Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Vloggin’ Vednesday “Rooms in Your Home”

I took the plunge of doing my first video blog. I joined Adelines Daddy, along with a bunch of other participating bloggers to post a vlog every Wednesday with each being a different "theme" I guess you could say. It was a little awkward, but who isn't on camera.
THEME:
“Rooms in your Home”

 Vednesday, March 9th “Rooms in your Home” - Show a room (or rooms) in your house, could be your favorite, could be a room you want to redesign… do what you feel.
Vednesday, March 16th “Q&A Day” - Vlog questions
•Why did you start blogging?
•If you had to eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
•What is the biggest personal change you have ever made?
Vednesday, March 23rd “Guilty Pleasures” - OK, we know you’ve got ‘em, let ‘em all hang out.
Vednesday, March 30th “How To” - Share a “how to” video. I love learning new things, who doesn’t?


Bandeng Soun


Kudapan yang ini favorit aku dan pastinya tak pernah bosan, dari kecil ibuku sering membuat masakan ini dan setiap makan pasti akan selalu tambah...dan tambah lagi....


Bandeng Soun
By. Nilamsari

Bahan :
2 ekor bandeng ukurang sedang, bersihkan bandeng dan lumurin dengan jeruk dan garam sedikit.

7 bawang merah
3 bawang putih
2 cabe merah
sepotong jahe
kecap manis
garam
gula pasir
Tomat
2 sdm minyak goreng untuk menumis

Cara membuat :
1. Bandeng digoreng dulu 1/2 matang.
2. Tumis bumbu bumbu hingga harum
3. Masukan soun tambahakan kecap manis,gula dan garam dan tomat aduk hingga rata, tambahkan air sedikit kurleb 100ml.
4. Masukan bandeng lalu tutup sebentar supaya bumbu dapat meresap dan air menyusut lalu angkat dan sajikan.

White Wine Poached Salmon with Fondant Potatoes and Horseradish Sauce


Brief Note: There is a little bit of background to the recipe included today on this blog. This morning, I chanced upon an article on Helium - by a writer called Justin Thyme - with regard to cooking and how in many ways it is becoming a lost art form. The article link is included below, as anyone interested in cooking may find it thought-provoking. Essentially, it inspired me to think about what I haven't cooked for a long time and fondant potatoes was something which soon came to mind. I can't remember when I last prepared them and certainly have never included them before on this blog, so today I revisited an old cooking technique and the result is what follows.

Cooking is Becoming a Lost Art, by Justin Thyme

Ingredients for One Person

1 fresh salmon fillet
3/4 pint of white wine*
3/4 pint of cold water*
2 medium potatoes
4oz butter
4fl oz fresh chicken stock
Handful of fresh rocket leaves
1/2 tsp freshly chopped dill plus sprigs for garnish
2 tsp horseradish sauce
Salt and white pepper

*Please note that it is very difficult to be precise with the liquid quantities. This will vary not only dependant upon the size of your salmon fillet but on the size of your pot. Essentially, you need enough liquid to cover the salmon and I like to use 50% wine and 50% water.


The salmon in this recipe is being poached in what is largely residual heat. The salmon is added to a pot, seasoned with salt and white pepper and covered with the cold water and wine. The pot is put on a high heat until the liquid only just reaches boiling point. The heat is then switched off completely, the pot covered and the salmon left to poach as the liquid cools. This could perhaps be done while preparing breakfast and left covered to cool throughout the day, leaving only the potatoes to be prepared at the end of a hard working day. This is also an excellent way of cooking a whole salmon or trout, though a fish poacher/fish kettle would be required in such an instance, rather than a simple pot.


Fondant potatoes for many people are considered to be a rather chefy dish, served only at top restaurants and not something to be attempted at home. Surprisingly, however, fondant potatoes are incredibly easy to make and unworthy of this reputation.

The two medium potatoes are peeled in a way as to form fairly uniform barrel shapes. I have then halved each of them to make the potatoes a little more than an inch thick. The butter should be placed in a pot to melt, seasoned with salt and white pepper and only when you can hear that the loud sputtering has stopped should the potatoes be carefully added with cooking tongs. They should be cooked in this way for seven or eight minutes each side, until beautifully golden.


Great care is required when adding the chicken stock to the pot as the liquid is likely to splash back considerably. Add the chopped dill also at this stage, cover the pot and leave to simmer for fifteen minutes. After this time, a metal skewer or fork should be used to carefully test that the potatoes are soft through the centre and thus ready to serve.

While the fondant potatoes are completing cooking, the salmon should carefully be removed from the poaching liquor with a fish slice and laid on a bed made of the fresh rocket leaves.


The fondant potatoes should be removed from the pot to some fresh kitchen towel to drain, before being added to the plate. The dish can be served as is, the horseradish sauce being optional, but for those who have never tried it, horseradish sauce does go incredibly well with salmon. Either way, garnish with the fresh dill sprigs and serve - ideally, with a chilled glass of the remaining white wine.

Latest Design Work

I don't share what I actually do for a living very often, so I thought I'd let you in on what my latest project currently is.  I have partnered up with SkinnySkinny to design a set of Natural Soap Labels. They have a cute store in NYC, check it out here: SkinnySkinny 


They aren't completely done, but I wanted to get them up on here.



Singapore Peanut Pancakes (Mee Jian Kuih), Sourdough-style


Yesterday was National Pancake Day in the UK! I love all these silly pancake days and apple days that I never got in Singapore.

In honour of this special day, all the supermarkets were having sales on things like self-raising flour and maple syrup, but when I think pancakes, the first thing that pops into mind are these peanut pancakes that my mum will buy fresh from the local market for breakfasts. Unlike western pancakes, they are folded over, kind of like a sandwich. There are two versions, thin and crispy, or thicker and spongy, and they will have brittle delicate edges. My favourite filling is the original one-- crushed roasted peanuts (not peanut butter!) with sugar and butter, although it's also very common to find them filled with sweet red bean paste (Chinese/Japanese style), or sweetened coconut flakes, or (tsk.) chocolate/Nutella.

I decided to adapt a recipe for sourdough pancakes to make these. There are some very good sourdough pancakes recipes, like this one by the Nourishing Gourmet, but they mostly needed some planning ahead. This one just made use of my starter, which sounded perfect because I wanted my pancakes NOW. My previous try with this recipe made a pancake that was really crumbly, almost like a biscuit, and really salty, so I made quite a few adaptations, after comparing it with the recipes for the non-sourdough pancakes.

Singapore Peanut Pancakes (Mee Jian Kuih), Sourdough-style
will yield 4 wedges (2 -4 servings)
Ingredients
1 cup sourdough starter
1 egg
1 tbsp melted butter or coconut oil (or evoo, if you don't mind that strong olive note in your pancakes...)
1/2 tsp natural vanilla essence
1 tsp of my make-ahead pancake mix (see below)

My Make-ahead Pancake Mix
You can make a larger mix, and keep it in your pantry for fuss-free pancakes on lazy Sunday mornings.
1 part baking soda
3 parts baking powder
5 parts raw cane sugar Rapadura

Peanut Filling
I made mine a "deluxe" version with added crushed walnuts(:
1/4 cup walnuts, soaked and dehydrated
2-3 tbsp raw cane sugar Rapadura
2 tsps of salted butter


Method
1. Toast the nuts over medium high heat, then grind coarsely or just crush the rustic way. Mix with the sugar and set aside.


2. Heat a 9" flat pan over medium heat. Grease.
3. Whisk all the ingredients together well, making sure that you don't get lumps of pancake mix here and there.
4. Add in the sourdough starter and then whisk again, for no more than 30 seconds, and pour in the batter.
5. Roll the pan around so the batter gets evenly distributed. Some of the batter will just run over the sides of the pan a little, and that's how you get that thin crispy edge! This obviously won't work with a too large pan.


5. When the pancake is almost cooked. sprinkle the peanut filling over half of the top and dot with butter.
6. When pancake is fully cooked, flip the empty side over into a half-moon, leave for 1-2 min more than dish out.


7. Cut into 4 wedges. Or if you do this in batches in a small pan, just serve them as half-moon sandwiches!


Oh, biting into the crisp edges and soft doughiness of these pancake "sandwiches" really bring a sense of nostalgia. The aroma of those roasted nuts, together with the sweet raw cane sugar and the salty butter against the new hint of tanginess introduced by the sourdough, is pure joy. Pure joy also, is having the filling fall out all over your plate and frantically scooping them up with your hands and into your mouth, so do be a bit over-generous with yourself (:

If you don't like the idea of a sourdough mee jian kueh, but want to up the nutrition of your pancakes anyway by using wholegrain flour, you could try going ahead with the original recipe. Minus the eggs and leavening agents and add a small amount of yogurt or vinegar then leave the batter to soak overnight first, like at Heavenly Homemakers. I want to try this out, adding the rice flour as recommended by My Kitchen Snippets, which probably will help the pancake be a bit more chewy and springy. Check for future updates ;)

I Must Have Missed Something

... because this just seems surreal.

The Middle East is erupting in revolutions, a major ally has been overthrown, Europe's debt crisis hasn't gone away, Japan's is on the way, US servicemen are being shot in airports by jihadists and our Secretary of State feels it necessary to write this commentary in Bloomberg.
If we invest in women’s education and give them the opportunity to access credit or start a small business, we add fuel to a powerful engine for progress for women, their families, their communities and their countries. Women invest up to 90 percent of their incomes on their families and in their communities.
It's like this crew never left their college dorms. The world might be convulsing and American leadership a total void, but the Obama Administration is still in college, having a bull session led by some ancient hippy.

Wisdom Wednesday - James 4:4-6


This past Monday was the start of my first Good Morning Girls devotional group. We are studying James 4 this week and I have found it to be a huge blessing and lots of good insight not only from my own studying, but also from reading what the other girls in my group have been impressed with while reading.

James 4 speaks about being friends with the world vs. being friends with God. Verse 4-6 were especially good for me. Verse 5 basically says that our souls were designed to only desire one thing; and that is to be wholly submitted to God. However now that sin has entered the world, Satan has tried to keep us away from this longing by filling it with what the world has to offer. However nothing other than God can fill that hole in our soul. It reminds me of a song by Plumb with the following lyrics.

God Shaped Hole 

Every point of view has another angle
And every angle has its merit
But it all comes down to faith
That's the way I see it

You can say that love is not divine and
You can say that life is not eternal
"All we have is now"
But I don't believe it

There's a God-shaped hole in all of us
And the restless soul is searching
There's a God-shaped hole in all of us
And it's a void only He can fill

Does the world seem gray with empty longing
Wearing every shade of cynical
And do you ever feel that
There is something missing?

That's my point of view...
 I encourage you to study the book of James and dig up some treasurers for yourself. Remember to keep your focus on Him, He will never let you down! 

Fully Rely on God, 

Beef Rib Soup From Gorontalo Sulawesi (Kuah Bugis ala Gorontalo)

Kuah Bugis

1000 g beef ribs
200 g grated coconut, brown roasted
3 litres water
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp salt

6 tomatoes sliced
1 stalk lemon grass
2 cm cinnamon
3 tbsp roughly chopped spring onion
2 kaffir lime leaves
1 pandanus leaf
15 sweet basil

Spices blend :

4 tbsp sliced garlic
1 tbsp sliced red chili
5 tbsp sliced shallots
2 tsp sliced turmeric
1 tsp sliced ginger
6 candlenuts
1 1/2 tbsp galangal
Pinch of cumin
1 tbsp coriander
1/2 tsp nutmeg powder

Put the beef ribs and water in a pan and bring to boil over medium heat until the beef tender and the stock remains 1000 ml, set aside.

Pound the roasted coconut until smooth an oily, set aside.

Blend all spices into a paste. In a wok, put oil and saute the paste over medium heat. Add salt, cinnamon, lemon grass, and tomatoes.

Add the coconut, mix well. Add this mixture to the beef rib stock, bring to boil over medium heat.

Before removing from heat, add spring onion, kaffir lime leaves, sweet basil, and pandanus leaf, continue boiling until done.

Transfer into a serving bowl and serve.

Beef Rib Soup From Gorontalo Sulawesi (Kuah Bugis ala Gorontalo)

Kuah Bugis

1000 g beef ribs
200 g grated coconut, brown roasted
3 litres water
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp salt

6 tomatoes sliced
1 stalk lemon grass
2 cm cinnamon
3 tbsp roughly chopped spring onion
2 kaffir lime leaves
1 pandanus leaf
15 sweet basil

Spices blend :

4 tbsp sliced garlic
1 tbsp sliced red chili
5 tbsp sliced shallots
2 tsp sliced turmeric
1 tsp sliced ginger
6 candlenuts
1 1/2 tbsp galangal
Pinch of cumin
1 tbsp coriander
1/2 tsp nutmeg powder

Put the beef ribs and water in a pan and bring to boil over medium heat until the beef tender and the stock remains 1000 ml, set aside.

Pound the roasted coconut until smooth an oily, set aside.

Blend all spices into a paste. In a wok, put oil and saute the paste over medium heat. Add salt, cinnamon, lemon grass, and tomatoes.

Add the coconut, mix well. Add this mixture to the beef rib stock, bring to boil over medium heat.

Before removing from heat, add spring onion, kaffir lime leaves, sweet basil, and pandanus leaf, continue boiling until done.

Transfer into a serving bowl and serve.