Quick pancake

I can't remember exactly when Jayden started pestering me about making him pancake for breakfast. When I say pestering means real pestering, every now and then, keep asking, non-stop!!! And I only made him his first pancake about 3 months later. I couldn't believe he could ask for the same thing persistently for 3 months (and I could stand for it and put aside every time he requested for 3 months, what a mother I am!). It was a classic pancake I made for him, i.e. with flour and sugar and salt. It tastes like any normal pancake and I think it isn't something to be excited about. He stopped asking for it thereafter.

Lately he has this pancake fever started again!!! This time I made him a variation, I call it 'quick pancake' because the preparation is super fast and EASY!! What you need is banana and eggs, 1:1 ratio.

Preparation:

1. Smash banana (over ripe banana will be better)

2. Beat eggs

3. Mix smashed banana into eggs, stir well

4. Scoop the banana-eggs and grill it using sauce pan (without oil), on small fire

5. Turn to the other side when it doesn't stick to the pan (normally about 1 min or less)

6. It is ready to serve when both sides turn light brown

Jayden loves this quick pancake... yummy yummy!

Chocolate almond cookie sticks

Baking time again!!! Yohoo~~~

I want to try something more 'classy' looking this time, something that makes people say "wow" when they see it. Of course, I receive this kind of reaction from Jayden every time I finished baking. But I hope to get it from adults because adults are normally harder to please than my all time favourite little fan at home.

Key word is again "chocolate" for my little fan. I decided to make him chocolate almond stick this time, something similar to Rocky or Pokka cookie stick. Looking at the recipe, I foresee it will take slightly longer time and more effort than before. I woke up early in this morning and started the preparation.

First, I have to knead the dough. Kneading is the killing part for me!!! First time kneading a dough, using my very own baking sense to judge whether the dough right for its intention, whether it is too wet or too dry, too rough or too smooth...

Then with the rolling pin I rolled it into a big flat square, cut it into 12cm x 0.5cm sticks, put it into the oven and bake for 10 - 12 minutes. And, we are done with the cookie sticks!! 

Now come the part that makes the whole thing more 'classy', ha... ha... We need to melt the chocolate bar into liquid form and get ready the almond rice for use later. Once the cookie sticks are well baked, dip it into the melted chocolate and sprinkle some almond rice on it. Set aside until the chocolate layer is formed and cooled. And done!!!

My classy looking chocolate almond cookie sticks!

Chocolate almond cupcake

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I never like muffin. But I always like cake. And I think something as small as muffin is easy to bake and easy for my consumers, so I started looking into cupcake. I got a book of cupcake recipes with more than 100 recipes. Jayden was attracted by the book when he saw it. He loves the book. Almost every night before we settled everything and went upstair, he would pick up the book and ask me about the recipe, one by one. Little that I know he was trying to understand each of them better so that he can choose the one he likes. At the end, he chosen chocolate hazel cupcake.

I have all the required ingredients except hazel nut powder. But I have almond, which was bought for chocolate almond stick, another order from Jayden. And I feel the texture will be very plain if I use powder instead of the real nuts. I decided to use almond.

Jayden was very excited when I announced "Mummy is going to make your chocolate almond cupcake!". He gave me a big hug and said 'Thank you mummy!' with a touching facial expression, so drama! Of course, he is still too young to differentiate between hazel nut and almond, or to remember what he ordered was actually chocolate hazel cupcake instead of chocolate almond cupcake. The key word for him is only CHOCOLATE! 

The preparation is quite similar to muffin and very easy. It took me less than an hour to complete everything, including baking. Jayden is always very helpful in kitchen stuffs and was with me all the time, witnessing every steps I took in realising his order from picture to real cupcake.  

Ingredient A

125g butter

100g brown sugar

2 eggs (beaten)

Ingredient B

130g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp chocolate powder

50g almond chips

Ingredient C 

60g chocolate chips

1. Beat butter and sugar of Ingredient (A) until smooth. Add in eggs slowly.

2. Mix in Ingredient (B), mix well.

3. Mix in Ingredient (C), mix well.

4. Spoon fill 3/4 of the paper cups.

5. Bake at 150 degree Celsius for 20-25mins 

6. Cool cakes

Remember to always preheat the oven before baking, and use your instinct to decide whether to bake longer or shorter than the given instructions. You can keep the cupcakes in room temperature (consume within 1 - 2 days) or in fridge. You get to taste the almond covered by melted chocolate chips if you keep it in room temperature, or the harden chocolate chips if you keep it in fridge. I like both.

Ice cream puff

Jo came to me one day after his daily release session, with newspaper in his hand (ew...). 

"Dear, why don't you do this instead of muffin or cookies??"

I took a look, a recipe for ice cream / cream puff. This is something Jo likes. I kept it one side, but still toying the idea of baking chocolate almond stick for Jayden the coming weekend. Ever since I found myself pregnant and started experiencing morning sickness, my mood and momentum for baking has reduced. Now that my morning sickness is slowly fading away, I thought I should bake chocolate almond stick because it was something I wanted to do the most prior to all these. Most importantly, it was something I promised Jayden earlier. 

Come to Saturday night, I changed my mind. The ice cream puff is something much easier and less preparation needed compares to chocolate almond stick. While Jo and Jayden were washing my car, I thought I should bake some ice cream puff for them as a reward. 

My good looking puff, yeah~

Checking out the fridge, I have everything I need: butter, plain flour, water and eggs. I pre-heated my oven while cooking some of those items. Yes, we need to cook some of them and not just bake. There isn't much mixing or measurement involved. The whole process plus cooking prior to the oven is less than 30 minutes. Another 30 minutes for baking in the oven.

Puff smell spreading through the house... and it is really very easy to make! There is also recipe for ice cream in the same newspaper. But I keep the job easy. I just asked Jo to get those ready made ice cream from supermarket, and, we are done!!!

We have three flavours: chocolate ice cream puff, vanilla ice cream puff and strawberry ice cream puff. I personally prefer chocolate and vanilla. Yummy~~~

My first baking experience - Raisin Muffin

I never like muffin but my first attempt in baking starts with muffin. Well, I can explain this. It is actually a matter of convenient and easiness. It doesn't need perfect or accurate measurement or a mixer, and my friend claimed it is VERY EASY! I thought I should start with something that is VERY EASY to build up my confidence in baking... so... ya... let's start with muffin :)

I was very excited back then. I dragged both Jo and Jayden to the bakery shop to buy all the required ingredients. I may look I know a lot in front of Jo, but I was totally lost the moment I stepped into the bakery shop. It is a big bakery shop with not very helpful shopkeepers. And maybe they have too many pro-baker customers that they expect I am also one of them. I basically had to go round and round the shop just to find things and make sure what I found is what was listed in the recipe because I had no idea at all how those things look like. Still, I managed to get my shopping done, phew~

Next is the baking itself! It is actually VERY EASY, thank goodness!! It is just like one of the masak-masak time we had back then, mix everything and that's it! With most of the time spent on measuring all the ingredients, hand mixing itself only takes less than 20 minutes...

 

BEFORE: Just put it into the over. To decorate a bit, I put raisin and chocolate rice on top of each muffin.

 And in the oven for about 20 minutes...

AFTER: Ta~da~~~ Hot yummy raisin muffin.

It looks nice and taste nice too. As it is for own consumption, I have put in a lot of flax seeds and raisins. Jo and my mum complained too many raisins but Jayden finished the whole thing himself! Well, I just have to say I can't please everyone but I think it is a good try! Yeah!

Haru Zen

It's my big boy birthday! I decided to have a dinner with him without little boy messing around. Well, little boy won't really mess up things but he will keep demanding for food, and that may mess up our great dinner date.

Japanese food is one of our favourite cuisine. There is a new Japanese restaurant in town and we decided to give a try - Haruzen!



The restaurant is basically divided into two parts by a bamboo divider - one part is dining for group and another part is dining for two. There is also a bar section right after 'dining for two'.

This restaurant knows how to present their food, not to the extend of fine dining but close to. And I like the way the food was served as they all look nice and delicious. It brings excitement for someone who likes to eat!


Kanimaki and salmon maki

These were our appetiser. We all know how common these sushi are but they just look so much nicer than the one in Sushi King. Crab meat in kanimaki is not the normal crab stick we found in hypermarket, but a more high-end crab stick (although it is still a crab stick). Salmon is also fresh. I think the appetiser is quite ok.


Salmon sashimi

Salmon sashimi lover may like this restaurant because the salmon sashimi served here is very fresh and smooth. And obviously, it is thicker and bigger pieces than the others. Of course, the price is more expensive but I think it is still affordable. I couldn't remember whether they serve salmon belly sashimi, but if they do, I think it would be a must-try since their salmon sashimi is so fresh and nice.


Cawanmushi

Other than normal ingredients for a cawanmushi, they added lemon skin. Jo doesn't like it much but I find it is a plus point. I like the fragrance the lemon skin added into the cawanmushi, very refreshing! A smoothy cawanmushi mixes with crunchy refreshing lemon skin, how unique it is! Something different from the normal cawanmushi I had before.


Japenese garlic fried rice

Our another routine order for Japanese food is Japanese garlic fried rice. It is nothing better and I find it is not as tasty as it looks. It is a good fried rice if it is intended to be an egg fried rice. It is served in big portion and suitable for two if you have a lot of other dishes on the table.


Gindara cooked with miso paste

This is not Gindara Shioyaki (grilled cod fish) but Gindara with miso paste. I like Gindara and miso when they are served separately, but not the combination. The fish is fresh and texture is good, but the taste is not really what we expected. And I think the chef has overcooked it, look at the black parts! And the overcooked parts taste exactly like chinese barbecue pork (char siew). I find it odd to have chinese barbecue pork in a Japanese restaurant. Nevertheless, the presentation is good! At least it looks delicious and seductive when it is served!


Atka Saba Shioyaki

I loves Saba Shioyaki (grilled mackerel) and I wanted to try out Atka Saba Shioyaki. According to the waitress, it is a different type of saba from Hokkaido. I think I made a mistake because we both don't like it at all. It is not as juicy as saba shioyaki. In fact, it is very dry and taste like salted fish. Again, I think the chef has overcooked it because it is too dry and hard. I think it is the worst dish we had for that night. Well, maybe we just don't know how to appreciate it.

I think Haruzen may be a good place for sashimi but not for cooked dishes. Maybe I should try out their Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake / pizza) next time since it is their special dish. For those who would like to try out:



Haru Zen Japanese Restaurant
Lot G28, Ground Floor, IOI Boulevard,
Jalan Kenari 5, Bandar Puchong Jaya,
47170 Puchong, Selangor D.E.
Tel: 03 80766512

The Keg Bierhaus

It was one of the nights when we have some private dinner time without Jayden. Jo and I were in Puchong, just after we bought some jelly moon cake from Q Jelly... and we were deciding what to have for dinner. I was looking around while Jo was driving, and I found this bistro - The Keg Bierhaus.



When you walk in, you will see rows of old photos of Germany hanging on the wall, with descriptions and numbers of year. On the other side, a big mirror displaying current beer promotion for happy hour. Towards the end, hanging TV with football match on screen. So Germany and football... a good place for beer and football lovers! In fact, a great place for men!



The Keg Bierhaus is basically divided into three parts. The front right (if you are coming from the front door) is the bar side. It takes about a quarter of the bistro layout. Front to almost end left is the table side, where typical Germany high chairs and tables are in rows. Then, a small part at the end is the sofa area.



We were sitting at the table side. Sitting on high chair and looking around the bistro was quite enjoyable. I could see few white collars chit chatting while drinking... probably talking about the working day and issues. Two Indian man drinking, in silent, pretty enjoying the joy from alcohol... leaving behind the reasons for it... And we were the only couple, having few hours private time before going home.



Germany bierhaus is a definite place for German sausages. And we love sausages! Not being able to recognize and differentiate the difference in sausages, we ordered a combo for two. It serves five different sausages, all cooks in different way... also mashed potato and salad. We like grill sausage, good taste and texture... while steam sausage is too soft for us. Of course, different type goes well with different sauces and we were offered four types of sauces as shown in the picture. I will make sure I remember all the different types and names when I come next time.



Sausages must go with beer, and Jo got his favourite Hoegaarden. I decided to get ice lemon tea, bearing in mind that alcohol maybe harmful to Jayden. Still, I sipped two sips of Jo's Hoegaarden and I understood why it is his favourite. It is so smooth and not as gassy as Carlsberg or Heineken!

I will revisit this bistro in the future... for the beer, for the sausages, for the atmostphere and for the feel...... The Keg Bierhaus!

Han Jin Peng & Ma Kiok

Today, I would like to introduce a very nice food -
"Han Jin Peng" and "Ma Kiok"!



I personally don't like Han Jin Peng previously. It is a kind of chinese food that is made of flour with red bean paste inside and sesame topping. It is fried until it turns into golden yellow. Best eat when it is just fried! Most Han Jin Peng I ate is very oily and with very little red bean paste. But the one in the photo is nice and with more red bean paste!

Another similar one I like the most is Ma Kiok. It is made of flour with sesame topping. It is very crunchy and not oily!

I strongly recommend Han Jin Peng and Ma Kiok lovers to try this out! It is sold at RM0.70 each. The stall is located at Taman Seri Muda, Shah Alam (corner lot, opposite the shop that is behind Public Bank).