Home Fries

I first fell in love with home fries after a couple of trips to Bob Evans with a few addict friends of mine ;)

Having cut down on eating out, I decided I would try to make them at home. Here's what you'll need:

- 5-6 large potatoes
- butter
- salt
- paprika
- pepper flakes
- garlic powder

Recipe:

1. Boil your potatoes on high heat for 10 minutes (only cook them half way, do not boil more!)
2. Remove from boiling water and wait for potatoes to warm, then chop into small pieces
3. add 1 teaspoon of salt, some pepper flakes, 1 tablespoon of paprika, and one tablespoon of garlic powder, mix thoroughly
4. Heat a non stick pan on medium-high heat, grease if necessary.
5. Add your home fries to the pan, and add 2 tablespoons of butter. Let it sit on medium-high heat until a gold brown colour is achieved, then leave it on low-medium heat.

This is best with pancakes and eggs!

Cheesy? Yum!!

One of the easiest dish to prepare, and one of the easiest to make ahead and freeze for lazy cooking days, or for hectic days for that matter! I present, the Cheesy Yum. The name..ahh, the name was borne out of three active young minds; my children.

I no longer make this because I can't take cheese, so I have been depriving the family of this dish the kids particularly love. Bad mother? Nahh...just being practical. A Cheesy Yum at the expense of an exhausted mother who no longer wants to cook anything because she has to cook two separate meals, one for her and another for the family, because of the allergies, is simply not worth it. Either they put up with it for a while, or forgo her cooking forever.

This dish is very versatile. I love the fact that it can be prepped ahead of time, refrigerated, and baked the next day. Or, it can also be baked, cooled, cut up into generous squares, wrapped up, frozen, and voila! You got yourself a homemade frozen dinner!

Cheesy Yum

1 1 lb. 9 oz. jar spaghetti sauce
1 box/ packet of spaghetti
2-4 cups grated cheese (mozzarella and cheddar) enough to generously sprinkle over the dish
1 medium-sized onion, minced
5-6 cloves of garlic, minced
dash of chilli powder (can be omitted)
2 Tsb oil
1 lbs ground beef

Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit
1. Cook the spaghetti , drain, set aside
2. Heat oil and saute the minced onion and garlic till fragrant
3. add ground beef and stir for about 3-4 minutes
4. Dump in the spaghetti sauce
5. Cook till beef is done
6. In a large bowl or in pot (if it's big enough) combine the cooked spaghetti with the cooked sauce
7. In a 9 x 13 casserole/pyrex dish, pour this mixed spaghetti combo
8. sprinkle grated cheese over it, and bake in the oven until the cheese melts and browns a little bit
9. Cut immediately into serving size pieces, and dig in while the cheese are still gooey and soft!

Cook's Notes:

• You can also prepare up to step 7 and put it in the refrigerator to bake the next day
• You can also cool it completely after it's done, then cut into serving size pieces, wrap each piece with plastic wrap/ aluminum foil, and freeze them. You can then have these as your homemade frozen dinners. (Good for large families, or for mothers who have to plan ahead for some occasions/events that require them to cook ahead and store so the family would not be without homemade food)
• You can also make your own spaghetti sauce as below:

1. Saute the minced onions and garlic till frgrant
2. Add 2 Tbs tomato paste
3. Add 1 lb. ground beef
4. Add 1 can tomato sauce
5. Add salt, pepper, oregano, and any other additions you like in your spaghetti sauce
6. Cook till beef is done

Grated cheese; check.
Spaghetti; check.
Spaghetti sauce; check.
Onion, garlic; check.
Ground beef; check.
Oil; check.

What are you waiting for? Cheesy? Yum!!

Beef Sukhaar

Beef sukhaar, or tender beef chunks is a staple Somali dish. It can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It can be sauteed with vegetables of your choice and can be served with anjeero, malawah, or pita bread. I serve it with store bought pita bread or naan when I'm running low on time- like I did today :)

This takes about 1 hr-1hr and 15 min total, I leave it on the low heat longer because the meat and veggies become nice and tender.

What you'll need

- half pound of beef sukhaar (small chunks of beef)
- veggies of your choice (I use red & green bell pepper, one whole onion, chopped parsley, minced garlic, 2 tomatos chopped, 4 potatos chopped, 2-3 cups of fresh baby spinach)
- 1 maggi chicken cube
- 1 teaspoon of xawaaji (A somali spice, if you do not have xawaagi, use spices of your choice)
- 2 teaspoons of olive oil
- 5-6 cups of water



Recipe:

1. Boil a half pound of beef sukhaar in water until desired tenderness is achieved. Use more water if you want more of a stew... otherwise use less.
2. After boiling for 25 minutes on medium-high heat, add your tomatos first (before the rest of the veggies) and 1 cube of maggi chicken
3. 10 minutes later, add your small potato chunks
4. 15 minutes after that, add the rest of your veggies (save the spinach for last)
5. Leave on medium-low heat for at least 15-20 minutes, you can add your spinach 5 minutes before you plan to serve it. (I was told if you cook spinach too long, you lose the nutrients...)

Serve with either anjeero, malawah, or any roti type of your choice :)

Going Bananas!

Only after I got to know the Somalis in Columbus did I associate banana with the Somalis, because of the interesting fact that they eat their rice with bananas.

Bananas, all kinds of them, grow in abundance in Malaysia, and I really mean in abundance! When I was prescribed glasses, I devoutly, every single morning after Fajr, headed out to our orchard and struggled to get drops of fresh morning dews from the banana plants (just the banana plants, not tapioca, not durian, not anything else!) into my myopic eyes, as per my grandmother's prescription for curing my myopia. I can still feel the smoothness of the banana leaves, and I can still see those coveted pool of fresh dew breaking into glistening drops as they slid down the central stem of the banana leaf. I'm still myopic by the way, so no, it didn't work.

Since we have a lot of bananas, Malaysians have come up with many ways to eat it, but none of them includes eating it with rice. :) We have fried banana fritters, banana ball fritters, banana in sweet rich creamy sauce, ...err...well I guess that is about it, well at least those that I am aware of (and I'm not really an expert on Malaysian food, despite being Malaysian). You can find banana fritters being sold on the streets by hawkers, freshly fried and still steaming hot. It's usually served for tea when guests come to visit, since it's pretty easy to whip up last minute.

This version, called Jemput Jemput, in Malay (which directly translate to 'invite/tiny portions'). I wondered about the etymology of the name, and asked my husband.

His theory:

1. Because of its size, and the way it's made is by deep frying tiny portions

My theory:

1. It's easily whipped up for guests, and you tell them, "Jemput makan," (Please come and eat! The 'invite' version of the meaning)

Jemput Jemput Pisang (Banana Ball Fritters)

4 overripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tsp baking powder
1 3/4 cup flour
dash of salt


1. Combine the mashed bananas and coconut milk in a big bowl
2. Add the flour and baking powder and salt
3. Mix with a wooden spoon into a thick batter
4. Heat enough oil for deep frying, wait until it's really hot
5. Take one spoonful of batter, and using another spoon, swipe it neatly, as a ball into the hot oil
6. Turn it over when the bottom is light brown
7. Serve warm as a light sweet snack

Cook's notes:

• Make sure the oil is hot before you drop your first banana ball in it. If it's not hot enough, the banana balls might stick, and it won't fluff up as much. I learned this the hard way.
• Turn down the heat a tad if it browns too quickly.
• Rule of thumb for deep frying: don't crowd the pan or the oil temperature will dip
• Just like making pancakes, don't overmix the batter, or the gluten will overdevelop and make them tough.
  
• Below is a how to video:

Check out other Jemput Jemput Pisang on the blogosphere:

Jthorge's Jemput Jemput Pisang on Jthorge's Kitchen

Brenda Tan's Jemput Jemput Pisang on Mum Loves Cooking

Beachlover's Jemput Jemput Pisang on Beachlover's Kitchen

Malawah

For those of you have been asking about the malawah recipe, here it is again. It was down temporarily. Enjoy :D

What you'll need

- 3 cups of all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups of milk
- 1/2 cup of water
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup of sugar
- 1 tsp of salt

Preparing the batter

Using an electric hand mixer, mix the above ingredients until the batter is smooth and free of chunks.

Preparing Malawah

1. Put a non stick pan on medium-high heat and grease if necessary
2. When the pan is hot, apply 1/4 cup of malawah onto the pan and spread it out in circular motions using a ladle


3. Peek under neath the malawah, when it appears to be golden brown, apply 1 tsp of butter

4. Spread the butter on the malawah and flip


5. When that side is golden brown, you may take it off of the pan and apply a pinch of sugar.
6. Eat :)