FAREWELL...for now - Carrot Cake & Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cake

It's time to move on...

It's time to say goodbye...

Thank you NCheeah for this order..

I hope it added a little cheer to your colleague's farewell party.

Road Trip Dessert - Moist Chocolate Cake

Early Friday morning we all started out on our roadtrip to Alor Setar, Kedah for cousin Nawal's wedding. A pre-requisite when going on a roadtrip is, you must fill up the picnic basket with foodies just in case we get a little hungry along the way. So, my mother made egg mayo and tuna mayo sandwiches, my dad bought chips & kerepeks and I made some chocolate cake. And as always...after every roadtrip/holiday...I will put on an extra kg or two ! :)

Moist chocolate cake with gooey chocolate topping sprinkled with chocolate rice.

This is actually from 1 recipe but baked in 2 containers.

Quick Dinner - Lazy Burger

If ever you find yourself too lazy to cook dinner (which is pretty often for me !)..you might want to give this a try. I call it the Lazy Burger. To make this you need to have the following :

1. Frozen Beef Burgers - 5 pieces
2. Bread (any kind will do)
3. Chilli Sauce
4. Onion (chopped)
5. Cucumber (as salad)

Here's what you do :

Part 1
* Shallow fry the beef burgers.
* Dice the cooked burgers
Set aside

Part 2
* Lightly fry the onions
* Add the diced burgers to the fried onion
* Drizzle with chilli sauce.
* Add salt and pepper to taste

Part 3
* If you're using pre-baked dinner rolls like I did, bake the dinner rolls whilst your frying the burgers.
* If you're using normal bread, once you've done Part 2, toast your bread of choice.

Optional
* Sunny side-up egg

Putting together your superquick dinner
* Spread the dinner roll or toasted bread with mayonaise and mustard.
* Generously top the dinner roll/toast with the diced beef burgers
* Serve with sunny side-up egg and cucumber.

* Easy and Delicious *

If you love bread - Bruschetta with Sauteed Breakfast Beef Bits

I love bread..in fact my entire family loves bread ! So, as part of the Father's Day makan-makan we had at home last weekend, I made Bruschetta with Roast Beef Bits. This is really an easy-peasy starter to make. Here's what you need :

Bread

Focacia

Garlic Bread

or any plain/wholemeal baguett will do.

* I bought both at the bakery at Sunway Giza's Village Grocer. Even got them to slice it up for me.

Tomato Salsa

1 yellow capsicum - diced

1 red capsicum - diced

4 medium tomatoes - diced

4 shallots - sliced

Coriander - chopped (abt a handful)

Lemon juice from 1 lemon

1 teaspoon white vinegar

Olive oil - abt 1-2 tablespoon

Salt - to taste

Sugar - to taste

Honey mustard - 1-2 teaspoon (optional)

* Put sliced shallot into a deep bowl, add lemon juice season with salt and sugar - taste.

* Then slowly drizzle olive oil - mix well - taste again - add more salt and/or sugar if required.

* Put in the diced vegies - taste again. Add lemon juice/vinegar/salt/sugar if so required

* Lastly, add the chopped coriander. Set aside for the flavours to develope.

The salsa must have a sweet, sour tangy taste to it.

Sauteed Breakfast Beef Bits

200 gm of breakfast beef 

2 tbsp olive oil

* Chop the breakfast beef into small bits.

* Fry in the olive oil until crispy

Cheese

Choose between grated Cheddar or Mozzarella or you can use both ! :)

To assemble the Bruschetta :

* Pre-heat your oven to 160c

* Arrange the sliced breads onto a baking tray.

* Drizzle olive oil over the bread

* Pile small mounts of crispy breakfast beef on the bread followed by the salsa.

* Top with the grated cheese.

* Bake/Grill until cheese becomes gooey and brown around the top and edges.

Serve immediately. Then again, it tastes just as yummy at room temperature.

Note : I forgot to take a picture of the bruschetta I made..so I've borrowed from Mr.Google..:)

Heart 2 Heart..its an Engagement !

Thanks Ita !

* BEFORE *

* AFTER *

Little Heavenly Bites - Carrot Cake with CreamCheese Topping

Chilled Cheesecake with Snickers Topping

For my Ayah on Father's Day..

Base : Crushed Milk Biscuit

Body : Creamy Creamcheese

Topping : Melted Snickers Bar

More Brownies..

Chewy Brownies for my friend Zety.

Thank you !

Chilled Cheesecake with Cadbury Choc Topping

Baked or Chilled ?

When it comes to cheesecakes I prefer mine chilled rather than baked.

It is essentially easier to make and does not possess that dense creamy texture that you get from a baked cheesecake. Having said that, I would definately not turn away a slice of baked cheesecake if one is placed in front of me ! :) In the end..it is all preference.

The one in the picture has Crushed Oreos as its base, Luscious CreamCheese+SourCream+Melted White Chocolate as its body and Decadent Melted Cadbury Chocolate as its topping. The recipe for this cheesecake is as such that it produces a cheesecake that is absolutely light in texture and virtually melts in the mouth.

Teacher's Day Celebration Brownies..

Celebration Brownies

(covered in colourful sprinkles, drizzled with white chocolate and dotted with marshmallows)

Thank you Azreen !

Happy Birthday to Aziah !

Wedding Bells...

Congrats Naz & Wife !

Monday Night Dinner - Beef Pot Roast

For this week's Monday night dinner I made a super easy, leave-it in the oven beef pot roast. Here's what you need :-

Ingredients :

A.
1.5-1.8 kg ribeye/sirloin rolled beef
Mustard powder (2-3 tbsp)
Paprika (2-3 tbsp)
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)

B.
Carrots (2/large/cut into chunks)
Celery (2/large/cut into chunks)
Onions (4/large/cut into chunks)
Garlic (1/large/halved)
Olive Oil (2-3 tbsp)
Salt

C.
625 ml beef stock
Onions (1/large/chopped)
Garlic (2-3/cloves/minced)
Stewed Tomatoes (1 can)

Steps :

* Drizzle Carrots, Celery, Onions and Garlic in B with olive oil and season with salt then roast for 15 mins @ 170c oven.
* Marinate A. (Do this the night before)
* Heat about 3-4 tbsp of oil in shallow pan, brown the meat on all sides. This will take no more than 10 mins. This step is just to seal in the juices and not to cook the meat.
* Once the meat is browned. Set aside. Using the same oil, sautee the onions and garlic in C, then add the stewed tomatoes and lastly, add the beef stock.
* Arrange the roasted vegies in a large, deep roasting pan (must be large and deep enough to contain the liquid), place the beef on top, pour beef stock over.
* Cover with aluminium foil.
* Roast slowly for 2-21/2 hours at 165c. If you want the top of your pot-roasted beef to be crispy, remove foil 10 minutes before time, increase temperature to 180c and let brown for about 8-10 mins.

(picture courtesy of Google Images)

Once done, your Beef PotRoast should look like this. Let it rest for 10 minutes before carving.

To make nice brown gravy, strain the liquid in the roasting dish thru a strainer. Then take about 2-3 tbsp of butter, melt it and add 2-3 tbsp of plain flour to make a thick'ish paste. Add the strained liquid. Stir until a gravylike consistency is achieved.

Carve the roasted beef into nice thick slices.

Serve with the homemade brown gravy

and

Creamy Dijon Mustard and Sour Cream Potato Salad

and

Quick Sundried Tomatoes Aglio Olio Spaghetti

* A special extra..as appetiser...

Homemade quesadillas with tomato salsa, minced beef, cheese

served with sourcream and sweet relish

*Happy Cooking*