Month: November 2016

Posted in Dessert

Minis Chocolate Banana Muffin

Posted on by mariahseptantri

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Sometimes when I get the chance to bake, I usually like to  make small portion. Either I only make half from original recipe or make them into minis. When I decide to make only half (small batch) from original recipe as I don’t know if the recipe works well ( in other way, taste good like I expected). And I think, minis are perfect bite size.

 

 

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Baking with chocolate involved is absolutely guaranteed will be liked by everyone in my family. My husband is chocolate’s lover. My daughter loves chocolate too.

I have some very ripe bananas and would like to make dessert other than banana bread.

Here’s how to make Chocolate Banana Muffin

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cup mashed bananas
  • 1/2 cup oil
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup of sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • Almonds (optional)
  • Sugar for sprinkling
  • 1 tsp cinnamon powder

 

Directions:

  1. Pre-heat oven 350 degree Fahrenheit.
  2. Combine bananas, oil, egg in medium bowl then whisk it.
  3. Sift flour, cocoa powder, sugar,baking powder, baking soda.
  4. Add to banana mixture, stir in chocolate chips and almonds.
  5. Sprinkle sugar on top of it
  6. Bake for 20-25 minutes

 

Keep them in air tight container, it is still moist up to 3 days

 

Posted in Dessert, ice cream

Handmade Chocolate Ice Cream

Posted on by mariahseptantri

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I thought it is going to be chilled this fall but I was wrong so far because it’s still warm during the day. Making an ice cream sounds a good idea, not only a solution for me to cool off the day but also  this recipe does not need ice cream maker. Works for me ! since I don’t have one.

 

I got this recipe from Cook’s Country magazine years ago, actually I took all these pictures back in 2009 I did not take the new pictures as I was struggling with styling and the heat. As you can see the styling (back then) was so awful (to my recent standard). This recipe is quite simple but it tastes so good, go ahead give it a try.

 

Ingredients :

  • 1 tsp instant coffee
  • 1 tbsp hot water
  • 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
  • 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 cups of cold heavy cream

 

Method :

  1. Combine coffee and hot water. Let it stand until coffee dissolves, about 5 minutes
  2. Melt the chocolate in double boiler or in the microwave, cool aside.
  3. Add milk, coffee and vanilla extract to chocolate mixture. Mix well.
  4. Whip heavy cream to soft peak, fold in chocolate mixture.
  5. Pour into plastic air tight container, freeze for 6 hours

 

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Posted in Dessert

Mango (Coconut) Panna Cotta

Posted on by mariahseptantri

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Who can resist when you see  the picture in the warm weather like this? I can’t, I get easily tempted to try on. The weather is fluctuating in Southern California, during the day is warm but it’s chilling at night. My bad habit is browsing internet to find photos of mouthwatering foods/drink to satisfy my craving, so when I saw this similar kind of photos I was so curious to make this one. Since I already had experience to make panna cotta so I won’t feel overwhelmed to try this.

Oh ya, if you are curious to make two layers like picture above, I use this video as reference. Not as hard as I thought.

 The Coconut panna cotta recipe you can find Coconut panna cotta with berries sauce. This time I used mango instead of berries since I am curious to try this recipe. I used my coconut panna cotta recipe and incorporate with mango gelee from http://www.yummyoyummy.com/2015/04/mango-vanilla-pannacotta.html

Ingredients:

For Coconut Panna Cotta (for 6-8 servings)

  • 1 Can coconut milk; 400 ml. You can also substitute with heavy cream
  • 300 ml milk
  • 80 gr sugar
  • 3/4 tsp agar-agar powder

 

Direction for making Coconut Panna Cotta:

  1. Place coconut milk, milk, sugar and agar-agar powder in the medium pot.
  2. Stir then rest for 10 minutes
  3. Bring the ingredients to gentle simmer. Let it slightly cool
  4. Pour into serving glasses
  5. Refrigerate for 4- 6 hours

For Mango Gelee (for 6-8 serving)

  • 1,5 cup of puree mangoes (from very ripe mangoes)
  • 2-3 tbsp sugar
  • 1,5 tsp gelatin
  • 2 tbsp cold water

 

Directions For Mango Gelee:

  1. Sprinkle 1,5 tsp gelatin over 2 tbsp water
  2. Mix puree mangoes with sugar in medium pot with low heat, simmer until sugar dissolves, the mango mixture is just hot (do not boil as the gelatin will not set)
  3. Add gelatin to the mixture and stir well. Allow to cool completely.
  4. Pour in the coconut panna cotta that already set. Refrigerate for 3 – 4 hours.
  5. Garnish with chopped mangoes and mint leaves.

 

If you’re afraid to fail making two layers like above,you can just make simple one like below

 

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Personally, I prefer coconut panna cotta served with berries sauce, I like the combination between the richness from panna cotta and the tangy from berries sauce. Maybe next time, if I want to make Mango Panna Cotta, I will substitute coconut milk with half and half so it won’t too rich. My husband and my daughter like this dessert so it worth my time to cook for them.

Posted in Indonesian Food

Mie Kangkung (Indonesian Noodle style with Meat Sauce and Water Spinach)

Posted on by mariahseptantri

I was craving for my hometown food, every time my contacts on facebook post recipes of Indonesian foods it was like a torture for me. In my country, I could easily find and get those yummy food within walk in distance. But here, I need to commute (30 minutes to 1 hour, depends on type of meals that I want to eat) to buy them. One of the dish that caught my attention is Mie Kangkung, never had it before so curious by its taste I was determined to cook this dish.

It’s called : Mie Kangkung. Kangkung is also called water spinach. I like the crunchiness of bean sprout (not shown in this picture) and Kangkung (Water spinach). I can’t find water spinach in most supermarkets in my neighborhood, I found On Choy (at Asian supermarket, Ranch Market 99) that close enough to for the texture of Kangkung.

Ohhhh…. I love this one so much, I need to restrict myself not to eat too much. It’s perfect for me in cold season like now.

 

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Anyway, enough with the description of this dish and how much I love this. Let’s get cooking

Ingredients :

  • 300 gr egg noodles OR fresh lo mein OR Hokkien noodle, for egg noodles; boil for 3-5 mintes then drain them. For Lo mein, put in the hot water to make the noodle more flexible.
  • 1 bunch of On Choy/kangkung/water spinach or 150 gr kangkung/water spinach leaves, use only the leaves. Blanch them, set aside
  • 100 gr bean sprout, wash throughly. Blanch them, set aside
  • 1 stalk of spring onion, cut thinly

For the gravy:

  • 2 cloves of garlic, cut thinly
  • 3 red chilies , seeded; cut thinly
  • 400 gr of chicken fillet (I use beef  300 gr (I don’t have chicken at that time)), cut into strips or cubes
  • 4 tbsp of oyster sauce
  • 6 tbsp of sweet soy sauce, available in asian supermarket
  • 800 ml of water/chicken broth
  • 1 tbsp dried baby shrimp, washed lightly then cut roughly or you can grind it lightly
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tsp corn starch, dilute with water
  • 2 tsp sesame oil
  • 2 tbsp cooking oil

 

Directions Making gravy :

  1. Heat cooking oil in medium heat, add garlic and chilies. Fry until fragrant, add meat (chicken or beef). Cook it through until chicken is looking white pale or beef does not look red anymore (about 7 minutes or more)
  2. Add oyster sauce and sweet soy sauce, mix it well. Add water/chicken broth. Simmer for 5 minutes then add ground baby shrimp. Let it boil for 5 minutes.
  3. Combine water and corn starch in small bowl, add to the gravy. Mix it well until the sauce thicken, add sesame oil. Mix it well.

 

Final presentation :

Put noodle on the bowl topped with water spinach/kangkung and bean sprout, pour the sauce over it and garnish with spring onion. Sprinkle with squeezed lime if you like. Served warm

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Versi bahasa Indonesia:

Bahan-bahan:

  • 300 gr mie telor atau mie hokkien. Rebus sebentar dan tiriskan.
  • 1 ikat kangkung, ambil daunnya saja. Rebus air panas di panci, setelah mendidih matikan api dan masukkan kangkung ke dalam panci yang ditutup selama 2 menit. Angkat dan tiriskan
  • 100 gr toge, rebus air panas di panci, setelah air mendidih matikan api dan masukkan toge ke dalam panci yg ditutup selama 1 menit.
  • 1 batang daun bawang, iris tipis.

 

Bahan membuat saus:

  • 2 siung bawang putih, iris tipis atau cincang
  • 3 cabe merah, (kalau saya biji dibuang karena cabe disini pedassss sekali)
  • 400 gr filet ayam  (Saya pakai daging sapi karena stock yg tersedia cuma daging sapi). Saya pakai 300 gr daging sapi.
  • 4 sdm saus tiram
  • 6 sdm kecap manis
  • 800 ml air atau kaldu ayam
  • 1 sdm ebi yg sudah direndam air panas, haluskan
  • Garam dan merica secukupnya
  • 1 sdt tepung maizena, dicampur dengan sedikit air
  • 2 sdt minyak wijen
  • 2 sdm minyak sayur

 

Cara membuat saus :

  1. Panaskan minyak di api sedang, tumis bawang putih dan cabe merah sampai harum. Tambahkan daging ayam/sapi sampai ayam matang (kurang lebih 7 menit atau lebih)
  2. Tambahkan saus tiram dan kecap manis, aduk rata. Tambahkan air atau kaldu ayam. Masak selama 5 menit kemudian tambahkan ulekan ebi. Didihkan.
  3. Campurkan air dan tepung maizena di mangkuk kecil dan tuang ke saus,aduk rata sampai saus agak mengental. Tambahkan minyak wijen, aduk rata. Angkat dari kompor.

 

Penyajian :

 

  • Taruh mie di mangkuk/piring saji dan letakkan kangkung diatas mie dan toge diatas kangkung. Siram dengan kuah/saus. Taburkan irisan daun bawang. Tambahkan perasan jeruk nipis, jika suka. Sajikan hangat.