CHEESEBURGER PIZZA

My hubby and I are getting bored with Hawaiian Pizza. We are too often making Hawaiian Pizza in the past. Until one morning when my hubby bought cheeseburger from BK drive-thru before we went to church, and I helped him to open the burger's wrapper *yea, he is driving and eating to save time ;)* suddenly this crazy idea came across my mind....CHEESEBURGER PIZZA!

At that time, I was thinking why can't I transform a cheeseburger into a pizza? It must be taste good, especially cheeseburger is a common food in America and 99% people in this world like cheeseburger. I just can't wait to implement this idea into a real pizza *oh uh...don't worry I still pay lots of attention and concentration on the preaching ;)*

First of all, I listed down what is the ingredients are needed in a cheeseburger. Of course there will be beef patty, sweet pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, onion, mayonnaise and mustard. Then, to make it merrier I decided to add olives and pizza sauce as pizza without pizza sauce equivalent incomplete.



Surprisingly, it tasted really good! It just different than other pizza which is using canadian bacon, ham or pepperoni. I used ground beef instead of all those deli's meats.

My hubby's comments? He likes it! He said, "I never heard nor imagine of cheeseburger pizza before. And this is really good sweetie!". And I just simply smiling with satisfaction after I heard his comments and compliments :)



Cheeseburger Pizza

Ingredients:
1 homemade thin crust pizza (or store bought pizza crust)
1 lb ground beef
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/4 tsp of salt and pepper
Oil for stir frying
4 whole dill sweet pickles, thinly sliced
1 onion, diced
1/4 cup sliced olives
2 heaps tbsps mayonnaise
1 heaps tbsp mustard

Cheese Mixture:
1 cup Monterey Jack Cheese
2 cups Mozarella Cheese

Pizza Sauce:
3/4 cup ketchup
1 tbsp dill sweet pickles' juice
2 tbsps pizza seasoning
1 tbsp oregano
3 tbsps Splenda Sweetener (or 1 tbsp granulated sugar)

Fresh Toppings:
1 roma tomatoes, seeded and small diced
1 leave romaine lettuce, small shredded

Preparation:
For The Beef Topping:
Saute garlic with olive oil until fragrant. Saute in ground beef until brown. Add in salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside.

For The Pizza Sauce:
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and boil it over medium high heat. Let it cool before use.

Finishing:
Preheat the oven at 500F. Grease a pizza pan 14". Lay the pizza dough on the pan. Prick it with fork. Spread the mayonnaise and mustard on the pizza dough evenly. Spread the pizza sauce evenly. Sprinkle it with 1/2 of cheese mixture. Add onion, olives, cooked beef, and the remaining cheese. Top it with dill sweet pickles.
Bake it for 12 minutes. Remove it from the oven. Sprinkle it with tomatoes and lettuce before you cut the pizza.

CHORIZO SPINACH STRATA

I called this entry 'from getting frustrated to a good spinach strata'

Yes, last night I am really frustrated because I didn't know what I want to cook for our dinner. When I looked around my kitchen cabinets and hoping that I can find something to cook, I found a bag of hoagie roll (or I called it subway bun :)) on the corner of my cabinet, and.......*tring tring* spinach strata acrossed into my mind. Then I opened my refrigerator, I can't find any ham or bacon :(. But, I saw a bowl of chorizo. Aha....I'm getting excited because I know I will make up my own strata :).

When the chorizo spinach strata *I named it then* is baked in the oven, I can smell the good smell came out from the chorizo! Really made me hungry!.



Chorizo Spinach Strata

Ingredients:
6 Hoagie Rolls (Italian bread, french bread are work too), diced

Filling:
1 package of baby spinach, rinse, drain and chopped
1-1/2 cups pork chorizo
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, small diced
2 tsps olive oil
Salt and blackpepper, to taste

Egg Mixtures (mix all):
6 eggs, lightly whisk
1 cup of fat free milk *a lot healthier I guess ;)*
Salt and blackpepper, to taste

Preparation:
The Filling:
Caramelized the onion with olive oil on a medium pan. Stir in chorizo and stirring until the red oil comes out from the chorizo. Stir in chopped spinach. Stirring until the spinach is soften. Add in bell pepper, salt and blackpepper, to taste. Let it simmering for 3 minutes. Remove from the stove. Set aside.

The Finishing:
Preheat the oven over 375F.
Spread a half of diced hoagie rolls evenly into casserole dish. Transfer the filling to the top of the bread, spread it evenly. Cover it with the remaining hoagie rolls. Pour the egg mixture evenly and make sure the bread are soaking the egg mixture before you put it in the oven.
Bake it for about 30 minutes. Serve it warm.

WHOLE WHEAT ENGLISH MUFFINS

With a bunch of my colleagues, we were sitting in McDonald and eating their breakfast meals which are sausage english muffins and harshbrown while the rests of our colleagues (including the big boss) were walking down the stairs *from 25th floor* after the fire sirene from our fire training was ringing.

After the training was done, we who were sitting in McDonald and enjoying the breakfast meals before got an email from our big boss which said, "MEET ME IN MY OFFICE!".
Oh boy!! My cubicle friend and I just look at each other on the eyes, the worry eyes!

Then, all of us *who enjoyed the sausage muffins before* walked slowly to our boss' office, and when we stood in his office, we tried to stood as invisible as possible *aka standing behind the other colleagues :)*

That was the funny and thrilled story of my first english muffin :). Now, its been few years after I resigned from that office to be marry my long time bf :).

Since I'm married, I always want to make homemade food, or at least try to make it. And, english muffin is in my list since long time ago. However, at the end I made it :). Whole wheat muffins are my choice. I am really satisfied with this homemade english muffin, not only the muffin's texture is soft, the muffin was beautifully rised :).

You can fill the muffin with jams, cheese or treat it as a burger-muffin. They are all good! :).



Whole Wheat English Muffins

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour
3 cups bread flour
1 1/4 cups lukewarm water
2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 small egg whites
fine cornmeal or rice flour

Preparation:

In a medium bowl combine whole wheat flour and bread flour, divide it into 2 small bowls (2 cups each). Set aside.

In a large bowl pour in lukewarm ( 110F ) water. Add instant yeast, baking soda and 2cups of flour mixture. Mix till smooth. Allow to sit for 5 minutes uncovered.

In the meantime, add egg white into a separate bowl and beat with an electric mixer until stiff and moist. Once the egg white have formed stiff peaks; add to dough batter. Using a rubber spatula fold in egg whites till incorporated into the batter.

Start to add in the rest of the flour, a 1/4 cup at a time. After the first 1/4 cup mix in salt. When the mixture becomes to hard to mix in the bowl. Pour out onto a flat surface. Knead for about 5 to 6 minutes till it becomes smooth and silky.

Add a little oil to a clean bowl and place the dough into the bowl. Turn dough over till all sides are very lightly coated. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest till double in bulk, about 1 hour.

Afterwards, pour out onto a flat surface. Press to release some of the air from the dough. Using a rolling pin roll out to a 1/2 inch thick. Allow dough to rest for 3 minutes to relax. Using a 3 inch cookie cutter, cut out circles. Place the cut out pieces onto some cornmeal. When you have left over dough just gather together and cut out a few more circles.

Sprinkle the tops with more cornmeal. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest for 45 minutes. About 5 minutes before you are ready to cook the english muffins turn on your griddle or fry pan to 350F or medium heat. Spray with a little oil spray and once the griddle is hot. Place the muffins on and fry. If you are using a fry pan you may only be able to fry 3-4 at a time. Fry on one side for about 4 minutes. Then turn over and fry for another 4 minutes. Serve it warm with jams, cheese or bacon.

SPINACH STRATA WITH BACON AND CHEESE

My first time making and tasting spinach strata. One day, I saw a cooking show at createtv channel, and they showed this recipe. Actually, they showed it for christmas dinner, and I thought to make it for our Christmas dinner, but since I cooked loads of foods already, so I cancelled it.

Now, few days after Christmas and our Christmas leftover are all gone. I was thinking it is the time to make spinach strata. Since I know my hubby doesn't really like spinach, so I thought this dish is the perfect dish to force him eating the spinach ;).

So, here I am experimanting spinach strata recipe. I added chopped bacon to add some extra bacon-kick on the strata. The result......It is so good! Good taste and good smell which were exposed our appetite :).

My hubby liked it so much. The first time he heard there is spinach in this dish, he showed me 'eww-ie' face, but after he tasted it, he said, "This is really good hun. I like it". :)

So, let's make it for our loved ones who dislike spinach, I guarantee they will love spinach ;).

Spinach Strata with Bacon and Cheese

Ingredients:
2 packages fresh baby spinach
1 cup bacon, cut into 1-in width
1 1/2 cups (or 1 large) finely chopped onion
1 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
8 cups cubed (1 inch) French or Italian whole wheat bread
6 oz coarsely grated Gruyère (2 cups)
2 oz finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1 cup)
2 3/4 cups milk
9 large eggs
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Preparation:
Boil spinach in boiling water until the spinach changes into dark green color. Drain it from the water. Rinse it with cold water. Squeeze handfuls of spinach to remove as much liquid as possible, then finely chop.

Cook bacon in olive oil in a large heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until almost brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in onion, stirring until soft. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and nutmeg and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in spinach, then remove from heat.

Spread one third of bread cubes in a buttered 3-quart gratin dish or other shallow ceramic baking dish and top evenly with one third of spinach mixture. Sprinkle with one third of each cheese. Repeat layering twice (ending with cheeses).

Whisk together milk, eggs, mustard, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl and pour evenly over strata. Chill strata, covered with plastic wrap, at least 8 hours (for bread to absorb custard).

Preheat oven to 350°F. Let strata stand at room temperature 30 minutes.

Bake strata, uncovered, in middle of oven until puffed, golden brown, and cooked through, 45 to 55 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

BISCUITS AND HAM GRAVY

Yesterday, my hubby talked about his childhood biscuits and gravy which made by his mom. He said that it tasted good but very greasy. I who never eat or see what this biscuits and gravy look like wondering hows the taste of it.

So, I looked the recipe and found this 2 recipes, and I tried both :). One recipe is using buttermilk and cold butter. The other recipe is using milk and melted butter. For the texture the first recipe made a bit harder than the second recipe. But for the looks, the first recipe is alot nicer :). My hubby liked the second recipe, because the biscuits are soft.

I will post both recipe, so you can have more choices based on my experience :).



Biscuits and Ham Gravy

Biscuits Recipe 1 (Recipe courtesy of Darlene B.)
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon butter or margarine, melted

Directions:
In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Combine milk and butter; stir into dry ingredients just until blended. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees F for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Biscuits Recipe 2 (Recipe courtesy of Emeril Lagasse)
Ingredients:
2 cups flour, sifted
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup plus 2 teaspoons buttermilk

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients and blend thoroughly. Using your fingers or a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add buttermilk and quickly blend in, making sure to not overwork the dough.
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough with a rolling pin to a thickness of 1/2-inch. Use a biscuit cutter or the rim of a glass, press out as many biscuits as possible. Gather up scraps and quickly knead back together, then cut out as many additional biscuits as possible. Place biscuits on prepared baking sheet and bake until golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Ham Gravy Recipe
Ingredients:
300 gr ham slices
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons flour + 1 tablespoon flour
1/4 cup white wine
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup chicken broth
3 tbsps chopped parsley
1/4 cup heavy cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Heat a large skillet over high heat and saute ham slices4 to 5 minutes on each side. Remove to a plate, then diced it. Set aside.

Add butter and onions to skillet and cook until onions are softened, scraping up any browned bits on pan bottom. Add flour and stir well to combine. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, then add milk, chicken broth and the mixture of 1 tbsp flour + white wine. Whisk well to combine, then allow sauce to cook until thickened, about 6 minutes. Add chopped parsley and heavy cream and cook 5 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and serve over the biscuits.

HOT DOG BUNS

Who dislike hot dog? I bet, 99% people in this world like hot dog including myself :). The fact that I like hot dog made me challanged myself to make the hot dogs' bun. Ian Knauer's recipe is my choice this time and the recipe is really recommended for hot dog and burger buns.

Also, I used homemade bratwurst bramberger sausages. It is just so good and tasty!This time, I will share the recipe in English and Bahasa Indonesia.



Hot Dog Buns

Yield: 16 hot dog buns

For dough:
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup warm water (105—115°F)
1 (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
16 pieces homemade bratwurst bramberger sausage

Equipment: a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment and 2 (13- by 9-inch) baking pans (for hot dog buns)

Make dough:
Bring milk and cream to a bare simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cool mixture to 105 to 115°F.
Meanwhile, stir together warm water and yeast in mixer bowl and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn’t foam, start over with new yeast.)
Add warm milk mixture, sugar, flour, and salt to yeast mixture and mix at low speed, scraping down side of bowl as necessary, until flour is incorporated. Increase speed to medium and beat 6 minutes. (Dough will be sticky.)
Transfer dough to a lightly oiled large bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a kitchen towel (not terry cloth) and let rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled, about 2 hours.



To make hot dog buns:
Butter baking pans. Punch down dough, then divide into 16 equal pieces (about 3 oz each). Roll each piece of dough into a 6-inch-long log on a lightly floured surface. Space 8 logs evenly in each pan so that there are 2 columns of logs that run parallel to long sides of pan.

Loosely cover buns with oiled plastic wrap and let rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until buns just start to touch, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375°F with racks in upper and lower thirds.

Bake buns, switching position of pans halfway through, until tops are golden and undersides are golden-brown and sound hollow when tapped, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely. Before using buns, pull apart and cut lengthwise down center of each (but not all the way through).

Notes:
•If you don’t have a stand mixer, stir ingredients together in a large bowl with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and knead, incorporating only enough flour to keep dough from sticking, until smooth and elastic, 7 to 8 minutes.
•Buns are best the day they are made but can be frozen in sealable bags up to 2 weeks.




In Bahasa Indonesia:

Roti Hot Dog

Untuk: 16 buah

Untuk Dough:
300 ml susu cair
250 ml heavy cream (krim kental)
62,5 ml air hangat (40-46`C)
1 paket (7 gr) active dry yeast
500 gr terigu protein sedang
2 sdt garam
16 buah sosis bratwurst bramberger

Peralatan: 1 buah stand mixer dengan paddle attachment dan 2 buah loyang kukis.

Cara Membuat:
Di panci kecil, rebus susu cair dan krim kental dengan api sedang hingga hampir mendidih (jangan sampai mendidih banget). Dinginkan sampai bersuhu 40-46`C.
Kemudian, aduk rata air hangat dan yeast di mangkok mixer, istirahatkan hingga berbusa, selama 5 menit. (kalau campuran yeast tidak berbusa, bikin lagi yang baru).
Tambahkan campuran susu, gula, terigu dan garam ke mangkok mixer yang berisi yeast, kocok dengan kecepatan rendah hingga terigu tercampur rata. Naikkan kecepatan mixer menjadi kecepatan sedang dan kocok selama 6 menit (tekstur adonan lengket).
Pindahkan adonan ke mangkuk yang sudah diolesi minyak, balikan adonan hingga bagian atas adonan teroles minyak juga. Tutup mangkuk dengan serbet (jangan gunakan serbet yang berpori) dan istirahatkan selama 2 jam di tempat yang hangat dan kering hingga mengembang.

Membuat roti hot dog:
Olesi loyang dengan mentega. Tonjok turun adonan, kemudian bagi menjadi 16 bagian (@85 gr). Ambil satu bagian adonan, kemudian roll adonan di atas talenan yang ditaburi terigu menjadi bulat panjang (gelondongan) berukuran 15 cm panjangnya.
Letakan adonan roti ke atas loyang secara memanjang, kasih jarak sedikit.
Tutup loyang berisi roti dengan plastik wrap yang diolesi minyak dengan longgar. Istirahatkan di tempat yang kering dan hangat selama 2 jam.
Panaskan oven dengan suhu 180`C dengan rak di bagian atas dan ketiga dari bawah.
Panggang roti selama 20 sampai 25 menit. Ganti posisi loyang di tengah2 waktu memanggang. Panggang hingga atas roti berwarna keemasan dan bagian bawah berwarna coklat keemasan dan jika roti di tepuk2 akan terdengar suara bergema.
Dinginkan roti di atas loyang selama 10 menit, kemudian pindahkan ke atas rak hingga benar2 dingin.

Cara Penyajian:
Belah roti hot dog secara memanjang, kemudian olesi dengan mayonnaise dan mustard, taruh sosis di atasnya. Sajikan.



Catatan:
1. Jika tidak memiliki stand mixer, aduk semua bahan di mangkok besar dengan sendok kayu sampai berbentuk dough/adonan. Uleni adonan ke atas talenan yang bertabur terigu. Uleni selama 7 sampai 8 menit sampai halus dan kalis.
2. Untuk hasil yang baik, sebaiknya langsung gunakan roti di hari pembuatan. Tapi bisa juga di simpan freezer di wadah kedap udara hingga 2 minggu.

SAVORY EN CROUTE

When I saw this braided pastry from Elra's Cooking, I fell in love right away. So, I made this savory en croute. I used the apple struddle's puff pastry recipe and I made a simple savory filling. Believe me or not, it turned so good. The pastry is so light with thick filling. My hubby liked it so much, and so do I :).

How to braid the puff pastry? Don't worry, it is not hard at all. You can check here on how to braid the puff pastry.

Savory En Croute

Ingredients:
Puff Pastry:
200 gr of all-purpose flour
1 tsp of granulated sugar
1 tsp of salt
1 egg
2 tbsps of olive oil
2 tbsps of warm water
100 gr of butter

Filling:
3 pieces chicken fillet, diced
1 cup (250 gr) corn
1 cup (250 gr) frozen green peas, defrost
2 big size carrot, peeled and diced
2 yellow onions, peeled and diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup (65 gr) fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 cup (125 gr) button mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp sugar
50 ml white sauce or heavy cream
1/2 cup (125 gr) grated cheese
2 tbsps olive oil
Salt and blackpepper, to taste

Egg Wash:
1 egg yolk
1 tsp milk



Methods:
For the Puff Pastry:
In a big bowl, combine flour, salt and sugar until thoroughly mixed. Add in egg, oil and warm water, mix it well with spatula. Knead it with your hands until the batter form a dough. Shape it into ball form. Wrap it with plastic wrapper. Keep it in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour (better if you refrigerate it overnight)

Prepare a board or any clean surface and dust it with flour. Take the dough from the refrigerator, and unwrap it. Roll the dough on the floury work surface into 1/2 cm thickness, and roll it into long square form. Place the butter on the upper side of the dough, then fold the empty side up so the edge of the empty side meet the edge of the other side. Roll it a bit just to stick the edges only. Wrap it with plastic wrapper. Keep it in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. Repeat it until 7 times.

Roll the dough into 2 mm thickness in square form. Ready to use.

For the Filling:
In a skillet, caramelized garlic and onion with olive oil. Stir in chicken until the color changed. Add in carrot, corn, green peas and mushrooms, chopped parsley and nutmeg saute it for 10 minutes. Season it with sugar, salt and blackpepper, to taste. Set aside to cool. When the filling is cool enough, pour in white sauce or heavy cream and cheese.

To assemble:
Roll out the puff pastry to 17 by 17-inch square, transfer to a piece of parchment paper. Make a series of 1-inch slanting cuts on both side (between the filling). Place the filling in the middle of the pastry. Start braiding the pastry by over lapping each of the slice on top of the filling to enclose it. Transfer the pastry to a baking sheet. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes (I skipped this step)
Preheat oven to 375`F. Brush the pastry with egg wash mixture. Bake it for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve it warm.

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.

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.

QUICHE LORRAINE

I bought a very cheap quiche pan set. With only 15 bucks (the original price is $30) I got 3 sizes of quiche pan. So, I'm so excited to make quiche, and this was my very first time making and tasting quiche. I never know what quiche is before, and even I don't know how it tasted like.
So, I found this recipe from my fave chef, Emeril Lagasse. My husband said, "It's like eating omelet in pie crust". Myself, I don't really like it, maybe because I am not a fan of omelet The taste is good tho. The best was put lots of bacons for the filling!

Quiche Lorraine
Source: Emeril Lagasse

Yield: 9 inch quiche pan

Ingredients
Flaky Butter Crust, recipe follows
6 ounces thick cut bacon, cut into narrow strips (or “lardons”)
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 1/4 cups half-and-half
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup grated Gruyere or Swiss (Belzy - I used cheddar cheese)

Directions
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to an 11-inch circle. Fit into a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and trim the edges. (Alternatively, a 9-inch pie pan can be used.) Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Line the pastry with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until the crust is set, 12 to 14 minutes. Remove the paper and weights and bake until golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.

In a medium skillet, cook the bacon until crisp and the fat is rendered, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Discard the fat or reserve for another use.

Arrange the bacon evenly over the bottom of the baked crust.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs, yolks, and half and half. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk to combine. Pour into the prepared crust and bake until the custard is golden, puffed, and set yet still slightly wiggly in the center, 30 to 35 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before serving.



Flaky Butter Crust:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces
1 to 2 tablespoons ice water, or more as needed

To make the dough in a food processor, combine the flour, salt, and butter in the processor and process until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, about 10 seconds. With the machine running, add the ice water through the feed tube and pulse quickly 5 or 6 times, or until the dough comes together and starts to pull away from the sides of the container. Gather the dough into a ball, flatten it into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

To make the dough by hand, combine the flour, salt, and butter in a medium bowl, and mix with a pastry blender or your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the water 1 tablespoon at a time and mix until the dough comes together and is no longer dry, being careful not to overmix. Form into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface according to the recipe, fit it into the pan, and allow to rest again in the refrigerator before baking.

APPLE LATTICE PIE

I remember the first time I tried apple pie was when I went to McDonald Singapore, and at that time McDonald haven't open any franchise in Indonesia yet. So, when McDonald opened the first franchise in Jakarta more than 15 years ago, my dad bought a lot of burgers, sundae ice cream, french fries and apple pies. My first impression of apple pie was .... yuck! with the cinnamon-soggy apple filling. But then, after I ate it more, I found it tasted good!

Now, I like the smell of cinnamon baked with soggy apples. Especially, since I lived here where most of the cakes and desserts are using cinnamon.

I used Paula Deen's recipe for the filling and Simple Recipe for the pie crust. Those recipes' combination made a perfect apple pie :).

PS: I like the part of braiding the pie crust (aka lattice style) the most ;).

Apple Lattice Pie

Ingredients:
For Filling:
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling
Freshly ground nutmeg, to taste
7 medium apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1 lemon, zested and juiced

For Pie Crust:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
4 to 8 Tbsp ice water

Directions:

Filling:
Mix together the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small bowl. In another bowl, sprinkle apples with the juice of 1 lemon and toss Stir in the sugar mixture to evenly coat the apples.

Pie Crust:
1. Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a bowl; toss it with a pastry cutter. Add butter and toss it again, until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add ice water 1 Tbsp at a time, tossing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready. If the dough doesn't hold together, add a little more water and toss again.

2. Remove dough from bowl and place in a mound on a clean surface. Gently shape into 2 discs. Knead the dough just enough to form the discs, do not over-knead. You should be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. These small chunks of butter are what will allow the resulting crust to be flaky. Sprinkle a little flour around the discs. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days.

3. Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften just enough to make rolling out a bit easier. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. If necessary, add a few sprinkles of flour under the dough to keep the dough from sticking. Carefully place onto a 9-inch pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish.

4. Add filling to the pie.

5. Roll out second disk of dough, as before. Cut the dough into 1 inch wide. Gently braid every dough's pieces to the top of the filling in the pie. Pinch top and bottom of dough rounds firmly together. Trim excess dough with kitchen shears, leaving a 3/4 inch overhang. Fold the edge of the top piece of dough over and under the edge of the bottom piece of dough, pressing together. Flute edges using thumb and forefinger or press with a fork.

Finishing:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Brush the top of the pie with egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.
Bake pie for 45 minutes. Let rest 20 minutes before slicing.

CLAM CHOWDER IN ITALIAN BREAD BOWL

Clam chowder became our new favorite. So, we always order clam chowder as our appetizer when we ate outside :). And, as usual, my hubby ask me to make homemade clam chowder.
Then, here we are....clam chowder in italian bread bowl from Seattle Times. My hubby like it so much ;).
Let me share this delicate recipe with you ....

Clam Chowder

Ingredients:
2 (6-1/2 ounce) cans minced clams
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup finely diced celery
2 cups finely diced potatoes
3/4 cup butter or margarine
3/4 cup flour
4 cups half-and-half, warmed
1 teaspoon salt, to taste
1 dash pepper
1/2 teaspoon sugar

Directions:
In a medium saucepan, drain the juice from the clams; set the clams aside.
Combine clam juice with the onions, celery and potatoes.
Add enough water to barely cover and simmer, covered, over medium heat until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
In a large saucepan, melt the butter.
Add flour and stir in to the butter.
Slowly whisk in the warm half-and-half.
Cook and whisk until smooth and thick, about 5 minutes.
If you want a thinner chowder, add ½ to ¾ cup water or clam broth.
Add the vegetables with their cooking liquid, clams, salt, pepper and sugar to the pan.
Stir well and adjust the seasonings if necessary.

Italian Bread Bowl
Source: All Recipes

Ingredients
2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
7 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water

Directions
1.In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2.Add salt, oil and 4 cups flour to the yeast mixture; beat well. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well with an electric mixer at medium speed after each addition.
3.When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes.
4.Punch dough down, and divide into 8 equal portions. Shape each portion into a 4 inch round loaf. Place loaves on lightly greased baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, until doubled in bulk, about 35 minutes.
5.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). In a small bowl, beat together egg white and 1 tablespoon water; lightly brush the loaves with half of this egg wash.
6.Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Brush with remaining egg mixture, and bake 10 to 15 more minutes or until golden. Cool on wire racks.
7.To make bowls: Cut a 1/2 inch thick slice from top of each loaf; scoop out centers, leaving 3/4-inch-thick shells. Fill bread bowls with hot soup and serve immediately.

BOUILLABAISSE

This is my first time try bouillabaisse. What is bouillabaisse? Bouillabaisse is...fish soup!! Yap, fish soup. But, it tasted different than any other fish soup that I tried before. Don't think about singaporean fish soup or any other chinese kind fish soup. This one is really different *for me*.

Unluckily, I don't have fish broth, so I substituted it with water only, and it still tasted good. So, I can imagine how good this soup will be if I use fish broth :).

And, since the weather was really cold, eating this soup is really helped us to warmed our body :), also, it made the soup tasted good even more! My husband is my number one fans, of course he liked it :). He ate 2 bowls of soup for dinner yesterday.

It was an easy-healthy soup, you should try it .... ;)

Bouillabaisse
Source: Bubba Cookle

Ingredients:
400 gr fish fillet, thinly sliced
1 piece of yellow onion, finely minced
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
700 ml fish broth (Belzy -- I substituted it to water)
6 pieces of tomatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 piece of lemon, squeezed
2 tsps of ground paprika
2 pieces of bay leafs
a pinch of fresh parsley, chopped
2 tbsps of olive oil
1/4 tsp of pepper
Salt to taste

Directions:
Stir fry onion and garlic with olive oil in a skillet until fragrant. Stir in tomatoes and ground paprika, stirring well. Pour in fish broth, and let it boiled.
Add in fish fillet, bay leaves, pepper, lemon juice and parsley. Season it with salt to taste. Toss it before you turn off the heat. Serve it immediately while its hot. Enjoy!

APPLE STRUDLE

Lately, I am falling in love with pastry! So, when I saw this recipe from Bubba, I decided to make it by my own.

The pastry itself was really easy. I made 2 apple strudles, I put too much crackers in 1 apple strudles, so it wasn't as moist as the other one (see the difference of the following photo. I put too much crackers at the first photo)

Also, I should baked it longer than I was, so the apples were not that mushy :(. But, it tasted good tho :). My hubby liked it so much! And, since he saw me wrote the recipe, he kept asking me when would I bake the apple strudle! :)

Apple Strudle

Source: Bubba Cookle (with little bit changes by me)

Ingredients:

For Puff Pastry:

200 gr of all-purpose flour

1 tsp of granulated sugar

1 tsp of salt

1 egg

2 tbsps of olive oil

2 tbsps of warm water

100 gr of butter

For Apple Strudle:

1 kg apples, peeled and sliced

2 sheets of puff pastry ( 25x25cm ), *recipe follows*

100 gr Honey Graham Crackers, crushed

4 tbsps of sugar SPLENDA

4 tbsps of walnuts, chopped

1 tsp of vanilla powder

2 tsps of ground cinnamon

1 piece of lemon, squeezed

3 tbsps of icing sugar (for garnish, optional)

2 tbsps of butter, melted

Directions:

For Puff Pastry:

In a big bowl, combine flour, salt and sugar until thoroughly mixed. Add in egg, oil and warm water, mix it well with spatula. Knead it with your hands until the batter form a dough. Shape it into ball form. Wrap it with plastic wrapper. Keep it in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour (better if you refrigerate it overnight)

Prepare a board or any clean surface and dust it with flour. Take the dough from the refrigerator, and unwrap it. Roll the dough on the floury work surface into 1/2 cm thickness, and roll it into long square form. Place the butter on the upper side of the dough, then fold the empty side up so the edge of the empty side meet the edge of the other side. Roll it a bit just to stick the edges only. Wrap it with plastic wrapper. Keep it in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. Repeat it until 7 times.

Roll the dough into 2 mm thickness, make sure form it into square form. Ready to use.

For Apple Strudle:

Preheat the oven at 375`F. Mix apples and lemon juice, toss it well. Set aside.

Lay 1 puff pastry on a clean surface. Brush it with butter. Pour the crackers in the middle of the pastry (length side). Make layers of apples, walnuts, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla powder. Fold the empty sides of pastry into middle side, wrapping the filling.

Layer the baking pan with parchment paper. Roll in the apple strudle on the baking pan. Bake it for 45 minutes or until the pastry become golden brown.

CHICKEN POT PIE WITH BISCUITS

It was started when I met my high school friend who fortunately is living in US too. We were just like 2 teenagers who are so ecstatic to found each other in this far far away country :). Now, we exchanged email EVERYDAY!! :)). But, we were not talked about those memories only, but also, we exchanged recipes as well. And guess what, I got many ideas and new recipes after I saw her foods' photos. Gosh....it is really amazing to know that she is a good chef now, when I looked back our high school time, she just a different person now! :).

After I saw her chicken pie, then it made me want to make it too, since I never make any pies at all, I asked her the recipe, but unfortunately, she lost her pie crust notes that she got from her MIL. So, as usual, I asked Mr. Google for this recipe.

I found lots of chicken pies' recipes with different kind of toppings. So, I saw this chicken pot pie with biscuits' recipe which was a bit different than chicken pie. The fillings are same, the only different is I will use biscuit instead of crust *I'm still waiting for my friend's pie crust recipe*.

It was really good...of cos the taste little bit different than the crust. My hubby never taste chicken pie with biscuit before. He is complained,"It is not chicken pot pie". Then I explained to him that this is a different crust only. But, after few bites, he said,"It is good hun!", then he got his second pie :).

So, thank you Sel for the idea of this chicken pie, I can't wait to try the one with pie crust :). I got your MIL recipe already ;).

Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuits

Source: Michael C.

Ingredients:

CREAMED CHICKEN:

4 tbsps of butter

1/2 cup of all-purpose flour

2 cups of chicken broth

1-1/2 cups whole milk

3 pieces of chicken breasts, cooked and cubed (Belzy -- I baked the chicken with salt and blackpepper)

2 tbsps of sherry (Belzy -- I substituted it to shaoxing wine)

1 tsp of nutmeg

1/2 piece of lemon, squeeze the juice only

Blackpepper and salt to taste

CHICKEN POT PIE:

2 tbsps of butter

1 piece of medium onion, chopped

1-1/2 cups of carrots, chopped

4 stalks of celery, chopped

1/2 cup of frozen peas, defrost

2-1/2 quarts of creamed chicken (recipe follows)

Biscuit dough (recipe follows)

BISCUIT DOUGH:

2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 tbsp of baking powder

1/4 tsp of salt

6 tbsps of cold butter

3/4 cups of milk

Methods:

FOR CREAMED CHICKEN:

Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. Pour flour in and toss. After flour and butter mixed thoroughly (about 1 minute), remove the pan from heat and add 2 cups of chicken broth. Whisk until smooth.

Add milk and toss over medium heat until simmering. Remove it from heat and scrape the sides of the saucepan with a heat-proof spatula. Whisk vigorously to break and chunks and return to medium heat for one more minute.

Turn off the heat and mix in chicken and sherry until evenly mixed. Add lemon juice, nutmeg, salt and blackpepper to taste.

FOR CHICKEN POT PIE:

Melt butter in nonstick skillet over medium heat. When butter is foaming, stir in onions, celery and carrots. Cook it until tender about five minutes. Remove from the heat.

Pour in the vegetables mixture (including parsley and peas) into creamed chicken, toss it well. Pour the creamed chicken mixture into 9x13-in. baking pan. Top it with biscuit dough.

After making biscuit dough, cut the dough into square form, and layout all the biscuit pieces to cover the pot pie.

Using a pastry brush, brush beaten egg over the surface of the pot pie biscuit. Then, baking it in the preheated 400`F oven for 25 to 35 minutes or until the biscuit is golden brown and the chicken mixture is bubbling. Serve it warm.

FOR BISCUIT DOUGH:

In a big bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt together. Then, using a pastry cutter or you hands, cut the butter into the flour. Basically, cut the butter and mix with flour to coat and separate the pieces. Continue mixing until you get pea sized pieces of butter. (* see note below)

Pour the milk in and mix gently with a spatula. Do not knead it, just a gently mix. (** see note below)

Form the dough into a ball once the milk has been evenly distributed through the dough. (*** see note below)

Transfer the dough to a piece of parchment paper or clean surface and roll out into big square sheet into 1/4 inch thickness. Then cut it into little square form.

Note:

* it is important that the butter be cold for this process and not begin to melt. If it starts to get a little mushy, you can slip it into the refrigerator for 15 minutes to firm back up a bit before continuing.

** kneading will produce gluten which will make the biscuit bread like instead of light and flaky.

*** you might need to use a kneading action to make a dough ball, but do not knead too much.