A Hearty Nasi Briyani Meal

My sons have all followed after my husband and I in their taste for food...we are all very much into spicy food. Needless to say, Indian rice and curries rank very high on our list of food preferences. For a change, I decided to forget about eating out this weekend and decided to cook us all a hearty nasi briyani meal. I just used normal rice, which turned out quite okay. The second helpings made the work done today all the more satisfying.

Kueh Kochi Santan

Used to love this when I was small. Stopped eating this for a while and recently started patronizing a stall in USJ 2 which sells very good ones. Since my eldest son loved this very much, I decided to give it a try. It didnt turn out as soft as I wanted it too although the taste was just as good. May have gone a little wrong with the water concentration. This one is earmarked for another try some other time.

Home Made Snowskin Mooncake

Moon cake prices - do a survey and you'll find the prices exorbitant to the point of being ridiculous. Much as I think they are overpriced (say what you want about fantastic packaging and creative flavours), it is hard not to get some as the kids really love this annual delicacy. However, after some success in making my own moon cakes yesterday, I think I can forget about paying through my nose for moon cakes now. Plus the kids can have their fill of moon cakes anytime they like.

I brought a recipe book which is dedicated entirely to moon cakes just yesterday. It has five sections ranging from baked moon cakes, to jelly mooncakes, pastry mooncake, shanghai mooncakes and the snowskin variety. I knew well not to be over ambitious and started off with what I believed would be the simplest to pull off, this being my very first try - I settled on making snowskin with red bean filling. I was hesitant to buy the wooden mould which was quite pricey at the baking ingredients shop, so settled on getting a plastic mould (the one used for jelly moon cakes). As you can see, the flower motif didnt come out too well. I can imagine how nice it would turn out had I used the real wooden moulds. I used pandan juice as coloring and flavouring (never like the essence taste used on those that are on sale). The moon cakes turned out a nice light green shade. The snowskin was a great success - smooth and soft as it should be even after refridgeration. Next step is to do the traditional baked mooncakes and if that turns out well too, I'll be ready to get the wooden moulds.

Home Made Ang Koo

I love Ang Koo fried with egg. But when you do it yourself and straight off the steamer, I really don't mind having it fresh as it is. Mum used to have the wooden Ang Koo mould but as with many other things, she had given away to a relative years back. Much as I love this nyonya kueh, I have procrastinated on making it because of the lack of appropriate tools. However, I wasnt about to let that deter me this time, so I went ahead. As you can see, it doesn't look too great but tasted really smooth and soft. Used natural pandan coloring and flavour and grean pea filling for this one.

Carrot n Seafood in Seaweed

So colorful and most aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

Raisin and Cranberry Scones

Ever since we tasted the scones at Teapot Cafe, scones have become a favorite tea time snack for the kids and we always benchmark all other scones to the ones sold there. Eaten with lots of butter and a some good quality jam (try the one at Harrods), this is one heavenly tea time treat. I've almost perfected the recipe and can proudly boast that mine taste even better than Teapot Cafe now. Goes to show what a little determination in the kitchen can do. This time round I tried including some cranberries as well.

Home Made Sausage Buns

I guess everyone realises that the cost of breads and buns have been escalating consistently for the last year or so. Bakeries such as Bread Story do come out with rather unique creations and tastes but they can cost more than RM3 each. For a large household, getting buns for school or teatime snacks can be an ill-afford luxury. My kids seem to just love sausage buns so when I decided to try baking some buns lately, it was an easy decision as to what I should bake. Aside from not being able to adjust the heat for a nice finish (you can see it is a little burnt!), I wouldnt term this a "kitchen spill" as it tasted really soft and tasty, especially when eaten piping hot and straight out from the oven. I used sausages filled with cheeze for this one so it was extra scrumptious. Thinking of the first bite with cheeze oozing out at the sides makes me want to give this one another go.