Tiramisu For my Birthday

Cooking on my bday? I chose something unbaked for my day.

I remember mba Ienas Tsuroiya Recipe. I've been using this recipe for many times.

It's good.... I changed rum into coffee liquor (Kahlua). I made two batches, one is in pyrex 13", and the other is in spring form pan.

Indonesian version for this recipe is HERE ( Tsuroiya.multiply.com : recipe without gelatin).

Here is my modification by adding gelatin to make it firm in my spring form pan.

INGREDIENTS:

6 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

16 Oz mascarpone cheese

1 envelope of gelatin, dissolve with small amount of water.

1 1/2 cup whipping cream

Rum/Kahlua

24 Lady finger

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup thick coffee ( mine : 1/2 thick coffee, 1/2 Kahlua)

Dutch Processed Choco Powder

METHODS

1. Mix hot coffee and chocolate chips, when it is cool enough, add the liquor, set aside. We will use this for soaking our lady finger.

2. Beat egg yolks and sugar, continue beat them on double boiler ( in case we are afraid of raw eggs). Beat until the mixture's color is pale. Add the rum/Kahlua ( about 2 tbsp or more up to your taste buds). Add Mascarpone cheese and dissolved gelatine, beat until well mixed.

3. In other bowl, whipped the cream until soft peak.

4. Put no.3 into no.2 , whipped just until it mixed well...do not over beat..

5. Soak lady finger to no.1, arrange on the bottom of the pyrex. Pour out no. 4 as the second layer. Repeat this step to make 2 layer of lady finger and 2 layer of mascarpone mixture.

6. Let it set overnight or at least 8 hour in the refrigerator.

7. Before enjoying your tiramisu, shift choco powder on top of your tiramisu.

Beef Kebabs for a Crowd

We went to Pawtuckaway State Park, Nottingham NH on Memorial Day's week end.

Jev was really happy, meeting people, playing with his friends.

This photo is the second round of his playing time. After cleaning up the first round, he ate his lunch, and then his friends came and they enjoyed their time together.

I tried to make kebab for our potluck picnik...but I think I need more to put more marinade sauce. I supposed to use ground cumin, but I only have whole cumin at home :-( .

I'm not happy with the result. I will try to do it better next time.

I tried to combine recipe from Big Food book by Elissa Altman and recipe spicy kebab from Alton Brown, Foodnetwork.

Marinade :

3/4 cup extra virgin oil

3 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

Juice of one lemon

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp cumin

Whisk all the ingredients in small bowl.

Kebab :

4 lbs of beef sirloin or top round, cut it into cubes

Small Onions cut into 4

1 pint of cherry tomatoes

2 large bell pepper, seeded, cut into large square

1 can chunk pineapple, drained the juice

(about 35 skewers)

Using long bamboo skewers, thread together kebabs in this fashion: Onion, tomatoes, beef, peppers, beef, pineapple.

Place skewers in large container, drizzle with marinate, double plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

After the grill is ready, we can put the kebab on the grill, let it cook... Do we need to separate the veggie/fruit from the beef? I found the beef takes longer time to cook.

Cakalang Bumbu Manado (Manadonese Style Smoked Tuna)

Yippiiie...I got Ikan Cakalang Fufu (Smoked Tuna Fish) from Manado, North Sulawesi Indonesia. My mom told me to make a dish the same as she usually makes at home beside the chilli sauce (rica-rica). I asked her what is the specific name for this recipe..She couldn't remember. So I just called it Manadonese Seasoning Smoked Tuna Fish.

Ingredients :

500 gram Smoked Tuna Fish - Cut into chunk

1 big shallot - thinly sliced

2 green onion - thinly sliced

2 lemon grass - crushed the white part

2 kafir lemon leaves

1 cup coconut milk

white basil leaves

Put into a blender/food processor or grind it :

5-8 cloves garlic

5 -7 cloves candle nuts

2 cm ginger root

5-10 Thai Chili ( according to your preference)

salt & pepper

Direction :

1. Stir fry shallot until it fragrance.

2. Add minced/smooth seasoning, stir until the color changed.

3. Add lemon grass and also Kafir lemon leaves

4. Stir the smoked fish into the sauteed seasoning, mix it well.

5. Pour the coconut milk into the fish-mixtures, continue to cook it until the liquid reduced. Before the liquid reduced, add green onion and White Basil leaves.

6. Enjoy it with hot steam white rice.

Classic Marble Cake

This is my mother in law's recipe. My hubby loves it very much. So when I was in Indonesia. I asked her to teach me how to make it. Usually I will use melted margarine that is poured into the batter after eggs and sugar are beaten, but this classic recipe use margarine in room temperature directly mix and beat with the sugar and eggs.

The result is denser than usual cake , but still smooth and delicious.

Ingredients:

400 gram Margarine ( I use Blue Band brand)

400 gram sugar

8 egg yolks

6 egg whites

350 gram shifted flour + 50 gram powder milk ( I change it to 3 tbsp of condensed milk).

Directions:

Heat the oven 180 C/350 F

Beat Margarine, sugar and the egg until smooth and raised (use hand mixer about 15 minutes)

Add the flour, fold into the batter.

Pour the batter to baking pan that's been greased and floured.

Bake for about 50-55 minutes

Tropical Fruit Salad

Spring has sprung. The weather is getting warmer. The flowers are blooming.

Something fresh might satisfy our palate. I got the original recipe from a wholesale spring booklet. I modified according what I had in hands.

TROPICAL FRUIT SALAD

Fruits :

1/2 medium ripe papaya

1 mango

1 can pineapple - drained the liquid

2 kiwis

1 mandarin orange

Dressing

1 cup greek yogurt - I have lemon greek yogurt.

2 tbs honey

3 tbs coconut milk

1/4 tsp ginger powder

Direction :

1. Peel and cut the fruits according your preference, arrange in a plate

2. Mix all the dressing ingredients.

3. Enjoy the fruits with the dressing.

Food Can Bring Memories

Last year, on this date, my dad was brought to the hospital. And he had to be there for 4 months until he has to leave us forever. It's been a week I remember him more than usual. Too many sweet memories that we had together.

Many times food that we enjoyed together can bring all the memories back.

When I visited Bandung two months ago, my sister and I went to old bakery on Jl. Otista Bandung. They made the bread daily, without any preservatives and food additive. The taste of the bread is very 'natural' for me... Not to smooth ,but delicious. Just by seeing the old door and display, my mind was flying to my dad. He loves the bread from this bakery since 1967 when he moved to Bandung. He loves 'Roti Lima Rasa ( Five Flavour Bread) and Roti Frans Coklat ( Big Bread with Chocolate Filling).

Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera with me. So I don't have the bakery building's pictures. After we arrived home, I tried to make a picture of Roti Frans Coklat...

Every time I see this picture, I remember my dad's love for his family, he was very happy when we enjoyed the food he brought home, one of them is this bread.

Mie Rica ala Jane's Simple Kitchen

Sewaktu mudik kemarin, saya dan adik saya menyempatkan diri ke tukang bakmie favorit kami. Sambil saya sedikit was-was, kalau-kalau perut saya tidak tahan pedas lagi. Mie Rica Kejaksaan yang dulu hanya ada di jl. Kejaksaan Bandung, dekat Braga, sekarang ada juga di kompleks HyperSquare, outdoor food court yang enak suasananya di Jl. Pasir Kaliki. Lokasi Mie Rica Kejaksaan ini di areal ruko, tidak jauh dari Blossom Factory Outlet.

Setelah lebih dari empat tahun tidak berkunjung ke tempat ini, ternyata sudah banyak menu barunya.

Adik saya memesan Mie Rica Ca Sau, sejenis daging babi panggang garing manis namun dibubuhi bumbu rica-rica, tekstur dan rasanya sangat menarik.

Sedangkan saya memesan Mie Rica klasik yang sedari dulu menjadi andalan tempat ini.

Senang sekali sore itu bisa ngobrol-ngobrol berdua dengan adik tercinta sambil menikmati pedas dan gurihnya menu yang disajikan. Thank you traktirannya ya Vi...Next mudik kita ke sini lagi :-).

Nah, Jumat malam kemarin, saya akan kedatangan tamu home group dari gereja, teringatlah saya akan menu ini. Saya coba buat ala saya deh...sambil membayangkan dan mencoba memirip-miripkan rasanya dengan yang di Bandung. Resep ini ukuran jumbo, karena untuk rombongan :-)

RESEP MIE RICA Jane's Simple Kitchen

Daging Rica Untuk Taburan :

3 lbs daging babi cincang

Minyak untuk menumis

Bumbu Halus :

2 gendul bawang putih yang masih utuh ( sekitar 16 siung besar)

0.3 lbs cabe rawit merah(Thai Chilli) === sesuai selera masing2, kalau ada cabe besar lebih bagus untuk memberi warna merah.

1 buah shallot (bawang merah ukuran besar) besar

Jahe 2 cm

Garam Gula Merica secukupnya

Bumbu Iris :

1 buah shallot iris2 halus

1 buah plum tomat dipotong kecil-kecil

2 batang serai dimemarkan

2 lembar daun pandan

4 lembar daun jeruk

Cara membuat :

1. Tumis bawang merah iris sampai harum, masukan serai, daun pandan dan daun jeruk, tumis juga sampai wangi. Tumis bersama tomat.

2. Masukkan bumbu halus ke dalam tumisan. Masak hingga matang.

3. Tambahkan daging cincang ke dalam bumbu tumis aduk rata hingga matang.

PENYELESAIAN :

1. Siapkan mangkok saji, masukkan 1 sdm minyak ayam/babi, 1 sdm kecap ikan, 1 sdt kecap asin, 1 sdt minyak wijen.

2. Rebus mie telor basah sampai matangnya pas (all dente). Tiriskan. Lalu tuangkan ke mangkok saji, aduk-aduk hingga tercampur rata dengan minyak dan kecap asin tadi.

3. Taburi dengan daging rica-rica.

4. Siap dinikmati, dengan pangsit goreng atau pun dengan kuah bakso.

Sambal Ikan Roa

Sewaktu mudik kemarin, seorang kawan dari Manado menawarkan membelikan oleh-oleh dari sana. Saya langsung teringat ikan Roa. Asyiknya dapat kiriman ikan Roa yang telah dihaluskan, sehingga siap untuk langsung diolah menjadi sambal goreng.

Ikan Roa adalah ikan yang diawetkan, berasal dari ikan terbang (garfish atau belone-belone) yang konon di Indonesia hanya hidup di perairan Sulawesi Utara. Disebut ikan terbang karena ikan ini sering melompat ke atas permukaan air, senang hidup di perairan yang hangat. Badannya agak pipih, panjangnya sekitar 25-30 cm, tubuhnya bersisik, tulangnya berwarna kehijauan. Bagian moncongnya runcing panjang dan bergigi berguna untuk menangkap ikan kecil atau plankton sebagai makanannya. Metode pengawetannya adalah dengan pengasapan dengan tingkat kekeringan mencapai hampir 90% sehingga ikan menjadi kering dan ringan. Karena rasanya tawar dan garing ikan ini biasanya diolah menjadi sambal atau dicampurkan ke dalam masakan. Ikan roa tahan lama bila ditempatkan dalam wadah tertutup dan disimpan dalam lemari es. (Dikutip dari Seri Memasak Femina Primarasa, Makan Enak Cara Manado, halaman 6).

Foto ikan roa asap utuh dapat dilihat di SINI.

SAMBAL IKAN ROA

Bahan :

Ikan Roa halus

Bawang merah diiris halus

Bawang putih

Cabe rawit merah

Cabe merah

Tomat (kali ini saya tidak pakai tomat...)

Garam

Minyak Goreng

Cara :

1. Haluskan bawang putih, cabe rawit, cabe merah

2. Potong kotak-kotak kecil tomat

3. Tumis bawang merah hingga wangi, masukan bumbu halus dan tomat.

Note : jika pakai tomat, benar-benar harus sampai matang (tomat tergoreng sempurna) supaya ikan roa tidak menjadi melempem)

4. Terakhir masukan ikan roa halus, masak hingga matang.

Siap dinikmati dengan nasi panas...