Bistik Daging Nanas Pedas & Weird Dreams

Is it just me, or do you guys have weird dreams too?

When I heard the word nightmare, I only thought of any dreams involving scary ghosts flying around scary places/evil spirits, ala the Ring, Poltergeist, Omen, Nightmare on Elm Street, etc.

I never thought that my other weirdo dreams, such as:
- I have a mathematics exam today, but I've been studying biology
- I have an exam today, but I didn't study at all yesterday
- I can't get to the examination building (naturally, I woke up before the scene where I got to the exam room or going through the exam)
- I am so late for work, there is an ultra important meeting, and there are 100001 obstacles to pass through (of cos, I would wake up before the scene where I got to the office)
- Having nothing to eat
- Very hungry, seeing a mountain of delicious food in front of me, yet I can't touch them (Oh nooo...)

...are actually considered nightmares too. Ms. Wiki said that any dreams that make me feel strongly unpleasant = nightmare.

Why do I have so many nightmares? Ehm, does going to bed after eating cause nightmare? I learnt this from my emotionally deep, highly profound literature, Garfield. I was wondering if it was true...and yes, Ms. Wiki said so too. Eating before sleep increases body's metabolism and brain activity, and I do, snack before bed (a lot), thus my very vivid, super intense, never ending exam/work/hunger nightmares.

But what the heck, nothing feels better than sleeping after a delicious and satisfying meal.

This was one of my nightmare cause...
Bistik Daging Nanas Pedas
(Spicy Meat and Pineapple in Sweet & Savoury Sauce)

Back home, bistik is made with sliced beef and homemade fried potato chunks, which I totally love. However, as I repeatedly said, I love minced meat as it makes my weekdays easier (no chopping, no slicing, no nothing), and the pineapple chunks added natural sweetness and acidity to this dish. The chopped chilli added and extra spicy kick for me.

Recipe
- 1 pack (0.7 lb) minced meat
- half a small fresh pineapple, remove core and cut into bite sized chunks (you can use canned pineapple, but fresh is better)
- 3 red chilli, chopped (adjust to suit your taste)
- 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
- half an onion, sliced
- light soy sauce, kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), a dash of worcestershire sauce, white pepper, ground/freshly grated nutmeg, olive oil

Saute garlic, onion and chilli in hot oil, add meat, cook until thoroughly cooked, add sauces, add pineapple chunks, cook until everything is done, serve with plain rice, or stir in some pasta.

If you like your pineapple caramelised a little, add them before adding the meat, cook until they are caramelised.


I devoured loads of this with loads of rice and the carb high sent me straight to bed. My nightmare was trying to go to hip hop class, taught by my super hot dance teacher (I guess deep inside I wanted to exercise/drooling over a hot guy, instead of curling under a blanket after a meal), but there were 1,000,000 obstacles which I had to go through, including finding my favorite exercise t-shirt and driving through a crowded Indonesian market. Bah!

But it was so totally worth it, at least it wasn't anything with scary ghosts flying around.

Mixed Sausages Scrambled Eggs - Cute Prop: Thy Cup Runneth Over! - I Won Something!

Lazy, but still wants something yummy. That sounds like me. I was too lazy to even go out to shop for ingredients last night. Too excited about all the wonderful things which are going on in my life...(nosy questions: like what? like what? work? love? life? like whattttt???) ...hehe...namely, this game called Hexic (Bah! So lame!). I could play it non stop, on SC's Xbox 360, on my mobile phone, at home, while cooking, while waiting for the cake baking, on my commute to work on the train, on the bus, waiting for traffic light, queueing for ATM, crossing the street (!!! Do not try this at home, it is dangerous and I must stop!!!)

Thus, I just put together something easy from any leftover ingredients lying around my fridge to make this yumminess:
Mixed Sausages Scrambled Eggs
- 1 Chinese liver sausage, sliced thinly
- 6 mini cheese dogs, sliced thick, around 5mm
(You can use other sausages)
- 1 bunch of spring onion, sliced thinly
- 4 eggs, beaten
- fish sauce, dark soy sauce, pepper

On a hot frying pan, fry the liver sausages. You don't need any oil, the Chinese sausages release loads of delicious tasting oil from the fat. Throw in the other sausages, cook until they are a bit crispy. Throw the spring onion in, cook until wilted, add beaten eggs with 1 tsp of fish sauce, lower heat, mix about to create texture, don't overcook eggs, you want it silky smooth. Remove pan from heat, serve with steamed rice, drizzled a bit with dark soy.

Yumminess is easy. It does not always need that much effort (another not-so-profound quote from me)

...and what did I find from my furniture (window) shopping trip last weekend?
This sexiness!
Is your cup half empty?
Half full?

So boobielicious! So, curvalicious!

...and...remember this childhood dish? This picture won the (Almost) Forgotten Indonesian Heritage contest hosted by my blogging pal Rurie.

WOW WOW WOW! (An obvious sign of an individual who hardly wins anything, if not at all). I feel so honored to be selected, thanks judge! and I'll get a book! Woohooo! (I don't have any cookbook at all, this will be my first ^_^, thanks again Rurie!)

My cup? sooo runneth over!

Martabak Manis - My Tower of Shame

Imagine a Hollywood movie trilogy.
The Martabak Manis (Thick Indonesian Pancake) Disaster Series - by Mochachocolata-Rita
I. Martabak Manis: Thin & Burnt - yet Delicious (published and was quite a hit)
II. Martabak Manis the sequel: Thick, not Burnt - yet NOT yummy (not published, went straight to recycle bin)
III. Martabak Manis the triquel: My Tower of Shame (now showing)

My tower of shame? Why?

This is my third attempt, and I've been given the ultimate deliciousness martabak manis recipe, complete with tireless online guidance (thank you sooo much, Lidia! ^_^), and I still managed to f*cked it up. Un-freaking-believable!

Ehm well, I had only myself to blame. Let me summarize my failures:
First Attempt
What happened: did not follow recipe properly, set the heat too high, and left the pancake unattended (surely, a recipe for disaster)
Result: thin pancake, burnt bottom (doesn't look as sexy as it sounds)

Second Attempt
What happened: trying a good recipe, skipped hand mixer, just used a whisk to beat the heck outta the batter, frying was done using IKEA non stick pan
Result: batter didn't raise as high as it should've, texture was all wrong, disgustingly soft, tasted off

Third Attempt

What happened: trying the good recipe again, used a hand mixer, frying was done using IKEA non stick pan, I didn't know when I should stop cooking (!!!)
Result: the batter raised beautifully, towering all high and proud, the texture and taste wasn't bad (but not that good), and again, the ever so unsightly, unsexy burnt bottom!!!

What have I learnt from my multiple failures? What's my next action plan?
- Contemplate never to try making a martabak manis again. Like, ever
- Buy a proper pan with a thick bottom. That thin and cheap IKEA pan just won't work
- When back to Indonesia, get an internship with a martabak manis vendor
- Failing that, flirt outrageously with him to get the recipe
- Failing that, propose marriage to a martabak manis vendor
- Try to import a martabak manis vendor into Hong Kong
- Heck, just have Aphin Martabak Manis phone number on speed dial and order every night before going back to Hong Kong

I am anything but persistent, eh? Duh, this trilogy is so not a blockbuster material.

Nasi Goreng Sambal Ijo - The Fried Rice that Screwed Up My Diet

I am sure you have heard of the term "slowly but sure". It's good for something you're hoping for, such as success or achievements, but not so great for weight gain. Hehe. Plus, weight gain is normally not exactly slowly but sure, it's more like rapid and unstoppable (at least mine is).

The last few weeks when I realized that none of my pants fit, I had a crazy idea to start an extreme dieting. Skipping meals, eating almost nothing, starving myself to stupidity and the like. How silly of me to think that I'd succeed. The first day I skipped breakfast I felt pretty happy with myself, by the time I successfully had a very minimum lunch of healthy sandwiches I was pretty smug, thinking, I could totally do this. Summer swim suits, here I come!

I went home after work planning to skip dinner and attend an exercise class. Before class, I was preparing lunch boxes for the day after. Something simple. Just putting together a spicy green chilli sauce I made previously, and leftover rice. Everything was going well as planned...

....until I tasted the
Nasi Goreng Sambal Ijo (Spicy Green Chilli Fried Rice)

...and everything went downhill from there.

Recipe
(serves 4)
- 2 cups rice, cooked, refrigerated overnight
- 1/2 lbs minced meat
- 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 8 large green chilli, chopped
- ground cumin, ground corriander seeds, salt, pepper, sugar, fish sauce, pepper, olive oil

Saute garlic, chilli and onion in hot olive oil, add ground cumin and ground corriander seeds, add rice, mix well, season with salt, pepper, sugar, fish sauce, and serve.

It might look all simple and humble, but it is fragrant and super tasty. It kinda reminds you of eating hot steamy rice with Padang restaurant's sambel ijo. Yum!

I ravenously downed at least two meals worth of the evil fried rice (super gurihhhh) - ohhhh carb! and the only exercise I could do after that was lying on my couch clicking the remote control watching some bad TV.

So much for extreme dieting. Folks, do not try this at home (the diet, not the fried rice ^_^)

Chickpeas, Cheddar & Sausage Cakes- My Blogging Beginning

How did I end up blogging?

This question sent me back to sometime before Chinese New Year 2008. *Whoosh...time traveling*
Damn...I've totally missed my first bloggiversary without realizing it, just like how I've missed uncountable anniversaries, birthdays, and other special occasions of my loved ones. My bad.

I have always been an online exhibitionist. I love sharing what I ate, what did I do, where did I go, documenting, posting and ranting about every mundane trivia, torturing whoever happened to come across my (pre-blogging) Friendster/MSN Space page/Picasa Web Album/Facebook page.

Last year, when I started cooking, my friends and I would talk about recipes etc, and I found that it'd easier to just post what I've cooked, including the recipes in my Facebook photo albums, than repeating the same story again and again via various Instant Messaging mediums (I should join IM-holic Anonymous).

When I was looking for recipes online, I came across Su Yin's blog, The Journal of A Girl who Loves to Cook, and from there, all hells broke loose. I read every single post in her wonderful blog, feeling every moment she documented, and clicked all the links my eyes could see. Her blog led me to Jaden's hilarious blog, Steamy Kitchen, and again, I devoured everything, feasting on the drool-worthy food photographs, rolling on the floor laughing.

Inspired by them, my food descriptions in facebook photo albums was getting longer and longer, soon enough, one album grew to two albums, and I thought, what the heck, let me start a blog just for fun.

Great. And now look at me...totally hooked!

Let me spare you from a never ending nostalgia, which is a more accurate indicator of old age compared to wrinkles (wrinkles can always get ironed by cosmetics, botox, and the best of all...photoshop, but the tendency to blurt out repeated stories of nostalgia doesn't lie)...and share this with you...

Chickpeas, Cheddar & Sausage Muffins

Recipe
(yields 8 cakes, 6 in muffin tray, 2 in ramekins)
- 1 can of chickpeas, drained, pat dry, mash approx 3/4 of them
- 1 & 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1.5 tsp salt
- a dash of black pepper
- a bit of dried mixed herbs (oregano, thyme, rosemary, sage)
- 1 tsp chicken stock powder (optional)
- 6 mini sausages, sliced
- 1/3 cup (or more) cheese (I used cheddar, cut into cubes)
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1/4 cup oil
- 1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 180C (350C), season mashed chick peas with a pinch of salt and pepper. Keep sausages, cheese and chickpeas on the side. Mix all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Mix all wet ingredients in a bowl. Mix dry and wet ingredients well, add chickpeas, sausages and cheese, pour batter into greased ramekins/cake mould/muffins, bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Hearty and savory deliciousness, perfect with my morning coffee or afternoon tea.

Now, tell me what led you to this addiction?