Another Carrot Cake

Happy Easter to all of you....

I just want to show another carrot cake I baked this Easter morning :p I have tried so many times of the recipe (click here for the recipe) and also posted before in my blog, so I wouldn't bother to retype again :p *lazy me hehehe* This time I just wanted to be quick so I baked in two 22cm round pans, no need to slice into half *hihihi* and sandwhich them together with 1/3 of creamcheese mixture and remaining for topping and 1 or 2 spoons for colouring in orange and green for the carrots.

Hard-Boiled Beef in Soy Sauce - Jang Jo Lim

I seldom cook beef but since my bf a beef eater so I wanted to cook for him. I want to give him a home cooked meal instead of take aways every days. I still wasn't sure what to cook at the time I bought the meat, I just told the butcher that I want meat to stew. And he suggested me which part I have to buy. I also bought potatoes, eggs and bean curds as I remember had Indonesian "semur" at his place. I quickly ran up to my room looking for the recipe but unfortunately I don't have one. Instead, I found a recipe for Korean style boiled beef recipe called Jang Jo Lim (Hard-boiled Beef in Soy Sauce) from epicurious website. Since I didn't know what else to do with the beef then I tried this dish. Combine with my thinking of "semur", Indonesian style stew beef in soy sauce, I added in also the potatoes and bean curds. The Indonesian style has more soup so I doubled the recipe except the beef.

Jang Jo Lim (Hard-boiled Beef in Soy Sauce)

Source: epicurious

Ingredients:

1.3 lb Beef top round (stew meat), cut into 3 inches cubes (I only bought 500 g and cut into smaller size than what has been told)

2 Green onion (I missed this one)

7-8 Garlic cloves (I put in 14)

1/2 tsp Juice of ginger (I cut my thumb size of ginger, grated and reserved the juice)

1-2 tbsps Whole black peppercorn (I don't have :p)

1/2 tsp Ground black peppercorn (I added 4 tsps)

1/3 onion (since my onion is too small, I used 1/2)

3/4 cup Soy Sauce (I doubled to get more soup plus 2 cups of water since I was shocked by the colour of my soy sause, real dark :p)

1/2 cup Sugar (1 cup)

24 quail eggs (6 chicken eggs)

Directions:

Put everything in a big pot, bring to boil, skim off the bubble, low simmer for 1 hour. Cover the lid and cook, but be aware that soy sauce base broth can overboil easily. I would check every 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, put quail eggs in a pot, add cold water, let boil, reduce to low heat and cook for 6-7 minutes. Immerse in cold water, let cool, drain and peel.

After an hour or so, take the meat out, let cool a little bit, tear the meat. Strain the broth and put the meat back to the broth. Add quail eggs, simmer for 5-10 minutes moving around the eggs to cook and be coloured evenly.

Kolak Bunga Biji Salak Campur

I got flu *hiks hiks hiks* It's been few days since Monday but i still forced myself to come to work. As you may guess, YES, it's getting worst and finally I "tepar" on my bed last Friday. I did take rest in the morning :p I just couldn't stay on bed the whole day *hehehe* naughty me :)

So, I was tyding up my cupboard where I store my cooking and baking stuffs and I found I still kept a pack of Sago flour and decided to make Kolak. My grandpa always have sweet potatoes stock in our kitchen and this can be added to my kolak. And I called it the Kolak Bunga Biji Salak Campur since I shaped them into flowers instead of cubes and snake skin fruit's seed shape *hihihi* If translated into english it sound like Sago and Chewy Sweet Potato in Coconut Milk. I really don't know how people named this Indonesian traditional dessert :p

Ingredients:

Nearly 1 pack of Sago flour
Hot water
around 500 g of Sweet potatoes, peeled, steam and mashed
around 1000 ml of coconut milk from 1 grated coconut
400 g of Coconut sugar "gula jawa"
4 tbsps of Sugar
Pandan leaves


Directions:

1. Take 3/4 of the sago flour and add in hot water little by little and keep stirring until you get the dough is smooth and not sticky to your hand. Roll and cut them into flower shapes. Set aside.


2. Mixed mashed sweet potato and remaining sago flour. Add in hot water and keep stirring until you get the dough is smooth and not sticky to your hand and shapeable. Shape into flower shapes. Set aside.


3. Melt the gula jawa with a bit of water until dissolved. Strain.


4. Put coconut milk in a pot and add in all sago flowers and sweet potato flowers when it just about to boil. Add in melted gula jawa, sugar and pandan leaves. Cook until the flowers all come up to the surface.


That's how I made my KOLAK :)

Lady Bug Cake

I finally fulfilled my promise to the little girls to make the Lady Bug Cake. They saw it on the calender of "Gulaku". I made exactly the same shape of lady bug but only using chocolate and whipping cream instead of buttercream. Buttercream looks prettier but I prefer the tastier one *hehehe* Usually we scrap out the buttercream and eat the cake. But too late to know that the girls like buttercream :p

Kumbang Imut Gulaku (LadyBug Cake)

Source: Gulaku Calender 2008

Ingredients:
200 g Sugar
10 Egg yolks
7 White eggs
1/4 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp SP
100 g Butter, melted
200 g All purpose flour, sifted
1/2 tsp Baking powder, sifted


Buttercream:
150 g Powdered sugar, sifted
250 g White butter
100 g Butter
5 tbsps Sweet condensed Milk
1/4 tsp Vanilla
2 tbsps Rhum, optional
Strawberry and Pandan paste


Decoration:
Colourful candies or other sweets


Directions:

1. Cake: Heat oven, grease one hole of muffin pan and heat proof glass bowl. Sprinkle with flour. Set aside.


2. Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla till fluffly. Add in SP and beat until the batter has thickened.


3. Add in melted butter and flour mixture. Mix until well combine.


4. Pour into prepared muffin pan and bowl. Bake until the surface turned golden. Let cool.


5. Buttercream: Beat white butter and sugar until soften. Add in sweet condensed milk, butter, vanilla and rhum. Beat until smooth.


6. Devide 3/4 for strawberry paste and 1/4 for pandan paste.


7. Put bowl cake up side down on a tray. Cover with pink buttercream. Put muffin shape cake as the lady bug's head and cover with green buttercream.


8. Decorate with candies to make the lady bug looks cute.


In case of mine, I covered my ladybug with chocolate ganache (pink and yellow), smarties, colourful chocolate chips, and coloured whipped cream. My opinion of the cake itself regardless the outlook?? hmm... frankly speeking this cake uses many eggs, I like cakes with less eggs :p

When MoM Away

This the last day of my long weekend. I spent my days in the kitchen mostly. I made a cake on Friday (this will be my next post) and cooking on Sunday. My mom is away today. She went to Puncak yesterday with my bro and sis and her kids, left me, my dad and my little bro behind. So, left me to take care the two gentlemen. Yay! I'm in charge *hehehe*

I woke up a little later than usual and directly rushed to the market to prepare some meals for the three of us. With my limited knowledge of things in the market so I brought home only pork meat, pork ribs, 1 kg of bean sprout (I'm not "tukang bakmi" ya :p), peanuts and wintermelon. Since only left three of us so I only prepared just enough, we don't want to waste the food, rite?! hehehe... I prepared similar to pork chops, stir fry bean sprout ( just a handfull, not the whole 1 kg :p) and soup. I don't know the exact measurement, but I'd try to be as specific as I can.

Pork ribs and Peanut Soup

Source: my home cooking for long long time

Ingredients: (all ingredients are adjusted to how many are you serving)

Pork ribs

Peanuts

Water

Salt and pepper to taste

*Wash pork ribs and peanuts. Simply drop all into boiling water. Seasoned with salt and pepper to your taste. Simplest ever, rite?! Anyone can do this. I like this soup. It tastes a little bit sweet, a bit salty, and peanut fragrance. Good and healthy.

White pepper Pork Chops

Source: I've read somewhere but didn't take note. As far as I remember it uses white pepper as the main seasoning. So, I simply combine with my mom's style of deep fried pork.

Ingredients:

350 g Pork meat, slice thinly

2-3 tbsps White pepper

1 1/2 tbsps Sugar

2 tbsps Dark soy sauce

1 tbsps All purpose flour

*Marinate the meat with white pepper, sugar and soy sauce. Keep in the fridge for 15-30 minutes. Mix in the flour just before frying. It taste spicy from the pepper and sweet. Good to be eaten with steam rice or snacks :p

Last dish of the day was Stir fry bean sprout with garlic. Nothing special of this dish, but my family loves this :p

Hongkong Fried Noodle

I wasn't sure the name of this dish, but it looks like what restaurants name their dish.. Hongkong Fried Noodle. Of course taste is different cause my style was just a simply do for sunday morning :p So simple for you to follow the steps. It's same as your normal cooking for your family.

Ingredients:

1 package of thick egg noodle

Fish balls, slice thin

1 handfull of bean sprout

2 eggs, lightly beaten (This idea just came out now *hihihi*, I think mine would've been more yummy )

2 cloves of garlic

4 red onions

3 red chilies

Cooking oil

Sweet soy sauce

Light /dark soy sauce

salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Blend garlic, onion and chili into paste.

2. Heat oil and saute the paste till fragrant. Add in egg and sramble, then add in fish balls and bean sprout. Stirring for 1 or 2 minutes before finally add in the noodle.

3. Add in sauces like sweet soy sauce, dark/ligh soy sauce, salt and pepper and adjust to your taste. Serve hot.

Tiramisu

My first tiramisu. I just found out that mascarpone cheese is really expensive :( I bought a cup of Italian made mascarpone on Friday at the food place in Senayan City. I have kept postponing to make tiramisu for quite long time. I already planned and bought the lady fingers first more than six months ago. Can you imagine? hehehe.

So, I just followed the recipe thought by m-corner and excluded the kahlua. I like kahlua very much :p but I just didn't have enough time and didn't know where to get it in Jakarta. Anyway, it still tasted very nice, hm... I like most the mascarpone cream, fattening.. I know, but I couldn't help it :p Next time, I want to serve my tiramisu in small cups and just using marcarpone, cream and chocolate powder, nothing else :)

Tiramisu

Source: m-corner

Ingredients:

450 g Mascarpone cheese (I used 500 g) at room temperature

1/2 cup Sugar

4 Egg Yolks

1 cup Whipping cream

2 packages of Lady fingers

1 1/2 cup Espresso + 3 tbsps of sugar for dipping the lady fingers

Unsweetened chocolate powder

Directions:

1. Beat egg yolks in a hear proof bowl till fluffy and add in sugar.

2. Put the bowl on a pan with simmering water. Keep beating until pale and thickened. The cream will thickened just about the boiling point. Set aside.

3. Using a spatula mash the mascarpone cheese. Pour in the egg and sugar mixture, stir well.

4. Whipp the cream until stiff and fold into the mascarpone mixture. Mix well.

5. Dip lady fingers in espresso and line on the spring form pan. Pour half of the cream on the lady fingers. Dip the remaining lady fingers in espresso and line on top of the cream. Pour in the remaining cream. Sprinkle with chocolate powder. Store in a fridge for 3 or 4 hours or overnight (cause I made it last night :p).