Simple Cooking Ideas

There are many types of bananas. But you cannot use all types of bananas for all sorts of

dishes. Those can be eaten raw may not be the best variety for frying, but bananas can be

eaten raw are also best to make cakes or pudding. They are the pisang emas, pisang

perangan, pisang awak and pisang embun. For this recipe I use the ripe pisang emas.

Ingredients:

175 gm ripe pisang emas
250 gm butter
180 gm castor sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
3 large eggs
240 gm plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon lime juice

Method;

Preheat oven to 170 degress Celcius. Cream butter and sugar together with vanilla essence

until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Meanwhile, peel the banana and

blend together with the lime juice. Add banana puree into mixture and beat until well

combine. Sift flour and baking powder together and fold into the mixture. Pour into 20 cm

square tin lined with greased proof paper and bake for one hour or until a skewer comes

out clean.

Here is a basic Swiss Roll recipe. It is a sponge cake and children and older people love

to eat. It bakes in a shallow rectangular baking tray and then filled, rolled up and

served in circular slices. For preparation, it rolls up in a tea towel as soon as it

comes out from the oven, while it is still flexiable enough to roll without cracking. It

is left to cool in this shape, then unrolled, fill with jam, jelly, lemon curd or other

filling, and then rolled up again.

Ingredients:

3 Large eggs, at room temperture
75 gm castor sugar
75 gm self raising flour, sieved
4 tablespoon raspberry jam
Additional castor sugar

Method:

Grease and lined a swiss roll tray. Whisk the eggs and sugar in a basin over a sauce-pan

of hot water until the mixture is light and creamy. Fold in the flour with a metal spoon.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared tray and smooth over with a palette knife. Bake in

the hot oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 7 to 10 minutes. Turn out on a sheet of sugared

greaseproof paper, placed on the top of the dump tea towel. Trim the edges of the sponge

and either (a) spread with raspberry jam and roll up tightly, (b) cover with a second

sheet of greaseproof paper, roll up loosely and leave until cold before filling and

reroll.

Another chicken pie dish for the kids. The kids will like to eat for their lunch or dinner. So busy mothers do try to make this pie on a not-so-busy day. The pies can be kept in the fridge if you cannot finish in a day. Pies can be eaten warm or cold. However, many are discouraged from making them because they have the impression that pastry is difficult to make. This is no longer a problem, for pastry is available at most supermarkets.

Try this easy to make filling for a quick pie.

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast chopped into finger-sized cubes
3 chinese mushrooms soaked, rinsed and cut into cubes
or 1 cup canned botton mushrooms cut into cube
5 medium potatoes, cut into cubes
2 medium onions, chopped
2 pieces garlic, chopped
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 chicken cube
1 teaspoon cornflour mixed with a littl water.

Method:

In a sauce pan, fry the onions and garlic, add in the chicken cubes and stir-fry for a minute. Throw in the potatoes and contiue to stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add in the mushrooms. fresh milk,sugar, salt and pepper to taste. Simmer till the potatoes are soft and the chicken is cooked. Thicken with cornflour mixture.

Place the filling into pie shell and top it with second sheet of pastry. Fold the edges of the pastry together to seal the pie with fluted edge pattern. Brush the pie with beaten egg yolk. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes at 180 degrees celsius. or until it turns a golden brown.

During the weekend when there is time left, bake a cake for the children to eat. Here I introduce a walnut cake that my daughters used to eat for snack and tea time.

Ingredients:

250 gm plian flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
250 gm butter
4 eggs Grade A
240 gm castor sugar
2 teaspoon instant coffee
2 tablespoon hot water to mix
100 gm walnut (chopped)
3 tablespoon

Method:

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in eggs one at a time until well mix.

Sift flour together with baking powder and put aside. Next,combine coffee with hot water. Add in evaporated milk to mix with cofee.

Blend well,alternately with flour, coffee mixture and walnut. Pour batter into a well greased round cake tin in a moderate oven for 40 minutes. Cake is done when it has shrunk slightly from side.

Sometimes when you prefer to eat light and spongy cake which is not so rich in fat. A swiss roll sponge is easy to make. Do try this.

Ingredients:

5 eggs
150 sugar
75 gm plain flour
75 gm cornstarch
80 gm melted butter

Method:

Beat eggs and sugar in a double boiler (or a container half-submerged in bboiling water) till stiff and foamy.  Mix plain flour with cornstarch and add in slowly into the eggs.Pour the mixture into a baking tray lined with greasedproof paper and smoothen the surface.Bake in the hot oven at 200 degrees celsius for not more tha 10 min

This fruit cake is easy to make. You need a steaming pot that can put more water in the pot
for steaming the fruit cake without drying the water so quickly. If the water drys up, then
after 2 hours, You can add hot water to continue steaming the cake. You have to use a charcoal
stove for steaming. This fruit cake is quite big, using a 10 inch diameter cake tin.
This fruit cake can keep for a month or two in the refrigerator.

Ingredients:

600 gm plain flour
6 eggs
500 gm mixed fruit
450 gm butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup burnt sugar
4 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 taespoon vanilla essence or orange essence
1 nutmeg, pound finely

Method:

Sieve together, flour, bicarbonate of soda,cream of tartar and nutmeg powder at least 2 times.
Combine the mixed fruits and the flour and mixed them well.

Beat the eggs with the sugar until dissolves. Beat butter till light in colour. Then combine egg
mixture with beaten butter.Fold in the mixture of flour and fruits and combine evenly. Add vanilla
essence.

In a pot, add in the 1 cup of sugar. Cook until sugar disolves and is brown in colour.
Quickly pour the burned sugar into the cake mixture, stirring the mixture at the same time.
Mix evenly. Put the cake mixture into a 10 inch diameter tin. Cover the tin in aluminium foil
and steam cake mixture for 4 hours.

This simple cake recipe is great for afternoon tea. Simple and Easy. You notice that I use Green Love Rice Bran oil. I like to use this as it adds a great taste to the cake as well as it is simply a heathier oil. If you like, you can replace rice bran oil with butter.
Ingredients

250 gm plain flour
250 gm minced carrot
250 gm castor sugar
1 cup raisins
1 cup walnuts
200 gm Green Love Rice Bran oil
3 big eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicabonate soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tablespoon UHT milk

Method

Sieve flour with dry ingredients together and put in a mixing bowl. Beat eggs and sugar until well mixed. Pour into mixed flour. Make a well in the center. Add in minced carrot,chopped raisins, walnuts and vanilla essence. Lastly add in the oil. Mix well and add a table spoon of milk if the mixture is stiff. Pour the mixture in the cake tin, greased and lined with paper. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees C. for 1 and a quarter hour.