Mark Bittman takes on America's Chefs.

Good Morning girls, this friday morning let us start with something nice and yummy.One of mama;s favourite programme on ASTRO is cooking programme and those that mama have been hooked up are Mark Bittman takes on America's Jeff,Licence To Grill and the Classic Jamie Oliver. Mama loves a simple,no frill chefs because their recipe is realistic and easy to follow, by looking at it you know the food are really delicious. Mama do not fancy programme like "Lets cook like a chef" because preparing a simple souffle takes hours and they are not realistic,they are only meant to be served to you in a fancy restaurant. Why mama like Bittman is because he is known for his candor,simplified,no nonsense style and simple recipe,this old guy is also sweet, he never try hard to show that his recipe is so good.Licence to Grill on the other hand gives so many tips on BarBQ, how to grill without shedding pail of sweats, all menus prepared by the chef looked so easy and yummy and lastly Jamie Oliver is always good,he is talented and he cooks from the heart, with easy going character no body can resist watching his programme.

Last nite mama watched "Mark Bittman takes on America's Chef', the episode showed Bittman visiting Suvir Savan a famous Indian Chef in America, mama really loves the recipe taught by Bittman last nite and would like to try it this weekend,they looked simple but delicious. So the show last nite started with Suvir showing Bittman on how to cook lamb Pratha,he first started with preparing the Pratha dough and he had prepared earlier the filling for pratha with mince lamb with tandoori spices.Suvir prepared the Pratha dough into small ball and and he put the mince lamb as filling,he then rolled the ball into thin pieces with the mince lamb embedded nicely in the thin Pratha,he then put the Pratha on the hot pan,flipping it few times until it slightly turn golden, he put small amount of oil on the pratha and started pressing it which cause the Pratha to menggelembung, he keep continuing it until it turns into a nice golden brown piece.


The recipe showed by Suvir is nice but what mama is more interested in is the recipe by Bittman after that, using the same concept like preparing Pratha but with faster and healthier way, Bitmman prepared a samosa like recipe with yoghurt,potato and cilantro filling.What you need is just the ready made "roti pratha skin" or "tortillas bread" which you can buy from any supermarket,you need a few good potato,boild it until it soft, cut into cubes,put in a bowl mix with yoghurt,salt,cilantro or parsley,dash of cili powder,you then place a heap of potato mixed on center of the tortillas/pratha skin, fold it into a square shape, put your pan on the stove,put a small amount of oil with butter,place the square shape that you have prepared on the pan,flips over a few time until it turns golden brown. Once you cut it you can see the yoghurt melting and sweet smell or cilantro, mama can imagine the crispy plus the creamy filling.It must very nice to eat it hot with a cup of good coffee.lets try it this weekend.

This is not Bitmman's kitchen but mama Jujidah preparing "Roti Arab Toast with meat,onion rings and cheese"

Running out of idea of what to prepare this morning,mama took the Roti arab bought by papa last nite,slice the big bread into two pieces, spread butter, spaghetti sauce and pesto on the bread.

Put the mince meat (fry slighthy first) or in mama's case just shred the burger patties into pieces and put on the bread,add onion rings and cheese.

Put in the oven until it turns golden brown, it really nice because the bread is light so it get crispy easily.

The roti arab toast is nice to go with a tea with lemon.

Mia is not well, she got fever due to the Hepatitis injection so mama prepared her fish soup with gebu potato and celery,this recipe is really nice even papa likes to eat, you must get a fresh fish,take out all bone,chop it, chop potato into cube,slice the celery, stir onion and garlic with olive oil until the fragrance smell fills your house, throw in the fish first,once the fish gives it sweet smell you can add in the rest plus water,add salt a bit and the soup can be eaten on its own or with a plate of "lembek rice"

Love For Beautiful Home

I love beautiful house since i was small,we grew up in a kampung but that didn't stop my mother from creating such a beautiful and cosy rooms for us in the kampung house.I learned from my mother a lot, I can still remember when i was small our house is always neat and tidy not a single rubbish on the floor, my mother kept the wooden flooring of house yellow in gold and smooth.I never remember seeing dirty laundry on the floor or chair as my mother will immediately fold all laundry into neat pieces on the day bed my late father built under the rambutan tree in front of our house. Come to think about it, iam very proud that both my mother and father had managed to build a cosy living with country style theme at that time, we had deck,outdoor dining,outdoor oven and arch in the garden. My mother once told me when i was small that it is ok to run out of sugar or coffee at home because if people come you can always run to the shop but if you have dirty and messy house what excuse can you give,it just shows that you are an untidy person:) I remember my late father had built wooden Arch/Arbor for our gate near the kitchen and my mother planted beautiful pale pink country roses on each side or the Arch and after sometimes we had the most beautiful rose bushes surrounding the Arch that everbody admire it as it gives sweet and wonderful smell all year round.( I long for that kind of roses now, I ve been looking along sungai buluh nursery, i want to bring that sweet memory to my own house)My mother had also planted "delima" next to the kitchen and we had big red delimas hanging from the branches,the feel was so country and cosy.We had orchid house built by my father and my mother used "kulit kelapa" as pot and we have all kind of orchids like tiger orchid, wild orchid etc.Around the halaman we had all kind of blooms like "bunga ekor kucing" bunga raya" "bunga janda kaya" "bunga lilly" bunga bedak" bunga jarum" etc.My mother was also good at craft and sewing works, she cut flower's pattern from old fabric and sewed it to plain cloth and we had beautiful embroidery table cloth, she made her own beads from old calender paper and we had beautiful beads curtain to separate our dining and kitchen. We do not buy bouquet from the shop at that time to decorate our table but my mother made sure we have beautiful setting by putting fresh flowers or greeneries from the garden in an old unused jar,jug or bottle with water in it,this decoration can last for weeks.I still practise this tips whenever we go back for raya at our kampung, when my nieces see me with knife going around the halaman they will see " hah maksu dah start lah nak buat Eric punya decoration tu..hmm come to think about it Eric is the want who tiru me..haa..haaa.There was another flower that mother had planted near our bed room which i think is no longer available now they were called "bunga cina",they are like magnolias,the flower is a bit smaller than your palm,the petal is thick and its really wangi, I usually used this flower to make my own version of "minyak wangi", i will put in a glass of water than sprinkle over my body and bed. Towards the end when my late father had less responsibility he loved to buy things for the house,everytime he comes back from town we will see boxes for tea set, few new dinner plates a carpet or a painting, sometimes he will do this like 3 times a week and my mother always complaint that my father bought things without consulting him..and she went merajuk:)I still remember that my late father really loves the brown arcoroc set, not the green or the pink but always the brown coloured one and he refused to eat in the "ceramic plate":)My late father despite his strict imam character he likes to decorate the house, he will clean the plate collections, sweeps the garden clean, we once rear 20 goats but my father kept their place clean and cosy with bornfire, hanging greeneries etc that i ended up spending my time hours in the evening there.Despite living in the kampung we do have small section for reading,i remember the " almari hitam with open shelves" that house our story books and my father's kitabs".Due to the habit introduced by my mother and father i used to refuse using other people's toilet, i rather keep my urge for hours. My mother loves to cook too, her "ayam kampung masak lemak cilipadi or daging salai belimbing buluh" is nothing to compare with, everything is just right about it,the colour,the smoothness of the santan,the smell, as a result i got infatuated with it also, my lemak cili padi must use the right amount of tumeric as i don't like it to be too yellow like in the shop,the santan must also smooth i don't want it to be curdle.My mother baked delicious plain butter cake using only butter (at that time shop sold buttercup in a can), everytime she bakes the smell will linger like 2,3 houses along the row. Too many sweet memories and I thank both my mother and father for instilling all the good things in me,no pressure or force from them just "they lead by example". My mother is old now but she can still appreciate beautiful house and can still give me few tips in cooking.I have my own family now, I want to create the same surrounding which i have enjoyed when i was small for my children, I want they to come back to a home sweet home and smell the delicious and sweet fragrance from my kitchen.I ve lost my father when i was 17, i didn't have the opportunity to give him back anything except my love but i am very syukur that my mother is still around living with me to see the dream house that we are building and to eat the dishes that I am cooking. For that I syukur so much to Allah sbt, may i not forget the bless that is given to me, may i must always remember to show the syukur by remembering Allah always.

Michael Tak ada Budi Bahasa, Doctor Jahat baik layan Pizza.

Ha..Haaa..Controversy title kan..jangan2 nanti mama kena kejar dengan peminat fanatik MJ dah lah dalam keadaan yang sensitive sekarang kan:) Michael yang mama cakap ni anak kucing baru kita ler,mama jumpa kat fruit stall tepi jalan ambik bawak balik rumah dah you both suka sangat kat kucing rumah pakcik.Maklang dapat tahu kita dah ada kucing dia cakap kat mama " hahh..ambik kucing tepi jalan..heh kucing macam tu tu tak ada budibahasa"..Huh..mama cakap kucing macam mana pulak ada budi bahasa?Dia kata beli lah astu Persian cat nanti dia toilet trained etc..kucing macam Michael nanti berak rata2..Hmm..geleng kepala lah mama,mama kalau nak spend duit beli Persian cat ni kudukut skett..nama Michael tu pulak papa yang bagi since colour dia black and white.Dah 4 hari Michael duduk rumah kita,true enuf lah maklang cakap asyik berak kat verandah jerr..hmm pikir2 ni camana.

Hari selasa semalam,hantar 2 tuan puteri ambik injection Hepatitis 1 kat Dato' Dr Musa,Damansara specialist,susah nak dapat appointment Dr ni busy sepanjang tahun,tapi dah pead sejak baby kat situ so pergi situ jugak,so clinic suruh mama walk in ambik nombor jer,nasib baik pulak dapat no 2,org appointments tak turn up lagi,so cepat sudah..but both menangis teruk sangat..malas nak cerita..ikut siapa masa kecik agaknya:)

After injection promised both nak pergi Mc D tapi dua2 tidur kat dalam kereta,so tak pergi,petang pulak suruh papa balik cepat nak bawak both pergi Pizza Hut tapi papa pulak lambat,mama flu,tak larat..so this morning mama buatkan pizza..sedap sungguh pizza mama tu..heh..hehh.


Ni lah Michael yang tak ada budi bahasa..sian dia

Micheal jaga Doi sekarang..

Pizza mama..

Country Herb bread makan dengan black vinegar dan olive oil..sedap..

dah ready kat meja..

Budak kuat makan and sepah..

Sedap ke Tia...

eee..happy nyer saya.

minum pulak...

kat hospital..sebelum episode menjerit..

happy kat dalam kereta

Tia sibuk2...

Main sticker kat hospital...

Mia...

belum kena cucuk...

Our Weekend

Papa tak sihat,mama risau jugak sebab hari tu pergi Bangkok,nasib baik dah check Doctor hanya flu dan fever biasa, weekend mama pulak yang kena bad flu until today.Saturday morning Mama papa took both to Ikea, nak beli rack for our store kat new house and gate for stairs,mama rasa risau because kat sana split level, ada 4 floors, tangga dari ground to 1st floor marble, so nampak kalau jatuh ..aduh mintak di jauhkan Allah sakit sangat nanti,dah naik 1st floor ke 3rd floor baru tangga ada parquet, so we went ikea to find our things.Both enjoy sangat terjerit sana sini,lepas penat we ate fried chicken,vegetarian pasta and herb salmon at ikea Cafe.So for Tia Mia's Shichida class on Saturday mama kena arrange dengan Kak Ayan tu replace papa dari masuk class sebab Shichida very strict,sekarang everytime nak masuk they will check temperature. Kak Ayan teman mama masuk class utk assist Tia and Mia, both memang active but manageable la,The Sensei was happy to see Tia and Mia,both boleh count until 10,recognise all alphabets dan ada banyak vocab,boleh cakap macam2.Sunday, Tia Mia ada 2 birthday invitations satu kakak sebelah rumah,best friend Tia Mia,both sayang sangat kat kakak2 ni and both kakak 12 and 9 years old pun sayang sangat kat Tia Mia,second invitation dari neighbour lama dia buat dekat The Club One Utama,tak dapat lah pergi kat club tu,pergi yang sebelah rumah jer la sebab after lunch mama papa nak buat kerja pasang memasang kat new house,Both enjoy sangat kat rumah kakak sampai mama pening kepala tak nak balik,makan macam2 sibuk nak kawan org besar,lepas kena pujuk dan paksa baru balik,we then packed our things and pergi pulak rumah baru.Itulah weekend yang penuh activity,mama drowsy lagi pagi ni affect dari ubat flu.

Wall Plaque yang sungguh cantik dari auntie narimah,dia tempah khas kat kawan blogger dia,thanks yer auntie,mama dah bawak pergi rumah baru.

Mama ada letak satu dua barang kat dapur sebab kosong sangat,tempat lain tak boleh letak accesories lagi sebab tak de benda,so asyik lepak kat dapur jer la...lambat lagi lah nak duduk rumah ni..so ada masa nak carik barang satu2.

Mama suka mug ni..sebab sekarang sibuk collect semua barangbright yellow and blue for the "so called french kitchen"..he..he..so beli mug ni very the cheap,4 mugs for RM7.90..so bright and ceria..suka..so now dah duduk kat open shelf ni.

Walaupun dah banyak orang jual jam style english or french kat m'sia ni..yang ini tetap istimewa sebab kawan mama (autie ita) tolong shipkan dari uk..lama belayar ni datang rumah kita...letak jer kat dapur dulu belum hang..kena decide later.

Mama memang terignin nak dapat copper tap untuk sinki dapur..classic dan french bagi mama tapi tak ada kat m'sia yang the real copper..so the plated copper tap ni lah yang the nearest.Dan retaining wall kat belakang dapur tu developer dah janji nak paint ikut colour yang mama nak,dah pilih colour "mandarin feilds" tapi tak datang cat lagi.Dah 2 kali mama tukar colour mula2 "french linen" takut bright sangat pulak..they better dtg paint fast..nanti mama tukar fikiran lagi

hari ahad..first time dapur baru kat rumah baru ni beroperasi masak,papa buat kerja so mama masak yang simple.rebus bayam with fish ball,ikan goreng dan telur dadar..nyum,nyum jugak ..susah tak ada fridge..mama will get one small fridge for weekend usage.

Semua tempat tak der furniture cuma ada satu dua dari rumah lama..macam kat outdoor dining ni..hmm kalau ada duit memang seronok mengisi rumah..now kena sabar ..kalau nak rush boleh letak apa2 aje tapi nanti tak de kepuasan pulak..so kena sabar,rationale dalam membuat pilihan,mana yang perlu mana yang immediate.

Suka sangat mama sebab brass chandeliar yang bawak susah payah dari vienna ni..tergantung akhirnya..mula2 hantar kat satu india untuk polish..dah lah mahal..dia bukak semua wire,jadi haywire,mula2 papa ingat memang tak boleh menyala lagi..nasib baik wireman dapat sambung balik.

Tia mula2 sampai tidur.

Tempat dining kat 1st floor ni tak ada dining table lagi..so sementara papa,mama,maid buat kerja kat dapur..mama buat la kat sini tempat lepak dia orang.

Suka lah dia orang main kat sini..main selimut2kan semua soft toys dia,ruang ni connected to outdoor dining,so merayap sana sini lah both..

Mia dah bangun sibuk pulak tengok papa buat kerja..

Papa yang kusyuk nak pasang rack untuk storeroom..Mia jadi jadi assistant..

Fisrt time hood dan stove terpasang..belum beli set pot and pan yang mama suka,tak ada keperluan lagi..sekarang pergi weekend jer papa pun bagi hadiah yang prectical..so ini hadiah dari papa..warna merah dari jusco..papa cakap periuk belanga tak perlu mahal2..ye la papa..thanks alot papa.

dua orang budak nakal..dah mandi,dah makan..buat stunt..pulak..hmm..developer lambat betul datang paint retaining wall..creepers mama pun dah start panjat wall tu..nanti painter tak boleh paint area tu..sayang sangat kat creepers tu susah hidup dan lambat sangat menjalar..sekarang subur..happy rasanya..ehh lupa pulak nak snap pokok lemon tree auntie narimah bagi..dah subur jugak.

ni lah hasil papa memasang rack..dah adalah at least kat dalam store room nanti boleh tambah lagi dan mama nak beli the see through container simpan barang kemas dan boleh nampak apa kat dalam..senang nak carik..bilik store ni setangah org buat maid room..tapi mama ada extra room kat atas..biar maid tidur atas jer la..at least bilik tu bertunggu mama tak suka ada ruangan rumah tak dimasuki orang.

"paapa..why lambat sangat ni?"..hmm projek pasang gate kat stairs tak jadi pulak..sebab gate ikea tu pendek..papa kena beli extension....mama risau selagi gate tu tak pasang..Tia Mia panjat tangga bawak basikal,toy,langsung tak pegang bila tegur terus melompat..macam hilang darah rasanya.

muka budak comot dan frust baru balik birthday party..tak rasa puas lagi..

ni sorang lagi tak puas hati..

ni lah kakak2 kesayangan Tia dan Mia..they pun sayang sangat kat Tia Mia..Happy birthday to kakak Marissa Sofie..

Hmm enjoy makan satay at the party...panas so mama bagi pakai yang nampak2 badan jer..

Mia lah yang "paling besar" kat party ni..tapi tak hirau orang lari sana sini..

Ni lepas class shichida..berehat kat straits cafe..makan apple while waiting for waffle and hot chocolate..

pakai baju eia yang kak ikin bagi..ceksi ni..sibuk kacau coconut papa nak minum

Tia pun bergaya dengan baju east india dan seluar lovely lace kak ikin..thanks kak ikin..

Susah nak ambik gambar depan sekarang ni..dogil...

Mia happy..

Lepak2 with kak ayan and papa..

Kita minum cucu dulu...

kat shichida..tunggu class start..

ni kat ikea..sibuk berlari sana sini..

tia suka ni...

macam rabbit terlepas..both ni melenting sana sini..