Another chocolatier in da house :)

Want chocolate for special occasions or simply to indulge yourself, simply click below & let your eyes savor the flavor :)

Nini's Cocoa Choc

Sempoi Kek Coklat Kukus - K Ina Hashim's recipe :)

Click below to get the recipe :)

kek cokelat kukus K Ina

Sempoi Roast Chicken - K Nor's recipe :)

Roast chicken is great for family dinner. Its simple yet scrumptiously loved by many :). This is a good friend's recipe .. TQ K Nor :)

1 Whole Chicken with skin
125gm butter
8-10 nos button mushroom
5-8 nos baby potatoes
2 large onion cube
2 large tomato sliced 6
8-10 clove garlic whole
salt & pepper to taste
mix herbs (mccormick)

- Clean the whole chicken. Rub salt & pepper on whole chicken together with mix herb. 
- Slice cubes (1cm) butter and put it on glass baking tray and underneath chicken's skin.
- Preheat oven to 220c.
- Put in some onions, garlic and tomatoes into the chicken. 
- The rest of onions, garlic, tomatoes, mushroom and potatoes to fill up around the chicken in the baking dish.
- Cover the chicken with aluminium foil, roast in oven for about 40mins. 
- Remove the aluminium foil and continue roasting for 30min or until brown with heat reduced to 180c
- Serves while hot

Happy trying ...  :)

Sempoi Fudgy Choc Peanuts Brownies

crusty outside, fudgy & moist inside :)

Found this recipe in a catalog by Coles, tried it just adjusting it a bit from pecan to peanuts :)

250g butter (preferable unsalted)
125g dark chocolate (the recipe did not state cooking or normal choc, i used ready-to-eat dark choc)
2 cups caster sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup plain flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup pecan, roughly chopped (I used salted peanuts, followed one of the masterchef's recipe)


- melt butter & chocolate in a saucepan over low heat
- stir in sugar, remove from heat
- beat in eggs one at a time, till well combined
- stir in vanilla
- sift flour & cocoa powder into the batter & mix well
- add peanuts
- pre-heat oven at 180'c
- lightly grease a shallow baking dish / cake pan
- pour mixture into dish / pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until top is shiny 
- remove from oven and let cool completely in pan
- serve with vanilla ice cream / cream


* i used friand baking tray that's why the brownies are oblong in shapes :), i find this easier to ensure consistent amount & less messy rather than cutting them into rectangle or square :)


Happy trying .. :)

Sempoi Fish Curry - My family's tradition

i didn't have ocra / brinjal yesterday :) so its just fish & tomatoes

It wouldn't be my family (mama's side) if there's no curry fish curry dish at least 3-4 times a week ;). This recipe is what have been passed down to me by granma, mama, aunts & it may differ from others but its simple & yummy. Great with rice, bread, roti canai even noodles (my dad's way of eating :))

(Estimated amount for 6 people)
I used Red Snapper (Ikan Merah) Fish Wings for this recipe, please feel free to use any other fish of your choice

2 fish wings (halved so I got 4 pieces)
1/4 cup oil
 3-4 shallots
2 cloves garlic
5 whole black pepper
2 tablespoon mixed spices (mustard seed, fenugreek seed, cumin seed)
10 curry leaves
3-4 tablespoon fish / seafood curry powder mixed with 2-3 tablespoon water to make thick paste
2 large tomatoes, cut into wedges
1/3 cup tamarind juice (1 tablespoon tamarind pulp mixed with 1/3 cup water)
1/4 cup thick coconut milk / cream (optional)

1 cup water

5 lady finger / ocra or small brinjal, cut into 3-4
salt & sugar to taste

- roughly pound/ crush shallots, garlic & black pepper 
- heat oil in a large pot, saute the above mix till lightly browned
- add mixed spices then add curry paste, stir till well combined allowing the paste to be fried about 1 minute
- add curry leaves & tomatoes, continue stirring till oil is infused in the curry paste
- add tamarind juice & stir till bubbling 
- add fish and mix well with the paste, close pot with lid & leave for about 5 minutes
- turn fish, carefully not to break the flesh, re-close pot and leave for another 5 minutes
- add water, might not use all depending on how thick you want the broth to be
- add ocra or brinjal
- season with salt & sugar to taste
- once simmering, if you want thicker curry broth, add coconut milk / cream .. i opt this yesterday coz my broth was already thick
- if add coconut milk / cream just cook for about 1-2 minutes then remove from heat
- serves with rice / bread 


Happy trying ... :)
 

Sempoi Tuna & Sweet Corn Baked Potatoes ala Arndale Manchester - K Ati's recipe

I luuurvveeee baked potatoes with any toppings for that matter, so when a friend shared this recipe I am just truly happy. TQ again K Ati .. :)

5 medium sized potatoes
1 can tuna in brine / water
1 can sweet corn kernel (green giant is the best)
1 small bottle Mayonnaise (I like Lady’s Choice – for the slightly sweet taste)
50 gram Butter (the more the merrier … and naughtier!!)
Grated Mozzarella cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

- Scrub and Clean potatoes thoroughly – do not remove skin
- Cut the potatoes into 4 or 5 wedges – depending on the size really
- Poke the potatoes with fork & Rub with salt n pepper to taste
- Drizzle with butter on top
- Place in microwave until it is cooked (not too long though! – it’ll shrink and will be too dry)
- Set it aside and prepare the tuna & sweetcorn topping..

- Empty tuna and sweet corn from the can and place in a large bowl
- Add mayonnaise and salt and pepper to taste
- Add 1 tbsp butter in the mixed ingredients
- Add salt and pepper to taste
- Heat in the microwave for 1 min until butter melts

- Place the potatoes on a casserole dish
- Scoop Tuna and Sweetcorn topping and cover on top of the potatoes.
- Drizzle the remaining butter on top of the topping and cover entirely with grated mozzarella cheese.
- Bake in the oven until lightly brown

Alternatively, you can also eat is as a “dip” …Simply dip the tuna & sweetcorn with nachos and remove potatoes entirely…

Happy trying ... :)

Sempoi Garlic Aspa-Carr-Mushy-Eggs Stir Fry

Made this for lunch today. Hubby wanted fried egg, since I was cooking the veggies so in went the eggs too ;). Simple to make yet full of goodness:)

3 cloves garlic, sliced
8 asparagus, break / cut into about 2-inch size
1/2 carrot, cut into strips / matchsticks
1-2 fresh button mushroom / canned / any mushroom of ur choice
2 eggs
olive oil / any oil 


- heat wok / frying pan
- put in oil & immediately saute / fry garlic
- add all veggies, stir-fry about 1-2 minutes
- add eggs, and stir in wok / pan
- sprinkle with salt & pepper to taste
- serves immediately with rice or eat it straight
- serves 4 


Happy trying ... :)

Calling all chocoholics ... :) (In Malaysia only though, sorry)

A family member & good friend's passion for chocs drives her work on it that produces wonderful scrumptious chocs that you can order to enjoy :)

http://chocolatemommy-yang.blogspot.com/

Sempoi Choc & Strawberry Bread Pudding

Please don't mind the looks ;) ... the recipe is great ... 

3 small croissants (recommended by the recipe, I used 5 pieces soft white bread with crust)
100g white chocolate, chopped coarsely (I used plain choc)
1 cup raspberries (I used strawberries coz that's all i had, roughly chopped)
1 1/4 cups milk
3/4 cup cream (in case you do not have this, add another 1/2 cup of milk)
2 tablespoon caster sugar (can reduce if you want to control the sweetness)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
3 eggs


- preheat oven 160'c, grease & line large muffin pan with baking paper in every hole
- cut / tear bread into small pieces (not too small though :))
- in a medium saucepan heat milk, cream, sugar & vanilla till over medium heat till boil
- whisk egg in a bowl, 
- remove milk mixture from heat and slowly pour eggs while whisking slowly till well combined
- put bread into muffin pan leaving some space in between for chocolate and strawberries
- pour milk mixture (custard) to fill each hole almost to top
- bake in oven for about 25-30 minutes or till almost springy
- take out pan from oven & let the bread pudding rest to cool in pan for about 10-15 minutes





* the recipe recommended to bake using the water bath method that is by placing the muffin pan in a large baking tray filled halfway with hot water, but I don't have a large enough baking tray to fit my muffin pan so i baked it direct + I love having some crusts :D


Happy trying ... :)

Sempoi Lasagne - K Ati's recipe :)

My family lurrveesss lasagne, getting this recipe from a friend, K Ati @ Hariati Jamaludin is just wonderful. Going to make it after this, just couldn;t wait to share the recipe first. will upload the pic later :)

*do not freak out when you read as there's a number of items in the ingredients hehe .. but truly its simple to make .. x worries :)

1 box San Reno instant lasagne slices
1 packet grated Mozzarella cheese for topping

Beef sauce
800 gm mince meat
Olive oil
2 packets of Maggi Bolognese mix (She likes to add this one cos it thickens the sauce..)
1 large bottle of pasta sauce (Dolmio / Preggo /Lego)
4 big onions (finely chopped)
2 whole garlic (finely chopped)
1 can button mushroom (finely chopped)
Tomato sauce / puree
Ground black & white pepper
Dried oregano leaves (finely chopped)
Sugar and salt to taste


- In a large pan / wok , fry off the chopped garlic and onion in a cup of olive oil, until nicely brown.
- Add the mince beef, seasoned with pepper, stri until its cooked.
- Add the pasta sauce, Bolognese mix, tomato puree, mushroom, oregano, pepper
- cook until it simmers or the sauce thickens. Add water if necessary until it reduces into a nice and thick gravy.
- Add salt and sugar to taste (3 to 4 heaps for a start and adjust accordingly)

White cheese sauce


5 tbsp flour
2 tbsp butter
1 carton of fresh milk
1 cup of water
2 cheddar cheese slice
Salt & pepper to taste

- Add flour and fresh milk + water on the side and strain so that it doesn’t clot together .
- Melt butter in a deep pan and add the flour mix into the pan, stirring all the time
- Add cheese , salt and pepper to taste.
- Keep stirring consistently on low heat so until the sauce thickens (ala cabonara sauce!!)

Sequence of layer..


1. Beef sauce
2. Lasagne The 1st sequence is purposely different from the rest ….
3. Beef sauce
4. White sauce
5. Lasagne
6. Beef sauce
7. White sauce
8. Lasagne
9. Beef sauce
10. White sauce (to end)
11. Finally to drizzle with mozzarella cheese to cover the top!!


Bake in the oven about one hour until it is nicely brown (not too brown though , or it'll be too crusty!). Ideally, you should do it in the morning if you want to eat it late afternoon (3-5pm) so that it is still warm and nicely set. It will be too runny if you serve them immediately after cook…

Tip : If you do it one day in advance, cut the lasagna (when it is cool) so that it fits nicely in plastic containers and store in the fridge (or freeze it). Heat up in the microwave before serving.

Happy trying ... :)



Wallahhhh!!! Bon Appetit!!

Sempoi Crispy Chicken Wrap

this is my daugther's wrap, note no tomato & salad .. hummm

Made this for my kids' school lunch today. Ease-my-life recipe :).  All you need:

(Makes 4 wraps)

8 pieces crispy chicken (To make crispy chicken - follow the crispy chicken nugget recipe http://cafesempoi.blogspot.com/2010/07/sempoi-crispy-chicken-nuggets.html)

4 tortillas / thin bread / pita bread even capati would be great
8 slices of tomato
grated cheese
salad
mayonaise
bbq sauce
sweet chilli sauce

- prepare tortilla / bread on celan plate
- place crispy chicken (2 per wrap)

- add in tomato & salad, cheese
- top with mayo, bbq & sweet chilli sauce
- roll tortilla / bread to wrap chicken, press for about 1 minute on a hot pan to get the tortilla / bread to hold firmly

Happy trying ... :)

Sempoi Cream Cheese Frosting

This is a simple topping great with carrot cake but can also try with other cakes :)

125g cream cheese, soft at room temperature
100g icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
60g butter

- in a mixing bowl, beat all ingredient with electric mixer on medium speed till smooth

A friend taught me another way which is also yummylicious:

125g cream cheese, soft at room temperature
1-2 tablespoon caster sugar (depend how sweet you want)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1-2 tablespoon mlik, (adding bit by bit, depend on how soft you want the cream to be)

* remember to wait for teh cakes to really cooled down before spreading the cream or hehe you'll end up with watery cream ..

Happy trying ... :)

Sempoi Strawberries Butterfly Fairy Cake

decorated in a hurry ;)

Made this for my no 3 - Nuhaa's class party this morning. 

Cake - use the Basic cupcake recipe - make minis

50ml Thickened cream - whipped till fluffy

2-3 strawberries (depending on the size, I actually used on 1 coz it was big)
- slice into small wing shaped pieces

- Once cakes are cooled, cut slanting to make V shaped well in center
- pipe fresh whipped cream
- arrange strawberry like wings
- sprinkle with 100s & 1000s or any others you like

Happy trying ... :)

Sempoi Basic Cupcake

decoed w my girls & mama sometime ago hehehe

After a number of tries, I found this simple-fast wonderful recipe in Woolworth's free newsletter :) & have been making my cuppies using this recipe since.

Preheat oven 180'c
Prepare cupcakes casing in baking tray
(Makes 12 large & about 24 minis)


125g butter, melted & cooled
2 ggs
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

- whisk all together

1 3/4 cups self raising flour
2/3 cup caster sugar

- mix together in a large bowl
- pour in butter mix & stir all ingredients till well combined 
- spoon into casing according to size you desire
- bake for about 15 minutes or till tester comes out clean
- deco as you like

Sempoi Choc Strawberries Rice Pops & Oatmeal Bar

I was wondering what to do with the girls today, then remembered that I bought a big box of Rice Pops (from a generic brand instead of Kellog's / Nestle's :)). So I surfed for recipes, after a few that I found, I improvised and decided on this. Alhamdulillah it turned out good & are now cling wrapped & refrigerated for their school snacks :)

300g rice pops / rice bubbles / rice krispies
5 strawberries, diced into small cubes
1 cup oatmeal of your choice / granola
- mix rice pops & strawberries till well combined, do not over stir or strawberries will become mushy

150g plain / dark chocolate
100ml cream
50ml thickened cream
125g butter, chopped
3 tablespoon canola oil (veg oil also can)
3-4 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoon brown sugar

2 tablespoon maple syrup (optional, I just put it in to give a bit more flavor)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence (optional, I didn't add this because my girls didn't want them but I guess by adding it will enhance the flavor too)

- place all ingredients in a saucepan
- stir over moderately medium heat
- once all has melted & well combined, set aside to cool a bit about 8-10 minutes
- slowly pour into rice pops mix

We experimented with different flavors of the oatmeal

- spoon the choc rice pops mix into a smaller bowl
- add the oatmeal of your choice / granola, mix well
- line a square / rectangle dish / plastic container with non stick paper
- spoon the mixture to fill the dish & press till firm
- refrigerate for about 30 minutes
- cut into desired shape & size, serve or wrap in plastic &  refrigerate till served


* i feel that this is a great & cost saving way for school snacks even for work or anytime of the day.

Happy trying ... :)

MyMagnetic Menu

This is my friends' biz .. I truly feel its really a great way to keep simple recipes straight where you can see them :)
http://mymagnetized.com/product/my-magnetic-menu.html

Sempoi Choc Cream Strawberry Tart

One of the quick dessert recipe I've tried. & we can deco it with any toppings & in any way we like :).

1-2 sheet ready shortcrust pastry or can make your own (I'll post the recipe soon)

- cut into round shape using round cookie cutter that can fit into large muffin tray

- bake for about 15mins or till cooked, set aside

6 fresh strawberries, cut into 4/6

1 tablespoon icing sugar

- sift sugar onto strawberries and mix well

250g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

200ml cream

- place choc in a heatproof bowl

- heat cream in a saucepan till boil

- once boil pour into the choc, set aside abt 1 minute

- stir until chocolate melt & thickened

- put inside fridge for abt 5-7 minutes

150ml thickened cream

- whip till fluffy

- assemble pastry cases, spoon choc, topped with cream & strawberries (can also use peach / mix fruit etc

Happy trying.. :)

Sempoi Quickie Chocolate Muffins

My family (esp kids) are almost chocoholic. Found this ease-my-life mini chocolate muffin recipe from a book that I bought for just $2 sometime ago. I've tried a few recipes & it turned out wonderful. Made these muffins (just now) in about 40 mins (including baking time). But I didn't make it mini though, made them large muffin size, so I doubled all the ingredients :)

For 12 mini size muffin:

60g uslated butter (I used the normal butter), diced
60g plain cooking chocolate (I used dark choc), roughly chopped

- melt both ingredients in a bowl over a pan of simmering water (err .. i melted them directly in a pan, u can also do it in microwave, not too long though the chocs can burnt), set aside

2 medium eggs (I've got extra large, so i used 3 since I doubled the amount, if not, 1 maybe alrite)
100g castor sugar (I used only 75g)
100g self-raising flour (yeay! no need for baking powder / soda etc)
30g cocoa powder, sifted

chocolate chips / 100s & 1000s / nuts for topping

- Preheat oven 180'c
- Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl, beat with hand mixer / mixer / by hand for about 1 minute till well combined
- fold in chocolate & butter mixture, slowly till well mixed
- spoon into muffin cases (in tray)
- deco / sprinkle with any toppings of your choice
- bake for about 20 minutes or until skewer / cake tester comes out clean
- cool on wire racks

The recipe suggested to drizzle with Mocha Sauce, didn't try it though coz the girls don't like coffee that much

150g plain chocolate, roughly cjopped
90ml espresso or other strong good coffee
150ml double / thickened cream

- place chocolate, espresso & 4 tablespoons of cream in a small pan over low heat
- simmer till sauce has thickened
- whisk remaining cream till thickened
- drizzle mocha sauce & cream over the muffin or anyway you like ...

Happy trying ... :)

Recipe pics

Salam everyone ... please accept my sincere apologise for the delay in uploading the pics for the recipes (not all though) .. still editing...will come soon, Insyaallah.

Thank you for your support .. :)

Great site for cooking ideas etc

http://www.tastebook.com/