Kaastengels

A new favourite in the house. Just because it's almost Idul Fitri and this is one of the firm favorite, i think I am just homesick. Anyway, from the name I suspected that Kaastengels is from Holland with Kaas means cheese. This crumbly buttery shortcake is packed full of tangy cheese. It is very simple and quick to make too. Now, I know that there's a special cutter for the cookies but since I don't I just cut them in strips.

Source: NCC

Ingredient:
300 gr Butter or Margarine
200 gr Cheese - I use Edam Cheese the first time and second batch uses Cheddar
400 gr All-purpose flour
2 tbsp Powdered milk (I do not use)
2 egg yolks

Glaze : 2 Egg yolks lightly beaten with 2 tbsp milk

Topping : 50 gr Grated cheese

Directions:

1. Using an electric mixer, Beat butter/margarine with the egg yolks on a low speed. You don't have to do this for a long time. 2 -3 minute will do just to make sure the butter and yolks are well mixed
2. Add the cheese, flour and powdered milk. Mix well - about 2 -3 minutes
3. Turn off the electric mixer. If the dough is still sticky. Add 1 tbsp of flour and gently mixed with your hand until they no longer sticky to your hand. The texture will need to be soft.
4. Flattened the dough into 1/2 cm thick or to your liking and use the Kaastengles cutter to cut it. Or just make a rectangle shaped and cut them to strips.
5. Arrange the cut-out dough on a baking tray lined with baking paper, brush them with the glaze and sprinkled the extra cheese on top.
6. Bake for 20 minutes of low to medium heat or on 125 degree C, until golden and cooked.

No cutter, well... I am aiming for rustic touch anyway... hehehe

300 gr  mentega
200 gr  keju tua parut
400 gr  tepung terigu protein sedang
2 sdm   susu bubuk
2 btr     kuning telur - See more at: http://ncc-indonesia.com/?p=2123#sthash.XyOKWo7U.dpuf

Bahan:

300 gr  mentega
200 gr  keju tua parut
400 gr  tepung terigu protein sedang
2 sdm   susu bubuk
2 btr     kuning telur

Bahan olesan:

3 btr     kuning telur, kocok lepas dengan 1-2 sdm susu cair

 Taburan:

Keju cheddar parut

 Cara membuat:

1. Kocok mentega dan telur dengan kecepatan rendah, sebentar saja, asal tercampur rata. Masukkan keju, aduk rata. Masukkan tepung terigu dan susu bubuk, aduk rata.
2. 
   
3. Tipiskan adonan dengan bantuan plastik lembaran, oles dengan bahan polesan, taburi keju cheddar parut.
4. Cetak bentuk bunga, tata di loyang. Oven hingga matang dengan suhu 125 derajat Celsius selama 20 menit atau hingga matang.

- See more at: http://ncc-indonesia.com/?p=2123#sthash.XyOKWo7U.dpuf

Bahan:

300 gr  mentega
200 gr  keju tua parut
400 gr  tepung terigu protein sedang
2 sdm   susu bubuk
2 btr     kuning telur

Bahan olesan:

3 btr     kuning telur, kocok lepas dengan 1-2 sdm susu cair

 Taburan:

Keju cheddar parut

 Cara membuat:

1. Kocok mentega dan telur dengan kecepatan rendah, sebentar saja, asal tercampur rata. Masukkan keju, aduk rata. Masukkan tepung terigu dan susu bubuk, aduk rata.
2. 
   
3. Tipiskan adonan dengan bantuan plastik lembaran, oles dengan bahan polesan, taburi keju cheddar parut.
4. Cetak bentuk bunga, tata di loyang. Oven hingga matang dengan suhu 125 derajat Celsius selama 20 menit atau hingga matang.

- See more at: http://ncc-indonesia.com/?p=2123#sthash.XyOKWo7U.dpuf

Bahan:

300 gr  mentega
200 gr  keju tua parut
400 gr  tepung terigu protein sedang
2 sdm   susu bubuk
2 btr     kuning telur

Bahan olesan:

3 btr     kuning telur, kocok lepas dengan 1-2 sdm susu cair

 Taburan:

Keju cheddar parut

 Cara membuat:

1. Kocok mentega dan telur dengan kecepatan rendah, sebentar saja, asal tercampur rata. Masukkan keju, aduk rata. Masukkan tepung terigu dan susu bubuk, aduk rata.
2. 
   
3. Tipiskan adonan dengan bantuan plastik lembaran, oles dengan bahan polesan, taburi keju cheddar parut.
4. Cetak bentuk bunga, tata di loyang. Oven hingga matang dengan suhu 125 derajat Celsius selama 20 menit atau hingga matang.

- See more at: http://ncc-indonesia.com/?p=2123#sthash.XyOKWo7U.dpuf

 

Bahan:

300 gr  mentega
200 gr  keju tua parut
400 gr  tepung terigu protein sedang
2 sdm   susu bubuk
2 btr     kuning telur

Bahan olesan:

3 btr     kuning telur, kocok lepas dengan 1-2 sdm susu cair

 Taburan:

Keju cheddar parut

 Cara membuat:

1. Kocok mentega dan telur dengan kecepatan rendah, sebentar saja, asal tercampur rata. Masukkan keju, aduk rata. Masukkan tepung terigu dan susu bubuk, aduk rata.
2. 
   
3. Tipiskan adonan dengan bantuan plastik lembaran, oles dengan bahan polesan, taburi keju cheddar parut.
4. Cetak bentuk bunga, tata di loyang. Oven hingga matang dengan suhu 125 derajat Celsius selama 20 menit atau hingga matang.

- See more at: http://ncc-indonesia.com/?p=2123#sthash.XyOKWo7U.dpuf

Tania's Noodles

Tania, My daughter loves noodles and vegetable. This is one of the quick noodle fix that guarantee she will wolfed down in a flash AND ask for more. My daughter also doesn't like meat so I use small prawn to make sure she has her protein. You can you any meat you want. Anyway, I cannot find a proper name for this dish so... it's Tania's Noodles it is....

Ingredients:
2 handful of dried egg noodles - I use 2 small nests
1 cup of frozen mixed vegetables - or make your own by chopping carrot, broccoli, peas, corn
A handful of small prawns
1/4 of small onion - sliced
1 garlic - crushed and chopped
1 cm ginger - bruised
2 tbsp Indonesian soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp oil
salt and pepper
1 spring onion for topping

Direction:

1. Boil the dried egg noodles according to the packets instructions or until tender and al-dente. then drain
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in the pan. Saute onion, garlic and ginger until fragrant. 
3. Add the small prawn, then the vegetables. Stir all together for a few minutes until cooked
4. Add the oyster sauce and Indonesian soy sauce
5. Stir the cooked egg noodles in. Add salt and pepper
6. Mix everything well until the noodle is all coated in the sauces. 
7. Ready to serve with a sprinkle of chopped spring onion-

Krengsengan Domba // East Java Lamb Stew

I got tired of eating chicken and beef so Lamb is the next thing I want. However, I do not have any recipe for lamb so after some internet browsing I decided to try the recipe from MasakanMama .
It was a great choice. I use the lamb chops I bought from the reduced price shelves..

Top Tip: do check on the reduced price shelves you find lots of great things. I usually go for meat which was on the day of their used by date. Then the meats go straight to freezer to be use later.
The lamb chops (4 piece) I bought was almost 5 Pounds (original price). On the Reduced Price Shelves it is 1.99 Pounds. Good buy I'll say!

Krengsengan is the food from East Java, Indonesia. my main reason to choose this is for the use of sweet soy sauce. I love sweet soy sauce. Below is the recipe after I made some few changes from the original. Do refer to the original by clicking the above link.

Ingredients:
4 lamb chops - you can use other part of the lamb
3 - 4 tbsps Indonesian Sweet Soy Sauce
1 tsp terasi - or just use Shrimp paste
1 big chili - I use the one that is less fiery. Do use the more fiery one like bonnet chilli or the bird eye chili.
2 cups water

Ingredient to be ground to a paste - use a pestle and mortar or  food processor
4 shallots
2 garlics
1 cm ginger
1/2 tsp whole white pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

Direction:

Cara membuat Krengsengan :

• Tumis bumbu yang sudah dihaluskan sampai harum.
• Masukkan irisan daing kambing, aduk sampai berubah warna.
• Masukkan tomat, kecap manis, petis udang dan cabe merah. Aduk sampai layu.
• Tambahkan air, masak dengan api kecil sampai kuah kental dan daging empuk.
• Angkat... Sajikan saat masih hangat..

Shepherd's Pie

Source: Elise Simply Recipe

Ingredients

• 500 gr ground beef
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 cups each of vegetables - chopped carrots, corn, peas
• 3 big potatoes or 4 medium potatoes
• 3 tbsp margarine or butter
• 1/2 cup broth or (1/2 cup water + 1 cube of bullion)
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• Salt, pepper, other seasonings of choice

Ingredients:

1. Peel and quarter potatoes, boil in salted water until tender (about 20 minutes).
2. While the potatoes are cooking, melt the margarine/butter in large frying pan.
3. Sauté onions in butter until tender over medium heat. Add the ground beef. Saute until changed color (no more pink color on the meat)
4. Add vegetables, add them according to cooking time. Carrot first then corn and peas
5. Add the Worchestershire sauce and then the broth. Keep cooking until all is cooked and tender. Add some more broth if necessary. Cooked until the water reduced. 
6. Drain the Potatoes then mashed it with butter, salt and pepper
7. Place the beef and vegetables on the base of the pyrex or your baking tray. Make sure it is half way up. Then layered the mashed potatoes on top. Rough up with fork to make patterns
8. Bake on the oven on medium for about 30 minute or until bubbly and brown. The top should be nicely browned. If not, put it on the top shelved for 5 mins or under the broil. Enjoy!

Another Stir-Fry Vegetable

Here's my fussy eater-vegetable lover-meat hater daughter's favorite.  It's also a quick fix for a hurried dinner after a long day at the library... pffffff.... story of my life... Anyway, the vegetables choice in this recipe can be easily substitute with any other you have in the fridge.

Ingredients:
A handful of Mangetout - can be replaced with string beans, fine beans, snake beans etc
A handful of Baby Corn - can be replaced with whole kernel corns or carrots or anything you have
A handful of small prawn - You can use chicken, beef, egg or tofu
1/4 of large Onion - sliced
2 garlic - finely chopped
2 cm ginger - bruised
Salt
White Pepper
1 tbsp fish sauce - you can omit this if you don't have any
1 tbsp light soy sauce - you can omit this if you don't have any
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil - you can omit this if you don't have any
2 tbsp oil
Sliced chili if you want to make it spicy. we don't eat spicy food so this is omitted 

Direction:

1. Clean and sliced the vegetables and meat to your liking - cubed, sliced etc
2. Heat the oil in a wok (or pan or what ever you are using), sautee the onion, garlic and ginger until fragrant.
3. Bring in the small prawn (or other meat you are using) and sautee them until they change color.
4. Add the sauces that you are using - fish sauce, light soy sauce. sesame oil - if you don't use any sauces, skip this step
5. Bring the vegetables in and stir until they changed color. 
6. Add the salt and pepper and taste to your liking
7. Keep stirring until the vegetable soften a bit but not too much. You will like to have a bit of a crunch. Take is out and serve with a steaming rice.

The stir-fry will taste as nice without the sauces. But if you have a chance to get all complete, the toasted sesame oil brings a nutty yummy taste to the stir-fry against the warming ginger. Also the saltiness of the fish sauce together with light soy sauce works very well to add a different depth to the dish. Anyway... enjoy!

Brownies

They say this is a brownies recipe but it doesn't look like the American Brownies that I usually encounter which is dense and gooey. This brownie is dry and I think it's much lighter in texture and calorie (sok tahu nih)...

Source: Sedap Sekejab Hidangan Prasmanan Book

Ingredients:
100 gr  Margarine
150 gr Dark Cooking Chocolate
3 Eggs
175 gr Sugar
75 gr All purpose Flour
25 gr Powdered Chocolate
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
50 gr Chopped Nuts (I used Walnuts)
25 gr Sliced Almonds for topping
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Melt the margarine together with the dark cooking chocolate
2. with an electric mixer,  beat sugar and eggs until fluffy
3. Add the melted margarine and chocolate, mix well
4. Sifted in the flour, powdered chocolate and baking powder
5. Add the Chopped nuts and white chocolate chip, fold with a spatula
6. Greased and lined baking tin (22 x 22 x 4 cm). Sprinkle the sliced almond and some of the white choc chip on top
7. Baked in the oven on 180 C for 35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted.

Mommy's Little Helper doing the final touches on the cake

Now ready to go to the oven

Banana Cookies

This cookies is chewy and so simple to make. This is my other alternative to make use of my much too ripe bananas beside Banana Muffin. I made the cookies small to fit in lunch box or to carry when we're out and about. It save you a lot of money. Keep it in an airtight container so it will still slightly crisp around the edges and yummy chew in the middle. So yes... don't expect the crisp, dry and crunch cookies as you find in a packet ones. Again I turned to Elise blog for inspiration. She is an amazing cook whose recipe inspired many of my cooking.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1 cup of mashed bananas (about 2 ½ large bananas)
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 2 cups of flour
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground mace or nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves
• 1 cup of pecans (walnuts and chocolate chips are fine alternatives)

Directions:

1. Cream the butter and sugar with a mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. 
2. Add eggs and continue to mix until light and fluffy, then set aside
3. In another bowl, mashed bananas (a fork will do) then add the baking soda. Mix together then let it sit for 2 minutes.
4. Combine the banana mixture into the butter and sugar mixture. 
5. Bring in the flout, salt, and spices and keep mixing on low speed. 
6. Using a wooden spoon or a spatula, add and mix the nuts you are using (walnut, pecan etc) as well as chocolate chip if you do. I have none of this so mine is a plain banana cookies
7. Heat the oven to 350 F/ GM 4. Grease the baking tray and lined them with parchment paper. 
8. Take one spoon/dollop to the baking tray and arrange not to close together because it will expand a bit. 
9. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let it cool on wire racks.
   

Chocolate Muffin with White Chocolate Chip

This is just a simple tweak to my usual Chocolate Muffin. I think I have rely on this quick and simple muffin for a last minute treat for me and my family. It's a recipe handed to me from my mother. So I owe this to her. The best addition that my family loved so far is the white chocolate chip. I love adding some plumped up raisins/sultanas as well as some chopped nuts.
I made this also last month for my landlords, Open Garden to raise fund for Sussex Beacon. Do give it a try and you'll agree that this is ever so simple.... no need for mixer at all.

Recipe can be found here. Let me know how you think...

The Dough before going into the oven

The Finished Products

Homemade Bread with Cheese filling

I have always wanted to make bread for 2 reasons: My husband loves bread and cutting down on budget. Therefore, in the spirit of procrastinating in my final essay week - where every mundane thing became increasingly interesting and 'important', I tried out this amazing recipe that remarkably made me the talk about the house - because my daughter and husband lined up in front of the oven just to wait for the bread to finish baking. I must say thank you and give the highest acknowledgement to Mbak Hesti HH whose recipe I use, I did make some changes based on what's available... Thank you Mbak!!... Thus in the spirit of Dora the Explorer I want to say... "I DID IT!!! I DID IT!!! I DID IT!!!".

Source : Hesti's Kitchen Blog

Ingredients:
400 g High Protein Flour
100 g All purpose flour
120 g Granulated Sugar
1 sachet Instant Yeast
2 tbsp Powdered milk -- I didn't use
3 egg yolks
1 tsp salt
75 gr salted butter
225 ml warm milk

Filling:
Cheese cut to match Sticks shapes or grated

Glaze:
2 egg yolks
1 tsp milk

Direction:

1. Mix all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, powdered milk, yeast) in the mixing bowl.
2. Attach the spiral or the bread mix hook to your mixer. Put in the egg yolks one by one when mixing the ingredients with the egg. 
3. Add the salt and salted butter. Keep mixing until it is elastic 
4. Fermented it by covering the dough with a damp cloth and put in a warm place for about 30 - 45 minutes
5. After it grows double to its size, punched it down. Cut and weigh the dough to 40 gr each. or just eye ball them to similar size that you prefer (no bigger than your fist)
6. Fermented again with the same manner for 45 mins. 
7. brush the glaze to the top and bake in a 200 C/400 F/ GM 4 for 10 minutes or until done. 
8. Take it out of the oven and brushed with butter or margarine

Bread before going into the oven