My first post for 2011 and before I forget, wishing all of you a Happy and Blessed New Year!!!

Regardless of how global food have become, we cannot help associate certain foods with either their place of origin or with a certain group of people. Let’s just do a simple test. When I say pasta, do you think Italian? Olives - Mediterranean? Wanton - Chinese? Nasi Lemak - Malay? Briyani - Indian? Just like all these other foods, prata, a crispy, flaky sometimes circular and sometimes square in shape pan fried bread, is associated with the Indians in Singapore. If you ever get a chance to stand and stare at the prata man as he goes through the series of steps to make the prata, you should remember to be absolutely appreciative of how effortless he makes it seem. Of course if he’s worth looking at, you might just forget to focus your attention on his hands…who can blame you?

As a kid, I used to stand fascinated watching the prata man work like a machine on auto mode. How could anyone repeat the same series of actions, with the exact precision, every time he took a ball of dough into his hand, for hours? First, smacking the dough on the marble topped surface, and then stretching it, before twirling it into a spiral structure, after which he will give it a few more slaps to flatten it, before using the ball of his palm to spread that little dough into a larger circle and then with deft fingertips, he loosens it from the tabletop, and if the pizza guy does fantastic things with the dough, the prata man has got some fantastic wrist moves of his own. As he hangs onto the edge of circular dough and swings it in the air in quick karate-like moves, the dough stretches thinner and grows wider in circumference. And when he’s satisfied with the size and thinness of the dough, he stops flipping, dips his fingertips into a bowl of oil and splashes the oil on the dough before folding the sides towards the center trapping air as he does it. Now the dough looks like an air filled balloon which would fit into your palm. He lets it rest for a few minutes, presses it out a little and drops it onto the hot pan greased with a few tablespoonfuls of oil. Yeah….it’s really oily but sooo delicious.

I tried making prata from scratch. I tried 3 different recipes with varying levels of success. I tried making them twice just so that I could improve the technique and see if it made a difference. Although the last try did come close to what I was looking for, its still too unstable a formula to post. Plus all that smacking and slapping and twirling and attempt at wrist flicking was very very exhausting. However, this short cut method is stable and easy enough for anyone who knows how to use a rolling pin.  For this I’ll have to thank my cousin in California for sharing this wonderful prata making technique with me. Now my family enjoys egg prata and I can enjoy it with them without aching arm muscles.

Ingredients:

Kawanku Instant Prata (thawed)
eggs
vegetable oil

Method:

1. Cover your work surface with cling wrap and grease it with some oil. Place the thawed prata on it.



2. Roll it out to as thin as you can. Break an egg into the center of the dough.



3. Then with your fingers and quickly break the yolk and spread it around leaving the sides untouched.



4. Drip a few drops of oil on the egg. Then fold the top of the dough to the center. Repeat for the bottom. Then the sides. The four sides should overlap lightly in the center.



5. Heat a pan and pour a few tablespoons of oil to coat it. Then place the prata folded sides down on the pan.



6. Cook on medium heat until golden brown. Then turn it over and cook the other side till golden brown as well.



7. Remove, pat dry with a paper towel and serve hot with sugar, sambal or curry.

Tips:

• As it gets a little tricky to lift the egg filled dough, it would be best to choose an area close to the pan to roll out the dough.
• Using the same technique, you can vary the filling with sardine, onions, cheese, shredded chicken etc and it’ll become murtabak. Be creative:)
• Try to make it thin but you don’t want to have holes for the filling to pour out from…yeah…duh.:)

I did not name these scones. They were named by the contributor of this recipe as such and I have to admit that the name suits the dish so perfectly that any other name would do it injustice. These Idiot Proof Scones are so easy to make and so delicious that if you do not spill the beans and let the person devouring it know that they took 10 minutes to prepare and another 10 to bake, he would probably have a very different image of you in his mind.

More likely he’d think it was a labor of love - you in a dust covered apron; a few stray locks, which have escaped from your pony tail, to hang in front of your face; your face, probably with a few streaks of flour on the cheeks and a dab on the forehead when you tried to get the hair out of your face; fingers coated with scone batter/dough and the kitchen in need of a wipe down after all that toiling away. Poof! Imagine this scene instead. Clean fingers, face and apron - in fact you don’t even need an apron! Instead, a dirty bowl, a whisk, a butter knife, a measuring cup and a baking pan in the sink and on the table 16 lovely, light and fluffy, delicious scones ready for breakfast. You could be all dressed for the office and make these…and I am NOT kidding. With 17 pages of positive comments from people who’d tried this recipe, it was something I couldn’t wait to try myself.

Ingredients: (by Subo - stackofrecipe.com)
3 cups self raising flour
50gm butter - melted (you could do this in the microwave)
1 egg
3tbsp condensed milk (optional)
1 3/4 cup milk
sliced almond (optional)
brown sugar (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 450F and grease a muffin pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine melted butter, egg, milk and condensed milk and whisk.



3. Add flour into the mixture.



4. Mix using a butter knife until you get a smooth thick batter.



5. Using an ice cream scoop or spoon, fill the muffin pan about half full.



6. Sprinkle with almonds or brown sugar.



7. Bake for about 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
8. Remove and serve with your choice of accompaniments.

Tips:

• The wet ingredients once mixed, will have lumps floating. It’s supposed to look like that. No amount of whisking is going to make it any better.
• Rule of thumb for this one, don’t touch it! The knife will do all the work.
• It’s a bit too wet to shape nicely. But if you insist, you could pour it onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Shape roughly into a rectangle. Cut once its baked into squares before removing from the tray.
• The toppings don;t do much to change the taste of the scones but it makes them look darn pretty. I especially like the brown sugar topping - has an added crunch!

Winter. I wish I was a bear. I wish I could hibernate and sleep in peace until the sun gets his youth and vitality back to say hello to my face again. But I think if I were a bear, I’d be complaining too. The beehive is too high - I cannot reach. The fish is not my preferred meal. Going on a rampage in someone’s bin is definitely not my calling. So you see, as much as I want to be a hibernating bear who will be sleeping in winter and busy in spring, I really just want to curl up in my armchair, reading a good book - romance preferred -with my cup of hot tea and my biscotti.

And as I wrote that bit about the bear, it must have triggered some vague distant memory of a cartoon bear I used to watch and I find myself rather distracted because I cannot remember the bear’s name. You know that uncomfortable feeling you cannot get rid of because you know you know what you have forgotten. It’s a sign of old age I’m told. So if you don’t know what I’m talking about, count yourself lucky. Before I can continue with the biscotti, I had to find that bear on youtube. Isn’t youtube such an awesome tool? Voila! Barney Bear. I’d forgotten his name but not the fun I had watching him. I wish they’d make cartoons like these. They were so much simpler, so much more pleasing and so much more fun. And I can identify with him in this episode.

Now back to sweeter issues. The biscotti…

Ingredient (original recipe from http://bit.ly/e6NQV4)
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup Hershey’s unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
6tbsp butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1tsp vanilla essence
1 cup walnuts - chopped
1/2 cup dark chocolate mini squares
1/4 cup milk chocolate chips

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Mix well.



3. Using a mixer, beat sugar and butter until white and fluffy.



4. Add eggs and vanilla essence. Continue to beat until well combined.



5. Add the flour mixture and mix well. It will start to become rather thick and sticky.



6. Add the chocolate bits and nuts. If your machine can handle the mixture, use it to mix these ingredients. Otherwise, use a wooden spoon and stir until well combined. Or like me, use my hand!



7. On a floured surface, shape the mixture into 2 blocks. Each about 12 inch long and 2 inch wide. Then carefully lift the logs and place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.



8. Bake for 35min or until slightly firm to the touch. Remove from oven and let it cool for about 5min.



9. With a serrated knife, slice the logs diagonally into 3/4 inch thick slices.



10. Place the sliced side up and bake for another 5 min. Turn the biscotti over and bake for another 5min. Or until crisp.



11. Remove from oven. Cool and serve or keep in an airtight container for a day or two. Or freeze in a bag for a month but I doubt it’ll last that long!
12. Buon appetito!

Tips:

• butter must be softened
• the dough will be sticky. It’ll stick to your hand, the bowl, the surface. So save yourself some trouble and be generous when you flour the surface. You could even put some on your hand.
• Make sure you have enough space between the logs to allow for expansion.
• When cutting, don’t use a “sawing” action. You will get biscotti crumbs instead of slices. Instead, use the tip of the serrated knife to cut into the biscotti a little, then using your weight, put your palm on the top of the knife and push the knife slowly into the biscotti. You should get a clean cut. Tilt the knife to loosen the pieces before removing the knife after slicing each slice.
• If the dough is too thick and not sticky enough, happens due to the weather and type of coca used. You can add about a tbsp of milk into the mixture and use your hand to knead/mix.
• You could dip the cooled biscotti into melted chocolate for a more finished touch or use a fork to drizzle melted chocolate onto the top of the cooled slices.
• And don’t forget to lick your fingertips and press them flat on those very precious bits of crumb - too precious to let a single bit escape.

There is a certain chill in the air. Winter must be coming around the corner and autumn leaving in a hurry; leaving its signature behind - gold, yellow, orange and red leaves strewn all over the place. What a mess autumn is! But I love the colors. They are simply amazing. And every eyeful feels like its overflowing with beauty. Yet there is a price for that beauty. Raking. After a week of raking leaves in the lawn and backyard, I decided I needed the comfort of my kitchen and the smell of baking goodies to warm me up. As I opened cupboards and peeked at my “teatime pantry” to take stock of what I had and what I could whip up, I spied my depleting stash of biscotti. Now isn’t that just simply convenient? The answer right before my eyes. And what better way to enjoy the coming chilly days if not with a cup of steaming hot tea and some biscotti? I can already imagine myself snuggling with my book and my mug and my biscotti. Ahhhh…almost…heaven…

Ingredients:

3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter (softened)
1/2 cup white chocolate chips (melted)
3 eggs
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup dried cranberry - chopped
1/2 cups walnuts - chopped

Method:

1. Preheat oven at 350F and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
2. Combine Flour, salt and baking powder and set aside.
3. Using a double boiler, melt the chocolate and set aside.



4. Using a hand mixer, beat the sugar and butter until fluffy and pale yellow.



5. Add the eggs and chocolate. Beat to mix well.



6. Add the flour mixture in 2 additions. Mixing well after each addition.



7. Add the orange juice and continue to beat.



8. Add the nuts and cranberries. Mix with a wooden spoon.



9. It would be a rather sticky dough. Divide the batter into two and make two logs on the baking tray.



10. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until light brown.
11. Remove from oven and let it cool for about 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325F.
12. When the logs are cool to the touch, use a serrated knife, and cut horizontal strips about an inch wide.



13. Arrange the strips once again on the baking tray and continue to bake for another 20minutes or until  they turn a lovely shade of golden brown and are completely dry.



14. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.Or enjoy it with your next cup of tea or coffee.     Bon Appetit!

Tips:

• You don’t have to chop the fruits if you prefer bigger chunks
• Cut the biscotti according to your desired size/preference
• If while baking the dough starts to spread and the two logs “join”, don’t worry, just pretend it’s a huge piece of biscuit and proceed as normal.
• If after the first baking period, you’re happy with the biscotti, go ahead and eat it that way. It’ll be more like a cookie then.
• “Biscotti” in Italian means to bake twice. Hence, the second bake to dry it out so that it can be dunked.

Marble Cake or otherwise known as the Zebra Cake is named precisely after the way it looks. The pretty alternating patterns, normally stripes of yellow and brown in waves and meanders makes it one of my favorites. There is something festive about the way the cake looks which is probably why I find myself gravitating to this recipe when I need to cheer myself or bring cheer to others. And I have to say thanks to my friend, Sapiah, who shared her recipe with me a long time ago. It’s seen me through the years when I wanted to impress the newly met in-laws, and a quick fix for a spread lacking a dessert and for the many Eids that have gone by. Lately, I brought it as a thank you to my friends, to spread cheer and as an outlet to do something with all this negative pent up energy, otherwise known as stress. The verdict, they loved it. So here’s the recipe in case you need to spread some joy somewhere, or say a simple thank you by baking a zebra , or just keeping your marbles together. Whatever the occasion, this might just work for you.

Ingredients: (original recipe)

10 oz flour
3 sticks of unsalted butter (12oz) - at room temperature
9 oz sugar
8 egg yolks
7 egg whites
5 tbsp condensed milk
3 tbsp cocoa + 4 tbsp boiling hot water
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 356F.
2. Line a square baking tray with parchment paper on the base and grease with butter. Grease the sides well with butter.
3. Mix the cocoa with boiling water, stir till smooth and set aside to cool.
4. Sieve flour with baking powder and salt.
5. Combine butter, condensed milk and vanilla and beat until creamy and fluffy.



6. Add the egg yolks one at a time and beat well after each addition. Scrape the sides when necessary. Don’t over beat.



7. Add the flour and continue mixing until well mixed. Don’t over mix.



8. Beat the egg whites until soft peak stage, then add the sugar a little add a time and continue beating until all the sugar is used and stiff peaks form.



9. Fold egg whites into the flour mixture until smooth. There will be some small lumps but that’s ok.



10. Pour half the batter into a separate bowl. Add the cocoa mixture into one half. Stir to mix well.



11. Use a ladle and pour one scoop of plain batter into the baking tray. Then using a different ladle for the chocolate half, place a scoop of the chocolate batter directly on top of the first scoop of plain batter. Continue alternating with plain and chocolate batter until all the batter is used.



12. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
13. Leave to cool for a few minutes before removing from pan to cool on a rack.
14. Serve.



Tips:

• Instead of throwing the wrapper the stick of butter comes in, use it to grease the pan as well as the parchment paper.
• Add the flour in portions at a time.
• The most time consuming part is folding in the egg whites. Be patient and you’ll get there eventually.
• When layering the plain batter and the chocolate batter, do not try mix it. Leaving the batter on top of each other and letting it spread by itself will ensure you get pretty zebra designs.
• It’s a very rich cake…so please remember to share even if you feel like having it all to yourself.