Bought a new copy of GoodFood magazine, so decided I have to try some recipes there otherwise I’m just buying and buying magazine without ever doing anything about it. Hmm then what to try?? Christmas food?? Still way too early…but wait there was this Thai Food set menu for exotic (read: different) christmas dinner. It was a nice Thai food with a new twist.

Serves 3-4 persons

Ingredients:
– 175gr raw prawns, minced (I didn’t use this)
– 85gr water chestnut (I didn’t use this)
– 450gr pork mince (I used beef mince)
– 2 tsp fish sauce
– 5 tsp shaohsing wine (dry sherry)
– 2 tsp sesame oil
– 2 tbsp grated fresh root ginger
– 1 spring onion, finely chopped
– 16 long mild green chillies (if you can’t find them, use red and yellow Romano peppers, quartered) (I used 8 long mild green chillies)

For the sauce:
– 2 tbsp vegetable oil
– 1 tbsp red curry paste (I used 2 tbsp)
– 1 tbsp palm sugar
– 1 tbsp fish sauce
– 400g (1 can) coconut milk
– 100ml water

Directions:
– Mix all the ingredients except the chillies to a loose paste. Slit open the chillies, take the seeds out using a teaspoon, then fill the centres with the mix. Pack it tightly and seal each one with a toothpick.
– Make the sauce: heat the oil and add the curry paste. Reduce the heat and fry the paste gently until fragrant, about 2 mins. Add the sugar and the fish sauce, then increase the heat andd cook for 5 mins, stirring all the time. Add the coconut milk and bring to the boil, then add 100ml water and stir well.
– Drop in the stuffed chillies and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for 10mins. (I cooked more than 10 mins to assure the coconut milk and the spices get through the chillies). Take from the heat and serve.

Source: BBC GoodFood Magazine, UK Edition, December 2008

Another my “mengarang indah” today hihihi…Sorry for the rather long title….I know I’m sucks for making title :s

Stir Fry Long Beans with Pete and Salted Fish

For 2 persons

Ingredients:

– 200 gr long beans cut like matchstick
– a small piece of salted fish shredded
– some pete slices
– 2 garlic slices
– 2 shallots slices
– 1 red chili slices
– 1 bird’s eye chili slices
– 1 tsp sweet soy sauce
– 1 tsp oyster sauce
– 50ml chicken broth or water
– little bit of vegetable oil

Directions:
– Heat oil in a wok, add salted fish, stir now and then until it’s a bit brown and done.
– Add garlic, shallots, chilies. Stir until fragrant.
– Add long beans and chicken broth (or water).
– Add the rest of ingredients. Stir until long beans is done.
– Serve with hot rice.

Yesterday, we invited Peter’s uncle and parents for dinner at our place. Request from Peter was that the main menu is Rendang, so I thought it would be nice to make other menus that matched rendang. At first I was confused what to match with Rendang, even asked Sefa and Deetha for advice (thanks ya). In the end I decided to make; martabak telor and cucumber pickle as appetizer, white rice, rendang and gulai daun singkong as main course, and sarikayo ketan as dessert.

The gulai daun singkong is actually a fake daun singkong (cassava leaves). I found out first at Mbak Retno that we can replace that with kale or boerenkol as we call it in Dutch. I have to say, it did taste the same….Sorry there’s no recipe I can share as I used instant gulai spices.

For sarikayo ketan, it was the first time I made it and it turned out beautifully, they all liked it. Thank you Sefa for sharing the recipe 🙂

Sarikayo Ketan

Serves 6

Ingredients:
– 1 cup Indonesian palm sugar
– 1 cup eggs
– 1 cup coconut milk
– pinch of fennel (I used 2 blocks fennel sugar with de ruijter anijsblokjes)
– 4 tbs water
– pandan leaves, as needed

Directions:
– Mix palm sugar and water in a pan, add pandan leaves, cook until sugar is dissolved.
– Drain the sugar with a fine cloth.
– In a bowl mix all ingredients.
– Divide in 6 ramekins, garnish with some pandan leaves on top.
– Steam for 45 minutes or until done. Don’t forget to wrap the top of the steamer with a clean cloth.
– Chilled in the refigerator, serve cold.

Ketan (Glutinous White Rice)

Ingredients:
– 100 gr ketan
– 150 ml coconut milk
– Pinch of salt

Directions:
– Soak ketan for at least 1 hour.
– Cook ketan with coconut milk and salt in low fire until ketan is done.

Ceritanya pengen tumis kangkung terasi tapi apa daya kangkungnya jauh di Rotterdam hehehe so adanya cuma ini spinazie alias bayam.

Bayam Tumis Terasi (Stir Fry Spinach with Dried Shrimp Paste)

for 2 persons

Ingredients:
– 200 gr fresh spinach leaves
– 3 garlic minced
– 1 red chili pepper, sliced
– 1/2 tsp terasi (dried shrimp paste)
– 1/2 tsp salt
– 1/2 tsp sugar
– little bit of oil

Directions:
– Heat up oil in a wok and add garlic and chili, fry until fragrant.
– Add spinach, terasi, salt and sugar stir until spinach is done.
– Serve with hot rice.

–

Recipe from my mother. Eat it with steaming hot white rice…you wouldn’t care about the world.

Ingredients:
– 2 potatoes cubed and fried or boiled
– 100 gr green bean cut
– 100 gr krecek (dried cow skin)
– 10 petai halves
– 6 shallots sliced
– 4 garlic sliced
– 1 red chili sliced
– 1 green chili sliced
– 2 bird’s eye chili sliced (according to your taste bud)
– 5 whole bird’s eye chili
– 1/2 tsp sugar
– 1/2 tsp salt
– 2 cm galangal bruised
– 2 salam leaves
– 200ml coconut milk
– 2 tbs oil

Directions:
– Heat the oil in a deep frying pan until hot, stir shallots, garlic, chilies, galangal and salam leaves until fragrant.
– Add potatoes, green bean, petai, salt and sugar, stir throughly.
– Add coconut milk and krecek let it until boil and the mixture a bit dried.
– Serves hot with white rice.

After those high calories food last week I wanted to make something that is meaty yet not from meat and it has to be filling and nutritious as well. Oh well what are those for categories. Then I stumbled upon this recipe here. As I love their magazine Good Food but rarely (ok I admit only once) buy it, thank God they have the online version.

Here is the original recipe with some modification from me.

Serves 4 persons.

Ingredients:
– 400g can chickpeas , rinsed and drained
– garlic clove, chopped (I used 3 garlic as I love them so much 😉 )
– handful of flat-leaf parsley or curly parsley (didn’t use this)
– 1 tsp ground cumin
– 1 tsp ground coriander
– 1?2 tsp harissa paste or chilli powder (I used 1 tsp)
– 2 tbsp plain flour
– 2 tbsp sunflower oil
– toasted pitta bread (I used 4 pitta bread)
– 200g tub tomato salsa , to serve
– green salad , to serve
– 1 small red onion, roughly chopped (I used normal onion)

Furthermore I added:
– 1 red chili pepper chopped
– 1/2 tsp salt (they didn’t mention salt in the ingredients but suddenly it appeared in the direction)
– 1 small tub (200ml) sour cream
– 1 tomato, chopped

Directions:
– Pat the chickpeas dry with kitchen paper. Tip into a food processor along with the onion, garlic, parsley, spices, flour, red chili pepper and a little salt. Blend until fairly smooth, then shape into four patties with your hands.
-Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan, add the burgers, then quickly fry for 3 mins on each side until lightly golden. Serve with toasted pittas, tomato salsa, tomato, sour cream and a green salad.

Why I call my sayur asam ga asam? Because I didn’t use the tamarind itself :p Naah it’s ok, it was enough to satisfy my craving for this kind of vegetable.

– 100 gr beef cube for the stock
– 100 gr green bean cut
– 1 can corn
– 1 carrot cut into stick
– 3 shallots sliced
– 2 garlic sliced
– 1 red chili sliced
– 2 tomatoes (because I didn’t use tamarind so this to make up the tangy flavour)
– 2 salam leaves
– 1 tbs ground candlenuts
– 1/2 tsp salt
– 1/2 tsp sugar
– 1 cm galangal
– 1/2 tsp terasi

– Boil the beef with water in a pan.
– Add all the spices until the stock is boiling again.
– Add vegetables, start with the hard vegetables first so it won’t be mushy at the end.

ps: for real sayur asam add little bit of tamarind juice made from tamarind dissolved in water.