Pumpkin Pie

Alright, April -May theme to Masak Bareng Yuuk events is Pie or Tart. To my dismay and almost heartbreaking on the idea that I might not be able to participate solely because I have no cooking gadgets to make this. (living in a rented room with no kitchen and rely only on my rice cooker. We are still on our surviving mode living heheheh).So I decided to have a go and submit the one I made sometime ago when we were still in UK. I have never post it on my blog so... can we consider this a legit entry... pleaseeeee

So here it is... My entry for MasBar April-May edition of Pie or Tart

This was my first time baking either pie or pumpkin pie. I wasn't sure if it will turned out well. But for the sake of new experience and the use of the abundance of pumpkin in British Autumn, I decided to have a go. it was also in the spirit of helping others as I made this dish to be sold on our Indonesian Dissaster Appeal organized by us, the Indonesian Students in Brighton, UK. That time it was the earthquake in Indonesia (hmmm... lupa baru2 itu dimana ya)... So to my delight, the pumpkin pie turned out great, taste yummy and sold out... Hahahah what more can I asked.

Source: Simply Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups of pumpkin pulp purée from a sugar pumpkin* or from canned pumpkin purée - I use fresh pumpkin that I steamed and purée in food processor.
1 (12oz). can of evaporated milk
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs plus the yolk of a third egg
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamon
1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest
1 good crust - I use 2 small store bought ready-made crust (lazy huh?!)

DIRECTIONS:
1. To make the pumpkin puree: cut pumpkin to quarters. About the size of half of your palm. Put it on a steamer and steam it for 15 minutes or until soft. Transfer to food processor and blitzed until puréed. Then measured it up to 2 cups that is needed. The leftovers if any can be use to make creamy pumpkin soup. - not: I add a pinch of salt and sugar to it.
2. Preheat oven to 425°F.
3. Mix sugars, salt, and spices, and lemon zest in a large bowl. Beat the eggs and add to the bowl. Stir in the pumpkin purée. Stir in cream. Whisk all together until well incorporated.
4. Pour into pie shell and bake at 425°F for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes reduce the temperature to 350°F. Bake 40-50 minutes, or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
5. Meanwhile quick toast some walnut to be scattered on top of the pie.
6. Cool on a wire rack for 2 hours.
7. Serve with dollops of whipped cream And a sprinkle of ground cinnamon

Simple and Versatile Choc Puds

When we were living in UK, we were a bit confused at the beginning whenever Brits said “we shall have Puds after this”. Assuming Puds as the pudding we usually have in Indonesia, we were surprised to learn that Puds can refer to any kind of sweet dessert. So soft and hot chocolate cupcake can also mean Puds.

In Indonesia when you say pudding it will mean something similar to Jelly or Gelatin. Our Pudding is made of Seaweed extract unlike gelatine which derived from the collagen inside animals' skin and bones (Wikipedia) 

There are very sophisticated way of making Pudding but one very simple way I know consist of only 4 to 5 ingredients which you don’t need an exact measurement that can sometimes drive you crazy. My mother taught me and my brother how to make this back when we were in elementary school.

So if you are living abroad, get yourself to Asian store and look for something that look like this or similar. This is just an example of what I like to use. They come in color so to be safe choose the plain one, or chocolate if you want to make chocolate pudding.

OK, Here’s how to make one. Oh and… measuring wise – just go with what you feel like adding. This is very versatile.

Ingredients:

• 1 packet of Agar-Agar – the chocolate flavour one
• 8 glass of water – The packet will ask you to put 4 glass or 500ml of water but I usually add ¾ of it’s amount to soften the pudding to a melt-in-your-mouth texture.
• A cup of Milk you desire – the more the creamier – If you have Chocolate Milk it will be perfect too.
• Several Tablespoon of Sugar – You decide the level of sweetness
• 2 Tbsp of Powdered chocolate or 2 chunks of cooking chocolate (melted) – Optional

Directions:

1. Put the water in a medium size pan, add the sugar and milk (and the powdered or melted chocolate if your are using). Stir until sugar dissolve.
2. Add the agar-agar packet and stir well until all combine without any lumps.
3. Put it on the stove – medium heat and keep on stirring in circular motion. Never stop stirring or else the bottom will stick.
4. When it is bubbling, take it off the stove and then pour into mold.

Note and Tips:

1.  If you are using Plain (no Color) Agar-Agar and you want to make chocolate Pudding, then the addition of powdered chocolate or the use of chocolate milk is a must (or else how can we call it chocolate pudding when it’s not chocolate.
2. If you are using Plain (no Color) Agar-Agar you can alternatively make a vanilla pudding. Just use plain milk and add some vanilla essence or vanilla pods.
3. Wet the mold before pouring the hot pudding mix. Just run some water on the inside of the mold and empty it again. 

Kacang Ijo Halia // Ginger Mungbean

I made this yesterday when Simon is busy catching up his dissertation deadline and I am 1 day away from my due date. Both of us are very anxious. Simon promised to finsih his dissertation before the baby goes into labour. Poor husband of mine is doing all he can to get ahead of time. Unfortunatelly, he started to feel unwell, a bit feverish. The temperature was dropping so it does feel a bit nippy. I suddenly remember that mung bean is good for health and having it with ginger will warm your body and provide extra energy.
I do not use exact measurement... so it's up to your liking for the taste

Ingredient:
2 handful of Mung bean
a big chunk (app. 3 tbsp) palm sugar - or ordinary sugar will also works
2 glass of water (app. 400ml)
1 tsp salt
2 cm ginger, crushed
Condensed milk to serve with

Direction:
1. Wash and boil mung bean with crushed ginger with 2 glass of water until the beans breaks and tender - feel free to add more water if the mung bean is not yet breaks and tender
2. Add Palm sugar and salt to taste.
3. To serve : ladle mung bean to a glass and drizzle condense milk to your desire.

Es Pisang Ijo // "Banana in Green Pancake Dessert"

I am so excited for this month theme of Masak bareng Yuuk!!! "Aneka Masakan Berbahan Dasar Pisang"
I thought of several different dishes but my sister's picture of Es Pisang Ijo she made in Holland got me drooling all over. Thus I decided to make my take of Es Pisang Ijo.

Es Pisang Ijo is basically steamed Banana wrapped in green pancake served with coconut milk thick custard and topped with crushed ice and milk drizzle. It's popular and delicious Indonesian Desert or snack.
In Ambon, Es Pisang Ijo is almost immediately  associated with Pemuda Bakery. The yumminess of Es Pisang Ijo Pemuda is indeed on my mind when I made my version. Only this is Es Pisang Ijo ala Helena's Kitchen in Brighton, UK.

LOL!!!... I was already a bit hungry when I made the green pancake and got very impatient when taking picture with a rumbling tum. One, because it smell and look delicious and because obviously I am Hungry. So here's the pictures and recipe.... Happy Cooking!!!

Ingredient:
For Green Pancake:
1 cup All Purpose Flour
11/2 cup milk or water mix with 3 tsp of Pandan paste or essence
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp of oil to grease the pan


Mix flour, salt, sugar and egg then pour milk. Mix well until there's no lumps in the batter.
The batter should be runny to make nice thin pancake.
Heat a non-stick pan, add few drops of oil to grease the surface.
Pour 1 ladle of pancake batter, swivel around to make pancake. Cook 1-2 min on each side.

For Thick Coconut milk Custard
400 ml coconut milk (I use canned one - 300ml mix with 100ml water)
25 gr Rice flour
4 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 Pandan leaf, bruised and tied together

Put the Rice Flour in medium non stick pan with sugar and salt.
Add the coconut milk slowly while mixing it until smooth.
Put the pandan leaf in and continue stiring over medium heat.
When the batter thickened and smooth, take it off the heat.

For Banana
I use 2 ripe Pisang Tanduk or yellow plantains. much better if they are soft to the touch when you buy it.

Simply peel the banans, cut them in half or in three and steam for 5 minutes.

Topping
1 cup of crushed ice per serving
Cocopandan or Strawberry syrup
Condensed Milk

(Ps. I cannot find Cocopandan or Strawberry Syrup in Brighton so I made my own simple syrup. simply boil 1 cup of water with 1 cup of sugar. Add 2 drops of strawberry essence and 2 drop of red food coloring. Let it simmer for 15 min over medium heat)

How to Serve:
1. Wrap the steamed banana in green pancake
2. Put it on a bowl or deep plate and cut it bite size
3. Topped with Coconut Milk Custard and Crushed Ice
4. Pour Cocopandan or strawberry syrup
5. Drizzle Condensed milk on top

ENJOY a Blissful Dessert!!