KBB#12- Cheese Souffles

Klub Berani Baking (KBB) is a baking club that I initiated and founded almost two years ago. We 'meet' and try out a recipe in each kitchen every two months. Like any other bloggers, we 'report' what and how we have created. The final result can vary and it is depending on how a person transform an idea into a her own prespective.

Members of KBB come from many parts of Indonesia and of the world. We communicate through email and mailing list where we can discuss what the recent task is all about. Some of us have known each other for quite a long time and most of us haven't even met. I first met some of KBB members who reside in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia on our holiday.

We were invited to a talkshow at the Female radio station where I first came to know who is who. It was a fun talk with Alti as the radio announcer and it was all about KBB, especially those who live in Bandung. It was nice to hear that these ladies enjoy baking and getting along with the other ladies from other parts of Indonesia in KBB. Thank you, Mira, who organized this program to live on air. I actually have a dream to get together with all the KBB members, if I could. Maybe one day.





While we were there, we then had lunch together at one of well-known Sundanese restaurants which is named Sindang Reret. I love Sundanese food. I just love the humble cuisine, the sweetness of fresh ingredients that you can taste in every bite. We'd love to go visit Bandung again next time we travel in Indonesia since my husband likes the city (while he dislikes Jakarta that much), which is a good news.

This month, KBB is going cheesy. Our #12 task is Cheese Souffles, and hosted by Zita.

Cheese Souffles

Sumber: The Perfect Cookbook by David Herbert. Penguin Books Australia Ltd 2003.




Ingredients

• 100g unsalted butter


• ½ cup plain (all-purpose) flour


• 300ml milk
  


• 1 cup grated cheddar


• 2 Tbs freshly grated parmesan


• ½ tsp Dijon mustard


• pinch cayenne pepper


• 4 eggs, separated

Preheat the oven to 190C (375F, Gas Mark 5). Grease and lightly flour six ½-cup-capacity souffle dishes.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Gradually add the milk and whisk continuously over medium heat until the mixture is smooth, thickens and comes to the boil. Allow to cool for 5 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and stir in the cheddar, parmesan, mustard and cayenne pepper. Mix well. Lightly beat the egg yolks and add these to the cheese mixture. (I add chopeed parsley). Mix well.

With an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until firm peaks form. Fold a quarter of the whites through the cheese mixture to slacken it slightly, then gently fold through the remaining whites.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared dishes and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until risen and golden. Don't be tempted to open the oven until the souffles have risen. Serve immediately.

We ate cheese souffle with my homemade tamarillo chutney. I think it works as I don't really fancy eggy lunch. Tamarillo chutney helps to balance the taste of eggs in souffle.

Next week, I am going to post an entry for Linda's Got Milk event. Have a look at her page, and see if you can do something, too?

-------------------------------------------------------------

Kisah si Souffle

Ini bukan pertama kalinya aku bikin cheese souffle, di tahun 2007 aku pernah ikut HHDH-Souffles yang dihosting sama Tami. Sayangnya, fotonya menghilang dari post tersebut. Udah ga inget lagi gimana rasanya karena sejak itu ga pernah lagi bikin cheese souffle, tapi sering bikin chocolate, raspberry, atau lime/lemon souffles.

Ga ada halangan yang berarti sih saat bikinnya, soalnya rada gampang dan cepat. Yang bikin repot adalah saat memotret hasilnya. Karena souffle terkenal temperamen dengan suhu ruangan, begitu keluar dari oven langsung jepret sebelum keburu nyungsep dengan suksesnya. Settingnya sudah disiapkan selagi souffles berada di oven. Musti siap-siap oven gloves ya!

Di langkah pengadukan keju dengan roux untuk menjadi bechamel sauce, aku tambahkan cincangan parsley, buat ngimbangin legitnya keju dan baunya telur.

Review:

Lembut, lunak, dan berasa keju banget. Terus terang, aku lebih suka omelet keju dengan saus jamur ketimbang souffle begini. Tapi enak juga dimakan bareng tamarillo chutney yang baru aku bikin seminggu yang lalu. Kayaknya lebih enakan makan souffle coklat atau yang manis deh.

Oreo Biscuits: A HomeMadeS

In the middle of Winter, it is a common to see the sight of early Spring bulbs blooming in the garden. My snowbells [Leucojum Aestivum] (or it is often called snowflakes) and jonquils [Narcissus Jonquila] have been becoming parts of the season. My daffs are still growing, springing up, ready for a display in time. Perhaps the earth is warming up, that makes all the bulbs are growing happily.

I have finished planting garlic and tulips, have pruned my roses, have cut back the raspberry bushes, and have divided plus replanted strawberry plants. I made another strawberry patch, given that they really did well in Summer this year, hopefully they'll do another good job next year. John had pruned some of the plum trees and have prepared more beds for vegetables in the vegetable garden. I have claimed one of the beds to be planted with herbs and mixed greens. I also need to grow more coriander this year as I'm running out of annual supply.



We're still enjoying kiwifruits. Nothing else than a homegrown, really. Tastes so much better, much sweeter. I almost can smell the scent in the air when I went out to the driveway to get to our mailbox. It's the scent of nature.

With the weather still unpredictable, we almost are tucked in inside each day. Spending time inside, doing what we're doing. Baking with children, mostly. We just baked anything, from pizza to biscuits. They just love it, so why not make the most of it?

It is the Oreo Biscuits we've made recently. Started by Sofie with a discussion in the KBB mailing list about dark cocoa powder, specially made for Oreo (perhaps that is the dark colour it represents?), the topic then was shifted with a challenge to make the homemade version of Oreo biscuits. I am not sure if I have ever seen any black powder for Oreo biscuits before. It is not dark, but black, for I still can use Dutch cocoa powder which I believe can make goodies look much darker than the usual ones if it is only 'dark'.

One question: how did they make Oreo biscuits so dark? Is the black colour coming from a food colouring or do they use this black cocoa powder? Anyone knows?

Anyway, despite of having that magical black cocoa powder, I just use Nestle cocoa powder. I have got one thing on my mind, if they got it black, then I will use black food colouring. So, I made two batches. One batch use no food black colouring, and the other one does.



You can see the colour difference from the photo above. Not significant, really. And I prefer the ones without food colouring. The thing when added the food colouring, they look really like the original ones, see the photo below.



Apparently, my children don't fancy them. They never have been given any Oreo in their whole life, with the concern of the content of sugar they may have. By baking myself, I can reduce the amount of sugar.

The wafers taste rather salty, which is a good way in combination with sweet filling. And how did I eat it? Precisely.



Now, are you tempted to make these your own? Please, visit Smitten Kitchen for the recipe.





ENJOY!!

Donna's Chocolate and Oat S'Mores

It is time for sweets, our old friend once said when he and his wife came over to see us one afternoon. While we were chatting and brewing some coffee, he then produced a bag of store-bought chocolate wafers from his jacket pocket. The sweets that he meant, perhaps. Until I went out (without any intention to disregard the chocolate wafers, by all means, and the generosity of our guests) with a tray of brewed coffee and a plate of oozy sweets: Chocolate and Oat S'mores. I said, it is Winter and we all deserved to eat sweets, although I am not a too sweet tooth person, I think I just allowed myself to be just at that time.

I wonder where this supposition is coming from? Frosty weather? Cultural invention? Craving? I don't know. For all I know, it is like an attachment to a wintertime entertainment, don't you think? When there is cold, you deserve to eat sweets. Not that you cannot enjoy it at another time of the year, but when it is cold, sweets seem can beat up the gloom.



This biscuit is quite rich with the addition of marshmallow and dark chocolate, melted and sandwiched. I have to reduce the amount of sugar in the biscuits because of these combinations. I won't get near diabetes, just because I want to indulge myself, and everyone, with home-baked goodies (which are supposed to be healthier). I still consider these biscuits as adults' ones because of the content which I don't think is suitable for my young children.

Well, next time you dream of Oat S'mores, dream no more! Bake these!! You will get s'mores, addiction, in no time, without regrets. I hope.




Donna's Chocolate and Oat S'Mores
Source: Donna Hay Magazine. Issue 39. 2008.

125g butter, softened
220g brown sugar (mine: 150g only)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
225g plain flour, sifted with 1/2 tsp baking powder
100g dark chocolate chips
100g milk chocolate chips
30g rolled oats
20 dark chocolate squares
20 marshmallows

Preheat the oven to 180C. Beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla until creamy, about 8-10 minutes. Add the egg, beat well. Add the sifted flour, beat for a while until just combined (I just mix it with spatula, don't want it becomes rubbery). Then, add in the chocolate chips and rolled oats. Mix well. Roll tablespoons, put them on the trays, flatten a bit and bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden. Cool on the trays.



To enjoy these biscuits, you need to put the baked biscuits, bottom-side up on the baking tray, put the chocolate square on each biscuit and marshmallow on the other half. Bake for a little while until the marshmallow and chocolate are almost to melt. Sandwiched, enjoy! Makes 20.

Painting, Batikking and Chili Crab Night at Batan Waru Cafe

At our final week in Ubud, Bali, we spent time with painting, batikking, and dancing workshops. I enjoyed painting as much as my children did. We were entertained by a group of school children who practiced Barong dance while we were painting on a Sunday morning at the museum. It was just like being in an artistic palace with artistic people doing artistic works. About time!



Balinese traditional painting is colourful and has fine details. We learned the basic sketch and introduction of lines and colours, including its popular floral theme. I decided to follow my own sketch to transform the idea on my paper. And here is what we have achieved:




The next day, I came solo as batikking is quite a heavy handling for my young children. They decided to do something else with their father, while I later joined them in a cafe for lunch. Batikking is my main project and I just love it.

Although Batik itself is not native to Balinese, there are always some people who learn and make batik as a way of living and give course to visitors. I once had learned making batik when I visited Jogjakarta (Central Java) in 1990s, and Java is the island of batik origin, if you have ever heard about Pekalongan Batik?





First thing I had to do is to choose the design and had to learn to waxing on a piece of paper, following the lines. It is not easy, I can tell you, and it is hot! I chose a design with colour scheme planned on my head and began canting (= waxing the lines with the wax spoon). Canting is designed to store melted wax in its little bowl which the wax is going through a little curved tip to line the design, as you can see on the photo above. The first photo on the top was taken when I just practiced to waxing on a piece of paper, to get my hands used to the design and how to handle the canting on different curves and lines. Then, I moved to the cloth, photographed on the two photos at the bottom. As you can see, there are two splodges on the cloth already as I spilled the hot wax before I lined. This can be a messy job!

And, here's what I came next with the colours.



Yes, I love colours, simply because I love working on them. Have you seen the message how I felt that day? Now, it is my big task to look for the right frame to hang this up on the wall.

On Tuesday night, the last Tuesday we'd had in Bali, we headed off to Batan Waru. We did go to this cafe before, to enjoy desserts, and we did not come back, as we traveled to Jakarta and Bandung.



Batan Waru Cafe is located on Jalan Dewi Sita, Ubud, Bali, near the Bunute Restaurant and Tutmak. We used to go there in 2001, 2004, and 2006 to enjoy my husband's favourite dessert, bubur injin, and authentic Indonesian meals, desserts or snacks. I did not like the klaapertaart (on the left bottom of the photo above). The slice was too thick and there was more bread than the young coconut flesh itself and it was also too sweet for my taste. I did not come back for it.

This time, we came back for chili crab night. There was a basket of crab at the front door for the guests to choose. They will be cooked by order. I first ordered breeze, a fizzy drink of the mixture of lychee and herbs. Again, I almost was choked as the drink was way too sweet. I had to top up with my drinking bottle to thin down the sweetness.



Finally, out it came, our special plates of chili crab. The crab was sitting on a bed of chili sambal, not too hot, not too sweet. It was just right. My husband even could eat it. There was also a generous handful of fresh coriander leaves and a basket of hot steamed rice. Then, things went black! We had to eat our chili crab in the dim light of candles when they have a power blackout throughout Ubud. Fancy that.



Visit Ubud Community, if you are interested in traveling to Ubud and are looking for information on accommodation, workshops, dance performances, etc. They also have a list of good food cafes, restaurants and bar. I hope you'll enjoy the hospitality of Ubudian, the cultures, and artistic people.