Ginger Mojitos for a Crowd

These days the cooking posts seem to be few and far between on this old blog... as I said before, our situation in Bangkok (awesome and cheap food abounds... plus our kitchen is a bit small and stuffy) is not conducive to lots of cooking.  But refreshing cocktails? Yes, please.  Happy Friday!

We had some folks over last night as part of a mini progressive cocktail party in our apartment building. We were stop #2 for the roaming party, so I needed a make-ahead cocktail for a crowd so I wouldn't have people tapping their feet while we mixed individual drinks.  After some Googling (good resources on big batch cocktails here and here) I landed on this ginger mojito recipe because it sounded tasty and easy, but also because I knew I could find all of the ingredients here in Bangkok.

Tasty and easy it is!  You basically make a ginger mint simple syrup and then mix it with lime juice and rum and top it off with soda water.  For the party I put the simple syrup/rum/lime juice mixture in my punch bowl (love any opportunity to use the punch bowl!) and instructed people to pour a ladleful of mix into their glass, then add as much or as little soda water as they wanted and garnish with a sprig of mint and a lime slice.

Everybody seemed to like the mojitos! The flavor is a little bit more subtle than a traditional mojito, probably because the muddled mint leaves are not hanging around in the bottom of your glass.  And the drink is not overly ginger-y, but has just a nice hint of ginger.  Really refreshing and perfect for a small party!

Peanut Butter Fudge Ripple Ice Cream

Another winning David Lebovitz ice cream recipe!  Rich, creamy peanut butter ice cream with fudge ripple swirled through... plus I tossed in some roughly chopped Reese's Peanut Butter Cups to put it over the top. 

Both the ice cream and fudge ripple recipes are from The Perfect Scoop, my go-to ice cream bible, but you can find the peanut butter ice cream recipe online here and the fudge ripple recipe here.  I love that the ice cream doesn't require eggs, making it much faster and less labor intensive than other custard-based ice creams. 

Spiced Moroccan Chicken Wrap with Eggplant Tomato Jam

I know, I know... long time, no cook.  But it's not that I haven't been cooking, it's just that what I have been cooking hasn't been new or particularly blog-worthy.  And, yes, since moving to Bangkok I have definitely been cooking a little bit less frequently.  Food is so delicious and cheap here, whether on the street, in a restaurant or at the market!

Anyway, this spiced Moroccan chicken wrap is a recipe from The Cozy Apron that I have cooked twice now, once in Jakarta and once in Bangkok, and both times I failed to get a good photo because it was dark and also because the dish was so tasty we snarfed it down immediately.  But please do check out The Cozy Apron for some mouthwatering pics.

The dish is full of spices and garlic and pretty healthy: awesome.  It consists of 3 parts (hummus, spiced and grilled chicken, eggplant and tomato "jam"), which seems like a lot, but none of the steps is particularly taxing or time-consuming.  You can make the hummus in advance (although we liked it to be room temp on the sandwiches, not cold), which helps the flavors meld and the chicken can be marinated overnight (I started marinating mine in the morning and that was sufficient, too).  We thought the sandwiches were good with a little lettuce for crunch, too.  Mmmm.

Shiitake and Pumpkin Ravioli

I'm cleaning out my cabinets (as well as the freezer and fridge) this week because.. wait for it... Tim and I are moving to Bangkok, Thailand.  Woo!  More details to come soon over at the other blog.  For purposes of this blog, moving means cooking and eating through the substantial pantry I have built up over the past couple years here in Jakarta.  This meal made a dent, taking care of: a can of pumpkin, half a container of walnuts, parmesan cheese, and a pack of gyoza wrappers from the freezer.

I used this recipe for shiitake and pumpkin ravioli, although I changed it up a teeny bit, using regular soy sauce in lieu of tamari and rosemary in lieu of sage.  Also, for the sauce, I browned the butter with a handful of chopped walnuts and minced rosemary.  Awesomesauce.  Literally.

I highly recommend this recipe- it's super easy and quite a tasty delight.  The sweetness from the pumpkin is great with the savory/umami of the mushrooms and soy.  Perfect!

Cucumber Mint Martini

Cucumber, mint, gin, lime juice, simple syrup.. mmm.  Tim made this martini, AKA "The Ellison," minus the bitters (because we didn't have any), last week.  Fresh and tasty!

Artichoke Pesto

Due to some miscommunications and a kitchen cabinet that has the ability to hide dry goods within its depths, Tim and I found ourselves the proud owners of not one, not two, but three Costco-sized jars of marinated artichoke hearts recently.

In an effort to work our way through this ridonkulous overabundance of artichoke hearts, I did some Googling on ye olde interwebs and found this artichoke-centric recipe for lemony artichoke pesto.  I followed the recipe, a pretty standard pesto, for the most part, but substituted fresh basil leaves for the parsley, as flat leaf parsley is nowhere to be found in Jakarta.  My nut of choice (or convenience, really) was almonds, toasted, of course.  

Good stuff!  I put it on pizza, topped with mozzarella, halved cherry tomatoes and mushrooms.  It looks pretty good as a pasta sauce, too.  A fun, but not too crazy, adaptation of your typical pesto.

Strawberries Galore

I know strawberries are out of season now in the U.S., but they still seem to be going strong here in Indonesia.  I think they might have multiple seasons here, in fact.   My understanding is that growing strawberries is relatively new in Indonesia, but people seem to like them a lot.  Strawberry seems like the new hotness as far as flavors go here in Jakarta... 

I got a couple containers of strawberries at the store recently and whipped up two strawberry cakes:

First, Franny's chocolate cake with strawberry buttercream, which I made for a BBQ Tim and I attended.  I figured you can't go wrong with strawberry and chocolate as well as two tried and true recipes. 

As usual, the cake was light and moist, and the frosting was really nice, albeit slightly

 soft in Jakarta's heat:

Second, I made Smitten Kitchen's strawberry summer cake, which was pretty awesome right out of the oven.  Like Deb said, jammy strawberries combined with a slightly crunchy, sugary crust, plus a tender cake below.  Good stuff.  I successfully substituted a third of the flour (1/2 cup) with whole wheat flour and that worked quite well:

Sambal Chicken Skewers with Pineapple Jicama Salsa

I know, I know... another sambal-centric dish.  But, in my defense, these dishes were eaten a month apart, only blogged right in a row. Furthermore, this Bon Appetit recipe made the cover of the July issue, so the juicy chicken was just staring at me constantly from the coffee table, tempting me.  It had to be made.

A simple, tasty marinade/sauce for BBQ chicken, for sure.  However, for me, like in the case of the sambal/banana/shrimp dish, my Indonesian sambal (labeled "EXTRA PEDAS") was a bit too spicy... I think the heat from the stuff I buy here is several notches higher than the sambal oelek you get in the U.S.   Tim and I had a couple coughing fits while eating this (which may also be partially due to the fact that I cooked this chicken on the cast iron grill pan inside, being too lazy to wait for the charcoal to heat up outside). We did think the flavor was nice despite the excessive heat, though.

I served the chicken with a side of cooling pineapple-jicama salsa and some lime and cilantro couscous.  I think the salsa was the big hit of the night: crunchy, fresh, a little sweet, super healthy... give this recipe a try for sure!

Shrimp with Sambal and Banana

Right before heading out on our 'round the world trip, the Real Martha cooked up this tasty dish that combined unusual ingredients (shrimp, overripe bananas and sambal?).  Before she made it I tried to convince her to make something else, assuring her that she would eat more rice and sambal than she ever dreamed of when in Indonesia, but she had seen this recipe on the Food Network and was itching to make it...  I'm glad she did because it came out pretty tasty!  An interesting mix of sweet, spicy and savory.

Definitely a good use for bananas that have sneakily gone overripe (other than making a variety of banana shakes).  The Indonesian sambal we used may have been a bit too spicy, but that's easily remedied by leaving a little bit out next time.  I bet chicken, tofu or tempeh would work well in lieu of the shrimp, too.

Sour Cream Pancakes

Wow, I am in love with this sour cream pancakes recipe from The Pioneer Woman.  I stumbled upon it by accident while searching the internet for a way to use up extra sour cream at breakfast time... awesome find!

These pancakes are so incredibly tender.  Mostly made of sour cream and egg, with only a teeny bit of flour and leavener, the recipe seems a little bizarre, but it turns out these incredibly light, soft, tender pancakes that are still very rich tasting.  I loved them, and I'm not even really a big pancake person, to be honest. 

Give them a try!

Pepitas Two Ways: Brittle and Pesto

So, this post may be a little too early, in the sense that pepitas, which are hulled pumpkin seeds, are not really in season yet, but I have an excuse.  I bought a bag of roasted, salted pepitas at Trader Joe's back in January when I was in the States, with no particular plan in mind for them.  I brought them back to Jakarta, set them on the counter, and there they sat for six months...  I felt like I needed to use them or lose them, so here we are.  I've got two fall recipes for you...

Pepita Brittle: sweety, salty, crunchy, awesome.  I was a little bit worried about candy making in a humid environment (see: weepy marshmallows, January 2012), but this recipe from Smitten Kitchen was pretty foolproof. 

A spicy pepita pesto, with basil and cilantro, pepitas in the place of pine nuts, lime instead of lemon juice and a chili for heat... served on pasta with roasted squash (I used kabocha squash, but you could do pumpkin, butternut, what have you...):

Oven Baked Crispy Onion Rings

Sadly, despite really wanting this recipe to be a winner, I can only give it a "meh."  Tim had the idea to make burgers the other night* and I decided that onion rings would go quite well with the burgers.  I remembered seeing this recipe on one of the blogs I follow, Closet Kitchen, so I dialed it up.

While the onion rings did get quite crispy from panko bread crumbs and hot oven temperature, there really is no substitute for deep-frying when it comes to onion rings.... onion rings should be crispy AND a bit oily from the fryer. Oh well.  A for effort.

Made me crave some really onion rings, though.  In particular, the ones served at the unfortunately named but awesome temple of fried stuff, Kream 'N Kone on Cape Cod.  Mmmm... fried stuff...

* Tim's burgers were quite good: cheddar and bacon with sauteed mushrooms and onions, all topped with a creamy chipotle BBQ sauce (BBQ sauce + chipotle in adobo + mayo).  And, when he was buying the meat at a small Japanese grocery store near his office, he spotted an Indonesian celebrity: Farrah Quinn, the self-proclaimed "sexy chef."  I actually like to watch her cooking show because, although the food is not particularly appealing, she alternates between speaking Indonesian and English, sometimes repeating statements in both languages, which helps me with my Bahasa Indonesia.  I understand other people may have a different reason(s) to watch her show.

Kahlua Chocolate Banana Milkshake

I've been in a bit of a food rut recently... cooking the same old things repeatedly.  I think it's the lack of really distinct seasons here in Jakarta (particularly this year, now that rainy season is encroaching on what should be dry season!) and the new and exciting produce associated with that season change.  I am jealous of the seasonal farm stand strawberries and asparagus that I see on all of my cooking blogs...

However, Tim and I did discover a new treat this week:  another, more "adult" iteration of my beloved banana shake: the Kahlua chocolate version!  Dudes, this is my new favorite dessert/after dinner drink.

Please excuse this blurry photo; I couldn't be bothered.  I was, however, bothered by the fact that Blogger refused to upload it upright. Apa boleh buat?  (Indonesian phrase for "What can I/we do?," usually accompanied by a shrug and a sigh)

It barely qualifies as a recipe; it's really just a question of adding ingredients to taste, but the rough ratios are:  

1 cup of milk + 1 frozen overripe banana + a tablespoon/good squirt of chocolate syrup + a shot of Kahlua = heaven  

(and if you wanted to go more hardcore with the booze, I think a bit of rum or vodka wouldn't hurt!)

Chocolate Ricotta Pie

Mmmmm... this pie is good.

Tim and I had some leftover ricotta after making lasagna over the weekend.  I wanted to do something sweet with it (visions of cannoli dancing in my head... but that's too complicated for a weeknight), so I did some Googling and found this well-reviewed Giada recipe for chocolate ricotta pie.  I made a couple substitutions... almonds instead of pine nuts [much cheaper], milk chocolate instead of semi-sweet [it's all I had at the house] and I decreased the amount of simple syrup in light of the milk chocolate substitution.

Tim and I really liked it... the filling is creamy and light and the crust has a nice nutty crunch from the almonds and cornmeal.  Good stuff.  This would make a good fancy looking but not actually hard to make dish for a dinner party or holiday.

Spicy Lemon Date Dip

My date obsession continues unchecked.  This iteration: a spicy, lemony date dip/spread. 

Dates are simmered with spices (cumin, red pepper flakes, ginger and lemon) until soft and stewy, then served up with toasted pita bread.  Sadly mine did not turn out to be the pretty deep color of Joy the Baker's, it was sort of pallid and reminiscent of refried beans.  It definitely didn't taste like refried beans, though... zesty, sweet, and quite spicy, for sure.  

I like this dip, but it's not my favorite date dish thus far.  My favorite still falls firmly in the salty-cheese stuffed category.

Ginger Miso Carrot Salad Dressing

After boozing and indulging over the weekend on Gili Air, Tim and I were craving a big healthy salad...  we remembered loving the crispy sesame and panko crusted chicken from this recipe, but I wanted to switch up the dressing a bit.  I decided to go with a ginger, miso and carrot dressing like the ones they sometimes put on those little crunchy salads at Japanese restaurants.

Good choice.  This dressing is fresh, zingy and pretty.  It's also easy; everything is just thrown into the food processor or blender and whizzed up.  We served it on a salad of mixed lettuce, cucumber, tomato, cilantro and sprouts.  I had wanted to add avocado, too, but mine wasn't quite ready for prime time.  Next time... would be good with edamame, too.  Tim requested some pickled veggies for the next salad.  Perhaps radishes?

Happy Birthday, Tim: S'more Layer Cake

Duuuuuuudes, this cake is good.  So good.  

When I saw this S'more Layer Cake recipe in the Smitten Kitchen cookbook, I knew I had to make it, but I needed an occasion.  Luckily it didn't take much convincing for Tim to agree that his birthday was just that occasion.

Plus, this recipe required the use of a kitchen torch, which I always secretly wanted to buy, but could never really justify.  Heh heh... cool... fire! fire! fire!  Now I have to plan some cooking around that new flaming utensil.

A moist graham cracker flavored layer cake with a milk chocolate ganache filling and toasted marshmallow frosting...  what's not to love?

The cake itself is made by processing a bunch of graham crackers until they turn into a flour (thanks to Amy for bringing American graham crackers to us across the world!).  Buttermilk (or in my case milk plus sour cream) keeps it super moist (I actually had to cook my layers a few minutes longer to get them cooked through, but that may be my wonky oven).

Super rich milk chocolate ganache in the middle mimics the traditional Hershey's bar (I kinda wished there was more of that- maybe next time a layer of it under the frosting would do the trick?) and fluffy, sticky, marshmallowy frosting (not dissimilar from the frosting I made on this cake) is dolloped on top and torch toasted to perfection.

We ate the cake early, the weekend before his birthday, because Tim had to attend and present at a conference this week.  Don't feel too bad for him, though, because the conference is in Bali (life is tough, eh?):

Feta Stuffed Dates

After working with dates for my homemade energy bars, my curiosity was piqued and I wanted to try more date recipes, so I bought another box.  A quick Google search unearthed these feta-stuffed dates with nuts... sounded like a good second date with dates (har har).

Super easy: mix some cream cheese with a bit of feta and parmesan, stuff the mixture into pitted dates, top each with an almond, baste with olive oil and drop them in the oven.  Then, inhale with a glass of wine like Tim and I did.  Or, alternatively, serve them as an appetizer at a party because they look fancy despite their simplicity.

I took these photos before baking them since I was quickly losing the natural light, but they look even more appetizing once baked.

Pumpkin Bacon Mac & Cheese

More bacon, I know.  But I made half recipes of this awesome pumpkin bacon mac and cheese as well as the tasty pea and bacon risotto... two half recipes = one package of bacon.

Anywho, this dish turned out pretty great (despite the terrible photos, sorry).  I combined two recipes I found online to make my final product.  I basically followed the sauce instructions from this recipe (minus the honey and all-spice), combined with the onion, bacon and buttered breadcrumb topping from this recipe.  Plus my own addition: some minced garlic with the onion.  

Healthier than your average mac and cheese, but still cheesy enough to satisfy your craving.