Christine Tattles

I guess it's about time I did something about my abandoned blog.. What better way than to post a RECIPE?? :) :) :)

So I've been on Child & Youth Health (CYH) for the past 2 weeks, this being my last week. Although it's supposed to be a "slack" rotation (says who? boo..), it ended up with a lot of travelling, and waiting around. One day, I'll be north. The other day south. In between, central (+ lots of waiting, I repeat). I guess it's understandable especially for youths (whose issues are mainly sex, drugs & alcohol) that they wouldn't want us medical students to sit in. I guess I wouldn't too if I was in their shoes. But the doctors could have let us go off early huh? So as a result from all my waiting, I saw this recipe in one of the magazines.... All's not lost I guess :) Here you go...

Preheat oven to 180 deg C.
Ingredients (modified):

A
125g butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
beat until light & fluffy

B
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla essence
add into A, mix well

C
1.25 cups plain flour
0.25 cups self raising flour
1/2 tsp bicarb of soda
sift and fold into the above mixture

place a spoonfuls of batter on to baking paper. flatten slightly with floured fingertips. place random coloured smarties on to cookie dough. bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

thks to my aunt's yummy recipe.. i modified it a little cos i didn't want it too sweet (and hard).. it was.. ooh. yummy!

i ate it, even with my golfball cheek which has shrunk to the size of, say, a grape today :) things are getting better. the anti-inflammatory enzyme the dentist gave me works! hehe..

here it is (the recipe i mean :P):


The brownie
1 cup butter
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
3 large eggs
1 cup plain flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup chopped walnuts

The icing
1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup icing sugar
2/3 cup cocoa
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 tbsp milk
2 tbsp hot black coffee


preheat the oven to 180 deg Celcius. grease/line brownie pan with parchment paper.

ok here's the important tip. don't cream the butter and sugar together, like you would with other cakes. melt the butter (microwave or over fire). remove from heat, add sugars and cocoa poowder until it is well mixed (you will get a chocolate like looking sauce, shiny and glossy). next beat in the eggs one by one.

next mix the flour and baking powder in a separate bowl. sift it little by little into the chocolate mixture. once u're done, you'll have a nice and thick consistency. add in vanilla essence and walnuts and mix until well combined. the raw batter (my weakness) shld taste absolutely heavenly!! pour into pan and bake for 30 minutes or until firm (not hard yeah!!)

learn from my mistake. let it cool down completely before slathering the cake with sinful icing ok? patience is virtue ;)

now for the icing... aha!! the trick for a smooth consistency is, a food blender! who would've thought??? -_-" blend softened butter (not melted yeah!!!!), icing sugar and cocoa for 4 seconds. add the rest of the liquidy stuffs and blend until smooth. u can add more milk if you prefer your icing liquidy. but the real way it's supposed to be is a stiff icing that u can spread on the brownie. u can use a fork to create grooves (just like the ones in secret recipe). otherwise, just smack it on. it shld look fine! put a walnut, serve with ice cream. and u're ready to go.

my finished product is NOT a true reflection of how it will look like. sadly, i was too impatient.

**if you keep it in the refridgerator, make sure u microwave it for 20 seconds before serving. brownies taste best when it's warm ;)

this is a really simple, delicious snack to make IF you have an electric blender ;)

my youngest brother thought we bought it ok. hey coming from him, the ultimate food critique, that says a lot :P

so here's what you need:

300g fish fillet (hm, i used tenggiri batang but i think most fish shld taste ok kua???)
300g prawns (de-shelled, of course!)
4 slices of bread soaked in milk (without the skin)
1 chilli
1 egg
coriander/kuchai (how much is up to you, you can leave it out if you want to)
a dash of plain flour (you can use self raising if you want it to look bigger)
salt and pepper to taste

BLEND AWAY!!!!

ok these will have to be deep fried.

so, heat the oil until... it's hot. well, not everyone has a kitchen thermometre (i don't!) therefore, the best way to test if the oil is hot enough, you can either dip a bamboo chopstick in and see if it bubbles, or put a piece of bread in, it shld "bubble" and float. errr, i hope that made sense. hahaha...

using 2 spoons, scoop the blended mixture to form a ball and gently drop them into the heated oil. fry until golden brown. and they'll turn out like the picture above :)

Enjoy!!

so it's been one week since i arrived on malaysian soil. the first few days in KL was meeting as many people as possible. i regret to say i couldn't meet everyone, and given my "blonde" moment, in clicking back up instead of restore on an empty phone.. i couldn't contact much people except those that i remember by heart. but twas a good time in KL meeting my family, relatives and friends. having good food.. wonderful shopping complexes.. ahh.. nice :)

a picture summary of the past week..

check it out! for a finished product at 11.51pm, i say it's pretty good. and it tastes better than it looks (cos my photo taking skills suck!) hehe.. this time arnd, i added some walnuts to the crumbs. to give it that extra crunch. it's yummy-licious! :)

p/s: this was birthed, thks to chuen.. who reminded me of my mountain heap of apples that are still in the fridge, un-touched! haven't been much of an apple person.. (except in desserts) don't even know why i bought them! haha!!

Recipe for Apple Crumble (improvised)

Filling:
3 large apples (granny smith if u want excellent quality apple crumble, otherwise, use leftovers like mine. hahaha!!!), cut into 1 inch pieces.
2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp water
Spice? (opt) cinnamon and nutmeg goes well, just a dash!

Crumble:
3/4 cups plain flour
60g cold (straight from the fridge!!!) butter, cubed
2 tbsp sugar (can add more if u want it sweeter but I think 2 is enough)
1-2 tbsp walnuts (I just used what was left! haha..)
A pinch of salt

Directions:
*pre-heat the oven to 180'C*
1) Place the apples into a medium pot, add sugar, water, and a dash of spice, mix well. Stew over medium heat for 15-20 mins (or until soft, not mushy!)
2) Put the flour, sugar, salt and walnuts into a bowl. Using your hands, rub cold butter with the flour mixture until it gives a crumbly texture.
3) When the apple's ready, place it evenly on a low pie dish, sprinkle the crumbles on top until it covers the apple completely.
4) Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until crumble is golden brown.
5) Serve with ice-cream or whipped cream (opt).