HomeMadeS

T&T: Cook from Jugalbandhi

noreply@blogger.com (Arfi Binsted) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:38:00 +0000

Oh boy, my back's hurting again. I guess I've been digging and hoeing too much, in celebration of having sunshine (in between showers) to manage and re-organize our abandoned garden. Yep, since Winter is really nasty this year, my cinerarias are burnt as the result of frost. Some part of our lawn is going yellow as frost have laid its big foot on, making great marks. And then now, rains are making the earth is soggy.

On the other hand, it might be a good news for our apricots to grow better. Our climate here is apparently not cold enough for them to give more fruits than ever, while they should be growing well in South Island. We only had 5 apricots last year from the whole trees. We also had to dig out one of the trees as it was really prone to diseases and did not produce at all. The replacements are more for apples, peaches, and plums.

I did a little bit more efforts on pollinating the plumcotts (a crossed between plum and apricot) and early plums (so called Dans Early which usually is harvested early in Summer), as there are new blooms each day. However, with wet days like these days, it is impossible to have the brushes stay dry. I guess I have to wait until the days are free from showers. I don't think it's going to happen in three-four days ahead. Sigh.

Spring is not here yet, although my daffodils are already displaying their cheerful and bright colours with tulips in different tones. I guess it is too early, but they are there. I can't stop them from growing. Perhaps, storing the bulbs in the vegetable crisper in the fridge give them a boost to grow faster. I have to de-head them as soon as they're wilted or fallen their petals. They would need more energy to store nutrition in the bulbs for next year's work, so I read in one of Burke's Backyard issues.

Back to the kitchen. Perhaps you are familiar with Tried and Tasted event, created and hosted by Zlamushka. This is one of the ways to go to someone's kitchen and cook what they cook and taste what they taste. This month, we all go to Jugalbandhi, Bee and Jai's very own kitchen, who are the brains behind Click Photo event which I suppose it is so popular you already know.

I've browsed their recipes and I came up with these brussel sprouts dish. I did click more than once recipe, but with my sore back, I can't do much than I want too. I picked Brussel Sprouts with Lemon-Mustard Sauce because I have the ingredients handy.

The thing that I am interested in this dish is that how do they combine lemon and mustard with these mini-cabbage-like vegetables to go in one plate and would taste flavoursome all the same? I can tell you, the combination is great, especially when you take these slowly to let the flavour of lemon and mustard tantalizing your buds in between the crunchiness of the vegetables with a hint of sweet honey in your mouth (yes, I replace maple syrup with Manuka honey, a New Zealand best honey). This dish is compliment the roast chicken that I cook for dinner. It is just perfect for easy and quick serving in your busy days. Not so many ingredients are inquired, not so much time spent.

Rowing and Merdeka Celebration

noreply@blogger.com (Arfi Binsted) — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 20:28:00 +0000

It was a celebration on Kiwi rowing team yesterday at rowing finals. Mahe Drysdale (if you watched the Olympic opening ceremony, he was the flag bearer for NZ team) won bronze while he was really ill and that was the first medal Kiwis Olyimpic team had made. Although Coles and Haigh only came 5th on women's pair final, the men's pair Bridgewater and Twaddle won bronze medal. It was the twins Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell who had won first gold medal for NZ. Must be an exciting moment for them to know that they did it just 0.01 inch from the Germany team at the finish ruler while they even thought they lost from the Germany. It was just a golden moment to watch this race. The night before I went to bed, Roulston was just cycling on the track. I did not watch Valerie Vill on shot put. I thought it was going to be on on Sunday, but it seems I missed it last night. She did get the gold medal. Well done, team!! (To think about this grand event, I have a dream to go there and capture all of those moments... It would be honoured to be able to go with the team and watch and capture great moments. I am sure professional sport photographers are on top of the world at this present!)

It is raining here now while we're hoping to be able to move the sheep up to the old shed. I think we can do it today although me and hubby are still having this miserable snorty cold, but it's the rain which stops us. With a quick move, then we were able to walk the sheep about 300m away from our driveway up to the shed. Back to the paddock, I manage to go to the orchard and have a look at our early Spring blooms. It was a shame really, as the day is really wet and there are no bees to pollinate them. I brought my brush with me and tried to do it myself. I don't know if it does work or not, I guess, we just need to see in Summer, besides it is too wet to work on pollinating.

Today is the Indonesian Independence Day celebration and there's a food bazaar somewhere in Auckland but I don't think we can make it. I've cooked Indonesian food myself last night just to give a tribute to my home-country.

Ayam Rica-Rica (Chicken with Sweet and Tomato Sambal Sauce)

1kg chicken portion, washed and trimmed
1 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tsps tamarind paste
salt
1/4 cup hot water

Sambal

5 red chillies (add more if you'd like hotter), minced
3 small shallots, sliced thinly
3 tomatoes, chopped
1-2cm ginger root, bruised (or if you like it a bit gingery, you can make a paste of chillies and ginger in a mortal and pestle)
salt
sugar
oil
diced limes (I use Tahitian limes--if you see the skin is yellow--unlike other green-skin limes).

Dilute the tamarind paste with hot water. Add in the crushed coriander, garlic, and salt. Marinade the chicken in the mixture for 30 minutes or so. The more you marinade them the more flavoursome they'll be. Drizzle some oil, massage the chicken portion with it. Arrange them on a ovenproof dish and bake, covered, at 160C for 30 minutes. Uncovered and then fan-bake until the chicken are browned, turned over and fan-bake the other side until brown. Remove from the oven and keep warm while you're making the sambal (or you can make the sambal first and reheat just before serving when the chicken are just hot from the oven). Serves 8-12.

Sambal

Heat the frying pan. Pour in the oil. Cook the sliced shallots until soft. Add in the chilli paste, and then ginger. When the mixture is fragrant, add in chopped tomatoes. Let the tomatoes go soft and then you can add salt and sugar to season. Sprinkle the diced limes. Spoon the sambal on the hot chicken.

I also made Sagon, Indonesian coconut slice, to participate on Indonesian Food Photo contest, hosted by IndoRecipe on Flickr Group. If you can click the photo, it will take you to the recipe as well. There's still time to enter. When you cook Indonesian food today, please remember to take a good photo of them. You may be winning something!

And here are some more photos of our holiday you may want to view.

Hot Tea, Trout Fishing and First Day Up at Whakapapa

noreply@blogger.com (Arfi Binsted) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 02:37:00 +0000

It was still raining when we unloaded the car. The day was unpleasant and it felt quite cold in the house. We lit the fire immediately and I put the jug on. It was only me plus kids and Sue who got to the house first while the others joined in the next day. Sitting down quietly in front of the fire and watching the kids rambling through every corner of the house. It's funny to see them doing that. Just like cats who moved into a new home. Sniffing every corner, searching every button and going through things. My son kept telling me that he liked the house, which was good. While they started settling down and playing with one another, I was sitting down chatting away with Sue.

We did not have any plan that day as we arrived just for afternoon tea (4 hours drive from our farm--make it 5 with small children), so we sort of preparing things like we normally do at home. Bed-making, brewing coffee, making tea, you name it. It was just nice to be able to stay at a house where everything you need is stored in the fridge and there's a lounge to sit around. It gives the homey feeling.

When we went out to search for information the days we advised to be able to go skiing or whatever we could do up on the mountain, the day started to go gray again. Rain and all. We decided to go to a garage out of Turangi because we really need to get the car checked as we caught burning smell during our trip to Turangi. The town is called Otarua, which is about 15 minutes out of Turangi. It took us about an hour to get it fixed and there was a magical thing happened. The gray clouds which were skirted the top of the mountain was lifted a little bit and gave us a clue what was stored up there. The white snow.

Back to the house, we walked along the river where we could see some people were trout fishing. It was unfortunate for us really because not many of them we could see as the rain made them hiding back to their lodges. Not at my luck to get a good capture of them as well.

However, the next day was quite alright. As the other troops had come, we kicked ourselves out of the rain and moved up to the mountain. It was still drizzling with a rhythmic of heavy rain every now and then during our drive up. Mount Ruapehu is situated at the Tongariro National Park where millions of red tussocks are massively spread on the ground. This park is recognized to be World Heritage Site. Although it was raining, I still could see the beauty of this park.

Up on our way to the day, I took a snap while we were driving. As you can see, the skirt of the clouds were too heavy to lift up. However, you still can imagine how beautiful it will be on a fine weather. I wished I could go up here again in Summer.

After we were shuttled by a bus from the car park 10, we decided to just do tobogganing and did not bother to go to the summit. The weather was unpleasant with lots of icy rain with thick condensation in the air. At the end of the day, the place was almost disappeared and our faces were slapped by mung-bean-sized ice which were coming with the wind. We were still tobogganing and my kids did not care of such weather. They just wanted to slide down. Woo Hoo!

Here are some more photos I took on our first day at Mt Ruapehu. If you click each photo, you will be brought to its description on Flickr. I hope you're having fun reading them.

Macaroni Cheese Bake and Huka Falls

noreply@blogger.com (Arfi Binsted) — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 23:21:00 +0000

The day we went off Tuakau to Turangi was unpleasant for a 4 hours driving trip. It was windy in Tuakau and raining along the way we arrived in Turangi. We were a bit disappointed because we could not see the beauty of Mount Ruapehu from Lake Taupo. However, we arrived safely at a 'home' where we stayed during the trip.

On our way to Taupo, we stopped to lunch at a car park where Huka Falls is situated. The parking lot was quite large with two buses and lots of cars. People were wondering around with their camera in hands. Pretty much like me, never want to miss out. Other than that we were quite lucky that the sun was shining in between drizzles.

Huka Falls is located near Taupo (just click to see the location). The interesting part about this waterfall is that the water is flowing recorded to be 220,000 litres per second. That is huge!

You can find more information about Huka Falls at Huka Falls Website. We did not take Huka jet to get closer to the waterfall as we did not plan to do. The weather was quite temperamental and we did not want to take a risk being caught in a flood somewhere near Taupo-Taurangi. Besides, we were so hungry after a long, long drive and it seems that our tummy soon had to give more attention.

Traveling with two young children means stuffing your baskets with food, food and food. I've made batches of New Zealand iconic biscuits such as Afghans, Anzac, Peanut Brownies, and Ginger Crunch to nibble along the way. I also mixed nuts, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and sunflower seeds with lots of raisins, prune, and dried apricots to make a good scrogging. Besides that, I had also prepared macaroni cheese bake, chocolate sponge pudding, and blueberry pudding for our first dinners away from home. I want us to be able to eat home-cooking although we're far away from my kitchen.

I made large portions of baked goods for the trip as there are two families with 4 adults, 5 teenagers, and 2 young children traveling and staying together. I might be spoiling them a bit, but I also just want to stick with home-cooking. In the end, everyone is enjoying it, so that is a bonus.

Macaroni Cheese Bake

I used 3 small loaf foil tins and 1 large regular baking tin. You can substitute the smoked chicken with leftover cooked chicken, beef, or even corned beef. For vegetarian version, use broccoli or spinach instead. Make experiment with your favourite vegetables for optimal satisfaction. I don't usually use salt for macaroni cheese as I find that the cheese will give satisfying saltiness in food while extra salt isn't always necessary, but I do think this can be a personal preference.

We usually eat macaroni cheese bake with homemade tomato sauce or chutney with a bowl of crunchy salad.

This kind of food is quite nice to accompany you while watching the Olympic games. I think it's better than those salty ordinary chips. Did you watch the opening? Boy, it was some spectacular ceremony. I love the form of those 2008 drummers performance. That was amazing!

We watched hockey today and was a bit disappointed as we lost to Japan's team. But we're having a high hope on rowing. Go NZ Team!!

500g macaroni, cook according to instructions
12 eggs
1 can evaporated milk
5 cloves garlic, minced with 1 tsp ground white pepper
3 large shallots, finely sliced
3 Tbs finely chopped celery leaves
3 Tbs finely chopped spring onions (white part included)
2 cups shredded smoked chicken
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbs self-rising flour
300g Gruyere cheese, finely grated plus 50g extra to sprinkle
oil for frying
salt to taste, optional

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease lightly the tins with butter.

Heat the frying pan and add oil. Cook the sliced shallots until light brown and crispy. Drain on paper towel. Set aside.

Heat the frying pan again and add in oil. Cook the minced garlic until fragrant. Set aside.

Meanwhile, whisk the eggs until frothy and is about to go fluffy. Pour in the milk. Add in the fried minced garlic-pepper. Reduce the speed to slow. Add in the cooked macaroni, cheese, fried shallots, finely diced celery leaves and spring onions, and then smoked chicken. Mix well. Add in the self-rising flour. Mix well. You may add salt if you like at this stage.

Pour or Spoon into the prepared tins. Sprinkle with extra cheese. Bake for 30 minutes or until cooked. Enough for 4 adults, 2 young children and 5 teenagers.

I'm Back!

noreply@blogger.com (Arfi Binsted) — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 01:07:00 +0000

I'm back, earlier than we've planned. Together with us are loads of dirty laundry, hundreds of emails, and packed of photos to upload. I have to get myself back together again. So, I am hoping I can catch up on with you, guys!

See you more soon!

KBB#6-Cheese Biscuits

noreply@blogger.com (Arfi Binsted) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 19:00:00 +0000

Winter is really getting a bit far from friendly these days. Stormy days, frosty morning, freezing evening, but a mug of good hot chocolate is the best company ever. I've had several experiments on hot chocolate you might want to see either on my PhotoStream or on Through My Lens.

Anyway, bites of cheese biscuits as little companions to creamy and smooth soup could be another alternative to warm us up. These biscuits have been our second option to eat the soup with from home-made sourdough bread, of course. I am making these little cheesy bites as a part of KBB's newest challenge.

Klub Berani Baking is a club where Indonesian ladies come together every two months to try out a recipe and discuss the outcomes through the group's mailing list before posted on everyone's blog (we have non-blogger members, too!). KBB members are also discussing and learning food photography through KBB Flickr Group. We have a themed challenge each month.

It is perhaps similar to your Daring Bakers, although KBB is not going to have members more than 101. Those who are applying for joining in the club have to wait until other members have resigned. I want to keep it small because 101 is a good number for a group of people with similar interests and hobbies. I am just hoping everyone is comfortable under one flag (although you can't really avoid there's some niche amongst some members) and enjoy our friendship while sharing ideas, experiences, and recipes through discussions on the mailing list.

This 6th task we have is cheese biscuits. The process is very simple and the result is quite nice. We eat these biscuits with kumara and parsnip soup.

The recipe of the cheese biscuits can be viewed here with both languages.

Kumara is sweet potato and we home-grown them. The variety we grow is those with purple skin and creamy flesh. Sometimes in the centre of the flesh of big kumaras will have purple lines, which is so pretty. For you who have never grown kumara or sweet potatoes before, here are some photos you might want to look at on how to grow kumara.

First time growing kumara was in late 2004 and we got the seedlings from a nursery on our way back home from a trip at Glenbrook beach, about 2 hours drive from our farm. They were sold in the form of seedlings like this (the photo on the left).

Since then, we tried to sprout our own kumaras and pick each sprouts which are now becoming the new seedlings. It was like a test and true, they take it or die. Until today, it's been usually successful. The harvest is quite plentiful. Kumara is also an easy-growing plant.

The mixture we're using is mainly coarse sand mixed with compost and soil with a little bit of peat or 'manured' straw (taken from the chicken houses). We make beds or mountains for them. While growing, they tend to spill out their vines anywhere. These mountains are needed to keep their roots move easily inside and produce their fruits in the ground.

All about gardening is the gracious rewards you can't even beat with those I usually buy from the supermarket. If you only have a small garden, it should not be an obstacle to keep you from planting anything. As long as you can manage your time being at your work and at your garden, the rewards can be achieved from both ends. It's all about balance, I would think.

Happy planting!

Kumara and Parsnip Soup

3-4 kumaras, peeled, chopped and steamed
1 parsnip, peeled, chopped and steamed
vegetable stock, about 1 litre
water
garlic and herb salt, to taste
freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
creme fraiche or olive oil, to taste
parsley, to garnish or sprinkle

Puree kumaras and parsnip together, drizzle in the stock to make it easier to mix. Mix together with the stock and water to thin it down. Heat gently until bubbly. Season with salt and pepper. Serve hot with a scoop of creme fraiche or a drizzle of olive oil. Garnish or sprinkle with a sprig or chopped flat-leaf parsley. Enough for 4-6.

This will be my last post until the middle of next month. I am off to Mount Ruapehu for a little holiday with my family (should not we be in Bali by now?). I am going early in August and I'll see you when I get back.

***

Ini resepku untuk sup Ubi Jalar dan Lobak

3-4 ubi jalar, kupas, potong2 lalu kukus
1 parsnip, kupas, potong2, lalu kukus (boleh dikukus bareng sama ubi jalar)
kaldu sayur (bikin sendiri dari campuran air, potongan wortel, 1 buah bawang bombay, kupas lalu potong2, 3 siung bawang putih, geprak, satu kentang potong tanpa dikupas, batang seledri atau seledrinya sekalian, 1 batang leek-ambil putihnya aja, bisa pake daun bawang kalo ga punya leek, trus tambahin butiran merica hitam atau putih), sekitar 1 liter
air
garlic and herb salt
merica hitam yang baru digerus
creme fraiche atau olive oil
parsley, buat hiasan atau taburan

Puree ubi jalar dan parsnip yang udah masak, kasih sedikit air atau kaldu supaya lebih gampang mencampurnya sampai lembut dan halus. Masukkan ke dalam panci bersama dengan sisa kaldu dan tambahkan air untuk mencairkan sup jika terlalu padat. Panaskan dengan api kecil sampai mendidih, masukkan bumbu dan cicip. Hidangkan panas dengan sesendok creme fraiche atau olive oil. Hias atau taburi dengan parsley berdaun rata (parsley kan ada dua: yang berdaun rata dan berdaun keriting. Yang berdaun rata itu Italian parsley atau disebut juga flat-leaf parsley, sementara yang keriting cuma parsley). Cukupan deh buat 4-6 porsi.

Untuk tantangan kali ini sangat mudah dan bahan-bahannya juga ga begitu sulit dicari, meskipun keju tergolong barang mahal saat ini. Jangan heran, sejak harga bensin naik, harga-harga dairy product dan barang-barang lainnya juga ikutan naik, ga di Indonesia aja, di Selandia Baru juga. Keju yang tadinya satu block yang harganya cuma satu dolaran sekarang udah 3 dolar lebih bahkan yang lebih gedean udah hampir nyampe 2 digit. Padahal kan Selandia Baru termasuk penghasil keju terkenal di dunia, eh, kita juga kena imbasnya nih!

Meskipun begitu, tantangan tetep jalan terus dong, ga ada acara males hehehe.

Ga ada kesulitan yang berarti saat membuat tantangan kali ini dan anak-anak lebih tertarik menari ketimbang nguplek di dapur. Aku jadi lebih leluasa. Kami menikmati biskuit ini dengan semangkuk sup.

Untuk keju aku pake campuran cheddar dan parmesan. Waktu coba lagi sih pake parmesan aja. Menteganya aku pake mentega asin, hasilnya ga begitu asin menurutku. Bahkan udah ditambah garlic salt. Tapi ga tahu ya kayaknya sih relatif tingkat keasinan itu. Soalnya untukku sih cheddar sama parmesan itu ga seasin blue cheese atau brie.

Untuk resep silakan lihat di sini.

Pilihanku untuk topping sebagian memakai wijen, sebagian lagi pake cincangan walnuts dan sebagian lainnya pakai cincangan pistachio. Di milis tempo hari Dita memposting tentang taburan gula, aku udah coba juga dan hasilnya asin-manis. Aku bikin ini untuk bekal nanti di Mt. Ruapehu. Musti bekal makanan yang banyak hehehe...

Sampai ketemu lagi bulan depan. Siap-siap untuk Ulang Tahun KBB yang pertama ya!

A Feast in A Stormy Day

noreply@blogger.com (Arfi Binsted) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 00:10:00 +0000

On Friday night, we already heard that we would get a storm on the weekend. That evening, we moved the sheep to the back paddock where they can shelter in the old shed. Just as well, we found out that newborn twins were just arrived, perhaps in the night before. We are glad that they're doing alright, looking healthy and already running around their mother.

And that very late evening, I've just finished making creme brulee with rhubarb mixture for our dessert tomorrow. By now, the rain was still pouring with mild wind. We got in the bed with rain was still down pouring with occasional hail in between.

On Saturday morning, it was getting heavier with wind furiously blowing. Some of our guests from Auckland city had to cancel their trip to the countryside, which was a shame as I've made a lot of desserts and sweets to choose from. I could not blame them because it was a tremendous storm. The wind was 150km/h screaming out loud through the twisted branches. The tallest trees are swinging from right to left, front to back, twisted and turned. Goodness gracious, it was just scary.

In the middle of our midday feast, we had to accept the truth that we had to surrender of the power of the power. When it's out, what to do? We could not even boil a kettle. Luckily we have a great fireplace with cast-iron on top which I sometimes use to cook when we run out of gas and don't have a replacement. I hate using power stove, so much electricity to use. Guess how much bill we have to pay by using electric coils stove.

However, the feast itself was a success, I suppose. I am quite satisfied to be surrounded by family and friends, the people that I know and am comfortable being with. I made fondant potatoes, chicken-venison lime and chilli roast, steamed puha, sliced fresh tomatoes, sauteed mung bean sprouts, and trio broccoli-brussel sprouts and sauteed cos lettuce salad sprinkled with grated parmesan. The drink is casual as we don't drink alcohol, we always love my home-made lime juice. I am using Tahitian lime as we grow them. They're turning yellow at present and I have to make the most of them before they're rotten.

As the birthday cake, my youngest daughter asked me if I could make a giant mushroom for her birthday. I have to admit that I am not keen on cake decorating at the moment. I like seeing beautiful work of decorated cakes, but it takes so much time, so much work and I have to do it all by myself. And I am not up to it, so I asked Sarah if it's alright I make it easier. She said she did not mind as long as I will use M&M sweets as parts of them. Right.

I don't have that kind of cake tin (half-sphere shape) as the mushroom head, so I use steamed pudding mould. The bottom cake is a muffin. I made orange and almond cake. It was quite firm to hold the shape. The giant mushroom was tinted pink and green. The idea was adapted from AWW Kids Party Cakes, if you have the book, I am sure you can find the photo which is similar to Sarah's mushroom.

Sarah was very happy with her cake, like other children who always admire their parents' work, I suppose that's how they express their appreciation: by licking the bowl, or printing their fingers on your decorated cakes?

Other than no power to watch TV on what's going on the other parts of New Zealand, we just curling up around a candle, reading books to children before they're going to bed and we went to bed earliest than ever. I could not sleep. I hate darkness. I probably have some kind of darkness phobia, but I just hate sleeping without any glimpse of light. I had to draw the curtain and let a little light with a silhouette of swinging trees beyond the paddock. I had to get up again and continued writing on my unfinished novel until I had no more words in my head to jot down. I tried to go back to bed. I still can feel that my mind and body are not resting until the powere were back on early in the morning. What kind of feeling I am having now, I know you know for sure.

In the morning we were walking around and found out three trees were up-rooted. Many pine branches are broken their limbs which are now scattered on the driveway. Our door steps are all messy with pine needles, swooped through. Our paddock is a mass of broken pine twigs and their new leaves. It's a mess. However, there's not much we can do to clear them all on one day. The day is still gray and it is still raining.

These photos above are taken just this morning. We moved the calves back to the nearest paddock. They are quite tame and one of them is Brownie, we call them, is always following us wherever you go. It's sometimes a bit worrying because he often nod his head just like he will nudge us with his horns which are very well noticed. But he does not do that. He's a curious young cow. When he spotted Bow Bow with us, he runs across the paddock and meets him by the fence. Sniffing around. Bow Bow clearly did not like the sniffing session, as you can see his expression on the photo. He tries to escape from Brownie and climbs up the tree. But Brownie keeps standing under the tree with his head bows up and down. It was quite funny, really. I often have a good laugh to see these animals actions.

More storms will come our way tomorrow (which I hope won't happen). If it will, I apologize if I am not making my way to visit your blogs. I will return your visit when the day is fine again.

I hope you're enjoying your weather!

Thank You!

noreply@blogger.com (Arfi Binsted) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:00:00 +0000

Thank you for all of you who have supported and participated on the Books for Love project. The money we've raised is IDR 6,050,000.00 for the cancer children at Indonesian Care of Cancer Kids Foundation (YKAKI) in Indonesia. Without your support, this project could not have happened. Truly from my deepest heart I am so grateful and thank you on behalf of the people at the foundation and also of the cancer children as well.

Love to you all!

GYO: Pumpkins

noreply@blogger.com (Arfi Binsted) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:13:00 +0000

Bee and Jai have announced Grow Your Own event as a part of Andrea's GYO.

I am submitting this roast pumpkin as I love it! I am roasting them with sage and garlic. In tradition of our family, pumpkin can be sliced or chopped in chunks to accompany other vegetables such as potatoes, kumaras (sweet potatoes) or parsnips as the main dish to roast chicken or lamb. Roast pumpkin is also nice pureed and mixed with fresh cream and vegetable stock to make roast pumpkin soup. There's always more options to do with pumpkins.

We grow our own pumpkins as I've written in Donna's Silverbeet (Pumpkin) Gruyere Gratin post. They grow well in our garden soil and there's no such hassle. They even grow on our back paddock just because my husband threw the rotten pumpkin out of the garden to the back paddock, so the bird can eat its seeds. Magical thing happens, some of the seeds are tucked in well under the grass and grown into vines. Yes, New Zealand soil is quite fertile.

This is my entry for Grow Your Own, created by Andrea and this month is hosted by Bee and Jai.

Roast Pumpkin

1 medium pumpkin
8 cloves garlic
1 sprig fresh sage
salt and pepper
olive oil

Preheat the oven to 180C. Wash the pumpkin. Chop or slice. Put them in the bowl. Mix with garlic cloves and sage leaves. Drizzle the oil over and toss to combine. Sprinkle with salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Enough for 20.

Meringues and Gorgie Porgie Story

noreply@blogger.com (Arfi Binsted) — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 01:46:00 +0000

It's been 5 days now we're having Gorgie Porgie, that's what we named him, under our care. He was very weak after being born and could not suckle very well. We brought him back to our home and fed him regularly. Unfortunately, he's getting weaker and weaker within hours. He flopped down and could not go back up anymore. Since that very day, we're still feeding him and giving him a hand to try to lift himself up. The second till the fourth day, he could barely move his head up. We almost believe that he's going to die the next morning. Surprisingly enough, he's still alive. And this morning, he could cry 'baa baa' when I called his name, he could blink and put his head up. He could even flap his own ears. I think that was a progress, although he's still quite weak, I am hoping he'll be coping better than before. When he can stand up by himself, that is miracle!

The other day, more twins were prematurely born. One is survived until today but the other one had to be brought home as well. She looked alright after several feeds. She could stand up and had a walk outside. She was able to follow me around and her voice was quite loud. Unfortunately, this morning the children found her laying down without breathing. Oh, I was so sad I had to call her name several times to hope she would return my call. My expectation was then too high. I just could not believe she had to die! Folks, this is the time of the year we're keeping or losing lambs. Even we have to accept the fact that we're losing one of our ewes which was bearing her lambs, died, could not deliver and she herself had to suffer from the labour and died with her lambs. I know, this is a sad story, but this happens at the farm. Just time of the year, time of the year.

Michelle of Greedy Gourmet is running the SnackShot #5 themed Meringues this month. I am sending these for the event. These are button meringues I named them as they are quite petite. I made them for my beloved as a treat. I made about 40 buttons of these mini meringues and he just finished them all within a day! He loved being a sweet tooth, I suppose.

About photography, many of you are questioning whether I am a student of photography and I must disappoint you with the answer: NO. I am a self-taught person, and I learn from good photos. I learn techniques from my camera manuals as well as lots of articles over the internet and I seek advice from professional photographers. I also make a lot of experiments on different things which are suitable for food photography. I would say that practice makes perfect, but in my case, practice makes good photos.

There are things that can be achieved without school or courses, like you're decorating your own cake without going to epicurean courses or alike. These things can be learned through trials and errors, therefore, you're getting to know more what's good to your vision and what's not. Sure, people have preferences but you have a firm imagination to deliver to your audience that this is my taste, this is my style, and stay with it. You can always adopt someone's style, but it won't be satisfying because you can feel that it is not you, it is not your style. In food photography, there is style, too.

Some people prefer to work with advanced techniques but lacking of suitable elements of food photography, like the choice of properties, suitable lighting, background, and so forth. People like me tend to stick with our own style: be natural and make the food looks appetizing. I think that's the purpose of a food photography and food styling. Good properties will support the whole package of food presentation look good. It does not always need to be stylish or expensive, you can find some things in your cupboard what you can match the food with.

With properties, I am mostly using crockery which I could find at home. I am lucky because my beloved used to be a potter and made lots of different pots, mugs, plates, bowls or anything that look natural which suit my taste. I use them and search even more in the old shed. Sometimes, I'd like to buy napkins for different colour setting or linen for the background. But if you're clever, you can use your bedding sheets as the background. You can also use scrap-booking papers which are colourful for the background. These are quite cheap and these can be easily found at your cupboard. On the photo of tapioca pudding above, I am using a pink bedding sheet as the background. Can you see that it is?

Have a look at the crockery above. They are the same and I've used them quite often because they are handy and they are there in my crockery cupboard. I like the dark navy colour of them which is quite suitable for coffee or as the side element of food photography. The dark colour of the set can make good background for pale or brighter colour of the food as the main focus. So, make the most of your crockery and capture great photos out of it.

Happy Photography-ing!

Click: Coffee & Tea

noreply@blogger.com (Arfi Binsted) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 04:13:00 +0000

When I am writing this, the day has become gray again. It is drizzling and chilly. The fire is lit and hot food is prepared. It is really the opposite two beautiful days we've had the previous days. We even enjoyed morning tea outside and I could take a snapshot. The sun was glaring and I took it greedily to take photos for Coffee and Tea theme of Click Photo Event this month, created and hosted by Bee and Jai of Jugalbandi .

Started with breakfast with coffee and Danish pastry (yes, I made them again!). I made this special for my love and I thought it was just another expression that I'm devoted. The message is well-received.

I managed to work in the garden and made a new strawberry patch. The old one was very crowded with the mature clumps and needed to be trimmed. I chose the spot on the top of the old patch, because when these new plants are growing their vines, they are allowed to spill them down. I have step-by-step photos, but I think I will post them under a gardening theme.

Morning tea was glorious when we could celebrate the day with its beautiful and warm light. We set the table outside and have our morning tea while watching the children looking after our 'adopted' newborn lamb. Poor little thing.

I like drinking tea, mostly green tea, although I love Twining Earl Grey. I love the bergamot fragrance in each bag. It is so relaxing.

The first photo is my entry for Coffee and Tea , Click Photo Event this month.

Taste & Create XII: A Home-Made Danish Pastry

noreply@blogger.com (Arfi Binsted) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 02:09:00 +0000

I have Abby of Eat the Right Stuff as my pair of Taste and Create this month. She has a good blog with various skills of baking performance. Recently she did a great job on danish pastry as a part of Daring Bakers assignment. I am not a member of Daring Bakers but I absolutely like to challenge myself with this puff pastry. It is my first attempt to make this feather-light pastry, and it is a rather time-consuming work but it is much worth the effort. It is not so difficult as I imagined once I started working on it.

This is my entry for Taste and Create XII, created and hosted by Nicole of For the Love of Food.

The interesting part of making this pastry is the process after chilling the mixed dough to roll and spread with the butter mixture before it is then folded into thirds to chill in the fridge. I could work on some things else in between the chilling of each time. In the end of the roll, fold, and chill process, I could not wait for 5 hours and was desperately wanting to know the results, furthermore, the day was getting shorter and I also needed to make dinner.

I decided to end the chilling time in the end of three hours while I am doing the cooking and using the oven all the same. I browsed some images of how to fold danish pastry for individual servings and I found this fan-shaped pastry that Rhid of Rhid-Baked had made. I followed the instructions and thought that it turned out like that. Unfortunately, the shape does not turn out like I expected them to be. The flaps are all open which is a bit disappointing. I thought this might be the case when I have to roll the dough thinly, while my ¼ inch is not that thin. This also happens with the envelope shape and the plait. Next time, I definitely will roll it thinner than this. I've learned my mistakes.

For the filling, I decided only make a small quantity of the apple filling mixed with rhubarb and cranberry. I also used plum jam and nutella for the individual pastry. The flavour in the pastry is very pleasant. I love the orange zest and juice gives a subtle aroma and flavour in the pastry. I quite like to fill this with plum jam and nutella, rather than the apple filling, for sure. This is the recipe I'm going to use more in the future. Thanks, Abby for the great display of success of your Danish pastry. You inspire me! Thanks, Nicole for pairing me with Abby.

See the recipe here.

I like this pastry and my two children are enjoying them as well.

Pear and Walnut Gingerbread Pudding

noreply@blogger.com (Arfi Binsted) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:25:00 +0000

We have beautiful weather in these past two days, although not so much heat to burn your skin, it is very appreciated. The morning could be really freezing with severe frost but they melt away during daytime. It is just so relief that we can see and feel the sun in this time of the year. I heard cold snaps happen in the South Island that brings me a thought of my other Kiwi blogger, Bron Marshall down in Christchurch.

Cold snap can be really miserable for sheep during lambing time. We received our first twin lambs just 5 days ago. It was not a fine day but the lambs were survived. One of them looked weaker than the other which can be the result of not getting good latched on her mother's breast. Often, when a lamb is getting weaker and can't get on her feet, the mother will reject her (which is now our other task to do--bottle-feeding her!). I don't know why, it is just cruel sometimes.

We just 'celebrate' my birthday last Sunday with a big family meal at lunch time. I cook, of course, since there's no other cook in the house. Indonesian menu was the choice just for a change after enjoying soup or casserole. I have to keep them warm and only could take snapshots from the whole lot before they turn 'cold'. Now, that you get older, you feel like to get more carbo and protein. Mind you, I need carb to do gardening or chasing the escaping sheep from the paddock or shooing the calves to go to the next paddock. I am half-farmer-gardener-cook-photographer, and I need more energy to help my kids learning at home.

The next celebration will be on the 25th of July, and my daughter has 'ordered' a birthday cake I should make. I've been thinking to do the simplest way for a celebration cake, because I really want to make more macarons for after-dinner sweets. That's the plan. Anyone probably can help me with ideas?

Anyway, I've made this gingerbread pudding about a few weeks ago but I just am too lazy to write the recipe, besides I have to deal with my back pain. This pudding is quite sweet, so next time, I won't use all the sugar. The additon of pears gives another flavoursome level. With or without the butterscotch, the cake itself is really nice.

Pear & Walnut Gingerbread Pudding with Butterscotch Sauce

Source: Ray McVinnie. Cuisine. Issue 111 July 2005.

210g butter
250g dark brown sugar
3 ripe pears, peeled, halved and cores removed with a melon baller (I just used the tip of my knife)
6 walnut halves
2 eggs
2 Tbs treacle
250g flour
1/2 cup walnut pieces
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsps bicarbonate of soda
1 Tbs ground ginger (I did 2 Tbs)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
150ml warm milk

Preheat the oven to 175°C. Cream 60g of the butter and 90g of the sugar and spread over the base of a 24cm-diameter cake tin.

Place the pear halves, core side down, on top of the creamed butter and sugar. Dot the walnut halves in between the pear halves.

Cream the remaining butter and sugar then beat in the eggs and treacle. Stir in remaining ingredients until well mixed but do not beat. Pour the mixture over the pears and walnuts.

Place in the oven and bake for 50-60 minutes or until you can tell the pears are tender when a skewer slides easily through a pear half to the bottom of the tin and the middle of the pudding batter is cooked.

Serve warm in wedges with the hot butterscotch sauce (recipe follows) and a dusting of icing sugar. Whipped cream is also good with this. Serves 6-8.

Butterscotch Sauce

Put the sugars, golden syrup and 150ml of the cold water into a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugars and syrup.Once boiling, stop stirring and boil until a little dropped into a glass of cold water forms a soft ball (5 minutes).

Remove from the heat, add the butter, the remaining water and vanilla and mix well, but do not beat. Cool. It will become quite hard and crystallise once cold.

Just before serving, bring to the boil to melt and dissolve any sugar crystals. Serve with some of the hot sauce poured over the pudding and the rest in a small bowl on the side.

Tams Clafoutis

noreply@blogger.com (Arfi Binsted) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 01:36:00 +0000

I have some assignments to do this month before taking a short break early next month. Yes, we're going to Taranaki for skiing. If you're a fan of The Lord of The Rings Trilogy, then Taranaki will surely give you a ring. It is about 2-3 hours drive from home and we're going for a week or so with friends. At this time of the year, this place will be crowded by those who love snow and snowy sports. So, I am going to prepare for this trip. After having back pain for weeks and weeks, it is time for me to get fit again.

There's an event Key Ingredient Cook’s Kitchen (KICK) recipe contest I'd like to enter, created and hosted by Sophie of The Key Ingredient. I was invited to join in. I was not sure about joining in at first because it is not berry season in New Zealand, but Sophie allows us to improvise with the seasonal fruit we're having here.

Tamarillos are in season at the moment and I am using them as the key ingredient in the recipe. As I like clafoutis, so I go with it.

Tamarillo Clafoutis

6 tamarillos, poached in hot water, peeled with stem attached, set aside

Vanilla Syrup

1/2 cup caster sugar
3/4 cup water
vanilla extract

Heat the sugar and water until boiling. Simmer for 3 minutes and then put the tamarillos in. Cook for 3-5 minutes until the mixture is thicken and the tamarillos are tender but still remain their shape. Remove from the stove. Add in a few drops of vanilla extract. Set aside.

Clafoutis

3 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup fresh cream
zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup plain flour
a pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 170C. Whisk eggs, milk, cream, lemon zest, salt, and sugar until well-combined. Sift and fold in plain flour. Mix well. Pour into 3-6 ramekins. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and insert the poached tams in the centre of each pudding. Return to the oven and bake for further 15-20 minutes until the pudding is cooked. Serves 3-6.

Happy Birthday, July Friends!

noreply@blogger.com (Arfi Binsted) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 23:39:00 +0000

I am not making any cake for my own birthday yesterday but I did this cake last year for July birthday people. Besides mine (July 4th), my youngest daughter (July 25th), I am also sharing birthdays with other July bloggers, namely my dear friend in Queensland, Barbara of Winos and Foodies who is sharing birthday with husband Bryan and friend Mary; and you guess what, Bee and Jai of Jugalbandi are also sharing birthday with us. In my family, there are many July people as my second brother, my cousin and my uncle are also sharing birthdays in the same month. Some of KBB members are also sharing birthday with me, namely Widya Hidayat and Kartika.

So, Happy birthday, July people! This is all for you! Have a good laugh, life, a lot of sunshine in your love, and be merry! Hugs to you all!

Donna's Silverbeet and (Pumpkin) Gruyere Gratin

noreply@blogger.com (Arfi Binsted) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 03:28:00 +0000

It is chilly today and is quite miserable. It's been raining and it's been cold. The garden is bare and the branches on the trees are naked. The hint of Spring is still kept tightly in the buds, just not ready to share their secrets yet. Some tree branches covered in lichen, perhaps one out of ways to tell us the tree is dying. Yet, it is too cold to even bother get outside, let alone, get the chainsaw going and do something with it. Well, leave till Spring.

The Summer leftover is still scattered in the garden. The beds that I cleaned up are now sprouting some little seedlings of both weeds and herbs seeds. Coriander seeds which were left from harvesting were now happily springing their heads up on the ground and opening their leaves. Cold Winter is yet to come, little ones, so beware!

We grow pumpkins with two varieties: Queensland crown and buttercup. I do love both as they have different characteristic of flavour, but my choice is this deep nutty taste of buttercup with crispy green skin. Queensland crowns are grey-skinned which give them rustic look. This year's harvest, we also collected some small ones which are quite good to make pumpkin gratin.

I love pumpkin and I can sit with a bowl of pumpkin chips or pumpkin soup, nibbling the goodness of it for ages! The light lunch with pumpkin gratin can be quite satisfying while you can sit with a plate of small pumpkin still steaming hot with ooze of melted cheese! I am sending this gratin for Weekend Herb Blogging, created by the lovely Kalyn and hosted this week by Pam of Sidewalk Shoes.

Donna's Silver Beet and (Pumpkin) Gruyere Gratin

Source: Donna Hay Magazine. Issue 32.

1 Tbs olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 x 500g bunches silver beet, trimmed, rinsed and sliced
1/2 cup single cream
sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
2 x 550g golden nugget pumpkins, halved with seeds removed (I use Queensland crown pumpkins)
1 1/2 cups grated gruyere cheese

Preheat the oevn to 180C. Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the oil and garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the silver beet and cook for a further 2-3 minutes,s tirring, until soft. Add the cream, salt and pepper and cook for a further minute, stirring to combine. Place the pumpkins in a baking dish. Divide the silver beet between each pumpkin, top with cheese, cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove from the foil and bake for a further 10-15 minutes or until the tops are golden. Serves 4.

And you can tell that everyone likes them!

Salad for Fat Chefs or Skinny Gourmets

noreply@blogger.com (Arfi Binsted) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 06:21:00 +0000

I like salad. It is a non-guilty food I can eat and enjoy at any time, even as a snack in between meals. Nibbling a leaf or two in the making process is kind of a 'good' habit, I suppose, rather than nibbling on salty chips, don't you think? As I said on the mixed green leaves salad post that I like to add fruits in the salad for I do believe that they give more texture, flavour, and freshness to the whole package. I usually use New Zealand fruits, ranged from kiwifruit, grapes, nashi (the brown skinned pear which has round shape with juicy flesh), apples, and other pears. Sometimes I would include avocado, but not everyone can consume this lovely fruit, in that consent, I often serve slices of them separately with the mixture of fresh orange segments, sliced of Spanish onions, and tossed with whole-grain mustard dressings.

This is my entry for Fat Chefs or Skinny Gourmets hosted by duo Ivy and Ben.

Mixed Leaves with Caramelized Pears Salad

mixed salad leaves, your choice
red radish, sliced or keep the tiny ones whole, washed
alfafa sprouts

Caramelized Pears

3 pears, peeled, cored and quartered
aged balsamic vinegar
brown sugar
salted butter

Prepare the mixed salad leaves in a bowl. Meanwhile, make the caramelized pears. Heat the butter until hot. Add in quartered pears. Shake your pan to coat them with butter. Splash with vinegar and sprinkle with brown sugar. Shake again to coat until the mixture is thick and enveloped the pears beautifully. Remove from the pan, cool for a while and then mix them with the salad. It is just good with drizzled of olive oil and freshly cracked black pepper. Makes 4.

Taste & Create: German Chocolate Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Arfi Binsted) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 06:57:00 +0000

I have been becoming a fan of Taste and Create event which is created and hosted by Nicole of For the Love of Food. This is a fun event where all bloggers can test and true a recipe taken from the paired mate randomly picked by the host. T & C last time I was paired with Hanne of Supper in Stereo and tried her Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream which was superb! The pumpkin ice cream was just new to my taste but it was a pleasant trial. I love it with sweet ginger cubes.

T & C this time I am paired with Nicole and I was browsing through her wonderful recipes. Like I said, I am big on desserts, so first time browsing, you bet, is the items under Desserts category. There I was flipping over one page to the others, trying to escalate myself into something new, something I haven't made or something I don't dare to try. This is the fun of the event, as you're browsing through a blog you don't read a lot or perhaps one of the bloggers you've just been acquaintance with, the choice of recipe is another fun task. I usually can discover recipes I've been dreaming to try out but have no excuse to do it. This event gives me a lot more opportunities to actually get kicking, and furthermore, get to know more bloggers.

I chose Nicole's German Chocolate Cake because I am interested in the mixture of coconut and pecans in the filling to taste with chocolate cake. I've never tried those two items in one before, so I gave a try. Nicole made two layers with thicker cakes while I use slightly smaller tins and come up with these triple layers. I have no trouble in making the cakes although with three layers, I have to weigh the batter as for resulting even division for each tin. This is similar layers with the chocolate cake I made for Waiter in December last year, with different recipe and different filling, of course.

For the sugar, I used 2 Tbs of Sugaryl only and as for the filling, I added a tsp of instant coffee. I just love it with a cup of black coffee. The top of the cake you can see from the photos are shaved coconut or coconut flakes I came across at a healthy store. As a chocolate lover, I don't forget to have a taste of grated chocolate as well. YUM!

Would you like to have a slice?