Friday Punch-up!

Entah kenapa setiap Jumat selalu berlangsung sangat lama, terutama di kantor.
Pekerjaan tampaknya tak pernah berakhir. Untuk melengkapi kelamnya hari Jumat ini, hujan hebat mengguyur Jakarta. Hujan hebat, apalagi artinya kalau bukan macet yang menanti saat perjalanan pulang. Meeeeeh -____-"


Hari ini pasti pulang malam. Hari ini pasti ga akan sempet masak untuk makan malam.
Besok dan Minggu saya sudah punya rencana seharian. Tampaknya, akhir pekan ini saya takkan menyentuh perkakas dapur saya. Sigh.


Oya, semalam saya memasak untuk makan malam, loh! Meski lelah dan sedikit flu, saya kumpulkan segenap sisa-sisa energi saya--tapi sepertinya energi saya tidak cukup untuk mengabadikan gambar masakan semalam. Begitu selesai, tanpa basa-basi Spageti dan Kerang Aglio-olio itu langsung meluncur melewati kerongkongan dan masuk ke bilik-bilik di dalam perut sana untuk dicerna. And it tastes good! My boyfriend loves it too! 


Untuk resepnya, tidak jauh berbeda dengan resep aglio-olio saya sebelumnya. Tapi, pada hidangan ini, selain memakai kerang tentunya, saya coba masukkan timi kering. Entah terlalu sedikit atau apa, tapi saya tidak terlalu merasakan perbedaannya. Yang lainnya cukup standar, minyak zaitun, bawang putih, bawang bombai, cabai merah, peterseli, oregano, lada hitam, andalan saat membuat aglio-olio. Ada satu lagi tambahan di hidangan ini. Di atasnya saya taburkan bayam mentah! Yap, tidak dimasak. Hanya dibersihkan dan dicuci dengan air hangat. Rasanya? Delicioso! Bayamnya terasa renyak saat dikunyah. Ada sensasi "kresss" di tiap gigitan. Love it! Rasanya? Tidak jauh berbeda dengan bayam yang sudah dimasak, kok.Untuk kerangnya, sebelum dimasak, saya rendam dengan garam dan lemon. Sedikit usaha untuk menghilangkan rasa amisnya. 

***

Pada akhirnya, memasak memang salah satu cara saya untuk relaksasi. Semacam pengalihan dari dunia rutinitas. Bagaimanapun, memasak adalah proses kreatif. Memasak juga bisa dibilang sebuah seni. Apa pun yang berbau kreatif dan seni, tentu saja merupakan pelarian yang paling tepat dari kepenatan hari kita. Apalagi kalau kita memasak untuk orang yang kita sayang. It motivates you to cook from the heart. Lalu saat melihat mereka menyantap habis masakan kita, bilang kalau mereka suka dan berterima kasih atas makanannya, wah, it's priceless moment, I tell you.


As for my beloved Satya Prapanca, I thank you for finishing up your meal, help me clean the dishes, and of course, for giving me such a big motivation to cook! I






Ciao!

Sunday Dinner: Clams and Mushroom Soup

If you read my previous post, then you must’ve known that I planned to cook the clams for lunch. But again, I get sleepy in the afternoon and decided to take a nap—a nap that went too long. Gosh, all those waking up in the morning to shop and make breakfast really drain my energy :p


Anyway, at first I planned to make farfalle with creamy clam sauce. But I decided to try something else. Soup! I never cook cream soup at all. And all the recipe I found in the internet were involving wine, sherry, or any other ingredients that I don’t have and quite hard to find in my country. So I brace my self and decided to improvise with this recipe. 


I made Clams and Mushroom Soup and add a scoop of mashed potato on the side. The recipe is simple. It’s just an improved recipe of the béchamel sauce.

Serving portion: 3
Cooking time: 1 hr


Soup Ingredients:
- Milk.
- Flour.
- Handful of Clams.
- Mushroom, sliced or diced, anything you like.
- Parsley.
- Beef stock (I use Royco beef flavored, a some kind of flavor enhancement powder, since I don’t have any home-made beef stock.)
- Butter.
- 4 cloves of Garlic (I just love garlic!)
- Half of Onion.
- Freshly ground black pepper.
- Salt to taste.


And now, how to make it:
1. Heat pan. Add butter, garlic, onions, and mushrooms until well cooked.
2. Add clams and parsley. Cook for about 3 minutes.
3. Add flour and cook until all mix well.
4. Add the beef stock, or in my case, water and then the beef flavor enhancement powder, and milk. Let it thicken.
5. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Serve it nice and hot.


I don’t really know how to make a good soup. I just improvise my ways. And it turns out to be okay. At first, my soup was still taste fishy from the clams. So I add extra black pepper and cook it a bit longer. But hey, it works! Grazie a Dio. Otherwise, the soup will go straight to the drain :p


Oh, I almost forgot the mashed potato. You can see the recipe here. Enjoy!




Cheers!

Stack'em Good!

So, on Sunday, I made a twist with yesterday’s brunch. I made French toast with fried egg and smoked beef, and drizzled with mornaise sauce. And plus, my fav of this week, grilled tomato and onion.


A mornaise sauce is actually a béchamel sauce with added grated cheese. Usually, it consists of half Gruyère and half Parmesan cheese, though some variations use different combinations of Gruyère, Emmental cheese, or white Cheddar. Got the recipe, again, from Chuck’s Day Off.


It is easy to make and can make your tummy full for quite a long time.


So, let’s begin the recipe.

Serving portion: 2

Cooking time: 30 mins


French Toast
- Bread, any kind. I use the leftover wheat bread from yesterday.
- Margarine
- Milk
- 1 Egg


1. Whisk milk and egg.
2. Put the bread on egg mixture until it soaks the liquid.
3. Heat pan and add margarine.
4. Fry the bread until brown on each side.


Just make the regular fried egg. Then crisp the smoked beef. And as for the mornaise sauce, you can make the béchamel sauce then add grated cheese at the end. Check the béchamel recipe here. I know it supposed to use half of gruyere and half of parmesan. But since I cook on a tight budget, again, I just use cheddar.  No problem at all. 


You can also check my grilled tomato and onion recipe here.


Then all you need to do is stack'em! Add another grated cheese on top just for fun and garnish with parsley.


There you go. It’s an easy dish and I bet everyone can make it.


Btw, I bought some clams in the morning and I plan to make lunch with some leftover farfalle with clam sauce. Better start googling for “easy clam sauce recipe”now.

PS. I'm thinking of making this as my weekend project. Well, if I have nothing else to do of course. How bout it? Sounds good, no?


Cheers!

Farfalle Aglio Olio con Gamberi e Funghi

As my promise yesterday, this is my dinner recipe. Farfalle Aglio Olio con Gamberi e Funghi. Well that's just the fancy name, the normal name would be Farfalle Aglio Olio with Prawns and Mushroom :p


Actually this is my lunch menu. But, because I got so sleepy in the afternoon (because I had to woke up so early to shop. sigh.) and decided to take a nap, which turns out into a very long nap and I woke up at 6.30 pm, so I cooked this dish for dinner. 


Bored with spaghetti and fettuccini, I decide to go with farfalle. Farfalle are a type of pasta. Commonly known as "bow-tie pasta," the name is derived from the Italian word farfalla (butterfly). (source: wikipedia.com)

The bow-tie pasta. Lovely isn't it?

I decided to cook it on aglio-olio style and with prawns and mushroom.  Here’s the recipe. Trust me, it’s so easy!

Serving portion: 3
Cooking time: 30 mins


- Half package of farfalle pasta (about 250 grams)
- Olive oil
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- Half onion, chopped
- Fresh parsley, finely chopped
- Mushroom, chopped
- Prawns, cleaned, peeled and devined
- Smoked beef, diced and crispy fried
- Chili powder
- Red chili
- Tomato, diced
- Salt and pepper

1. Cook pasta in salted boiling water until al dente and then drain and set aside.
2. Heat saucepan then adds olive oil, garlic, onion, chili powder, red chili, parsley, and mushrooms. Cooked till mushroomsbegin to brown. 
3. Add prawns to the mixture. Cooked through.
4. Reduce heat and allow to simmer for about 5 mins. Toss regularly. Add chopped        tomatoes just t heat. 
5. Pour the mixture into pasta and mix well.
6. Add grated cheese on top if you like.
7. Add parsley for garnish.

I also make some garlic bread as a starter. Too bad I forgot to take picture of them. 
For the garlic bread, I made the very simple one using wheat bread.


Garlic Bread
- 4 wheat breads. Lose the crust. Cut into quarter.
- Margarine.
- 4 cloves of garlic. Finely chopped.
- Parsley. Finely chopped.


1. Mix margarine, garlic and parsley.
2. Spread over one side of the bread.
3. Heat pan and grill the bread. Non-margarine side on the pan first.
4.     Let it brown but don't let it burnt.


That’s it, folks. Have it a go. Improvise. After all, cooking is fun! 

Cheers!

Stacked Breakfast

So, this is my first post in 2012! Akhirnya, ada juga yang bisa ditulis di sini. hehehe.
Jadi, begini ceritanya. Di kantor lagi sering banget ngerjain acara masak2an dari Food Network. Alhasil, ngiler lah saya ngeliat smua masakan2 itu. Plus muncul hasrat buat masak kayak chef2 itu.


Jadi, tiap wiken atau tiap kapan pun kalo sempet, you will see me get busy with my pots, pans, knives, and the lots! Sebenernya kalo hobi masak udah dari dulu. Cuma emang belum pernah tersalurkan karena sarana dan prasarana yang kurang memadai. 


Nah, wiken kmaren, saya masak buat sarapan dan makan malam. Tadinya mo bikin buat makan siang juga, cuma gara-gara bangun pagi demi belanja di tukang sayur, siangnya akikah ngatuuuuk, Mak! Jadilah tidur siang dan baru kebangun jam 6 sore. LOL. Alhasil, menu makan siang dialokasikan jadi menu makan malam, dan menu makan malam masih sekadar resep di kertas.


Btw, without further ado, ini dia menu makan pagi yang kesiangan alias brunch (resep makan malam saya post setelah ini, ya). Enjoy!

Serving portion: 2
Cooking time: 30 mins


Got the recipe from a TV show called Chuck’s Day Off. The original recipe use polenta instead of mashed potato, spinach,  bacon instead of smoked beef, and no sauce. This is my version of that recipe, using mashed potato, smoked beef, poached egg, spinach, and béchamel sauce, plus grilled tomato and onion on the side.


It took quite some time to prepare and cook this dish, because I only have one stove, one microwave, and one rice cooker. But it’s actually quite easy to make. Here’s the recipe.


:: Mashed Potato
- 3 potatoes
- 2 tbs butter
- Milk
- Salt and pepper to taste


1. Cut potato in quarter and put it on salted boiling water. Cook until tender for about 15 mins.
2. Heat butter and milk over low heat.
3. Blend milk mixture into potatoes until smooth and creamy.
4. Season with salt and pepper.


:: Microwave Poached egg
- Eggs
- Salt


1. Add water into a microwave-safe mug, salt, and put the egg.
2. Microwave for about 2-3 mins (depend on your microwave)


:: Butter Spinach
- Spinach
- Butter
- Garlic
- Salt
- Ice water


1. Put spinach in boiling water for one minute.
2. Drain and move it to the ice water bath to keep the green.
3. Heat butter and garlic over low heat and put the spinach.
4. Cook it for just a minute.


:: Heat smoked beef in pan until crispy. Set aside.


:: Grilled Tomato and Onion
- Tomato
- Onion
- Salt
- Oregano


1. Drizzle tomato with olive oil, salt, and oregano.
2. Heat pan and turn in the tomatoes and onions until grilled.


:: Béchamel Sauce
- 2 tbs Butter
- 1 tbs All purpose flour
- Milk
- Salt and pepper


1. Heat butter and flour in saucepan over low heat until the flour cooked.
2. Pour milk and stir constantly until thicken. 
3. Season with salt and pepper.


After all dish are ready, stacked in this order: Mashed potato-Smoked beef-Spinach-Poached egg.
Then drizzle with the sauce and put the tomatoes and onion on the side.
Garnish with parsley. Voila! Breakfast is served.


Though it took a lot of preparation, but this is a good dish to start your day. 

Cheers!