Sunday, May 30, 2010

... even the orchestra is beautiful!


I know what you're waiting for. You all want to see pictures from our cabaret party last saturday; I know... but I'm so busy until tomorrow with ne of the works for my coolhunting classes, so I cant do the proper entry until tomorrow.

But anyway, I'm showing you some of the pictures of our night that I'm using for my work. Enjoy them!




And sorry for being so bad blogger these days, I'm so busy :(! I've been all night up finishing this work... and now, i've got to do the big one...!

Thai Style Steamed Fish


Namanya masakan Thai so.... mmg enak, pedas dan asam yummy..
Selara makan siang jadi bertambah deh, gue kemaren beli fillet ikan kerapu, cari pak choi dan cabe merah, jadi pagi2 tadi buat ikan Thai style steamed ini buat menu makan siang ngai di kantor. Kuah nya sih udah dicobain, asin2, pedas dan asam (tp gak terlalu asam, apa kurang banyak jeruk nipisnya). Lain kali bikin, coba lebih asam dan pedas, mak nyosssss pasti hehehe..

Bahan :
2 buah ikan fillet @ 140 gram
1 ruas jari jahe, kupas, cincang
1 siung bawang putih, cincang
1 buah cabe merah kecil, bukan cabe rawit, buang biji nya, cincang
parutan kulit jeruk nipis dan jus nya dari 1 buah jeruk nipis
3 buah baby pak choi, potong 1/4 bagian
2 sdm soy sauce

Cara :
1. Tata ikan fillet bersampingan di atas aluminium foil yang dibentuk mangkok.
2. Taburi ikan dengan jahe, bawang putih, cabe dan parutan kulit jeruk nipis.
3. Tambahkan air jeruk nipis, kemudian beri pak choi di sekeliling ikan, kemudian tuangi
soy sauce ke atas pak choi, lalu bungkus dengan alumunium foil (jangan bungkus terlalu
rapat / kencang).
4. Kukus selama 15 menit sampai ikan matang.

Verging on Blue Soup

I was having a blue soup experience. If you've read or seen Bridget Jones' Diary, you know how she tried to make her friends dinner and ended up serving blue soup. The meal I was making was verging on blue soup.

Okay, that's an exaggeration. But a lot of things were going wrong.

It started when I broke a yolk while separating some eggs, and my whites were tainted. Then when I made a fresh bowl of whites and whipped them, they splattered all over the counter. My chocolate roulade, a rolled log cake, broke when I rolled it up (probably because I lost too many whites in the afore mentioned splatter). My focaccia didn't rise (possibly due to expired yeast). I burned some dried apricots that I was making for a puree to fill the broken cake, and I still can't get the burned bits off the non-stick pan. My new focaccia, made with freshly purchased yeast expiring in 2011, rose and baked up nicely except for the sun-dried tomatoes on top - which burned.

To top it all off, my faucet sprung a leak and drenched the cabinet space under the sink.

So while I'm boiling the rest of the dried apricots for take two of the puree, while swirling it into fresh whipped cream that I whipped in a big enough bowl to avoid splatter, while stuffing the cream and apricot filling into the broken cake hoping it would stick together in some semblance of layers, while picking blackened tomatoes off an otherwise golden focaccia and mopping water up from under the sink, I started thinking that maybe this whole cooking thing had gotten the best of me.

But then I found the cups. Years ago I had acquired a free set of tea cups and since I like to drink my tea from fat mugs I never had any use for them - until now.


I made a cold avocado soup, creamy from avocados, spicy from jalapeno pepper and Tabasco sauce, tangy from lemon juice and yogurt, hearty from navy beans, and frothy and light from pureeing, which whipped air into it. Each serving was more than a sip, less than a cup, a perfect starter to soothe any anxiety that the rest of the meal was less than perfect.

And the soup was green, not blue, and meant to be that way.

Avocado Soup (edited from Cooking Light)

Ingredients:
  • 2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 3/4 cups chopped avocado (about 2)
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup rinsed and drained canned navy beans
  • 1/2 cup fat-free plain yogurt
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)
  • 1 small jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
Combine broth and next 9 ingredients (through jalapeño) in a blender; puree until smooth, scraping sides. Ladle 1 1/4 cups avocado mixture into each of 4 bowls, or 8 little cups.

I Love English Muffins

My adventures in baking English muffins haven't been entirely successful. The first batch had great texture but not enough of that sourdough flavour. The next tasted much better but almost no nooks and crannies (not to mention they were a lot more work than the first batch). So this time, I decided to do some research to figure out what exactly leads to that hole-y texture in a perfect english muffin.

In my reading around various food blogs and english muffin recipes, I found that it seems a wetter dough will lead to holier bread. For example, the infamous No-Knead Bread that made its rounds a few years ago is characterized by an extremely wet dough which you couldn't knead if you wanted to, which results in lots and lots of big holes! (I know, the level of detail in my "research" is astounding) In fact, a few recipes recommended using more of a batter than a dough along with some egg rings to shape the english muffins while cooking. This seemed a little too complicated for me, especially since I don't have egg rings and I wasn't exactly keen on the idea of making my own using cans of tuna as some people recommended.

Also, while I enjoyed the flavour that came from the sponge, or biga in Rose Levy Berenbaum's recipe I realized that for the most part I'm just not willing to wait four hours waiting for a sponge to develop. I needed a faster way. The recipe that I used seemed to be a good compromise. It results in a stickier dough with buttermilk rather than a starter to get some tangy flavour into the english muffins. Compromise!

And the results? Pretty freaking good. The sourdough was a great way to add flavour without waiting hours or using a sourdough starter. The texture wasn't quiiiite perfect, but definitely enough nooks and crannies for my satisfaction. I'll probably experiment a bit with the moisture level in the dough next time, but this is a great base recipe that will definitely be used again.

Buttermilk English Muffins
Adapted from The Merlin Menu

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour*
1/2 tsp sugar
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
3/4 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp butter (room temperature)
1 cup buttermilk** (slightly heated)
cornmeal for sprinkling

*I used about a cup of whole wheat flour because I was running out of white and it turned out pretty well, but for comparison purposes I'd probably make them using all white flour next time

**If you don't have buttermilk, you can combine 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and enough milk to make a cup, Leave at room temperature for at least 10 minutes before using.


1. In a bowl, add heated buttermilk, butter, sugar and yeast. Stir and let sit for 20 minutes or until the mixture puffs up.

2. Add flour and mix a wooden spoon until well incorporated and a sticky ball of dough is formed. Add more flour in 1/4 cup increments if necessary, but you want a pretty sticky dough.

3. Scrape dough out onto a floured board or surface. Sprinkle with flour and knead BRIEFLY. Apparently the more you knead, the finer the "crumb" will be which means less nooks and crannies!

4. Drop dough into a greased bowl, turn over, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm area for at least one hour (you can use a slightly warmed oven if you can't find a warm spot in your house - just turn it to maybe 250-300 degrees Farenheit for about 30 seconds and turn off)

5. After it's risen, scrape out onto the same floured surface, do NOT punch down. Knead once or twice and shape or roll into rectangle about one inch thick.

6. Using a biscuit cutter or cup, shape into rounds.

7. Spread cornmeal over parchment paper or a silpat. Place the cut and shaped circles of dough onto the cornmeal. Dust the tops liberally with cornmeal also. Top with plastic wrap, and let rise for another hour.

8. Heat a dry griddle or skillet to medium heat, carefully place a few dough rounds onto the skillet and brown on each side, about 5 - 9 minutes per side.

9. Remove from the skillet and let cool for about 20 minutes before devouring.

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aku cinta Jakarta, dan kereta api.

Aroma dan hembusan angin yang menggelitikku pagi ini, apek tapi menyenangkan. Ah ya, ini perjalanan panjangku menuju Bogor, yang katanya 50 menit dari stasiun Gambir. Ini kali keduaku menikmati asiknya perjalanan dengan kereta. Suasana yang selalu aku rindukan. Suasana kaya yang murah meriah.

Aku heran kalau mereka-mereka *orang-orang yang tak ingin aku sebut* bilang naik kereta itu tidak menyenangkan. Justru lebih nyaman daripada naik mobil dan bermacet-macet ria. Jakarta, kota yang teramat padat dan kaya. Siapa yang tak cinta pada glamornya? Padahal aku pun muak kadang dibuatnya. Tapi aku selalu jatuh cinta pada kota ramai ini. Lagi, lagi, lagi, dan jatuh cinta lagi, entah sampai kapan.

Bunyi klotak klotak klotak dari perseteruan antara rel besi berbatu dengan roda-roda kecil yang membopong ratusan orang menjadi theme song perjalanan dalam kereta. Aku duduk, menikmati tiap letupan-letupan ekspresi penumpang yang masih terjangkau telingaku. Banyakan anak kecil yang suaranya mencolek pendengaranku. Tapi tak jarang terdengar juga diskusi para dewasa. Kadang juga percakapan di telepon. Ramai tapi tidak bising. What a lovely!

Pernahkah aku cerita jikalau ibu kota negaraku, Jakarta, memiliki transportasi yang beraneka ragam dan sangaaaaat banyak! Sekali lagi, sangat banyak! SANGAT! Coba hitung kalau kau bisa. Aku sih lebih pilih menikmati tanpa mau pusing menghitungnya. Hahaha.

Aku mencintai becak, meskipun kadang melas pada bapak pengayuh becak yang mengangkutku yang tidak kurus ini. Haha. Tapi aku mencintai perjalanan dengan becak, sambil celingak-celinguk di tengah komplek perumahan yang luas. Aku juga mencintai delman atau andong, si kereta kuda yang jadi hiburan bagi anak-anak. Berbekal lembaran ribuan, bisa merasakan keliling kompleks bersama kuda centil yang berlenggak-lenggok angkuhnya.

Dan bergerak ke jalan raya dan mengota sedikit, aku sangat menyukai dan menikmati Trans Jakarta. Hanya 3500 rupiah saja aku bisa mengarungi kota Jakarta yang ramai. Selain memiliki jalur di tengah jalan ibu kota yang khusus, Trans Jakarta juga memiliki halte sendiri yang nyaman dan bersih. Dan kadang ada juga mesin minuman yang canggih. Bus yang nyaman dengan tempat duduk berhadapan dan empuk, bagus, dan aman tentunya. Bebas macet! Aku suka alternatif yang pak Gubernur Jakarta yang sudah pensiun dari jabatannya. Trims, pak! *cengiran tiga jari*

Tak lupa, harus aku kabarkan pada penjuru jagad raya aku mencintai kereta api! Tentu bukan kereta api yang penuh sesak dan banyak yang nangkring diatasnya, bukan. Aku mencintai kereta api yang tertib dan aman, umumnya ac. Seperti pakuan express yang aku naiki saat ini. Aku heran mengapa banyak yang memilih bermacet-macet ria dengan mobil di jalan raya kalau ada yang murah praktis dan cepat macam kereta. Stasiun Gambir yang megah dan sederhana. Aku menemui banyak turis mancanegara disana. Kadang aku geli sendiri melihat mereka bolak-balik kebingungan.

Yang paling aku gemari adalah ketika aku memperhatikan sepasang bule *asal negara barat sepertinya* menenteng buku tebal berjudul "Indonesia". Aku gemas sekali. Ingin aku hampiri dan bantu menyelesaikan urusannya hingga mereka tak usah bolak-balik kebingungan. Tapi, aku saja tak paham, ini kali keduaku menunggangi kereta, dengan stasiun yang berbeda juga. Hehe.

Saat di gerbong pun aku menjumpai ibu paruh baya asal jepang. Khas sekali, sehingga aku tau dia asal Jepang. Dia menanyakan pada petugas akan keberangkatan kereta ke Bogor, kereta yang sama denganku. Petugas itu kebingungan, haha, ya mungkin dia tak paham bahasa Inggris apalagi jepang, menyesal rasanya aku tak belajar serius 3 tahun berbahasa Jepang di sekolah.

Dan tibalah kereta berlabel pakuan Express tiba dan aku hinggap disalah satu gerbongnya. Sensasi ceria yang menjalari tiap desiran darahku. Aku akui aku memang norak dalam hal ini. Tapi aku bangga. Yap, setidaknya di usiaku yang nyaris 18 tahun ini aku sudah dua kali naik kereta. Dan aku akan selalu umumkan aku cinta kereta api. Aku cinta Jakarta. Aku cinta indonesiaku. What a lovely!

Minggu yang cerah ini siap memelukku. Percakapan basa-basi ramah sesama penumpang menghinggapi. Inilah negaraku, negara ramah yang indah dan kaya raya. Semakin dalam cintaku. Haha. Sayang sekali banyak juga keburukan yang menyisip. Tapi tak akan melunturkan rasa cintaku. Well, stasiun Bogor telah tercium sesaknya. Aku sudah akan sampai pada tujuanku. Stasiun terakhir perjalananku menuju Bogor. Welcome to Bogor, nona! Senyumanku tak bisa kucerca.

Aku selalu rindu berada dalam kereta. Satu jam saja. Aku serasa terkuras dari kepenatan. Asik rasanya kalau aku bisa keliling dengan kereta dan bercinta dengan huruf sepuas nafsuku. Otakku lama membeku akan huruf. Mungkin huruf-huruf yang biasa kucumbu juga mulai geram akan kecuekan aku. Sudah sampai. Bye! Aku mau menikmati Mingguku. See you kereta api sayang. I love you!