My Very First Handmade Wrist Corsage

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Gateau Chocolate

Nice but too dry.. Great with milk, though.. :)
I used 30% black rice flour, 70% wheat flour..

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Crème Caramel

This isn't the crème caramel made from egg custard and then cooked using bain marie technique. The pudding itself contains carrageenan and agar as gelling agent. So it's just like your usual instant milk pudding (with the addition of egg yolks and vanilla).

But the fun part was making the caramel. Heating sugar until it browned and reached the hard ball stage was quite..something! :D I almost never caramelised sugar since after that internship in candy factory (I was curious and tried to make my own candy at home).

The idea of crème caramel was the opposite of crème brûlée, which is egg custard with hard caramel layer on top. So in crème caramel, we pour the caramel into the base of the mold. It will set quickly into hard caramel. Then pour the hot milk mixture into the mould. It will look like this..


After the pudding has set, take it off the mould. The caramel will be soft and liquid as in the first picture. The taste? YUM!! I know instantly this is one of the things that I'll keep making.. :)

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Purple Lasagna

Purple and orange made an interesting combination in this dish! :)

I made the pasta from wheat flour, egg, water and purple sweet potato flour (for the purple color of anthocyanin). The other stuffs were the usual bolognese sauce (though I did put a generous amount of shredded carrot) and bechamel (white) sauce. The toppings were breadcrumbs and shredded mozzarella cheese (crunchy AND gooey!)

Yum! Definitely better than K-m**l's! ;)

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Ratatouille ala Kerotia

Ratatouille is a traditional French dish. Made of vegetable, it is cheap and easy to make. Therefore, it is often called peasant food.

The ingredients of ratatouille are tomato, zucchini, eggplant, bell pepper, carrot, onion, garlic, mixed herbs, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. In my recipe, I add mushroom and tomato paste, and omit the bell pepper (due to unavailability at the moment).

First, slice the vegetables thinly. Then cook them separately (because each vegetable cooked at different length of time) until tender. Meanwhile, chop garlic and onion. Peel, de-seed, and chop the tomato as well. Saute the chopped garlic and onion with olive oil in a large pot. Add the tomato, and cook until you have a thick tomato sauce. Add tomato paste, salt, pepper, mixed herbs, and the vegetables into the tomato sauce, mix thoroughly. Serve with rice, pasta, or bread. Et voila! Bon appetit!!

***
Ratatouille became so popular after an animated movie with the same name in 2007. In that movie, Remy, the rat-chef, made and popularized Confit byaldi, a version of ratatouille.

Confit byaldi basically uses the same ingredients as ratatouille. But instead of tossing all ingredients in one pot, the ingredients are arranged in layered fashion and then baked slowly, covered in parchment paper.

***
Anyway, I introduced this dish to my family years ago. And last year, when my Mom and Dad went for Umrah, they were served ratatouille on flight. Mom tasted the food and later wrote in her journal, "I had ratatouille for lunch on the plane. It tasted just like my daughter T used to make. I miss my kids. Ya Allah, please keep them safe while we're away."

*sobs* I love you, mom..