060 - MAC AND CHEESE

I’m back people. First of all, apologize for lack of updates. You see, last week, I got a deal on airfare tickets courtesy of our recently crowned 5 star national airline, Garuda Indonesia. It was too good to miss. So yeah, I went to Singapore for a day. LITERALLY, a day. Had the first flight out, and went back on the 3^rd from last. Safe to say, I’m basically spent. Dammit.

Anyway, let’s learn how to make an easy Mac and Cheese. I love Mac and Cheese. I remember getting my first Kraft dinner Mac and Cheese. It was essentially a forbidden food in our kitchen. Why? It’s carbs and fats. It ain’t good for the body. But who am I kidding? Those things are nostalgic. It brings comfort of home to your tummy. Who am I to say no?

Here are the lists of ingredients;

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For 2 servings, you will need;

180 grams of Macaroni. Don’t use other pasta, please.

50 grams of Butter

50 grams of All Purpose Flour

400 ml of Milk, cold.

150 grams of Cheddar Cheese. Grated

(optional) 1 tbsp of Grated Parmesan Cheese

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

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Ready? Here We Go!

Step 1 – Fill a pot with enough water to cook the pasta, add salt, and let it boil. Once boiling, add the Macaroni in, cook in approximately 8 minutes for al dente. Once done, strain it and set aside.

Salt

Covering helps the water to boil faster

Macaroni

Precisely!

Perfect!

Step 2 – Get a non-stick pan/pot and set the heat to medium-low, melt the butter. Once melted, add the flour and whisk vigorously to combine. The goal here is to make a Roux. Roux is a base for a lot of French sauces, or, in this case, cheese sauce. We are actually cooking the flour so there won’t be any flour taste left when the sauce is done. This should take about 3-4 minutes.

Butter

All ready to go

Flour goes in

Whisk! and don't stop!

All combined, and cooked up

Step 3 – Add the cold milk little by little while you continue whisking. The mixture will turn into lumps. BUT DON’T WORRY! They always do. Now all you gotta do is continue whisking while adding the milk constantly. When you’re down to your last pour, the mixture will be liquidy and thick enough to actually look like a sauce! Let the mixture come so a simmer on medium-low for another 2-3 minutes.

See how the milk turns the mixture into lumps?

lumps! Lumps! LUMPS~!

Weehee! No more lumps!

Step 4 – Add the shredded cheese in, and whisk to melt. Add the salt and pepper to round up the flavor, and boom. Cheese sauce is done!

Cheddar

(optional) Parmesan

Mix!

Ey ey, good lookin'!

Salt and Pepper

SEX!

Step 5 – Combine the macaroni and the sauce. Nothing else you need to do. Seriously.

Step 6 – SERVE!

Mac and Cheese is awesome. It’s a perfect food for your Sunday lunches. It taste good, and it actually make you feel good! Well, unless you’re on a diet.

Anyway, you can spice things up in a lot of way, possibilities are endless. But I like it simple like this

Cheers

xx

039 - Cheesy Smashed Potatoes #EasyCooking

Time for another cheesy goodness!

Who doesn’t love cheese right? I’m salivating just by thinking of it. Imagine, melting hot Mozzarella inside your mouth right now. Wash it off with a glass of cold Coke. OH MY GOD.

But this time around, it’s not Mozzarella we’re about to use. Nu uh, it’s way too expensive to be put into my kind of cheap cooking. I’ll stick to everyone’s favorite cheese (well, in Indonesia at least), CHEDDAR.

And the co-star of today’s dish is none other than….POTATOES!!!

This is CHEESY SMASHED POTATOES

This Carb and Fat laden sinful dish always gets me every friggin time. There’s nothing this baby can’t do (well, it has yet to cure someone’s heartbreak, but who knows?)

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For 1 Servings, you will need:

200 grams of baby potatoes. Baby potatoes are the lil’ brother. It is small, cooks fast, and most of all, looked awesome on this dish. But it you’re kinda lazy to get it, you can substitute with regular potatoes, just make sure you cut it into bite size pieces!

30 grams of Cheddar cheese. The cheese we need to use on this have to be able to melt. IT MUST. Feeling rich? Substitute with Mozzarella, Emmental, even Brie for that awesome flavor

½ tsp of Salt

1 tsp of Black Pepper

1 tbsp of Butter

4-5 tbsp of Cooking Oil. The exact measurement can be more, can be less. We’ll see once we start cooking, so just keep some extra in reach.

·

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Ready? Here We Go!

Step 1 – Get a pot filled with water, and let it boil. Meanwhile, give the baby potatoes a wash and cut it in half. Once the water is boiling, put your potatoes in. This stage is called Par-boiling. This is where we’re pre-cooking the potatoes so it will take shorter time to cook in the pan later on. The par-boiling should take around 6-7 minutes. How to know when it’s done? You stick a knife in the middle and the potatoes slides of easily.

No need for salt, just h2o and Poh-tay-toh

Legend has it, this speeds up the cooking process

Pierce-able!

Step 2 – Once all the potatoes are done, drain it (DON’T SKIP THIS) and quickly get a heavy object, and SMASH THE F*** OUT OF IT. Meanwhile, grate your cheese. And no, don’t cheat on me, don’t sneak a taste!

"No Sir, i'm begging you, please, i have a family..."

"...GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

Scenes from upcoming zombie movie "DAY OF THE SPUD"

Step 3 – Get a pan, and coat it with the oil. Set the heat to medium. Once the pan is smoking hot, put your potatoes in. Please ensure the potatoes have dried completely before throwing it into the pan. Remember kids, Water and Oil doesn’t mix. Season the potatoes with salt and cook it for around 6-7 minutes without moving!

Just in case you didn't know already, this is olive oil

The Spud's get the treatment they deserve!

Salt the wound!

Step 4 – After 6-7 minutes, give the potatoes a flip. You can see that the bottom is now golden brown and crunchy (and definitely tasty too!). Now, put the butter in. Ensure all the potatoes got the butter treatment they deserve. Here’s a confession; I use way too much butter during this photoshoot, 1,5 tbsp to be exact. I ended up scooping the excess butter out so the potatoes don’t get soggy.

LOOK AT THAT

PEPPER THAT B***H UP!

BUTTER THAT UP

Step 5 – Round up the potatoes on the center of the pan, and spread the cheese evenly on top. Cover it, and let it melt

CHHEEEEESSSEEEEE

Step 6 – Serve!

Top the cheesy potatoes with parsley, some hot sauce, and boom. Heaven.

Why don’t you whip this up for the weekend? It’s not hard, it’s easy to do, and it costs less than what the restaurant will charge you.

Peace

xx

035 - Lazy Kaassoufflé (Dutch Deep Fried Breaded Cheese!)

Netherlands. The one country we, Indonesians, have a lot of history with. Any of you been there before? The Dutch has a lot of tasty food. During my recent visit there, I was finally reunited again with my favorite Dutch snack food, the infamous Kaassouffle.

Little is known who actually invented Kaassouffle. But legend has it, it is inspired by Dutch people who have been to Indonesia and tried Indonesian Gorengan (Literal meaning: Fried Things). But making authentic Indonesian Gorengan is rather hard in Dutch. They don’t have rice noodle to make the Risol, or Tofu to make Tahu Isi. 

So they improvise. 

What with? Cheese of course! Dutch got tons of it, so why not wrap it in thin dough, bread it, and deep fry?

My version is a rather easy approach to the dish. This is what I call Lazy Kaassouffle.

For 2 Servings, you will need:

4 Slices of white bread.

4 Slices of Strong Cheese. Dutch goes with Gouda. But again, as always, cheap Cheddar will work fine too. Keep in mind, flavor will be rather mild.

2 Eggs for coating

1 Eggs for sealing the stuffing

300 Grams of Breadcrumbs. Dutch uses Panko-like breadcrumbs but with smaller size.

Enough oil for frying.

Ready? Here We Go!

Step 1 – Cut off all the crust from the bread. If your bread isn't square already, cut it into squares. Get a rolling pin, or if you don’t have one, get a round drinking glass and use it as a makeshift rolling pin. Do this on all of the bread.

Off with the first

Off with the second

Off with the crusts!

Now this people, is a 'Rolling Pin'

"Keep rollin' rollin' rollin" - Fred Durst

Ooow, it's flat and tiny

Let's flatten it even more!

Flat and limp, gotta love it!

Step 2 – Get a piece of the bread, then unwrap your cheese, and place it on the center of the bread. Crack an egg, whisk it, and brush it to the edges of the bread to create a glue before sealing it with another slice of bread. Use a fork, and seal the edges by pressing it. See the picture if you got no idea how to do it.

Empty pockets

First drop

Second drop

Give the edge an egg wash

Seal

Press with a fork!

Sign, sealed, ready for fryer!

Step 3 – Crack your eggs, lightly whip it. Get a separate plate and pour your breadcrumbs. Dredge the bread with the eggs and then the breadcrumbs.

Egg - Breadcrumbs

Dredge with eggs

Coat with breadcrumbs

All wrapped up and ready to go

Step 4 – Heat your oil on high heat. We’re going to flash fry the bastard in just under 2 minutes on each side. Just keep on a lookout on the color. When it’s golden and lovely, it’s ready.

Hot oil, get ready to meet your buddy

First side. 2 minutes or less

Second side after the flip, another 2 minutes

Crunchy and ready

Step 5 – Serve!

Here's a few tips to create a memorable Kaassoufflé;

1. Use white bread as they tend to be softer than whole wheat.
2. Ensure the cheese is in room temperature before putting it inside the bread. This will ensure the cheese melt perfectly despite the short period of frying
3. Watch it, watch it, watch it. Panko burns easily on high heat, so ALWAYS keep an eye on it.
4. Feeling fancy? mix the breadcrumbs with herbs such as parsley or dill, add a touch of Paprika. Hmmm mmm!
5. Strong cheese like Gouda or Edam will give you more authentic taste. But it doesn't come cheap. That's why i substitute with Cheddar

Kaassouffle is every bit of love you will need for the day! Trust me, make one, and get hooked for life!

Peace

xx