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.