Gulai Jantung Pisang (Banana Flower)

• jantung pisang, shredded
• bawang putih, dihiris
  
• bawang merah/Thailand, dihiris
• sedikit lada kisar (1 tsp)
  
• lada merah, dipotong
• sapak gulaian: either udang hidup, lokan or tahai
• udang kering, ditumbuk halus
  
• santan
  
• garam, ajinomoto dan lada sulah
• air secukupnya
  

1. Jantung pisang direbus sebentar untuk menghilangkan getah, kemudian di toskan.
   
2. Tumis bawang merah, bawang putih dan lada merah/Thailand dan lada kisar hingga naik bau.
3. Masukkan sapak gulaian dan udang kering yang telah ditumbuk, tumis lagi sebentar.
4. Masukkan jantung pisang, di kacau, kemudian masukkan air secukupnya. Biar sehingga mendidih
5. Tambah garam, ajinomoto dan lada sulah secukupnya
6. Masukkan santan dan biar sehingga mendidih.
7. Rasa; tambah apa yang kurang

p/s: jantung pisang can be substituted with gulaian tibadak (cempedak), or sayur umbut.

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Ingredients
1 (2-pound) chicken
1 scallion, cut into 1 inch pieces
4 slices fresh, peeled ginger
6 tbsp vegetable oil or chicken oil rendered from chicken fat
6 to 8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 cups long-grain uncooked rice, washed and drained
1 tsp fine salt

Mix together for Chilli Sauce
2 to 3 tbsp freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice

5 tbsp finely chopped fresh red chilies

5 cloves garlic, chopped

3 tbsp finely chopped ginger

1 tsp fine salt

1/2 cup boiling hot chicken soup

Method
Boil a large pot of water. Stuff the cavity of the chicken with scallion and ginger. Add chicken to boiling water, breast side-down. Lower the heat to a simmer just under boiling point and cook, covered until just cooked through, about 40 minutes. Bathe the chicken in an ice water bath till chicken is cold to create a tender, springy texture. Heat oil in a rice cooker, add garlic, stir fry till fragrant. Add uncooked rice, stir fry for two minutes, add salt and enough chicken soup to cover 1/2 inch above the top of the rice. Boil on high heat, lower heat when steam holes form, cover and steam for 30 minutes till rice is cooked. Chop chicken and serve with steaming hot rice and chilli sauce. Dark soya sauce is the ideal accompaniment.

p/s: I got this recipe from the Uniquely Singapore website. Nyaman nie Nasi Ayam nya ah... sudah ku cuba buat... enak sehingga menjilat jari lols~... the chicken meat is verryyy tender.... the rice is very fragrant and the chilli dippings.. Fuh! Hehehe btw since this recipe does not give the preparation method for making the dark soya sauce..try this:

• kicap cair, a dash of sesame oil, boiling chicken soup (yang dari atas atu..)
• mix together well =D

Classic Mashed Potatoes

• 7-8 biji ubi kentang, dikupas kulit and direbus
• 1/2 cup full cream milk
• 2-3 tbsp double cream
  
• 2 tbsp sour cream
• 4-5 tbsp butter
• sal & pepper to taste
• parsley flakes

1. Ubi kentang yang telah direbus, dilenyek using potato masher (Caution: PANAS!)
2. Mix milk and cream in a pan, panaskan on medium heat. Do not boil
3. Pour the milk-cream mixture onto the mashed potatoes, stir in butter.
4. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in sour cream.
5. Garnish with parsley flakes. Ready to serve

Marinara Sauce

• your choice of pasta

• garlic, chopped
• onion, chopped
• olive oil
• butter
  
• canned tomatoes (Hunt's)
• fresh seafood (calamari, prawns, fish fillets, half-shelled mussels, clams etc)
• fresh basil
• salt and pepper
• base stock (water or chicken stock)

1. Heat oil in a pan. Saute garlic and onion until tender
2. Add in mussels and/or clams. Cook 3-4 minutes.
3. Add in tomatoes and base stock. Bring to boil.
4. Add in the remaining seafood (prawns, calamari, fish fillets etc)
5. Season with salt & pepper, throw in fresh basil. Cook for another few minutes. Stir in butter.
   
6. Serve with your choice of pasta (e.g. Spaghetti, Linguine, Fettuccine etc)

Cream Cheese Icing

From Anna Olsen of Sugar

• 1 lb cream cheese, room temperature
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup icing sugar, sifted
• 4 tbsp sour cream

1. Beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in butter
2. Reduce speed and add icing sugar, and beat until smooth
3. Stir in sour cream
   

Types of Pasta

Pasta anie banyak macam... a wide variety of them. Italian pasta (yang selalu tani makan atu!) can be generalize into different categories (source: The Nibble)

• Long form pasta or strand pasta. Eg spaghetti, angel hair, bucatini

• Ribbon pasta. Eg: Fettuccine, lasagne, linguine and tagliatelle

• Tubular pasta. Eg: Elbows, manicotti, penne and rigatoni

• Shaped pasta. Eg: Farfalle (bow ties), fusilli (corkscrews), ruote (wagon weels)
  

• Stuffed pasta. Eg: agnolotti, mezzelune, ravioli, tortellini and gnocchi.

L to R : Angel hair, Bucatini, Spaghetti



L to R : Lasagne, Fettucine, Linguine, Tagliatelle

L to R : Penne, Elbow, Rigatoni



L to R : Route, Fusilli, Farfalle

L to R : Tortellini, Agnolotti, Ravioli, Gnocchi

Cooking Pasta Dishes

Don't fret when cooking pasta dishes... It's super easy !!!! Learn+know the basics... once you have master the basics.. waalaaah~!! semua pasta recipe pun u boleh buat...with ease!!!

These are the basic ingredients for cooking pasta dishes..the ones which uses tomato sauce as the base e.g. bolognese, marinara, arrabiata etc

• use olive oil and a little bit of butter - it gives a very nice flavour to the dish
• garlic and onion - for the flavour as well
• tomatoes - fresh tomatoes are the best but then banyak kerja lagi kan di buat, deseed, remove the skin, stew them *arrggghh wasting time*... heheh so i opt for canned tomatoes...i use Hunt's - ada banyak 'flavour' to choose from.
• FRESH herbs the best!! if you can't find them then use dried ones. Fresh herbs are easily available at SupaSave
• top your pasta with cheese. Parmesan is the best, but cheddar pun okay jua lah