Hawaiian Chicken Pizza

This is another localized pizza recipe. The base and toppings (except for cheese) are 100% home-made.

The recipe for the base is authentically Italian . It is low in both calories and cholesterol. Since milk and butter are omitted, therefore, minus the topping, it is most suitable for the health-freaks and calories-conscious.

Recipe For The Base
250g plain flour
250g bread flour
300g water
2 tsp salt
3tsp sugar
11g dry yeast (ready-packed)
2 tablespoon olive oil

Methods:
1. Blend all ingredients using a mixer or hands.
2. Let it rise for 1 1/2 hour.
3. Divide the dough into 2-3 portion (depending on the pan size), roll out and spread it over the pan.
4. Prick tiny holes using forks on the surface. Let it rest.
5. In the meantime, heat up oven to 180 degrees C for at least 10 min
5. Bake for 15 minutes.

Baking Tips:
1. The original recipe calls for 700g plain flour. I like the base to be softer like the bread texture, so have substituted half of it with bread flour/high protein flour. This is the typical localized version of pizza. The original American or Italian pizza base are all made of normal plain flour which is easier to manage when the dough has risen. Usually the base made of 100% plain flour will be crispier when baked.

2. This recipe will produce 2 large pizza and 1 small pizza. However, if you do not have a double rack oven, you may have to put the remaining dough (cover with damp cloth) in the freezer while baking the first pan of pizza before the dough becomes "over-proven" which will cause the base to become rather dense. I usually make all the base first before spreading the topping. Just make sure you have enough pans to hold up all the dough. Timing for proofing is very important which I have yet mastered. In fact, someone who worked in Pizza Hut told me that any over-proofing dough has to be discarded or the pizza will not turn out well. Usually while the first pizza base is sent to the oven, you can start rolling out the base for the second one. As for the 3rd one, just leave it in the fridge in order that it is not over-risen while waiting for its turn to bake. Sometimes it gotta look at the weather(besides checking your own mood). If you bake during a hot day, the yeast will become hyperactive and react quickly. Anyway, you won't fail easily with this PizzAdventure!

3. Water, you may need more or less the above amount. It all depend on the quality of the flour. Anyway, you may adjust with either adding more flour or water, no harm done.

4. If you do not use up all the base, it can be stored in the freezer for up to 6 months. Just wrap it with cling firm or plastic wrap.

Pizza Topping:

1 cup tomato sauce (Pls look for the Multi-purpose Tomato Sauce recipe from "All about sauces")
1 green capsicum, sliced/cubed
1 onion, sliced
Some mozzarella cheese & some cheddar, if desired
1 bowl of cubed chicken meat (from breast of one chicken), marinated with turmeric powder, curry powder, pounded garlic and shallots, salt and brown sugar and 1 tbp of oil.
Some pineapple cubes (key ingredient as per the recipe title)
Some dried oregano/mixed herbs

Just assemble everything on top of the pizza and bake at 180 degree C for 15-20 minutes (ensure the chicken is cooked through)

Spread the tomato paste

Green pepper, onion and chicken











Dun forget the cheese











This is the end result

Tomato Rice

This is a one-pot-dish or "yat wok soak" in Cantonese. A quick meal for anyone who doesn't have time to prepare dinner for their family.

Ingredients:
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 onion, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 shallots, sliced
1 stick of cinnamon
2-3 cloves
3 cardamon seeds
1 small piece of young ginger, make into paste/grind/sliced/pat it flat
1 tsp bryiani rice spices/curry powder/turmeric powder
1 cup of milk
1 knot of pandan leaves
2 stalk of lemon grass
2 tbsp grapeseed oil/olive oil (instead of butter or ghee for a healthier option)
2 cups of long grain rice, washed and drained
1 tsp salt (according to taste)

Method:
1. Heat up the oil, fry onion till soft.
2. Add shallots, garlic, chopped tomatoes and all the spices (except for the powder) till fragrant.
3. Add the rice in and stir for 2 minutes
4. Pour into the rice cooker.
5. Pour the milk in and add enough water to cover the rice.
6. Add in the spice powder and salt.
7. Don't forget the pandan leaves(you can fry together with the rice and then put right away into the cooker) and finally push the Cook button.

Step-by-step guide:
Get ready all the ingredients. Clockwise from top
Chopped tomatoes
Sliced shallots, minced garlic and ginger paste
Sliced onions
Lemon grass (all herbs from my backyard, limited space so it is very 'slim') , cloves(bunga cengkih), cinnamon stick and cardamon seeds
Pandan leaves(in the centre)


Saute onion first. Fgarlic and shallots first








Add in tomatoes, lemon grass and other herbs and spice.









Add rice and continue to stir-fry for 5 min








Pour all the ingredients into the rice cooker, add milk and enough water and salt according to taste








Wanna try some?

Wholemeal Loaf

Another bread-venture...
Another simple to follow recipe..... (basically most of my recipes are meant for the idiots and lazybones)

Ingredients:
450g high protein flour
250g whole meal flour
290g cold milk
1 egg
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
50g grape seed oil/butter/margarine (up to you)
15g of yeast (apprx 2 tbsp)

Methods:
Mix all, using a mixer of course.
Anyway, mixing with hands are not prohibited.
When the dough is formed, just rest it for 1 hour.
After an hour, punch it down and give at least 10 minutes of kneading and punching.
Look, yeasts are like humans. Warmth make it alive and kicking. You have to treat them with passion. Just let the warm of our hands to give the dough few minutes of massage and you can see the dough swell gradually (dun think otherwise)
Grease a 9x9x5 inches bread pan (1 large loaf size) and throw the dough in
Let it rise for another 30minutes or until double in size
Preheat oven to 200 degree C for at least 8 min before putting the pan in.
Bake for another 25min or till the surface turned golden brown.
The bread is cooked when it shrink a little.


This bread has a light and soft texture despite it is weighed down by the wholemeal flour. I just love tapping on it to hear the hollow sound when it's done.

Best eaten when toasted!

Multi-Purpose Tomato Sauce

I went to my fren's Deevali open house 2 weeks ago and have tasted this wonderful tomato sauce. The recipe was a hand-me-down from the family's grand parents. Obviously it's a trade secret as the family was mummed about revealing the secret ingredients despite my many rounds of hinting and probing. Eager to find out the ingredients contained in this secret recipe, I walloped quite a large amount of this sauce with the bryiani rice. I ended up eating more tomato sauce than the rice and mutton curry! I believe my effort didn't go in vain as I managed to "catch" the taste of the ingredients used. Surprisingly it didn't taste spicy like the typical Indian style of tomato chutney. The sweetness is unpretentious, for you can tell that the natural sweetness was actually came from the tomatoes. The mild sourish taste made the sauce even more appetizing. I can't but to say that this tomato sauce is really superb!

I have decided to experiment out the tomato sauce recipe. Anyway, I have modified the recipe a little to suit my own preference. The original recipe uses purely tomato, onion and some cashew nuts. I believe the secret lies with the oil - which is ghee, one of the Indians' favorites. Ghee or clarified butter is really not my type of oil as it's rather fattening despite the fact that it makes the food taste good. So you will not find this item in my following recipe:

Tomato Sauce Recipe:
6 red tomatoes (the riper the better as it is sweeter)- Chopped 2 tomatoes and puree the remaining 4 into paste.
1 big onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 red capsicum/bell pepper(any colour will do), chopped into cubes
Sugar and salt according to taste.

Methods:
1. Heat 2 table spoon of cooking oil in the pan.
2. When the oil is hot, stir fry the onion till it becomes soft.
3. Add minced garlic
4. Add in capsicum and chopped tomatoes and continue to stir fry till fragrant.
5. Pour in the tomato puree.
6. Simmer till the mixture thicken and all the vegetables become soft.
7. Add sugar and salt to taste

Simmer....

Done!

Well, if you don't like the chunky texture, just add a little bit more water and simmer till all the ingredients become very soft. I basically don't like to puree it further as this will end up taste like baby food..You can also add some other chunky vege such as carrots, celery or courgettes. If you like it to taste more like kwai-lo style, sprinkle with some mixed herbs, black pepper or dried oregano to give the extra zing.

This sauce is simple to make and I call it multi-purpose tomato sauce for many reasons:-
1) It's an excellent spread for toast bread, chappati, naan and pizza
2) Mix it with some fried minced meat and transform it into a tasty bolognaise sauce for pasta of all types.
3) Can't finish? Store it in the fridge and make it a dipping sauce for tacos, keropok and small cheesedale cracker biscuits.
4) Having left-over chickens and meatballs from last nite's dinner? Just pour this sauce over to become a new dish.
5) It makes an excellent gravy for nasi bryani or plain rice and kids love it coz it's mildly sweeten.

The list goes on.. I believe for the sole reason that any homemade sauce is 100% original and free from any preservative is good enough to convince anyone to DIY this sauce at home. My next experiment is to make this sauce into homemade chili sauce so that I can say bye to Maggi or Kimball or Ayamas. Well, the outrage about Chinese melamine usage has no doubt a major fear factor for many. Sadly,our government has failed to scrutinize on how much this chemical has pervaded our food system. So you can't blame me for becoming paranoia after the breaking news. All of you I believe are like me nowadays. Fear of canned food, fear of biscuits, fear of bread and cakes with extended shelf life, fear of preserved vegetable and cured meat...and finally, fear of China! Not so much about their earthquakes, but food...

Pizza Mania

This is a simple Malaysianised pizza recipe for whoever wish to venture it at home . The dough is 100% homebaked. This recipe is enough to make two 9-inch pan pizza, similar to 2 large size pizza from Pizza Hut:

Pizza Dough
250g high protein flour/bread flour
250g plain flour/wholemeal flour
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp dry yeast
2 tbsp butter
50g virgin olive oil
200 ml chilled milk
1/2 tsp salt

There are 2 methods to make the dough. The first method is pretty simple coz it is all automatic. That is provided you have a breadmaker. All you have to do is to follow the below steps closely:
1. Measure all ingredients accurately.
2. Throw everything into the breadmaker.
3. Select 'dough"
4. Press "start".

Normally the cycle will end about 1 hour 35min including proofing time, depending on your machine. Anyway, I don't need to elaborate on this further cos breadmachine is meant for dummies and the lazybones (which i am one of them..hehehe!).

Herewith the "orangmatic" methods for the gungho ones:

1. Sift both flour and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook.
2. Mix in butter and yeast.
3. Pour in milk gradually and mix well to form a soft n pliable dough.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly flour surface and knead well until smooth and elastic.
5. Lightly grease a bowl and place the dough in.
6. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise until dough is double in size.

Bake the Base
Once the dough is risen, punch it down and let it rise for the second time. Grease a pizza pan. Roll out the dough into 1/2 cm thick to make the pizza base. Place on lightly grease trays or pizza pan and allow it to rise slightly. Brush the dough lightly with olive oil (optional). Prick with a fork on the surface of the dough. This is to ensure that the pizza base will remain in shape after baking. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 180 degree Celsius for 10 min. Bake the dough for 10-12 minutes.

Instant Pizza Topping
1 big onion, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 can Ayam brand tuna mayonnaise spread
2 cups pasta sauce
Grated mozzarella cheese

When the pizza base is ready, spread a layer of pasta sauce over the half-cooked pizza base; follow by the tuna mayonnaise spread. Scatter the chopped tomatoes and onions and grated mozzarella cheese and bake at 200 degrees C for 17 minutes until the sides of the pizza and the cheese turns golden brown.

Topping- Before Baking













Topping - After Baking