Another Gluten-free Pasta

Beberapa malam yang lalu, Kinan memutuskan untuk masak untuk makan malam. Kali ini, ditemani oleh tetangga kost, tetangga seberang yang sepertinya sedang berantem, dan sorotan flash dari HP karena lampu yang di dapur mati.

Seperti biasa, pasta yang digunakan adalah pasta gluten-free. Kenapa gluten-free? Hal ini dikarenakan Kinan sangat takut menjadi gendut, oleh karena itu sebisa mungkin Kinan menggunakan bahan-bahan yang bisa memperlambat kenaikan berat badannya. Dan, terlebih dari itu, gluten-free pasta itu sehat, lho!

Modal bawang putih di tumis pakai minyak kelapa, makan malampun sudah tersedia. Eits, tapi nggak hanya itu saja. Saus dasar yang digunakan untuk membuat masakan ini adalah saus Bolognese botolan garapan San Remo. Rasanya cukup manis, tapi nggak berlebihan. Gurihnya pun ada, dan tomat yang dipakai untuk membuat saus ini melimpah. Tambahkan sedikit garam Himalaya dan daging ayam giling untuk menambah cita rasa, lalu jadilah!

Sayang, mangkok yang dipakai adalah mangkok Doraemon. Kurang aestetik. 

Gluten-free Penne Bolognese

Gluten-free Penne Bolognese

Ingredients:

- gluten-free pasta (chose your pasta according to your preference. I was in the mood for some penne pasta today, so I settled with that baby)

- bolognese sauce (I got the one in a jar. I chose the one that has less preservatives, which is San Remo's Homestyle Pasta Sauce)

- minced beef

- pork sausage 

- 3 cloves of garlic

- water

How to Make: 

1. Boil your pasta with a boiling pan. Let it sit for about 15 minutes, or until the pasta gets into the texture that you like. I like mine al dente. 

2. Chop up some garlic, as well as the sausage, and fry them on a separate frying pan. Fry them sausages first because you don't want your garlic to be burnt from being fried too long.

3. When your sausage has changed its' color into brownish dark grey, put in the minced beef and fry 'em up nicely. 

4. When everything is well-fried, pour the bolognese sauce onto the frying pan, add some water, and stir well. I don't like runny sauce, so I only poured a bit of water and let the whole thing simmer until it thickens. 

5. Last, but not least, pour your al dente pasta onto the frying pan and mix until the whole thing gets covered by the meaty sauce. 

6. Y'all can add some garnish as you like. I added some gluten-free tortilla chips and some local chili flakes for that extra kick of spiciness. 

UNION

Last Saturday, Mom and I went out to Pondok Indah Mall to enjoy a lovely dinner at UNION. Mom has been to UNION before with Dad, but this time was my first time ever to dine at the oh-so-hype bistro. We had to wait in line for us to be seated even though we made a reservation for two people beforehand because the restaurant was crowded. And when we finally got our table, our stay at the bistro was timed. Approximately two hours. 

We only had a couple of hours to dine

For starter, Mom had a plate of Romaine Salad. Accompanied with Parmesan Chicken, and Truffle Soft Boiled Egg, the salad had a mountain of crisp greens topped with potato chips and pork bacon. The waiter asked us beforehand about what kind of bacon that we would like to have on our salad. "We have beef bacon, pork bacon, and turkey bacon," he said. It only took a second for us to make our choice. 

Romaine Salad, Parmesan Chicken, Truffle Soft Boiled Egg, Potato Chips, and Bacon - 85K

Just look at that runny yolk

I decided to go out of my comfort zone by choosing neither salad or soup for starter. I went for the Escargot. Yes, Escargot! The Parisian style land snails on a plate, fancily cooked with butter and bread crumbs - which explains why the dish reminds me so much of Pizza Hut's garlic bread - and not like the local land snails named Tutut that I had a few years ago. 

It was my first encounter with Escargot, so that explains why I was completely clueless regarding the proper way to indulge on these delicious looking land snails. I had no idea how to eat it. Like, seriously no idea. There were a couple of relish fork on my Escargot plate and, still, I had no clue what to do with them. My head was filled with options, more like questions, and it gradually became more like a battle between me and myself. 

"Should I use both of them to scrape the meat out of the shell? Or am I supposed to use just one of them to dig out the meat, while my left hand is busy holding the shell? But, isn't that just stupid and barbaric if I were to do something like that? How on earth am I supposed to eat Escargot? Am I adopted? Wait, what?"

I noticed a thong gripping the edge of my plate. For a second there, I thought that maybe the thong is one of the utensils used to eat the Escargot. I hold the thong and tried to lift it up, resulting in me lifting the whole plate. "That's not supposed to happen," I thought. So, I put the plate down and decided to leave the thong be. 

In the end, I decided to use both of the forks to dig out the meat from the shell. Which was a dumb idea to do, because later on, I found out that the proper way to eat Escargot is to use the thong to hold the Escargot, then use the fork to scrape the meat out. I feel so stupid. 

Escargot, Garlic Butter - 95K

Now, the cooked snails were not slimy like how I expected it would be. It had the same texture like cooked oyster, a bit chewy and tender. On the entrance of each snails was a teaspoon of what it seemed to me like marinara sauce, which gave the meat extra flavor other than just garlic and buttered bread crumbs. All in all, Escargot tasted pretty delicious and not as icky as I imagine. 

They look adorable and delicious at the same time

Dinner rolls to accompany your dishes with

Instead of not ordering anything to drink like I usually do, I decided to have me a glass of Melon & Mint Smoothie. The smoothie consisted of watermelon, melon, honey, and mint, which was very refreshing and healthy. What I love the most about the smoothie is that the bartender didn't throw out my most favorite part of smoothies and juices: the pulps.

Melon & Mint Smoothie - 55K

And then we moved on to the Main Course. Mom had a plate of spaghetti smothered in truffle sauce, topped with pork crackers and bacon lardons, and garnished with parsleys. I had a bite of Mom's dish and it was delicious. The sauce simply stuck on the spaghetti, resulting in a rather thickly creamy dish, instead of the slight liquidy sauce that we usually encounter on spaghetti. The flavor was very bold, yet in one place, while the pork crackers and bacon lardons did a great job in adding an extra savoriness to complete the spaghetti.

Pork Crackling, Bacon Lardons, Spaghetti, Alba Truffle Cream - 80K

Salmon was what I had for dinner at UNION. It was a Crispy Skin Salmon with Mashed Potato, Orange, and Ginger Soy. I was expecting a large and thick cut of Salmon, but instead, I was given a rather small slice. It could even fit on my palm. 

On the side were three spoonful of mashed potato garnished with a piece of celery on top, three pieces of orange, garnished with ginger soy sauce. I love the sauce as it was full of flavor. Even though the ginger slightly dominated the flavor, I could still taste the sweet and savory soy sauce. 

My salmon was well-done. It went splendidly well with the ginger soy sauce, despite the fact that I'm not a big fan of ginger. Both mashed potato and orange made a great intermezzo, in case you get that fed-up feeling of chewing the salmon. 

Crispy Skin Salmon, Mashed Potato, Orange & Ginger Soy - 140K

A way to spoil your taste buds 

Last but not least, for dessert, we shared a slice of UNION's most famous cake ever: the Red Velvet cake. Four layers of red velvet cake, with thick cream cheese in between and topped with sugary peanuts, would make your knees weak. The cake itself was not that sweet; while the cream cheese was very heavy and thick, and at the same time cheesy and sweet. 

The highlight of the cake was the peanut on top as it completes the whole existence of the cake. Even though the cake tasted delicious, I would rather indulge on just the peanuts and cream cheese, because both blended perfectly with each other creating this explosion of flavor in my mouth. 

Red Velvet Cake - 55K

UNION

Pondok Indah Mall 

Street Gallery, Ground Floor

Jalan Metro Pondok Indah

Pondok Indah - Jakarta

Contact:

+62 21 2952 9781

+62 21 2952 9782

Opening Hours:

Monday - Sunday: 11AM - 2AM

Warung Pasta

If you're in the mood to chow down on good quality pasta with student-friendly price, then Warung Pasta is the place that you have to visit. Located at Kalimalang, WarPas is a bit tricky to find because of its' petite physic and it is hidden behind a towering tree. Even the billboard sign is clouded with tree branches. If you're coming from Jalan Caman Raya, you just have to go straight on Jalan K.H. Noer Alie and the restaurant will be on your left. 

Ambar, my chubby dorm mate, and I paid a visit to the pasta house and had some nice spaghetti for early dinner. Mine was a plate of Spicy Tako, consisted of your choice of pasta with olive oil, octopus, boiled egg, nori, and chilly pepper - in other words, I was having myself a plate of seafood pasta. The spaghetti is available in three portions: small, medium, and large. I went for the medium portion that costed me Rp25.000,00. 

My spaghetti was deliciously creamy and slightly fishy in a good way. I just love how the chef soft-boiled my egg. The yolk was slightly runny, while the egg white was a bit squishy even when it was nicely formed. I just love the flavor combination between the yolk and the creamy savory spaghetti. And the best part was, the creamy sauce didn't give me nausea like how creamy spaghetti usually does, which is an A+ for me. 

The savory and creamy Spicy Tako

Ambar had a plate of Meatlover Spaghetti. Consisted of your choice of pasta with meat sauce, minced meat, and cheese, this particular spaghetti tasted like the usual spaghetti marinara. The tomato sauce was very strong, and it was lacking of minced meat like they promised. It didn't taste that bad, but if I were Ambar, I would probably go for a different menu. 

Ambar's Meatlover Spaghetti

Being food lovers, Ambar and I, a medium portion of spaghetti just won't do, so we decided to order another dish: pizza pie. The pizza that we had was the Cheeze Me Up Pizza Pie, consisted of three kinds of cheese, crusty edges, and layered dough. I really enjoyed the combination of cheese and tomato sauce as its' topping, yet I'm not quite fond of the pie dough. It was thick and it had layers like pastry dough, but the taste was just a bit off.

The sight of the Cheeze Me Up Pizza Pie

Want some?

Overall, I would give this place 3 stars out of 5. Extra points for the budget-friendly price and the various portion. Definitely love the menu, with its' wide varieties of pasta and choice of seasoning, not to mention an endless selection of appetizer and dessert. Worth a visit!

Warung Pasta

Jalan K.H. Noer Alie, No. 1

Kalimalang Plaza, Bekasi

Lenôtre Paris

This evening, I dined at Lenôtre Paris in Villaggio Mall with Tante Rosi and Nabila. As I expected from a French restaurant, the place is very luxurious and high-class-like. Black dominated the color of the dining place, nonetheless the lack of lighting emphasizes the rich atmosphere. Chairs and couches were available for those who have specific preference. The restaurant is very big, it even has its' own dessert display on the left side of the dining area. Good Lord, those petite cream puffs and cakes looked very beautiful and mouth-watering, and they were not-surprisingly expensive. 

Most of the waiter and waitresses are from the Philippines. They were very nice and polite when they served us, yet there were some who were not fluent in English, making in difficult for us to place our orders. 

Lenôtre Paris in Villaggio

Le dining area

Wide selection of sweet treats

I was going to order myself a glass of either Cafe Latte or Cappuccino, but I changed my mind and had a glass of sour Lemon Mint instead. Nabila had the same thirst-quenching beverage as me, while Tante Rosi had a bottle of mineral water. The Lemon Mint was super sour in a good way and it made me feel good about consuming it, because all of the fat that I ate will be washed away with a gulp or two.

A glass of refreshingly sour Lemon Mint

A bottle of Evian

The dishes were surprisingly served super fast! We only have to wait for around 10 minutes after we placed our orders for the food to be served on our table. The waiter gave us a complementary bakery basket set, consisted of 6 kinds of dinner rolls. The bakery basket was served with three different side toppings, which were Smoked Cheese, Fresh Tomato Sauce, and Garlic Butter. I love the butter the most, followed by the tomato, then the cheese. Combine those three all together in one toast and you will get a combination of unique flavor, just like how Remy from Disney's Ratatouille describe.

Complimentary bakery basket set

Clock-wise: Fresh Tomato Sauce, Smoked Cheese, Garlic Butter

The Onion Rings tasted unexpected in a good way! I'm not a person who is fond of onion rings, but it turned out that the deep-fried rings were delicious. Instead of the usual frying-a-layer-of-onion-in-savory-batter, the chef grind the onion beforehand and mix it with other ingredients, shaped them similar to ear hoops, dipped them into a bowl of savory batter, and fried until golden brown in color. Those onion rings were crispy and savory, and it didn't taste like onion, nor reek like one at all.

Onion Rings

Tante Rosi had a plate of Sauteed Vegetables. Consisted of broccoli, zucchini, carrots, and snow peas, those greens had a balance flavor according to her. "The amount of salt that the chef used was perfect," she said, followed by, "Oh my, the snow peas are deliciously sweet!". 

Sauteed Vegetables

Nabila had a bowl of Baked Macaroni Chicken and Mushroom, while I had a set of Philadelphia Steak. We share our meal together, so technically I had both dishes for dinner. 

Nabila's Baked Macaroni Chicken and Mushroom was very delicious and creamy! Served sizzling hot, best eaten when it's still warm. The macaroni were nicely boiled, not too mushy, nor too stiff. Topped with cream sauce and melted cheese, the flavor is just amazing! Hating the mushroom, like always, thank God the flavor didn't blend with the entire dish.

Baked Macaroni Chicken & Mushroom

My Philadelphia Steak, on the other hand, was not as fantastic as I thought it would be. In the menu was written, "Sesame bread, beef filet, onion, capsicum, mushrooms, mayonnaise, mozzarella cheese, salad, spiral potato". I was hoping for a couple of stiff European bread sandwiching a generous amount of shredded beef bathe in sweet sauce decorated with melted cheese. Instead, I got a warm puffy buns with less than a handful of sliced beef, a couple layers of cheese, and mixed sauce which flavors I could not distinguish. Don't get me wrong, the sandwich was tasty, but it was not as jaw-dropping and lip-smacking as I thought it would be.

Philadelphia Steak

Not as fantastic as I thought it would be

It was a great experience to dine at Lenôtre Paris. The food were great, the service was good, the ambience of the dining place was nice. All in all, I had a nice time at the French restaurant and is looking forward to pay another visit when I get the chance. 

P.S. make sure you bring an awful-lot of Riyals when you dine at this restaurant. Do you know how much does a box of Macaroons, with 20 pieces each, costs? 160 Riyals!

Lenôtre Paris
Villaggio Mall, High End Section

Phone: (+974) 4450 7255

Opening Hours:
Monday - Sunday: 8 AM - 11 PM

Veggie Bacon Fettucini & Cheddar Roll

Merry Christmas! 

'Tis the season to be jolly, enjoy food and drinks with family ♫

This morning I woke up to an empty dinning table. There were no food in sight, except a few Rambutan. Mom had not cook anything, neither for breakfast, nor lunch. So, I took the advantage of the situation and made myself a Pancake for breakfast. "How about if I cook some pasta," offered Mom. I immediately nodded! At first, I was going to laze around while Mom cooks, but then and idea came up. The idea of using whatever ingredient in sight to make Mozzarella Sticks, like the one you can buy in Pizza Hut. Unfortunately, we only have a couple loafs of bread and some Cheddar Cheese at home, but desperate times call for desperate measures!

Cheddar Roll

Ingredients:

- 2 loafs of bread (I used Sari Roti's product)

- Cheddar Cheese

- Unsalted Butter

Cooking Utensils:

- Knife

- Oven Toaster 

- Cheese Grater

Hot to Make:

- Cut the bread crust away, leaving you with the soft and chewy white part of the loaf.

- Slice the bread loaf into four parts.

- Shred the Cheddar Cheese and put them on top of the bread.

- Roll the bread to envelope the Cheddar Cheese and pinch the edge with your fingers to seal it.

Before toasting

- Apply some Unsalted Butter on top of the bread.

- Put them in the Oven Toaster for 5 minutes.

After toasting

When you get a tray of crunchy and chewy Cheddar Roll as the outcome, it means that you succeed!

While I was toasting some Cheddar Rolls, Mom was busy making a pan of creamy white sauce to glaze the Fettucini with. She put Carrots and Bacons bits into the pan and start doing her magic. In less than half an hour, a bowl of Fettucini, along with a pan of aromatic white sauce was served!

Veggie Bacon Fettucini

Ingredients:

- Fettucini

- Water (to cook the Fettucini)

- 1 stick of Carrot

- 1 strip of Bacon (or 10 strips, I don't care, because Bacon is awesome)

- 2 tbs of Cooking Oil

- 2 cloves of Garlic

- A pinch of Salt

- A pinch of Pepper

- 1 cup of Fresh Milk

- 2 sticks of Celery 

- 1 cup of Flour

How to Make:

- Dice the Carrot, slice the Bacon, and cut the Garlic Cloves into small bits.

- Put them in a pan, along with the Cooking Oil, and cook them well. 

Cook them well, but not until the Carrot is mushy

- Cut some Celery and put them in as well.

Cut the Celery into small bits

- Pour some Milk into the mixture and stir well.

- Season the white sauce with some Salt and Pepper.

- Pour some Flour into the white substance and stir well. Later on, you will end up with a nice thick white sauce.

- Cook the Fettucini accordingly. 

If you like them a bit chewy and slightly stiff, then cook them until medium well. If you like them soft and mushy, then cook them until well done.

Boil a handful of Fettucini

Let them cook nicely

And there you have it, a plate of Veggie Bacon Fettucini and some Cheddar Rolls! Both dishes are pretty simple to make and goes well in this Christmas atmosphere. It's a shame it doesn't snow here in Indonesia, because what would beat the cold weather other than a plate of warm Fettucini and a glass of milk? 

Lunch is serve!

The Cheddar Roll went well with the white sauce

This one goes to Instagram

Gnocchi on a Plane

I had to fly with Garuda Indonesia from Singapore to Indonesia because the direct flight from Qatar to Indonesia with Qatar Airways was fully booked. I didn't expect to be served with food when I was onboard with Garuda Indonesia, but then the sight of the stewardesses dragging off the food cart caught me. "Free food," I said to myself. The stewardess handed the passengers cups of orange juice, followed by a tray of food.

A fresh cup of orange juice before departure

"Would you like to have rice with chicken, or pasta with beef," she asked. I decided to try the pasta because eating chicken on an airplane is not what I'm good at. I was expecting a bowl of penne, or spaghetti, covered with juicy meat sauce, what I got was a bowl of gnocchi with cube-shaped meat, and vegetables on the side of the bowl. "What is this pasta you speak of," I thought. I didn't know its' name was Gnocchi and it's a kind of pasta, so I just used the word "dough balls" when my Mom asked me what I had during the flight.

Having beef for lunch, instead of rice and chicken

Look, Gnocchi on a plane!

It turned out that the Gnocchi and the cube-shaped meat tasted delicious! I've never tasted Gnocchi before, so it was a bit odd and strange, but delicious at the same time. The meat, on the other hand, was well-cooked. They were all soft and easy to chew, not to mention coated with savory sauce that would tingle your taste bud.

Those meat tasted awesome, a bit similar to rendang but more airplane-food-like

I had a glass of guava juice and a bowl of mixed fruits for dessert. Everything was fine and organized, I enjoyed my meal and was about to dozzed off, until a rough turbulence hit the plane. I'm always terrified when turbulence occurs. I can't help but to think that the plane is going to crash and stuff. So, I tried to distract my mind by eating the mixed fruits. It didn't help quite much because I was still scared, but it tasted good and very refreshing.

A glass of guava juice to put my mind at ease during turbulance

Some fruits for dessert

We meet again, Biella!

Dad took my Mom and I to Biella for lunch today. It was my second time to dine in at Biella and, I have to say, I looked forward to indulge on some Italian cuisine. Dad told me that his roommate once recommended him a delicious dish when they ate at Biella, and he ordered that particular dish for me today. I was full of anticipation, yet unfortunately we had to wait for around half an hour for the dishes to arrive at our table. Thank God, they provide a basket of toasts for starters at Biella.

Ciao, Biella!

Some toasts for starter

A bottle of olive oil and Anchor's butter were available for us to use

Mom, experimenting with some balsamic sauce and cheese

Mixed it up and dip the toast in it

The waitress offered us some drinks when we were waiting for our food to come. I asked her for a glass of iced lemon tea, while Mom ordered herself a glass of Mint Lime and Dad ordered a glass of iced tea. Do take note that when you eat something greasy and full of fat, don't order yourself a glass of milkshake or coke, a glass of iced tea will suffice. If you drink any kind of drinks that contains milk after you eat fatty food, the amount of fat in your body will increase rapidly. You don't want that to happen, do you? Well, if you do, I assume that you're currently wanting to gain a few pounds, or you might be a sumo wrestler.

Always go with the tea when you eat something greasy, fatty, and high in calories 

I had a rather large glass of iced lemon tea

After a long wait, our food finally arrived. Mom ordered herself a plate of pasta with tomato sauce. Garnished with well-cooked broccoli and cheese, Mom's lunch tasted fantastic. I took a bite of Mom's order and I simply love the pasta. I was rather thick and full of flavor from the tomato sauce. I was going to finish her plate when she told me that she couldn't finish it because she was full, but she forbid me by saying that I might get stomachache from eating too much later on. Glad I did what she told me to do.

Mom's pasta, which tasted fantastic

Scaloppine de vitello o di pollo ai funghi was the name of my dish. Translated, it was a well-cooked veal escalope smothered with mushroom sauce, and garnished with either rosemary or mashed potatoes. I asked for some french fries instead. I didn't know what "veal escalope" means, so I had to look it up in Google. It turned out that what I ate for lunch was a thin meat, all meat and no fat. It was a delicious Italian cuisine, not to mention it was coated with a glassful of great mushroom sauce as well. I'm not fond of mushroom, but I eventually finished the whole dish. Well, not literary, because I left some sauce and a few sticks of french fries. Anyhow, I'm looking forward to go back to this Italian restaurant for its tray of delicious cuisine, someday in the future!

My mushroom-sauce-covered lunch

Buon Appetito!

Biella

The Mall D-Ring Road, Old Airport

Doha, Ad Dawnah, Qatar

Phone: (+974) 4467-7732

Hours: 10 am - 12 am