Tuesday, November 2, 2010

There was so much cuteness around me last weekend (part I)

Finally the manga convention was last weekend... and I'm almost dead!! Yes, dead! I've been leaving the blog and everything just for work during the last four days... but it worth it!! What a great weekend, people!!

So, let me show you in pictures how my weekend was...





Our stand was really cute and full of gorgeous things!! My bunnies and Carol's cupcakes were there, of course!



Marcos and Xavi were there too... and you can see how beautiful were my mates even with stolen pictures!




On friday night we had a birthday party; it was Eric's birthday and we had lots of fun... and a great cacke!




On saturday the day was so crazy that I couldn't take almost any picture during the day except the one of my belove Ariel with her Eric... that was an awesome costume!

And by night, almost all the stuff had dinner together in a chinese restaurant!

 Ariel and Eric, wow!
 Carol, Cristina and Nadal.
 Fidel David, so sexy here, haha!
Vane and me.
Vane and me again, doing the dumb, of course!

By the way, on friday I was on the news! Yes! If you click here and go to part 4, minute 6... you can see me n the video talking about lolita fashion!

And here you've got a few more pictures stolen from my friend's facebooks!

 Vane, Carol and me.
Carol and me!
 With Ashin!
 
Loli-love!
All together, on saturday. 
And all the team again after dinner!

Oh, God; I'm so tired... but you've got so much to see here! Tomorrow, more pictures and our Halloween's Night!

Thanks for being there... yes, finally I'm free and I'm back!

Cakewreck


Remember the post I wrote about those adorable little girls who live on our street?  For the past couple of years I have donated the promise of a chocolate layer cake at an annual auction to benefit their school. 

http://nevertrustaskinnycook1.blogspot.com/2010/08/flash-in-pan-cupcakes.html

This is no ordinary chocolate layer cake.  It's the one I used to bake at Watershed and as far as I know, it's still on the menu as I write this.  It's the brainchild of the legendary Scott Peacock and it surpasses any chocolate cake you will ever encounter.  It's worth every calorie and every gram of fat.  And this comes from me, the salt addict!

This year's auction winner called me recently to claim her cake.  As it turned out, we were invited to dinner with friends around the same time and as usual, I had volunteered to supply dessert.  "Great," I said to myself, "I'll make two cakes and kill two birds with one stone."

Oy veh, I sound like Henry with his cliches, don't I? 

 I proceeded to make two chocolate layer cakes.   At the end of the day, this proved to be a brilliant move.

That's because one of the layers split as I transferred it to the turntable to frost it.  "Hmmm," I thought, "I'll just glue it together with frosting and no one will know the difference."

So, I did.  It looked pretty good, in spite of the fault line lurking below.  The layers for the second cake (fortunately) stayed in their place and I assembled and frosted them also.  I now had two stunningly gorgeous chocolate layer cakes.

For about two hours.

And then my "earthquake cake" suddenly looked like this:


Enter good friends. I toted this (embarassing) wreck to the dinner party and we all had a great laugh.  We pretty much wiped it out too, despite its appearance.  My friend Jon couldn't resist taking pictures of the damn thing, but I'm glad he did, so I could share it here.

Here is the recipe.  It's not complicated, but it is.  The frosting is temperamental and so is the cake.  Reap the benefits of my experience with both.


VERY GOOD CHOCOLATE CAKE      (From "The Gift of Southern Cooking" by Scott Peacock and Edna Lewis)

For the cake:
2 cups granulated sugar
1 ½ cups cake flour
½ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup hot double-strength brewed coffee
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 eggs at room temperature
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup sour cream at room temperature
1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325-degrees. Sift together the sugar, flour, salt and baking soda into a large bowl. Set aside.

In a small bowl, pour the hot coffee over the chocolate and allow chocolate to melt completely, stirring occasionally.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and vegetable oil until well blended, then whisk in the sour cream, vanilla and chocolate mixture. When blended together, stir this mixture into the dry ingredients by thirds, stirring well after each addition until completely blended.


Divide the batter evenly between 2 buttered and floured 9-inch round cake pans which have been lined with parchment paper. Drop each cake pan once onto the counter from a height of 3-inches to remove any large air pockets. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes until the cake springs back slightly in center and a cake tester comes out clean. Remove to cooling racks and let cool 5 minutes. Run a flat-edged knife or spatula between the cake layers and the sides of the pans. Turn pans face down onto the cooling rack and carefully lift them off. Allow the cakes to cool completely before peeling off the parchment and before frosting.


 For the frosting:
1 cup heavy cream
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 pound semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
¼ cup hot double-strength brewed coffee
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat the cream, butter, sugar and salt in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat until butter is melted. Add the chocolate and cook over very low heat, stirring constantly, just until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Make sure chocolate is completely melted – this may take a few minutes. Remove from heat and add coffee and vanilla.


Transfer the mixture to a large bowl or shallow pan and let cool, stirring occasionally, until it reaches spreading consistency. This can take anywhere from 1 to 3 hours, depending upon the temperature in your house. Do not refrigerate or chill over ice water. Chocolate and butter solidify at different temperatures so chilling could cause the frosting to separate and turn grainy.


To assemble the cake:
When frosting is of a spreading consistency and cake layers are completely cooled, put a small amount of frosting on a serving platter (to help stabilize cake) then place one cake layer on top, bottom (flat) side up. Frost the surface thickly the top with other layer, bottom (flat) side down. Frost top and sides of cake. Allow cake to sit in a cool place (not a hot kitchen) for at least 2 hours before slicing.

Store cake covered, at room temperature.

Yield: 12 – 16 servings

Now, here’s what I have to say about this cake:

• These cake layers are extremely moist, making them a little difficult to work with (as the picture above shows). Before transferring to a cake plate to frost, make sure they are completely cool. Also, use utmost care when moving them to the plate as they will want to come apart on you.

• Although the recipe calls for 9-inch cake pans, I find that I have better success using 8-inch pans. This results in slightly thicker layers, making them easier to handle and producing a cake which is higher (which I prefer). If using 8-inch pans, you may need to add 5 minutes or more to the baking time.

• The frosting recipe as written is perfectly adequate, but I have an irrational fear of not having enough so I usually increase it by half. If you’re not crazy like I am, then you can use the quantities as written but if you do, you will not have any left over for the baker!

• Do yourself a favor and taste the frosting both before and after adding the coffee and vanilla. The difference is subtle, but stunning.

So there you have it. I hope you won’t be afraid to try this recipe, because it is possibly the most delicious chocolate layer cake on the face of this earth. Even if it does end up as an “Earthquake Cake!”

Bonfire Night Bangers and Mash with Houses of Parliament Sauce


Halloween may be well and truly over for another year but that means that, here in the UK, Guy Fawkes' Night - also known as Bonfire Night - is only a matter of days away. The 5th of November every year is when people all over Great Britain commemorate the events of the Gunpowder Plot, back in 1605, when Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators plotted to blow up the Houses of Parliament, killing HM King James I/VI and as many of his ministers and officials as possible.

Like Halloween, Bonfire Night is not generally associated with special meals; but once again, I could not resist the temptation. What better, therefore, than an interpretation of the British classic, Bangers and Mash, accompanied with the appropriately named, Houses of Parliament Sauce? (Yes - that is the full title of HP Sauce!)

If you are in Great Britain and are planning having a bonfire and letting off some fireworks this Friday night, why not consider this simple dish to set the family up against what is usually the cold and wet? Even if you are not in Great Britain and do not have the slightest interest in Guy Fawkes' Night, this is still a delicious meal to try out and incredibly simple in the preparation and cooking. The quantities in this recipe provide for one adult portion.

Ingredients

4 beef link sausages (bangers)
2 medium potatoes
1 medium white onion
5 or 6 button mushrooms
2 rashers of bacon (optional)
Pinch of dried sage
1 clove of garlic
Pinch of freshly chopped dill
Sunflower oil for frying
HP Sauce


Method

The potatoes should be put on to cook in the first instance. They should be peeled, chopped roughly and added to a pot of cold, lightly salted water. They should be put on to a high heat until the water begins to boil, then the heat should be reduced to achieve a simmer, for twenty-five to thirty minutes.

As soon as the potatoes are boiling, a little sunflower oil should be added to a non-stick frying pan. The sausages should be gently fried for two or three minutes just to brown them evenly before the finely sliced onions and halved mushrooms are added. This may seem early to add the mushrooms and onions but I want them to cook down and caramelise in to a luscious sauce. Sprinkle on the sage and gently stir through. Make sure that the bangers are in contact with the base of the frying pan at all times, to ensure that they are properly cooked through.


When the sausages are cooked (after about twenty minutes) they should be placed to the side of the pan, on top of the mushrooms and onions, to keep warm, while - if desired - the optional bacon is added. The bacon will only take a couple of minutes on each side to cook.

The potatoes should be drained and mashed. The chopped dill and the grated garlic clove should then be stirred in to the mash before it is heaped in to the centre of the serving plate. There is no need to evenly distribute the mash - bangers and mash is not meant to be symmetrical! - but room should be left on the plate to spoon the onion and mushroom around the edges. The bangers may then be stuck in to the mash like wood on a bonfire and the bacon draped around them, if it is to be included.

The HP Sauce is of course optional but it not only adds an extra flavour to the dish, it is more than appropriate to the occasion...


Important!!!

If you are hosting or attending any form of event this Guy Fawkes' Night, particularly where it is not an organised display, please remember to follow all safety precautions to the letter. Do everything within your power to ensure that neither you, nor any of your friends or family, are part of the horrific statistics we seem to read about in the newspaper, or see on TV, every 6th of November. Be safe - and have fun!

The Fireworks' Code

Tuna with Wasabi Potatoes and a Ginger-Soy Vinaigrette

  

Some days are for Panang curry and some for P.F. Changs.  Some days are for traveling to exotic locales, and some days are for going to the mall.  Some days are for authentic and some days are for, well, ginger-soy vinaigrettes.  I can’t imagine anything like that exists in nature, or any authentic Asian kitchen.  And yet, these tastes still provide us enjoyment.  That doesn’t mean they are plain or boring.  They can be vibrant and exciting, pairing things in ways that satisfy our sights and senses.  Cooking doesn’t always need to be an expression of snobbery, or elitism or any other –ism that separates or divides.  Cooking authentic recipes is important for its own sake, as a way to learn, appreciate and value things that are unique and special.  But we ourselves are also unique and special, so even if something is more common at an American mall than an Asian food stall, it’s ok to eat that once in a while too if it makes us happy and keeps us interested.  Take this recipe combination for example.  It pairs wasabi mashed potatoes with a ginger-soy vinaigrette topping seared tuna.  I can’t imagine that any true Asian cook makes mashed potatoes, much less adds wasabi too them.  But why not, this is still America, we can do what we want.  And tuna, tired of delicate, boring or just not that exciting?  Hit it with a bold vinaigrette zinging with ginger and soy.  Tomorrow, you can prepare a sauce the French way, or steam things the Japanese way.  But tonight, Honey grab the keys, we’re going to the mall.  Serves 2.
   
Ingredients:
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 tbsp milk
2 tbsp butter, melted butter
1 tsp wasabi powder
2 tbsp plus ½ cup canola oil
2 tuna steaks
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 clove garlic
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp minced ginger
2 tbsp cilantro, finely chopped
salt/pepper
   
Directions:
Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil and add the potatoes.  Reduce to a light boil and cook for 15 minutes.  When the potatoes are done cooking, drain and run through a ricer and back into the hot pot.  Add the milk and butter and stir.  Add more milk if desired for a smoother consistency.  Mix the wasabi powder with 2 tsp of water and then stir into potatoes.  Season further if desired, cover and keep warm.  Add 2 tbsp of oil to a nonstick pan over medium-high heat.  Season the tuna with salt and pepper and then when the oil is smoking add to the pan.  Sear the tuna on one side for a couple of minutes and then turn and sear a couple of minutes more and then remove.  Meanwhile, mix the soy, vinegar, garlic, lime juice and ginger.  Mix the cilantro into vinaigrette.  Slice the tuna and plate over the mashed potatoes.  Top with the vinaigrette.
   
  

Living Room, new place to play!

spotted.
Indria sleeping like a baby when its 7pm. =O
Due to the freezing living room. =)

Well, sejak aku explore that 2 AC yg ada di living room gak rusak, ternyata ini berfungsi.
Woahahaha.
Ruang tamu ama ruang makan jadi full AC deh, yang dulunya pada sering di kamar masing2 gak keluar2, sekarang betahnya main di living room.
Iya memang sih ada AC masing2 dikamar kita. Tapi lebih enakan di luar karena rame2.
Berhubung banyak extra bed di rumah, jadi deh kita nambah bed di living room buat tidur.
Udah 3 hari tidur di luar terus. =P
Enak deh, sambil main laptop ato belajar atau chitchat aja. Hehe.

Cooking Mama 3 Don Jiru

1 November 2010, senin

Udah awal november, sorry telat nyerahin PR nya cooking mama bulan Oktober, yang bertema Soto. Udah nyari ubek2 resep soto, ga ada yang pas, alesannya gw tuh ga punya persediaan bumbu2 kayak daun jeruk lah, kunyit lah, daun sereh lah dll, sorry banget, jadi gw ganti resep deh ya...gpp kan?? daripada ga bikin PR kan...

Cara membuatnya si gampang, bumbu dasar kuahnya pake miso/tauco. Ini gw catetin lagi bahannya n cara membuatnya.

Bahan
300 gr daging babi iris tipis
1/4 pt lobak, potong sesuai selera
1/2 pt wortel, potong
1/2 pt gobo, potong halus
1/2 bh konyaku, potong2
4 sdm miso
2 sdm minyak sayur

A
6 cup dashi
2 sdt sake
sedikit mirin
Cara membuat
1. Masukkan minyak di panci, masak daging, lalu masukkan lobak, wortel, gobo, tambahkan A
2. Rebus dengan api kecil kira2 10 menit, buang ampas diatas kuahnya, masukkan miso, aduk hingga miso meresap ke kuah, rebus hingga matang
3. Sajikan panas2.

Enak dimakan pas musim2 dingin, sup nya panas2 bisa menghangatkan badan...nyam nyam deh.

Seasonal Celeriac: a Meze


Celeriac is such an odd looking vegetable, round and knobbly, with  a delicate taste and a powerful smell which tends to linger in a not unpleasant fashion.  When I first set eyes on it, I had no idea what on earth it was,  let alone what to do with it as we certainly never had it at home when I was growing up. Apparently it was originally classified as a herb, full of vitamins and mineral salts, and highly valued for its medicinal properties, but over the centuries, it has taken two very distinctive forms through selected breeding: one is what we know as celery, with frondy leaves and crunchy stalks, which hardly exists here; and the other is commonly known as a root vegetable like the carrot or turnip although it is actually a corm, the celeriac. In Turkish there is only word for both varieties: kereviz.  At this time of year, it is most commonly used in this olive oil dish but can also be grated into salads either on its own or with carrots, used to flavour soups,  or made into gratins and delicious creamy mashes with potatoes.  I had it in my head to look out for them at my weekly market yesterday as despite the warm sun, autumn is in the air: I was not disappointed. There they were, along with mountains of cabbages and cauliflowers, pumpkins and pomegranates, heralds of the colder months which lie ahead.
Ingredients for Zeytinyağlı Kereviz/Celeriac in Olive Oil
Serves  8
4 medium celeriac
2 carrots
2 medium potatoes
1 onion
3 sugar lumps
¼ cup olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup hot water
1 gently heaped tbsp salt

Method
1.       Put the juice of half the lemon and 2 cups of water into a pyrex bowl.  Trim and peel the celeriac, cut into rounds a little thinner than your finger, halve these, and place in the bowl. Trim and scrape the carrots, then using a fork, make a pattern as in the picture. Peel and cube the potatoes. Peel and chop the onion quite finely. Wash all of them and put into the acidulated water along with the celeriac so that none of them discolour.

preparing the carrots

the chopped vegetables and the kereviz in the lemon water

2.       Drain all the vegetables and put them in a wide pan along with the salt, sugar, remaining lemon juice, olive oil, and 1 cup of hot water. Cover with a lid and cook on a low heat for 40 minutes till the vegetables are soft.
everything is here



3.       Leave to cool in the pan before transferring to a serving dish.

zeytinyağlı kereviz

Traditionally this kereviz dish is eaten as a second course, after a hot dish, but it also makes a fine starter which is easier carefully served with a slotted spoon onto individual plates.  A little of the cooking liquid can be spooned over each.
Tips
§  The lemon and water is to keep the peeled kereviz white so don’t leave them exposed to the air too long as they will turn an unappetising brown!
§  I did prepare the carrots with the fork as required in this particular recipe by Alev Kaman in Modern Türk Mutfağı , but it is certainly not essential. They can simply be sliced in thin rounds or on the diagonal.
§  As with many zeytinyaÄŸlı dishes, I always feel the urge to grind some pepper over the finished dish, for aesthetics as much as anything. However, this is not part of Turkish cooking. In traditional restaurants one doesn’t find pepper mills: these are part and parcel of the upmarket places offering meals with a western twist, which is also why for a very long time it was nigh on impossible to find a decent pepper mill here!

irresistible market bouquets!


KURS (Sindhi Sweet- Diwali special-2010)


Here's a recipe from my Grandma's closet.
She always made this sweet along with the Gurdani every Diwali. Unlike these days our mothers and grand mothers made every thing at home during festive days. And hard as I try, I can't match her skills in this recipe. It's not as simple as it looks, as the whole trick is about timing and once you know that, (which comes only by experience), you are a master!


Sending this recipe to Bookmarked Recipes-Every Tuesday Event hosted by Aipi (US Masala) and Priya (Mharo Rajasthan Recipes)

Ingredients:
Maida (Refined Flour): 500 gms
Dalda (Vanaspati, the hardened one): 500 ml
Sugar: 750gms, made into 1-thread consistency syrup in about 2 cups water
Method:
1. Let the syrup cool completely.
2. Heat the vanaspati and add maida into it. Keep stirring briskly for about 20 minutes on sim (in between, increase flame for a few minutes twice), until the consistency becomes thin, and the aroma changes. The colour will also change from white to brownish-cream. (not brown)


Initially, this is how it looks when we add maida to the hot oil.


We keep stirring it.



Keep stirring it. It becomes thinner & of flowing consistency.


Now you remove it from fire to let it cool.
3. Remove from fire and let it cool until luke-warm.
4. Now, add the sugar syrup through a seive to the cooled maida (off the flame), then stir briskly until you can feel the pressure of the thickening of the maida paste.
(Warning: Your arms are going to hurt here. :)) All the bessst!)

We add the sugar syrup & mix it.. (off the flame).

We mix it for a long long time until the mixture thickens & we can see it hardening.

5. As soon as you can feel it becoming really thick, as shown in the photo, transfer onto a greased plate, and shake the plate hard on the platform to even it out. (do not use ladle to smoothen it.This is to retain the gloss)
6. Let it set.
Cut into cubes and... have a blast this Diwali!!
Note: This sweet is made in traditional Sindhi homes. Unfortunatey, the trend is dwindling away because of the ready availability of sweets in the market. But the joy of making and sharing home-made sweets with friends and relative during festivals can not be matched with anything.

Here's wishing all the Food Mazaa readers & fans a Prosperous & Happy Diwali!!