sweetsourmoments

Indonesian Kalasan chicken

Published on April 8, 2014 by sweetsourmoments4 Comments

This menu makes me feel “at home”, somehow makes me forget I am half of the globe away from my hometown. For those looking for recipe that incorporates turmeric, this may suit you. This is Indonesian traditional fried chicken recipe, very popular and you can find it almost everywhere in Indonesia, though sometimes people use different name but usually we can tell from the basic taste, turmeric and coriander.

1. Prepare and cut the chicken. I hope this picture would give you idea about the size of the chicken I used since I didn’t know its weight.

2. Prepare the ingredient: 1 lemon grass(cut), 2 fresh turmeric about 1.5″ each, 5 shallots, 4 garlic, 4candlenuts, 4 bay leaves,3″ galangal, and 1 tbs coriander. Ground the turmeric, shallots, garlic, candlenut, and coriander. My method is using food processor by adding 1C of water, quick and easy.

4. A. Arrange the lemon grass, bay leaves, and galangal on the top of chicken in the medium pot.

B. Pour the liquid from food processor. C. Add water just enough to cover the chicken (not too much to make the chicken floating). Add about 1 tbs salt, taste it once the water start boiling, add more if needed. D. Leave it for 15 minutes(this is my additional step to make sure the chicken absorbs the seasoning thoroughly), cook for 1 hour until the chicken is tender.

5. Drain the liquid, you can store it in air tight container in the fridge.

6. Fry in medium heat oil until golden brown, serve!

Hairpins – DIY

Published on April 5, 2014 by sweetsourmoments4 Comments

I like to save any left over craft project, scrap fabrics, ribbons, spare buttons, laces, even the ribbon ties from shopping bags (like the hot pink one in VS paper bag). I know they will be very useful someday and can always be made into something, just like this hairpins project. Except for the metal pin which I bought for $1.5/pack (10 pcs), all the material here is from the saving box, the box where I put all the left over and spare things I mentions above.

They are all customized and almost free, what I need now is how to make my little one leave it alone, not trying to pull it off her hair. Hopefully it brings you inspiration!

Coconut Fried Shrimp

Published on April 1, 2014 by sweetsourmoments4 Comments

I made this menu just because I wanted to finish up the sweet coconut flakes in my fridge. It is a left over from baking and had been sitting there like forever. This is very simple and almost no fail menu, the shrimp itself is very tasty so you will not really mess it, even with basic salt and pepper seasoning this will still be great.

1. Prepare 2 C big shrimps, peel off the shell. Mine is like 4″ – 5″ long individually, I left the tail and half part of the head. Marinate with 2 tbs of lemon juice for 5 minutes. Ground 2 cloves of garlic, 2 shallots, 2 candlenuts, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tbs coriander, mix with 1 beaten egg white.

2. Pour the seasoning into the shrimp, marinate for 15 minutes.

3. Roll the shrimp onto sweet coconut flakes, press to get it fully coated, fry in medium heat oil.

4. Bon appétit.

Kaastengels – Cheese Cookies

Published on March 31, 2014 by sweetsourmoments2 Comments

Kaastengel is quite popular in Indonesia, it’s Dutch cookies. Due to long historical colonial ties, there are many Dutch culinary that become common for Indonesian people including this cookies.

We usually make this for Christmas, New year, Lunar New Year, Lebaran (Moslem New Year), and other special occasions to treat guess along with tea and other snacks. This time I made it for my little one, for her snack time. As much as possible I’ve been trying to serve her with natural and homemade food. It is a peace of mind knowing what ingredients are put into the food as we have more control about it.

This recipe has been modified, make it slightly firmer so that she can grab it easier( I mean less mess, better for me too 🙂 ) yet still soft enough it melts quickly in the mouth.

1. Cream with the mixer 1C organic sweet butter, 1 organic egg, 1 tsp organic vanilla extract, and 2 tbs sugar( this is the only non organic ingredient I used since I didn’t have it ready in the pantry).

2. Add 2.5C organic all purpose flour and 1.5C shredded organic cheddar cheese. Fold/ mix well with hands but do not knead.

3. Shape the dough into whatever cookies shape you like. Mine is the classic kaastengels shape, 1.5″ stick. Glaze with egg wash, top with shredded cheese. bake for 20-30 minutes until golden brown and cooked inside.

4. Enjoy!

Crochet Rosette Brooch- DIY

Published on March 24, 2014 by sweetsourmoments1 Comment

I have seen many pretty and cute crochet flower tutorial and patterns in internet. They all look great for brooch, but this one is my favorite, so elegant and perfect for my brooch project. I found the pattern in Ravelry.com by Daniela Herbertz. With some accessory pearls and beads, make it more custom look and feel fancy.