Spread melted chocolate on top of the shortbread.
Drizzle with white chocolate & create marble pattern.
Replace cutter & chill for 20 minutes until the chocolate set.
Remove cutter & keep shortbread in an air tight container.

Biskut Bunga Cina

I made three types of cookies in the morning & this is the first one. I underestimate the difficulty & straight away made two portions. I thought it is as easy as making Dahlia but mine ended up too hard to press through the mould although the dough was soft (I did not use up 3/4 cup of flour). My hand get hurt, so I ended up rolling the batter & used cookie cutter instead. I saw many people successfully used Dahlia mould for this.... The taste is good like Kuih Bangkit, kind of melt in the mouth.

Source: MyR_Nor67 (translated into English)
Makes 80-90 pieces
INGREDIENTS:
100g Butter / Margarine
90 Caster Sugar
1 Egg
2 cups Cornflour (Homekreation: I used less amount) 
1 cup Tapioca Flour
Red Cherry for deco

METHOD:
1. Beat butter with sugar until creamy.
Add in egg & continue beating until fluffy.
Add in flour until well mixed.

2. Fill bater into Dahlia nozzle & press out.
Since it requires so much energy to press out, I rolled it flat & used cookie cutter.

3. Bake at 175C for 15 min.

Banoffee Meringues

Melt in the mouth dessert.... My children love it so much and it all gone in one serving.

Source: HomeKreation's book collection
Quantity: Forgot to count but definitely > 2 dozens
INGREDIENTS:
3 Egg Whites
100g Light Muscovado/Brown Sugar
75g Caster Sugar

FILLING:
1 small ripe Banana - mashed 
150ml double Cream - whpped until soft 
2 tbsp Toffee Fudge/Icecream Sauce
Cocoa powder - for sprinkling

METHOD:
1. Whisk egg whites until stiff.
Gradually whisk in sugars, 1 tsp at a time until thick & glossy.

2. Spoon onto baking paper.
Bake 110C for 1hour 15min until firm and easily peel off from the paper.
Cool & keep in air-tight container upto 3 days.

3. Mix all filling ingredients, except cocoa powder.
Sandwich filling between two meringue or serve as topping.
Sprinkle with cocoa powder.
Serve immediately. 

Better-than-Brownie Cookies

AlongRiz returned to KL yesterday to start his new semester term in college. I made these cookies for him to bring back to munch at leisure time and share with some friends.

Source: see here
(Makes 30 pieces)

INGREDIENTS:

233g Dark Chocolate - chopped 

28g Unsalted Butter

2 Eggs

115g Sugar (reduced from original) 

1/2 tsp VE

35g Flour (I doubled up)

1/4 tsp BP

1 c Dark Choc chunks

METHOD:

1. Melt choc & butter. Cool 5 min.

2. Whisk egg, VE & sugar until combined.

Add in melted chocolate & flour & stir well each addition.

Finally add in choc chunks.

3. Scoop 1 tbsp dough onto sheet.

Bake at 180C 10-12 min.

Cool completely on sheets.

Banana Chips (Again)

Hahaha.... banana chips again and again and again..... will not stop as long as there is fruits from the trees and there is demand in the house. I made this countless times already as my bananas trees have not stop fruiting. My hubby chopped another tree with a big bunch of bananas and there are two more trees fruiting waiting to be chopped too. See below another tree with a big bunch yet to be chopped, gotta wait for another weekend.

 This time hubby volunteered to help me peel the bananas, what a lovely hubby. Such a hectic morning after cooking Prawn Mee and then stucked in the kitchen frying the chips until noon. Psssst.... he doesn't know I publish this.... hehe.

This time the banana bunch produces two big Tupperware containers and one half smaller container. Banana chips anyone....hehe!

Banana Chips (Again)

My PIL brought us a gunny of Pisang Tanduk / Horn Bananas and how could we finish them all by ourselves? After sharing with some relatives & friends, I still have abundance. The easy solution is to turn them into chips before they ripe. With only 8 bananas, I've got more than two big containers above. The chips are beautifully bright yellow & tasty.

For recipe, refer here.

Crispy Anchovies in Honey Lime Sauce

I've got a kg of non-salted natural dried anchovies from Sabah given by my sister and I saw the recipe in Chik Mimi's house the other day which matched what I had in mind. I added more ingredients to the recipe to suit my taste but credit still goes to Chik Mimi for the delicious sauce for coating. Kraaap...kruuuup...nyum nyum.... very crispy & tasty...! Compliments from hubby & sons. All gone in one day!

Source with compliments: Chik Mimi (Orig by Amy Beh)

INGREDIENTS: 

250g split and cleaned Anchovies

1 cup Tapioca Flour 

1 tbsp Sesame Oil

4 Dried Chillies - cut into sections

1 Onion - halved and sliced thinly 

6 Bird-eye Chillies - chopped

2 Calamansi Limes - squeezed for juice

3 tbsp Honey 

2 tbsp Water (HomeKreation: I skipped)

1 tbsp Fish Sauce

HomeKreation Addition:

Cashew nuts, sesame seeds, curry leaves

METHOD:

1. Rinse anchovies and soak for 10-15 minutes. 

Drain dry in a plastic colander then pat completely dry with several layers of kitchen paper towels. 

Toss in tapioca flour.

2. Heat some oil in a wok. 

Shake off excess tapioca flour from the anchovies and deep-fry until golden brown and crispy. 

Dish out and drain from oil.

3.  Heat the sesame oil in a clean wok, fry dried chillies, onion and bird’s eye chillies for a while. 

Combine lime juice, honey, water and fish sauce and add to the pan; bring to a boil until mixture turns frothy and thick. 

Return prefried anchovies to the honey sauce. Stir-fry briskly until well combined. Dish out and serve.

Chocolate Cookies

My eldest son, AlongRiz, is going to return to KL tomorrow after a week of semester break. I made some cookies for him to bring back for himself & friends. His younger brothers enjoyed the cookies so much and reminded me few times not to pack all of them but leave some for them.

Note: I will reduce the sugar slightly the next time if I make this again

Source (with compliments): Martha Stewart
(Makes about 30 pieces)
INGREDIENTS:
8oz semi-sweet chocolate*
4tbsp Unsalted Butter* (* melted & mixed together)
2/3 cup Plain Flour**
1/2 tsp Baking Powder**
1/2 tsp Salt** (** mixed together)
2 large Eggs
3/4 cup packed Light Brown Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
12oz Semi-sweet Chocolate chunks (I used <200g)

METHOD:
1. Whisk eggs, sugar & VE on high speed until fluffy.
Add in chocolate mixture, flour & choc chunks in the order & mix well between each addition.

2. Refrigerate dough for 5-10 minutes or until firm enough to be scooped and place on baking sheets.

3. Drop heaping tablespoons of dough 2 to 3 inches apart onto baking sheet.

4. Bake at 175C for 12 min.
Cool before transfer (cookies are soft while still hot).
Keep in air-tight container.

Banana Chips (Again)

My hubby chopped another banana tree few days ago and here it goes another round of banana chips making. It took me about two hours of frying to finish off the whole bunch of the bananas and I've got a full container of it.... guess what... they were all gone in a day!

Does anyone notice anything new above...? Yeay.... my new watermark designed by Jiya (Little Colour Shop). Such an efficient and quality service and I will recommend to anyone who is looking for this service.

For the recipe, refer here.

Below photos of the young bananas that I used and soaking of the peeled bananas in salted water:

Fried Cashew Nuts

I bought a 1kg packet of cashew nuts before CNY but only few days ago managed to get them into a wok. This is a simple snack to prepare. Deep fry the cashew nuts in not too hot oil until golden & crispy. I added some Ikan Bilis (microwaved) & fried garlic slices.... nyum2.... nice snacks!
(psssst.... no salt is necessary).