Ramadan & Dates

Dates (or Kurma in Malay) are a must at Ramadan, the holy fasting month of the Muslims. The elders say that one must break fast by eating at least three dates before eating other foods. Dates are one of the most complete food in the world which contain all the important minerals and vitamins needed to rejuvenate the body, especially after a fast. This year Ramadan is from 1st to the 30th of September 2008. The dates varies in price and quality; some soaked in syrup and then dried. Some ripen from the tree and then sun-dried. Some airflown, fresh. The ones we talk about here are either from Iran or Saudi Arabia. They are moist and naturally very sweet, about 1" to 1.5" in length and brown in colour when ripen, unlike the ones from China which are red and smaller in size. Although they are eaten as it is like you would dried prunes, but here is a great recipe for an easy-to-make muffin, or for a more elaborate dessert, you can serve it with vanilla ice-cream and a butterscotch sauce. Unlike the usual baked muffins, this is steamed in a wok and the result is very moist and fluffy muffins with the great taste and smell of brown sugar which enhance the flavour further.

DATES MUFFINS

1.5 cups pitted dates, chopped

1 tspn bicarbonate of soda

1 tspn vanilla essence

60 g butter or ghee

1.5 cups self-raising flour*

2/3 cups soft brown sugar

2 eggs

4 dates, extra, pitted and halved

Butterscotch sauce:

90g butter

3/4 cup soft brown sugar

2 tbsp honey

3/4 cup cream

To serve with vanilla ice-cream

Method:

1 Prepare a baking pan with 7-8 large muffin cases.

2 Prepare water for steaming in a wok and place a stand in the middle. Light the burner and cover wok with a lid.

3 Boil dates with 1 cup of water. Bring to boil and simmer for 1 minute. Stir in bicarbonate of soda, vanilla essence and butter or ghee.

4 Sift flour into a mixing bowl and stir in brown sugar. Mix well.

5 Make a well in the center and add date mixture and eggs. Stir until just combined. Do not overmix. Mixture should be lumpy with air bubbles in between.

6 Spoon mixture evenly into cupcake cases until almost full and place a halved date on top. When water in wok is boiling, steam muffins on high heat for 20-25 minutes or until cooked.

7 To make sauce: Place all sauce ingredients in a saucepan and stir over low heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes.

8 To serve: Place a muffin onto a serving plate (remove paper casing) and drizzle warm sauce on top and place a scoop of vanilla ice-cream on the side.

More Tips:

How to convert plain flour to self-raising flour:

Ran out of self-raising flour? Add 2 teaspoons baking powder to each cup of plain flour. Sift twice to incorporate it evenly.

Baking powder is made up of 2 parts cream of tartar and 1 part bicarbonate of soda.

BUTTERED SEAFOOD RICE PILAF

If you are a fan of Butter Prawns and/or Salted Egg yolks Crab, try this recipe for a change. It is a fusion of the two dishes with the Spanish Paella. The result: a complete, beautiful, crowd-pleasing one-meal dish with Malaysian flavours! Cook it in a wok or a fairly deep frying pan with lid.

BUTTERED SEAFOOD RICE PILAF

12 mussels or 200 g clams, parboiled and drained

1/4 cup ghee or clarified butter

2 tbsp minced frsh garlic

2 sprigs fresh curry leaves

10 bird chillies, chopped

1 chicken whole leg, deboned and cubed

300 g raw medium prawns/shrimps, shelled and deveined

2 medium cuttlefish/calamari, cut into rings

200 g any white boneless fish meat, cubed

1 small red capsicum/bell pepper, chopped

1 small green capsicum/bell pepper

1 cup Basmati or long-grain rice, washed and drained

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

2.5 cups chicken or prawn stock*

2 salted duck egg yolks, steamed and mashed

salt and pepper to taste

2 tbsp freshly chopped curry leaves extra for garnishing

Method:

1 Heat 2 tbsp ghee and fry chicken cubes until brown. Drain and set aside.

2 Reheat oil and fry mussels/clams, prawns, cuttlefish and fish with 1 tablespoon garlic and curry leaves until just cooked. Drain and set aside.

3 In the same pan, reheat and add in remaining ghee and fry remaining garlic with bird chillies until fragrant. Add in rice and turmeric powder and fry for another 2 minutes.

4 Stir in chicken/prawn stock, salt and pepper to taste. Bring to boil, covered.

5 When boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer until all liquid has almost been absorbed. Stir in the two types of capsicum, mashed egg yolks, all the seafood and chicken cubes.

6 Cook further, covered, until all the liquid has been absorbed and off fire. Let it stand, covered, for about 5-10 minutes before serving.

7 Before serving, sprinkle rice with freshly chopped curry leaves and fluff-up rice with a pair of chopsticks or a large wooden fork.

How to make your own prawn/chicken stock: Fry prawn shells and heads (from 300 g fresh prawns) with 2 tbsp of oil and 2 pips garlic until fragrant and quite dry. Transfer to a pot and add about 2 cups water and 1 chicken carcass. Bring to boil and simmer for about 11/2 hours. Strain before using.

START COOKING AND SAVE MONEY!

Wanna save more money? Then learn to cook your own meals! Learn to cook is one of the top ten tips to save money. With the rise of inflation the world over, what other excuse can you give to NOT learn to cook? Believe me, if you just follow a few simple ways and proper planning, cooking is not a big hassle. Don't like to wash up afterwards? No problem, there are ways to cut down washing-up. The idea is to work smart, not work hard. Read on.......
Here are some tips:

• Do your food buying/marketing once a week. Buy only enough to last you a week of cooking. Buy what is in season or on promotion. If you work a 9-5 job, you might only want to cook only for dinner. Any leftovers can be packed for lunch at the office or for the next meal at the next day. Or maybe it can even be recycled (YES, RECYCLED), to create another dish the next day. You have to be creative here.
• Based on what you have bought, draw up a week's menu of what you want to cook/eat. Bear in mind that your meals have to be balanced ;taking into consideration the food pyramid. As a simple guide, you meal has to consist of a starch/carbohydrate which can be rice, noodles, potatoes or bread, two or more types of vegetables (one of which preferably be green or leafy) and a meat/seafood (for protein). Desserts can be kept simple by just having freshly cut fruits. There are 7 colours of fruits and vegetables, which means they have different nutrients. Try and have all these colours at least once a week so you don't miss out any nutrient for your body!
• Choose easy to cook meals, like stir-frying (for chinese cooking), boiling (soups or stews in a slow-cooker) and pan-frying (for simple western meal).
• Invest in good quality storage containers like Tupperware and kitchen gadgets to cut down the preparation work.
• Since you have already drawn-up your menu for the week, the next step is to pack your meat into the correct portion for the week's cooking. You can even dice/portion them according to the recipe/cooking requirement and marinate them ahead if the method of cooking calls for it.
• Pack them into storage containers (so that they can be washed and reusable) and put them in the chiller section of your fridge (if you decide to cook them within 3 days) or the freezer if you want to keep for longer than 3 days.

On the night before you go to sleep, take a look of your week's menu and decide what you want to cook next day. You can switch around the day's menu with the different day of the week but the idea here is to finish eating what you have bought and replenish your fridge only once a week, thus eliminating the problem of 'that lost packet of meat at the far corner of your freezer' which you hardly recognise or remember. If the meat is in the freezer, take it down to the chiller and let it thaw. The meat should be fully thawed by the time you get back from work the next day. A whole chicken will take about 2 days to be fully thawed in the chiller.

In my next posting, I will write more about the full use of your fridge/freezer, storage and maybe a proposed week's menu for you to try out PLUS the recipes to go with it. Stick around for MORE...

nellmolly-homecooking

Make your Kitchen, your Home Restaurant!

Yes, you can serve good food just like in the restaurants at the comfort of your own home. All you need is proper planning. The key is first to draw up the week's menu and buy your food once a week.

Cut, dice, pack and pre-prepare as much as you can and put everything in the fridge or freezer. Invest in good quality containers for storage and use kitchens gadgets to cut down the work.

Much of the work in whipping up a meal is in the preparation so pre-prepare is the key to speed up the cooking time on the day.

Choose easy-to-cook dishes, bearing in mind the meal must be balanced (meaning, the meal must have starch/carbohydrates, vegetables and meat for protein). Desserts can be made simple by just having freshly-cut fruits.

It is also a good idea to have a ready-cooked serving of a main course stuck in the freezer for last minute guests or you are just too tired to cook after a long day at the office. This is also useful if you have teenage children at home and all you need do is to teach them to use the microwave oven to reheat.

Other than pre-prepare, it is most useful to make your own sauces or paste to make cooking a breeze and tasty. It is not only time saving but also money-saving and tastier minus the additives and preservatives! Did I mention that 'Learn To Cook' is one of the Top 10 Tips to save money? With the rise of inflation it only make sense that we should cook and eat at home. Reserve the visits to restaurants only on special occasions or as a treat. PLUS if you have children, you are showing good example for them to follow when it's their turn to become parents.

While good food brings people together, the dining table in every home is the center of unity. Make an effort to have dinner with your kids everyday, to catch up with them of their day's activities or to announce an important matter over dinner.

Stick around for recipes and great tips for success!