Quick and Easy, no proofing time, thin crust pizza

Hot, crispy, straight from the oven, into the tummy… Yummy!

Just a quick post today to share this wonderful recipe for a no-fuss thin and crispy pizza recipe. It requires no proofing, so you can make the dough and immediately roll it out for baking. I use a normal desk top oven, so I have to heat the oven at maximum temp for half an hour before the pizza dough is to be baked.

Thin and Crispy Dough (adapted from  http://www.fearlesshomemaker.com) This recipe makes two 12 inch pizzas.

2/3 cup of water

1/2 tsp active dry yeast (I used mauri-pan brand)

1 1/2 cup bread flour + 1/2 cup wholemeal flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp Italian herbs (dried – I used McCormick’s)

2 tbs olive oil

Mix all the above ingredient. Knead until dough is slightly sticky but elastic. Form into two balls. If not using immediately, place one of the balls in a greased bowl and leave in fridge until ready to be used. Meanwhile, roll out the first ball of dough thinly. Spread with pizza sauce, start from the middle, working out to the periphery and bake in pre-heated oven for 5 minutes before turning the pizza around so the front gets rotated to the back of oven. This should ensure the pizza bakes evenly. Bake for another 3 minutes, remove from oven. Place cheese on top of pizza, and other toppings. Don’t overcrowd as thin crust pizza will get soggy if too much topping is placed. Bake a further 5 minutes until cheese is browned and bubbling. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack for 5 minutes before cutting.

Pizza sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced fine

400 gm can of chopped tomatoes (I used Cirio brand “Polpa” tomatoes)

1 tsp Italian herbs

A handful of torn fresh basil leaves

2 tbs olive oil

Salt and sugar to taste (instead of sugar, finely grated carrots can be used)

Method:

Saute garlic in olive oil till fragrant. Add carrots (if using) stir till a little caramelized. Add tomatoes. Simmer for 10 minutes, add Italian herbs. Simmer for 5 more minutes, add salt, adjust seasoning. Finally, toss in fresh basil leaves and immediately remove from fire. Cool before using.

Zucchini Fritters

It has been a while since I have had the time to come to this blog. A lot has changed, but the past year has given me the extra appreciation of the gift of time. Time to sit down and listen, time to reflect and most importantly the time to do housework and cook for my loved ones in peace. It is a blessing that I had taken for granted until it was taken away for a period of three months. Thankfully that period is over and I can now once again enjoy being at home, with the precious boys and the kitchen.

Today, I prepared a recent discovery for a post-swim snack: Zucchini Fritters. Yes, I perhaps should experiment with baking these yummy, golden discs to make them healthier. However, these are just so flavourful as they are. All of us generally forget that each patty is full of veggies. Try them, eat them hot or at room temperature.

Ingredients:

1 large zucchini, grated
1 carrot, grated (I used purple ones, feel free to use normal, orange ones)
1 yellow onion, grated

Mix all the grated ingredients in a bowl, add 1 tsp of salt, leave for 10 minutes. Drain, place all in a clean tea towel and squeeze dry. Place back in bowl.

Add to the vegetable mixture the following:

1 beaten egg
1/4 cup chopped, fresh spring onions
a handful of fresh coriander, chopped fine
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup flour + 1/2 tsp baking powder

Mix all, form little patties. Heat oil for shallow frying. Fry till golden.

Drain and blot with paper towels.

It all makes sense!!!

Recently discovered that I’m an INTJ (Meyers-Briggs Typology) and Enneagram Type 1. Me?? Introverted? Yes, yes! I hear people snickering. As if I could ever be an introvert.
See, this is the perception that people have of me. However, actually, it makes a lot of sense as I have always felt the need to be alone. Crowds suffocate. Centre of attention is embarassing. Chit-chat without a point is exhausting. There we go. Bet you did not know that right? Yes, I hide it well.

Anyway, with this new found understanding, I went on a search for what is an INTJ and stuff, and got to this website called INTJ Central and this gem popped up. I HAD to laugh, because it is so true.

Q: What are the pet peeves of INTJs?

A: Thanks for asking. Our pet peeves are:

* We dislike surprises.
* We hate having decisions made for us. We’re INTJs; nobody is more qualified to make decisions than us.
* We dislike getting gifts, as it burdens us with the need to reciprocate.
* We hate small talk, gossip, and relationship/people talk. Really anything mundane is beneath us.
* We get particularly annoyed by attacks on our intelligence, competence, and integrity.
* We hate it when people try to manipulate us.
* Insincerity and lying.
* People interfering with our alone time.
* People who are chronically late.
* People who talk incessantly. We will just engage our “nod and smile” autopilot and mentally go somewhere else.
* People who are stupid, arrogant, opinionated, and/or closed minded.
* Crooked/badly placed pictures.
* Superficiality (body piercings, pimped out cars, brightly colored anything).
* Salespeople. INTJs are immune to emotional manipulation and have zero tolerance for lines of bullshit.
* Incorrect grammar and word usage.
* People who waste our time (see Salespeople, people interfering with our alone time, etc.)

To go to this site, the link is as follows: http://intjcentral.com/manual4

Truths and half truths

And when they hear vain talk, they turn away therefrom and say: “To us our deeds, and to you yours; peace be to you: we seek not the ignorant.”

-Qur’an, Al-Qasas, Surah 28:55

If I have chosen to remain silent, it is because I am seeking His blessings. If I have treated you with respect, it is because this is what is expected of us as sisters in Islam. If I have kept our issues to myself, it is because I believe that this is the right thing to do. If you choose to speak openly of others’ weaknesses and lie about things – May Allah have mercy on you. In this, my conscience is clear. 

Allah maha besar dan Dia lebih tahu pekerjaan yang dikerjakan samada melalui tangan dan kaki, mahupun melalui mulut yang berbisik. Subhanallah. Dalam erti kata lain – “Si Luncai terjun dengan labu-labunya, biarkan, biarkan.”

Penghujung Zaman?

Just read this article today, posted by a friend. Subhanallah.

______________________________________________________________________

Sabda Rasulullah:

“Kiamat itu ada dua… Kiamat Sugra (Kecil) dan Kiamat Qubra (Besar)… Kiamat Sugra ialah Kiamat dimuka bumi sahaja diakhir zaman… Akan masih ada segolongan kecil yang hidup untuk pembiakan umat baru yang akan bertemu Nabi Isa A.S… Manakala Kiamat Qubra ialah Kiamat yang seluruh alam semesta dan galaksi hancur… Tiada lagi manusia yang hidup, dan tiada lagi bumi…”

“Umatku ada dimuka bumi ini selama 1,500 tahun lamanya… Sebelum terjadinya Kiamat Qubra, akan tiba Kiamat Sugra… Sebelum datangnya Kiamat Sugra, akan ada tanda-tandanya… Begitu juga sebelum tibanya Kiamat Qubra…”

Ayat al-Quran:
“Tidakkah kamu (manusia) melihat bagaimana Allah menghapuskan kaum terdahulu sebelum kamu, sedangkan mereka (kaum terdahulu) dari tamadun yang hebat, membina bangunan dari tembok-tembok kukuh…”

“Apabila manusia terlalu banyak melakukan kerosakan dimuka bumi ini, Allah akan perintahkan bumi bergoncang, gunung memuntahkan isinya, langit menurunkan hujan, sehingga mereka (manusia) menjadi hancur-sehancurnya… Dan Allah akan menggantikan mereka dengan umat yang baru…”
________________________________________________________________________

Ust.Harun Din dlm ceramah dia, ada membaca sebuah artikel yg menceritakan bahawa dunia ni dah nak kiamat … Planet Marikh (planet ke-4 dan paling dekat dengan bumi) telah mengalami pusingan yang terbalik pada bulan Sept 2008 lepas.. Maknanya, planet yg dekat dgnnya jugak (bumi la) akan bertukar arah pergerakan dia.. Maka pada saat tu akan terjadi kejadian matahari tenggelam sebelah timur…

Penjelasan Saintifik Bagaimana Ia Berlaku:
Untuk pengetahuan semua, sebuah planet bernama Nibiru atau planet X (oleh NASA) sedang melengkapkan putaran orbitnya yang berlaku setiap 3600 tahun.. Planet ini 100 kali ganda besar bumi dan sama besar dengan planet Jupiter (Musytari). Dijangkakan pada 21/12/2012 planet ini akan memberi kesan paling dahsyat kepada bumi dengan memutarkan kutub-kutub ke kedudukan terbalik (polar shifting) yang dijangkakan oleh NASA.

Pada bulan Mei 2009 lalu Planet X berwarna merah jelas kelihatan oleh semua penduduk bumi selama sebulan antara jam 1am – 3am…

Peristiwa ini seperti yang pernah berlaku semasa banjir besar zaman Nabi Nuh AS dahulu.. Planet ini tak menghentam bumi tapi tarikan gravitinya yang sangat kuat akan mengganggu bumi… Ia hanya akan lalu diantara bumi dan matahari dimana kecerahannya berwarna kemerah-merahan seakan-akan anak matahari..
(Tanda tibanya kiamat kecil objek merah di langit kelihatan)…

Amerika Syarikat dan negara barat lain sedang sibuk membuat persiapan menghadapi keadaan ini dengan membina beberapa penempatan sementara di banjaran-banjaran gunung lengkap dengan makanan yang mampu bertahan 3 tahun kerana dianggarkan 2/3 penduduk bumi ini akan lenyap…

Di norway misalnya mereka membina sebuah gudang menyimpan segala biji benih di sebuah bukit lengkap dengan ciri-ciri keselamatan dan dari ancaman bencana..  (I read about this – it was called the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway,) Rujuk paper bulan Februari 2008, kosmo, Berita Harian dan lain-lain)

Benarlah sabda RASULULLAH
Satu hari nanti bumi akan hancur dan ditenggelami air selama 40 hari, dan satu zaman baru muncul dipanggil back to ancient berlaku dimana segala teknologi pupus dan manusia akan kembali seperti zaman purba, berperang dengan pedang cara kuno…

Jadi bersedialah kita umat Islam…ALLAHHU AKBAR..!!

Kajian… (ALLAH Maha Mengetahui dan mahu kita berfikir..)

a) Mengikut hadith umat Rasulullah akan hidup selama 1500 tahun… Sekarang sudah 1440 = 426 + 12 tahun hijrah…. Daripada ini kita ketahui kita akan bertahan dalam masa 61 tahun lagi..
Jikalau ini benar, Alam akan kiamat (Besar) pada tahun 2066…

b) Saintis telah menjumpai sebuah planet yang lebih kecil daripada bumi yang menghala ke bumi.. Ia telah dianggarkan bahawa planet itu akan melanggar bumi pada tahun 2014.
Namun, Amerika telah cuba untuk menukarkan orbitnya dengan menembaknya dengan sebuah roket…

Dan saintis juga telah menjumpai sebuah planet yang jauh lebih besar dari Bumi juga akan menghentam bumi dalam masa 60 tahun lagi…
Jikalau ini benar, dunia akan musnah pada tahun 2065…..

c) Dan dikatakan kuasa Israel akan mencapai puncaknya pada tahun 2007… Mereka merancang memusnahkan Kaabah pada tahun 2011…
(Meruntuhkan Kaabah mengundang kemurkaan Allah, mungkinlah juga Kiamat Kecil 2012 itu disebabkan kemurkaan Allah)
Dan kuasa Israel akan jatuh semula dalam 14 tahun, iaitu tahun 2022, disebabkan oleh penurunan semula Nabi Isa….. .
Dan hadith mengatakan bahawa Nabi Isa hanya akan hidup selama 40 tahun dan dunia akan kiamat selepas itu..

Jikalau ini benar dunia akan kiamat pada tahun 2062…

Dianggarkan Kiamat Qubra (Besar) Antara Tahun 2062-2066…

Wallahu’alam. .. Semua ini telah dikaji…

Dan yang dipercayai paling tepat ialah hadith yang mengatakan bahawa umat Rasulullah akan bertahan selama 1500 tahun…
Kita telah berada di bumi ini selama 1440 tahun…

Cubalah anda kirakan sendiri…

Beribadatlah wahai umat Islam sekalian…
Kiamat pasti tiba. hanya orang yang leka dengan dunia sahaja yang akan rugi. Berhibur tidak salah tapi jangan lupa apa yang disuruh oleh Allah.

Patuhi suruhan Allah dan tinggalkan yang mungkar.
Marilah sama-sama mendoakan kesejahteraan untuk semua umat Islam..

A little some’ink, some’ink…

In the oven – Thanks Raihana for the acuan!

OK a little tersenget for the one on the right. Easily rectified *see next photo* ->

Fish, turmeric powder, ginger and salt 🙂

Thickening process underway

For my two “cik abangs” today, while one is busy at work and the other busy at school, I decided to make something special for when they get home. For my Abang sayang… thank you so much for all the effort you put in to ensure that we had a perfect reunion with my beloved elder brother and his family. Alhamdulillah, in the past 18 years together, you keep improving with age 🙂 and I pray that our journey has a long way yet to go together and we will continue to be blessed by Allah s.w.t.

For my other cik abang.. the little cub – thank you for being the wonderful son that you are. You make me proud each day and seeing you play with and look after your little cousin, indicates to me Insya Allah, that you will be a caring and wonderful man. Mama doakan anak mama sentiasa berjaya dan diberkati Allah s.w.t, serta menjadi anak yang soleh.

So.. what is the special something? Kuih Bakar or Kuih Bingka Kemboja for tea . It also helps, the fact that my sister-in-law brought the acuan with her when she came to Makkah for Umrah. Alhamdulillah, now I can finally make Kuih Bakar, jadi tak jadi saja belum tahu! Lets try this Kuih Bakar recipe and see how it turns out. I got the recipe from here

The menu for lunch today – not the most cholesterol free meal but, sekali-sekala sahaja:

Nasi Putih, Rendang Ayam, Ikan Bawal Hitam Goreng Garing, Masak Lemak Kobis, Sambal Belacan dan ulam.

3rd Consecutive Weekend of Home Entertaining

The past week has been hectic, with various functions to attend with hubby, ladies meetings to go to and having people over and this weekend marks the third straight week of having friends/hubby’s peers over to the house. Sometimes, I hardly have time to sit down and think. While I am grateful to be given so much on my plate that the days seem to be flying by, I cannot help but long for those days when I had time to hang out with friends at the Pavillion after work. These days, the concept of “hanging out” seems to be obsolete!

 This week, in honour of the visitors – our menu is as follows:

• Nasi Minyak
• Rendang Padang
• Ayam Goreng Rempah
• Dalca
• Acar Rampai

For dessert, I prepared Agar-agar Gula Melaka and Syrian Fruit Salad – Thanks to a close Syrian friend whose excellent cooking and hospitality I recently enjoyed. She added rose water to her mixture of carefully selected fruit and while my version was not as good as hers, the little cub enjoyed 4 bowls of it (no, no – not in one sitting, but yes, in one day!)

The fried chicken was particularly good. The recipe is as follows:

Spicy Fried Chicken

8 whole chicken legs. Blend the following:  3 lemon grass 8 garlic, 4 shallots, 5 tablespoons of meat curry powder (I use Baba’s brand), salt and a little sugar. Pour the marinade over the chicken legs. I score the legs so as to allow the marinade to penetrate better. I left the legs to marinate for close to 4 hours in the fridge. Then, I take it out and let it warm a little before frying.

Take my word for it. It was YUMMILICIOUS. Particularly served with piping hot Beriani and some steaming Dalca.  We have no left over chicken after the guests left 🙂

What to cook, what to cook??

Having quite a few people over this weekend. Wondering what menu to prepare that is typically Malaysian, yet not too complicated to prepare or eat.

Thinking of Mee Goreng Mamak and Rojak Celup / Pasembor, followed by the normal dessert stuff of cakes, cheesecakes and traditional Malay kuehs.

Ahhhh decisions, decisions!

Back to cooking… Recipe for Mee Rebus Johor

Last weekend, we invited some friends over and decided to surprise them with “Mee Rebus Johor” a.k.a Mee Rebus Hj. Wahid – well, well… of course not the real recipe as that one is tightly guarded by Hj Wahid’s kids. It was a matter of going to various websites, reading up on recipes, and settling on my take of it. It is not the easiest recipe in the world, seeing that we had to make the noodles by hand, then the sauce, followed by its accompaniments. However, the result turned out rather close to the original version, in my humble opinion.

The menu for the day was as follows:

– Mee Rebus Johor (for adults)

– Pizza from scratch for the kids

– Chocolate Cake, Strawberry Cheesecake and Kuih Kaswi for dessert.

Let it be said though, I forgot to take pictures of the cooking process OR the spread – having 8 kids running around the house tend to distract me.

But here is my take on that recipe for Mee Rebus Johor:

Ingredients (feed about 15 people if served for afternoon tea)

• 1.5 kg fresh yellow noodles
• beansprouts (clean) 
• 10 eggs – hard boiled
• 1/2 large packet of tofu – fry and dice into small pieces
• green chillies, cilantro (daun sup) and green onion (sliced into small pieces)
•  calamansi limes
• fried shallots

 

For the Gravy:

• 20 dried chillies – de-seed, boil and blend fine
• *15 shallots
• *5 garlic
• *5 lemon grass
• *1 thumb-sized galangal
• *100 gm dried prawns
• * 2 cups dried shallots (*blend fine the items with *)
• 4  tbsp coriander powder
• 1 tbsp cumin + 1 tbsp fennel seed – blend fine, mix with coriander powder
• 800 gm meaty beef ribs (cook till soft in pressure cooker – reserve the stock for gravy)
• 500 gm shrimps – shell the shrimps and set aside, boil shell and head, blend fine and sieve – reserve the stock.
• 500 gm sweet potatoes –boil– reserve boiling water. Mash fine.
• 1 1/2 cups thick coconut milk
• 1/2 cup tauco (fermented soy beans) – rinse (get rid of excess salt)
• 2 tbs brown sugar
• salt to taste

Method: 

1. Shell the prawns, set aside. Boil the shells and heads. Blend this stock. Sieve. Add to the beef stock.
2. Add water from the sweet potatoes to the beef and prawn stock.
3. Remove meat from bones – slice meat fine. Add bones to the stock.
4. Heat oil, saute blended chillies. Once fragrant, add the rest of the blended spices. Cook slowly until dry and fragrant.
5. Once the oil has separated from the spices, add the coriander+cumin+fennel powder. Stir. Saute till fragrant.
6. Add all the stock and leave to boil.
7. Add sweet potatoes, salt and sugar. Let the gravy thicken. If not thick enough, add mixture of corn flour and water.
8. Finally add the shelled prawns. Bring the gravy back up to boil, stirring occassionally. When prawns are cooked, the gravy is ready.

 

When ready to serve, quickly boil the fresh noodles. Use the same water to quickly boil the beansprouts.

Serve the noodles with gravy. Add the accompaniments (boiled egg, green chillies, cilantro, calamansi lime, green onions, fried shallots, some of the sliced beef and fried tofu.) 

Enjoy

OPTIONAL – Crispy Prawn Fritters to sprinkle over noodles
5 fresh prawns, shelled, pound fine.

6 tbsp plain flour
4 tbsp rice flour
1 tbsp dried prawns (soak in water ,squeeze out after 10mins and pound finely)
Salt to taste

Mix all to form a thin batter (similar to crepes consistency). Add 1/2 tspn alkaline water (air abu / air kapur) to the batter.  Heat oil, deep fry till crispy. Break into small pieces and sprinkle on top of the noodles before pouring hot gravy.

Has it really been a couple of years…

since my last blog? Unbelievable. How time flies. I apologise for having been so remiss with this blog, but now that I am back hopefully, I will be back with a vengeance.

Life is no longer the same for me. For one, we  are now in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia instead of Malaysia. Back to a life of posting abroad – with its own unique challenges, and of course, oodles of cooking.

I remember posting in my personal blog (haha.. this issupposed to be the cooking one!) In that blog post, I was waxing lyrical about living abroad and missing the life of diplomacy and the friends that I had made in Poland. To a certain extent, that is still true now. I love the aspect of helping my husband in his quest to serve our beloved country, making new friends, and I especially enjoy the process of adaptation and learning new things. The little cub is doing well in school (Alhamdulillah,)  and enjoys having friends from all over the globe at school and in the compound. Most importantly, he brings us a lot of joy, laughter and remembrance of our blessings with his actions as well the simple truths that come from his mouth.

Our posting in Riyadh is also very special. Being Muslims in the land of our Prophet Muhammad pbuh gives us the opportunity to perform umrah and hajj as well as ziarah to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. For all these, I am truly grateful to my Creator and His wisdom in planning for the best for His most humble and insignificant creatures like me.

So, for the most part, my cup runneth over.

Yet, with opportunities presented, He has also given some shadows in my path, and everyday I have to learn the lessons of patience and humility. I am reminded of the need to have faith in His wisdom, mercy and magnificence. For this too, I am grateful. It is difficult though at times, to be supplicant, and accept things with a heart full of redha when you hurt each day by the actions of others. My faith is strong though that truth will always prevail and true colours will shine through in the end.

Yet, looking at the big picture, I realise how insignificant His challenges  are when compared to the blessings that He has given my family and I by placing us in this holy land. I pray that each day He will continue to guide us into taking the right actions, saying the right things and most importantly – keeping a humble heart and guarding our lips.  More of my lips rather than hubby’s – for he is a man of very few words and almost infinite patience.

 And verily, whosoever shows patience and forgives, that would truly be from the things recommended by Allah. (Surah Ash-Shura-42:43.)