Nothing but healthy steamed mini banana cakes

Oh yessss...these are really really healthy and a favourite with my parents. That's cos' they are watching their diet...no butter...less salt...less sugar...so this was just perfect for my mom's taste. Because it is steamed it is so so fluffy and moist...super moist actually! It is best eaten a day after its made...its more flavourful and still satys moist. Its made with sunflower seed oil which is so so healthy and I also took the liberty to reduce the amount of sugar. I used the bananas which Dad brought back from the farm...the bananas were so so ripe that they were already so sweet so I didn't need to add so much sugar. Hmmm...this is something that everyone can dig in without feeling the guilt. Actually I made this for bibi to bring to the office as breakfast...and she loved it. I'm sure anyone who tries this mini banana cakes would love them too! :)

Swedish Cinnamon Rolls

Ahhh...my attempt at making Swedish Cinnamon Rolls...found this recipe in the Ikea brochure I got in my mail...the recipe really turned out well...it was so so soft and so so cinnamon-ny...Delicious...I think most of everyone would have already tried out this recipe...at least I think everyone has got Ikea brochures sent to their mailbox...well if you don't have the recipe do let me know I'd be happy to share...These cinnamon rolls are perfect even without icing...I never like things too sweet so these are just perfect to my taste...I even think that they are as good as Cinnabon or St. Cinnamon...they are good even without icing! So forget the icing...I added some walnuts to my cinnamon rolls...the recipe din mention anything bout adding nuts but I just took the liberty to and wahh laaa...the combination of cinnamon and walnuts...yummy yummy yummy...a good breakfast to take to the office...

My Bowl of Spicy Spaghetti Aglio Olio

My bowl...YESSS mine...I take pride at being able to almost always cook up something special just for myself whenever I'm home alone. Cooking for one never has to be a mind-bending task you know...besides whenever a girl is home alone that's the time when she can have herself all to herself...hahaha...am talking about a nice bowl of hearty comfy pasta, a dvd, a bed and some pillows. This pasta dish barely needs half an hour to be in the bowl ready to be eaten. Girls....try this sometime k....



Ingredients

a few dash of extra-virgin olive oil
6 to 8 large cloves garlic, crushed and minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 cili padi, finely chopped
a dash of paprika powder
a handful of finely chopped parsley (instead of getting the flat leaf parsley, which can be slightly expensive do use the chinese parsley which you can get from the morning market)
Coarse salt
1/4 pound spaghetti (or however much that you can eat), cooked to al dente

Method

1) Heat a pan (or a wok) on medium low heat and drizzle in the extra-virgin olive oil. Add in the garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, finely chopped cili padi and paprika powder to oil. Toss them around until fragrant while maintaining low heat. Toss the al dente spaghetti into the pan together with the chopped parsley. Season with the course salt and serve with some garlic toast and salad of your choice.

Girls...enjoy!

Goreng Cempedak...How can anyone ever resist this?

Yesterday we had a makan session at LSL's place. Brought cempedak for dessert but couldn't finish cos the steaks were HUGE...so was figuring out what to do with the leftover cempedak when i came across this recipe for goreng cempedak taken from Kuali. Soon my house was drowned in the smell of goreng cempedak...the batter was of course...so easy to make so much so that it was effortless! and the outcome was crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside goreng cempedak. This recipe is a MUSt try! Hey...this batter is good for deep frying bananas, sliced sweet potatoes, sliced tapiocas and even breadfruit...speaking of which...I loooove breadfruit. Hmmm...try this out right....

Ingredients

1/2 cup self-raising flour 1/4 cup corn flour 1 tbsp rice flour Pinch of salt 1/2 tsp baking powder 180ml water or just enough 1½ tbsp oil Enough oil for deep-frying Method Simply mix together all the various flours, salt and baking powder in a mixing bowl. Pour in water and combine into a batter. Add in oil to mix. Coat cempedak in batter and deep-fry in hot oil for three to four minutes or until crispy and golden brown. Remove and drain on crumbled kitchen paper. this recipe is roughly enough for 25 seeds of cempedak.

Chocolate Mud Cake (Vegetarian)(Birthday Cake)

This was made for my niece, lil' Lisa's birthday. I was running out of idea as to what cake to make for the birthday girl and then my mind ran into this...this has always been my obsession...my sinful sinful obsession. CHOCOLATE CAKEs and all kinds of chocolate cakes. This particular one was so fitting for the occasion as my Dad is currently on a special "super low protein" diet and both my parents are also constantly trying to stay away from cholesterol...there I have it! a vegetarian chocolate cake that is dairy, egg and butter free. Well, the frosting though has got a lil' margarine in it but...not too bad...still vegetarian!!! Haha...its lovely by the way...so moist and rich...minus the sin. Well it still has got sugar...which I generously already reduced so that we all can have a couple more servings :-)

Big Butt Chef's first customer!!!

There I have it...my very first customer...the sexy Ms. Stephanie LSL...yup yup...she ordered my banana butter cake...my first customer y'all...must make sure its good so I decided to vamp up the banana butter cake...make it look more appealing...hey a lil' effort goes a long way...look how the cake turned out when its turned upside down...lovely lovely caramelized banana arragements..yummy yummy yummy!!! Well the feedback was good too for the cake. It was really really fluffy. I'm good for more orders! :-)

Italian Herb Bread

I am always making sandwiches for breakfast, which is what drove me to try out bread making. I am also a fan of San Francisco's Ciabatta sandwich and anything smelling like Italian herbs so I decided to try making my own version of an Italian herb bread. I actually like the idea of making my own bread and one of the reasons is that I save $$$. not saying that buying a loaf of gardenia is expensive but making my own a a little less expensive but with much much more added goodness. No bread softener, no preservative, no emulsifier and nothing like industrial bread. Its all good!