Fermented Cassava Cake

It was two days ago, as usual, after a morning walking/jogging, I stopped by in a market. Entering the market area, the first seller that I met was the 'Fermented Cassava' seller. Everytime I pass him, he smiles and asks if I want to buy. It has been a while I haven't bought any, but that morning I decided to buy 1 kg (it cost me Rp 7.000,-/kg or less than US$1).

Fermented Cassava a.k.a Cassava Tape is made from steamed cassava to which some yeast has been added. It is then left to ferment for 1-3 days. If the quality of the yeast is good, the tape will taste sweet (quote from The Best Indonesian Desserts by Yasa Boga).

Could you imagine, that a 'big job' to make the delicious fermented cassava only cost you very little. The seller carried big 2 heavy baskets; one of them contained full of fermented cassava and another one contained fruits (most of the time he brings banana or guava). He brings it from a place called Citayam in Bogor by train very early morning, when most of us still asleep! I need to give him more appreciation.

After arriving at home, I decided to bake the popular 'Peuyeum Cake' (~Fermented Cassava Cake). No need to spend too much time to find the recipe, since it is stick on my kitchen wall. This time, I put a bit more fermented cassava, and it produced heavier texture to the cake.
It's good for my children afternoon snack :)).
Actually, I posted this recipe years ago in Bahasa Indonesia, you can check it in this posting.

Ingredients:
300 gr peuyeum (fermented cassava), choose the mature ones, remove the fiber (~ axis)
50ml sweetened condensed milk
5 eggs
180 gr caster sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
100 gr unsalted butter + 50 gr margarine, melted
100 gr grated cheddar cheese

Sifter together:
175 gr all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder

1. Generously butter a 20 cm tube pan and dust with a little flour. *I used 2 small loaves pans.

2. Puree the fermented cassava with a fork, mix the sweetened condensed milk. Mix it well and set aside.

3. Beat eggs and sugar until sugar is dissolved and condensed. (*set the mixer in high-speed).

4. Add vanilla, beat well. Gradually add the fermented cassava mix while beating until blended.

5. Pour the melted butter-margarine and stir well.

6. Add mixture of flour and 50 grams of cheddar cheese, stir well.

7. Pour into baking pan, sprinkle with another 50 grams of cheddar cheese, and bake in hot oven 180 C for 45 minutes until cooked.

8. Remove, let it cool. Serve.
*This cake is best served in warm from the oven.

Beef Soup

Soto/coto is a kind of Indonesian traditional soup. One very popular soto is Coto Makassar; which come from South Sulawesi. Makassar is the capital city of the South Sulawesi province.
I grew up in a small mining town in South Sulawesi. So, this kind of dish is very familiar to me. I know exactly the the consistensy, the colour, the flavour, the taste and the smell of this soup. To be honest, I've never tried to cook it by myself. Either I bought it or my mom cook it for us.

It was one beautiful morning, after I dropped my children at school, I stopped in a traditional market within our housing complex. Again, I had no idea what to cook for dinner at that day. Luckily, I always bring some books/magazines including recipe books in my car! *It's my habit to always bring some books/magazines/newspaper in the car, and most of the time they save me from getting bored while waiting.

So, after looking the Indonesian recipe book, I decided to cook Coto Makassar! Aha, I thought it would be a surprise to my husband, *his wife has cook the famous Coto Makassar*. I wrote a shopping list, and found all I needed in the market including the cooked ketupat (rice cake).

Unfortunately, after all the effort and the excitement to prepare this dish, the result was not like what I expected. The soup wasn't thick as it was supposed to be, the colour was too light, and the taste was not like what I recognize.
Please don't think the taste was bad, no...no... it turned to be very delicious soup. But I could not call it as Coto Makassar, instead I would call it Beef Soup. We enjoyed it though, and like the sambal tauco so much!
Please note that I didn't use the innards as it is written in the recipe, but I only used non fat meat. I kept the recipe in this blog, because one day I'll cook again...

Bahan / Ingredients :
500 gr daging dan jeroan sapi bersih, siap pakai/500 gr beef meat and innards, ready to use
Air untuk merebus / Water for boiling
1/2 sdt garam / 1/2 tsp salt
4 sdm minyak goreng, untuk menumis / 4 tbsp cooking oil, for sauteing
3 batang serai, memarkan / 3 stalks lemongrass, crushed
2 sdt air jeruk nipis / 2 tsp lime juice
1 sdm bawang goreng / 1 tbsp fried onions
1 sdm daun bawang iris / 1 tbsp spring onions
1 sdm seledri iris / 1 tbsp chopped celery

Bumbu Halus / Spices (ground):
1/2 sdm ketumbar sangrai / 1/2 tbsp toasted coriander
1/4 sdt jintan / 1/4 tsp cumin
1 sdt merica / 1 tsp white pepper
1 cm lengkuas / 1 cm galangal
3 siung bawang putih / 3 cloves garlic
2 sdt garam / 2 tsp salt
2 sdm kacang tahan kupas, sangrai / 2 tablespoons peeled peanut, toasted

Sambal Tauco
2 buah cabai merah / 2 pc of red chillies
6 buah cabai rawit / 6 bird's eye chillies
4 butir bawang merah / 4 shallots
4 sdm tauco / 4 tsp tauco
2 sdm minyak goreng, untuk menumis / 2 tbsp cooking oil for sauteing
100 ml air / 100 ml water
2 sdm gula pasir / 2 tbsp sugar
*Tauco : salted, fermented soya beans.

1. Rebus daging (dan jeroan) secara terpisah dalam air secukupnya, bubuhkan garam. Setelah bahan empuk, angkat jeroan, buang kaldu jeroan. Angkat daging dari air perebusnya, lalu ukur kaldu daging sebanyak 1500ml.

2. Potong-potong daging (dan jeroan) bentuk dadu ukuran 1.5 cm, masukkan kembali ke dalam kaldu daging. Jerang di atas api.

3. Panaskan minyak goreng dalam wajan, tumis bumbu halus, masukkan serai, aduk hingga harum, angkat. Masukkan bumbu tumis ke dalam panci kaldu. Didihkan dan masak di atas api hingga kuah tinggal +/- 1000 ml dan bau langu bumbu hilang, angkat atau matikan api. Masukkan jeruk nipis, aduk.

4. Sambal Taoco: Gerus cabai, bawang merah hingga halus, masukkan taoco, gerus kasar. Tumis hingga harum, masukkan air dan gula, masak hingga kental, angkat.

5. Penyajian: Taruh coto dalam mangkuk saji beserta daging (dan jeroannya). Taburi bawang goreng, daun bawang, dan seledri iris. Hidangkan selagi hangat dengan sambal taoco dan burasa atau ketupat.

1. Boil the meat and innards separately in enough water, put some salt. After the innards get tender, then discard the water. Remove meat from the water and reserve 1500ml of the stock.

2. Cut the meat (and innards); size 1.5 cm cube shape, add into the stock. Cook again..

3. Heat oil in a skillet, sauté ground spices, put lemon grass, stir until fragrant, then remove from heat. Mix the spices stir into the stock pot. Bring to boil and cook over low heat until the soup +/- 1000 ml and smell unpleasant flavor is lost, remove or turn off the heat. Add the lime juice, stir well.

4. Sambal Tauco: crush the chilis, and red onion until soft, put taoco, coarsely chopped. Saute until fragrant, put water and sugar, cook until thick.

5. Presentation: Place coto in serving bowl with the meat (and the innards). Sprinkle with fried onions, spring onion, and celery slices. Serve while warm with the sauce and burasa or ketupat (rice cake).

For the Love of Chocolate

We had passed the month that full of love and chocolate; February.
For me personally, this is the special time to remember how blessed I am as a wife and mother in my family. Having a wonderful husband and funtastic children are the biggest happiness in my life.

On the first week of February, we celebrated our son's 8th birthday. He grows up very fast. We are proud of him and feel so blessed for having him in our family. He's a very active boy, who is addicted to soccer (both playing and watching the match), and still very excited to learn badminton and swimming. A talkative boy, who never get lost to have an idea to talk but like to argue. An easy boy, for eating, making new friends and sleeping. A smart boy, who is strong in math and easy to memorize a new story. Last week, he told me a traditional Indonesian story about 'Padjajaran Kingdom' without a note, very detail, and he remembered all the 'unusual' names in that story *I was amazed.
He is coloring our family life. We are hoping all the best for his future.
*He really needs to learn to control his emotion, to learn to be a patient boy and be more organized.

The second week of February, we celebrated Valentine as a memorable time when my husband and I started dating. It was 17 years ago !
Up and down marriage life we have passed already, and it's still long way to go. We enjoy it, and thanks to God who always guides our marriage and helps us during difficult time.

I didn't cook something special during those special time (Indonesian Food always become our favorite for our family dinner), but I showered my family with chocolates! The most favorite one is the Molten Chocolate Cake. I got the recipe from Martha Stewart Website.
At least I bake it 3 times for the last 2 weeks. Then I tried another cookie recipe from Martha Stewart Magazine (Dec 2010, Christmas edition); Ganache Thumbprint.
Hhhmm... Chocolate goodies never fail to spoil my family tongue!

Molten Chocolate Cake

It was the Valentine's day. In the morning, I was browsing a chocolate dessert recipe, and found this recipe in Martha Stewart website. I decided to bake this individual chocolate cakes for our dessert after dinner. I imagined how delicious it would be.
The result is perfect! The preparation is very simple.

The critical part is the baking time and the oven temperature. Once you bake it too long or the temperature is too hot, it'll produce overbaked cakes, there will be not chocolate melting found inside the cake (but it still okey to be served, as a chocolate cupcake :)).

On the other hand, if the baking time is too short, or your oven is not hot enough, it'll produce cakes with the 'structure' that not strong to 'hold' the melting chocolate liquid, and it'll be hard to take it out from the mold. Too much liquid part, and the shape will not be too good.

So, just be careful. You're the one who know about your oven's performance, so you know exactly when the perfect time is to take it out your cake :)

Ingredients
Serves 6.
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for muffin tins
1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus more for muffin tins
3 large eggs
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Whipped Cream , for serving

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously butter 6 cups of a standard muffin tin. Dust with granulated sugar, and tap out excess. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and granulated sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, beat in flour and salt until just combined. Beat in chocolate until just combined. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups.
3. Place muffin tin on a baking sheet; bake just until tops of the cakes no longer jiggle when the pan is lightly shaken, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven; let stand 10 minutes.
4. To serve, turn out cakes, and place on serving plates, bottom sides up. Dust with confectioners' sugar, and serve with whipped cream, if desired.

This delicious dessert recipe for Molten Chocolate Cake comes from Everyday Food's book, "Great Food Fast."

Ganache Thumbprints

This is another hint in our chocolate season.

There is no special note for the cookie making. It's very easy to make, with delicious result. Make the chocolate dough, make the ball with the well on it, and bake. Later on just put the ganache and serve. As easy as one, two, tree!

I decided to spoon the ganache in the cookie while it still a bit 'liquify', to produce the flat on top cookie. So it'll be still nice while I stack it.

Check this Martha Stewart Website, you'll find lots of variant of the thumbprint cookies.

Ingredients
Makes about 5 dozen.
1 batch Chocolate Cookie Dough
Ganache

Directions
1. Roll dough into 1-inch balls, then roll in crushed candies, if using. Arrange on parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing each 1 inch apart.
2. Press a well into the center of each using your finger. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 7 minutes. Remove from oven, and press well again with handle end of a wooden spoon. Bake until firm, 7 to 9 minutes more.
3. Let cool completely. Spoon ganache into thumbprints.

Chocolate Cookie Dough
Ingredients
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking powder (omit if making thumbprints, ball cookies, or spritz cookies)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Directions
Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Beat butter and granulated sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture, and beat until combined.

Ganache
Ingredients
Makes 1 1/2 cups (enough to fill 5 dozen Thumbprints).
1 cup heavy cream
8 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate
Directions
Pour gently simmered cream over chocolate. Let stand for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Let stand until mixture is spoonable, about 15 minutes.

Untuk teman-teman yang merayakan,
'Selamat Hari Raya Nyepi, Tahun Baru Saka 1933'