Rotiboy, One of Our New-found Lo(a)ves

I've heard so many good things about rotiboy, but had never had one until my recent trip to Jakarta. As someone who's so crazy about coffee and butter, this bread is like a perfect marriage between them two. The strong coffee coat, soft and fluff bun, with the oozing salted butter in the center, is to die for. I've been trying to describe it without sounding like an intro of a porn video, but fail miserably. Hence, the lame description above. One thing for sure, it's still not better than sex.

After days of jet-lag, both Samu and I were craving for rotiboy. Unlike Jakarta (where you find rotiboy quite ubiquitous), we can't find any in Seattle. We can't just go to the counter, give the guy Rp 7,500 and grab the warm bag of rotiboy. That means we have to make it! So I went to google and found few recipes. This was the one I ended up using. The only change I made was using salted butter for the filling. The result is awesome, although I still think the real rotiboy is far superior than this version.

Elle ate one and a half in one sitting (mind you, she's a 16-month old little girl), and Samu ate two. I guess, they think it's better than storebought rotiboy.

Does anyone know why it's called rotiboy? Why not rotigirl? My theory is, because it's filled with oozing white, salty, buttery fluid.. But hey, that also applies to girl! Okay, sorry.

Once again, if you want to try the recipe, click here.

Baked Pork Buns, My BUNdle of Joy

I have a confession to make. My favorite meat to cook with is pork. As boring as it sounds, I make pork stewed in soy sauce at least once every 2 weeks. For variation, sometimes pork belly is used or pork feet for that gelatinous texture. I don't know why, the first day of pork stew, it's still good just eaten with steamed rice. The second day, I started to get the itching to make something else out of it. And most of the time, I relented and make pork buns using the leftovers.

Instead of steaming them as usual, I baked them.

His Favorite Cinnamon Buns

Between March and April, we've been to IKEA for copious amount of time. With each visit, my 4-yr-old son would ask for their $1.25 cinnamon bun. He loves it so much, sometimes waking up, the first thing he asks is "did you make cinnamon bun today?" 

He loves helping me in the kitchen, but the only thing he helps me with from start to finish is cinnamon bun. When making other treats, halfway through, he'll announce that he's bored and would rather do something else. Eminently, when it comes to this puffy sweet bun, he waits for the dough to rise, even reminds me to check on it every 30 minutes. Roll the dough up with his tiny hands and tell me whether I cut them too thick or too thin. He wants to make sure it comes out perfect. While he prefers savory food, dark chocolate and anything-cinnamon-flavored top his favorite snack list.

Bread-That-Was-Supposed-to-be-Ciabatta with Shredded Pork

Couple days ago, Danielle from Runs with Spatula gave me an award, thanks Danielle! It sounds like a fun thing to write but to be honest with you, I don't know what to write when it comes to 7 things about myself. I will try...

1. I'm a bookwhore. My husband hates how I leave books all around. Trip to bookstore is always filled with temptation.
2. My yearly new year resolution is to be less profane, somehow I haven't succeeded yet. 
3. I get all happy and excited when I go grocery shopping, and spend less than I expected. Then I will show the receipt to my husband and yap about it for a good 15 minutes til he tells me that "I don't really care how much you save". Ouch.
4. Socially inept. It's really hard for me to start a conversation. But after 5 minutes of talking, usually things go smoothly. 
5. I cannot live without chilli sauce. Or chilli itself. We buy the 136oz huge jar and it'll be gone by the end of the month.
6. My husband is 11 years older than me, but sometimes I look 5 years older than him. Life. is. not. fair.
7. My right thumb nail is deformed, has been that way since I was 14. Don't know what's wrong with it. Anyone?

Back to food, last week I made two huge loaves of ciabatta from Peter Reinhart's book, Bread Baker's Apprentice. It was good but definitely not ciabatta. It doesn't have huge airpockets as it should be. I love eating ciabatta just as is, without any adornments. Unfortunately, this bread-that-was-supposed-to-be-ciabatta (BTWSTBC) is too dense to eat as is. So I decided to slowcook a piece of pork shoulder butt with ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves, paprika, garlic and dried chilli flakes. And shredded it by hands and top the BTWSTBC with the shredded pork. 

The crunchy, rustic-looking crust with the soft bread and the juicy, tangy pork, without a doubt, is delicious. If that bread was a pillow, I'd love to sleep on it. But the thought of having bread crumbs on my hair snapped me out of it. And pork is such a versatile ingredient. No matter how you prepare it, it will turn out edible if not tasty. And I believe pig's sole purpose in this world is to be eaten. Cow/cattle serves multiple purposes, chicken too. But not pig. Where is pig's destination other than the butcher shop? Oh pork, how I love you.

BTWSTBC is just a vessel for the awesome pork. The inside was scooped so it could be used as a shovel, for transferring the pork from plate to mouth. Eating utensils aren't needed.

The Power of Bread

You're having a bad day, things don't go the way you wanted them to. What do you eat to make you feel better? My son would want chocolate chips to fix his "owie". My husband would want a can of beer to cure his headache. I want bread with softened butter slather on top. I love carbs so much, I sometimes wonder how it'd taste to eat carbs on top of carbs on top of carbs (imagine, french bread topped with risotto, topped with fries. Gross? Maybe..)

At times, simple french baguette is enough to satisfy my bread cravings. But my favorite must be brioche. Buttery bread, eaten with some more butter? It sounds good to me. Of course too much of it makes me want to go for a nap. Leftover brioche is perfect for making french toast.  

Shitty day becomes better with a slice of brioche. The power of food is amazing, yes? Having to deal with annoying people? Eating brioche will not make them less annoying, but I think the butter helps me calm down. Brioche is my beer goggles. It makes me less profane too.  

Another day is saved, thanks to bread!

Chewy Whole Wheat Boule

If I went back in time and told my 15-year-old self that I'd be baking bread at least once every 2 weeks, she wouldn't believed me. After constant disappointment from buying grocery store bread, I'd rather bake it myself. While bread is ubiquitous, my longing for bread is so sudden, there's no time to go out and buy it. 

Men cannot live on bread alone. It's true to a certain degree, because it needs to be brushed with olive oil and kosher salt! Bread is so universal, you can have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Depends on what you serve it with. Today for breakfast, I had a small wedge of this whole wheat bread dipped in black coffee. For lunch, I had it with a bit of softened brie and salad of chopped celery and carrot (quickie salad I called it). For dinner I might have it with the vegetable soup I made earlier today. After one day eating bread alone, I'll be craving for rice again tomorrow. 

Chili for Chilly Weather

2011 is my 7th year in Seattle, I am still not used to the cold weather. Even my husband, who's been living here his entire life, cannot stand the chill. And after consuming copious amount of herbal soup these past couple weeks, we agreed we need something we haven't had in a while. But it has to have the same warming effect herbal soup has.  

When Homemade Pizza > Store-bought Pizza

I once thought that pizza shouldn't be made at home and the only place that sells pizza is Pizza Hut. Well, my grandma used to make pizza for us at home, but it tasted like white sandwich bread with lots of toppings. Her pizza was good, if you can call it that, but lack the chewiness the usual pizza has.