The Cooking Journal

Crisp Chocolate Bites

noreply@blogger.com (deasyluv) — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 00:30:00 +0000

There was still half a jar of sugar cookies in my livingroom table, but I was really craving for chocolate. So it didn't take me too long to choose this recipe from William Sonoma to try.

I was too tempted to try that I took one cookie while it was still warm, it was still a bit chewy. So I waited until it cooled completely and I was happy. It was very crisp - the kind of crisp that you could hear the sound coming out of your mouth.

I made 15 cookies in the first batch, and I ate 7 already. So I decided to refrigerate the rest of the dough to be baked for tomorrow's afternoon tea! :)

The original recipe calls for unsweetened chocolate. I used the semi sweet chocolate and it was perfect for me. And also, I whisked all the ingredients by hand. How much I love this simple recipe!

Crisp Chocolate Bites

Ingredients:

6 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces

2 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

1 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened dutch-process cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

Directions:

Lightly grease 2 baking sheets or line with parchment paper/baking mat. Set aside.

In a small saucepan over very low heat, combine the butter and chocolate. Heat, stirring occasionally, just until melted and smooth.

Pour the chocolate mixture into a large bowl and let cool slightly. Stir in the granulated sugar until evenly moistened. Add the egg and vanilla, beating until light and fluffy.

Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together onto a sheet of waxed paper.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture and stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375F (190C). Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator. Shape the dough into 3/4 inch (2 cm) balls and roll in the confectioners sugar to coat completely. Place the balls about 11/2 inches (4 cm) apart on the prepared pans. Bake the cookies until puffed and cracked on top, about 12 minutes.They may appear underdone in the center but will turn crisp as they cool. Let the cookies cool on the pans on wire racks for 2-3 minutes before transferring them to the racks to cool completely.

Fried Egg Tofu with Peanut and Shrimp Sauce (Tahu Telur Petis)

noreply@blogger.com (deasyluv) — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 18:14:00 +0000

Tahu Telur Petis is a traditional cuisine from East Java Island, Indonesia. What makes this dish special is in the sauce, because it is made from combination of peanut, and 'Petis' - a sauce made from sweet soya sauce and fermented prawn paste.

I use this brand for Petis. Try to find it in asian store near your place. But be careful not to pick 'sambal terasi' instead of 'petis', because both are tagged with 'Shrimp Paste'. Make sure you check the back and it is written 'Petis Udang'.

Whenever I don't have time to cook, making Tahu Telur Petis is a safe way for me. It's fast and nothing can go wrong with this dish. There was one day when I actually forgot to add salt into the egg mixture. I poured the sauce dressing all over the fried egg tofu plate and it still tasted good.

Tahu Telur Petis
makes 2 portions

Peanut and Shrimp Sauce
Ingredients:
- 20 gr shallot
- 10 gr garlic
- 90 gr roasted and salted peanuts
- 1,5 to 2 cups of water
- 1,5 tsp Petis
- 2 tsp sweet soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar

Directions:
- Combine shallot, garlic, and peanuts and process in food chopper. If you like creamier texture, you can use food processor/grinder.
- Boil 1,5 cup of water in a medium heat.
- Add the peanut mixture into the boiling water, mix well.
- Add Petis, sweet soy sauce, and sugar into the mixture. If you're not using salted peanut, then you may add 1/2 tsp of salt. Mix until you find your desired consistency. You may add water if you think the sauce is too thickened.

Fried Egg Tofu
Ingredients:
- 300 gr firm tofu
- 200 ml water + 2 tsp salt for marinating the tofu
- 1/2 tsp salt for egg mixture
- 2 eggs
- 20 gr shallots, chopped
- 20 gr garlic, chopped
- 1 scallion, minced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 50 gr cucumber, diced

Directions:
- Cut tofu into dices
- Marinate tofu in water and salt mixture for at least 1 hour
- Fry the tofu until half-cooked.
- Whisk eggs lightly with salt, scallion, shallots, and garlic
- Mix egg mixture with the half-fried tofu
- Heat olive oil in a pan
- Pour the tofu and egg mixture into the pan, and fry over low to medium heat
- Wait until the bottom looks golden brown, turn the egg tofu upside down

Add cucumbers on top of the egg tofu, then pour the sauce over.
Serve it warm with steamed rice.

Chicken Satay (Sate Ayam)

noreply@blogger.com (deasyluv) — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 03:31:00 +0000

Chicken Satay is well-known as one of the most popular dishes from Indonesia. It's a dish of seasoned - marinated - skewered - grilled chicken, dipped in peanut sauce.

Indonesian food recipe usually involves many steps and many ingredients. But not for Chicken Satay. It's quite simple to make, yet it is so irresistible.

Chicken satay can be served with either steamed rice, or lontong (Lontong is an Asian dish made of compressed rice wrapped inside a banana leaf that is then cut into small cakes as staple food replacement of steamed rice).

Indonesian Chicken Satay

Ingredients:
Peanut Sauce (for dipping and marinating)
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 cloves shallots, finely chopped
- 1 cup peanut butter/grinded roasted peanut
- 3 tbsp sweet soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 cup water
- 2 tbsp olive oil

Chicken Satay
- 250 gr chicken breast
- Skewers

Method:
Peanut Butter (for dipping and marinating):
- Add olive oil to a pan, set in medium heat.
- Saute garlic and shallots until fragrance.
- Add peanut butter/grinded roasted peanut to the pan, mix well.
- Add water to the pan, mix well until the sauce is creamy, then turn off the heat.
- Add sugar and sweet soy sauce to the mixture.

Chicken Satay:
- Cut the chicken into dices.
- Add 3 tbsp peanut butter sauce into the chicken and marinate for minimum 2 hours.
- Thread marinated chicken into skewers, 4-5 dices in one skewer.
- Grill 4-5 minutes each side until cooked through. Serve with warm peanut butter.

Sugar Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (deasyluv) — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 12:10:00 +0000

I'm not really a fan of sugar cookies. But then I was stumbled upon the beautiful sugar cookies made by Marianne in from Sweetopia. 'How could she make such a beautiful and detail icing decoration?', I wondered. I saw her video in youtube and yet she made it look so easy. Made me wanto to test myself, my patience.
I was quite struggling for the first few cookies, but then I was getting slightly better. Let's just say that it does need lots of patience and practices. But decorating cookies is a super super fun thing to do! Now I can't wait to do it again. I just need to find someone to finish all those cookies that I made first (As much as I want to eat it, I have to remind myself, and my husband, that it's not good for our diet!).

Sugar Cookies
makes 3 dozens

For the cookies
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups butter (at room temperature)
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
seeds from 1 vanilla bean (or 3 tsp vanilla)
5 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Methods:
1. Cream the butter and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer on low to medium speed. (Use the paddle attachment). Mix until thoroughly incorporated – for about one minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a plastic spatula and mix again for a few seconds more.
Over mixing the butter and sugar in this step will cause too much air to be incorporated into the dough. If you'd like a light and fluffy cookie, that's ideal, however the dough will spread more during baking; not ideal if you'd like the cookie to hold its shape.
2. Add eggs slowly and mix. Scrape down the bowl with your spatula at least once and mix again.
3. Cut open your vanilla bean and scrape the seeds out. Add to mixing bowl. Alternatively, add liquid vanilla extract. Stir briefly.
4. Sift your dry ingredients together. (Flour, baking powder and salt).
5. Add all of the flour mixture to the bowl. Place a large tea towel or two small tea towels between the edge of the bowl and the electric mixer so that the flour won't escape. Mix on low speed for 3o seconds. Remove the tea towels and observe the dough mixing; when it clumps around the paddle attachment it's ready. It's also important at this stage not to over mix the dough (the glutens in the flour develop and the dough can become tough).
6. Roll the dough out between 2 large pieces of parchment paper. Place on a baking sheet and into the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour.
7. Roll out the dough further if you need to, and cut out cookie shapes. Place on parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Re-roll scraps and repeat.
8. Put cookie dough shapes back into the fridge for 10 minutes to 1 hour to chill again. They will then hold their shape better when baked.
9. Preheat your oven to 350°F or 176°C.
10. Bake cookies for 8-12 minutes or until the edges become golden brown. The baking time will depend on the size of your cookie.
11. Let cookies cool to room temperature and decorate!

For the Royal Icing
Ingredients:
2.25 lbs (1 kg) powdered sugar
3/4 cup warm water
5 tablespoons meringue powder
1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Methods:
1. Add water and meringue powder to mixer bowl. Mix with hand whisk for 30 seconds.
2. Add cream of tartar. Mix with hand whisk for 30 seconds.
3. Add all of the powdered sugar. Mix with paddle attachment in slow speed for 10 minutes.
4. Divide into small bowls and add food coloring as you need.

Crispy Shell Cream Puffs

noreply@blogger.com (deasyluv) — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 22:37:00 +0000

There were several batches of cream puffs that I made before this. But not one could be as good as Beard Papa's cream puff. Back in Indonesia, I used to buy one everytime I went to Pacific Place mall. Here, there was only one Beard Papa's store I ever know, and that was in Seattle! It was impossible for me to go there then, So I googled the recipe with a hopeful thinking that I would actually find someone that could make cream puffs as good as Beard Papa and post the recipe online.

This is the only recipe I found that says it's similar with Beard Papa, so I tried it out.
For me, it doesn't beat Beard Papa's. But do I love it? For sure! It is so much better than the cream puffs I made before. What makes it special is the sweet and crispy shell. If you want another variation of the regular cream puff, this is it!

Crispy Shell Cream Puffs

Cream Puff Pastry (Choux)
120 g butter
3/4 cup water
1 1/3 cup plain flour, sifted (must be sifted)
3-5 eggs (60g each egg)
1/4 tsp salt *I omit this
1 tsp sugar

Custard Cream:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
3 cups milk
30g real butter
1/2 or 1 vanilla bean OR Vanilla extract
+/- a cup of whipped fresh cream

Pai-Shuu Crust:
30g butter
1/3 cup icing sugar (powdered sugar)
1/3 cup SR flour (OR plain flour with 1/2 tsp baking powder (or a pinch bicarb soda))

Custard Cream
1. Using a whisk, Combine flour and sugar,
2. Add: 4 egg yolks and about 40mL of the milk, whisk until combined. Add remaining milk and scrape in vanilla pod.
3. Stir over medium heat, till it thickens (Often scraping the bottom). When it's thick and bubbles start to blob up, remove from heat.
4. Stir in 30g real butter
5. Allow to cool with plastic wrap on surface to prevent a "skin". Refrigerate until cold.
+/- 6. If you like, fold a cup of whipped fresh cream into the cold custard cream.

Pai-Shuu Crust
1. Gently melt butter (microwave or small saucepan)
2. Stir in Sugar and Flour.

Cream Puff (Choux) Pastry
1. Place butter, salt, sugar and water in a large saucepan over high heat. When butter is melted and it starts to boil, remove from heat and...
2. Immediately tip in flour all at once, and beat into a firm dough with wooden spoon.
3. Prepare 3-5 eggs. Add approximately one egg to the dough at a time, beating well in between with a wooden spoon.
The dough should be able to be piped with a good shape. Whenever you feel it's too runny, stop adding egg. I only used 3 eggs.
4. Spoon into a piping bag and pipe directly downward onto paper-lined tray. If you like, use chopsticks or fingers to pull pastry upwards on the sides, to make them taller and rough-surfaced.
5. Place discs of Pai-Shuu Crust Dough on top.
6. Immediately bake in a very hot oven 210-220 degrees Celcius, 25-30min until well puffed and browned then down to 100 degrees C for 40 min or more to dry.
7. Allow to cool (the puffs will firm up and become strong) before peeling the baking paper from the bottom of the puffs.

**oven MUST be well pre-heated, esp for big cream puffs. And don't turn the heat down too early, or they might fall. Wait until they're well puffed and the colour is fully developed.

Basket of Roses for My Sister's Bday

noreply@blogger.com (deasyluv) — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 02:28:00 +0000

Initially I wanted to make a basket full full full of roses. But the royal icing was not enough, so I put some leaves between the roses. There were still some empty spaces though, and I wasn't able to cover the messy parts, too (see from picture below) :(. But this time the colored buttercream was edible! (Last time I made Elmo cake for Rivian, the buttercream was bitter). So it was all okay! :)

Semprit Keju (Indonesian Tapioca Cheese Cookies)

noreply@blogger.com (deasyluv) — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 20:53:00 +0000

Ramadhan month, where moslems are fasting for the whole 30 days, is coming. The end of Ramadhan, 'Idul Fitri', is celebrated with people gathering and asking for forgiveness to each other. After fasting for the whole month, anyone is overjoyed with so many food in the house. This cookie is one of the most common snack provided in each house during Idul Fitri. Everyone's favorite.

Indonesian Tapioca Cheese Cookies (Semprit Keju)

Ingredients:
- 200 gr unsalted butter
- 100 gr caster sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 100 gr edam cheese, grated, dried under the sun for 5 minutes
- 50 gr cheddar cheese, grated
- 250 gr tapioca flour
- 50 gr all-purpose flour

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 300 F
- Prepare baking pan, lightly grease with butter or use silicon pat/parchment paper
- Mix butter with caster sugar until incorporated in low-speed, add egg and egg yolks, mix again until soft.
- Add edam cheese and cheddar cheese, tapioca flour, and all-purpose flour. Mix with spatula.
- Use star tip, and make S or O shaped cookies.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- Store in air tight container.

Elmo Cake for Rivian

noreply@blogger.com (deasyluv) — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 06:04:00 +0000

While I was in Seattle, I had the chance to make a birthday cake for my nephew, Rivian. His favorite was Elmo, so I made him an Elmo cake. To tell the truth, I was quite relieved, because Elmo Cake looked much more simple than Thomas the Train cake, in terms of color and shape.

The challenge was when I made the red buttercream for the Elmo's fur. I didn't expect I would need so many red coloring to actually turn the color of buttercream to red! And too many red coloring made the taste of the buttercream was horrible. I googled and learned that 1. I should have used no-taste-red instead of christmas red, so the taste wouldn't turn out bitter; 2. even if it became bitter, I could still make it less bitter by adding teaspoons of vanilla extract; 3.The red color would turn darker over time; 4. If I added pink color first before adding red color, I would need less red coloring to make the color red.

Well, It seems that I need more and more practice! :)

Blueberry Cheesecake with Peanut Crust

noreply@blogger.com (deasyluv) — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:07:00 +0000

I had been staring the pictures of this cake in one of William Sonoma's books, and I really wanted to make one. But I never did (because my husband doesn't like cheesecake), until today, because I'm going to Seattle this weekend and there's still some packages of cream cheese left on my fridge.
The original recipe required hazelnut, but I only had salted peanut. So I tried using these peanuts, and it turned great. I brought it to a farewell party of my friend, and everyone loved it (including my husband). I was so glad!

For the crust
Ingredients:
11/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/16 cup sugar (additional, because I used 'salted' peanuts')
3/4 cup roasted, finely chopped peanuts
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into 2 cm pieces

Method:
Preheat oven to 325 F (165 C). Butter a 9-inch (23 cm) square springform pan.
To make the crust, in a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, peanuts, salt, until blended. Using a knife, cut in the butter until mixture forms large, coarse crumbs the size of small peas.
Press the crust mixture into the bottom and 1 inch (2,5 cm) up the sides of the prepared pan. Bake the crust until it is golden and the top looks dry and firm, 15-20 minutes. Set aside.

For the filling
Ingredients:
1 pound cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup heavy (double) cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups blueberry

Method:
In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese and sugar and beat together with a wooden spoon or a mixer until blended and smooth. Stir in the flour until blended. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until the batter is smooth. Stir in the cream and vanilla and almond extracts and stir until incorporated. Gently fold in the blueberries. Pour the batter into the prepared crust.
Bake in the preheated oven until the center is set when you give the pan a gentle shake, 35-40 minutes. Remove from the oven and open the sides of the springform pan. Let cool on a wire rack for 1 hour. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, at least 3 hours or overnight.

Sweet Blanc (Sweet Bun with Cream Cheese Filling)

noreply@blogger.com (deasyluv) — Fri, 11 May 2012 03:52:00 +0000

My friend, Bicil, and I have exactly the same hobby - cooking. So we like to talk about food or good recipes. One day she told me about this bread recipe that she likes a lot.
I looked at the pictures, it was so pretty and the recipe was quite simple. I had to give it a try.
Well, I love the filling, absolutely. Cream cheese and strawberry yoghurt is a perfect combination. But I'm not really into the bread. I imagined that I was going to eat a sweet bun, but it's not. Maybe because my yoghurt is not sweet enough. More sugar in the recipe would be perfect.

Dough
	210 g	Bread Flour
	40 g	Cake Flour
A	6 g	Instant dried yeast
	4 g	Salt
	30 g	Sugar

	63 g	Plain yoghurt
	1	Egg
B	13 g	Condensed milk
	8 g	Honey
	50 cc	Water
30 g		Unsalted butter (soft)

Egg wash
		1 egg + 1tbsp water

Decoration
10		Strawberry
		Icing sugar

Cream cheese filling
230 g	Cream cheese
50 g	Sugar
80 g	Plain yoghurt
30 cc	Whipping cream
2 tsp	Lemon juice

Make the filling

1. Beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth and creamy in a bowl.

2. Pour the yoghurt into cream cheese mixture, beat to combine.

3. Pour the whipping cream and lemon juice into the mixture, mix well

4. Cover the bowl with cling film and refrigerate until use.

Make the dough

Mix the (B) ingredients together.

Put the (A) ingredients in a bowl, whisk to combine, pour the (B) mixture into the bowl, and use large spoon or pastry scraper to mix everything together. When all the ingredients come together, put the butter in the bowl and rub until all butter is distributed, and kneads briefly to bring all the ingredients together

Take the dough out of the bowl and knead, until the dough is soft, smooth and elastic about 10 minutes.

Put the dough into a light buttered bowl. Let the dough rise in a warm place until double in size about 1 hour.

Gently press down the dough, then put the dough back into a light buttered bowl. Let the dough rise again in a warm place for another 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180°C, and butter the muffin pan. Take the dough out of the bowl. Gently press down the dough and cut the dough into 10 pieces (about 50 g/ piece). Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a circle, about 8 cm. Gently presses down the dough into the muffin pan to form a cup.

Cover the shaped dough; let rise until almost doubled in volume, about 30-40 minutes. Before baking, brush the dough with egg wash and pour the filling in.

Bake for 12 minutes.

When cool, place the strawberry on top and sprinkle with icing sugar.

Beef Bulgogi

noreply@blogger.com (deasyluv) — Fri, 11 May 2012 03:12:00 +0000

The first time I had bulgogi was at Iday and Oliv's place. They invited me and my husband to have a 'korean night' with them. And, as I did with any other korean cuisine like bibimbap, khalbi, and kimchi, I loved the beef bulgogi!

I found this recipe in the internet and it works. I like it also because it is so practical. I could just marinate the beef the night before, and simply fry it the next day.

Ingredients:

1 lb thin sliced beef

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 pieces green onions

1/2 yellow onion

1 big carrot, sliced

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 tbsp garlic

2 tbsp rice wine/apple juice

2 tbsp sesame seeds

2 tbsp sesame oil/vegetable oil

Method:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.

Mix well and marinade in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Cook over medium to high heat for about 3-5 minutes.

Serve with steamed rice.

Grilled Chicken with Spicy Sauce (Ayam Panggang Bumbu Rujak)

noreply@blogger.com (deasyluv) — Tue, 08 May 2012 01:47:00 +0000

This is one of our favorite Indonesian cuisine. It's sweet, spicy, and tasty. My mom used to make this at home. While I was in college, I lived far from home, so I had to go look for this dishes in certain places. Now that I can make it by myself, I wouldn't need to go look for this anymore :)

Ingredients:

5 chicken drumsticks

Juice from 1 lime

1/2 can coconut milk

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp ground galangal

3 lime leaves

3 lemon grass, cut into 2 inches long

5 tbsp red onion, processed

5 tbsp red fresno chilli, processed

3 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1/2 tsp shrimp paste (terasi)

salt to taste

3 tbsp brown sugar

Directions:

Marinate chicken with lime juice. After 15 minutes, rinse the chicken and put aside.

Fry all the other ingredients (except coconut milk) with vegetable oil until fragrant. Then, pour chicken and coconut milk, stir until incorporated with all the ingredients. In medium heat, let the chicken be tendered and sauce be caramelized. During the process, stir the chicken for every couple minutes, to avoid the coconut milk from cracking. Once done, broil the chicken in the oven for 5-10 minutes. Ready to serve.

Baked Oreo Cheesecake

noreply@blogger.com (deasyluv) — Sat, 05 May 2012 19:59:00 +0000

I've just bought a spring pan yesterday, just because I wanted to make this delish Oreo Cheesecake. My husband doesn't really like cheesecake. But if it comes with Oreo, I'm sure he wouldn't mind :)

In the original recipe, leftover Oreos are chopped and mixed into the cheesecake batter. For me, I prefer the leftover Oreos to be finely ground and poured on top of the cheesecake batter. I think it looks prettier.

One more think, the size of the cheesecake is smaller than the regular cheesecake. Not too big, so it's perfect for us. But you can always double the recipe for the cheesecake (not the crust), if you need to make a bigger one.

Ingredients:
For the crust:
25 Oreo cookies
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
For the cheesecake:
12 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tbsp sugar
6 tbsp sour cream, at room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
6 Oreo cookies, finely grounded, for spreading on top of the cheesecake.

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 F.
To make the crust, remove fillings from the Oreo, place the Oreos in the bowl of a food processor, Process, pulsing, until the cookies are finely ground. Add in the melted butter and mix with the cookies until incorporated. Transfer the mixture to the spring pan. Press the crumbs into an even layer over the bottom of the pan. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then set aside and prepare the filling while maintaining the oven temperature.
To make the filling, add the cream cheese to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until light and smooth, about 2 minutes. Mix in the sugar until well combined. Blend in the sour cream, vanilla, and salt. Beat in the egg and egg yolk on medium-high speed until incorporated, scraping down the bowl as needed.
Pour the cheesecake batter over the prepared crust, smoothing the top with a spatula. Spread finely ground oreo cookies on top of the batter. Bake for about 40-50 minutes, until the cheesecake is set around the edges but slightly wobbly in the center. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool about 1 hour to room temperature. Cover the pan and refrigerate until well chilled, about 3 hours.
To cut the cheesecake, clean the knife blade between each slice to keep the edges neat. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Chinese Orange Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (deasyluv) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 22:01:00 +0000

This is actually my second attempt to make orange chicken. In the first attempt, I did manage to make an orange chicken, but not exactly like what I've wanted. But this 2nd attempt looks just right and tastes much better. I will no longer search for another orange chicken recipe :)

Adapted from here with some modification.

Ingredients:
2 pounds boneless chicken pieces, skinned
2 egg
2 teaspoon salt
white pepper
oil (for frying)
1/2 cup cornstarch PLUS
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon minced ginger root
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon crushed hot red chilies
1/4 cup chopped green onions (optional)
1 tablespoon apple juice
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon sesame oil/vegetable oil
***Orange Chicken Sauce***
1 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoon water
5 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons white vinegar

Directions:
Cut chicken pieces into 2-inch squares and place in large bowl. Stir in egg, salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons oil and mix well. Stir cornstarch and flour together. Add chicken pieces, stirring to coat.

Heat oil for deep-frying in wok or deep-fryer to 375 degrees F.

Add chicken pieces, small batch at time, and fry 3 to 4 minutes or until golden and crisp. (Do not overcook or chicken will be tough.) Remove chicken from oil with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Set aside.

Clean wok and heat 15 seconds over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil. Add ginger and garlic and stir-fry until fragrant. Add and stir-fry crushed chilies and green onions. Add rice wine and stir 3 seconds. Add Orange Sauce and bring to boil. Add cooked chicken, stirring until well mixed. Stir water into remaining 1 tablespoon cornstarch until smooth. Add to chicken and heat until sauce is thickened. Stir in 1 tablespoon oil and sesame oil. Serve at once.

Chinese Steamed Bun (Bakpao)

noreply@blogger.com (deasyluv) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 04:02:00 +0000

This is my 2nd attempt of making chinese steamed bun. This attempt gives a much better result than before, so I decided to post the recipe. I used all-purpose flour instead of bao flour.

Makes 1 dozen buns/ baos

Ingredients:
1 1/2 tsps active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup bao/ pao flour (you can substitute with all purpose flour but the buns will just take on a yellowish tinge, you can find bao flours in most Asian grocery stores)
1/2 cup self-raising flour
3 tsps of melted butter (unsalted)

Directions:
1. In a small bowl, mix the yeast with 2 tbsps warm water, 1 tsp sugar and 1 tsp of bao flour. Mix well to get rid of the lumps, cover with a damp kitchen towel and set aside in a warm place until frothy, this should take about 15 minutes. If the mixture is not frothy at all, it is likely that the yeast has died so redo this step with some new yeast. Meanwhile, cut up 12 squares of baking paper (measuring roughly 3 inches by 3 inches) for placing the buns on while steaming.
2. In a large bowl, sift the remaining all-purpose flour and self-raising flour. Add in the rest of the sugar, the yeast mixture, the warm water and melted butter. Use a wooden spoon to form a soft dough.
3. Prepare a floured working surface. Turn out the soft dough and start kneading with your hands until smooth and elastic, this should take at least 10 minutes. The dough should not be too sticky. Dust with extra bao flour as needed.
4. Prepare an oiled bowl and place the dough into it. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and allow to proof for at least 1 hour or until doubled. Note that it will take longer usually to proof in colder and drier climate.
5. Punch down dough to remove some of the air. Prepare a floured working surface. Knead the dough briefly for about 5 minutes. Roll the dough into a log. I do this for easier division of the dough for each bun. Meanwhile, you can prepare a wok for steaming, by the time you finish sealing the buns, the water should be boiling rapidly and you can immediately steam the buns.
6. Divide the dough into 12 portions roughly. Take one portion of dough, knead with your hands lightly and form into a ball. Flatten the ball with your hands and press down with your thumb in a circular motion.
7. Spoon about 1 1/2 tsps of red bean paste into the middle of the flattened dough. Seal the dough by gathering the edges together and gently twist to seal. Place the bun, seal-side down onto the prepared baking paper squares.
8. Steam the buns over high heat (covered) for about 15 minutes.   Note that the buns will expand while steaming for the first time. Do watch the wok to make sure that there is enough water while steaming.
9. Serve hot. If there are still leftover buns after the first serving, allow to cool and store in an air-tight container, they can be re-steamed later.

Chocolate Lava Cake

noreply@blogger.com (deasyluv) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 19:18:00 +0000

I bought these 2 cute ramekins with a good price. Right away, I'm thinking of souffle. But I ended up stumbling upon a recipe of a chocolate lava cake. This one turns out really good. LOVE it.

Ingredients:
2whole eggs
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
6 tablespoons butter
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate , chopped (I used Ghirardelli)

Directions:
In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and egg yolks. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, mix together the sugar and cornstarch.

In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the butter to a simmer. Add in the chopped chocolate . Stir until the chocolate mixture is melted, smooth, and starts to bubble around the edges. Remove from heat.

With the mixer on low, pour in the chocolate mixture and mix until combined. With the mixer still on low, slowly pour in the eggs, whisking until the batter is smooth. Transfer the batter to a bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line each soufflé ring mold with a strip of parchment paper and spray with non-stick spray. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the molds on top. (For ramekins, line the bottom of each ramekin with a circle of parchment paper. Spray the bottom and sides of the ramekins with non-stick spray. Place ramekins on a baking sheet.)

Fill each ring mold or ramekin 2/3 full with the soufflé batter. Bake on the top rack for 20-30 minutes, or until the top is just set, but the center is still melty. Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Slide a metal spatula under each soufflé, and using a pair of tongs, carefully transfer to a serving plate. Gently lift off the ring mold and remove the parchment paper. For ramekins, run a knife around the edge, then carefully invert the soufflé to remove, then place it on a serving dish.

Dust the soufflés with powdered sugar. Serve immediately with fresh raspberry coulis (recipe below) and ice cream, if desired. Enjoy!

Banana Pudding (Puding Pisang)

noreply@blogger.com (deasyluv) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 04:53:00 +0000

My husband and I tried the famous Magnolia Bakery's Banana Pudding in our trip to NY and we like it a lot. One day I had 5 ripe bananas. I have made banana muffins too many times, and I really wanted to try something else. So I decided to go with banana pudding. I don't know about other recipe. But the recipe I tried makes a super delish pudding that I don't want to try any other banana pudding recipe.

Vanilla Wafer Crust

- 2 1/2 cups (about 30) crushed vanilla wafers

- 1/2 cup butter, melted

Vanilla Pudding

- 3/4 cup sugar

- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

- 2 large eggs

- 4 egg yolks

- 2 cups milk

- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Whipped Cream (I have some left overs of ready whip cream so I didn't make this)

- 1 cup heavy cream

- 1/4 cup powdered sugar

- 1/2 tsp vanilla

4 medium bananas, cut into slices

20 vanilla wafers plus more for decoration

For the crust:

In a medium bowl, stir together crushed vanilla wafers and butter until blended. Firmly press on bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate.

Bake at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned.

Remove to a wire rack, and let cool 30 minutes or until completely cool.

For the pudding:

Whisk together sugar, flour, eggs, yolks, and milk in a heavy saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, 10-12 minutes or until it reaches the thickness of chilled pudding (Mixture will just begin to bubble and will be thick enough to hold soft peaks when whisk is lifted. It must be thick an slightly bubbly to set up properly!) Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla.

Transfer to a medium bowl and cover with plastic wrap, making sure to press the plastic directly on top of the custard so it doesn't get a "skin" on it. Refrigerate till completely cool. (Can be made up to a day in advance)

For the whipped cream:

In a medium bowl whip cream on medium high speed till soft peaks form. Slowly add the sugar and vanilla, and continue to beat till thick and stiff. Don't overbeat or you'll have butter!

Assembly:

Arrange half of the banana slices evenly over the bottom of cooled crust. Spread 1/3 of cooled pudding over bananas, then layer with 20 vanilla wafers. Spread 1/3 more pudding over vanilla wafers, then add the remainder of the banana slices and cover them with the last of the pudding. Spread the whipped cream over the entire pie and decorate with more vanilla wafers if desired.

The layers from the bottom up should be: vanilla wafer crust, bananas, pudding, vanilla wafers, pudding, bananas, pudding, whipped cream.

Refrigerate at least for 4 hours. Overnight is best. Consume within 2 days.

Iday and Olive Farewell Cake

noreply@blogger.com (deasyluv) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 02:46:00 +0000

Yesterday we had farewell party at my house for our friends, Iday and Olive, who is going to leave town. They have been so kind to us all this time, so I thought why not made them a special farewell cake. This is the second project for me. Last time was making birthday cake for my husband, I was not able to make the buttercream roses. But this time, I succeeded:) Just by substituting the butter with vegetable shortening.
The one thing I'll try to remember next time is to take a picture of the cake from the top!

Shumai (Chinese Steamed Dumpling)

noreply@blogger.com (deasyluv) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 02:51:00 +0000

I know that we can find wrappers for dumplings or shumai easily in asian stores. But I dared myself to make the shumai, including the wrappers.

It was a lot of work, indeed. But I have 60 sheets of shumai wrappers in my freezer now that could be used anytime I need in the future. So I'm quiet happy. But next time, no, I will prefer go look for those in any asian store.

For Wrappers

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup cold water

For Filling

1 cup ground beef

1 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp apple juice

1/4 tsp white pepper

3 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup minced green onion

1/4 cup shredded cabbage

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp minced garlic

For Sauce

1 cup ground salted peanut

2 tsp minced garlic

3 tbsp ketchup

1 cup hot water

Directions:
Stir the salt into the flour. Slowly stir in the cold water, adding as much as is necessary to form a smooth dough. Don't add more water than is ncessary. Knead the dough into a smooth ball. Cover the dough and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.

While the dough is resting, prepare the filling ingredients. Add the soy sauce, salt, rice wine and white pepper to the meat, stirring in only one direction. Add the remaining ingredients, stirring in the same direction, and mix well.

To make the dumpling dough: knead the dough until it forms a smooth ball. Divide the dough into 60 pieces. Roll each piece out into a circle about 3-inches in diameter.

Place a small portion (about 1 level tablespoon) of the filling into the middle of each wrapper. Wet the edges of the dumpling with water. Fold the dough over the filling into a half moon shape and pinch the edges to seal. Continue with the remainder of the dumplings.

For the sauce, mix all the ingredients.

Devil's Food Cupcake

noreply@blogger.com (deasyluv) — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 15:41:00 +0000

I had this urge to make some of the chocolate cupcakes after watching Cupcake Wars today. I tasted the cupcakes and it was really good. It will be only me and my husband who have to finish all the 14 cupcakes. Too much sugar is not good, so I decided not to put any buttercream for the cupcakes ;)
I picked the recipe from Bakeaholic.

Ingredients:
Unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 cup
All-Purpose Flour 1 1/2 cups
Salt ½ tsp
Baking soda 1 tsp
Baking powder ¼ tsp
Butter 7 tbsp
Sugar 1 ½ cups (granulated)
Eggs 2 large
Milk 1/2 cup

Method:

Sift flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda and baking powder together.
Cream butter and sugar until light and smooth.
Add one egg at a time and continue beating.
Add half of dry ingredients and beat at slowest speed or with hand.
Add milk and beat.
Add rest of dry ingredients and beat.
Divide the batter into 12 standard size muffin pans lined with cup cake cases filling about 3/4 full.
Bake in a pre-heated oven for 20 minutes at 350 F

Fried Pastel - Indonesian Pastry (Pastel Goreng)

noreply@blogger.com (deasyluv) — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 03:07:00 +0000

I'm curious to try something different today. Pastel is one of my favorite indonesian pastries. It's basically just a crispy pie filled with chicken, carrot, and rice vermicelli filling. The only thing that I would do differently from this first attempt is to roll the dough more so it's thinner. The filling was good, though. I had some left overs of the filling and I gladly added it to my lunch menu.

The recipe

For the filling:

1 cup ground chicken

1 cup square-chopped carrot

25 gr of rice vermicelli, soak in hot water

3 eggs, boiled and square-chopped

3 tsp minced garlic

6 onion cloves

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp sugar

2 tbsp butter

1/2 tsp salt or to taste

Add butter, garlic, and onion in medium heated wok until fragrant

Add chicken and carrot

Reduce the heat to low, add salt, soy sauce, pepper, sugar

Add rice vermicelli

For the dough:

2 Cups All-purpose flour

1 Egg

3 Tbsp butter, melted

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup water

Beat egg and melted butter

Add flour and water, slowly until it comes together

Roll the dough to the desired thickness, use a glass or bowl to make a circle

Cut the circles, fill half part of each circle with the filling, cover that part with the other part of the circles. Use the fork to make the pattern on the sides, as shown in below pictures

Fry in medium to high heat

Serve with chilli

Black Pepper Beef (Sapi Lada Hitam)

noreply@blogger.com (deasyluv) — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 17:29:00 +0000

Again from the blogchef. I'm so happy that I'm eventually able to make this dishes. The taste is precisely what I've expected.

Because I'm a moslem, I'm not allowed to drink alcohol. So I substituted the rice wine with apple juice. And I also substituted sesame oil with olive oil, just because I don't have the sesame oil in my cabinet.

So here it is.

Ingredients:
Marinade-
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon rice wine (or apple juice)
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil (or olive oil)
2 garlic cloves (minced)/2 teaspoon minced garlic
Black Pepper Sauce-
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon water
1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon rice wine (or apple juice)
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil (or olive oil)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (or to taste)
Other-
1/2lb flank steak (sliced into thin strips)
1 cup broccoli florets (optional, I don't use it)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Cooking Instructions:
Step 1: In a medium bowl or sealable bag combine 2 tablespoons soy sauce, ½ tablespoon wine, ½ teaspoon sesame oil, and 2 minced garlic cloves. Add steak, toss with the marinade and cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Step 2: In a medium bowl mix together 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon water, ½ tablespoon rice wine, 1 tablespoon sugar, ½ teaspoon sesame oil, and 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.
Step 3: Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok or large skillet to high heat. Remove beef from the marinade with a slotted spoon and add to the wok. Stir fry for about 3 minutes or until the steak is fully cooked. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Step 4: Add another tablespoon of oil to the wok or skillet. Add broccoli florets and stir fry until they have reached your desired tenderness. Return the beef to the wok. Add the sauce to the skillet and cook until heated through.
*If you feel that the beef has not tendered enough, you may add additional water to the wok and cook it through again until you reach the desired tenderness.

Bourbon Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (deasyluv) — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 03:22:00 +0000

Love this website.
I've always got a good recipes of chinese chicken. After honey chicken and orange chicken, I was quite confident to try bourbon chicken. The result? Among the three, this one is my favorite!

Ingredients
2lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
oil (for frying)
cornstarch (for dusting, optional)
Sauce-
1 garlic clove (minced)
¼ teaspoon ginger
¾ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
¼ cup apple juice
1/3 cup light brown sugar (my preference, add 1/8 cup more of sugar)
2 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
½ cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce

Cooking Instructions:
Step 1: Cut chicken breasts into bit sized pieces, and if you choose lightly dust with cornstarch. Heat oil in your wok and fry chicken bits in batches until lightly browned. Drain on paper towels and set aside.
Step 2: In a bowl combine all sauce ingredients. Pour into wok and bring to a boil. Add chicken bits back to the pan, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes (or more, until the sauce is caramelized)

Thai Ice Tea

noreply@blogger.com (deasyluv) — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 03:06:00 +0000

2 glasses of Thai Ice Tea: One for me and one for him

Thai Ice Tea always makes my day! The absolute drink that I would order every time I go to the Thai restaurant. So when my friend, Oliv, had the baby shower party at her house and served this drink, I was really curious on how she made it. So apparently, she had the tea leaves from the local asian store, and it is not that difficult at all to make.

Recipes for two glasses of Thai Ice Tea:

Tea extracts:
1/3 cup thai tea leaves
1/2+1/3 cup water
1/4 cup sugar

Mixture for the tea extract:
1 cup evaporated milk + 1/4 cup of water + 8 ice blocks

Instructions:
- Make the tea extract: Boil water with tea leaves and sugar
- Pour the evaporated milk and water to the tea extract. Add ice box

You may store the tea extract in a container, keep it in the fridge, and break it out whenever you want, adding the evaporated milk, additional water, and couples of ice blocks at the time of serving.

His Birthday Cake

noreply@blogger.com (deasyluv) — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 21:14:00 +0000

Yesterday is my husband's birthday. I made him a birthday cake, first time for me. The initial plan was to create a basket of roses. But I wasn't able to get the perfect consistency of the buttercream, and I had to get the birthday cake done soon, so I substituted the roses with flower drops. It turns out really nice and girly. But I'm still really curious on a perfect recipe to make the buttercream, so I'm gonna try to make and decorate a new cake later, for a different occasion ;)

So here's the recipe for the birthday cake

For the cake:

Classic White Cake, adapted from here

The recipe says that the batter should fill less than 1/2 full in the baking pan. It really IS should. I made two batches of the white cake. One with less than 1/2 full and one with almost full. The one with almost full had small part of batter which is still uncooked in the center bottom of the cake.

And the cake was a bit too sweet for me. I will reduce the sugar to 11/4 cups next time.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups all-purpose flour (spoon flour into measuring cup and level to rim)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

4 large egg whites
1 large egg
3/4 cup whole or 2% milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cold from the refrigerator
1 1/2 cups sugar

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Position the oven shelf to the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 9- x 2-inch cake pans or one 13- x 9- x 2-inch pan, and line with greased parchment paper. Set aside. Light colored, heavy NOT nonstick pans are preferred. (If you use dark, nonstick baking pans or ovenproof, Pyrex glass pans, be sure to reduce the oven heat by 25 degrees F).

2. In a medium size mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. In a large measuring cup or a bowl with a pouring spout, combine the egg whites, egg, milk and vanilla extract. Set aside.

3. Beat the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, on low until softened. (If the butter is cold, cut it into tablespoon size pieces, and then beat it; it will warm quickly from the beaters - taking about 60 seconds). Add the sugar in a steady stream at the side of the bowl. Increase speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes until light yellow and fluffy.

Stop the mixer and scrape the side and bottom of the bowl with a large rubber spatula.

4. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in 3 equal portions, alternating with the milk mixture in 2 equal portions, beginning and ending with the flour. (If the milk is cold, the batter will curdle slightly. It's ok. It will come together when you add the flour.)

Add the flour and liquid ingredients slowly at the side of the bowl. The minute you have finished adding one, begin adding the other ingredient type; do not wait in between additions too long as you don't want to overmix the batter.

After completing the last addition of flour, stop the mixer, and scrape the side and bottom of the bowl with a large rubber spatula.

Then, let the mixer run for 30 to 45 seconds on low. The batter should look light and fluffy. Then, STOP the mixer. Do NOT overmix.

5. Remove the mixing bowl from the mixer. With a large rubber spatula, give the batter ONE or TWO quick folds to incorporate any stray flour or milk left at the sides and bottom of the bowl. Then, STOP!

6. Divide the batter in the prepared baking pans (should fill less than 1/2 full) and lightly smooth the tops.

7. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the top feels firm and gives slightly when touched and will shrink slightly from the side of the pan. The cake will be slightly browned. If you insert a toothpick in the middle and remove, there should be a few moist crumbs attached, but not batter. The cakes will have a slight dome and small cracks on top right when it comes from the oven, but as the cakes cool, they will flatten on top and the tiny cracks will disappear.

Cool in pan on a wire cake rack for 10 to 15 minutes, then turn out onto a rack, remove paper. Invert right side-up and let cool completely.

For the buttercream:

Recipe is adapted from here

This recipe can be used for filling, crumb coating, and making the basket weave or flower drops, but NOT for the roses.

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks or 1/2 pound), softened (but not melted!) Ideal texture should be like ice cream.
3-4 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar, SIFTED
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
up to 4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream

Instructions

Beat butter for a few minutes with a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Add 3 cups of powdered sugar and turn your mixer on the lowest speed (so the sugar doesn’t blow everywhere) until the sugar has been incorporated with the butter. Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and 2 tablespoons of milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes. If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add remaining sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add remaining milk 1 tablespoons at a time.