Chocolate Muffin with White Chocolate Chip

This is just a simple tweak to my usual Chocolate Muffin. I think I have rely on this quick and simple muffin for a last minute treat for me and my family. It's a recipe handed to me from my mother. So I owe this to her. The best addition that my family loved so far is the white chocolate chip. I love adding some plumped up raisins/sultanas as well as some chopped nuts.
I made this also last month for my landlords, Open Garden to raise fund for Sussex Beacon. Do give it a try and you'll agree that this is ever so simple.... no need for mixer at all.

Recipe can be found here. Let me know how you think...

The Dough before going into the oven

The Finished Products

Homemade Bread with Cheese filling

I have always wanted to make bread for 2 reasons: My husband loves bread and cutting down on budget. Therefore, in the spirit of procrastinating in my final essay week - where every mundane thing became increasingly interesting and 'important', I tried out this amazing recipe that remarkably made me the talk about the house - because my daughter and husband lined up in front of the oven just to wait for the bread to finish baking. I must say thank you and give the highest acknowledgement to Mbak Hesti HH whose recipe I use, I did make some changes based on what's available... Thank you Mbak!!... Thus in the spirit of Dora the Explorer I want to say... "I DID IT!!! I DID IT!!! I DID IT!!!".

Source : Hesti's Kitchen Blog

Ingredients:
400 g High Protein Flour
100 g All purpose flour
120 g Granulated Sugar
1 sachet Instant Yeast
2 tbsp Powdered milk -- I didn't use
3 egg yolks
1 tsp salt
75 gr salted butter
225 ml warm milk

Filling:
Cheese cut to match Sticks shapes or grated

Glaze:
2 egg yolks
1 tsp milk

Direction:

1. Mix all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, powdered milk, yeast) in the mixing bowl.
2. Attach the spiral or the bread mix hook to your mixer. Put in the egg yolks one by one when mixing the ingredients with the egg. 
3. Add the salt and salted butter. Keep mixing until it is elastic 
4. Fermented it by covering the dough with a damp cloth and put in a warm place for about 30 - 45 minutes
5. After it grows double to its size, punched it down. Cut and weigh the dough to 40 gr each. or just eye ball them to similar size that you prefer (no bigger than your fist)
6. Fermented again with the same manner for 45 mins. 
7. brush the glaze to the top and bake in a 200 C/400 F/ GM 4 for 10 minutes or until done. 
8. Take it out of the oven and brushed with butter or margarine

Bread before going into the oven

Sambal with ikan teri asin // Indonesian Spicy chili condiment with little salted anchovies

Chili or Sambal is a firm favorite in Indonesia. My little family doesn't usually eat spicy food but if you are cooking certain Indonesian food, an accompaniment of Sambal is prerogative. My fellow Chevening Scholars were coming to visit me few weeks ago and I made Sop Buntut Bakar - Indonesian Broiled Oxtail Soup. I know they must want sambal to go with it. So although I am not an expert in Sambal making, I did my best. and it turned out great... we all love it... Though they said it is not so spicy... my husband said, it's spicy enough. hehehehe... I forgot to take the proper picture, lucky that my husband manage to snap one on the table before we finished them all

I adapted the the recipe of Sambal Lado Mudo from Mbak Peppy IndonesiaEats Blog. I cannot call my sambal the name because it lacked 2 of its defining ingredients. The green Chilies and green tomatoes. So here's the recipe


Ingredients - after modification:
5 Bird eye chili (mine is a mix of green, orange and red)
2 shallots (for smaller shallot like in Indonesia, use 16 shallots)
5 cherry tomatoes
A handful of Teri kecil or Little Salted Anchovies - (you can get it from the dried food in Asian store. pick the smallest you can get)
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
salt and sugar to season

Direction:

It's easier to do in a food processor or blender but I have none... so Pestle and Mortar it is. 

1. Fry the salted anchovies for about 2-3 mins. Strain on a paper towel to absorb all excess oil.
2. Grind Shallots and Chilies in pestle.Add Salt and sugar to help the grinding. 
3. Grind the cherry tomatoes to grind together. Add the oil and mix together. 
4. Turn on the heat on the hob and place a small frying pan. 
5. Put in the sambal mixture even before the frying pan is hot.
6. Add the lime juice. At this point you can taste and see whether you need more salt or sugar, Be careful the anchovies are salted already. 
7. Once it start bubbling, add the fry anchovies. Mix well and let it heated. 
8. Done and serve

• Don't worry if you cannot grind everything well. I like mine chunky and if anyone commented I will just say, I am going for the rustic touch... hehehehe
• My mom says, putting the sambal mixture before the pan and oil get heated up reduce the chance for you to get spitted by the hot oil and that the spicy aroma won't torture your nose during cooking and your cushions and curtains days after.

Chocolate Muffin

This is an easy Muffin to make. No need for mixer or food processor. Good fork or whisker will do. 

Mix 1:
1 3/4 C All Purpose Flour
1/2 C    Unsweetened Baking Cocoa Powder
2 Tsp   Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt

Mix 2:
1 C  Sugar
2     Eggs
3/4 C Milk
1/2 C Vegetable Oil
2 tsp Vanilla essence

Optional:
Add Chocolate Chip or chunky nuts to your liking

Direction

- Add mix 2 to Mix 1. Stir until well combined
- Lined muffin baking tray or cup with muffin paper cup or baking paper
- Spoon a spoonful of muffin mixture to each muffin cup
- Add chocolate chips or chunky nuts if you are using.
- Sprinkle sugar on top
- Bake in Oven (gas mark 5) until set... about 15 - 25 mins
- Take it out and leave it for 5 minute before transferring to wire rack

When I am pressed on time this will be fine but sometimes when I'm feeling fancy or want a proper indulgence, I like to garnish this with Chocolate Lava

The Chocolate Coffee Cake's Choc Lava Topping

- In a medium size pan with handle, mix together with a whisker
1 cup Sugar
3 tbsp Corn Flour
6 tbsp Baking Cocoa Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
- Add to the mix, 1 Cup of boiling hot water
- mix them well on a medium hob
- Keep mixing until its boiling then turn off the hob. take the pan off the heat
- Add 3 Tbsp of Margarine (I use I Believe It's Not Butter) and 1 tsp Vanilla essence. Mix well

Simple Chicken and Vegetable Soup

This is my little girl Tania's ultimate favorite. Yes, she is a healthy eater. I am sometimes embarrassed when I reach to that extra cookies. Unlike other kids her age that I know, She likes her vegetables, broccoli and carrot to be exact. When given biscuits or chocolate she eats just enough. However, she doesn't like meat (Vegetarian by birth??). I recently have her eat chicken and we have begun on our tasting-trying spree and she kinda began to love it. Also, she doesn't want to drink milk. She's traumatized of the horrific side effect of milk she experienced when we tried to switched her to formula milk at 6 m/o. However (again), I read a small triumph in the milk matter. Tania began to have milk but only when it is with her rice crispy cereal... hmmm.... I can hear you say, duh-uh why didn't you do it that way before?... well... trust me... we did... we tried every ticks in the book and on my mother's and mother-in-law's sleeves for this and none work. I now began to accept that she is too smart and headstrong and If I have to 'win' at this... I will have to play it smart...

Anyway, this soup is ultra easy and versatile that you can simply substitute or add to any of the ingredients (the first 4 in the list). Replace them with corn and peas or ommit the meat and go all veggie will also work. Anyway, There is a proper way to make soup with lots of steps.
But com'on.. life too short and too busy to worry about the fancy soup. This one is respectable enough and yummy enough to fill your belly with yummy and healthy food on those tired day and not-wanting-to-cook mood.

Ingredient:
4 piece of Chicken wings - cut to theirs joints
12 hard boiled quail egg - peeled
1 Med Carrot - peeled and chopped
1/2 of medium Brocolli - cut to it's florets

1/4 of medium onion - finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic - crushed
1 tbsp olive oil - or any kind of oil
Few stalks of Parsley  - I didn't chop them. Just dunk them whole.
Salt and pepper
2 cups of water / broth

Direction:

1. Heat the oil. Add the garlic and onion. saute until fragrant and golden. 
2. Bring in the chicken. Saute the chicken with the onion until they change color. 
3. Add water / broth. Cover the pan and let it boil.
4. Add the carrot let it boil until the carrot soften a bit. 
5. Add the quail egg, parsley, salt and pepper
6. Add the broccoli. Let it cook until brocolli is tender.
7. Soup is ready. 

Some likes to sprinkle fried onion on top. I don;t have any and do not feel like making some separately. And yet, the soup still taste yummy.

2 minutes (Microwave) Bread Pudding for 1

OK I am really addicted to the Minutes Microwave cooking. So here's another brilliant recipe to make use of those last slices of bread which sometimes become stale and ended up in the bin.

Source : 5 Minutes Recipe

Make 1 mug (microwaveable) of bread pudding or 3 small ramekins

You'll need:

2 slices of Bread (stale one is OK)
1 Egg
3 Tbsp Sugar - I use 2 Tbsp
2 Tbsp Milk
2 tbsp melted butter or margarine
2 drops of Vanila Essence (optional)
A  dash of ground Cinnamon

How to:

1. Melt the marg/butter. 20 secs in the microwave will do just fine. 
2. In the meantime, tear up the bread into your container - microwaveable mug or ramekins or anything you have on hand that can be use in the microwave
3. In a different bowl, mix the egg, sugar, milk and melted butter/marg and vanilla. 
4. Pour the mixture into the bread. Press them down a but with a fork so the bread soaked up all the mixture
5. Springkle some ground cinnamon on top
6. Pop in the microwave for 2 minutes (800W power).
7. Let it cool a bit... and Enjoy....

The Cinnamon make the whole room smell wonderful while it is cooking.
I recommend you make this easy peasy recipe. It takes 2 mins to cook and about 3 mins to prep. So All in all a 5 mins of yumminess.. -

Banana Muffin Cake

Saturday baking! triggered by the sight of the browning and almost spoiled banana.Thought i make a new pics of the old tried and tested recipe. The recipe can be found in my other blog (the old one), Click Annie 1-2-3 Dish. There are 2 things that I did differently this time

1. I added Sultanas and Chocolate Chip
2. Instead of baking it in a muffin tins, I pour them on a loaf / cake tin. Saves me time and washing.

So Happy weekend! I will aim to finish the houseworks. But at least I made somebody very happy (and full) this morning...

Tania can't wait for the Photo session to finish