Escargot de Bourgogne

I dare to write this recipe in this blog, altough it might seems not so original. We bought a canned escargot at supermarket in
Singapore and plan to make baked escargot with garlic butter. Ham used to cook this dishes using the escargot shells. I prefer to use something simpler that the shells since it is difficult to wash them afterwards. Then i found this small plate at daisho, which looks like a painting plate. But it seems right to bake the tiny escargot in it. It looks good and neat with the plate. I regret i only buy 4 of them. I couldnt find it anymore. However, I found very small ramekins at IKEA the other day, which also perfect for this.


Ingredients :
1 canned escargot ( 3 dozens )

Combine to make Garlic Butter :
1/2 cup of Soft Butter
1 clove Garlic
2 tsp finely chopped fresh parsley
Black Pepper and Salt to taste.

Methods :
Put 2 escargots in each shell or tiny ramekin, and 1/2 tsp of garlic butter.
Bake for 10 minutes.
Serve with Bread and Garlic Butter.

Erwten Soup ( Green Pea Soup )

When Mingco and Budong were back from Amsterdam last November, they brought me some packages of Gelderse Rockworst from Albert Heijn and UNOX. Ham and I love this sausages, and we plan to cook erwten soup with rockworst sausage. Ham cooked this soup and I watch. I thought it is difficult, but it seems that this is very simple. I share you his secret recipe...

Ingredients :
1 package ( 250 grams ) gelderse rockworst ( i found it at kemchiks ) or we can change it with Soluna Sausages ( bockworst ), Cut into 1 cm width.
500 gram babyback ribs ( pork )
500 gram green split peas
2000 ml boiling water.
1 block knoor vegetable stock.
500 gram leeks, chopped.
250 gram celery sticks, chopped.
fresh parsley.

Method :
Boil the babyback ribs and water and simmer until soft ( around 1 hour )
Add green split peas, simmer for 1 hour until softened.
Take out the Babyback ribs, deboned and cut the meat into chunks. Return the meat to the pan.
Add chopped leeks, celery sticks and whole fresh parsley ( about 1 cup ), simmer for 30 minutes.
10 minutes before it is ready, add the sausages to the pan, simmer with the whole soup.
Add salt and pepper to taste and serve with chopped fresh parsley.

Roast Pumpkin Soup

I got this copied recipe book from Budong so long time ago, as she recommended some of the recipes to me. I never fancied pumpkin soup before, but then last christmas, Ham asked me to 'contribute' one meal for our xmas's eve dinner, to match with his meat dishes and salad. I gave it a try and everybody loved it. Nice try !! ... :)

Ingredients :
1 Medium pumpkin, or yellow kabocha or butternut pumpkin ( around 1 kg ), cut into chunks.
2 tbs olive oil
1 large onion
2 tsp ground cummin
1 large carrot, chopped.
1 celery sticks, chopped.
1 litre chicken stock
sour cream to serve
finely chopped fresh parsley, to serve.
ground nutmeg, to serve.


Preheat the oven to 180 C and put the pumpkin on a greased baking tray and lightly brush with the olive oil. Bake for 25 minutes, until softened and slightly browned.
Heat 1 tsp of olive oil and cook the onion and cummin until soft, add carrot and celery sticks and cook for 3 minutes more.
Add the roasted pumpkin and stock, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
Allow to cool for a while.
Puree in batches using blender.
Return the soup in a pan and reheat. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
To serve, top with sour cream, sprinkle with chopped parsley and ground nutmeg.

Rendang

Ahaaa... i cooked rendang finally. It was after Lebaran Holiday when my colleagues brought Rendang to the office. Rendang is a common meal for the lebaran festives. All my female friends were busy planning to cook rendang a week before lebaran. Nurul even cooked 5 kgs of Rendang by herself.

After several discussion with my 2 padang friends, i tried their rendang recipes. Comparing to what they did, i think i made it really easy. I did not even buy the real coconut for my rendang. ohh geezzz... for 1 kg of beef, they used 3 coconuts for the coconut milk and 1/2 kg of Red Chili. However, I choose Kara. And the hardest part is that i have to simmer the rendang mix for 4 hours to get the real rendang.

Ingredients :
1/2 kg Beef ( tenderloin preferably )
1 box Kara ( 200 ml ), mix with 1,000 cc water.

Blend until smooth :
1/4 kg Red Chili, deseed.
15 cloves of Shallots
10 cloves of Garlic

2 Turmeric Leaves
5 Bay Leaves
3 Kaffir Limes Leaves
3 Lemongrasses
1 cm ginger

Method :
Boil the coconut milk, and stir occasionally.
Meanwhile, sautee the blended spices with 1 tbsp of oil until fragrant and mix with the boiling coconut.
Add beef and keep boiling.
Add the Turmeric Leaves, Bay Leaves, Kaffir Limes Leaves, Lemongrass and ginger.
I add 1 tbsp of curry powder. This is optional for stronger taste.
Season with Salt and Pepper, and simmer the mixture with very low heat, stirring occasionally.
After approximately 4 hours, the mixture gets thick and dry.

Camembert Taart with Brocolli and Cashew Nut

Ham cooked this meal. It is actually a Vegetarian Quiche with brocolli and camembert cheese. Usually it is supposed to be Gruyere Cheese. I have to sneak peek on his small note before i can share this recipe.

Rocket Salad and Pear with Lemon and Honey Dressing

Originally named INSALATA DI PECORINO E PERE, we can find this salad at many italian restaurants nowadays. First, i do not know that pecorino is for Parmesan Cheese. I tried to find this cheese but failed. However, after a search in wikipedia, there i realized that it is a " Parmiggiani Regiano" cheese or we can also call it Parmesan. This time, I made several modification though, since i was too lazy to find Pine Nut, so i change it with Cashew Nut. Quite different, but i think it is no problem with it. Always use Sweet Pear or Korean Pear for its sweetness. As for the dressing, we just combine 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and honey, then mixed it with 6 teaspoons of good olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, and toss the rocket salad and put them on the plate with prepared pears. For the topping, spinkle the pine nut and crumbled parmesan cheese. We can also change the dressing with balsamic vinegar.

Choc Devil Muffin

It was Ham's idea that i should try to make Chocolate Muffin. I usually do not buy Chocolate Muffin. I prefer banana or blueberry muffin. But, maybe it is a good idea to try on this one. I used Baking Chocolate from Collata instead of powder cocoa. I thought that it may be softer that the powder cocoa. I was tempted to buy Valrhona Baking chocolate, but it was sooo pricey. Not for the first time baker, i assume. With a little modification, i made this muffin. I named it Choc Devil, because it is soooo dark. Ham loves it !!

Ingredients :
1 cup All Purpose Flour
1/3 cup Sugar
1 egg
100 gr Unsweetened Baking Chocolate ( Collata )
1/4 cup Butter
2/3 cup Milk
1/2 teasp. salt
1/4 teasp. Baking Soda.


Method :
Preheat the oven to 160 C
Grease the muffin tin with butter and set aside.
In a bowl, melt the chocolate and butter by simmering it in the pan with water in a low heat. It can also be done using microwave for 5 minutes. Occasionally stir the mixture and all melt down.
Using Electric Mixer, mix the sugar and egg until becoming thick.
Add the chocolate mixture until it is combined well.
Add the milk.
In a bowl, shift the flour, salt and baking soda, then add to the mixture until becoming a nice batter.
Divide them equally in the muffin tin ( 6 muffins )
Bake them for 25 minutes.