From: Cook’s Library – Baking, 2003, pg: 35

I basically followed the posted recipe, except changing the filling as below:
Spinach fillings (inspired by Mbak Rieke @ sexychef)
4-6 shallots, sliced
1-2 garlic, sliced
spinach (amount to your liking)
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup of milk
cheddar cheese, grated (amount to your liking)
sugar and pepper to taste

methods: Stir fry onions until they turn translucent. Add in the spinach. Turn off heat and grate cheese over the spinach mixture. Let it cool. In another bowl, combine two eggs with a cup of milk. Transfer the egg mixture onto the spinach mixture just before you pour it onto your pie; it is the intention that the eggs are still raw at this point.

These pretty lattice pies are equally delicious served hot or cold. They make a good picnic food served with salad.
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp butter, for greasing
250 g fresh ready-made puff pastry
50 g ham, chopped finely
125 g full-fat soft cheese
2 Tbsp snipped fresh chives
1 egg, beaten
35 g freshly grated parmesan cheese
Pepper

Methods:
Grease 2 baking trays with the butter
Roll out the pastry thinly on a lightly floured work surface and cut out 12 rectangles, each measuring 15 x 5 cm/6 x 2 inches. Place the rectangles on the prepared baking trays and leave to chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix the ham, soft cheese and chives together in a small bowl. Season with pepper to taste, then spread the mixture along the centre of 6 of the rectangles, leaving 2.5 cm/1 inch border around each one.
To make lattice pattern, fold the remaining rectangles lengthways, then, leaving a 2.5 cm/1 inch border, cut vertical lines across the folded edge.
Unfold the latticed rectangles and place them over the rectangles topped with the ham and cheese mixture. Seal the pastry edges well and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake in preheated oven, 180oC/350oF/Gas Mark 4, for 15-20 minutes. Serve hot or cold.

Cook’s tip:
These pies can be made in advance, then frozen uncooked and baked fresh when required.

I dont think I can eat more than one of these goodies in one day. They are so dang sweet. I did not deviate much from the original recipe, except fiddling around the number of eggs needed. I dont like having leftover egg whites. So, for the mud cake, I used 1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk; for the cookies, I used 1 egg white and 1 whole egg. Everything turned out fine..

Source: The AWW: Cupcakes, Cheesecakes, Cookies. 2008

Makes 24.

250g butter, softened

330g firmly packed brown sugar

2 eggs

450g plain flour

75g self-raising flour

50g cocoa powder

2 Tbs cocoa powder, extra

Chocolate Mud Cake

150g butter, chopped

100g dark eating chocolate, chopped coarsely

220g caster sugar

125ml water

2 Tbs coffee liqueur

150 gr plain flour

2 tbs cocoa powder

2 egg yolks

Combine butter, chocolate, sugar the water and liqueur in small saucepan. Stir over low heat until smooth. Place mixture in medium bowl; cool 10 minutes. Whisk in sifted flour and cocoa, then egg yolks. Divide mixture among pans. Bake about 25 minutes. Cool cake in pans. Using 6.5cm round cutter, cut 12 rounds from each cake.

Chocolate Ganache

80ml cream

200g dark eating chocolate, chopped coarselyBring cream to a boil in small

saucepan; remove from heat. Add chocolate; stir until smooth.

Refrigerate until spreadable..

1. Preheat oven to 170C/150C fan-forced. Grease two 20cm x 30cm lamington pans; line with a strip of baking paper, extending paper 2cm above edges of pans.

2. Make chocolate mud cake.

3. Make chocolate ganache.

4. Beat butter, sugar and eggs in small bowl with electric mixer until combined. Transfer mixture to large bowl; stir in sifted flours and cocoa, in two batches. Knead dough on floured surface until smooth; divide in half, roll each portion between sheets of baking paper until 5mm thick. cover; refrigerate 30 minutes.

5. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan-forced. Grease oven trays; line with baking paper.

6. Using 6.5mm round cutter, cut 48 rounds from dough. Place about 3cm apart on oven trays. Bake about 12 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

7. Spread ganache onto underside of cookies; sandwich a mud cake round between two cookies.

8. using heart template, dust cookies with extra cocoa.

taste-o-meter: 7/10
makes: 6 souffles (if using ramekins)

This was a dish that I have never eaten nor I know how to pronounce :). I really wanted to say something about this challenge and make a good story out of it. But, I really cant. All I can think of ,right now, is my thesis. How I have been working hard on it; how the deadline is dangerously approaching; or how the professors gonna interpret my results. On top of that, I also need to think about sending my things back home, return the apartment, face the possibility of being homeless in October.

Ok, Let’s just stop the rambling. I am still in good spirit. I just need to keep trucking and keep spending those long hours in the lab.

Onto the challenge, It was not that hard to make these souffles. As the name points out, they tasted very cheesy. I added a couple of finely-chopped broccoli florets, which gave a nice break from the whole cheesy theme. Here’s the recipe for these souffles.

I just realized I forgot to make the step-by-step pictures. I’m sorry KBB admin.

(Broccoli) Cheese Souffles

Sumber: The Perfect Cookbook by David Herbert. Penguin Books Australia Ltd 2003.

Ingredients/Bahan-bahan:

* 100g unsalted butter / mentega tawar
* ½ cup plain (all-purpose) flour / tepung terigu
* 300ml milk / susu
* 1 cup grated cheddar / cheddar parut
* 2 Tbs / sdM freshly grated parmesan / parmesan parut
* ½ tsp Dijon mustard / mustard Dijon
* pinch / sejumput cayenne pepper
* 4 eggs / telur, separated / pisahkan
* I added a couple of finely chopped broccoli florets

Directions/Cara Pembuatan:

Preheat the oven to 190C (375F, Gas Mark 5). Grease and lightly flour six ½-cup-capacity souffle dishes.
Panaskan oven suhu 190C (375F, Gas Mark 5). Minyaki/olesi mentega dan taburkan tepung loyang souffle dengan kapasitas ½ cup sebanyak 6 buah.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Gradually add the milk and whisk continuously over medium heat until the mixture is smooth, thickens and comes to the boil. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.
Lelehkan mentega di panci kecil dengan api kecil. Tambahkan tepung lalu masak sambil diaduk-aduk selama 1 menit. Tambahkan susu sedikit demi sedikit dan whisk terus menerus dengan api sedang hingga adonan lembut, mengental dan mendidih. Biarkan dingin sejenak selama 5 menit.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl and stir in the cheddar, parmesan, mustard and cayenne pepper. Mix well.
Pindahkan adonan ke dalam mangkuk dan masukkan keju cheddar, parmesan, mustard dan cayenne pepper. Aduk rata.

Lightly beat the egg yolks and add these to the cheese mixture. Mix well.
Kocok ringan kuning telur dan masukkan ke dalam adonan keju. Aduk rata.

With an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until firm peaks form. Fold a quarter of the whites through the cheese mixture to slacken it slightly, then gently fold through the remaining whites.
Kocok putih telur menggunakan electric mixer hingga mencapai firm peak. Masukkan seperempat adonan putih telur ke dalam adonan keju untuk sedikit ‘melemaskan’ adonan, lalu masukkan sisanya perlahan.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared dishes and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until risen and golden. Don’t be tempted to open the oven until the souffles have risen. Serve immediately.
Sendokkan adonan ke dalam loyang yang sudah disiapkan lalu panggang selama 20-25 menit, atau hingga mengembang naik dan kecoklatan. Jangan tergoda untuk membuka oven sebelum souffles betul-betul sudah mengembang/naik. Hidangkan segera.

taste-0-meter: 9/10

The July Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

I had a hard time to make perfectly round cookies. They turned out either disfigured or discolored (a.k.a uneven browning). What’s the secret? How one can produce perfectly round milano cookies? Despite their “(un)interesting” shapes, these cookies tasted very good. The kicker is the lemon extract. So, dont leave it out. As for the other recipe (marshmallow cookies), I was not able to make them due to not finding halal gelatin or other substitutes. Here are the recipes as Nicole wrote them:

Mallows (Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies)
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website
Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies
Prep Time: 10 min
Inactive Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 10 min
Serves: about 2 dozen cookies

• 3 cups (375grams/13.23oz) all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (112.5grams/3.97oz) white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter
• 3 eggs, whisked together
• Homemade marshmallows, recipe follows
• Chocolate glaze, recipe follows

1. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients.
2. On low speed, add the butter and mix until sandy.
3. Add the eggs and mix until combine.
4. Form the dough into a disk, wrap with clingfilm or parchment and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
5. When ready to bake, grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a silicon mat.
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
7. Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, on a lightly floured surface. Use a 1 to 1 1/2 inches cookie cutter to cut out small rounds of dough.
8. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.
9. Pipe a “kiss” of marshmallow onto each cookie. Let set at room temperature for 2 hours.
10. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicon mat.
11. One at a time, gently drop the marshmallow-topped cookies into the hot chocolate glaze.
12. Lift out with a fork and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl.
13. Place on the prepared pan and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm, about 1 to 2 hours.

Note: if you don’t want to make your own marshmallows, you can cut a large marshmallow in half and place on the cookie base. Heat in a preheated 350-degree oven to slump the marshmallow slightly, it will expand and brown a little. Let cool, then proceed with the chocolate dipping.

Homemade marshmallows:
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 3/4 cup (168.76 grams/5.95oz) sugar
• 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 2 egg whites , room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In a saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage, or 235 degrees on a candy thermometer.
2. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve.
3. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix.
4. Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites.
5. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff.
6. Transfer to a pastry bag.

Chocolate glaze:
• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 2 ounces cocoa butter or vegetable oil

1. Melt the 2 ingredients together in the top of a double boiler or a bowl set over barely simmering water.

Milan Cookies
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website
Milan Cookies
Prep Time: 20 min
Inactive Prep Time: 0 min
Cook Time: 1 hr 0 min
Serves: about 3 dozen cookies

• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups (312.5 grams/ 11.02 oz) powdered sugar
• 7/8 cup egg whites (from about 6 eggs)
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons lemon extract
• 1 1/2 cups (187.5grams/ 6.61 oz) all purpose flour
• Cookie filling, recipe follows

Cookie filling:
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 orange, zested

1. In a mixer with paddle attachment cream the butter and the sugar.
2. Add the egg whites gradually and then mix in the vanilla and lemon extracts.
3. Add the flour and mix until just well mixed.
4. With a small (1/4-inch) plain tip, pipe 1-inch sections of batter onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, spacing them 2 inches apart as they spread.
5. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges. Let cool on the pan.
6. While waiting for the cookies to cool, in a small saucepan over medium flame, scald cream.
7. Pour hot cream over chocolate in a bowl, whisk to melt chocolate, add zest and blend well.
8. Set aside to cool (the mixture will thicken as it cools).
9. Spread a thin amount of the filling onto the flat side of a cookie while the filling is still soft and press the flat side of a second cookie on top.
10. Repeat with the remainder of the cookies.

source: dapurbunda
taste-o-meter: 6.5/10

When I made this dish, my housemate asked, “What’s the occasion, mbak?”. I calmly said, “Nothing, I just need to blow off some steam” :D. If you read previous posts, you must have known that I’m currently driven up the wall by my thesis and paper. It’s ok, hard work will pay off. Hopefully

The recipe itself is gotten from the famous dapurbunda. I made some drastic changes, due to not having a grill set and fresh turmeric at hand. They still tasted ok. But please, if you can, dont oven-grill your satay. It looses much of the flavour and fragrance.

Ingredients
1/2 kg beef (mine is already cut in small pieces)
1 lemongrass, bruised.
2 cm ginger, mashed
2 cm galangal, bruised
1 turmeric leaf (I did not have it)
4 lemon leaves
500 ml water
50 gr rice flour, diluted in water (PLEASE do not forgot to dilute it in water as I did. It was a pain to remove all the rice flour clumps)

Produce a spice paste using the following ingredients:
6 dried chillies (I drenched them in a bowl of hot water for five minutes)
5 shallots
5 cloves of garlic
1 tbs ground corriander
1 tsp cumin powder
5 cm turmeric (I used turmeric powder)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp sugar

Direction:
Mix beef with the spice paste. Let it sit for about half an hour
Boil beef + spice paste with the rest of the ingredients (except the rice flour). Let it boil and the beef tenderizes
Remove beef from the pan.
Add in *diluted* rice flour to the spiced mixture. Let it thickens. Remove from heat.
Arrange beef chunks on skewers.
Bake beef (on skewers) in a preaheated oven until it turnes into a darker color( I set mine at 180 degree celsius).
Serve with the sauce and fried shallots.

Bahan
1/2 kg daging sapi
1 sereh, memarkan
2 cm jahe, haluskan
2 cmlengkuas, memarkan
1 daun kunyit
4 daun jeruk
500 ml air
50 gr tepung beras, larutkan dengan sedikit air (PENTING)

Halusan:
6 cabe kering (Saya rendam dulu di air panas)
5 siung bawang merah
5 siung bawang putih
1 sdm ketumbar, sangrai (lupa disangrai)
1 sdt jintan bubuk, sangrai (lupa disangrai)
5 cm kunyit
1 sdt garam
1/2 sdt merica bubuk
1/2 sdt gula pasir

Cara:
Campurkan daging dan bumbu halus. Diamkan lebih kurang setengah jam.
Rebus daging + bumbu halus dan bumbu-bumbu lain (kecuali tepung beras). Biarkan hingga mendidih dan daging melunak.
Angkat daging.
Masukkan tepung beras (yang sudah dilarutkan dengan sedikit air) dan biarkan kuah mengental.
Tusukkan daging di tusuk sate
Bakar di oven yang sudah dipanaskan (saya bakar pada suhu 180 derjat celsius) hingga warnanya berubah.
Sajikan dengan kuah dan bawang goreng

source: Jamie Oliver via Mbak Anne
taste-o-meter: 8.5/10
One night, after working on the thesis for hours, I craved chocolate! Dark, semi-sweet chocolate. I want none of those wimpy milky chocolates. What better way to enjoy pure chocolate than dissolving the whole bar (200 g!) into an almost equal amount of butter (250 g, OMG!). Please, do not finish ‘em in a day. one to three brownie bars per day is workable, given you work out regularly. Staying healthy, eating right, and keeping fit will keep you a long way from the doctor’s office.

I was a bit skeptical as I weigh all of the ingredients. The recipe calls for more cocoa than plain flour. Plus, it already has 200 g semi-sweet chocolate in it. I chickened out and was about to add more flour. I braved myself and sticked to Jamie’s recipe. It turned out quite good. Although, I may reduce the amount of sugar to 300 gr next time. The recipe yields to a crusty texture on the outside and slightly gooey in the inside.

Here’s the recipe as Jamie wrote it:

250g unsalted butter
200g dark Fairtrade chocolate (70% cocoa solids), broken up
Optional: 75g dried sour cherries
Optional: 50g chopped nuts
80g cocoa powder, sifted
65g plain flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
360g caster sugar
4 large free-range or organic eggs

Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Line a 25cm square baking tin with greaseproof paper. In a large bowl over some simmering water, melt the butter and the chocolate and mix until smooth. Add the cherries and nuts, if you’re using them, and stir together.

In a separate bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and sugar, then add this to the chocolate, cherry and nut mixture. Stir together well. Beat the eggs and mix in until you have a silky consistency.

Pour your brownie mix into the baking tray, and place in the oven for around 25 minutes. You don’t want to overcook them so, unlike cakes, you don’t want a skewer to come out all clean. The brownies should be slightly springy on the outside but still gooey in the middle.

Allow to cool in the tray, then carefully transfer to a large chopping board and cut into chunky squares.

Indonesian:
250 g mentega
200 g coklat couverture (dark chocolate), potong
opsional : 75 g kismis
opsional : 50 g kacang, cincang kasar
80 g coklat bubuk
65 g tepung terigu
1 sdt baking powder
360 g gula kastor
4 telur

panaskan oven ke sushu 180 derjat celsius. Siapkan loyang 25 cm. Beri mentega dan alasi dengan kertas roti.
Di atas panci yang ditaruh di atas air mendidih (double broiler), lelehkan mentega dan coklat batangan. Aduk, masukkan kismis dan kacang.

Di mangkuk lain, Campurkan dan ayak tepung terigu, coklat bubuk, dan baking powder. Campurkan gula, dan aduk bahan-bahan kering tersebut.

Campurkan bahan-bahan kering ke larutan coklat-mentega. Masukkan telur satu-persatu. Aduk merata.

Bakar di oven selama 25 menit. Ketika matang, bagian atas brownies akansedikit mengeras tetapi bagian dalamnya masih basah. Angkat loyang dan biarkan brownies dingin di dalamnya. Setelah dingin, potong kotak-kotak dan sajikan.

taste-o meter: 7/10
serves : 10-15 pieces (depending on how you cut it)
original recipe by mbak ria @ icip2didapur

The recipe itself is not hard to follow. But, you should not, I repeat you MUST NOT, leave your steamer unattended! Cooking is a serious business people. You don’t leave your cooking unattended and continue to browse the Internet. Not only it is unsafe, but you may also melt your only plastic steamer! Not that I know much about that uh huh.

There are three ingredients that I like to play with. They are eggs, potatoes, and tofu. They are (relatively) cheap and easy to find. You need to be a mad (wo)man to ruin a cooking by adding these ingredients. Most recipes that involve these ingredients are very forgiving. You can leave out or add more stuff to it. They are recipes to go if you’d like to clean out your fridge.

Hereby I present you my last cooking that will involve a steamer (at least for the next 2-3 months)

(Lihat ke bawah untuk bahasa Indonesia)
Fried Tofu Schotel
Ingredients
3 tofu (750 gram)
250 gr deveined shrimp, cut into small pieces (I used ground beef)
250 cc egg whites ( I used whole eggs)
2 green onion, sliced
1 carrot, grated
5 cloves of garlic, mashed
4-5 chillies, sliced (I added these)
salt and pepper to taste

dipping:
1-2 eggs, whisked (for dipping the steamed tofu before frying)

Direction
-Mash tofu.
-Add in shrimp (beef), egg whites, green onion, carrot, garlic, chillies, salt and pepper.
-Adjust taste to your liking.
-Let your steamer to heat up, while you grease a pyrex (or any baking pan) with oil/butter.
-Pour the tofu mixture on your pyrex. Smooth out the surface with the back of a spoon. Make sure there’s not much air bubble trapped in your tofu mixture (usually at the bottom of your pyrex).
-Steam it for about 30 minutes and let it cool
-cut the steamed tofu into manageable cubes.
-Dip them on the whisked eggs
-Fry until golden brown.

Scroll upwards for English
Tahu Schotel Goreng

Bahan :
3 ptg tahu cina (kurang lebih 750 gram)
250 gram udang kupas, cincang halus
250 cc putih telur
5 siung bawang putih, haluskan
2 btg daun bawang, iris halus
1 bh wortel, parut kasar
garam, lada secukupnya
1-2 btr telur, kocok lepas

Cara:
-Hancurkan tahu.
-Masukkan udang, bawang putih, garam, lada, irisan daun bawang, parutan wortel dan putih telur. Aduk sampai rata.
-Lalu tuang ke dalam loyang yang sudah dioles dengan minyak goreng.
-Kukus hingga matang (kurang lebih 30 menit).
-Angkat dan biarkan dingin.
-Potong-potong tahu lalu celupkan dalam kocokan telur.
-Goreng dalam minyak panas hingga kuning keemasan.

taste-o-meter: 8/10
makes: 1 pie

People says that books is your window to the world. You don’t have to be on Mars to know about Mars. I honestly can say the same about Daring Bakers. Daring Bakers is my window to the world. I don’t have to be in Italy to try lasagna nor I have to be in UK to try Bakewell tarts. Before reading this month’s challenge, I don’t even know what Bakewell tarts are. As you may have noticed, I have a limited exposure to English cuisine and culture. All English cuisines that I can come up with is “fish and chips” :D. Learning is a process, right?

This month’s recipe is quite a challenge for me. First, I do not own any blender nor I spot any ground-almond in nearby stores. I don’t feel like buying a blender since I’m about to move abroad in a few months. Let’s not add more things to my already-overloaded luggages. I had to grind my own almond people! Well, I did not start from whole almonds. I managed to find sliced almonds. I didn’t do it in one day either. It was more of like two days of 15-minutes incremental works. I started out using a mortar and pestle. But, the progress was slow. Finally, I dumped the almond on a big bowl, took one of my biggest coffee mug, and proceeded to crunch the heck out of these sliced almonds. The result was not perfect, But it was close enough. I used apricot jams. I like it as it complements the sweetness of frangipane.

I’ve never worked with a pie crust that has eggs in it. I found it a bit hard to work with. It crumbled a lot and was not as cohesive as the sans egg pie crust. Maybe I did something wrong? I only used one egg yolk instead of two, because it was an extra large egg instead of medium sized ones. The top of my bakewell tart is also a bit overdone *haha*. 200 degree Celsius is way too high for my oven. At the end of the first 30 minutes, the top is already brown. It was too late to scatter the sliced almonds. Next time, I’ll bake it at 175 degrees or even at 150 and scatter the sliced almonds after the first 10 minutes elapses.

Here’s the recipe and a little of history on Bakewell tarts as Annemarie and Jasmine wrote them. Thank you hosts!

Is it a tart or is it a pudding?

Someone once said something like “The Bakewell pudding is a dessert. The Bakewell tart is that girl over there.”

It’s a debate that rages on and we aren’t taking sides on this one. But we will say that many people call this pudding a tart.

While we’re at it…
The etymology of pudding is a rather interesting and slightly convoluted one.* The naming confusion may come from the British manner of referring to the dessert course as ‘pudding’ (as well as referring to fat babies by the same name, though we don’t think that is what was the inspiration in this case). And so any dessert is a pudding until another name comes along and adds clarity to what it really is.

* nb: Annemarie had to electronically restrain Jasmine from delving into another treatise, threatening to remove her digital scale, personally autographed copies of How To Eat by Nigella Lawson and A.S. Byatt’s Possession and toss her kitchen footstool into the squidgy marsh up the road (really…Jasmine’s kitchen appears to be designed by a 6’4” fast food-eating engineer named Martin, Chuck or perhaps Buford) Anyone interested in hearing or reading her wax lyrical about puddings should just email her directly.
The Challenge

• Rough Durations: Please see individual recipe elements to see how much time you’ll need. You may pull it together in more time or less—it all depends upon your kitchen’s pace. You can complete the tart in an afternoon, or break it up into a couple of days by making the pastry one day in advance.
• Measurements: These recipes were developed using weight and not volume metrics, so for better results, pull out your scales. We’ve done our best with the Metric to Imperial conversions.
• A giant tart, medium tarts or little tartlettes: We’ll leave that to you.
• Mandatory and Optional Elements
Mandatory element 1: Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
Yes, it’s a pie pastry. Don’t look at us like that. It’s sweet and tender and it’s not scary…and we’re encouraging you to do it by hand and put the food processor away (but if you really want to pull out the gadget, go ahead).

Mandatory element 2: Frangipane
We love onomatopoeia of frangipane: it’s rich, sweet and feels slightly luxurious, and can be used in several confections.

Optional element: Home made jam or curd
We know several amongst us are rather jammy with making their own jams and preserves. Go ahead get wild and creative or simply showcase whatever’s local and in season. If you haven’t jammed before and want some hints or recipes, take a look at Bernardin’s homecanning.ca. If you want to just make some jam for this challenge and not go through sterilising jars and snap lids, you can try a pan jam, similar to Jasmine’s Blackberry Pan Jam. If you do use homemade jam, please include your recipe or the link to the one you used in your post.
Bakewell Tart…er…pudding

Makes one 23cm (9” tart)
Prep time: less than 10 minutes (plus time for the individual elements)
Resting time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes
Equipment needed: 23cm (9”) tart pan or pie tin (preferably with ridged edges), rolling pin

One quantity sweet shortcrust pastry (recipe follows)
Bench flour
250ml (1cup (8 US fl. oz)) jam or curd, warmed for spreadability
One quantity frangipane (recipe follows)
One handful blanched, flaked almonds

Assembling the tart
Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it’s overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.

The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.

When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.

Jasmine’s notes:
• If you cannot have nuts, you can try substituting Victoria sponge for the frangipane. It’s a pretty popular popular cake, so you shouldn’t have any troubles finding one in one of your cookbooks or through a Google search. That said, our dear Natalie at Gluten a Go Go has sourced some recipes and linked to them in the related alt.db thread.
• You can use whichever jam you wish, but if you choose something with a lot of seeds, such as raspberry or blackberry, you should sieve them out.
• The jam quantity can be anywhere from 60ml (1/4 cup) to 250ml (1cup), depending upon how “damp” and strongly flavoured your preserves are. I made it with the lesser quantity of home made strawberry jam, while Annemarie made it with the greater quantity of cherry jam; we both had fabulous results. If in doubt, just split the difference and spread 150ml (2/3cup) on the crust.
Annemarie’s notes:
• The excess shortcrust can be rolled out and cut into cookie-shapes (heck, it’s pretty darned close to a shortbread dough).
Sweet shortcrust pastry

Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes (minimum)
Equipment needed: bowls, box grater, cling film

225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional, I used vanilla extract)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.

Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Jasmine’s notes:
• I make this using vanilla salt and vanilla sugar.
• If you wish, you can substitute the seeds of one vanilla bean, one teaspoon of vanilla paste or one teaspoon of vanilla extract for the almond extract
Frangipane

Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Equipment needed: bowls, hand mixer, rubber spatula

125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) icing sugar
3 (3) eggs
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract ( I used vanilla extract)
125g (4.5oz) ground almonds
30g (1oz) all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour.

Annemarie’s notes:
• Add another five minutes or more if you’re grinding your own almonds or if you’re mixing by hand (Heaven help you).

If you are born to a Minangese couple, (almost) all of your extended family are Minangese, and your dad cringes at the sight of any non-minang food on the table, chances are your world of vegetable is restricted to young jack fruits in coconut milk, cassava leaves in coconut milk, green beans in coconut milk, or –any kind of vegetable you can come up with– drenched in coconut milk. I did not know that there exists such things called sayur asem, buntil, karedok until I ventured out across the pond. Yes,  we are not big on veggies. But, momzie is different. She used to give us, her kids, a huge dollop of greens on our plate and made us eat them. It works. None of momzie kids hates veggies. I particularly love her selada padang. This is my tribute to momzie. Without her persistence, I would have never liked greens.

I followed momzie’s basic recipe and made some changes. I basically used the wrong kind of lettuce. It should be the Lactuca Sativa (common name?) kind. But, I didn’t have it in my fridge. I also don’t have any blender, so I hand-ground my own fried peanuts (heaven help me). But it all worked out nicely :). Here’s the recipe from my beloved momzie.

I am also submitting this recipe for June’s Masak Bareng Yuuk!

Selada Padang
source: my mother in Padang
serves: 1 plate of selada padang.

sauce:
4 garlic, quartered, fried, and mashed (you dont need to be excessive with your frying. Fry them for about 30 seconds-1 minute)
1 handful of fried and ground nuts.
vinegar, freshly ground-pepper , salt, and sugar (amount to your liking)
4 boiled egg yolks (use the boiled egg whites for the salad)

ingredients
1 cucumber, halved and thinly sliced
4-6 potatoes, boiled and cut in bite-size chunks
lettuce, sliced.
one or two handful(s) of fried shallots
melinjo crackers (I dont have it)

direction to make the sauce:
Combine all spices and add in boiled egg yolks.
Set aside.

how to assemble:
Combine veggies, fried shallots, and sauce.
Mix well
Serve with melinjo

taste-o-meter : 9/10
serves : 22 potstickers (I halved the filling recipe)

I apologize for my late post. I had a meeting and needed to prepare some documents. Onto the challenge! I was thrilled when I found out that this month’s challenge is potstickers. Yay, pan-sticking, bite-size, and (almost) healthy dish from china! There are two kinds of exotic foods that always mesmerize me: middle-eastern and chinese cuisine. Everytime I think of chinese cuisine, I always think of ginger, garlic, and soy sauce. Are those ingredients the must-haves in the chinese cuisine? Any chinese cuisine expert care to shed some light on this subject?

I followed the pork-filling recipe. I substituted pork with beef (of course, doh! XD). Nearby supermarkets do not carry shitake mushrooms, but they do have a steady supply of champignons. Fine, they are still mushrooms right? Champignon it is. I sticked to the exact measure for every ingredients that the recipe calls for. The amount of ginger is a bit too much for me. It dominated the whole flavor. Next time, I’ll reduce the amount and mash it (instead of cutting it up in small pieces). The amount of chopping involved in making this dish is daunting. But, will worth the effort when they are done.

I panfried my dumplings. They got a bit sticky (e.g., stick to each other), as the pan was a bit crowded. How did I get them out of the pan? Fear not!, I did not have to pick them up individually from the pan. Take a large plate and position it on top of your wok/pan. In one quick motion. flip the whole potstickers onto it. There! You have your nicely arranged potstickers, showing their golden-brown bottoms. you must try this trick!

I am planning to try to create a vegetarian version. I was thinking of tofu, green onions, kecap manis, soy sauce. salt, pepper, and some chillies. I’ll give an update later

Here is the recipe, as jen of real butter wrote it.

The Challenge: Chinese dumplings/potstickers (aka gyoza in Japanese)

It’s a basic concept: a filling inside a dough wrapper, sealed, and cooked. This delicious theme runs through many cultures and is among the more popular bites at Chinese restaurants - especially dim sum. The recipe I provide is based on my family recipe. There is a lot of wiggle room and I encourage you to explore. If you’ve made them before - great! Now try something different!

The process goes a little like this:

You can (and should) reference instructional photos and discussion on my blog post here.

Wrappers: Well yes, you could purchase pre-made dumpling wrappers at the store (NO WONTON WRAPPERS - they have egg), but they are inferior compared to homemade. The whole point of this challenge is to make the dumpling wrappers by hand. So here is the one requirement: the dumpling wrappers must be made by hand. It isn’t all that hard, it just takes a little time and practice. People usually get the hang of it after making about a dozen. **NOTE: I have a special recipe for gluten-free dumpling wrappers at the bottom of the post. They are another type of traditional dumpling and they are pretty awesome (although more finicky). Really delicious too, so you may want to have a looksee even if you aren’t gluten-free. [EDIT 5/18/09:] I see that some have chosen to make the wrappers by hand. I don’t recommend this method because the wrappers will be too thick and probably yield far fewer dumplings for the dough recipe. The point of rolling the dough is for uniformity of wrapper and to achieve a thickness that is otherwise difficult to attain by hand. Also, rolling is much faster than hand shaping. We’re aiming for a delicate skin that does not dominate the dumpling.

Fillings: the beauty of the Chinese dumpling/potsticker is that the filling is very versatile. That’s why there are so many different kinds of dumplings when you go to dim sum. The two most common are pork and shrimp. You can make them with other ground meats (beef, chicken…) or vegetarian (tofu, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, glass noodles, Chinese chives - oh yum!). The important thing to keep in mind is that the filling needs to “stick” to itself or else you will make your life incredibly miserable wrapping up filling that keeps falling apart. I think if I were to make vegetarian dumplings, I would sauté the cabbage and mash up the tofu for a better cohesiveness. It’s up to you how you want to fill your dumplings and I say - run with it! Just keep it cohesive and no big chunks of hard ingredients (they poke through the wrapper dough = disaster). I realize it may be tempting to dump all of the vegetables into a food processor and give it a whir, but I caution against it. You don’t want a slurry, you want a mince. Practice your knife skills and be careful.

Special Equipment: A rolling pin - preferably not tapered. (see blog pictures for the type I use).

Time: Prep for the filling takes me 30 minutes - longer if peeling and de-veining shrimp. It will depend on your proficiency with a good sharp knife. Rolling and wrapping several dozen dumplings takes me 1 hour by myself. My parents can crank through it in 30 minutes when one person is rolling wrappers and the other is wrapping dumplings. Might be fun to get a second person to help! Cooking: I have to cook mine in batches. When steaming, I can cook a dozen at a time in about 10 minutes. Potstickers: 15 minutes per 2 dozen determined by the size of your pan. Boiling - 6 minutes per dozen or so depending on size of pot. My own personal preference is for potstickers - mmmmm! But they are ALL good. Here is the recipe:

Chinese Dumplings/Potstickers

pork filling:
1 lb (450g) ground pork
4 large napa cabbage leaves, minced
3 stalks green onions, minced
7 shitake mushrooms, minced (if dried - rehydrated and rinsed carefully)
1/2 cup (75g) bamboo shoots, minced
1/4 (55g) cup ginger root, minced
3 tbsp (40g) soy sauce
2 tbsp (28g) sesame oil
2 tbsp (16g) corn starch

OR

shrimp filling:
1/2 lb (225g) raw shrimp, peeled, deveined, and coarsely chopped
1/2 lb (225g) ground pork
3 stalks green onions, minced
1/4 cup (55g) ginger root, minced
1 cup (142g) water chestnuts, minced
1 tsp (5g) salt
3 tbsp (40g) sesame oil
2 tbsp (16g) corn starch

dough: (double this for the amount of filling, but easier to make it in 2 batches - or just halve the filling recipe)
2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (113g) warm water
flour for worksurface

dipping sauce:
2 parts soy sauce
1 part vinegar (red wine or black)
a few drops of sesame oil
chili garlic paste (optional)
minced ginger (optional)
minced garlic (optional)
minced green onion (optional)
sugar (optional)

Combine all filling ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly (I mix by clean hand). Cover and refrigerate until ready to use (up to a day, but preferably within an hour or two).

Make the dough, Method 1: Place the flour in the work bowl of a food processor with the dough blade. Run the processor and pour the warm water in until incorporated. Pour the contents into a sturdy bowl or onto a work surface and knead until uniform and smooth. The dough should be firm and silky to the touch and not sticky.[Note: it’s better to have a moist dough and have to incorporate more flour than to have a dry and pilling dough and have to incorporate more water).

Make the dough, Method 2 (my mom’s instructions): In a large bowl mix flour with 1/4 cup of water and stir until water is absorbed. Continue adding water one teaspoon at a time and mixing thoroughly until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. We want a firm dough that is barely sticky to the touch. (I used this method, as I do not own any food processor *sobs*)

[EDIT: 5/26/09] There have been two complaints posted about a dry dough and I realize that this rests in the problem of measuring flour which has a different density and hence weight for 2 cups depending on how you scoop it. That is why I also list the weight: 250g. Flour tends to settle over time, so when I scoop it out, I shake several cups’ worth back into the container before taking a final scoop of soft, fluffy, flour and I get 250g for 2 cups. When you knead the dough, if it feels hard and dry, then you can add more water. [Warning: it will NOT be a soft bread dough, so don't expect it to be, but it shouldn't be a brick either.] It is perfectly fine to use more than the 1/2 cup listed in the recipe as everyone’s climate and flours vary. Use your judgment - this is what being a Daring Cook is about. We are trying to cultivate a sense of intuition so that recipes are general guidelines from which you can expand your own style.

Both dough methods: Knead the dough about twenty strokes then cover with a damp towel for 15 minutes. Take the dough and form a flattened dome. Cut into strips about 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide. Shape the strips into rounded long cylinders. On a floured surface, cut the strips into 3/4 inch pieces. Press palm down on each piece to form a flat circle (you can shape the corners in with your fingers). With a rolling pin, roll out a circular wrapper from each flat disc. Take care not to roll out too thin or the dumplings will break during cooking - about 1/16th inch. Leave the centers slightly thicker than the edges. Place a tablespoon of filling in the center of each wrapper and fold the dough in half, pleating the edges along one side (see images in post for how to fold pleats). Keep all unused dough under damp cloth.

To boil: Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add dumplings to pot. Boil the dumplings until they float.

To steam: Place dumplings on a single layer of napa cabbage leaves or on a well-greased surface in a steamer basket with lid. Steam covered for about 6 minutes.

To pan fry (potstickers): Place dumplings in a frying pan with 2-3 tbsp of vegetable oil. Heat on high and fry for a few minutes until bottoms are golden. Add 1/2 cup water and cover. Cook until the water has boiled away and then uncover and reduce heat to medium or medium low. Let the dumplings cook for another 2 minutes then remove from heat and serve.

To freeze: Assemble dumplings on a baking sheet so they are not touching. It helps to rub the base of the dumpling in a little flour before setting on the baking sheet for ease of release. Freeze for 20-30 minutes until dumplings are no longer soft. Place in ziploc bag and freeze for up to a couple of months. Prepare per the above instructions, but allow extra time to ensure the filling is thoroughly cooked.

To serve: Serve dumplings or potstickers hot with your choice of dipping sauce combinations ( I served them with kecap manis and indonesian sambal ABC)

Dont let the size of this knife fool you. The little bugger can cut up anything i want

Rolling and pleating individual potstickers may seem a bit tedious. But, it actually was fun