Mee Mamak... and the time I fed a MAJOR food personality a £3 Tesco meal deal.

Mee mamak ala Lindsay 30...

Oh dear...

No no no no this is not a slump what on earth are you talking about? I haven't slipped up on my posting schedule at all.

OkrealtalkyesIdidIamsosorry

The last few weeks have been a haze of travelling and freshers and beginning fourth year. But now we are back to our scheduled programming! Well...almost. My next post was going to be about the cheese shop I worked at over the summer, but I need a wee bit more time to get that properly typed out. 

So this week, we're talking about mee mamak! But first, story time. 

I am going to tell you about the most AMAZING thing that happened to me this summer. Well amazing and cringe-y. I still wake up nights completely mortified and excited. And confused. And in awe.

I have a lot of feelings about what went down.

About a month ago I went to visit Karen in Glasgow, just for a night. I'd made dinner plans with Cate for the day I got back, but she called that morning and asked if we could have another person join us. So I thought "yes, great, cool, the more the merrier. :D" 

I got into St. Andrews at around 6 that day and I was knackered. Like, REALLY tired. And so... I thought to myself (and if you haven't clued in by now, I REALLY regret thinking this)

 " S'ok, I'll just pick up one of those Tesco £3 stir fry packs. NOBODY WILL KNOW ANY BETTER."

So I head over to Cate's via Tesco with the bag holding my sin of all sins, and she's tidying and I'm making dinner and she's telling me about our impromptu dinner guest. Turns out the lady's name is Barbara and she's Jared's (Cate's housemate) aunt.

Cool. Yes. Good.

Barbara turns up bearing fancy wine and chocolates from Ian Burnetts and numerous desserts from Rocca.

And she's wonderful! We have a lovely time and she's chatty and fun and very, very food-centric.

Like, I wanna get on this lady's level. She was talking about eating all these wonderful things from all over the place, and how when she goes on holiday she scouts out restaurants while everyone else is looking at the touristy stuff.

She mentions that she's semi-retired and does a little writing on the side.

"Hmmmm...writing..." my little brain thinks to itself. " I wonder what she writes about?"

So I turn to ask her what she does.

Turns out, I cooked for Barbara Fairchild.

The ex editor-in-chief of Bon Appetite magazine.

Who teaches food writing courses at NYU.

And has a radio food show.

...

I made Barbara-frekkin-Fairchild a £3 Tesco stir fry.

Cate practically wet herself, causeI looked like I was having an aneurism. 

(Which I'm so TOTALLY sure did NOT make a good impression oh God why me why do bad things happen to good people whywhywhy???).

I have NEVER been more embarrassed in my life guys. NEVER. Imagine if you will, this sweaty, wild eyed, manic little Indian girl apologising over and over and over again, red in the face DESPERATELY puffing out promises of a proper Malaysian meal cooked completely from scratch the next time we would meet.

There was like, ZERO poise guys. There was NO finesse. NO eloquent speech.

Having said all this Barbara (this first name basis thing is sending my brain into a little bit of a tailspin, not gonna lie) was very gracious, asked for seconds and gave me her card.

In case you haven't figured, I'm still reeling.

One day, if and when I become famous, this is going to be a FANTASTIC little story. 

Till then I'm just going to hide in a hole.

So this, my dear readers ( READ: ma and pa) is what I should've served that night. It's called mee mamak, and it's a very common Malaysian noodle dish. You get it everywhere and everyone has their favourite guy to get it from. Naturally it's not something you can find very easily in St. Andrews, but think of it as a darker, spicier slightly wetter chow mein. I still use the noodles and vegetables from the Tesco meal deal for ease, but the stir fry sauce is super easy to put together and makes a world of difference.

Barbara, (yep, still not wrapping my head around this) on the crazy chance you might be reading this post, this is how that dish should have turned out. 

REALLY looking forward to cooking for you again. And NO Store bought sauces this time.

Promise.

Noodle noodle noodle...

-Sauce

3 cloves garlic

4 dried chillies, soaked in hot water till softened

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

2 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tbsp chopped tomatoes from a can.

1 tbsp brown sugar

- Noodles (use a BIG wok. You want lots of room to toss things around, and lots of heat to cook things in.)

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Stir fry sauce

100g of any protein you'd like. I used about 5 king prawns, but you could thinly slice up a chicken thigh, or some rehydrated soya chunks, or use a combination of the lot.

4 pieces taufu pok, cut in half

1 packet tesco stir fry vegetables.

1 packet tesco yellow noodles

1/2 knorr fish/veggie stock pot diluted in 50ml water

Blend the sauce ingredients together till nice and smooth. In fact, I'd make a big batch of the stuff because once it's made this dish comes together very quickly. Just freeze it in little ice cubes and use as you need.

When you're ready to cook the noodles, get your wok on the hob and crank the heat up high. As high as it can go. Don't worry, this is a lesson in cooking dangerously and I believe in you.

Heat up the oil and add the stir fry sauce. Cook it till you can really smell that sweet, garlicky perfume. Add your protein of choice and cook for about 3 minutes, then add your taufu pok and cook for 2 minutes, then finally your sliced up veg and...you guessed it...cook for one minute.

You may need to add a little more oil to your wok if things are sticking, then add the noodles and stir to coat in the meaty, veggie, tofu-y, saucy mix. Pour in the stock and let it boil away so the noodles get coated in this silky sauce that is just slightly wet. This should take 3-5 minutes.

Serve hot topped with crispy fried onions.

Sago Pudding with Strawberries and Coconut Cream...and the time I made dessert on the fly.

                                          

Revision week is upon us, and as usual all I can do is watch Anthony Bourdain wax lyrical about the food I have left behind. I really need to force myself to start thinking about Comp Phys and Psychology instead of Nirwana Maju banana leaf...but I'll just watch one more curry laksa video...just ONE more..

Anyways, before the sadness of revision week set in I had two lovely people come over for dinner. Ben and Jen helped me so much during Flavours of Malaysia and were such an integral part of the night. Problem is Flavours turned out to be a bigger success than we expected it to be, and because Ben and Jen were helping two of our volunteers by the time they got to the hall all the food was gone. That dinner was my way of saying thank you for being there every step of the way, especially when it came to bargaining for ingredients in Dundee.

I'd already decided on a chicken rendang and briyani for the main meal, but dessert was proving to be a challenge. Sago Gula Melaka would've been the perfect end to such a heavy meal, but I was a little low on the sago front. Making a cake would've been too involved, and also very heavy. It got to the point where I was almost resigned to sending them home without dessert when one of those beautiful flashes of inspiration hit me in the face. I had strawberries.

So, this Strawberry Sago dessert was born and by God did it go down well. Not too sweet and very refreshing it was almost a... Malaysian take of strawberries and cream if you will. To keep it nice and chilled we use frozen berries instead of ice cubes so the whole thing doesn't get watered down. It also adds a very nice texture, and if you use clear bowls you'll get to see the ruby red crumble peaking out between layers of smooth smooth coconut cream and sago. I have to say though, you could probably do this with any berries. The key to making this dessert lies in using pandan leaves. Without them the sago loses some sparkle and the coconut cream is not half as fragrant. Any Asian supermarket should carry them, or if you plan ahead, I'm fairly sure you can get them from Amazon.

Ben was nice enough to come by a little early to take all these beautiful photographs you see today. He and Jen came bearing a veggie and pork stir fry and some dim sum. And believe you me, we FEASTED.

Strawberry Sago
Serves 4

+ 1 punnet strawberries
+ 1/4 cup sago pearls (the small ones)
+ 1/2 can thick coconut milk (about 200ml)
+ 3 pandan leaves
+ 1/4 cup sugar
+ 1/4 cup water
+ The juice of 1/2 a lime
+ salt

~ Wash the strawberries and hull them. Choose 4 of the prettiest ones and set aside for garnishing. Cut the rest up into smaller pieces, wrap in foil and freeze for at least 2 hours. 

~ Wash the sago pearls and soak them for 30 minutes. Place in a saucepan with a pinch of salt, 2 knotted pandan leaves, and plenty of water, then boil till translucent. Strain, then pour into a lightly oiled container and place in the fridge to set and chill.

~ Don't forget to stir the can of coconut milk before pouring out! The really thick cream would have floated to the top and set. Pour the coconut milk into a saucepan with the remaining pandan leaf knotted up and a pinch of salt. Set on a low heat. Be careful here guys... coconut milk is very prone to separating on high heat. You want that in a rendang, but not a dessert. Heat the milk till steam starts to rise off the top, then immediately take off the heat and allow the pandan to really infuse it's scent and flavour. Pour into a jug, keep the pandan leaf in there and set in the fridge to really chill.

~ Melt the water and sugar together to make a simple syrup. When all the sugar has dissolved, take off the heat and squeeze in the fresh lime juice. You shouldn't add it at the beginning because lime juice can get bitter when it's been heated too high. Once again, when cool to touch place in the fridge to completely chill.

~ Now, when you're ready to serve take the strawberries out of the freezer and mince em' up in a food processor with a little bit of the lime syrup. Remove the pandan leaf from the coconut milk, and mix in your chilled sago. Layer the dessert up, starting with the frozen strawberry mixture, then the coconut-sago mix. You should have 4 layers, ending with a coconut-sago layer. Garnish with the strawberries you set aside earlier and a drizzle of the lime syrup. Serve up more on the side for those guests with a sweet tooth (I'm looking at you, Ben :p)

And that's that! Good luck for finals week everyone. Don't forget to treat yourself and be kind to your body. It'll be summer soon!!

Lemon and Raspberry Tart...and the time I got over myself and used a store-bought pastry case.

SPRING BREAK IS HERE LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. I’m heading down south (I think?) to stay with mum’s penpal. It’s a little sad outside…very grey and gloomy. But BBC weather says that it’s going to be nice and warm in Croughton so I’m not complaining. J It’s not quite going to be a wild spring break in Cabo (Although seeing the chickens wandering around in bikinis is a pleasant thought) but I’m really excited. The last time I saw Lesley was when I first arrived in the UK, and I’ve been dying to go back to her beautiful house ever since.

Despite their protests, I’ve promised to cook for my keep which I’m really looking forward to. To be completely honest I’ve kinda lost a bit of my cooking kick this semester. Too much going on, too many deadlines… a change of scenery is just what I need to get back into gear. The train ride has given me a chance to start planning menus in my head. I know I want to do spatchcock chicken at some point and I’ve brought curry powder for an Indian night, but the rest is pretty much up in the air. Shall I do the roast pork belly again you think? Or maybe dumplings? And what about something new? Puddings? The brain in pulsing with new recipe possibilities and I’m glad. It hasn’t had a chance to do that in a while.

Speaking of cooking (not that I ever talk about anything else), Fiona decided on Saturday night to show Eli and I what a proper British roast dinner was like. On a crazy whim we got into her car for an adventure!

 (When I say ‘adventure’, I mean a chicken run to Morrisons, with a stop at Sally’s quad to steal some rosemary)

Anyways I volunteered to make a lemon raspberry tart for pudding. And this is a recipe I really wanna share because it’s so simple to throw together. It’s the sort of thing that looks very glamorous but literally takes minutes to put together on your part. And it all boils down to a little bit of cheating (i.e-using a pre-made shortcrust tart shell).

Now don’t get huffy. When your counter is covered in potato peelings, oil spills and raw chicken sometimes a pre-made crust is what pulls you back from the brink of dinner party insanity. And no one will honestly be able to tell the difference. Once you pop the shell on a baking tray, all that’s left for you to do is whisk up the fabulously lemony filling, pour it in and bake.

Lemon Rasberry Tart

-         -  One 20cm premade shortcrust pastry shell. (be careful to choose one that isn’t cracked or broken)

-          - 2 whole eggs

-          - 2 egg yolks

-          - ½ cup castor sugar

-          - ¼ cup flour

-          - The juice of 2 ½ lemons (Quick tip: rolling the uncut lemon on the counter before squeezing will give you the most juice with minimal effort)

-          - 1 small punnet of raspberries.

-          - Icing sugar and double cream to serve.

+ Preheat your oven to 180’C

+ Put the tart shell on a baking sheet with some parchment paper underneath.

+Whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, castor sugar and flour. Then add the lemon juice and mix well.

+ OK, so you’re going to want to put your pastry case in the oven and then carefully pour in the lemon filling. I poured it in first and carried the lot over, but that resulted in a good lot of the filling sloshing out of the pastry case before the tart even made it to the oven!

+ Bake for 20 minutes. There won’t be any jiggle to the filling when you take it out. Don’t worry; this is more like a lemon bar topping rather than the usual lemon curd. It will still be smooth and creamy when you cut into it.

+Let the tart cool down and transfer to a plate. Bejewel the top with raspberries and chill for atleast 2 hours.

+ Just before serving, dust with icing sugar and serve with some double cream on the side.

:3 I’ll leave you to humbly accept the fountain of compliments you receive for all the ‘hard work’ you put into dessert. Enjoy!

Coconut 'Whipped Cream'...and the time I had hot chocolate weather.

The first snow of the semester came down on our little town about an hour ago. This picture was taken after it stopped, but before that we had big flakes of snow flying all over the place. It was almost like we were in a snow globe.  That's right. We've had our first episode of what I'd like to call Hot chocolate weather. 

Now I like my hot chocolate super dark with whipped cream on top. In Edinburgh I picked up this beauty:

And it is my favourite hot chocolate mix ever. Smooth, dark, and very very rich.

But what about the whipped cream? I didn't have any in the fridge.. So as usual I had to improvise with the stuff that I did have. The 'cream' I came up with isn't quite as thick or fluffy but it produces a nice smooth layer on your hot chocolate that smells faintly of coconut. Dairy free! For our lactose intolerant friends. :) 

It kinda feels like you're drinking a smooth, lighter version of a bounty bar. 

And if you can't find powdered coconut milk, maybe the top layer that forms in the can will work too... I don't know. If anyone does try that, let me know in the comments! :)

Coconut 'Whipped Cream'

- 1 Tbsp coconut milk powder

- 1/2 tsp icing sugar

- 2 tsp hot water

+ Mix everything in a microwaveable cup till smooth then microwave for 10 seconds on high. 

+ Stir again then pour over hot chocolate. 

Enjoy!

Tetly Biscuit Thing...and the time I got overconfident and had to improvise.

So I am going to talk about that Great British Bakeoff now.

1) I couldn't make it to the viewing party cause I had a society party that ran over a little late. Although I was rooting for Kimberly, I'm happy Ruby did not win.

2) Today's is a lesson on turning lemons into lemonade. And also...maybe a lesson in overconfidence.

This post is long long overdue. Partly because I've made a lot of things since, mostly because I've been trying to avoid it. It comes down to an age old food bloggers dilemma, should I post my failures or not?

But you know what? It's just shortbread. Life goes on, and I keep cooking. More than anything this post will be a lesson in humility. And posting my 'failures'? A reminder of the dangers of overconfidence, and that you can salvage almost any bad situation. 

So here's a rundown, I made the dough and it turned out to be a beautiful shortbread dough (as you can see above). 

Just the right amount of crumble yet easy to mould. I rolled it up into a log and let it chill in the fridge over night before the party the next day. 

Took it out and it cut BEAUTIFULLY. 

Lightly scented with Tetley tea... I was really really excited. I thought this would be a fantastic biscuit. 

Now.... They went into the oven like this:

And after 15 minutes in that 180'C oven...

To my horror...

They came out like this:

What the hell happened to my beautiful dainty shortbreads??

I tried one. 

In all honesty they tastes ok. Very very buttery with a nice black tea aftertaste. 

But still totally not what I was expecting. The texture, while not unpleasant, was like a chewy feuille rather than a crumbly shortbread. 

The clock was ticking and I had to be at my meeting in 30 minutes. I couldn't bring these with me to the bake off party!

Then suddenly, a little voice at the back of my head whispered

Throw in 2 eggs and some chocolate. 

So I did. And I baked it again with fingers crossed. 

What came out was a very strange... Soft cookie. Slightly eggy and very cakey. 

By this time I had to rush off for the society meeting and completely forgot to take the....bar cookies? Bar cookies with me. 

My Flatmate got me to try them again in the morning and to my surprise... They weren't bad. The eggy taste had gone away and was replaced with a strong taste of tea. The dark chocolate chunks gave the bake just the right amount of sweetness and made it a bit more lush. It wasn't the disaster I thought it was. 

In hindsight, I must have put the full weight of butter and forgot I was halving the recipe. Moral of the story? No matter how much 'experience' you think you have? Always always ALWAYS triple check your measurements. And if things go sour, just add 2 eggs and some chocolate. 

And maybe a little bit of luck.