Macaroni Schotel

Can't say no to this dish. Frequently made this at home and it come to be one of favorite dish at home especially for me and my son. I will share the best recipe that I have ever found. Many recipe will told you only to bake it, but I found the one that give better taste to enhance the cheese flavor by steam it before baked. For cheese lover like me, the best cheese flavor will be my choice, hahaha...

Macaroni schotel is known as staple food in northern Europe home cooking. Some people in Europe said this dish as macaroni casserole. In Indonesia, this dish was introduced by Dutch during the occupation in there. Schotel in Dutch is schall means dish. Maybe it refer to the container used to make this dish. Originally the recipe only consist of macaroni and a mixture of egg and milk with additional ingredients such as meat, sausage, and of course cheese. But you can add anything that you want like vegetables (sometimes I add broccoli, corn, carrot to my macaroni schotel).

Macaroni Schotel

Source : Ferona in Cake Fever
Modification by me

Ingredients:

• 125 g dried elbow macaroni
• 125 g cheddar cheese, grated
• 150 g ground beef
• 1 pieces of sausage, sliced
• some vegetable as your desire
• 1 piece chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• Butter/margarine
• sugar to taste (add only a little as you wish)
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp white pepper powder
• 300 ml full cream milk
• 2 tbsp fresh cream/cooking cream
• 3 eggs, whisk lightly
• 1 tbsp cooking oil

For topping

• 1 tbsp margarine/butter
• 1 tbsp flour
• 125 ml full cream milk
• 1 tbsp cooking cream
• salt to taste
• pepper
• 75 g cheddar cheese, grated
• 50 g mozzarella cheese, grated

Direction:

• Cook macaroni in boiling salted water and cooking oil until just firm to bite (about three-quarter cooked). Drain the water and set aside. 
• Sautee onion with butter/margarine until wilted. Add chopped garlic, and continue sautee until fragrant. 
• Add ground beef and sausage. Stir fry it until the beef change into the darker color. Add other ingredients if you add vegetable. Stir it well just for a while. Add salt, pepper, ground nutmeg. Stir it well. Turn off the heat.
• In different bowl, break the egg and whisk it lightly. Pour fresh milk and cooking cream. Add the beef that has been stir fried before, macaroni, and grated cheddar cheese. Taste it. If the taste still not tasty enough, you can add some salt as your desire. Stir it well. Pour this to the casserole dish (you can use aluminum foil dish). Then take it into the steamer and steam it about 15 minutes.
• While waiting the dish steam, let's prepare the topping. Sautee butter/margarine, add flour, stir it well and fast (only until the flour dissolve with the butter). Pour fresh milk gradually while fast-stirring to prevent the clumping of the mixture. Add grated cheddar cheese. Add salt and pepper.
• After the dish steamed, pour the topping into the top of the dish, spread it well using spatula. Sprinkle the grated cheddar cheese/mozzarella cheese. Then bake it about 15-20 minutes until the cheese perfectly melt and browned.

[KBB#32 Rolls Nice] Love and Dotted Japanese Roll Cake

Roll Cake is a type of sponge cake roll. In Japan, we call it “Roll Cake” but in some other countries people all it Swiss roll or jelly roll. You will be amazing how Japanese made fancy-decorated roll cake. For me, Japanese are the most creative people around the world. They can make anything appear more fancy than usual. Several weeks ago, I seen this Japanese Roll Cake in Mbak Rachmah's photo album when she share this in her Facebook account. I fall in love with the fancy and beautiful look of this roll cake. Amazing, unusual, full of creativity. She told me that she got the inspiration from Junko's book.

There are a lot of cute and pretty decorated roll cakes that we can made - polkadot, sakura flower, strawberry, cartoon character such as Angry Birds, Pokemon, and so on. Even, the President of United States can be seen in the roll cake. LOL. If you don't believe just visit Junko's blog, hehehe..

Just by read the recipe, one thing that I think only, it was so straightforward, nevertheless need a lot of work to do. First we have to make cake batter separately for the decor and for the cake base. Also separate the batter into different bowl to color it. I ended up more time than usual to finish after-baked, washing and cleaning supposed to be can not be fun anymore, LOL.

 But, just because I need to do my probation test for Klub Berani Baking, then I made it :D
 

The cake was really soft, probably because we batter the egg yolk and egg white separately. Also, the use of cornstarch helped the cake to be more moist and have fine texture. But, I was not to satisfied with the result. For this recipe, I made 2 roll cake, the first one was good (but not at all), and the second one was failure. Don't know why, my second roll cake didn't taste and as soft as the first one. Maybe because it was too long in room temperature and I didn't use emulsifier at all.

Based on the recipe in here, the direction said that to make a decor just apply it in the baking paper then take it in the freezer. I use other technique that is been usually used by Junko, i didn't freeze it but baked only for 1 minute in 170 degree Celsius.

I was also not satisfied with the decor. Maybe because the oven was too hot or something like that, there was a little bit brownish in the decor pattern and make the roll cake wasn't looked fine. But tomorrow I plan to baked another to give it to my son's pediatrician. Hope the result will be good...

Here it is my Japanese Roll Cake...

JAPANESE ROLL CAKE

Adapted from : Junko's book

Modification by : Rachmah Setyawati

Ingredients:

Batter A

• 4 egg yolk
• 40 g fine sugar
• 40 cc cooking oil (canola or sunflower oil would be better)
• 60 cc water
• 80 g flour
  

Batter to decorate the motif

• 60 g egg white
• 15 g fine sugar
• 10 g cornstarch flour

Batter B

• 160 - 175 g egg white
• 0,5 g salt
• 50 g fine sugar
• 1 tsp lemon water, squeeze from a half of lemon
• 15 g cornstarch flour
• 1 tbs blueberry paste

Filling　

• Non dairy fresh cream
• Some fruit of your choice (I used Mandarin Orange)

Directions:

• Batter A 

1.  Combine egg yolk and sugar in a small bowl. Mix it until you get smooth batter. In medium speed, while mixture the batter, add cooking oil gradually. Mix it well. Then add some water gradually (maintain the medium speed when mixture it).
2.  After the batter combined well, pour some flour. Mix it until smooth batter and foamy. Set aside the batter and prepare next step.

• Batter to decorate the motif

• Place the egg white in a cleaning  mixing bowl and some part of sugar, mix it until foamy. Add remaining sugar and mix in medium speed until you get glossy and soft peak form batter.
• Pour cornstarch flour, mix for a while until soft peak form. Set aside.

• Take about 5 - 6 tablespoons of Batter A, combine it with Batter to decorate the motif, beat lightly. Divide the batter into 4 bowls. Add little food coloring into each bowl (it depends on your taste). I used light pink, red, and green.

       
• Use 20 x 20 x 5 cm baking pan. Before that, don't forget to prepare the paper that has been drawn with pattern/motif that we like. Take that paper in the base of pan, spread butter/margarine over the paper. Cover the paper with baking paper (you can use silicon mat for better result). Then make the pattern by using food colored-batter. 
• After that, take the baking pan in freezer about 8-10 minutes. Let the batter freeze. If you want to save the time, you can just bake the food colored-batter in 170 degree Celsius for 1 minute. Just choose the easiest method for you.
• Batter B
• Place the egg white in a cleaning  mixing bowl and some part of sugar, mix it until foamy. Add remaining sugar and mix in medium speed until you get glossy and soft peak form batter.
• Add lemon water, beat lightly. Then pour cornstarch flour, mix for a while until soft peak form. Set aside.
• Take a half of Batter B and combine it with Batter A, whisk lightly. Pour remaining Batter B, whisk lightly. Add food flavor paste, I used blueberry food paste.
• Take the frozen batter from the freeze. Gently pour the cake batter (combination of Batter B and A) and spread evenly with an offset spatula or dough scraper. Bake for 20-25 minutes in 165-175 degree Celsius. After baked it, take out from the oven and detach the baking paper carefully. Set aside until cool enough to roll.
• After the cake cool enough, spread the upside of the cake (the one that is brown) with cream and fruit, spread it thick. Then roll the cake, tightly wrap the cake with baking paper and refrigerate to set. This cake is best served the day it is made.