Fresh Tuna Purple Potato Salad

Tuna is a common fish in Malaysian cuisine. The local tuna is smaller in size than the ones we eat in Japanese restaurants or those found in colder waters. The local tuna is known as ikan tongkol and it's not an expensive fish to consume. There is another fish that looks almost the same, known as ikan kayu, and I wasn't able to distinguish between the two, until the fish monger placed them side by side. The local tuna, ikan tongkol's skin is actually bluish, looks pretty when the sun shines on it.

Ikan kayu has a much larger bloody area when cooked, tastes more fishy and has a drier texture.

Potato Salad with Apple

It's a salad? Looks like mash... yeah... either way.
But it's not dressed with butter but mayonnaise, so I guess that makes it a salad.

Herb Buttered Baby Potatoes

My potato monster calls these fishball potatoes :)

Lyanne loves potatoes, all sort of potatoes, while the eldest doesn't quite like it.
There was a time when she was around two, she was so picky, that all she eats is either white rice or potatoes.

When I made this, she ate a bowl of it. Sometimes, being a mother to a picky kid, I can't think much. As long as she's willing to eat anything but the usual white rice, I'll just let her eat.

Fish Pie - Fish Week #2

Fish pie is a traditional British dish. Read more about it here. If I were to make this again with more seafood, I'll name it as Fisherman's pie.

During that time, my brother in law dines with us on week days.I thought this pie was huge and when my BIL said he won’t be coming for dinner, I was worried it won’t be finished, but I was wrong. My hubby and I ate it all with pleasure. LOL.

So good!

Cek Mek Molek (with video)~ Beautiful Lady - MFF Kelantan #3

It's true. My Malay friends told me, Kelantanese girls are known for their beauty.

Some said, it's because they eat a lot of 'pulut' (sticky rice) instead of the usual rice, that's why their skin is fair and smooth. Is this statement true or myth... I don't know. But what I really do know is, Kelantanese Malay ladies do look fairer comparatively.

And so, could this be the reason for this snack to be named as 'beautiful lady'? Actually I prefer to translate these as "My Fair Lady". This kuih is found all over Malaysia but it very popular in both Kelantan and Terengganu. Some just fondly call it as cek mek, but anyway... it's the same thing.

Sweet Potato 'Better' Brownies - Sweet Potato #3

I won’t say this is a healthy brownie, but just a better choice. That is if you want to use less sugar for a fudgy moist brownie. Brownies typically need lots of butter and sugar for that delicious mouthfeel and when one uses sweet potatoes, it acts like a humectant that retains moisture and it also lends natural sweetness to the batter.

Caramelized Sweet Potato - Sweet Potato #2

Grandaunt is the type of person who likes to repeat dishes. Don’t tell her you like it, if not you eat that at least 4 times in a week. Serious! Ask my brother about her infamous bean paste fish, he’ll puke if he ever thinks of that now. Or the ex workers of my mom’s salon who in the end got so sick of her Fish Paste Stuffed tofu that they picked the fish paste and left the vege carcass behind, and that made grandaunt furious. She has this notorious habit of repeating dishes and she hates it when people refuse to eat anymore. LOL.

Sweet Potato and Feta Quickbread - Sweet Potato #1

A good and nutritious breakfast item. One that you can can prepare the day before, combine the batter and bake the next day for breakie.

I have achieved 4 Firsts with this simple quickbread. Sage, feta, sweet potato and nutmeg.

I’ve cooked with sage before, but never baked with it. I was totally taken by this recipe due to the use of sage in this. I have a huge sage plant in my garden. Almost 3 ft high now! I was glad the recipe called for amount of sage leaves, not counted in sprigs and that makes it easier to get the right amount. The fragrance is there, but not overpowering. It complements the bread very well.

The original recipe called for chevre, of which is a type of soft goat’s cheese. I can’t get that here and had to settle for feta, and even that is not real feta. It’s cow’s feta. Real feta is made with goat’s milk. I have never had feta before. I purposely went to buy some feta because I really wanted to try out this cake. The feta is really yummy and soft, but also salty. I might have broken up the cheese too much so can’t really get them in chunks in the bread.

Lydia's First 4th Birthday Cake - Purple Sweet Potato Chiffon- Birthday Week #1

 

My dearie Lydia turned 4 last week on 28th. This year she has grown a lot, luckily vertically. A lot of her clothes can't fit already. Turning from one of the shorter ones to one of the taller ones in class.

As usual I make her 2 cakes. I can't let the presense of baby Reuben to change anything. I asked her, what cake she wants... Rainbow cake. 2 weeks later, she asked for Flower Cake. But too bad, I already had something in mind as her first cake.

Purple Sweet Potato Rose Mantou - Steamed Buns # 2

25/6/2019 Updated: New Instructional Video below recipe

I've been looking for new ways to form my steamed buns or mantou and this is one of them.

If you want to make a heartfelt low cost present for your loved one, try making this and form it into a bouquet. Every bite of it sure comes full with sincerity and bliss :p

Mashed Potatoes with Eggs - Potato Week #3 and an announcement

Roughly about 12 years back, during uni's 2nd year, my housemates and I held a pot luck at our newly moved in student house. We invited friends and seniors over. One of my seniors, Peggy, brought a fantastic mashed potato and it was mashed together with hard boiled eggs. The egg yolk lent a wonderful aroma to the mash. Yummy!! That was all I can say.

Allan CCM, if you're reading this, please tell Peggy, ok!!

It's not difficult to make...
The rule of thumb that I abide with whenever I make this is

1 Russset Potato : 1 hard boiled egg : 1 Tbsp butter

Easy and nice!

Mashed Potatoes with Eggs
Recipe source: Wendyywy
Inspired by: Peggy

4 russet potatoes
4 hard boiled eggs,
4 Tbsp butter
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Bring a pot of water to boil (won't need to big a pot,  5-6 cups of water will be sufficient)
2. Peel and cut potato into chunks.
3. When water has come to a boil, put in 1 tsp salt into the water.
4. Put in potatoes and boil until soft.
5. Drain potatoes and put into a mixing bowl.
6. Put in peeled hard boiled eggs and butter into the hot potatoes. Put in 1/3 tsp salt and some pepper.
7. With a mixer, whip the potatoes until they look all mashed up.Taste and adjust if not salty.
8. Serve with roast or just eat it on its own. Yummy!!!

All these pics were taken during the period of time where my dearie set the ISO to 1600!!!

And I was just stupid stupid taking ugly pictures not knowing why

Very high noise problem and super hard editing them.

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Announcement

Dear Readers,
This will be my last post for potato week.
I need to take another break, this time, for much longer.
I do not know when I'll be back, probably 3-4 weeks time, maybe sooner, maybe later.
I'm moving, yes I am. Finally!!!
The house has been renovating since October 2010 and it's time to move in and I'm busy with the final fittings and packing and unpacking stuff.

I'll still be checking email from time to time and the comments section too, just in case some of you have questions, but I cannot promise prompt reply.

Thankyou and I'll see you again with pictures of my new kitchen.

Love ya all,
Wendyywy

Fork Pressed Purple Potatoes with Pinked Shallots and a Corelle Set ++ - Potato Week #2

Purple potatoes, yes. Not sweet potatoes. They are purple spuds. I never thought that I'd be able to get them here, until I saw in Tesco's brochure (less than 1 month back). I was very very ecstatic about it.

The purple colour in the potatoes are due to the pigment anthocyanin, which is the same pigment found in blueberries, red cabbages, roselle and of course, purple sweet potatoes. But it's not the same as beetroots or red dragonfruit. If anthocyanin comes into contact with acid, it turns pink and with alkaline it turns blue.

I saw this recipe on Smitten Kitchen before I even saw the potatoes in Tesco, thinking, will I ever get a chance to try it out? And when I really did get similiar potatoes (hers were another variety and were much much higher in anthocyanins), I was so so so so happy!!

I didn't really follow the recipe, but just recreated something based on how Deb's dish look like, visually.

Fork Pressed Purple Potatoes with Pinked Shallots
Visually inspired by Smitten Kitchen
Recipe source: Wendyywy

500gm purple potatoes
2 Tbsp butter or more
1/4 tsp salt
Handful of parsley, chopped

Peel and steam potatoes (whole) until soft (can be poked through easily with a chopstick or with a dinner knife). Remove from heat and place potatoes onto serving plate. Press potatoes until they break apart, but not mashy. Heat small saucepan and melt the butter. Put some salt into the butter. Pour melted salty butter evenly over potatoes. Sprinkle pinked shallots over potatoes and lastly top with chopped parsley.

Pinked shallots
5 shallots
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp sugar or more
1/3 tsp salt

Peel and slice shallots thinly.
Mix with lemon juice and salt. The adjust the taste with sugar. Let it sit for 1 hour before using. Before use, fish out shallot and do not use the remaining liquid.

Verdict:
The potatoes tasted OMG. I mean, the dish itself. I'm a lover of all things sweet and sour (but I don't take dried pickled fruits, like sour plum. Not that I hate them but I don't really think of eating it, even when I'm pregs) The potatoes were slightly sweetish.. err.. or was it due to the pinked shallots.. kekeke. The pickled shallots were a perfect contrast to the buttery steamed potatoes. All I know is that I love love love this potato dish and if I were to see these purple spuds again, I'll definately get my hands on more. The colour actually turned nicer an hour later, compared to what you see in the pics, which was fresh and still hot.

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Ok, here, straying away a bit from my blog...
I have, actually not me, I'm just helping someone. But it's non profit for me.

A Corelle dinnerset.
If you've heard about this brand, I need not say more.

picture from Shopworldkitchen.com

•Callaway 16-pc Set includes 4 each: 10-1/4" Sculptured Dinner Plates, 7 1/4" Sculptured Salad Plates, 18-oz. Sculptured Soup/Cereal Bowls, and 10 1/2-oz. Stoneware Mugs
•Dishwasher safe for long lasting patterns
•Microwave and oven use for versatility
•Patterns won’t wash, wear or scratch off
•Break and chip resistance for carefree durability
•Stackability for cupboard space efficiency
•3 Year Limited Warranty (US)


Price:
Local department store (Jsc's) price : RM599
Featured price on this blog : RM 380 (36.5% discount)
This design is not available in Malaysia.

picture from Shopworldkitchen.com

Purchase with Purchase Option

Product: Callaway dinner plates, 4 pieces  (picture above)

Local department store (Jsc's) price : 4 X RM66 = RM 264
Featured price on this blog : RM 158
Special Purchase with Purchase price : RM50




Summary:
RM380+50= RM420
and you'll get the 16 pcs set and additional 4 dinner plates.


Purchase information:
Deposit : RM 50, balance upon delivery.
Delivery: By hand on either only 25 March or 26 March 2011 in Klang Valley or any other day if Ipoh or anywhere near Ipoh.
First come (deposit), first served.



Interested parties, please email me for more information
wendyinkk@yahoo.com

Eggs baked in Ham and Potato Hash - Potato Week # 1

A week of school break passed by so quickly. Now that Lydia is in kindergarden, I do feel the spirit of school holidays, the breath of relief that I do not need to wake up that early to prepare her, hahahaha!!

Well, I didn't go anywhere except back to my mom's for a few days and meeting up with Lena over for lunch. I didn't take any pictures with her, except that to tell you, she's a very nice lady. She came to pick me up at my mom's as I didn't drive that time, wasn't allowed to! We chatted for almost.... 4 hours. Hahaha, if it's not for the rain, it'll be even longer. Thanks Lena for the tarts, my nieces walloped every piece except for one that I ate. Hahah!

I had been sewing and sewing during the school break. 14 windows and glass doors needs to be adorned with curtains, which brings to 14 pairs of curtains and 13 pairs of screens, which comes to 27 pairs = 54 pieces of curtains!!! Crazy? Yes. My SIL asked me, why didn't I just pay to get it done. Gosh, if you have invested in a good sewing machine and yet pay thousands to get the curtains... then the machine would've gone wasted. I only used less than RM600 for 54 pieces of curtains. Less than 10% of what I would've been charged to get it done.

Many years back, I bought a book at Doulos. If you have no idea what Doulos is, it’s a ship that sells books. Yes, you go on the ship and buy books!!! It was only RM10 for a 256 colour filled country kitchen cookbook. A steal, so I didn’t really look through.

That time, I wasn’t exposed much to western food, besides what fast food outlets offer or, Steak houses(The Ship, Victoria Station, and the rest), so called western food that are all steaks, potatoes and boiled vege. When I flipped the book when I got home, I was only interested in 1 recipe, Duck Casserole with Chestnuts. The rest seemed unappetizing to me. Casseroles and everything jumbled up in one pan is not my thing that time.

Now, as I grew older, and as my cooking knowledge increases through blogging and surfing, I seem to go beyond the looks and look into the recipes.
Few days back (or months back), while chatting with Pei-Lin, I flipped through this book again, and I just found myself mesmerized by so so many of the recipes in a book I once made a white elephant.

Here’s the first recipe I tried from this white elephant that will now be made a treasure trove.

Eggs baked in Ham and Potato Hash
Recipe source: Country Cook's Companion by Liz Trigg
Servings: 4

200gm cooked ham (I used ham chips, and requested for the thicker chips)
200gm cooked russet potatoes (2 medium sized ones)
1 can of corn nibbles (the large one, I added this, because it's on the brink of expiry. It wasn't in the recipe itself)

3 pieces sliced cheddar cheese (That's the only cheese I have)
1 medium sized onion (about 70gm)
2 Tbsp Ketchup (I forgot to put, and it'll definately taste better with this)
200ml whipping cream (I put this in last minute because I was worried about the dish being dry)
4 eggs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
50gm butter
1 heaped tsp chopped fresh rosemary (I had a pot of this, had**)
Some parsley for garnish

Method:

1. Dice ham, potatoes, cheese and chop the onion.
2. Preheat oven at 160/180
3. In a pan, melt half the butter and and pour the butter into a 8 inch baking dish/4 small dishes. Swirl the butter around and pour back into the pan.
4. Put in chopped rosemary and let it heat for few seconds. Pour rosemary infused butter into a bowl, Set aside.
5. Melt remaining butter and cook the onions until soft.
6. Pour the onions into a large bowl and put in ham, potatoes, cheese, and ketchup.
7. Taste. If not salty enough, season with salt and pepper.
8. Spread the mixture in the buttered dish/dishes.
9. Make 4 wells in the dish/dishes (picture above), drizzle in the whipping cream and bake for 15 minutes.
10. Remove from oven and pour egg into the wells and and drizzle the rosemary infused butter over the dish.
11. Bake for another 15-20 minutes until eggs are set.
12. Garnish with parsley and serve.

My kids loved this dish. Especially Lydia

Picture taken months ago, they do look older now.

Potato Savoy Cabbage Soup - Soup Week #4

I bought this half head of savoy cabbage at Jaya Grocer and I had no idea what to do with it. As always whenever I see something new, I just buy it first, think later.

Savoy cabbages look very pretty, with lacy leaves and it comes nicely green unlike the regular cabbages. Since I’ve never eaten savoy cabbages before, I had no idea how it taste like. So, I better google for a recipe. I don’t want stir fries or salads. Nor do I want to do meat rolls with it, since it’s only a half head, the leaves will not be suitable. Then I saw a recipe on BBC Good Food, savoy cabbage soup with potatoes, sounds yummy and topped with crispy bacon!!!

Here’s my first attempt, cooking with savoy cabbage.
If you’re thinking of serving this as a side dish, maybe you’d like to think twice. It’s so hearty that it can be a meal on its own. This portion is enough to feed 4 adults.

Potato and Savoy Cabbage Soup
Recipe loosely adapted from BBC Good Food

150gm leeks (Try not to use China leeks)
200gm onions (I used yellow ones)
600gm floury potatoes (russet)
75gm carrots
500gm savoy cabbage
2 Tbsp olive oil
100gm bacon (bacon chips does it well, no need to splurge on rashers)
½ French loaf
Some butter (I used 2 heaped Tbsp initially, adding more as I toast the cubes on the pan)

1. Peel and thinly slice leeks, onions, potatoes and carrots
2. Heat up a pot and put in olive oil. Put in onions and leeks and cook until it softens and takes on a little bit of goldenness.
3. Put in sliced potatoes and carrots, stir and put in 8 cups of water.
4. Let it simmer for 15 minutes or until carrots are tender. Season with salt or throw in a chicken bouillon cube or 2.
5. Let it cool down for a while and whizz with a immersion blender until fine and smooth. (if using a regular blender, please leave it to cool down until slightly warm.
6. While waiting, prepare your croutons. Cube French loaf and heat a pan. Put in some butter and when it has melted, put in your cubed bread and toss it around to coat well. Put in more butter if you find it not sufficient. Slowly toast them on your pan until very golden and crispy.
7. Prepare bacon chips by frying in a little bit of oilon medium low heat until golden and crispy, dish up and drain off the oil on absorbent papers.
8. When it’s almost time to serve, reboil soup and put in sliced savoy cabbage and simmer for 5 minutes.
9. Ladle soup into bowl and top with crispy bacon chips and croutons.


Verdict:
Gosh , this soup is very delicious. Do not be fooled by how it looks, yellow and dirty looking. The bacon can be skipped, but don’t forget the croutons. Maybe I’m used to drinking western soups laced with loads of cream and when this one doesn’t, the butter from the croutons adds the “milky” smell that I will usually relate with western soups. My hubby and kids loved this and all were full from just having the soup.

Oven Baked Garlic Fries

I tried baking fries, rather than deep frying them.

The result is urrmm............ not that satisfactory.
Anyone has any good experience with baked fries? Please share with me.

Below is the recipe, and I forgot where I took it from. Hers look fab, but mine is... hahaha, no where near pretty. Maybe it's due to it being skinless??? I don't know, and I'm really looking for a good baked fries recipe. Please help me... pretty please.

(A)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
4 cloves garlic, smashed with ½ tsp salt in a pestle
Put oil in pan and when it’s hot, put in smashed garlic and butter. Turn heat off. Just need to warm through. Keep aside

(B )
3 Tbsp corn starch
1 tsp rice flour
¾ tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
Mix together

(C )
600gm russet potatoes (3 pieces)

Peel and cut into thick pieces.
Blanch in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain properly using colander.
When it’s well drained, but still hot, put potatoes into a large bowl/basin. Put in (A). Toss potatoes with garlic oil. Then put (B) and toss until well combined.
Preheat oven to 200C/220C. The arrange potatoes in baking pan, single layer. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden.

Hasselback Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Seems familiar? That is if you've seen this in Sea Salt with Food.

It looked so pretty on her site. So I tried it.

I don't know whether it's due to my sweet potatoes or what, but the potaoes had a dry skin, akin to a tree bark. Hard and chewy, not crunchy.

But as you can see my purple sweet potatoes aren't that purple either. So, let me blame it on my sweet potatoes.
They're no good.

My MIL thought they were bread when she first saw it, and Mike's aunt said they looked like worms. I thought they looked cute.

Only Lyanne liked them. :(
I could only eat whatever that is not part of the "bark".

Mushroom Potato Soup

Haha, u know what is this??

Baby food! Something really new on my blog.

Warning: I do not recommend this for babies below 9 months. Food choices for your own baby is yours, this is just my baby’s food.

I suddenly had this idea of making mushroom soup for Lyanne.
Bought some nice pesticide free white button mushroons, an organic leek and russet potatoes which are oh so yummy and soft.

For 2 meals:
2 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
4 button mushrooms, abt 1/3 cup when sliced thinly
¼ cup thinly sliced leeks
1 tsp or slightly more olive oil.
Small pinch of salt (optional)
3 cups water

Heat a small pot and put in olive oil. Saute sliced leeks until soft and slightly browned. Put in sliced mushrooms and continue to cook until mushrooms wilt. Put in water and bring to a boil.
Put in potatoes and simmer until tender. Season with a little bit of salt, if wanted. Puree and keep warm.

Ok, from the pic u can see I didn’t puree it. Lyanne likes it slightly granular. So, I forked out the potatoes, and pureed just the broth. I mashed the potatoes with a fork and mixed with the pureed broth.
Do whichever way ur baby prefers or whatever u think is best. Oh yes, u can mix it with ur baby’s formula powder, so that it’ll have creamy milky taste, like real mushroom soup.

Lydia loved it as much as Lyanne :)

Oh yes, I cooked this 4 months back :) I know I'm late, I know I am...... very much late.

Tuna Potato Cakes

This is one thing that I made out of the pantry while I was posted to Felda Selancar, Pahang, 6 years ago. Selancar is a resettlement with oil palm being its major industry. Surrounded by oil palms as far as the eye can see, going out to the nearest town, Segamat is 50km away. I kept lots of canned food and other not so perishable foods at my quarters.

After making this, only did I realise it actually taste like "bergedil", a Malay "dish", hmm.. I don't know how to categorise it, but bergedil is always found where the rice stalls are, eaten with rice. Sometimes with soto as well.

Something easy to make for dinner or kids parties.
I used to make this using the smallest can of tuna, now that packaging size is no longer available.


1/4 cup tuna flakes, drained amount.Flake tuna finely. (1 regular can of Ayam brand, tuna in brine will need 3 potatoes)
1 russet potato, cut into 1cm cubes
1 heaped Tbsp cornstarch
1/3 tsp salt
dash of pepper
1 egg, beaten
Some oil for frying (U can pan fry or deep fry)

1. Bring a saucepan of water to boil and put in potato cubes. Simmer for 3 minutes. Check if potatoes are cooked, but not mushy. Drain.
2. Place flaked tuna and drained potatoes into a bowl. Put in salt,pepper and cornstarch. Mix well.
3.Use clean hands, place 1/2 tablespoon of potato mixture onto palms and shape into a patty. Place on a plate. Repeat until potato mixture is finished. U can stack the patties, they won't stick to each other.
4. Heat oil for frying. When oil is ready, dip 1 patty into beaten egg and place carefully into hot oil. Fry both sides until golden. Dish up and drain.