Italian dish -Polenta

Hola mi blog. Como estas?
Happy New Year 2010.
Its been 6 months since I am not touching this blog.Been busy for a while with my new house,and trying to understand my new digital camera. Its only a simple Panasonic Lumix FS 12,not a DSLR camera :)
My house is 80% set. We need only to find a nice kitchen cabinets, IKEA doesnt have branch here, so whether Italian Kitchen is our choice or other shops , no decision yet as its a huge spending:)

SOme pictures from my yellow kithen with a yellow NY cab...





Back to the food,I chose Polenta for the starter of this year. I made this polenta last December,when I wasnt in the mood for rice. And its good,healthy and light..

Polenta- is Nothern Italy´s golden cornmeal porridge which is for me is so interesting to make and to eat. I got the recipe from Italian magazine from Better Homes &Gardens Special Interest Publication,Fall/Winter 2009

And with this recipe, we could choose whether we gonna fry,grill,broil or layer the polenta.



Its easy and tasty, but because I cant find that type of cheese, so instead of cheese, I dropped in garlic powder and more butter. Half I fry and half I baked. Both are nice.

Enjoy..


Soft Polenta
prep: 15 minutes
cooking: 25 mnutes

1 cup coarse-ground yellow cornmeal
1 cup cold water or chicken broth
1 tsp salt( omit if using broth)

In a large saucepan,bring 2 1/2 cups water to boiling. Meanwhile, in a bowl, stir together cornmeal, the 1 cup cold water and the salt.
2. Slowly add cornmeal mixture to boiling water, stirring constantly. Cook and stir until returns to boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low.
Cook for 25-30 minutes or until very thick,stirring frequently and adjusting heat as needed to maintain a very slow boil. Spoon soft polenta into bowls. Makes 6 side-dish servings.

Baked Polenta: prepare as above, except pour the hot polenta into a 9-inch pie plate, spreading evenly. Let stand for 30 minutes. Cover and chill at least 1 hour or until firm. Preheat oven to 350F. Bake,uncovered,about 25 minuted or until heated through. Let stand on a wire rack 5 minutes, Cut into 6 wedges.

Fried Polenta: Prepare as above,except pour the hot polenta into a 71/2x 31/2x2-inch or 8x4x2-inch loaf pan. Cool. Cover and chill for at leat 4 hours or overnight. Run a thin metal spatula around the edges of the pan. remove polenta from pan, cut crosswise into 12 slices. In a large skillet or on a griddle, heat 1 tbsp butter over medium-high heat. reduce heat to medium. Cook half of the polenta slices 16 to 20 minutes or until brown and crisp, turning once. repeat with remaining slices, adding 1 tbsp butter to skillet before adding polenta. If desired, serve with additional butter and honey or maple-flavored syrup.

My on the way fried polenta..

This basic polenta recipe (above), is just the starting point. Add butter, cheese or a fresh herb and you have a delightfully different side dish. Start with these ideas for stir-ins.
-decrease the salt to 1/2 tsp and stir in 2 tbsp butter after cooking
-decrease the salt to 1/2 tsp and stir in 1/2 cup shredded parmesan, romano or fontina cheese after cooking
-stir in 2 tbsp snipped fresh basil or Italian flat leaf parsley or 1 tsp snipped fresh oregano or thyme after cooking.

Pumpkin Muffin

Wuhuuu Its DELICIOUS!!
Fresh from the oven, 30 minutes after that, I finished 2 of them...
Smell of cinnamon, the softness,the pumpkin taste..all blended together..
What a perfect snacks with my green tea.
ANd while chewing,cant stop thinking whether an additional topping of cream cheese icing or coffee just like ROti Boy ( famous brand of coffee bread in Jakarta),gonna be soooo perfect for them.
Actually its kinda crazy, I had my lunch 1.30 pm, baked this muffin at 3pm, and enjoyed 2 of them at 4pm...





PUMPKIN MUFFIN
Source: Gourmet Magazine through http:// smittenkitchen.com, with a little adjustment from my side.

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup canned pumpkin - I used 3/4 cup only fresh steamed pumpkin, mashed nicely(1/4 lagi buat sup si Bocah)
1/3 cup vegetable oil - I used canola oil
2 eggs
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice - I omit and used cinnamon instead
1 1/4 cup sugar + 1 tbsp sugar - I used 3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon powder
Additonal ingredients from my side : 1/4 tsp clove powder and 1/4 tsp nutmeg powder



Method:

* Preheat oven 350 F
* Put liners in muffin cups
* Whisk together pumpkin, oil, sugar,eggs until smooth.
* In other bowl, shift flour,salt, cinnamon,baking powder and baking soda. ANd fold them into the liquid one. Mix until just combined.
* In other bowl, mix 1 tbsp sugar with 1 tsp cinnamon to sprinkle on the ready to bake batter.
* Pour to the muffin mold, 2/3 full then sprinkle with the mixture of cinnamon& sugar.
* Bake 25-30 minutes

For me , 3/4 cup sugar are perfect, cant imagine if i use 1 1/4 cups gonna be too sweet to eat, as pumpkin has their own sweetness.
ANd for the sprinkle top,thats the cool one... It seems abon sapi/The beef floss on top ahhaha. Really its remind me to ABOn Sapi Cap Ratu..oh boy, wish I could get some package of them,hik....




I love it... Hope you all gonna enjoy this recipe as I do.

This is for 12 standard muffins, and 6 mini for my kid..

Bitter Gourd / Pare in the red sauce

Bitter Gourd/Kerala/ Pare,one of vegetables which is very rare for me to cook.
I started to cooked it when one of my friend,told me that she likes to stir fry bitter gourd with terasi/shrimp paste, so you wont feel the bitter taste from them.
And got another same response from another friend. Since that, I tried to eat them, to get benefits from bitter gourd,(click for wikipedia)




If you want meat inside, just drop whatever you feels wanna eat. Thats the art of cooking, isnt it? For me, to write in a blog is only to share an idea, the rest is depends on the other person whether to following completely or adjusted with the sense of the chef. We are all a chef in the house, arent we?

For this time, I didnt put any meat. I always use LEE KUM KEE CHILI GUILIN PASTE to get spicy flavour, and as chef was in the mood also to taste beans paste / Taoco)
,I dropped 1/2 tbsp only.

Complete recipe:
1 Medium bitter gourd, chopped,remove seeds.
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 onion, cut thin,lengthwise
2 tbsp LEE KUM KEE CHILI GUILIN PASTE
1/2 Tbsp Bean paste
1 tbsp tomato sauce
Water,
Salt, pepper,
Sugar or honey( optional, I used honey 1/2 tsp)
Cashew nuts( optional)
OIl

Heat oil, saute garlic, onion,Drop in chili paste, bean paste and stir in bitter gourd. Add little water, salt, pepper and sugar.

Serve hot, garnish with cashew nuts.

For 1 portion.

Pineapple -Cinnamon eggless cake

 



It is yummy, try this!!
I feel this one also great for Xmas,only need to drop more maraschino cherries.
And its easy to make, no need mixer.

Recipe:

2 1/2 cups flour
200 ml pineapple juice
2 tbsp cinnamon powder
200 ml melted butter, cool it.
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 can condensed milk.
1 tsp vanilla essence
Cherries maraschino (optional)

Method:

IN a big bowl,sift flour, baking powder,cinnamon powder, baking soda & baking powder.
Make a well in the middle, add in all the liquid ingredients.
Mix them well, and last, fold in chopped cherry mix well.
Pour in the prepared mold.
Bake in oven 180C, 50 minutes.

French Food- Cheese Souffle-TAsk from KBB 12

Hualo..

Tugas dari KBB kali ini membuat makanan Perancis yang namanya Souffle.

Jujur, daku baru pertama kali ini denger si SOuffle, and baru pertama kali ini juga bikin ini, hasilnya sangat tidak mengecewakan... bocah geu bisa hanya menyisakan sedikitttt souffle dari 1 porsi ramekin doi..

Aku bikin 1 resep dengan 6 ramekin ukuran 4 1/4" hasil buruan Sabtu lalu.

Yang mau coba silakan,lumayan ada menu baru, hasilnya enak dan menurutku tidak terlalu ribet and suseh. Jadi serasa makan apa ya bingung? Dalemnya empuk,lembek, kulit luarnya juga empuk kyk sus ...

Untuk souffle ini, 3 ramekin aku coba masukan red chili flakes on top ,potongan mushroom, dan parsley. Dan 3 lainnya sesuai resep polos saja dengan sedikit parsley.

Gue pribadi lebih seneng yang pake mushroom and red chili flakes... dan pas daku serve itu juga aku tambahin lagi chilinya, krn kepingin pedes

Met mencoba... and host Zita, mbak Arf & Regina..makasih yeee tuk resepnya..

Cheese Souffles
Sumber: The Perfect Cookbook by David Herbert. Penguin Books Australia Ltd 2003.

100g unsalted butter / mentega tawar
� cup plain (all-purpose) flour / tepung terigu
300ml milk / susu
1 cup grated cheddar / cheddar parut - I used 8 slices cheddar ,5 ungrated, 3 grated
2 Tbs / sdM freshly grated parmesan / parmesan parut
� tsp Dijon mustard / mustard Dijon - gue pake mustard biasa
pinch / sejumput cayenne pepper - pake bubuk cabe biasa..
4 eggs / telur, separated / pisahkan

Preheat the oven to 190C (375F, Gas Mark 5). Grease and lightly flour six �-cup-capacity souffle dishes.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Gradually add the milk and whisk continuously over medium heat until the mixture is smooth, thickens and comes to the boil. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl and stir in the cheddar, parmesan, mustard and cayenne pepper. Mix well.

.

Lightly beat the egg yolks and add these to the cheese mixture. Mix well.
.

With an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until firm peaks form. Fold a quarter of the whites through the cheese mixture to slacken it slightly, then gently fold through the remaining whites.( Kelupaan difoto, udah pada kelaparan diluar)

Spoon the mixture into the prepared dishes ( gue nuangnya engga full, jadi ngembangnya ya segitu juga tuh)and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until risen and golden. Don't be tempted to open the oven until the souffles have risen. Serve immediately.

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Dalemnya kyk gini nih, benarkah??

Penampakan kempes, karenanya itu diminta cepat hidangkan yah..soale dari montok eh melempem...

Indian Food- Sai Bhaji- Spinach with Yellow split peas ..

This is a typical Sindhifood.
Its a combination between spinach and yellow split peas( Chana Daal), sometimes people drops chopped potatoes also inside. I usually cook this with pressure cooker to cut the cooking time.

I dont know the meaning of Sai, but Bhaji means a dish. Never know this dish if my hubby is not Indian :),as me & my family not really familiar with kind of lentils except MOong Beans( Kacang Hijau / Moong Daal), Poroto Beans(Red Beans/ Kacang Jogo), and Soya Beans ( Kacang Kedelai).




We enjoy this Sai Bhaji with rice. Its also serves usually with chapati( Indian bread).
Wanna try? Its worth to try, thinking all the nutrition inside.



U only need:
1/2 cup Yellow split peas, wash.
2 3/4 cup water
2 tsp salt
Pinch of turmeric & black pepper
1 green chili
2 cm ginger,chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion ( if the onion is big size, half is enough) chopped.
1 bunch of spinach, removes leaves from stem, and chopped roughly.
If lazy no need to chopped, I also do that..
1 tomato, chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds/ Jeera /Jinten.
4 tbsp oil.

Heat oil.
Fry jeera for awhile and add in garlic,ginger,chili and onion. Fry until fragrant. Add in tomato,fry until tomato soft.
Add in spinach mix it, add in yellow split peas, and water, salt, pepper and turmeric.
Cook with pressure cooker for about 20 minutes, Until the Daal soft.

Serve with rice or chapati.

Peach Cake

So difficult to fight with lazy mood, though everyday I am cleaning my house :)
Like this week,Im so lazy to cook, especially Indian food. My soul wasnt there and affected the food:) poor my Jaan.
Wanna eat manythings yummy, especially spicy food from my hometown or Chinese food, but(sigh)wish someone come and cook it for me..........


Stop talking about my mood, Im trying to updating my blog.
I made this Peach Cake last June, for my friend Cecilia and a daughter of my neighbour.


Love the sponge cake, and the peach.. so fresh to eat.

Recipe:

3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
4 large eggs
50 gr melted butter( make it cool)
1 can yellow peach in syrup
1 box of heavy cream.

Method:
Prepare 2 molds diameter 8cm, Cover with parchment paper.
Heat the oven, 350F.

Beat eggs together with sugar until it rise, make sure its really rise. As this is a sponge cake. AFter its rise about 7cm from the base, add in flour, mix well. Then, add in melter butter. Mix it well.

Pour in the batter to molds, and bake. I forgot how long..but not longer then 30 minutes.Check with tooth pick inserted to cake. If its clean it means DONE.

Let it cool, and remove the cake from mold.

FOr the icing:

beat the cream until thick,and easy to spread.

Prepare 1 cooled cake, spread the cream on top, and arrage some peach on top, and cover with another cake. Cover them all with cream and decorate as u wish.

Enjoy..