AYAM KODOK

Inspired by Kedai Hamburg who made this dish for Masbar's Event, I challenged myself to make it as well :). As we know, the hard part of making ayam kodok is when you peel the chicken skin. You have to make sure you didn't tear the skin when you peel it. So, I saw the way how to make ayam kodok from youtube, and it worked!! :)

Frankly speaking, I even don't understand why people called this dish as ayam kodok (frog chicken *?? am i rite?*), but when I told my hubby the name of this dish, and my hubby explain to me that 'frog' here means took the bone out from the meat. So, I think 'ayam kodok' was only the translation in Indonesian lang.

Anyway, I am very satisfied the successes of peeling my ayam kodok :), also, when I saw my hubby's reaction when he saw the dish after I took it out from the oven.....he looked so surprised and said, "I want to try it with rice!" :). Everything is for you hun! :)

Ayam Kodok


Ingredients:

For Filling:

1 whole chicken approx. 800gr, peel the skin - here is the step (Belzy -- I used 2 hens)

250 gr ground chicken

250 gr ground beef

2 tbsps relish (optional)

2 pieces of white or wheat bread, soaked in the water and squeezed

1 egg (AAA size)

1 tsp sugar

1-1/2 tsps salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp chicken powder (Belzy -- skipped)

1/4 tsp nutmeg

4 pieces of boiled egg (for filling)

For Brushing:

1 tbsp margarine

1 tbsp honey (Belzy -- I skipped it)

1 tbsp Indonesian sweet soy sauce

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp pepper

For Sauce:

3 tbsps butter/margarine

2 tbsp all-purpose flour (combine with 100 ml of 500 ml chicken broth)

5 tbsps Indonesian sweet soy sauce

3 tbsps Worchestershire sauce

1 piece of yellow onion, finely chopped

500 ml chicken broth

2 tsps salt

2 tsps sugar

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Garnish:

Peas

Carrots

French Fries

Directions:

For Ayam Kodok:

1. Combine well all filling ingredients (except boiled eggs)

2. Fill the filling into chicken skin.

3. Add in boiled eggs in 4 different areas.

4. Sew the bottom and neck's area with cotton thread (any other threads are ok)

5. Use toothpick to poke the chicken to make the skin more elastic.

6. Steam it until the chicken is cooked. Then brush it with brushing mixture.

7. Preheat oven for 350`F, then bake chicken for approx. 30 mins. (once in a while brush it again with brushing mixture)

For Sauce:

Stir fry chopped onion with margarine til fragrant, stir in the rest of ingredients (except flour), and 400 ml chicken broth. Let it boiled. Stir in flour mixture and stir well until boiled. Dish it out. Ready to serve.

BAKMOY

Whoaaaa......I'm kinda lazy to update this blog lately, also it's been long time I never take any food photos :(. I seem lost my interest on food photography :(. Yea, I admit that "sceneries and people" photography are catching my attention now.

Anyway, as now is 2010 already, so I think I should, at least, update my blog *that abandoned for a while*, and this will become my first entry for 2010 :).

All these times, I only enjoyed the photos and recipes of bakmoy from other bloggers. Frankly speaking, from the look it doesn't attract me at all. In my mind, everytime I see bakmoy, I only can think of rice with soy sauce meat which is 'too plain' food for me. Until, few weeks ago, Christine told me that she wants to cook bakmoy, and at that time, I asked her a bit about the recipe, then since I have no idea what I should cook for our meals, so I give a try to make bakmoy as well.

So, right after I chatted with Christine that day, I googled the recipe. There are plenty of bakmoy's recipe with lots of variance. After searching lots of recipes, at the end I decided to combine 2 recipes from Ine and Esther's blog become 1. And as the words saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover", same with bakmoy, this dish is really good!! Yea, it is a very simple food but rich with flavor :).

And, guess what??? My hubby likes it!! So, yeaaa I think I would cook it more often now ;).....

Bakmoy

Ingredients:

For Bakmoy:

5 Boiled eggs

400 gr pork, sliced

Deep fried shrimp balls (recipe follows)

5 tbsps sweet soy sauce

1 tbsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp light soy sauce

Spice paste : 3 cloves garlic and dried shrimp

Deep fried shrimp balls:

200 gr shrimp, peeled, deveined and minced

1/2 tsp salt

3 tbsps tapioca starch
1 egg

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp minced garlic

Directions: combine all ingredients, then form it as small balls with 2 teaspoons. Deep fried all the shrimp balls. Set aside.

For Soup:

500 cc chicken broth (Belzy -- I used pork broth)

3 tsps fried garlic, crushed

2 stalks spring onion, finely sliced and fried

For Complimentation (optional):

2 cloves garlic, pasted

10 tbsps warm water

Fried shallots

Directions:

For Bakmoy:

In a skillet, stir fry spice paste until fragrant. Stir in the remaining bakmoy's ingredients. Pour in 1 cup of broth. Boil it until the broth remains 1/2 cup only. Dish it out. Set aside.

For Soup:

Boils the remaining broth with garlic and fried spring onion until boiling. Set aside.

Finishing:

Arrange rice on a plate. Put 1 tsp garlic mixture. Add in bakmoy, then pour in the soup. Ready to serve.

CHRISTMAS AND THE MENUS :)

My first Christmas menus from baking to cooking :). It is a great experience since I never cook Christmas dinner by myself. Last year, when I was lived in Singapore, I had a christmas dinner with my friend, and I only made side dishes (stir fry enoki mushrooms, mashed potato and garlic bread), and my friend grilled the steak.

So, few days before Christmas I am looking for the Christmas dinner menus, and I found out it just same as Thanksgiving dinner menus with all the turkey, ham, mashed potato, salad, etc. Whoaaaa.........TURKEY??? I never bake it and I don't know how to make turkey, so I decided to make steak (again!) as the main menu for our Christmas dinner. Ok, the problem solved! But, wait a minute, what kind of steak I'll make?? Hmmm.........by the power of Mr.Google, at last by combine few steak recipes and a little suggestion from Christine, I made Beef Tenderloin with Red Wine Sauce :). It tasted so good, and my hubby liked it!! :)

At the end, our Christmas dinner menus are:

1. Chicken Corn Soup

2. Blue Cheese Gourgeres

3. Beef Tenderloin with Red Wine Sauce

4. Baked Potato with Bacon

5. Broccoli and Carrot with Fusion Salsa

Also, I baked this man of the day.........he is Mr. Gingerbread Man :). For this one, my hubby told me that he never like gingerbread before, but this time he likes my gingerbread :). Despite of it's true or not, it made my heart so flowery when I heard that :).

And here we are with the recipes :

Blue Cheese Gourgeres

Ingredients:

1 cup whole milk

4 tbsps unsalted butter

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/8 tsp Emeril's Original Essence (recipe follows)

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1/4 pound blue cheese, or other creamy blue cheese (Belzy -- I used crumbled blue cheese)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400`F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (Belzy -- I used muffin pan).

In a large saucepan, combine the milk, butter, salt, black pepper and Emeril's Essence over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat. Add the flour, and stir constantly with a large wooden spoon to incorporate, about 1 minute. Return to medium-high heat and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and add the eggs one at a time, beating well after the addition of each. Add the cheese and beat until mixed well and a slightly soft dough forms.

Drop the dough by the spoonful on the baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350`F, and bake until golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Remove from the oven and serve immediately, or at room temperature.

Emeril's Essence:

2-1/2 tbsps paprika

2 tbsps salt

2 tbsps garlic powder

1 tbsp black pepper

1 tbsp onion powder

1 tbsp cayenne pepper

1 tbsp dried leaf oregano

1 tbsp dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container.

Yield: about 2/3 cup.

Beef Tenderloins with Red Wine Sauce

Ingredients:

4 pounds petite beef tenderloin steak (about 4 pieces)

Marinade:

1 cup red wine, such as Zinfandel (Belzy -- use any kind red wine is ok)

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 garlic cloves, pasted with mortar

1-1/2 tsps dried rosemary

1-1/2 tsps dried thyme

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Red wine sauce (recipe follows)

Directions:

Whisk all of the ingredients in a large bowl to combine. Immerse the tenderloin in the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least to 2 hours and up to overnight. Drain the tenderloin and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour before serving.

Set the oven at broil, position a rack in the center (3 inch below the the heat). Rub the tenderloin with oil and season with the salt an pepper. Place in baking sheet (line in with alumunium foil), broil it for 8 to 12 minutes for medium raw or 15 to 17 minutes for medium rare (at this point, a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat should read 135`F for medium rare; for medium well, broil it for 3 minutes more). In the middle of broiling, don't forget to flip up the meat.

Remove from the oven. Tent tenderloin with foil, allow to rest for 10 minutes (if you want to eat it warm), or directly served it if you want to eat it hot.

Red Wine Sauce:

Ingredients:

The remaining marinade sauce

3 egg yolks

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

Cook the marinade sauce in a small saucepan and place over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until reduced by half. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Blend 3 egg yolks and red wine sauce reduction together in a blender on low speed until combined. With the blender running on medium speed, add one-third of the butter in a slow, steady stream. Once the mixture emulsifies (it will become thick and satiny), turn the blender speed up to high and add the remaining butter. Warm it a little on low heat. Ready to serve.

Baked Potato with Bacon

Ingredients:

6 pieces medium size potatoes

Broccoli, small size cut, washed and rinsed

4 slices bacon, diced and half fried

Butter/margarine (for spreading purposes only)

Mozarella cheese or any kind melted cheese, shredded

Directions:

Scrub and wash all potatoes, wipe and dry it. Rub the potato with salt (do not peel the skin, but if you dislike it you can peel the skin off and no need to rub the potato with salt).

Wrap tight the potato with alu foil. Bake it in the preheated oven 350`F (approx. 1 hour). Test the potato with insert a toothpick in the middle of potato, if the toothpick easily pushed into the potato, it's the time to turn off the oven.

Crossing slice the potato, do not slice it to the end of the potato. Push up the bottom of the potato until the edge of potato widely opened. Spread it with butter. Put in bacon, broccoli and shredded cheese. Bake it for another 5 minutes or until the cheese are all melted. Dish it out and ready to serve!

Gingerbread Men

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

2 tsps ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup (or 1-1/2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup molasses

1 egg

Directions:

Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in large bowl. Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add molasses and egg, beat well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350`F. Roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness on lightly floured work surface. Cut into gingerbread men shapes with cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on greased baking sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minuts or until edges of cookies are set and just begin to brown. Cool on baking sheets 1 to 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks, cool completely. Decorate cookies as desired. Store cookies in airtight container up to 5 days.

HOMEMADE ITALIAN PIZZA

Woohoooo.....I made pizza!! That's awesome!! And this is my very first experience baking pizza by MYSELF!! I'm so happy when I took out the pizza from the oven, the crust rised up so well, also it tasted really good and mellow!!

Really, this recipe is worthed to try! :). Many thanks to my dear friend Chizzy for sharing this wonderful easy recipe :).

Homemade Italian Pizza

Ingredients:

For Pizza Crust:

3 cups of all-purpose flour

1 cup of luke-warm water

1 tbsp of salt

1 tbsp of sugar (Belzy -- I skipped it)

1 tbsp of yeast

2 tbsp of oil (the best less fat oil: olive oil, canola oil, sunflower oil)

Extra oil to grease the bowl

Parchment paper

Topping:

Pepperoni of Salami

Button mushroom

Olive

Homemade pizza sauce base*

Shredded mozarella cheese

Homemade pizza sauce base:

5 tbsps of tomato ketchup

1 tbsp of oregano

1 tbsp of garlic powder

1/4 tsp of sugar

Directions:

For Pizza Crust:

Mix all purpose flour, salt and sugar (if desire) in a bowl, mixed well. Stir in water and oil, stir well and add in yeast. Mix those ingredients by hand until elastic or until the dough rise up again when you pinch it.

Brush a new bowl with oil slightly, then move the dough into the greasy bowl. Cover it with clingwrap plastic or a clean towel. Let it rest until double size. Do not put the bowl near the stove!!

After the dough doubled in size, slowly push the dough down to let the air go. Shape the dough into round form and cover it with clingwrap plastic or clean towel again. Let it rest for 1 hour.

Then, if you want to make big pizza, roll the whole dough on the greasy parchment paper into square or round form, but if you want to make small pizza, you need to divide the dough into 3 round of crust base).

Finishing:

Spread the homemade pizza sauce base on the rolled dough, sprinkle it with mozarella cheese and make sure the cheese cover the whole dough's surface, then followed by mushroom, olive and salami. Then, sprinkle the pizza with more mozarella cheese.

Bake it in the preheated 400`F oven for 10-12 minutes or until th ecrust little bit rised and brown. Dish it out and cut it into 8 pieces pizza. Enjoy!!

Note:

1. The thinner you roll the crust, the more crispy the pizza will be.

2. For the pizza sauce base, you can buy a ready pizza sauce base at supermarket.

PEMPEK KAPAL SELAM (INDONESIAN FISH CAKE)

Finally, I made it!! All these times, I always worry the process of making pempek would be too difficult so the possibility of failure is bigger than success everytime the thought of making pempek acrossed into my mind. But, this time I challenged myself to make it (of cos with self-prepared that I might fail).

Since I can't find spanish mackerel (tenggiri) and sago flour here, so I used fish paste and tapioca flour, and........wallaaaaa.....It tasted good and its not as hard as my imagination!!

Now, I have no worry to make pempek, and I can eat pempek in this far far away country ANYTIME!!.....Yayyyyyyyyyy....

PS: many thanks to Dewi Febrianti, Myrna and Hanny for the great recipe!! :)

Pempek Kapal Selam

Ingredients:

For Basic Fish Dough:

250 gr fish paste (spanish mackerel)

5 tbsp cold water

75 gr tapioca flour

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp MSG (Belzy -- I skipped it)

For Garnish:

3 pieces of eggs

50 gr mungbean noodle, soak in hot water (optional)

1 tbsp dried shrimp powder (optional)

1/4 pieces of cucumber, diced into small form (optional)

Homemade vinegar sauce

Methods:

For Basic Fish Dough:

Combine fish paste, cold water, salt and MSG (if desire) in big bowl. Mix them until sticky. Pour in tapioca flour, once at a time, while knead the batter until free-sticky on hand. Ready to use.

For Fish Cake:

Take 150 gr fish dough, roll it into ball form. Push the middle of the dough, make it oval bowl form. Pour in an egg (Belzy -- I boiled the egg first then placed it into the dough). Then pinch the edge with fingers. Boil it in boiling water until floating. Dish it out and cooling down before deep frying.

For Finishing:

Sliced the fried pempek, and place it on a plate. Serve it with mungbean noodle, cucumbers, dried shrimp powder and homemade vinegar sauce.

LEMPER (STEAMED CHICKEN GLUTINOUS RICE)

Where else can I find lemper in this far far away country, unless my homey kitchen room :). Yup, I made my homemade lemper, and it is really a good lemper, though this snack needs me to spend half of my day to prepare ALL the ingredients. But all of my efforts are worthed when I heard my hubby said, "It is good!" :)

Many thanks to Dapur Bunda for the recipe :).

Lemper

Ingredients:

A whole piece of banana leave

For Glutinous rice:

500 gram glutinous rice

500 cc coconut milk

2 pieces of bay leave

1 stalk of lemon grass, smashed

1/2 tsp of salt

For Filling:

4 pieces of chicken fillet - boil and shred

4 pieces of bay leave

6 pieces of kaffir lime leave

200 ml coconut milk

1 tbsp tamarind juice

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Spice Paste:

5 cloves of shallot

3 cloves of garlic

3 pieces of candle nut - panbroil

1 tbsp coriander - panbroil

1 tbsp sugar

Methods:

For Glutinous Rice:

Soak the glutinous rice for 2 hours, wash and drain.

Steam it for 15 minutes. Dish it out, set aside.

Boil coconut milk, bay leave, lemon grass and salt until boiling. Add in glutinous rice, cook it with low heat until the coconut milk absorbed by the glutinous rice. Set aside.

For Filling:

Stir fry spice paste until fragrant. Stir in coconut milk, shredded chicken, bay leave, kaffir lime leave and tamarind juice until cooked and no more left coconut milk. Dish it out and set aside.

Finishing:

Prepare a square pan, grease it with oil. Place 1/2 of glutinous rice, make sure it covers the pan.

Then, spread in the filling - spread well. Last layer, cover it with the remaining glutinous rice.

Steam it well. Cool it down before you cut it into square form. Wrap it with banana leave. Ready to serve.

SOP KEPITING ASPARAGUS (CRAB ASPARAGUS SOUP)

It's been long time I want to make crab asparagus soup by myself. As we know, this soup is very expensive in Indonesia, I guess, the asparagus and crab made the price of a small bowl soup is expensive.

Then, I found this recipe from here (thank's Esther for sharing the simple and great recipe ;)). I added shredded chicken and fish sauce, also I did a little changes on the recipe.

This is my first homemade crab asparagus soup, also, my hubby first soup :). And......he liked it so much!!

Sop Kepiting Asparagus (Crab Asparagus Soup)

Ingredients:

4 cups of chicken broth

1 can of white asparagus (328 gr) - cut each stem into matches sizes

1 can of white crab meat (170 gr)

2 pieces of chicken fillet, boiled and shredded

1/2 piece of carrot, shredded

1/2 tsp of salt

2 tbsps of fish sauce

2 tsps of oyster sauce

Pepper

Garlic Powder

5 tsps of tapioca starch

1/3 cup of water

2 piece of eggs, beaten

Heat up a 4 cups of chicken broth in a pan. Put in shredded carrot, white asparagus, chicken and crab meat. Then add salt, fish sauce, oyster sauce, pepper and garlic powder. Stir until all blended evenly. In a separate bowl, mix the tapioca starch with 1/3 cup of water, then pour into the hot soup while keep on stirring until the soup becomes thicken. Turn low the heat, keep on stirring and slowly pour in the beaten egg. Let the soup boils then ready to serve.