Iftar @ Jill's house

I was invited for Iftar at Jill's house- thank you Jill.
I made shepherd pie and pavlova. She cooked rice and chicken paprik and there were laksa johor from her sister, kerabu from her neighbour and kuihs from the bazaar Ramadhan . The table was full with food. (I forgot to take picture of the whole thing). And Jill tried to make some drink she found in Bazar Ramadhan called Mojito by mixing lemon with soda and mint. It did not taste like what she wanted it to taste but I like it though.

I found the Mojito recipe online:

Mojito Ingredient
1 oz of light rum ( I guess we have to skip that!)
3 tbsp of lemon juice (the picture shows lime? hmm contradicting)
2 tsp sugar
3 oz mint
club soda

Anyway, my Pavlova and Shepherd pie recipes:

Pavlova

Pavlova 2

Pavlova (credit to Cari.com.my)

Ingredient:

I- 180 gm egg whites

   a pinch of salt

   1/2 tsp cream of tartar (optional)

   100 gm caster sugar

   1 tsp vanilla essence

   1 tsp white vinegar

   1 tsp corn flour

II- Strawberry/Raspberry Couilis

    Strawberry

    Caster sugar

     Lemon juice

      Water

III- Cream

      240 ml heavy whipping cream

      1 1/2 tbsp (20 gm) icing sugar

       1/2 tsp vanilla

IV- Fresh fruits for decoration

1.Make meringue from egg whites. 

2.Add caster sugar gradually

3.Add vanilla, vinegar,and cornflor and mix well

4. Bake at 140C for 1 1/2 hrs on a 10 inch circle of silicon paper.Do not open the oven door until it is finally baked. Best made one night before serving.

5. For coulis, blend ingredient no II ..adjust the taste incase strawberry is too sour.

6.Beat ingredient no III till creamy. 

7. To serve, add cream on pavlova.  Decorate with the fresh fruits. Pour coulis.

Shepherd pie- chicken

Shepherd Pie 2

Shepherd's Pie ( credit online.)

900 gm potatoes

6 tbsp milk

110g butter, cubed + 1 tbsp for sauce

Salt and ground black pepper (I put white pepper)

1/2 oil or animal fat

115g finely chopped onion

115g finely diced carrot

1 clove garlic, minced

450g ground /minced lamb (I used chicken)

600 ml beef stock (I used 200 ml water as chicken gets tender easily)

115 chopped white mushrooms

2 tbsp finely chopped flat leaf parsley

1 tbsp all purpose flour

115g grated Cheddar Cheese

1. Heat oven to 190 C

2. Boil potatoes until soft then drain.Place the milk and butter in the same container used to boil potato, return to the heat and warm gently until butter has melted. Add the potatoes and mash. Season to taste and keep to one side.

3.Melt the animal fat or oil in a pan.Add the onion and carrot and fry for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.

4.Add the chicken and 200 ml water or stock to the onion and carrot mixture and cook, stirring constantly until all meat is browned. Add parsley and mushroom, season with salt and pepper. Cover with a lid and cook for 15 minutes

5.Mash the flour into the remaining 1 tbsp butter and add in small pieces to the ground meat sauce, stirring until all flour has dissolved and the sauce has thickened slightly, approx 5 mins.

6. Place the meat sauce into an  20cm X 7cm deep ceramic of glass ovenproof dish and cover with the mashed potato. Sprinkle the grated cheese on top of the potato and bake in the heated oven for 30-35 mins until the surface is crisp and browned. Serve immediately.

Despite my soggy pavlova  due to the condition of my oven and the whip cream, Jill's children simply  love it.  And the Shepherd pie too. I'm so glad., it is always good feeling to make children happy.