I'm back

Wah, dah lama gak nulis blog. Tapi bukan berarti gak masak ato baking....from the last post in Jan 2011, udah sempet bikin sambal goreng buncis (not too bad), bikin ayam kalio (rada2 enek, kebanyakan santen kali yah), pikin puding coklat saos mocha (lumayan juga...)

Next time, I will make it a point to take a pic, and post it here...

Meanwhile, mau nge post list of ingredients aja, translated from Bahasa Indonesia to English, and ada takerannya juga kalo mau use ground herbs instead of fresh...Ini table gw salin dr buku masak indonesia dr library :)

Aduh, gak berhasil nih copy and paste table nya...dr excel...gimana yah?

Ntar coba lagi deh soalnya si iggy kayaknya bentar lg bangun...

Bolu Vanila Tabur Keju

Dua minggu yg lalu coba bikin bolu keju ala indo, yg atasnya ditaburin keju kraft...tapi gagal total, bukannya cuman bantet, tapi keras abis kayak batu bata...what can possibly go wrong yah? Perasaan udah bener2 ngikutin resep...

Karena udah ngidam banget pengen makan bolu keju itu, akhirnya setelah ngobrol sama Nicole, dapet lah resep kue bolu yg jauh lebih gampang n rasanya tetep enak (walopun gak se-moist bolu2 keju yg pernah gw makan di jkt), abis itu bikin cream cheese icing buat diolesin di tengah n atas kue, abis itu ditaburin keju kraft (diparut) yg banyak...nyaaammm...

Chocolate Brownie

I made this last week and it finished within the day :) The recipe is taken from http://gracessweetlife.com/2010/08/roberts-absolute-best-brownies-sinfully-delicious

Thank you Grace, it's sooo yummy...

Bolognese Sauce

A lot of preparation and it takes long hours to cook this but it's definitely much better than the store-bought sauces. I use this for spaghetti or making lasagna








INGREDIENTS:
4 strips of streaky bacon, diced
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
1 small carrot, finely diced
1 small celery (USA celery), finely diced
4 tbsp butter
250 gr minced beef
125 gr minced pork
250 ml dry red wine
375 beef stock (or water is also possible. In Singapore it's pretty hard to find a ready-to-use beef stock. But Novena Square 2 has a shop called "Mmmmm Mmmm Mmmmm" that sells frozen beef stock)
375 gr peeled and chopped tomato (if lazy to peel and chop the tomatoes, I normally use 1 can of diced tomato, "CIRIO" brand)
1 tbsp tomato paste
Salt and pepper to taste

HOW TO:
1. Heat the butter in the medium-sized pan
2. Saute the onion and bacon until the onion is transparent
3. Add the carrot and celery and cook for another 10 mins, stirring occassionally
4. Add the meats, stir, and cook for another 5-10 mins
5. Add half the wine and half the beef stock, bring to boil, and simmer for 20 mins
6. Add the tomato paste, the chopped tomatoes, salt and pepper. Stir well.
7. Simmer for at least 2.5 hours. Gradually adding the wine and beef stock until all is used up (I normally simmer it for about 3 hours)

Happy cooking!

Iggy's Bday Cake

I baked this cake for Iggy's 2nd birthday. Yono's mom and cousins (Martin and Anes) decorated the cake with ready-to-roll fondant :)

P.S. You can reduce the amount of sugar used, but be careful coz the dark choc is pretty bitter, especially for little ones, so you need sugar to sweetened it. For adults, you can add a taste of kahlua/ baileys when mixing the coffee mixture :)










INGREDIENTS:
200g good quality dark chocolate , about 60% cocoa solids
200g butter , cut in pieces
1 tbsp instant coffee granules
85g self-raising flour
85g plain flour
1⁄4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
200g light muscovado sugar
200g golden caster sugar
25g cocoa powder
3 medium eggs
75ml buttermilk (5 tbsp)

HOW TO:
1. Butter a 20cm round cake tin (7.5cm deep) and line the base
2. Preheat the oven to 160 degree celcius
3. Break the chocolate into smaller pieces and place it into a pan
4. Add the butter into the pan
5. Mix the instant coffee granules into 125 ml cold water and pour the mixture into the pan also
6. Heat the pan and mix until everything is melted (don't overheat)
7. While the chocolate is melting, mix the two flours, bicarbonate of soda, sugars and cocoa in a big bowl, mixing with your hands to get rid of any lumps
8. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl and stir in the buttermilk
9. Pour the melted chocolate mixture and the egg mixture into the flour mixture, stirring just until everything is well blended and you have a smooth, quite runny consistency
10. Pour this into the tin and bake for 1 hour 25- 1 hour 30 minutes - if you push a skewer in the centre it should come out clean and the top should feel firm
11. Leave to cool in the tin (don't worry if it dips slightly), then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely
12. Decorate the cake

Iggy's Mac n Cheese

It's our family's favourite for breakfast or afternoon snack or even light lunch. Best of all, it's so easy to make :)








INGREDIENTS:
100 gr uncooked macaroni
8 eggs (medium-sized)
200 ml milk (I normally use HL milk)
250 gr shredded cheese (cheddar or edam or mixed)
250 gr ham or bacon, cut/ sliced according to preference
Salt and pepper to taste

HOW TO:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degree celcius
2. Cook the macaroni in salted boiling water, according to the package direction, drain and set aside
3. Grease with butter, a roughly 20cm square baking dish
4. Beat the egg with a fork/ whisker
5. Pour the milk into the beaten egg and mix well
6. Season with salt and pepper, mix well
7. Pour the ham, sheredded cheese, and cooked macaroni into the egg and milk mixture, and mix well
8. Bake in the preheated oven for about 1 hour (put the dish in the lower section of the oven for about 40 mins and then bring it to the middle section for the rest of the 20 mins, so that the top of the dish will not overcooked). Test using a skewer. If it comes out clean, mean it's cooked.

Happy baking :)