Moroccan Beef Tagine

The beef tagine that I made last 2 weeks. Putting daging qurban to good use (*_^).

A tagine (tajine) dish is basically a rich meat stew originated from North Africa. It is a dish made popular by the Moroccan people with their style of cooking the dish in a special claypot called tagine/tajine. Safe to say that a tagine is a rich meat stew cooked in a tagine.

This is a tagine (the pot). Made of clay with the bottom part forming a shallow pot comes with cone shaped lid. Pic credit to www.mediterraneandiet.com

But with the absence of a tagine pot, cooking this Moroccan stew made easy with simmering it over heat on the stove or alternatively cooking it in the oven over long period, say 1 1/2 hour to 2 hours until the meat is tender.

Moroccan Beef Tagine

courtesy of Bordbia

Ingredients

• 1 kg well trimmed shoulder/chuck beef or shoulder of lamb, cubed
• 1 tablesp. ground ginger
• 1 teasp. ground black pepper
• 1 teasp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tablesp. turmeric
• 1½ tablesp. paprika
• ½ teasp. chilli powder
• 1-2 tablesp. olive oil
• 2 large onions, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 100g dried apricots, chopped - i omit coz i don't have any
• 50g sultanas or raisins
• 250ml tomato juice
• 125ml beef or lamb stock
• 1 tablsp. honey
• Juice of ½ lemon
• Salt to taste

Topping: (optional) 

Mix together:

• 1-2 tablesp. fresh coriander, chopped 
• Grated rind of 1 lemon 
• 50g almonds, chopped 
• Salt and black pepper

To Cook

Method

Set oven Gas Mark 4, 180ºC (350ºF).

Place the meat in a large bowl.

Mix the spices together and coat the meat with the spices.

Heat half the oil in a large pan and brown the onions well and place in a flameproof casserole, then brown the meat in the remaining hot oil (do this in batches to get the meat a good colour).

Transfer to the casserole with the onions.

Add all remaining ingredients. Stir well, bring to the boil.

Place in the oven for approx. 1½ hours or until the meat is very tender.

Serving Suggestions

Sprinkle on the topping and serve with rice or cous cous.

Cooking this dish reminds me of another meat stew dish popular among the Italian called Osso Buco. They share similiarity in ingredients use except in a tagine spices is added. It is a one pot meal which can be eaten with white rice or cous cous. This is the second time I made cous cous. I bought the instant cous cous a couple of months back but I hesitated making it. Mainly because I've never tried a cous cous before. But now, I can say that I like it. It is very light and fluffy, non-starchy alternative to rice. Its texture is similar to millet because cous cous actually originates from millet!!!  But slightly lighter version. The taste of cous cous is rather bland on its own. You need to add a small pinch of salt or cook them with chicken stock to add flavour. It is packed with protein and fiber. Not only it tastes good, it makes a perfect diet too!!!

Thai Street Pad Prik Making

I heart this mak cik's pad prik making. 

I've tried making chicken pad prik by improvising the recipes/ instruction given from this video. 

And it tastes much better than the typical Malay pad prik recipes.

Layan sangat tengok video ni (*_^)

T-kwondo Grading #2

Alhamdulillah, both of them pass their taekwondo grading#2. The grading#2 exercise was held on 20/10/2013 at Dewan SK Jalan U3, Subang Perdana where we used to live. It was a day after we celebrated mr hubs birthday. So now, they have advances to double yellow belt. I missed out blogging their grading#1 because it took place a week before MIL passed away. I love the photos - or to be precise their 'actions' during the grading#1 more than #2 but because i lost my mojo I didn't get around to post them up in this blog.

Here's the photos from grading#2

Grading#2 was held indoor with lightings on. Mr hubs purposely left behind the flash, thinking there was enough lighting. It was quite dark I have to edit the pics and give extra brightness. I prefer the exercise conducted outdoor the way it was during grading#1. Pencahayaan semulajadi buat gambar lebih cantik sebenarnya.

There were not much action from grading#2. I love so much their kicking into the air action from grading#1. Bila di capture dengan lensa kamera pergerakan mereka nampak cantik dan real.

Grading #1 ~ Open Air Hall, SK Jalan U3, Subang Perdana

Fahmi obviously very apprehensive during grading#1. As you can see from pic no.2 dari atas kanan betapa tegaknya dia berdiri kepala tak toleh kiri kanan. Dia asyik telan liur saja, muka memang tegang habis. While adik dia Yaya rileks saja. Malah pergerakan Yaya nampak lebih confident dan bersemangat.

I soo love Yaya's kicking into the air posture. She looks like a seasoned warrior!!! Sekali tengok macam kuda melompat pun ada *lol.

The small boy beside Yaya keep copying all her movements. Rasanya bila dah berdebar macam tu, instructions daripada Sir (jurulatih) pun tak kedengaran lagi dah di telinga. Pasal tu kena check balik pergerakan orang sebelah.

Lepas ni mereka dah boleh mulakan latihan sparring pula. Yeayyy!!! Mama dia pulak yang seronok. Yelah inilah masanya they learn to put all the movements to use. Asyik belajar peregrakan je tapi tak tau guna pun tak berfaedah juga nanti. Tapi yang peliknya... budak berdua ni reluctant lah pulak nak belajar sparring. Depa takut. Takut salah katanya!!! Lorrr... budak baru belajar standard lah kalau salah.

Kalau tak buat salah tu dah level Master. I probably be sending them to the sparring training starting November onward, that is when their school holiday comes. Sebabnya sparring class ni depa buat jauh di Klang Sentral dan pada setiap malam Selasa. Waktu sekolah susahlah sikit kan. Tunggu school break nanti.

Macam Mana Belajar Tadi? Ok???

Don't you think it cute, when normally you as a mother would be attentive asking your children how their day at school went by? Only to be the one receiving such attention?

I attended a cake decorating class today in Bangi. Yeah, cari ilmu jangan pernah berhenti kerana takkan pernah cukup sebab ilmu Allah itu luas sifatnya. It was a long journey to and fro; took me 2 hours with the heavy traffic and what not. My right arm is still slightly aching even after I religiously rub the voltaren cream every other day. My shoulders are stiff. I took 2 panadol half way through the class because I was getting a headache. I was anxious I couldn't reach the place on time. Earlier on my car's battery went kaput and had to get it replaced. It is easy for me to get headache when I'm anxious. And the class was 7 hours long. I was very very tired when I got home. And very hungry too. Thinking and running here and there leave such effect on me.

So when Fahmi attentively asked me "Macam mana belajar tadi? Ok??"

I was bewildered at first. Macam biasa dengar je ayat tu kan?

He stole my line!

Tapi jujurnya, saya sangat tersentuh.

Terasa ringan bahu ini. Otot-otot pipi yang ketat serta merta galak menguntum senyum.

This boy, selalu sentuh hati saya dengan cara yang sangat tak dijangka.

Oh I know I'm biased. Layan jelah saya ni ;-)

Mr Hubs Grand Birthday Celeb :-P

It was mr hubs birthday on Saturday. And his company's family day held at their HQ in Bangsar. He has been pining to go to the family day. Which is sooo not like him. Over the years memang banyak majlis untuk staff saja atau bersama keluarga but he rarely attended. The only function that he brought us along was his department's dinner, and that was last year. The first and only one after 10 years together! 

Jadi bila mr hubs beriya-iya ajak ke family day kali ini memang saya rasa pelik benar lah kan.

Every year pun ada family day tapi tak pernah pun ajak.

But I know this years' were different because of two things. 

No.1, family day serentak untuk TNB seluruh Malaysia dan dicatat dalam Malaysia Books of Records.

No.2, it was his birthday so feeling feeling his grand birthday celebration la tewww!!! Hehehe

matik lah mak kena ketuk

The organiser giving out tons of free gifts. But by the time kami sampai tu dah tengahari bebenor. Banyak hadiah dah habis stok. Nak buat macam mana, birthday boy bangun lewat sebab keletihan habis kerja jam 3.30pagi. Untuk orang macam kami yang tak pernah pergi family day ni memang agak kekok bila sampai. Tak tau nak buat apa! We were given three empty canvas bag. Pelik juga. Doorgift tiada ye puan-puan. Empty canvas bag itu je.

Tapi canvas bag tu ada gunaya. Depa bagi beg kosong pasal nak kami pergi kumpul free gifts tu. Padanlah kami tengok ada orang pikul beg sarat dengan kotak-kotak kecil. Jadi rusa masuk kampung 4 beranak ni pun mulakanlah operasi. Caranya mudah sangat. Kita cuma perlu participate in simple games ala fun fair je like the bowling kelapa 3 pin. Jatuh 1 pin terus dapat 1 gift. Jatuh 2 pin dapat 2, jatuh 3 pin dapat 3 hadiah. Saya main baling gelung botol. Tapi saya ni memang tak pernah pergi fun fair so tersangatlah fail main games ni. After 2 attempts (kena queue semula) baru berjaya masukkan 1 gelung ke dalam mulut botol.

Cik Yaya pula naik syeikh main bowling kelapa asyik repeat game itu je. Taulah itu paling senang. Dan bagus juga kami sampai lewat sebab queue main games dah tak panjang. Kalau tidak jenuh juga beratur tengah panas. Mau rentung. Cuma yang tak bestnya gifts yang tinggal sama je. Main apa games pun dapat itu juga.

Orang lain balik bawa beg gifts bertingkek-tingkek. Kami balik bawa belon bertingkek-tingkek. Nasiblah siapa suruh datang lewat?

Rasanya kami spend masa paling lama pun 1 jam setengah saja kat situ. Hari yang panas tiba-tiba gelap dan hujan rintik-rintik mula turun. Food were provided but not much left. We decided to head back to Shah Alam, find a nice restaurant to fill our empty stomach and to continue our celebration semestinya!

The kids masih belum jemu dengan Thai food. They wanted to go back to Serai but saya ajak mereka cuba another Thai restaurant di Plaza Masalam. It is called Famous Thai. This place is bigger than Serai, they have indoor dining and open dining dekat terrace. Selepas berpanas tadi siapalah yang nak duduk kat luar kan? Kalau malam best juga sebab depa letak small electric lantern kat each table. Masuk kat sini rasa macam balik ke zaman kanak-kanak pula. Tengok saja kerusinya, sangat klasik. Sebiji macam kerusi meja makan kat rumah my mum dulu. Nowadays mana nak cari lagi?

Makan kat restoran Thai mana pun sama je menunya. Fahmi standard lah mesti minta pineapple fried rice. Orang lain makan berhidang, dia sorang je mau nasi goreng. Tak hairan sangat dengan menu pilihan dia, sebab cik mamat ni memang peminat nasi goreng tegar. Bezanya di sini pilihan dessert lebih banyak. Kami berkongsi sepiring pulut durian yang yummy sangat-sangat!

Quiche Lorraine

I promised Fahmi I'll make him another cherry pie like the one that I made few weeks ago. He is obsessed with fruit pie be it cherry (i've made them twice already), strawberry or anything as long as they are sweet!

But I have my own cravings to satisfy and end up making a savoury pie instead *lol*. Sabar jelah, anak have to make way for mak dulu ye. 

I made Quiche Lorraine - a French open savoury pie/tart with egg custard filings. The filings is quite versatile you can put in anything you like from left over chicken from yesterday's dinner to beef bacon or even cooked fish meat. You can add veges to the custard too. Throw in sliced mushroom, capsicum, asparagus or tomatoes. I like mine with baby spinach.

Jangan terkejut dengan rupa quiche yang rentung di permukaan tu. Saya bakar dalam oven kecil lama milik saya sejak 5 tahun lepas jenama Cornell. Oven tu jenis fan-forced, kalau ON kan fan function dia pun dah sedia panas. Itu biasa, sebab kepanasan dalam ruang kecil akan menyebabkan makanan cepat masak dan hasilnya agak dry. Saya guna oven tu yang memang dikhaskan untuk masak lauk-pauk. Kalau nak masak kek or biskut saya guna oven lain. Kecil juga tapi tak terlalu panas. Mungkin sebab dah biasa guna jadi saya lebih 'kenal' oven kek saya berbanding oven lauk-pauk ni. 

Quiche yang saya pernah buat dulu memang lebih comel rupa dia. Itu sebab saya bakar dalam oven besar Fargo yang satu set dengan peralatan dapur. Tapi oven tu dah rosak, belum berkesempatan pergi hantar repair lagi huhu.Kalau guna oven besar tu memang cun seh hasilnya sebab kepanasan beredar dalam ruang yang besar lebih sekata.

Kalau nak resipi boleh rujuk pada entry saya yang lepas di sini. Cuma kali ini saya buat quiche bersaiz lebih besar. Untuk kulit pie tu saya guna sukatan 2 1/2 cawan tepung. Sukatan untuk inti tak berubah. Cubalah. You can always make the crust in advance and refrigerate until they are ready to use. 

Selamat mencuba! (*_^)

Dua Minggu Menanti Pai Tee

Bagai menunggu buah yang tak mau gugur. Macam tu lah 'bercinta' menantikan acuan pai tee. Pasal pai tee ni tak payah cerita dah kot, semua orang pun kenal. Al maklum, sejak chicken rice shop masukkan pai tee dalam menu depa, sudah terkenal hidangan snek ini seantero Malaya. Saya tak pernah makan pai tee yang dijual di restoran itu. Kalau nak cari kat kedai-kedai makan memang confirm takkan jumpa. Ini sejenis hidangan snek yang kalau terasa nak makan, haruslah buat sendiri.

Pertama kali saya kenal pai tee rasanya di zaman kanak-kanak sewaktu sering temankan my mom ke majlis-majlis anjuran PERKEP (persatuan keluarga polis). Kemudian masa saya di tingkatan 3 ke 4 gitu kalau tak silap, berpeluang belajar buat kulit pai tee dengan guru pembimbing persatuan puteri Islam. Saya ambil tugas menggoreng kulit pai tee tu. Wahhh boleh naik syeikh juga mencelup acuan pai tee dalam adunan tepung kemudian goyang-goyang dalam minyak panas. Enjoy sehh!

Tiba-tiba after 20 years macam tu datang pula teringin nak makan pai tee. Masalahnya bukan setakat teringin. Ni teringin nak makan siap teringin nak 'buat sendiri'. Tang 'nak buat sendiri' tu yang payah. Sebab kena pi cari acuan pai tee. Kena pulak time nak beli acuan time tulah semua kedai takde stok. Menyampah sungguh. Last-last saya sms Enda Zizah (mak sedara) di Bukit Beruntung, Rawang. Dia ada kedai barang-barang baking. Kebetulan Enda memang nak bawa masuk acuan tu sebab dah ramai customer yang tanya. Walaupun terasa hampa sebab tak dapat acuan time tu jugak tapi sedang eloklah saya place order sekali. Nak harap pencarian di kedai-kedai lain memang agak malap.

Tapi rupa-rupanya memang kesabaran saya nak diuji juga. Supplier yang patut hantar acuan tu ke kedai Enda tiba-tiba dengan dia sekali habis stok. Hambik engkau! Grrrrrr... bertabahlah midah. Sudahnya tunggu punya tunggu, masuk 2 minggu menunggu bagai buah tak mau gugur. Akhirnya hari Jumaat minggu lepas barulah dapat. Dengan ihsan my mak sedara jugak. Adusss bertuah punya anak sedara!

Dah dapat pai tee jomlah kita buat. Apa tunggu lagi, takkan nak peram acuan tu sampai berkarat? Saya adaptasi resipi kulit pai tee daripada resipi asal foodblogger terkenal Malaya, Che Mat Gebu. Sebab acuan kali pertama pakai agak mencabar kesabaran juga. Berpeluh-peluh mak mengerjakan 4-5 attempt baru berjaya menghasilkan kulit yang lekang dari acuan. Itupun saya kena improvise resipi supaya lebih cair dan tambah minyak sedikit supaya mudah lekang. Memasak ni begitulah kaedahnya, kena suaipadan ikut keselesaan tukang masak dan selera tekak masing-masing.

Kulit Pai Tee

Credit to Che Mat Gebu http://www.tiffinbiru.com

180gm tepung beras ~ saya buat 90gm

50 gm tepung gandum ~ saya guna 25gm 

50gm tepung jagung ~ saya guna 25gm

350ml air ~ saya guna 125ml

1 biji telur

secubit garam

* saya tambah 1/2 sudu kecil minyak masak 

Gaul semua bahan hingga sebati dan tapis untuk lebih halus. Biarkan sekejap. Sementara itu panaskan minyak dalam periuk untuk goreng tenggelam. Acuan mesti dipanaskan sebelum dicelup ke dalam bancuhan tepung, kalau tak nanti tepung melekat tak boleh tanggal dari acuan. Kalau acuan belum pecah dara lagilah payah lekang. Stresssss!!! Maafkan perumpamaan terlampau tu ye.

P/S: Saya buat separuh adunan dapat lebih kurang 40 bakul pai tee.

Untuk inti saya bantai resipi sendiri je ikut selera.

Inti

1 biji sengkuang - potong panjang macam batang mancis

1 batang lobak merah - potong sebesar batang mancis

1/2 batang timun - potong sebesar batang mancis

1/4 cawan udang basah saiz kecil dicincang

1 biji bawang besar ~ dadu

2 ulas bawang putih ~ cincang

1 sudu besar udang kering direbus ~ cincang

secubit kiub ikan bilis

secubit garam

Hiasan

Bawang goreng

Kacang goreng tumbuk kasar - jika suka

Sos cili Thai

Tumis bawang besar dan bawang putih dengan sedikit minyak. Masukkan udang kering dan udang basah. Agak udang basah separuh masak, masukkan sengkuas dan lobak merah berserta kiub ikan bilis. Gaul sebati. Akhir sekali sebelum padamkan api baru masukkan timun. Boleh tambah garam jika suka tapi rasa masin dari udang kering dan kuib bilis tadi pun dah cukup. Sejukkan inti sebelum dihidang.

Kulit pai tee ni memang rangup. Batter (adunan) yang pekat akan hasilkan kulit yang bukan saja rangup tetapi keras. A slightly thin batter would have been perfect. But once kita letak inti dan tuang sos cili tu kulit akan jadi lembut. So kena makan segera. Baki kulit pai tee boleh disimpan dalam bekas kedap udara. Ada pelbagai versi kulit pai tee di internet. Google dan cubalah mana satu yang menepati selera anda. Saya ada terjumpa satu resipi yang agak panjang senarai bahannya - hanya untuk membuat kulit!!! But I'm pretty sure the result must be yummms too. Cuma tempohari rasa tak kuasa pulak sebab baru kali pertama mencuba after 20 years! Jangan ditanya pasal resipi yang pernah saya belajar dulu. Entah dah ditongsampahkan agaknya nota resipi saya dulu.