Citra's Home Diary

Kastamonu Etli Ekmeğı

Selam everybody..Merhaba from Türkiye

Kastamonu is one city in Turkey where this meal originally came from. It's half round shape bread bake in traditional stone oven filled with meat. At home people also can make them by roasted the bread over wide griddle and basting the bread once it remove from oven/ griddle.

If you are food adventurer, try this traditional Turkish meal in your kitchen and experience Turkish taste with your family...

Make about 8 breads

Ingredients I (bread):
• 4 cup all-purpose flour (plus if needed)
• 3 tsp instant yeast
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 1¾ ~ 2 cup warm water (use only 1¾ first)

Indonesian glutinous rice balls in herb caramel syrup / Wedang Ronde Karamel

This February the weather showed no signs of warming, still snowing almost every day. Temperature is still around zero sometimes even minus zero. Even worse in eastern Turkey temperature average minus 15 degrees. I saw on news, some cities in Europe even got worse condition, temperatures can reach minus 30 deg. I don't understand why the weather can deteriorate like this. I remember the first snow fell last November 2011 - that was very early according to my husband.

Anyway, I just try to enjoy any weather or conditions, because I believe God has set everything up. And this glutinous rice ball in herb caramel sauce is also one of my way to enjoy this freezing weather while waiting for the sun really warms my heart and soul... @(^_^)@

Serve 4 ~ 6
Glutinous rice ball ingredients:

 2 cup (± 200 g) glutinous rice flour
 2 tablespoons rice flour
 1 tbsp caster sugar
 ¾ cup warm water
 green and red food color

Let's play a "serious" game @(^,^)@

I found this picture shared many times in Facebook and I found it very much fun and interesting.

So I'd like to share here too with my Blogger and foodie friends here.

Here is the rule:

SEE THIS PICTURE BELOW and WRITE DOWN on comment box FIRST 5 (FIVE) WORDS you can find in that picture.

I didn't know where it's source but the 1st 4 words you see actually describe you

Let me start with my self :)

1. Spoken

2. Charismatic

3. Passionate

4. happy

5. Elegant

Well... what about you?

Hugs ^,^

Liebster Blog Award

“Liebster” is a German word that means “Dearest”, it also means ”Favorite”. So, in a way the award not only recognizes these bloggers as amazingly gifted in their own right but also as your very own personal favorites.

I received this "Liebster Blog" award from my new blog friend "Red Shallot" few days ago, but forgive my late to post it in my page and pass it right away. So thanks to "Red Shallot" for gave me such lovely award.

Please do Visit Red Shallot Kitchen It's content with nice recipes and great pictures, guaranteed to inspire you to get busy in the kitchen.

Here are the rules:
1)Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog.
2)Link back to the blogger who presented the award to you.
3)Copy and paste the blog award on your blog.
4)Present the Liebster Blog Award to 5 blogs of 200 followers or less who you feel deserve to be noticed. (Some say just 3 or more blogs of less than 200 followers each)
5)Let them know they have been chosen by leaving a comment at their blog.

And now I must pass this lovely award to my other 5 favorite up and coming blogs ( I wish I could pass more than 5 ...).
They have so far filled my days with support, inspiration, enjoyment and and the love for food. Congratulations to my blogger friends :

1) Kiri at Healthy Foodie Travels

2) Ridwan at Ridwan's Kitchen/ Asian Spices Mix

3) Ping at Ping's Pickings

4) Lena at Frozen Wings

5) Junia at Mis Pensamientos

Happy blogging. Hugs..! @(^,^)@

Three tone Yogurt "Cheese" Chocolate mousse (Labneh Chocolate mousse)

Anyone does not like chocolate? well .. it seems no one who does not like chocolate ya .. especially my husband .. Whatever dessert he requests there must be Chocolate things in it .. so you'll see a lot of chocolate recipes on my page... do search more.. ^,^
While I do not really like to eat plain yogurt .. I always mix my yogurt with something, such as fruit jam, syrup or chocolate... ^,^

And for the dessert menu this weekend, I made something simple but "very chocolate"...

And let me tell you ... this is super Yummy!

Serve: 4

Ingredients:
 Dark chocolate, semisweet chocolate and white chocolate each 100 gr. And more for garnish
Note: you can mix white chocolate and dark chocolate for semisweet chocolate with ratio 70:30 gr (white:dark)
 1 ½ cup strained yogurt (you need to drain yogurt to separate the water in cheesecloth-lined strainer for at least 24 hours before)
Note: From 4 cup yogurt you will get about 1 ½ ~ 2 cup strained one (depend on how thick your yogurt)

Strained yogurt

Gulai Ikan Asam Pedas / Indonesian Spicy Sour Fish Curry

During my pregnancy, until this week 16th, my appetite has not returned to normal yet. My weight dropped to 2 pounds at last check. Nausea is also occasionally appear suddenly, especially when I'm cold.

I can not eat any Turkish food (or other food) as usual--even just only I remember it, I could be wamble! something which very strange and unreasonable by my husband .. But what can I say .. my body and feelings can not lie.

I just can eat my own (Indonesian) foods even though not all Indonesian meals I want to eat. Especially sour and fresh things are all I want ... plus February is still frozen (winter this year is colder winter than previous years).
So I made this spicy-sour fish curry to appetite myself in this cold February. If you want to try it also, you could check my recipe below.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium-size mackerel (or cod or salmon or pompano), cleaned and cut according to taste. Give a squeeze of lemon juice to prevent fishy smell
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 ~ 3 cm galangal, lightly crushed
• 1 medium green or red tomato, sliced crescent shape
• 1 tablespoon tamarind paste (or you can soak dried tamarind with little hot water)
• A little cooking oil for sauteing

Mash/ blend the ingredients:
• 5 ~ 6 shallots
• 5 ~ 6 garlic
• Few bird eye chilli to taste (if you do not want to be too spicy, you can just slice them)
• 2 ~ 3 long red cayenne pepper / red paprika pepper
• 2 cm fresh ginger
• 1 cm turmeric (1 tsp turmeric powder)

How to cook:

Heat enough oil in a pan, saute mashed spices, galangal, and bay leaf. Saute until fragrant, pour hot water (± 1 ½ liters), add tamarind paste, salt, and sugar, taste it. Put in fish, cover the pan, cook over medium heat for several minutes until fish is cooked (± 15 minutes). Last put in tomato slices a few minutes before being removed from heat.

Serve warm with white rice.

Kumpir in Portion

This is another version from my previous Kumpir recipe. Basically the recipe same, only I put them in small portion in occasional having some friends or family visit. And believe me, it's repeatable menu for your family too....

Prepare 4 large potatoes, wash clean. Prick in some parts with a knife, wrap with aluminum foil and bake in oven until cooked and soft. The time required can vary according to the size of potatoes (it took me about 60 minutes)

Hot Chocolate (Our fave beverage during winter)

This January I think the peak of winter, the snow seemed never stopped since beginning of new year's eve. Just few days to stopped, then continue snowing again for another nights. I am almost reluctant to leave my house because it was so freezing outside. I was born and raised in tropical country where the coldest weather ever there is only about 16degC, and that's even if we go to higher place.

almost never stop snowing

I almost did not leave my house during this January without any emergency purposes or very important thing to do, plus my current condition, I would immediately nausea and vomiting when I were in cold.

One alley corner near my home

Anyway, in freezing weather like this we always make something that can warm our self. Beside Turkish tea which has already become a habit in our house, this hot chocolate is also always my huby's request and other family member if they visited our home.

serve 2
Ingredients and how to prepare:
 2 cups of milk
 2 ½ dessert spoons Dutch process cocoa powder
 4 ~ 5 (or to taste) dessert spoons granulated sugar
 ± 80 g dark (or semisweet) cooking chocolate
 Whipped cream (optional) and chocolate saved for garnish

In a small saucepan, stir together milk, sugar and cocoa powder, heated over very low heat and stirring gently bring to simmer and foamy. Mix in the cooking chocolate and continue stirring gently until the chocolate is melted and dissolved.

Serve hot with whipped cream and a sprinkle with chocolate as a garnish.

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