CHICKEN CORDON BLEU WITH HOLLANDAISE SAUCE

Yap, Tamani Kafe at Jakarta is my first place ate cordon bleu. And, their cordon bleu was really good! The things I always remember from Tamani Kafe are chicken cordon bleu, fish 'n chips and they always served the foods on a very big plate with big amount of foods! *but I dunno now. Hopefully nothing change ;)*

Last time, I made fish 'n chips and this time I made chicken cordon bleu based on Ramona Cafe recipe, courtesy Sonja Vanderveen. The only change I made was I reduced the breading measurements because it is too much :).

The taste? No doubt, because it tasted really good! I served it with buttery mix veggies stir fry.



Chicken Cordon Bleu with Hollandaise Sauce

Ingredients:
6 (10-ounce) chicken breasts, pounded out to 1/2-inch in thickness
12 ounces thin-sliced ham
6 ounces Gruyere cheese

Breading:
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup rice flour
2 cups ground bread crumbs (panko or italian bread crumbs are ok)
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/2 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tablespoon paprika
1/2 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Egg Wash:
4 eggs, well beaten

Hollandaise Sauce:
4 egg yolks
Pinch fine salt
Pinch white pepper
Pinch paprika
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce
1 pound clarified butter, warmed until soft
Oil, enough for deep-frying

Buttery Mix Veggies:
3 pieces carrot, diced
1 cup frozen green peas, defrost
1 cup frozen corn, deforst
1 piece onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp butter (or olive oil)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Take a piece of chicken and place 2 ounces ham and 1-ounce Gruyere cheese in the middle. Roll up the chicken breast tightly and place toothpicks in the ends and middle. Place the chicken breasts in an oiled baking dish and bake at 350 degrees F for 18 minutes.

For the breading:
Combine all ingredients, mix well, and place on a large platter.

To prepare the Hollandaise sauce:
Gently place 4 egg yolks in a food processor and add a pinch of salt, white pepper, paprika, the lemon juice and hot sauce. Place the warmed clarified butter into the food processor very slowly until it thickens. To thicken the sauce, add an egg yolk and to thin it out add warm water.

Place the baked chicken cordon bleu in the egg wash and then coat evenly with the breading mixture. Repeat process again.

Deep-fry the breaded chicken at 325 degrees F for 3 minutes. Drizzle the Hollandaise Sauce over top of chicken. Serve it with buttery mixed veggies and rice, if desire.

For the buttery mixed veggies:
Stir fry all ingredients until the carrots are tender.

MOCHI ICE CREAM

My hubby loves mochi ice cream *kona coffee mochi ice cream to be precisely :)*. And all these times we liked to buy it at 99 ranch or any other asian market that sold this mochi ice cream.

And, since we have an ice cream maker, my hubby asked me, "why don't you make mochi ice cream for me?". His question gave me this idea.....homemade mochi ice cream!
So, I googled the original recipe of how to make mochi ice cream. And I found this recipe that I like to recommend it to all of you. Because, the ingredients and the methods are not too hard. Also, the mochi wrapper is really soft and it just like the one sold in the asian market!

Unfortunately, we have raspberry cheesecake ice cream only so the kona coffee mochi ice cream in line now ;).

For the way of cooking, I used on stove cooking instead of microwave, and its worked!! :). Please go to the original recipe if you want to use microwave.



Mochi Ice Cream

Ingredients:
50 gr glutinous rice flour (or sweet rice powder or mochiko)
100 gr sugar
100 ml water
200 gr raspberry cheesecake ice cream, or any flavor as your desire (Belzy - make sure the ice cream is half frozen)
Cornstarch as needed

Methods:
Place the glutinous rice flour, sugar in a saucepan. Pour gradually the water until it is mixed well.

Bring it simmer over medium heat. Keep stirring the flour mixture until the mixture turns into shiny and smooth sticky dough.

Spread generously cornstarch onto a cutting board (use plenty so the dough does not stick to the board).

Dip your wooden spoon in water then spread the mochi dough onto the floured cutting board as flat as possible. Sprinkle the top of the dough with corn starch then flip it over. Pull and stretch the edges and make the dough thinner as your desire, or 2 to 3 millimetres thin (Belzy - I don't like thin wrapper on my mochi ice cream). Let it cool a bit before cutting.

Meanwhile, scoope the ice cream with cookies scooper and shape it into a little ball shape. Place it on a plate, then freeze it while waiting you do your mochi wrapper.

Back to the mochi dough, cut the dough into round shape using round cookies mold.

Place an ice cream ball onto the center of the mochi sheet. Fold and joint the edges, then shape it with your hand into nice round mochi.

Put it in the freezer for 30 minutes or until the mochi is settled, but don't too long if you won't your mochi as hard as stone. Enjoy!

CHAWAN MUSI

Yumm...yumm.....who is dislike chawan musi? I think most people like it, and my hubby is included into those people who dislike chawan musi :(. But, I love it! The first time I tried chawan musi was when I lived in Singapore. I liked to go to Sakura with my dear friend Debby *ahhh I miss her alot!*.

Also, this recipe was given by her on my last day in Singapore. The recipe is quite simple but the taste is rich of flavor!

Chawan Musi

Yield: 4 portions

Ingredients:
3 eggs, beaten and drained
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce Kikkoman brand (Belzy - I guess the brand of the soy sauce is very crucial, it will affect the taste)
500 cc chicken broth
200 gr chicken fillet, boiled and diced
12 pieces shrimp, peeled, leave the tail on
3 pieces shiitake mushroom, soaked and sliced
24 pieces soy bean (optional)

Directions:
Combine eggs, salt, sugar, kikkoman soy sauce and chicken broth, mixed well.
Prepare 4 hotproof bowl. Put in soy beans, chicken diced, shrimp and shiitake into each bowl. Pour in the egg mixture until 3/4 size of bowl.
Steam the egg mixture into a preheated steamer (preheat for 15mins). Steam it until cooked well and the surface of the egg shiny. Serve immediately.

VIETNAMESE CHICKEN SANDWICH (BANH MI)

This is my first time eating and making this asian sandwich. And, surprisingly vietnamese sandwich is pretty famous in the states. For some reason, I never know or heard it when I lived in asian countries before.

As usual, my dear friend Selly didn't hesitate to share the recipe of vietnamese chicken sandwich to me. *thank you Sel!*

It tasted really good! The freshness of daikon and carrot pickles became the secret of this sandwich. Also, cilantro made the taste rich of flavor. You have to try this asian sandwich if you never have one! I bet you will like it ;).



Vietnamese Chicken Sandwich (Banh Mi)

Ingredients:
6 pieces of soft baguette (Belzy - either buy or homemade baguettes)

For the pickles:
3 cups of daikon (Japanese White Radish), julienned
3 cups of carrot, julienned
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 tsp salt

For the filling:
4 pieces chicken fillet (or you can use skinless boneless chicken thigh), marinated*
1 cup of cilantro leaf
1/2 cup of red onion, thinly sliced
1 piece of cucumber, thinly sliced
1/4 cup of mayonnaise
Soy sauce and blackpepper

For the chicken marinate:
1/4 cup soy sauce
6 garlic gloves, pasted (you can use mortar&pestle, or food processor)
4 shallots, pasted (you can use mortar&pestle, or food processor)
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp five spice powder
1 tsp star anise powder

Directions:
For the pickles:
Combine sugar, white vinegar and salt, stir until dissolved. Place daikon and carrot in a separate bowl. Pour in the vinegar mixture to each bowl. Marinate for 2 hours or more (or it can be made 1 day ahead and chill it in the refrigerator). Drained well. Set aside.

For the chicken:
Mix all marinade ingredients, then marinate the chicken for an hour or overnight.
Before grilling the chicken add 1 tbsp vegetable oil in the chicken marinate.
Grill the chicken until cooked through, transfer to plate, slice it then cover with foil to keep warm.

To Assemble:
Grill or broil baguette for 1 to 2 minutes (Belzy - since my husband is not a fan of crunchy bread I used microwave to warm the baguette), split lengthwise, scoope out some of soft center.
Spread mayonnaise on bottom half of the baguette. Top with cucumber slices, then top with chicken, daikon and carrots pickles, red onion and cilantro. Season with soy sauce and blackpepper. Place top baguette piece over, pressing to compact and serve immediately.

FISH 'n CHIPS with TARTAR SAUCE

It's been long time since I never eat fish n chips, even though I stayed in the states which fish n chips are sold everywhere. So after I am done with the knowledge test for my driving license, I came home and prepared everything while my hubby went to a gun store with his friend.

Alton Brown's fish n chips is my choice this time, and as usual I made a little changes in the recipe. He used brown beer instead of water. You can't taste the beer tho. Also, I made my homemade tartar sauce ;). Overall, it tasted really good!! Do you wanna try? ;)



Fish 'n Chips with Tartar Sauce

Ingredients
For the fries:
1 gallon oil
5 large Russet potatoes
Kosher salt

For the batter:
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 bottle brown beer, cold
1 1/2 pounds firm-fleshed whitefish (tilapia, pollock, cod), cut into 1-ounce strips (Belzy - I prefer basa fillet or dori)
Cornstarch, for dredging

For the Tartar Sauce:
5 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon chopped parsley
1 teaspoon onion, thinly diced
1-1/2 teaspoons sugar (or if you like sweet, you can add more sugar)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 200`F.

Heat the oil in a big skillet over high heat until it reaches 320 degrees.

Slice the potatoes with the skin on into big chunks. Place in a large bowl with cold water.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cayenne pepper, and oregano. Whisk in the beer until the batter is completely smooth and free of any lumps. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. (The batter can be made up to 1 hour ahead of time)

Drain potatoes thoroughly, removing any excess water. When oil reaches 320 degrees, submerge the potatoes in the oil. Working in small batches, fry for 2 to 3 minutes until they are pale and floppy. Remove from oil, drain, and cool to room temperature.

Increase the temperature of the oil to 375 degrees. Re-immerse fries and cook until crisp and golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove and drain on roasting rack. Season with kosher salt while hot and hold in the oven.

Allow oil to return to 350 degrees. Lightly dredge fish strips in cornstarch. Working in small batches, dip the fish into batter and immerse into hot oil. When the batter is set, turn the pieces of fish over and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Drain the fish on the roasting rack. Serve with tartar sauce.

Tartar Sauce: mix all ingredients and stir them well.