Friday, September 3, 2010

tangki perut makin mengecil. mcm tak best pulak!

selalunye, setiap jumaat adalah hari utk sy berbuka puasa dgn Namin. kalau hari Jumaat tu salah seorg ade hal yg ta dpt dielakkan, kami akan percepatkan atau lambatkan hari berbuka. at least sekali seminggu wlpun mcm mana bz nya kami. jd maksudnya semlm & hari ni sy berbuka puasa di luar =)

semalam, pergi office dlu, gerak dgn abg syah ke Kelab Darul Ehsan. cam jakun baru 1st time sampai. ngee. dlm pukul 650pm sampai. dlm hati terdetik 'lambatnye lg berbuka' ;P

sempat berborak dgn shafinaz kejap. dearest bestie yg seorg itu sudah pulang ke Russia. waaa. jmpa lg tahun depan insya Allah. btw, kelab KDE itu agak tenang. like.

KDE - tempat berbuka puasa dkt bawah atap tu.
menghadap swimming pool.

walaupun kali pertama berbuka dgn mereka beramai-ramai, sy dah memberi amaran ttg bertapa sy suka mkn. HAHA. walaupun hanya sy & kak laily je 2 org perempuan, manakala yg lain 5 org adalah lelaki, itu bkn alasan utk pecinta mknan seperti sy! ;P

ada bnyk stall selain buffet yg mmg menggoda-goda jiwa & mata ni. tp mcm biasa, bila buffet WAJIBLAH kita ambil nasi seciput shja, bnykkan variety lauk. ++ ambil dessert yg jarang nak makan, baru puas hati & berbaloi-baloi.

lihat variety lauk. tiru mcm sy ;P
telur dadar 1 slice. daging 2 keping. ayam seketul kecik. udang 3 ketul.
sayur sikit. sotong beberapa ekor.

itu benda pertama yg diambil. DIIKUTI... jeng jeng jeng. tp pastikan ape yg korang ambil tu, akan dihabiskan. elakkan pembazairan ye. amalan syaitan! jgn nak jd syaitan plak bulan puase. ;P

oh ye. status sebagai perempuan, termuda, dan pertama kali mkn bersama-sama tak menghalang utk menjadi pengambil mknan terbnyk atas meja. tp oleh sbb itu, sy minum air x sampai segelas.

sila perhatikan ye. 5 bulatan merah itu adalah mknan sy shja!
1 pinggan buah. 1 pinggan kerabu. 1 pinggan dessert. 1 pinggan nasi. segelas soya.

tetapi mcm kebiasaan puasa kali ni. sy cpt kenyang. jarang wkt berbuka sy tambah nasi. baru berapa suap nasi dikunyah, sudah terasa kenyang. selalunya sy yakin benar blh habiskan semua mknan. jd semlm mkn dgn COOL, perlahan-lahan. tp abg syah dah perasan sy dah kenyang sebelum 4 pinggan lain tu disentuh. tskkk.

but alhamdulilah. habis juga semua tu dgn bantuan kak laily jgk. tp skit je kak laily ambil. dan last sekali mkn ice cream semangkuk kecik. itu WAJIB!

rase mahu mkn mcm2 lg. nasi ayam. char kuey teow. yong tau fu. ice kacang. tp terlalu cpt kenyang skrng ni. rase cam rugi sbb bnyk lg bnde nk mkn tp dah kenyang. waa. blh plak cmtuh? ''-___-''

OKAY. cakap ttg hari ni. ptg td, sampai rumah terus mandi. pakai bju kurung putih faberet hati nurani. lame x pakai bju kurung. huhu. tnggu Namin sampai sempatlah buat muke excited nk gi jalan! yeay2!

namin suka sy pakai tudung bawal.

sesudah itu, traffic jam yg sudah diramal terpaksa dirempuh. singgah ESSO beli mknan & minuman memandangkan jam dah hampir pukul 7pm. bekalan utk ke mid valley. alhamdulilah sampai mid valley lebih kurang 2-3 minit sebelum berbuka. setelah parking kereta, kami ttp berbuka dlm kereta. sbb tahu mesti semua tmpt mkn penuh time2 kemuncak nih.

sudah kenyang. hukkk. jd berjalan dulu cari baju utk Namin. jalan sana sini. sudah hampir 10pm. kenyang lg. dlm pukul 10 baru lah kononnya berbuka di Mc D dkt Cheras perdana tuh. itu pun sbb sy kemaruk sgt nak mc D sejak berapa hari dulu. akhirnya muka x boleh bla mkn sbb kenyang.

benarlah. tangki perut makin kecil. cepat benar terasa kenyang. apa pun terima kasih Allah & semua di atas masa yang berharga & rezeki yg halal. ;)


Caribbean Citrus and Spice Marinade

  

Stepping off the dock, the hills above are jet black against an indigo sky.  It is past sunset, but nighttime has not yet fully taken the sky.  Gallows Bay is calm as sleeping sailboats now replace their pirate ship predecessors.  However, there is energy across the water.  Fires on the beach of Protestant Cay are not from marauders, but merrymakers welcoming the night.  The breeze on the ride across the water finally breaks the daytime heat.  It is a feeling of calm joy, release, anticipation for what waits on the other side.  Moko Jumbie stilt walkers high step to a calypso beat, dancing, jumping, pumping.  Fingers of fire in the torches and cauldrons jump and flicker to the beat, the conch shell sellers shout their prices to the beat, everyone is moving to the beat.  Even the cooks passing out the food from their giant long grills and their big pots.  Rice, Caribbean style, and chicken and seafood in a Caribbean marinade.  The kind that combines tropical citrus, garlic, spices, and honey.  Yes, it must be sweet, but also fiery.  This is the tropics, but it is not a time to be languid.  It is a time to get up, stand up, and move to the rhythm.  Food fuels those passions, but it also fires those passions.  That is the feeling I want again as I remember my trip to the Caribbean.  Cooking will release those smells, release those tastes, release those memories.  Cook yourself to the Caribbean with this recipe.  Just watch out for those Moko Jumbies.  Serves 2.  
    
Ingredients:
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp minced ginger root
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp hot sauce
2 green onions, sliced
    
Directions:
Mix together all of the marinade ingredients.  Combine with shrimp or chicken in a ziploc bag and seal, allowing to marinate 30 minutes for shrimp or 2 hours for chicken.  Grill.
       

Upside-down Figgy Cake


Sürreya's rooftop with Lesbos behind
Those wonderful figs
On my last day in the village,the island of Lesbos looked tantalizingly close, the killer humidity that has characterized this summer dissipated, and the sea a sparkling blue. On Surreya’s roof opposite I could see their figs drying in the hot sun in anticipation of those colder days when a sweet bite doesn’t come amiss. The trees are all laden with them. I have decided that figs are the Jimmy Choos of fruit: luscious and desirable. We have a fig tree in our own garden: it arrived without permission and grew and grew. The trouble was, its figs were not my Jimmy Choos. So ingeniously, Mehmet and my husband arranged to have a superior variety grafted on. The surprise gift was that two different types of fig were inadvertently grafted so this year our tree has cleverly presented us with both : creamy light green ones as well as little sweet purplish ones. They are mouth-watering. This is the best way to eat them: picked straight from the tree and popped into your mouth. Be careful while picking as the leaves can give you an itchy rash – as they did me.

Fresh figs don’t have a long shelf-life, however. If you put them in the fridge, be warned: your plump little balls of sublime sweetness will shrivel somewhat.Your family won’t want to eat them. If you are buying from your local fruitseller, I recommend eating them the same day. The larger dark purple ones that we see in Istanbul are a little sturdier and after washing, you may like to peel them before eating.

In Turkey figs are usually eaten fresh or dried. However, I am now going to give you a fantastic cooked figgy recipe that I recommend you make without more ado. It comes from my friend Carol, an ex-Peace Corps Volunteer who came to Turkey in the 1960s. She now lives permanently in a neighbouring village. She is a great cook and remembers those early days in Turkey without a proper oven when cooking was achieved in something called a ‘maraton’. Apparently this was a square-shaped metal box with vents on the sides and a hole at the bottom. What you did was put it on a gas burner – hard to imagine but all sorts of dishes were successfully cooked in it, including cakes! Talking about ovens, my husband told me that with his very first salary, way back, that’s exactly what he bought his mother: a real oven. Anyway, Carol served us this Figgy Cake, warm, with çay  (pron: chai, meaning 'tea'), in her little garden and I rushed to replicate it once I got back to Istanbul with those figs from our tree. Suffice it to say that the finished product lasted barely 2 days in our household..

Everything ready to go for the upside-down version
This recipe is what Carol calls ‘a very forgiving recipe’ . Personally, I think it is a wonderful recipe. It is actually called Apricot Kuchen but I am renaming it ‘Carol’s 2-Way Figgy Cake’. It can be adapted to peaches, nectarines, cherries, raspberries, as well as figs. Whatever you want, really. 8 servings.

Figgy Cake Rightway-Up

Preheat oven to 350F/170F. Grease a 9’’x2’’ round baking pan.

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1tbsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

½ cup soft unsalted butter

¾ cup sugar

2 eggs – (remember to take them out of the fridge beforehand so they are at room temperature)

About 6-8 small figs, washed and halved or 2 cups sliced peeled peaches etc

¼ cup coarsely chopped nuts eg walnuts (optional)

Method

1. Mix together first 3 ingredients in medium-sized bowl.

2. In large bowl, beat the butter and the sugar till light and fluffy (3 – 4 mins).

3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

4. Stir in flour mixture till just incorporated. Scrape batter into pan and spread evenly.

5. Scatter fruit on top. Add nuts if using.

6. Combine and sprinkle 1tbsp sugar and ¼ tbsp ground cinnamon over fruit.

Bake till golden brown and a wooden toothpick comes out clean (about 40 mins). Cool slightly before turning out onto a baking rack.

The halved figs placed in the pan
on top of the butter and sugar

A deliciously moist cake!


Now here is Carol’s ingenious variation which makes it indeed Figgy Upside-down Cake:

1.Melt 2 tbsp butter in bottom of pan (simply put in the oven while it is heating up).

2. Sprinkle 2-3 tbsp granulated sugar on the bottom.

3. Then arrange the fresh fruit, halved, cut side down, and spoon the batter made exactly as above, on top and bake in the pre-heated oven as before.

Tip

After taking out of the oven, let the cake rest in the pan for 10 mins and then invert on a plate. Let cool with the cake pan as a cover. This is obviously for the upside-down version. The fruit won’t stick to the pan.

Serve with icecream.

You will love it!