Fish Head Curry

I finished cooking for lunch early today because baby Darwish has slight fever after having Hep B jab, thus making him cranky and doesn't want to be leave by me. In fact, I'm typing with hand right now while breastfeeding him.  I cooked Fish Head Curry with Long Beans and Tomato to make it 2 in 1 combo, a meal that consists of protein and vegetable. Who says cooking is hard when you can do this meal under 20 minutes or so.
          

          


Diva Fish Head Curry with Long Beans and Tomato


500 gm fish head of your choice (I use ikan pelayak), cut into pieces
4 tbsp white vinegar
Blended shallot, ginger and onion
5 tbsp of fish head curry powder (I use Ragavan)
Sugar, salt and seasoning to taste
1 tsp of methi seeds
1 tsp of mustard seeds
Sliced long beans, depends on how much you want
Sliced tomato
1/2 tbsp of tamarind paste (Adabi Xtra) or 2 tbsp of tamarind juice
4 tbsp of evaporated milk or 1/2 cup coconut milk
2 cups water
Oil


1. Boil water with vinegar. Add in fish heads and continue to boil until it's half cook. Strain and put aside.
2. Heat oil. Sautee the blended shallot, ginger and onion, methi seeds and mustard seeds til fragrant and add in curry powder. Add 1 cup of water first. Stir til the oil separates from the curry.
3. Add in the balance of the water and season to taste. Add in tamarind paste or juice. Stir.
4. Add in long beans and tomato and when it's boiled, add in the fish heads.
5. Lastly, add in the evaporated milk or coconut milk and turn off the heat after the heads are just cooked. DO NOT over cook the heads.
6. Serve while it's hot with steamed rice. Yummy!!!

Tenderloin Steak with baby corn and tomato salad and poached eggs

This was our lunch meal two days ago. I was thinking of baking some potato but I'm out of stock so i used poached egg instead. Tenderloin is the tenderest part of a cow and the price is very expensive, I bought it at RM69.50 per kg! You don't have to use the exact vegetables that I'm using. I only have those veges in stock and that's why I'm using it. As usual, use your creativity to create a palatable meal of your own!

       DivaTenderloin Steak with baby corn and tomato salad and poached eggs.


500 gm tenderloin fillet
Few baby corns, sliced long
2 tomatoes, diced
Mayonnaise
Eggs, poached 2 at time for each plate
Salt, sugar and pepper to taste
Oyster sauce
1 cup water


1. Rub the fillet with some salt and pepper. Leave it for half an hour.
2. Fry the fillet on a pan, 5 minutes each at both side then bake it in a preheated oven, 200 degrees celsius for 20 minutes. Careful not to burn the fillet. Retain the pan that you have used to fry the fillet. Don't wash it straight away!
3. Fry the baby corn with little oil then add in tomato and few spoons of mayonnaise. Put it aside.
4. Boil water in a frying pan, at least half of the height of the pan. When it's boiled, add in 2 eggs slowly, careful not to break the yolks. Slow the heat and let the eggs cook in the water. Use a strainer to take out the eggs.
5. For the sauce, add in water inside the pan that you've used to fry the fillets. Boil it and add in 4 tbsps of oyster sauce, pepper, salt and sugar to taste. If you want it to be thicker, whisk in some flour.
6. Assemble everything on a plate with your own creativity. Serve it hot with a glass of cold juice. Yummy!

Mee Nyonya Laksa

I made this for our lunch yesterday. I tried Mak Nyonya Kari Laksa and the taste is quite good. I used lobsters that hubby just bought, fresh from Niah I think. So, enjoy it virtually if you're lazy to prepare it.

                                   Diva Mee Nyonya Laksa


1 packet of Mak Nyonya Kari Laksa paste
50 cent taugeh
1 kg yellow  mee or noodle of your choice
Sliced daun bawang
10 lobsters or any choice of seafood
1 cup of milk / coconut milk
Salt and sugar to taste


1. Boil noodle and taugeh separately and drain. Put aside.
2. Cook the paste according to the insturction on the packet, then add in cleaned lobsters.
3. Serve the noodle accordingly adn you can add boil eggs or fried tofu in the dish.

Diva Pavlova

This was my first attempt of making pavlova and it turned out well but for those of you who's not into sweet delicacy, pavlova is not meant for you because it's basically meringue with cream and fruits. Meringue is made from egg whites and sugar. In order to create very light and fluffy egg whites, you have to make sure that the utensils that you are using are grease free, clean and dry or else, it won't be as light and fluffy as it should be.

Folding in vinegar and cornflour in the meringue

Ready to bake the meringue

Whipping the cream with Milo

The cream that I used

My Peach Pavlova

                             Diva Peach Pavlova


Merengue: 4 large egg whites
                  1 cup (200gm) castor sugar
                  1 tsp white vinegar
                  1/2 tbsp cornstarch (corn flour)


Topping: 1 cup (240ml) heavy / whipping cream
               1 1/2 tbsp (20gm) sugar
               Fruits of your choice (I use canned peach)


1. Heat the oven at 130 degrees celcius. Place rack at center.
2. Beat white eggs until soft peaks formed. Then add sugar, a tablespoon at a time and continue to beat until the egg whites are stiff and not gritty.
3. Sprinkle vinegar and corn flour ove the top and fold in very carefully with a spatula. Don't over do it or you'll introduce too much air inside the egg whites.
4. Gently spread the meringue on a large baking tray which had been lined with a baking sheet and make sure to make a well (not too deep) on the center for you to put the cream later. Bake for 1 hout to 1 hour 15 minutes, til the meringue is dry and crispy.
5. Let it cool when it's baked and while waiting it to cool down, whip the cream with sugar till it's double it's size. You can put extra flavoring in it, I put 4 tablespoons of Milo.
6. Spread it on top of the meringue and arrange fruits on top of it.
&. Serve it immediately.

Minor Surgery on Impacted Wisdom Tooth

I was suppose to have an appointment with a specialist at Miri General Hospital this coming 21st December 2010 regarding my impacted wisdom tooth but I just couldn't wait anymore because the pain was unbearable. After watching me crying, my hubby decided to bring me to private clinic although I disagreed at the first place because it will cost around RM450 and above. But after thinking it over, I agreed. So, we went to Dr Ho's Dental Surgery at Jalan Raja. I was very surprised at first to find out that he charge RM600 per removal of impacted wisdom teeth! I was thinking of leaving when an inner voice inside me asked me to just see the dentist first and talk to him. I was very relieved but worried when he told me that it only cost RM120 because the bacteria had eaten some of my gum and it exposed most of the impacted wisdom tooth.
I asked him so many questions before he did the procedure and I even asked him which is more painful, giving birth or doing the minor surgery. He laughed and answered, "Definitely giving birth is more painful". I relaxed a little bit but when I saw the very long needle that he's about to use to inject me with some local anesthetic to numb my mouth. A few minutes later, my lips felt like Angelina Jolie's lips but actually nothing happens to my lips, except for the numbness that occurred.
After making sure that I'm absolutely numb in the mouth, the doctor started to try to pull out the teeth to see how deep it is and luckily it's not too deep inside the gum, so he carefully pull it but the bad news is, because of the infection caused by the bacterias, some of my gum's sticked on the tooth! He had to use the scalpel to cut the gum and finished the extraction of the wisdom tooth. It took about 20 minutes for the whole procedure and lastly, he asked me to start another course of antibiotic to kill of the bacteria. He couldn't do any stitching because of the infection and with that, I have to bear with the pain of the open gap on the gum! I never stop chanting Allah's name inside my heart through out the procedure and Alhamdulillah, there's no complication whatsoever.
Finally, after paying at the counter, he prescribed me with Amoxicillin 500 mg and Paracetamol 600mg x 2 for one week course. I even bought whitening tooth paste that cost RM25 per tube because I really love coffee and it had yellowed my teeth. I went home after that and drink V Soy Soya bean milk and ate the medicines. Now, 10 hours after the surgery, I couldn't open my jaw and I slurred when I talk. It's very hard to swallow because the side of the throat that involved with the surgery is very painful.

 I hope I will have speedy recovery because it's hard to take care of 5 small children with this pain. And as for the tooth, I buried it under the Ciku tree at our back lawn. May you rest in peace, dearest wisdom tooth...

Cream Cake

Wow... It's been ages since I've posted anything. The pain that I'm experiencing because of my impacted wisdoom tooth is really killing me. I couldn't take any strong painkiller because I'm breastfeeding so I have to depend on Synflex 275mg only and I only dare to take it once every 24 hours. Despite of this pain, I brace myself to bake something for the kids and I still have half litres of Rich's Heavy cream and here comes the idea of baking Cream Cake. It's a first time attempt and the outcome is GREAT! The texture of the cake is light and silky and my 2 years old toddler, Delisha, who doesn't really like cake really loves it! She ate four pieces in a row! So, what are we waiting for? Let's bake!

Diva Cream Cake

250gm butter
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup heavy cream
5 eggs
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla essence

1. Beat butter with sugar til light and fluffy.
2. Add in eggs one at a time. Beat again.
3. Add in cream and beat again til fluffy.
4. Add in vanilla essence and baking powder.
5. Add in flour bit by bit, while mixing it well til it's light and fluffy.
6. Bake it in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 40 minutes. You can also bake it as cupcakes but only for 20 minutes.

Wisdom teeth pain

It's been a while since I last posted anything. Yeah... I miss blogging but I was in terrible pain right up until now. My right lower wisdom tooth is impacted and I'm in a lot of pain this week. I went to the policlinic because the last time I went to a private dentist, she told me that it cost RM450 per wisdom tooth to be extracted. I went to policlinic last week and the dentist told me that I have to be refer to Miri General Hospital to see the specialist. And they told me that the cost of wisdom tooth extraction is RM50 but my husband is a government servant, so it can be done free with a guarantee letter. The bad news is, it can only be done next month on the 21st! I have to bear with this pain for almost a month! It's even worse than labor pain because for me, when I'm in labor pain, it felt like a euphoric sensation compared to this killing pain of impacted wisdom tooth. Another bad news is, because of I'm breastfeeding my baby, they can't prescribe me with any strong drugs! Arghh.. so much in pain. But, I'm holding this to my heart:

"Those who patiently preserve will truly receive a reward without measure" (Qur'an 39:10). "And bear in patience whatever (ill) maybe fall you: this, behold, is something to set one's heart upon" (Qur'an 31:17). Prophet Mohammad taught "When the believer is afflicted with pain, even that of a prick of a thorn or more, God forgives his sins, and his wrongdoings are discarded as a tree sheds off its leaves."


I've googled so much information about wisdom tooth extraction and I hope with all of these info, I can manage it well. Dear Allah, please let me be strong because I have 5 children to take care of. Amin.