Homemade Peanut Sauce

This homemade peanut sauce is versatile. I always make it big batch and keep in the fridge. There are a lot of recipes using this sauce either as a basic spices or condiment. Let say, Indonesian vegetable salad (gado-gado), Indonesian cooked vegetable salad (pecel), ketoprak, chicken satay (sate ayam), siomay, batagor, green mussel peanut sauce stir fry and etc. So here it the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup roasted peanuts or pan fried peanuts

3/4 cup shredded coconut sugar

10 kaffir lime leaves

8 red Thai chili peppers (you can steam or boil it first so that it would be easy to blend)

2 tbs of tamarind dissolve in 1/2 cup of water

1 tsp shrimp paste

6 cloves of garlic

2 tsp salt

Direction:

Combine all of the ingredients and blend it either with food processor or stick blender.

Store it in a fridge.

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Green Mussel Peanut Sauce Stir Fry

I shopped for green mussel but I don't know what to do with it. My mom used to make clams soup for us and it was super easy. She just used shallots, garlic and chili peppers. The result was very good thou because of clams broth itself is so succulent. Here I am having a green mussel and collard green which are sitting in the fridge and don't know what to do with it. I'd like to make something different with combining those two ingredients. Last time I ate green mussel and I got a very bad headache afterward. That was in Indonesia 2 years ago. Either green mussel was contaminated or I just ate it too much. At that moment I was craved for seafood so badly and here I am at my friend's house and she served me a big platter of green mussel stir fry. I just devouring that green mussel like a truly rabid and later got a very bad headache. Oh well, that's the lesson, just take it easy girl! After ate green mussels from this recipe, I didn't have any headache and I used peanut sauce as a basic taste, pretty different from the other seafood recipe. Let's check my recipe:

Ingredients:

12 green mussels, brushed and cleaned

7 collard green leaves, discard the tough stem and boil it until it blanched and chop thinly

1/2 medium cooking onion, sliced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

5 red Thai chili peppers, cut into angle

1/2 medium tomato, cut into wedges

2 tbs of sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)

2 tsp homemade peanut sauce

2 tsp of sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 tbs lemon juice obtained from lemon squeezed

2 cups of water

1 tbs olive oil for sauteing

A handful of coriander leaves, chopped thinly

Direction:

Saute the cooking onion, minced garlic, red Thai chili peppers and tomato until fragrant.

Add water, green mussel, sweet soy sauce, homemade peanut sauce, lemon juice, sugar and salt. Let it boiled.

Add collard green and stir it evenly. Cook for another 2 minutes and turn off the stove.

Sprinkle with chopped coriander leaves.

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Easy Chocolate Cake

Chocolate cake is one of my favorite cake beside cheese cake, sponge cake and brownies. The only pie that I can eat is pecan pie. I don't mind with pumpkin pie but not overdose. I got this easy chocolate cake from CBC TV show calls Best Recipe Ever. I love that show since the host, Kary Osmond always come up with an easy recipe yet creative. Her recipe is from Canadian Living's renowned recipe library. Every time I try that recipe, it always work and have a good result. For this chocolate cake recipe, she calls for cider vinegar and I don't have any in my pantry. Instead I substituted with white vinegar and mango juice. The result, still good...just beyond anything! Here, check the recipe:

Ingredients:

3 cups whole wheat flour (the original recipe calls for regular all purpose flour)

3 cups brown sugar

2/3 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups cold coffee or water

1 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 tbs cider vinegar (I substituted with 1 1/2 tbs of white vinegar and 1 1/2 tbs of mango juice)

Direction:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease the 13' x 9' baking pan.

In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

Whisk coffee, oil, vanilla extract, white vinegar and mango juice in a different bowl.

Mix together with the dry ingredients.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients:

6 oz cream cheese (room temperature)

1/3 cup confectioners sugar (icing sugar; gula halus)

1 cup whipping cream

3 bars of semi sweet chocolate (Baker's chocolate), melted

Direction:

Using the electric mixer, mix the cream cheese, icing sugar, whipping cream and chocolate for 2 minutes until smooth (with the lowest speed).

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