Ladurèe!

Last Friday, me and my friend spent an afternoon at the City. We initially wanted to visit the Sydney Library, but unfortunately someone was caught in ZARA sale and it took her quite long in the shop (that's me!). Anyway, we made it to Laduree in Westfield Sydney instead. I was soooooo excited! You don't know how bad I wanted to try Laduree's macaroons! I always dream coming to Paris just to try these little sweethearts.

The menu book

I forgot how and where I get to know Laduree. But one thing I remember, Laduree invented the round colorful macaroons that we know of today and that they have the best macaroons in the world. 

When macaroons were so "in" in Jakarta, I read from a lot of reviews that Bakerzin produced the yummiest macaroons around in Jakarta. It was quite expensive for average Indonesians. But I'm one of those person who would pay more just to get that once in a lifetime experience (if I don't intend to repurchase). So, after I got married, I asked my husband to try a couple of Bakerzin's macaroons. Well, sorry to say, it doesn't have the nicest taste and feel in my mouth. Since then, I really wanted to know how a REAL macaroon supposed to taste like. Just like sushi, you will know how "good" sushi should taste like when you have tasted the "good" one. It's like teaching your tongue to differentiate.

Our orders

I am one heck of a lucky girl! I somehow ended up in Sydney. And a few months ago, I found out from Instagram that Laduree just opened its shop in Sydney. I was extremely excited! Because I get to taste the best macaroons in the world without actually having to fly all over to Paris! (I just found out a couple of hours ago that they have opened stores in Japan as well). Another lucky thing, I have a friend to experience it together as first-timers ;).

Rose-flavored mini mac

I just blabbered too much, didn't I? Okay, so, me and my friend arrived at Laduree's chic small open cafe. Each of us ordered two macaroons and a pot of tea (makes 5 cups). I tried the Rose and Pistachio flavor macaroons and was suggested The Melange Special Laduree (a blend of citrus fruit, rose, vanilla, and cinnamon tea) by the waiter. The macaroons were pricey ($4 a piece for dine in! -- $3.20 for takeaway), but it was all worth it! The taste was amazing and the texture was perfect. As far as I know, the macaroons were flown from Switzerland where they were stored. I was like, "Oh, so this is how the best macaroons taste like." The tea is also very delightful. All of the flavors were present and they were like flying around tickling my taste buds.

The Melange Special Laduree

This place is definitely recommended! But I suggest you wouldn't want to come here too often, hehe. They have cute packaging as well and takeaways come with a chic gift/shopping bag. All worth the price! Seriously.

Tuna-Mushroom Oat Porridge

In an attempt to start healthy living, I've been avoiding high cholesterol food. However, I never really tried to find out about the food that actually lowers the cholesterol. My husband's been an avid eater of high cholesterol food, such as cow's brain and jeroan (can somebody help with translations, please?). Since we lived together, I have been forever forbidding him to eat cow's brain (his favorite). Yes, he was very disappointed. But since I was the cook of the house, he had no choice :D.

Out of nowhere, I started searching about food that can help lowers the cholesterol. I've found many lists. Some of the food that they have in common on the lists are: oats, garlic, salmon (and other fatty fish), blueberries, nuts (almond, walnuts, etc), soy, and vegetable oil. When I found out about this, I told my husband that he can eat those high cholesterol food on one condition: must eat oat porridge or raw garlic afterwards. He said, "Yes yes!". Someone is excited to eat cow's brain again. So, below is my attempt to make a savoury version of oat porridge (I can't imagine eating oat porridge with fruits and milk). Enjoy!

Sorry, no better pictures (>.<). Only managed an Instagram quality, nyeh.

Ingredients:

• 1 can of tuna chunks in sea salt and cracked pepper
• 2 big white mushroom, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 stick of green onion, chopped
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp water
• Salt & black pepper to taste
• Olive oil
• Kikkoman sauce
• 2 portions of oat porridge

How to make:

• Heat olive oil in a pan. Saute the minced garlic.
• Dump in the tuna chunks and white mushroom. Add fish sauce, black pepper, and salt.
• Add water to wither the mushroom and stir.
• Add in the chopped green onion and stir again for about 1 minute. Turn off the heat.
• Prepare in a bowl: oat porridge, add 1/2 to 1 tbsp of Kikkoman sauce (you might want to pour a bit at a time and taste), then add the tuna-mushroom stir fry on top

Notes:

• You can substitute tuna with salmon
• You can add boiled mixed veggies as well!

Find the list of food to lower your cholesterol:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cholesterol/CL00002

http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Heart_Letter/2009/October/11-foods-that-lower-cholesterol

http://www.prevention.com/food/food-remedies/10-best-cholesterol-lowering-foods

and many more!

Cinnamon Rolls 2

Had a leftover half block of cream cheese. Thought I'd make cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting on top, because the cream cheese wasn't enough for a cheesecake, hehe. If you scroll back to one of my early posts, you may find a cinnamon rolls recipe. But this time, I tried another recipe. It's from a website I don't commonly trust for a recipe: about.com. But I did. The only thing that made me continued on trying this recipe is that it describes "the rolls freeze wonderfully and can be reheated in the microwave." This time I get to use my Tefal kitchen machine! Such a big help! The dough came out really nice and fluffy. Definitely worth trying! And oh, for the frosting, I used another recipe.

Sorry, no better pictures (>.<). Only managed an Instagram quality, nyeh.

Ingredients:

Rolls:

• 1-1/2 packet of dry yeast (3-1/4 tsp)
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1-1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 4-5 cups sifted flour
• For sprinkles: butter (room temperature), brown sugar, cinnamon powder, raisins (optional)

Cream cheese icing:

• 8 tbsp softened butter
• 1-1/2 cups of icing sugar
• 1/2 cup cream cheese
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

How to make:

• Add the warm water to the yeast and soak for 10 minutes.
• Heat milk, pour over shortening. Add sugar and salt and let cool until lukewarm. Add the dissolved yeast and beaten egg. Add flour, adding one at a time beating after each addition.
• Dough should be soft yet firm enough to handle. Knead on floured board until elastic and smooth. (I omit this step because I was using my kitchen machine, I need not to knead anymore).
• Turn dough into well oiled bowl and let rise for 1-1/2 hours.
• Punch dough and divide into 2 balls. Roll dough out into a rectangle.
• Spread butter (room temperature), sprinkle generous amount of brown sugar and cinnamon. Then roll the long side.
• Slice the roll into pieces about 1-1/2 inches thick. Place slices in a greased baking pan. Let it rise again for 1 hour.
• Bake in 175 degress Celcius oven for 15-20 minutes. Don't over bake the rolls.
• For the icing: mix the ingredients together
• Spread the icing over the warm rolls as soon as they are placed on a plate to let the frosting melt and run into the rolls.

Notes:

• I used only 1 packet of yeast (7 gr)
• For the shortening, I used butter
• Clumsy me, I added 1/2 cup of sugar instead of 1/3 cup, but it still turn out good
• Add the flour little by little until the desired consistency, I finished adding the flour around 4 cups (and a bit more)
• For the cream cheese icing, I added the icing sugar little by little and stopped at around 1 cup (I didn't dunk all the 1-1/2 cups)

Source: 

Rolls: http://baking.about.com/od/sweetrolls/r/ultimtecinnroll.htm 

Icing: http://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipe/cinnamon-rolls-L5299.html

Summer-y Agar Jelly

Summer is on in Sydney, yeah! What I love about summer is the stone fruits! Peach, nectarine, cherry, you name it! I love 'em all! This season I've been having weekly regular trips to Sydney Flemington market just to pick up these delicacy of summer.

A couple of weeks ago, we picked up a bottle of fizzy pink lemonade from Aldi. The funny thing is that we only bought it because we wanted the bottle! Seriously I didn't know how to finish up the lemonade since me and Bunbun aren't fond with soda. Then I had the idea to make fruity-lemonade jelly.

Ingredients:

• 500ml pink lemonade
• 4 tbsp sugar
• Nectarines, halved, pitted, and sliced into thin wedges
• Strawberries, halved
• 1 packet of agar (vegetarian gelatine)

How to make:

• In a saucepan, mix pink lemonade and sugar. Add agar and heat the mixture.
• Stir the mixture continuously and bring to boil.
• Place the sliced fruits into pyrex or any jelly mould. Pour in the agar mixture.
• Let it cool to room temperature before setting it in the fridge.

Notes:

1. Agar would not set if the mixture is too acid. So, if your mixture is a blend of acid fruits/liquid, I would suggest to add more agar powder.
2. The agar actually tastes yummy, it's just that the texture isn't that great. It didn't set perfectly. So, next time I will try substituting the agar with konjac (konnyaku) powder.

Tom Yum

So very sorry! This is a very very late post on my Tom Yum soup that I made on my first visit to Sydney (since I got married). It was spring at that time and I kinda craved for something spicy and hot. Yep, Tom Yum's got it all! And I could never get enough of this on cold days! Always remember that you can adjust this recipe to your liking by adding more of the spices shown below.

Ingredients:

• 500gr shrimp, leave the skin on
• 1 cup of quartered fish balls
• 250gr squid, optional
• 2 liters water
• 3 tbsp tom yum paste
• 2 stick lemongrass, cut into short pieces
• 1 tsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 5 kaffir lime leaves, shred with hands
• Galangal
• Dried chilli/chilli flakes (as you like)
• 1 bunch of coriander leaves, chopped
• Salt

How to make:

1. Boil shrimp and fish balls until tender.
2. Add tom yum paste, lemongrass, galangal, fish sauce, kaffir lime leaves, and dried chilli. Add salt and sugar to taste. Bring to boil and until aromatic.
3. Turn off the heat and add chopped coriander leaves.
4. Serve with cooked vermicelli noodles.

New Kitchen Helper

New year, new kitchen helper! A week before my flight back to jakarta on November, the mixer at home broke. Means, I can't bake anything which involves beating ingredients on high speed. Bunbun said, "lets get a sturdier (and bigger, obviously) machine as an investment". So we looked up a few options. We initially wanted a Breville scraper mixer, but everytime we contacted a second hand seller, they say the mixer has been sold. Afterwards, Bunbun stumbled upon a Tefal kitchen machine. Bunbun said this thing can do multiple things (indeed). It can be a mixer, blender, and a slicer. I thought that'spretty good. So, We searched on Ebay and in big supermarkets to compare price. The RRP was quite expensive. Even the manufacturer itself suggested RRP of $299. The cheapest that we can find for a new one was on Ebay for $280.

Alhmadulillah, my prayers to be able to bake again were heard (ok, this is lebay). I was browsing through Ebay one day and found an ad for a new Tefal kitchen machine (but it has been opened just for picture purpose). It was on auction with starting price of $149. I told Bunbun about it and told him that the auction will end in end of business day. Bunbun checked for the ad on his office computer but he said he couldn't find it. I was confused because I was clearly seeing it onmy iPad screen! So I sent him the link and a print screen of the ad again. He found it. Then he said, "That's odd... The seller is experienced but how come only you who can see the ad?" :-/ So then we negotiated on the maximum bid that we're going to do. By the end of the day, Bunbun said, "We got it. For $149 + shipping. I was the only bidder". Yeaaaayyy!!! We did it!! I'm always happy and very very satisfied when I am able to secure bargains. Another achievement for Dita the #bargainhunter!

My 2012 Review

31 December 2012: A Time to Look Back
December 31st, 2012.
Sydney.
On my comfy bed.
Fingers dancing on Mac's keyboard.
Writing a blog post.
Waiting for the date in the calendar to change.
To a new year: 2013.

JANUARY 2012
My first Australia trip. Meeting my soon-to-be husband.

FEBERUARY 2012
Start of the Nielsen DA Young Talent project. More going home late. But becoming closer to one of my colleague who happens to have the (almost) same character in the past! We're so klop together in many things, somehow.

MARCH 2012
Gold Award for participation in the Young Talent project. (Actually I kinda forgot which month this happens) :D.

APRIL 2012
Engaged to my now-husband. Six years my senior. A senior whom I never met in high school or university, padahal we attend the same high school and uni.

MAY 2012
My first naik gaji :D, alhamdulillah. Why oh why does it have to happen when I'm about to resign :(.

JUNE 2012
New (cool) boss who brought me to the right path (translate: ke jalan yang benar), haha. So sad that I have to resign at the end of this month :(.

JULY 2012
Married. Officially off from the market.

AUGUST 2012
Struggling with Partner Migration Visa application to Australia. And finally reunited again with my beloved husband in Sydney. Got a sewing machine for my birthday, which I have never utilize to earn money until now.

SEPTEMBER 2012
The most boring episode of my life: being a housewife and jobless (and activity-less, and social life-less). Finally I have my own kitchen and was starting to learn-and-love cooking and baking.

OCTOBER 2012
Started working at Blogger (a job that I made myself). As an author of a photography blog, a cooking & food blog, and an interesting personal blog. Also as an amateur illustrator and photographer for my blogs. Can't believe I'm really doing something that I never have the time to even start! I guess, I do need a time off to be able to do the things I like. And I finally found a real friend in Sydney!

NOVEMBER 2012
Spending 3 weeks holiday in Jakarta while applying for another visitor visa to Australia. Gosh, I'm starting to get tired of this visa stuff.

DECEMBER 2012
Learning how to deal living with the in-laws. And marriage has never been this wonderful! We're working things out much much better than before :). I love you, husband.

ULTIMATE ACHIEVEMENT IN 2012:
Got married one year after my graduation. Allah left me amazed with His greatness. He gave me someone that I wanted without me ever specifically having to say it in my du'a. Nggak sia-sia istikharah berkali-kali sampai sempat hampir putus asa karena kebingunganku membaca "tanda". He made it very clear to me. Very very clear. So, then I believe that he was whom God chose for me. Sometimes when things go wrong between us, I know that God is never wrong :).

*reposted from my old blog

Panda Bread

I finally made a panda bread!!! I feel so bad to my former roomate in Japan, Risi, because I promised her a loooongg time ago that I would make a panda bread for her birthday. It never happened. But, I do really really want to try making one though. Bunbun got me a new mixer and I had to try it out so I chose this panda bread recipe for the try-out.

Before making this panda bread, I've seen a couple of image results of this panda bread in Google. Some has this nasty green color, seems like it was artificial coloring. I don't want my bread to look like that, so I stick with the green tea powder for the green coloring. And i was right indeed! The color turned out beautiful with green tea powder, but I do have some issues with the texture of the finished bread. It hardens too fast.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 tbsp sugar
• 3/4 tbsp salt
• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup milk + 1 egg yolk (both should total 1 cup together)
• 1 tbsp green tea (matcha) powder, mixed with 2 tsp hot water
• 3 1/2 tsp cocoa powder, mixed with 1 1/2 tsp hot water

How to make:

1. In a small bowl, microwave milk and egg yolk for about 30 seconds. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour, sugar and yeast.
3. Add in butter, salt and milk mixture, stirring on low speed with the dough hook attachment.
4. Increase speed to medium and knead until dough comes together and pulls away from the sides, about 5-10 minutes. If the dough is sticky, add a tbsp of flour at a time until it is smooth and elastic.
5. Divide dough into three pieces, two about equal and one about 1/3 the size of the other two.
6. Place one of the large pieces in the stand mixer bowl and mix with green tea/water mixture OR green tea food coloring until desired color is reached.
7. Remove dough from bowl and place in a lightly greased bowl, covered, to rise until doubled.
8. Clean stand mixer bowl, then place smallest piece of dough in stand mixer and combine with cocoa powder/water mixture until color is blended through. Remove dough from bowl and place in a separate, lightly greased bowl, covered, to rise until doubled.
9. Place plain piece of dough in a separate, lightly greased bowl, covered, to rise until doubled. All pieces should double in about an hour
10. Once dough is risen, on a floured surface, divide plain dough in thirds, with one piece being half the size of the other two (as you did before). Use one of the larger pieces to form the face. Divide the cocoa dough in quarters and use two quarters to form the eyes.
11. Quickly place the smallest piece of plain dough between the eyes to keep them in place. Stretch remaining piece of plain dough over the whole bread to lock everything in place.
12. Take last two quarters of cocoa dough and form the ears.
13. Divide green dough in two pieces, one twice the size of the other. Take the small piece to fill in the space between the ears. Take the larger piece of green dough and stretch over the whole bread to lock everything in place.
14. Place dough in a lightly greased loaf pan, cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
15. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 190 degrees C.
16. Once dough is risen, bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown on the outside. Allow to cool completely on a cooling rack before slicing or serving.

 If you're confused how to separate the dough, here's the diagram how to do it ;) I literally made a mathematical equation from the directions above and translate it into a picture!

 

And if you are confused how to put everything together, just follow the picture diagram below:

The original recipe from Japan advised cake flour, but I used the Australian all purpose flour. After I found out that the bread hardens too fast, I googled about cake flour and how to substitute it. After some research, I found out that it is totally different... What I mean is that you can't substitute a cake flour with an equal amount of all purpose flour (especially Australian all purpose flour, some say it's too harsh). Some mixed it with cornflour or potato flours. But I think next time I'll just buy some from the Asian store or get the (more expensive) specialty flour. 

Source: Tablespoon

Crispy Chicken Fingers

After scrambling around the internet for good breaded fried chicken recipe, I was able to come up with my own by mixing and making adjustments to the recipes I found. As a good family friend taught me, "If you find different recipes for a food, make a side-by-side comparison. Find the ingredients that makes the recipes different with one another and then use them all. Those different ingredients make each recipe tastes good." I used her advice when cooking this menu. You know what, it tastes great!

Ingredients:
500 gr boneless chicken
Lemon juice
Salt

Dry ingredients: 
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cornflour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp chicken salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp mixed herbs
2 tsp black pepper

Glue mixture:
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs

How to make:
1. Cut chicken into finger size. Marinate chicken with lemon and salt. Let it sit for 1 hour or overnight in the refrigerator.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients and mix all the glue mixture
3. Prepare baking sheet. Dip chicken into the glue mixture and then to the dry ingredients. Line it up on the baking sheet. After all pieces are coated with the first layer, dip it again into the glue mixture and dry ingredients, making a second layer.
4. Heat oil in a deep fryer or saucepan. Give last dry ingredients coating before dipping it into the oil. Fry each coated chicken fingers until golden brown.

Note:
1. You can always adjust the amount of spices used
2. Keep the leftover dry ingredients mix in a ziplock bag for later use. You can also use it to powder the meat when making chicken katsu.

My Traditional Wedding

As much as I would love to have a modern-muslim wedding, I also wanted a traditional one. Not only the decoration that is fully traditional (by mom's request) which we called gebyok, me and the moms wanted to me to wear the Solo traditional headpiece (kembang goyang) as well.

Marriage is only once in a lifetime (aamiin) and when else would you wear this extravagant inherited culture if not in your marriage - at least that was what I had in mind. So, at the end, I opted for a traditional Solo wedding. I opted for the Solo instead of Jogja because the headpiece fits the shape of my face better. But the Solo headpiece is actually more complicated than the Jogja headpiece if you're wearing hijab, because there's the sasak part that you can't simply shape & cover neatly. Thanks to my genius make up artist, tante Neni Nazeh, she was able to do the Solo headpiece really well and everyone said that my make up looked really good. Even I can't stop smiling looking at myself!

Makeup artist: tante Neni Nazeh from Rumah Kebaya

Photography: Viure Photography

Decoration: K-Jogja

Souvenir: Fine Souvenir

Invitation: pasar Tebet