Chocolate Cheese Cupcakes

If you notice this picture has the date stamp in 2006. Yups, I did take this picture in 2006 with my old digital camera UMAX Powercam Z432 and I posted the recipe at http://evimeinar.multiply.com/recipes/item/183 before.

This recipe was modified from a cookbook Making It Easy by Foodnetwork Kitchen. The original recipe has a name "Little Cheesecakes with Strawberry Sauce". I didn't have any fresh strawberry nor strawberry jams at that time, so I modified this recipe by added hazelnut chocolate.




Category:
Baking
Servings:
12 cups

Ingredients:
500 gr cheese cream
2 large eggs, room temperature
For Filling
1 tsp grated orange zest
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar

For crust
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 1/4 oreo baking crumbs

For topping
hazelnut chocolate, such as Nutella

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 F

For crust
Combine all crust ingredients. Place paper baking cups into muffin pan. Divide mixture evenly among 12 muffin cups, then press it evenly over the bottoms amd about two-third of the way up the sides. Bake just until the crust are set, about 8 minutes.
For Filling
Combine all filling ingredients until smooth. Divide the filling evenly among the muffin cups and bake until the rims are slightly puffed and the centers are almost set, about 30 minutes.

Serving
Spread chocolate hazelnut over the cupcake immediately while the cupcakes are still hot/lukewarm. Cool down at room temperature then refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
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Penne with Mushroom Cheese Sauce

My husband has eaten many varieties of Asian food, especially Indonesian food. However, he sometimes misses his food which means a western style food. He was begging me couple times to cook for him :D. I finally did his request. Since he is a big fan of pasta, I decided to cook penne.

In this recipe, I used whole wheat penne. You don't have to use whole wheat penne as I did, just use your favorite penne.


This recipe is modified from teh Lina's recipe, "Kentang Panggang Brokoli Saus Keju", literally translated Broccoli and Baked Potatoes with Cheese Sauce. In her recipe, she used baked potatoes instead of pasta and also used combination cheddar and parmesan cheese instead of processed smoked Gruyere cheese.

Gruy�re is a hard yellow cheese made from cow's milk, named after the town Gruy�res in Switzerland. Gruy�re is generally known as one of the finest cheeses for baking, having a distinctive but not overpowering taste.

I guessed many people know how to cook al-dente pasta. Al-dente is a fancy term for pasta that is fully cooked, but not overly soft. This is an Italian phrase for to the tooth, which comes from testing the consistensy of pasta with your teeth. According to National Pasta Association, here they are step by step to get perfectly pasta:

  • Boil 4 to 6 quarts of water for one pound of dry pasta. (You can divide this recipe depending on how much pasta you are cooking.)
  • Add the pasta with a stir and return the water to a boil.
  • Stir the pasta occasionally during cooking.
  • Follow the package directions for cooking times. If the pasta is to be used as part of a dish that requires further cooking, undercook the pasta by 1/3 of the cooking time specified on the package.
  • Taste the pasta to determine if it is done. Perfectly cooked pasta should be "al dente," or firm to the bite, yet cooked through.
  • Drain pasta immediately and follow the rest of the recipe.

Ingredients:
50 g whole wheat penne, cook until al-dente, drain and transfer onto a serving plate

Mushroom Cheese Sauce
200 g fresh sliced mushroom
1 onion, chopped
2 tbsp butter
5 tsp flour
350 ml water
50 ml whipped cream
50 g processed smoked Gruyere cheese
1 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
salt as desired
dried crushed chili for sprinkle (optional)




Directions:

1. In a sauce pan, melt butter over mdium-high heat, add onion and cook until wiltedl

2. Add flour, stir evenly while pouring milk little by little

3. Add mushroom and reduce the heat at low-medium heat. Stir until thickened. Add whipped cream, cheese, mustard, black pepper and salt; stir evenly.

4. Pour mushroom cheese sauce over cooked penne and sprinkle with dried crushed chili.
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Cah Kailan Teri Medan // Kai-lan in Tiny Silver Anchovies Sauce

This recipe actually is a fusion Indonesian cuisine, which is influenced by Chinese cuisine. We, the Indonesians, is called Kailan that is taken from the Chinese name "Kai-lan". However, in my oriental store that I'm used to shop it's called Gai-lan. According to wikipedia, Kai-lan and its alternate version, gai-lan derive from Cantonese. Kai-lan is also known as Chinese broccoli or Chinese kale, is a slightly bitter leaf vegetable featuring thick, flat, glossy blue-green leaves with thick stems and a small number of tiny, almost vestigial flower heads similar to those of broccoli. As a group of Brassica oleracea, kai-lan is of the same species of plant as broccoli and kale. Its flavor is very similar to that of broccoli, though not identical, being a bit sweeter.

As other vegetables stir-fry methods, this recipe is called for blanch. Blanch is a cooking method most often vegetables, by briefly in boiling water and then quickly cooling them in cold water. Food is blanched for one or more of the following reasons: to loosen and remove skin (tomatoes, peaches, almonds); to enhance color and reduce bitterness (raw vegetables for crudit�s); and to extend storage life (raw vegetables to be frozen).



Category:
Salads
Style:
Indonesian

Ingredients:
500 g kai-lan (alternate names: gai-lan, Chinese broccoli, Chinese kale)
25 g tiny silver anchovies (Indonesian's name: teri medan, teri nasi)
3 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
1 cm ginger, bruished
1 tbsp oysters sauce
1 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in a small amount of water
300 ml water
1 tsp sugar
ground white pepper as desired
sugar and salt as desired to season

Directions:
1. In a pot, add water and bring to a boil. Add 1 tsp sugar. Blanch water spinach in boiling water, drain and quickly cooling them in cold water. Place on a serving plate.

2. In a pan, add a small amount of olive oil or other oils are accepted, stir fry garlic and ginger until fragrant at over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low heat, add oyster sauce, 300 ml of water, tiny silver anchovies, ground white pepper, and sugar to season. I didn't add salt in it, but if you like you can add salt as desired. Cook until well-permeated. Add cornstarch mixture to anchovies sauce mixture and stir until thickened.

3. Serve by pouring sauce over kai-lan on a serving plate.
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Orak Arik Jamur Campur // Stir Fry Mixed Mushroom with Scrambled Eggs

An Indonesian simple dish, it is usually called for vegetables in the recipe. Orak arik can be meant scramble in bahasa Indonesia (I prefer use bahasa Indonesia instead of Indonesian for the language that Indonesians use).

As we know, Indonesia's indigenous techniques and ingredients was influenced by Chinese merchants and traders. The Chinese added their own indispensable contributions to the cookpot. Indonesian food would be unrecognizable without the wok, stir-frying, the soybean and noodles which thread their way throughout the cuisine in countless ways. Among their many vegetables, the Chinese brought mustard greens, mung beans, daikon radish and Chinese cabbage.



Ingredients:
400 g mixed mushroom (I used portobello, shitake, oysters and button mushroom), cut as desired
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cm ginger, thinly sliced
2 green onions, cut into 3 cm length
3 tbsp oysters sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1/2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp olive oil

Scrambled Eggs
2 egg, beaten
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp vegetable oil

Directions:
1. Mix beaten egg and gralic powder. Heat a pan and oil over medium heat, pour in egg mixture and immediately reduce heat to medium-low.
As mixture begins to set, gently move spatula across bottom and sides of skillet to form large, soft curds. Cook until eggs are thickened and no visible liquid egg remains, but they are still moist. Set aside.

2. Heat a skillet and olive oil over high heat, add sesame oil. Saute garlic and ginger until fragrant. Add mixed mushroom, stir until wilted.

3. Add green onion, oysters sauce, soy sauce and white pepper, and scrambled eggs. Stir evenly and until done.
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Korean Style Spicy Grilled Salmon

It's summer time, time for barbeque and grilling. This is not an aunthentic Korean cuisine, I think it's Korean fusion food. Since I love Korean food and gochujang as well, Sue of My Korean Kitchen inspired me to make this salmon grilled.

I have no idea what this dish is supposed to call in Korean, but I can tell you it's so good and people who looking for another way to grill their salmon I suggested to try.


Ingredients:

300 g salmon fillets
1 tbsp roasted sesame seeds or as desired

Marinade sauce
1/4 cup gochujang (Korean chili paste)
2 tbsp lemon (if you like, it can be substituted for rice vinegar)
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp sesame oil
black pepper and salt as desired



Directions:

Combine all marinade sauce ingredients. Marinate salmon with the sauce. Let stand for 1 hour in the fridge.

Grill salmon until done. Serve on a serving plate and sprinkle with sesame seed. If you need dipping sauce, just add some water to the leftover marinade sauce and simmer until boiling.
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Ayam Betutu // Balinese Style Baked Spices Chicken in Banana Leaves Wraps



Another spices recipes from Bali, Gods Island. This recipe was modified from my cookbook that I brought from Indonesia, Hidangan Ayam ala Resto by Sufi S.Y. In that cookbook, I saw a recipe Bebek Betutu which Bebek means duck in bahasa Indonesia. I modified by using chicken instead.

Ingredients:
4 chicken thighs (750 g)
1 lime
banana leaves and aluminium foil to wrap

Spices to grind
2 lemongrasses, finely angle cut
4 lime kaffir leaves, finely sliced
1 tsp sugar
8 shallots
4 cloves garlic
6 bird's eye chili (original recipe used red chilies)
5 candlenuts, toasted
1/2 cm ginger, finely sliced
1 tsp ground turmeric (original recipe used 3 cm fresh turmeric)
4-5 cm kaempferia galangal (original recipe used 3 cm kaempferia galangal)*
1 tbsp coriander seed, toasted
1 tsp dried shrimp paste (original recipe used 1/2 tsp dried shrimp paste)**
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
salt as desired

Note:
* kaempferia galangal is what Indonesians call kencur and don't get confused with galangal which translated as lengkuas or laos in bahasa Indonesia
** dried shrimp paste is translated as terasi in bahasa Indonesia or belacan in Malay.

Directions:
1. Drizzle all over the chicken with lime and rub with salt. Let stand for 30 minutes. Clean up chicken with tub water, drain and wipe off with clean cloth.
2. Place all spices to grind in a food processor or hand blender. Grind/blend until smooth.
3. Rub chicken with ground spices. Place in banana leaves and wrap it up, then wrap the chicken in banana leaves with aluminium foil. Keep in a fridges for 2 hours or so. In my case, I kept it for 24 hours.
4. Steam for an hour and continue cooking by baking in the oven for an hour at 325F.
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