NTM

Sorry this won’t be an Indonesian Recipe, ever since I got pregnant it has been a little bit harder to eat Indonesian food. I know, I scoffed at people who said that too, but then it happened to me. I imagine that once morning sickness is gone, I’ll be able to eat it all over again. I found out though, that this is a very Indonesian way to feel, a lot of my close Indonesian friends didn’t want to eat rice when they were pregnant, some only wanted bread and cheese (which are considered to be very American foods). This is unbelievable to me because rice is even more than a staple for Indonesians, it is THE food, everything else is just a side dish.

BREAD (this easy recipe comes from my grandmother, Rose Petersen and makes 2 LOAVES of BREAD)

6c flour (3 c whole wheat/3 c white, can also add 1/2 c of flax or wheat germ) 
2T yeast
4T sugar
4T oil
2t salt
2½ c lukewarm water

Combine 4 c of flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. You can activate the yeast by putting it in the warm water for 2 minutes before hand, but this isn’t always needed, I just do it if my yeast is old or if I’ve been having some problems with my bread rising.
Add oil and water.
Mix  in additional 2 c of flour until the bread is the correct consistency. It should be pulling away from the bowl, and starting to look “elastic.” I then turn it onto a floured surface and knead it adding more flour until it is no longer sticky, and has a nice appearance.
Place in greased plastic bowl, cover with towel and allow to rise. Dough should double in size (approximately 1 hour)
Shape the dough as you wish. My favorite is to make three long pieces of dough, and then braid them together.
Let the loaves rise again (approximately 30 minutes)
Brush beaten egg on the top of the loaves and sprinkle with sesame seeds, dried rosemary, or poppy seeds if you wish.
Bake in a 350 F (170 C) oven for about 60 minutes, or until golden brown. If you are unsure if the loaf is done in the inside you can tap it, if it sounds faintly hollow, it’s done.

APPLESAUCE

Apples (roughly 1/2 lb–we just use small tart local apples, but sweeter ones would work too)
Copious amounts of Cinnamon

Peel, core, and slice the apples. Boil in enough water to cover them until mushy. Put the apples in your blender with as much cinnamon as you like, some of the water to thin it, and then blend away. You can also put the apples in a large wooden bowl, and mash them with the removable end of your rolling pin (or a fancy tool specially created for this purpose). If you have a fine mesh sieve, you can boil the apples with the peels on (you won’t lose as many vitamins), and mash them through the sieve. Depending on the apples, you won’t need any sugar.

PEANUT BUTTER

Shelled, Raw Peanuts

Toast your raw peanuts in a fry pan or in your oven (make sure you pay attention to them in the oven–they’ll burn in about 5 minutes and get totally black in 7). Put them in the dry mill of your blender (this thing is the best invention ever. We grind our coffee in it, we can grind spices in it, we make peanut butter), or maybe in a food processor and then blend away. In about 2 minutes it will turn into a nice peanut butter. Salt not needed. Oil not needed. We used to take the papery skins off the peanuts before blending, but found that the taste difference was so small that it wasn’t worth the work (I’m a very lazy cook).