FoodGeek

A pie for a friend is a piece of cake for me

2009-09-30T19:58:00.000-07:00

If there is such thing as a pie class, today I passed it.

I made pies for my friends as they prefer pies rather than cakes. I think there are two kinds of people pie people and cake people..hahahhaha Since I don't care much about pies.

First time I made a pie, I made a chocolate pecan pie and I took it to my friend house when it was not settled yet. I did not know that if you wait longer than the requested baking time, it would finally set. Well, then I tried peanut butter pie for another friend. I used the easiest recipe I could find and turned out it was really easy and tasted really good.

Today, I made another attempt in making chocolate pecan pie with recipe from Emeril Lagasse. It is wrong that I have all the ingredients when I claimed to not care much about pies..hahhaha

Well, the pie set and it turned out to be OK. How did I know that? I insisted on trying it first hand after delivering it to the intended recipient. While I did not make the caramel sauce to go with it, I brought along with me a vanilla Haagen Dazs ice cream (just in case my pie was not good enough)...hahhaha

I forgot to take picture of the pie and was planning to make more when I realize that I don't have my pie dish with me...;((

So next time (as soon as I get my pie dish back) I will make some more, OK?...

Serundeng

2009-09-17T09:39:00.000-07:00

The last time I talked to my mom, she was saying that she learned to make serundeng for her beloved grandkids... That hurts, Mom..hihihihi Since I don't remember you do all that kind of things for us...Maybe because we prefer Dunkin Donuts .... hahhaa or because Oneng was there to her rescue....

So anyway, not wanting to be left out, I tried to find the recipe online.

Once I know how to make it, unlike the usual "do it the hard way" me, I had a eureka moment.

I use the sweetened shredded coconut from my baking pantry and fresh frozen grated coconut from the freezer, and slightly salted roasted nuts from CVS. Feel so good with my short cuts..

Then I roasted each of the coconut in my convection oven in 2-3 minutes interval and mixing them everytime until I get the right brown color. Afterwards I put them in food processor to get the consistency. After that, you heat your non stick pan with medium heat, add sambel oelek (from the jar), ground coriander, dark brown sugar, onion salt powder, garlic powder. Mix in the roasted coconut and nuts in them and mix them until they all blend and taste good.

Well, then feeling inspired I made another batch with canned tuna...

So now how are we going to get ready for Lebaran (which is in 4 days)? I JUST need opor ayam, sambel goreng, acar kuning, ketupat, gulai kambing, kerupuk udang...

Be grateful grasshopper....Patience....

Done....

As Breads Become Bad...

2009-08-11T19:57:00.001-07:00

Once I fiddled around the idea about baking breads, I found out that there are easy breads using bread mix and there are more complicated breads using starter. Well, like any other of my cooking or baking experiments, I have to like the pursued end result before I even tried it.

So once I master (hahahhahaha) the easy breads, I decided to try making sourdough breads. I was thinking whether to buy the starter or just make one myself. Finally I decided to follow one of my cookbooks --Pillsburry recipe-- using yeast starter.

The problem, almost as bad as making brownies, is the waiting. It takes six days to finally bake the breads. But the end result is GOOD and now I have a starter ready to use in my fridge!

Just have to remember that you have to start a day ahead for this one...

Yes, another waiting game everytime you want to eat some more....

Kala Nasi Telah Menjadi Bubur... Cari Ayam

2009-07-11T10:30:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite breakfast foods or even for lunch back home is bubur ayam (chicken rice porridge or rice congee). Depends on where you live, all you have to do is find your favorite vendor...hahhaa They are widely available from chinese restaurants in the mall to cart vendors who would go around certain area in the morning until they run out of their porridge. Another way of getting it is from someone who knows what they are doing a.k.a. my auntie or my mom.

Well, since I am here in a place where there is no chinatown nor cart vendors, the only way to get it is when I have the mood to make it...hahahhaha So when it is Saturday morning and the weather forecast is not looking good, while there is chicken breast in the pot that no one wants to eat, it is porridge time!!!!

I made mine today like my auntie used to do, but I am pretty sure she had more stuff that goes into hers. Mine is less messy -- with chicken and coleslaw mix. However, since it is time consuming with occasional stirring; the porridge turned out pretty good (although that maybe my biased opinion)

This is how it looks like...

Once a surprise, now a happy quick snack

2009-07-07T09:30:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, when I was still working outside the home and was still getting paid..hahahhaa I told my hubby that I wished I could walk to the market and buy me lumpia goreng like in Pasar Blok A. Later that night when I got home from work around midnight, I found lumpia goreng on the kitchen counter... Freshly fried, by my BELOVED hubby!!! Wow that was one of priceless moments I would remember for the rest of my life.

Well apparently making lumpia goreng is not hard. Just like anything else that I like to eat, I would figure out how to make it. Since I don't like cutting vegetables, I thought lumpia would be something with more preparation than I want to do. Apparently, I was wrong.. (Again)....

Making lumpia is as easy as opening a ready mix of coleslaw from the bag, put them in a bowl, put your seasonings and then wrap them up in the egg roll wrappers. You can get them all from the salad section of your local grocery stores.

The only problem now, since it is easy to make and I am the one having the cravings....Well, you know the rest...hahahha

Bak Pao

2009-06-12T13:36:00.001-07:00

I love Bak Pao.... Ever since when we rode the bike early Sunday morning to eat Bak Pao at Monas to when I found out there were SPECIAL Bak Pao at Kuningan. Or GIGANTIC Bak Pao as my friend called it!

Never have I imagined that you couldn't not find one over here, even in Chinatown since they all would say "Pork, this is Pork" answering what kind of meat were in the buns..hahhahaha And the ones I tried were never as good as the ones back home.

So after watching Kung Fu Panda, Gil wanted to try the "white bread like Kung Fu Panda". To my disbelief, I found a ready mix in my pantry. It must have been there for a long time, since when I tried it, the dough did not rise. Yet, Gil was too happy to see ones that look like the movie and kept saying how good they were.

Just enough motivation to look for a good recipe, I FOUND ONE and made my first Chinese steamed buns without any fillings..hahhaha Since I thought I would try how the buns turn out before I made the filling.

Now I just have to eat them with the fillings on the side...hahahhaha Cannot help it...Yummm

Sewindu and I still LOVE you

2009-05-31T15:40:00.000-07:00

Eight years,

It's been eight years

When we said our vows

To be by each other through happiness and sorrows

Then there were just two of us,

two friends who became lovers.

Then there were two of us,

sharing our lives, our small part of heaven

Now we have two kids,

Two kids with whom we share our lives as a family

Now our lives might be more complicated and full of noises,

still we share our lives together, our small part of heaven

Eight years, hopefully many more years

Since I still love being with you in our small part of heaven.

Memory Lane

2009-05-26T10:50:00.000-07:00

Long time ago, when I still spent vacations and weekends at my granparents' house, my favorite foods to eat was fried chickens, water spinach stir fry, sambal, and emping. Then I told my mom how good the foods were whenever we stayed there.

"So simple, yet so good!" I said.

So of course, she then asked me what we ate. After telling her what we ate, she asked, "So which part of it is simple?"

Now being a mother of two, I think I know the answer.

There is nothing simple about cooking them, since there are so many things you need to prepare. But there is definitely a simple way to do it with Tender Loving Care (TLC). Just like my grandma said all the times and it sure is a SIMPLE way to make my heart happy to reminisce of all the things she cooked for me and now I know how to make them.

The Evolution of Chocolate Breads

2009-05-25T17:33:00.001-07:00

I cannot believe that it was my first blog when I talked about chocolate breads and that was a year ago when I wrote it. Now one year and one baby later, I tried a new recipe that had already more than a thousand reviews -- averaging five stars.

Well, now I can claim that I have made chocolate breads from scratch.

The recipe ended up with two loaves of breads, but being the usual me, I had to add chocolate on the second loaves and just layered and rolled them before I put into my loaf pan. When my brother and sister in law stopped by they also agred that it is a GOOD recipe. So when our friends stopped by later, I gave half of the chocolate loaf bread.

Guess what happened next?

My hubby asked me right away after they left whether I was going to make another one, he said he likes the chocolate bread..hahhahahahaha

So now, I am already on my next project -- baking breads for the second times in one day.

Here is how they look like.. Pretty good, huh?

Oh by the way, I also made them into smaller breads the second time around --about the size of dinner rolls.

Then and Now.. My Soul Foods, Not Much Change

2009-04-18T15:07:00.001-07:00

A long time ago, whenever I could, I would usually go to the market in the weekend to get some traditional Javanese snack that seemed only available early in the morning. Some days they would be gone before I got the chance to get to the market. So there were many disappointing days when I had to come home empty handed. Once I was in the US, I saw the same thing (I always thought it was corn) in KFC buffet line. I asked them what they called it and they said it is called HOMINY and they come in cans....hahhaha

So here whenever I want Grontol, or so I think they are called, all I have to do is go the grocery store and get a can of yellow hominy and sweetened shredded coconut from the bakery aisle, put them in my favorite bowl and warm them up in microwave...Voila Grontol is here...

Also on Saturday I used to walk to this donut shop in town in the morning. Their donuts are really good and I enjoyed the walk to go buy some..;))) Well, the store owner changed and gone. So I heard that they have one in the neighboring town. Today, another Saturday morning with the forecast that was supposed to rain in the afternoon, we decided to drive and find that store.

Well, after about three gallons gasoline later, we found the store. And they are GOOOODDDDD!

Soul foods make you happy, it doesn't matter that it is now 2009, I still enjoy eating Grontol as much as I did hundreds years ago and I still love my donuts although I have to drive to get them since they are out of town..hiiii hihihi I AM WORTHED!

Gingerbread Boys

2008-12-12T09:05:00.000-08:00

When you are the one who likes spice cookies but you are also the one who cannot eat.. Life is tricky indeed..hihihihih So my son likes the process of making gingerbread or the part of using the cookie cutter but since he was not too crazy about the gingerbread cookies he has tried so far I usually opted to make sugar cookies.

That is until today!!!

Apparently is only a matter of finding the recipe he likes...

Well, short story.. I FOUND ONE ..:))))))

He ate the dough from the paddle attachment, then the next day he ate the cold dough before and after we rolled it out, then he ate the cookies before I added the icing, then he ate the cookies after I put the icing on..

So much for not liking the gingerbread cookies....

Too messy and too much work for something I cannot eat, don't you think???

Wish I Can Fit Inside The Tin Cans...

2008-12-08T23:08:00.001-08:00

Even if I am not seven months pregnant, it is a wishful thinking..

But tonight I really wish that I can go with the tin cans with my brother and my sister-in-law to go see my family way across the ocean, thousand miles away, more than twenty-four hours flight......

So since my mom did not get to try any of my baking when I was home, she asked me to send her some samples. Tonight I am baking her some chocolate chip cookies that my brother "the former cookie monster" loves and I also making some Paradise Macaroons from Foodnetwork that I just got in my email. These cookies are to die for.. I know I just tried one cookie each just for quality control and SUGAR ALERT!!! ..hahhahahahah

Tomorrow we have our annual Christmas party on campus and I also promised my friend to give him some chocolate cookies for his birthday last week. So these are going to be gone by tomorrow for sure...Well, they better not be here since I would definitely eat them all (must be contagious to have a cookie monster as a brother).

It turned out the today forecast is not very good. It is raining and windy all day, so instead of finishing the paradise macaroons --which I still have to dip in chocolate and sprinkle with finely chopped macadamia. The cookies have to go just as coconut macaroons...

Apparently it rains in paradise ...

Some Things Are Meant To Be

2008-11-21T13:48:00.001-08:00

I do believe that some things are meant to be. You can plan as much as you want or even search as much as you want but you cannot do anything if it is not meant to be for you to get it.

Well, I am not trying to be deep here..hahahhahaha

We are talking about Strawberry Cake recipes. Since my son likes pink and always asks for pink cakes so I have been on the look out for a homemade strawberry cake recipe. Many of the recipes I found used strawberry cake mix from the box or even strawberry jelly. Nothing wrong with that if you want to use them, but for me I seem to like the hard way of doing things..hihihihi. I think it has to do with the fact that I am not supposed to eat these so I always try to do it the hard way to justify me trying a bite anyway.

So after looking for a couple of years (or seemed to be that long), today I found one recipe that looked promising. No jelly, no cake mix, just strawberry preserve which you can make if you insist.

Well, mission accomplished! If there is one thing to complain about this recipe is the fact that it still uses buttermilk which is not available in Jakarta. I tried using substitute but the result was not as fluffy as using the real liquid buttermilk. So this is how it looks like!

Jam Thumbprint Cookies

2008-11-02T20:45:00.000-08:00

As usual looking for trouble, I browse online for cookie recipe that has many good reviews. Find one! And from looking at the ingredients I know what to do with it -- it is mainly butter cookies with sweetened flaked coconuts.

Instead using apricot or raspberry jam as suggested in the recipe, I made pineapple jam using the same recipe used in nastar cookies. And this is how they look like!

They are a little bit bigger than I thought, but according to the recipe each ball needs to weight about 1 oz. So this is the right size but I guess, you can add more jam if you like!!!

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

2008-10-30T10:07:00.000-07:00

For someone who should not be eating any cookies, my eyes are pretty good in finding good cookies to try. I was in the Murray Calloway County Hospital pharmacy when I saw Dotta's Dozens Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies. As a good cookie monster's sister..hahhaha I had to get them.

They are really good - soft, chewy texture, and not too sweet - the chocolate oatmeal cookies definitely somethings I cannot stop eating once I eat them...

Well, since I thought that was not a good idea to keep buying them, so let's make them..hihihihih

I tried one recipe that have the looks and modified it by skipping the white sugar and adding dutch process cocoa powder to get the dark chocolate taste that I like. Well, mine turned out to be crispier and not soft. Maybe I should not use the baking powder at all since the other chewy recipe doesn't use baking powder at all. I also might try it again with butter and more egg yolk, hopefully that would solve the soft and chewy taste.

After talking to my sister, she suggested using Betty Crocker's Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies since she said it was a very good cookie. So I tried it and add my dark dutch cocoa process and regular cocoa powder with additional butter ---- WWWWOOOOOWWWW!!!

I am in cloud NINE!

Donuts O Donuts, I do go nuts!

2008-10-12T13:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had our Homecoming parade in town. There were students who sold Krispy Kreme to support their missions, so they were walking back and forth on Main Street where we were waiting and watching the parade. They were at the traffic lights, too.

Apparently trying to be good by not buying them, made me really think about donuts. So of course, I went online and found a recipe. This is made with sweet potato and you don't have to wait half a day to get it done and ready. I thought I gave it a try, it's Paula Deen's recipe what can go wrong!!!

Woooaaa.... it is done in less than an hour (without cleaning the mess in the kitchen)! And they are really good. It is different since they have no yeast in them, so they have "different" taste that I have never tried before. BUT DEFINITELY GOOODDDDDD!!! I should have just made donut holes since they are easier and better to eat!!! One bite in the mouth and forever in the hips..hahahha

Well, since it was such a good recipe and I really like it a whole lot I HAD TO TRY TO CHANGE IT A LITTLE BIT..hahahhahahaa

Tested again on Monday, October 20, 2008 and since my friend said that a good donut usually uses potato starch I just modified the recipe with potato starch. And the result is that they are more fluffier!!! So two thumbs up for the modification!

The next question is donuts or donut holes??? Neither..Hhahaha just made them a bit bigger than regular donut holes.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GIL

2008-10-07T22:46:00.000-07:00

May all your dreams come true
As we would always support you
You always know what you want
So as per request,
Here is your pink birthday cake
May you like what I baked...

Finished October 8, 2008 at 12:30 am.

Pink Chiffon Cupcakes

2008-10-03T15:57:00.000-07:00

Apparently the need to bake is stronger than I would want to admit. So when Gil asked me to make his birthday cake early, I told him that I can make him cupcakes instead.

Well, leave it to me I cannot just use the recipes that I have tried before. So I found this Chiffon Cupcakes recipe from Food Network that sounded interesting and that I happened to have all the ingredients after a quick walk to Rite Aid for eggs and milk....hahhaha

So this is how it looks, Gil ate four while he was waiting for me to make the buttercream icing. To think that I did not know how this would turn out, I say this is a pleasant surprise for a pink afternoon...

Kue Nastar

2008-09-16T13:14:00.000-07:00

I just realized that when I had to take extra classes, I always prefer to take cooking class. In high school it made more sense to pick cooking class instead the others, since all ingredients for that class was fully paid by the school and we just had to show up at our cooking class and to cook/bake. When the foods was done, we ate them all and maybe share some with friends..hahahhahah Only at the end of the year that we had to bring our own ingredients to make what each of us was assigned for our final grade.

One of my final assignments was called "Putri Mandi". It is a Javanese traditional dessert that I had to make small balls filled with sweet brown sugar and shreded coconut. I flunk it! I had to redo it again and I still believe that I passed the test because I said I am not Javanese. The teacher let me go for my lack of ability to make smaller balls that would fit a princess as the name Putri is in Indonesian.

Eversince then I have been struggling to make anything small especially in the same size and looks. Until today!!!!!

Today is one of my proudest moments in cooking/baking..hahhahahahahha My biggest accomplishment yet!!! My best friend argued right away with my statement. But I said being a good friend, daughter, wife, and mother is not an accomplishment. IT IS A REQUIREMENT and has always been expected by my own standards.

Making same size, professional looking cookies are ACCOMPLISHMENT!!!! Hahahhaha...

Kolak Biji Salak

2008-09-12T12:30:00.001-07:00

This is the month of Ramadhan where in Indonesia that would mean more traditional foods and desserts would be available in the supermarket or would be serve at home. Well, for me it is another excuse to make dessert--PERIOD.

I have to say that desserts have always been my preferred part of the menu that I would try to make, if I have to. Growing up I could not wait for others to start making my favorite dessert, that I just started making it myself. I forgot what we called it (I think it is called "Ketimus"), but part of the process is to finely shred cassava and eventually scratched all my five fingers doing it. But I did it anyway.

So using Ramadhan as an excuse I made this sweet dessert called Biji Salak. I looked online for recipes and found out there are two way to start one way is to steam the sweet potatoes and another way is to boil them. Since I don't have large steamer, I opted for the second methods.

Well, not a good idea! The sweet potatoes became too mushy! So it might help if I let them dried while they cool down to room temperature. I have never been a patient customer when I want something done, I mashed them right away. The next process, proved that I made a mistake. It took double the tapioca to shape the balls, so the biji salak tastes more like tapioca balls in sweet kolak! So if you would just add cubed sweet potatoes and plantain to my kolak, it would probably be better..hahahhaa

Here it is anyway!

Fried Chicken in Kentucky

2008-09-06T19:12:00.000-07:00

One of my friends was complaining that her son only wanted fried chicken for his meals and would not help her with figuring out what else to eat on daily basis. Then she asked whether I can imagine eating fried chicken all the time. I was like," Sure, I don't mind that at all. I always want to have fried chicken in a jar so I can eat them any time I want once I have my own place..hahhahaa"

When I was leaving to study in Kentucky, one of my friends even thought that I was moving to work for another company -- a.k.a Kentucky Fried Chicken..hahahah It was not a long stretch since I do like fried chicken.

There are many kinds of recipes for fried chicken and I like most of them. When I went back home last February, I tried Chicken Karaage. It is my nephew favorite meal and they can buy them at the frozen section and fry them when you want.

I was hoping they have them here in States, but I could not find them at the frozen section. Until I found out that I got the recipe from another friend of mine who compiled a whole bunch of them in one PDF file. Well, it seems that I have problem following recipe whenever it is not cake recipes. So of course, I just marinated the chicken what I feel like at that moment. For today I put lemon, sherry wine, garlic, salt and pepper, ginger, soy sauce and honey. Then I used her flour mix recipe -- rice flour with a little bit of corn starch.

Wow, it is NOW my favorite fried chicken! It is easy and it tastes really good!!!

Break from Baking

2008-08-30T15:53:00.001-07:00

Well, since I have to kind of watch my sugar for about 9 months or so..hehehhehe Lately I also have to watch what I am baking. So this is just stuff that I cooked for my "entertaintment".

I learned the recipe from a friend in Paris (what a city..sigh) while I was visiting a good friend from highschool. I have always called this "Soto Betawi" but today I found out that there are different kinds of soto betawi recipes online..hahhahaha So for those of you who know and remember how the "Real" soto should taste like, mine would probably not even close...hahahahhaha

My sister-in-law likes this "soto babat" as she calls it since I mainly use tripe in it. If you have to watch your cholesterol level or have gout issues, you might want to stay away from this soup. One of my friends would still eat this although he would not be able to walk once in a while since he loves this soup so much. I think if you have not fallen in love and could not live without eating them, you might want to stay away from tripe (defined as the rubbery lining of the stomach of cattle or other ruminants, used as food), beef tongue, ox tail, or anything that comes from the inside of a cow for your own health. Yet for some of us that grow up with these delicacies, we know how GOOD they are!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-08-13T16:41:00.001-07:00

One of the best thing that I remember about walking around at the malls in Jakarta is the smell of chocolate chips cookies -- mostly from Famous Amos. They are just heavenly since they are freshly bake for the day.

So it is to no surprise to anybody who knows me that I would look for a good chocolate cookies recipe. Well, I think my search is finished!

My brother used to have chocolate cookies in his room during his high school and college years. He would take homemade cookies made by his friend's mom to Chip Ahoy from the grocery stores. So that's where he got his nickname "cookie monster". When your "cookie monster" brother would pay you to make these cookies I think I found one recipe that is a keeper.

Pandan Chiffon Cake

2008-08-13T09:28:00.000-07:00

My auntie sent us packages from time to time from NY city since they have more international groceries over there and she just loves to do this kind of things. Well, one of the boxes was Pondan Pandan Chiffon Cake Mix. So I thought let's tried it, since I never had them before.

Guess who go crazy for this green cake??????

My son, Gilang, who would only call this cake "His Green Cake" and would ask me to make it again. As soon as my auntie found out about this, she sent us more boxes of cake mix and said that they were all for him.

Well, for those of you who have not tried this cake before, I have to tell you something! Before you go crazy for the taste, this is a typical Indonesian cake that has pandan flavor and seven eggs in it. Pandan leaves are used a lot in Indonesian cooking for their unique flavor for cooking and baking. They look like some kind of tall grass and you can find them in international grocery stores as frozen goods or green essence in bottle.

So this is how it look like and look who would be next to the counter as soon as it's cool! I wonder whether it is the taste that he likes it or whether it is green just like his favorite John Deer color???

Red and White

2008-08-08T12:04:00.001-07:00

I have to say my favorite color (but not to wear) is RED. My Indonesian flag is red and white. So when I first tried to bake my own cake, I found this Waldorf Astoria Red Velvet Cake recipe online and thought it was a good one to start! Waldorf Astoria is in NY city and NY city is the first city I fell in love with, so it was like an obvious choice to pick that one recipe.

Well, I did not have picture of that particular cake ... hahaha But I remember how much red food coloring you have to use to get the color (2 bottles).

Then much later I saw on TV - of course it was on FoodNetwork -- about a red velvet cupcakes. Just by looking at the people who love eating them made me drool!! So of course, the very nice chef shared her recipe online. I made it as soon as possible!

This is why I like Red!!!!!!! If you try this cupcake, you will love it, too! That is a red velvet cupcake, I just did not take a good picture of the red part...hahaha My obviously favorite color to wear is BLACK.