For The Love of Friendship and Food Photography

More than one month I let my blog empty without updates. Some of my beloved readers emailed me and asked how are things going with me. They wished that I am okay since they've never seen me blogging again. To read those emails, I'm touched. I felt loved. Thank you for your concern.

As I told you in my previous post (which is last month), I've lost my mood in foodie stuffs (both in food blog and food photography). I have postponed some food photography projects and taken a break from my food photography group. But last week, when I saw some people admired my food photos on the exhibition at Indonesian Day (a program held by PPI Bremen - Indonesian Student Association in Bremen), I felt sad as I realized that I let my passion of food photography's gone (even I don't have any mood in photography at all). I have to fight to gain the feeling back.

Last night over the phone, my best friend, who has been my photography critic, asked me to participate in this month Click photo contest organized by Bee and Jai from Jugalbandi. She said it might be the way to fight against my blue, but I told her that I really don't have any idea what to do with this month theme Stacks. She told me I can use my old photo (her fav) that I put in Flickr, since it has not been published yet in this blog.

So, here I am, for the love of friendship and food photography, I submit the photo of Martabak Kubang (Pastry Stuffed with Spicy Egg Meat Mixture) below to Click June 2009 - Stacks. Hope I still can make it since today is the last day.

Martabak Kubang
Exposure: 1/4s
Aperture: f/3.2
ISO: 100
WB: Daylight

And I present the cherry blossom photo's above to all my beloved readers who keep reading and visiting my blog. Thanks a lot, you are the best!

I'll write the recipe on the next couple posts.

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Click May 2009: Cookies - Egg Drop Cookies

Today I planned to stay at home and get more sleep as yesterday was a long day for me (as I've told you here), but I couldn't sleep. Thanks to my neighbors upstairs who played music so loud. I really don't have any idea and energy at all to ask them to decrease the volume since I've been doing so for more than 10 times. They did decrease the volume every time I made a complain, but then after sometimes, they will do it again and again. The worst was last summer when my mom was here, they played their music loudly at 1AM! Too bad at that time I was being nice not to call the police (yup, here you can report such action to the police) but I don't think I can stand being nice anymore (FYI, the landlord has warned them about this issue, but they will repeat it again after a few day break).

Enough with them, let's talk about my egg drop cookies that I photographed last month for my assignment on SLF. Normally I ate these cookies as the base of my cheese cup cake, but these days (as my tiny oven is getting weird and the big one is broken) I ate them as my snack during my work or when I was waiting for my meal to be cooked.

Egg Drop Cookies

Exposure: 15s
Aperture: f/32
ISO: 100
WB: Daylight

Without further bla bla, I send the egg drop cookies photo above to Click May 2009: Cookies, hosted by Bee and Jai from Jugalbandi.

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Ayam Bumbu Paniki (Chicken ala Paniki)

Gosh! My blog is dying!
This is my first post in May (3 days before June). Can you imagine that? I let my blog dying! I even let my camera crying for not touching her (yup I prefer my camera to be female) for quite some time.

Frankly writing, I lost my mood not only in food photography, but in photography as well. If it's not because my dear friends Ayin at AG'S Food, Dheeta at ...mLebu paWoN... and Shinta at .:Berkreasi di Dapur Mungil:.. who organizes an event called "Masak Bareng Yuukk..!!!" (Let's Cook Together), this blog will not have its May posts. I pulled myself together to photograph this food just to be able to join the event. So please mind the quality of the photos.

The dish on the photo above called Ayam Bumbu Paniki (Chicken ala Paniki) originally from Manado, North Sulawesi. Paniki actually means bat (but not the one from Gotham City). According to the owner of the recipe, Mrs. Baasje, the Manadonese or Minahasan eats everything, including bat. But they eat only the one that eats fruits. If you want to know more, please read the story here.

I did slightly modification only in amount of the ingredients and substituted the lemon juice with palm vinegar as I ran out lemon or lime at that time. I added more coconut milk and chili, but you can adjust the chili according to your taste bud.

Thought it was my firs time cooking chicken ala paniki, but it turned delicious. Hope that I can eat chicken ala paniki from the native North Sulawesi *wink to her*

I'll write you down the recipe before the laziness will strike me back *LOL*

Ayam Bumbu Paniki (Chicken ala Paniki)
Recipe by Mrs Baasje, slightly modified by me

Ingredients:
1 kg chicken thighs, skin out, halves
500 ml coconut milk
1 tbsp palm vinegar
3 lime kaffir leaves
Black pepper powder as needed
1 tbsp oil
Salt as needed

Spices, grind into paste:
3 shallots
3 cloves garlic
1 knucklebone ginger
½ knucklebone turmeric
3 kemiri (candlenuts)
15 bird eye chilies
5 red chillies
Lemongrass, take the white part
1 knucklebone

Method:
1. Heat oil in a wok pan. Add ground spices and stir for 1 minute.
2. Add chicken thighs and other ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and continue to cook over small heat until the gravy reduces and oily. Turn off the heat.
3. Serves with warm steamed rice.

PS: I grilled the leftover chicken ala paniki on the next day, it was a very good idea as it tasted even better. Yummy.

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Judging for Click April 2009 - Spring/Autumn

When Bee and Jai of Jugalbandi, the founder of Click, emailed me and asked whether I can be one of the judge for Click April 2009 - Spring/Autumn, I was surprised and honored as I am still a rookie in both food photography and foodblogosphere. I said yes since I am sure it will give me some experience in learning how to review a photo.

Unfortunately I am in my blogging and photographing blue period (I hope it can answer your curiosity why I abandon my blog for long). I really don't have mood to take any photo, but since at the same time I am asked to be one of the judge for KBB Flickr, so I forced myself to take some shot that I can present it to both event. Gladly that I made it, not only I enter the photo for Click and KBB Flickr, but I can use it for SLF #4 - Food and Props too.

So here it is, my entry for Click April 2009 - Spring/Autumn hosted by Jai and Bee from Jugalbandi.

Vanilla Ice Cream
Camera: Canon EOS 400D
Exposure: 1/30s
Aperture: f/4.0
ISO: 100
WB: Auto

To see more from this set, please visit my album in Multiply.

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Binte Biluhuta

I really don't have any idea how to translate the name of this soup. This soup is originally from Gorontalo, a province in the northern part of Sulawesi. I didn't know that Binte Biluhuta is a dish until last couple months, what I've known was this is the title of song I used to sing when I was in elementary school.

I knew about this dish from my best friend. She told me about it when I needed a list of Indonesian dish for my project. After seeing the recipe and photo in her blog, I decided to search more about this dish. Binte Biluhuta is also known as milu siram/jagung siram with the corn (jagung) as the main ingredient.

I found two kind of recipe for Binte Biluhuta, one with grated coconut, one without. In this recipe, I am using the one without.

Without further bla bla, I better jotdown the recipe right away before my mood to blog drop below zero for more. (Yup, I am in my blogging blue period).

Binte Biluhuta
Recipe by Evia Koos

Ingredients:
1 can (150 gr) of tuna, drained (tuna in water, not the one in oil)
300 gr small size shrimps
1 can 340 gr) of corn kernel, drained
1 liter water for boiling
Salt and sugar as needed
Juice from one lemon
Kemangi (Indonesian basil), as desired
Cooking oil

Spices:
4 red chilies, angle sliced
10 green bird eye chilies, angle sliced
3 stalks of green, roughly sliced
3 shallots, finely sliced
2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced

Garnish:
Fried shallots
Lemon juice

Directions:
1. Bring water to a boil. Add corn kernel. Season with salt and sugar. Continue cooking over a small heat. Add half of lemon juice, stir for a while and turn of the heat.
2. Heat oil in a skillet. Sauté spices until fragrant. Add tuna and shrimps. Cook by stirring continuously until the color changed and cooked. Adjust the taste by adding salt and sugar. Add the rest of lemon juice, stir for a while and remove from the heat.

Serving Suggestion:
Place tuna and shrimps in a bowl. Top with Indonesian basil. Ladle the corn soup over it. Garnish with friend shallots and drizzle with lemon juice. Eat while hot.

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