Bread Pudding

You'll never be stumped with what to do with your leftovers bread again. You can transform them to dessert without much work. This is one of our family’s favorite recipes and is perfect served with a big scoop of ice cream, warm vanilla sauce or just top it with a drizzle of condensed milk. But honestly, it’s delicious just by itself. I do have a recipe for a vanilla sauce but I don’t have a picture of it yet so I’ll be sure to add it to this post when I do.

You can make it ahead of time even a day before then refrigerate it. Just reheat slices in the microwave or if you want to reheat the whole dish in the oven, you could cover it with foil and put it in the oven at 175°C for 10-15 minutes or until it’s warm.

This pudding is cook in a bain marie or water bath, to help the pudding to cook slowly and evenly to avoid rubbery edges or a dry surface. Hope you enjoy the bread pudding!

Bread Pudding

Ingredients

9 slices bread – break into small pieces

2 cup fresh / full cream milk

½ cup sugar

1 tbsp unsalted butter - melted

Pinch salt

3 whole eggs – lightly beaten

½ tsp vanilla extract

¼ cup prune - chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 180⁰C and grease an 8” non-stick square baking pan.

In a small sauce pan, heat milk over medium heat just until bubbles form around the edge and steam begins to rise from the milk.  

Add in the bread cubes. Stir well, then set aside for 5 mins to soak. Stir in the butter, salt and sugar to combine well. Allow to cool before stirring in the eggs, vanilla extract and chopped prune.

Pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan. Put the baking pan in a roasting pan and place it in the preheated oven. Carefully pour hot water into the roasting pan around the baking pan until about halfway up the sides of the baking pan. Avoid splashing water into the nicely filled pudding. If the water evaporates before the pudding is done cooking then add more hot water.

Bake uncovered for 45 to 1 hour until firm and golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.  

Black Beef Rendang Cottage Pie

This is a classic English party favourite gets an interesting local twist with beef rendang! The result of this fusion is an interesting one. Oh my! The heavenly smells filling my kitchen as this bakes in my oven! My daughter loves it and ate every last morsel in her plate. Bon appetito people!

Black Beef Rendang Cottage Pie

Ingredients

500gm beef

4 shallots – sliced

1 cinnamon stick

3 star anise

3 cardamom pods

4 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

¼ cup cooking oil

1 tsp vinegar

6 tbsp kerisik (toasted coconut)

3 tbsp palm sugar syrap / to taste

1½ cup water

Spice Paste - Chop the ingredients and blend it in a food processor until fine.

5 tbsp chilie paste

4 cm ginger

1 yellow onion

4 cloves of garlic

2 stalk of lemon grass – white part only

Potato Topping

500g potatoes – peeled, quartered and boiled till soft

2 tbsp fullcream milk

1 tbsp salted butter – melted

¼ tsp pepper

¼ cup of grated cheddar cheese

Directions

To prepare the kerisik (toasted coconut) -- add the grated coconut to a dry wok and stir continuously until they turn golden brown. Leave to cool completely and grind till fine.

Heat the oil in a wok and sauté the shallots, cinnamon stick, star anise and cardamom pods until aromatic.  

Turn down the heat to medium low and add the spice paste. Stir-fry until the moisture has evaporated, about 5-10 minutes and oil surfaces. Add in the spice paste and stir-fry them until nice and aromatic.

Add the beef and stir for 30 second or so.

Add the water, soy sauce and oyster sauce then simmer on low heat, stirring frequently until the meat is cooked and really tender.

Add the kerisik (toasted coconut), vinegar and palm sugar then stir to blend well with the meat. Continue to simmer until the gravy has almost dried up. Dish out and put the rendang into an ovenproof dish.

Preheat the oven to 250⁰C. 

Drain potatoes. Put drained potatoes into a mixing bowl and mash. Stir in milk, butter, pepper and cheese.

Spread mashed potatoes evenly over the beef rendang right to the edges and ruffle with a fork.  

Bake uncovered for 25 minutes until golden brown. Serve hot.

Malta Beef Stew

My daughter loves this.  A savoury slow cooker stew with potatoes, carrots, celery and herbs. I used a pressure cooker to shorten the cooking process or else you’ll need to cook it for about 1 hour or so to soften the meat. If you wish to have a thicker stew then add more corn starch. We like our stew very thick. We also like it beefy so I always add a little more beef. For beef I always use chuck steaks and for lamb I like shoulder chops.

You can use beef broth over beef stock cube and water.   I love the flavor the herbs give to it. The browning process also really put some great flavor on that meat and the yummy bits stuck to the bottom of the pan easily came off during the deglazing with the liquids.

Malta Beef Stew

Ingredients

600g beef – cut into 1-inch cube

1 yellow onion - cut into wedges

4 cloves garlic - crushed

4 sticks celery – chopped into bite-sized pieces

2 carrots - chopped into bite-sized pieces

3 potatoes – peeled and diced

1 can (about 320ml) Malta Malt Drink

2L water

1 beef stock cube

1 tsp dried thyme

½ tsp dried rosemary

2 bay leaves

½ tsp coarsely ground Black pepper

Parsley - chopped

1 tbsp corn starch 

Directions

Season the beef with salt, pepper and coat with a little flour. This helps to dry the surface of the meat and helps better browning.

In batches, brown the beef in a thick-based pan with some olive oil. Transfer the meat into a bowl. Set aside.

Add a little more olive oil into the pan. Sauté the onion and garlic for a minute to soften the onion.

Add the celery and carrots then stir to combine. Cook this for about 2-3 minutes.

Pour the Malta Malt Drink into the stew. Gently scrape the bottom of the pan with a spatula, to release the black bits.

Transfer to a pressure cooker. Pour the water into the cooker and add the beef stock cube. Return the beef into the stew.

Add rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, ground black pepper and potatoes then bring to a boil.

Put on the cover and allow this to cook for about 30 minutes.

Dissolve cornstarch in 3 tbsp cold water and stir into the stew to thicken the gravy. Top with chopped parsley and serve.

Chicken Pie

It has been raining here for 6 days straight. It’s supposed to clear up today and we’re supposedly finally going to see some sun. The weather has really affected my mood, though. I’m typically alright with a couple days here and there of rain, but 6 days straight just really puts one in a crappy mood.

I made this pie yesterday.  This chicken pie has been a staple in my house for years.. Everybody loved it so much. Makes a great breakfast on the run. Since I am working, it's easy for my children to pop it into the microwave to reheat.  I usually use more veggies than it calls for. I like my chicken minced. 

My son gobbled up most of it before it was fully cooled yesterday and today it didn’t last until lunch. Definitely a keeper!

It’s not difficult to make the pie crust. Spend a little time to bake up a homemade crust you can be proud of. Once you get the hang of it, the result is so much better than the typical frozen pie crust that you get at the store. There are many different ways to make a pie crust but the most classic is made with butter. This one is using plain yogurt along with butter. You can also make this recipe by hand if you don’t have a food processor.

This recipe makes about 16 individual pies.

Chicken Pie
(Adapted from Azie Kitchen)

Pastry Crust

250gm All-Purpose flour

200gm unsalted butter

110gm plain yogurt

1 egg yolk

1 st sugar (optional)

A good pinch of salt

Directions

The first thing to is to cut up the butter into cubes and put them in the freezer for 15 minutes. 

Put the flour, egg yolk, sugar and salt into a food processor and pulse a couple times to mix. Add the frozen butter to the food processor and pulse several times until the dough just barely begins to hold together. You know that the mixture is ready if when you pinch some of the crumbly dough together with your fingers, it holds together.

Drizzle the yogurt into the food processor and continue to pulse a couple times until it is moist and shaggy. If it is too moist then add extra flour to the dough. I added ½ cup of flour. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

If you not using a food processor, press or squish pieces of butter into smaller flat flakes with your fingertips until you no longer feel any cold hard pieces of butter. 

Chicken Pie Filling

500gm chicken breast – minced

1 medium carrot – finely diced

1 green capsicum – finely diced / 1 big can green peas

1 yellow onion – finely diced

4 cloves of garlic - minced

120gm white button mushroom - diced

2 tbsp olive oil

Chicken marinade:

1 tbsp oyster sauce

½ tsp MAGGI Seasoning Cukup Rasa

½ tsp Parsley flake

1 tsp sesame oil

A few dashes of black pepper

1 tbsp corn starch + 3 tbsp water (thickening)

1 whole egg + 1 tbsp of water -  lightly beaten

Directions

In a wok, sautee the garlic and yellow onion in olive oil until soft and aromatic.

Stir in the diced carrot then add in the chicken. Stir constantly until the chicken is cooked through.

Throw in the mushroom and capsicum / green peas. Continue to stir until the mushroom and capsicum / green peas start to soften. Do not overcook them.

Stir in the thickening. Let the mixture cook and thicken up for another minute or so. Turn off the heat and let the filling cool to room temperature.

Making pie

Preheat oven to 180ºC. 

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to about 3mm thickness. Cut out 16 dough circles just a bit larger than the aluminium mini pie pans. Press a dough circle into each pie pan, making sure the dough comes almost to the top of each pan.

Fill the pies with the chicken mixture. Cut out another 16 dough circles just the enough to cover the top of each pie. Press the dough so that the edges meet, then use a fork to seal the edges. Prick the surface of the crusts, twice, with a fork. Lightly brush egg wash on pies.

Bake pie for 35 minutes at 180C or until pastry is golden and puffed.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Lately, we rarely do takeouts as Hub is never happy with the quality and taste. 

Today, it’s one of those days when I am lazy to cook again and it’s also our ‘western food’ day again.  But when I think of how important it is for my growing children to eat nourishing foods so I cooked spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. I made the meatballs and just used the sauce out of a jar in order to get a fast meal. It literally took me 45 minutes to make the whole thing.

My daughter is always fussy when it comes to the sauce. She likes it to be thick so it won’t run right through to the bottom when she put it on top of the noodles, she said.

 

Spaghetti and Meatballs

(Adapted from Chef Michael Smith)

Ingredients

½ cup bread crumbs

½ cup milk

2 cups ground beef

1 onion - peeled then grated on a cheese or potato grater

2 garlic cloves - finely minced

1 egg yolk

1 small bunch of parsley - chopped

½ cup grated parmesan (optional)

Salt – to taste

Pepper - to taste

Sugar – to taste

A pinch of nutmeg

Olive oil

1 small jar of Prego brand traditional spaghetti sauce (379gm)

2 canned duchef tomato puree (430gm each)

1 chicken stock cube

2 bay leaves

A sprinkle of dry oregano leaves

1 packet of spaghetti

Directions

1.    Toss the breadcrumbs into a small bowl and pour the milk over them. Stir to combine then set aside the mixture until the crumbs have absorbed all the milk.

2.    Place the ground beef into a large bowl and add the grated onion, minced garlic and egg yolk. If you like add the optional Parmesan. Add the breadcrumb mixture, nutmeg and parsley. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and mix well. Form into 16 small meatballs.

3.    Pre-heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. When it’s hot add a splash of olive oil, enough to cover the bottom. Add the meatballs. Patiently sear them until they are well browned on all sides. Transfer into a bowl. Set aside.

4.    Heat up a pot over low heat, add the spaghetti sauce and the tomato purees.  Stir in the bay leaves and a sprinkle of dry oregano leaves then season with chicken stock cube and sugar (to cut down the sourness of the sauce). Add the meatballs then cover the pan. Simmer until the meatballs have cooked through about 15 to 20 minutes.

5.    Cook the spaghetti in lots of boiling salted water, drain without rinsing and serve with the meatballs. 

Enjoy!

Homemade Pizza

My daughter is crazy about western food. So I have to cook pizzas, pastas, dumplings, steaks etc, for her at least twice a week.

I was inspired by Azie Kitchen to make this pizza dough. The dough is super easy to make. Top it with sauce, your favourite toppings and cheese then bake until bubbly. Awesome homemade pizza!

This recipe makes 2 large pizzas or 4 smaller pizzas and it is so much better than most store-bought doughs. If you’re feeding a larger crowd, you can double or triple the basic ingredients, the recipe scales up just fine. I also use the same recipe for calzones. 

Homemade Pizza

Ingredients

1½ cup warm water (3/4 cup plain water plus ¾ cup hot water)

2 tsp active dry yeast (Mauripan Brand)

¼ tsp sugar

4 cups all-purpose flour                                       

½ tsp salt

¼ cup olive oil (plus more for coating the bowl)

1 small jar of Prego brand traditional spaghetti sauce (379gm)

Favorite pizza toppings, as desired

Directions

1.    In a small bowl, combine the warm water and sugar then followed by the yeast and stir to combine well. Let the mixture sit until it begins to foam, about 10 minutes.

2.    In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt then make a well in the center. Add the yeast mixture and the olive oil. Using a fork or a small knife, incorporate the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients until you’ve formed a floury and shaggy dough.

3.    Knead the dough with your hands until it does not sticks to your hands like bubblegum however if the dough still sticky then add a tablespoon of flour at a time until it’s easier to work with; avoid adding too much flour if possible.

4.    On a lightly floured surface, continue to knead the dough gently, a few times, by pressing the heels of your hands into the dough, pushing forward slightly. This is called "punching" the dough.

5.    Lightly coat a clean bowl with olive oil then add the dough, turning once to coat the dough in oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in a warm area to let it double in size, about 1 hour.

6.    Preheat the oven to 240C. Punch down the center of the dough with your fist then divide it into 2 equal pieces.

7.    Lightly grease a 12-inch pizza pan with butter and work with a piece of pizza dough at a time.  Stretch the dough with your hand into a bigger and thinner circle to fit into the pan then prick the crust all over with a fork. 

8.    Spread with half jar of Prego brand traditional spaghetti sauce then loads the dough with the desired toppings and grated mozzarella cheese and bake it at 240C for 5 minutes then at 220C for another 15 minutes. Remove carefully and let it cool for 5 minutes then cut and serve.

Note

All-purpose flour will give you a chewier crust however if you can’t find all-purpose flour then you can substitute it with a bread flour which will gives you a much crisper crust.