The Best Feeling

I want to share something, which happened all the time, all this while since he knows I'm who I am. My dear son who is almost 19 months now always have separation anxiety since he was 9 months old, I remember taking a shower while he waited outside the bathtub, he'd cry and scream and wail as if I'm going to vanish behind the shower curtain. He can't walk yet at that time, so all he did was pull himself up to the tub, stand by it and scream. Poor child... so the only way not to stress him up is waited until his nap time arrives, then only I go and take my quick shower.

Now, he understand that mommy is just behind the curtain washing up, and he can wait on the couch and be happy to see me when I finished shower. The best feeling is that the moment he woke up in the morning, the moment he sees me coming in to pick him or his dad brought him while I was in the bed, kitchen or bathroom..is.. that genuine smile on his face as if I am the only person in the world he cares about. He would run towards me and gives me a big bear hug. Never fails unless he woke up crying in the morning, but still when I pick him up from his cot, he would hold me tight. That's the best feeling.

Nowadays, when KB is home early, they would play and laugh and tickle each other, but for the winding down time, he wants his mom to do his milk, feed, bathe and put him to bed. Many times KB would ask to put him to bed instead of me, I sort of encourage it because I want them to bond, and it was always ends up with a little cry and resistance. I used to be so mad because I need a time off. But now when I think about it, why not? He's going to grow up ever so fast and he may not want me anymore. So while he's still wants me...I'm all his. It's the best feeling.

Recipe Rendang Mak Timah

This entry I want to share my mom's rendang recipe. Been trying and testing the recipe but never up to her standard-all-time-same-taste(mine taste not as great as hers). But never give up. maybe it's the beef cut? Maybe it's the pot (kuali), I don't know. So, here's the hundredth time I'm making it. According to KB, he loves it.. awww that's sweet. BUt to my personal satisfaction, it need to be improvised. So, here it is:

Ingredients, serve 4-6:

(A)

• 10 dried chillies (seeds removed, soaked in hot water)
• 20 small shallots (peeled)
• 10 stalks lemongrass (small chopped)
• 4-5 roots of galangal (small chopped)
• 3 cloves garlic (peeled)
• 2 inch ginger (sliced)
• (A) TO BE BLEND WITH 2 cups of water(more or less) to get runny paste consistency

(B)

• 2 cans of coconut milk (I use Arroy-D) milk from fresh coconut have even better taste.
• 400g of coconut paste (recipe follows)
• 800g beef (cubed, rib-eye cut is good example, for the fat content, we want moist meat, not
  
• drying up in the cooking process, as this is going to take at least 3-5 hours slow cooking)

• salt to taste, add at the end.
• few kaffir lime leaves if you don't have turmeric leaf

Method:

Mix ingredients the blended (A) and (B) into a big saucepan/wok/ Dutch oven/cast-iron pot and bring to boil, reduce the heat to a low-simmer for 3-4 hours until all the sauce has reduced significantly. Ensure to stir once in a while so the bottom of the pan does not burn. And if you using Dutch oven/cast-iron pot, after the sauce has mostly gone,finish the cooking in the oven covered for the last hour or so. Add salt to taste.
The result: You'd have a beautiful, succulent meat-fall-apart melt in your mouth beef rendang. Good luck!


For the coconut paste recipe:
stove-fry grated coconut (from 3 coconuts, grate white part only) in a shallow pan/wok without oil on low-medium heat. Keep stirring all over until the coconut turns golden brown. Once it get to this point, the coconut can easily be burnt, so watch carefully. immediately remove the coconut from the pan and keep it slightly cool on a baking sheet and spread out evenly to minimise further cooking. Once it is cooled to handle, shove it in a dry blender/food processor and blitz until it turns into a paste. make a big batch and use them according to the recipe.


How to store coconut paste: In pantry and freezer:

Pantry:
Store in airtight container. Add one piece of dried tamarind(asam keping) for longer shelf-life. Put in a cool dark place.

Freezer:
Store in numerous sealable plastic bags. No need to add dried tamarind, put in freezer, before use, just thaw the invidual bags in hot water for 20-30 minutes and use as the recipe recalls.

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Nasi Impit ala moi

Just want to share a story, few weeks ago, I made beef rendang(Malaysian dish similar to Thai massaman curry) for my good friend from Denmark who's visiting Dubai (she used to live here), she just love rendang. So i made a big batch. Turns out fabulous (as always, if I may say so) coz KB also loves rendang. Beef in particular. My mom taught me from our family recipe apart from many others. So, as soon as the rendang was ready, there I was searching for the 'nasi impit' to eat it with. Alamak! Nasi impit dah habis! How can this be possible? I always have them stocked up somewhere in the cupboard, but not this time. So I quickly call mom(she was about to go to the mosque for prayer), said sorry and ask her to help. I'm in a deep **** situation. So she tells me...

Boil the rice as I would normally, add tiny bit more water so it would be a little wet and soggy and then, IMPIT lah! okkay...so this what I did: I dont have proper 'loyang' so i just use my pie dish and 'impit' with a plate and topped up with my mortar.

At the end, it wasn't quite as nasi impit, but okay lah...it's edible. haha!

lined with plastic film so it doesn't stick

then put on banana leaf for aroma

last but not least time to 'impit'

Masak Masak

Last December I got this☝as a Christmas present which I LOVE so much! Thank you darling hubby for understanding my passion for cooking gadgets. Not much of a cook, I love cooking gadgets although I should try do do more cooking and baking now that I have these helpers. I shall call it Mak Long (penolong setia) I would love to call it Mak Ngah (as in merah sangat la mak Ngah, because it IS red) but it was taken by a good friend of mine. So, Mak Long it is. First thing I did was polish it nice and shiny because it's going to be on top of my counter for display. Doesn't take many days to just be a display, I made my best cheese cake with it where I normally do with a hand mixer, but not anymore. I do feel a little guilty to the hand mixer although it wasn't really mine (well, I didn't bought nor got it) it was my MIL's. She have all these appliances at her son's (before we met and get together and married). Coffee machine for example, although my hubby doesn't drink coffee OR tea for that matter, its for her use when she visit him :) nice touch..heh...

So all these gadgets were already there when I moved in with KB. How convenient is that? Let's cut to the chase, the cheese cake turned out fantastic, if not better! It doesn't require any baking though, so i can't really praise Mak Long too much.

BUT, when i did cake batters and muffins and cupcakes, they tend to be a little dense. Maybe I didn't do it right with the speed perhaps. I'm still in the testing-phase. I did some breads also. KB was so impressed and he didn't believe I did it with Mak Long. haha!

Hopefully i'll master Mak Long in the future.

TADAAAA!!

After all these times, I'm trying to get it(myself) together, deactivate Facebook account, but found myself creating yet another one. And have at least few more social networking site. Can't live with 'em, also can't live without 'em... what shall i do..what shall i do?? I don't hate them(oh boy, do i?) but don't like them around either...brutal truth huh?! bipolar disorder? trying too much to be liked? crazy? perhaps all of the above... OR maybe I need to get a job! Oh wait, I do have a job 24/7 job that doesn't pay and no time off or holiday. What worse than that can it be?

Well...I start cooking again, that relaxes me. It's just that the downside to it is... I gained more weight! Post-delivery weight still hasn't shed, and now piling up even more. *sigh* (I can see the great depression on my way) Plus, it's that time of the year again--->SUMMER<--- Most people around the globe love summer months, but I'm not most people ha! 10 years in this heat I still couldn't get use to it. Scorching 45-50 degrees centigrade..let me tell you, it ain't funny. It hurts

So sad to say goodbye to the nice cool(-ish) months. A lot of activities outdoor (although this season we didn't do camping AT ALL!) Every weekend(s) it's either too cold, smacked by sandstorms and/or no friends available to venture out to the desert or wadis. Pity.

But quite productive in terms of keeping the little one busy outdoors. A sandpit in our backyard built by his dad and grandpa, roadtrips to the East and North, trips to local parks almost every other day and playdates of course. I'm happy, kinda..