Alfafa Sprouts And Tofu Gado-Gado

Super delicious and pretty  simple meal, good for lunch or dinner!

Make 4 serving

1 pkt firm tofu, cube and place on a colander in a sink to drain the water 
4 cups alfafa sprouts
2 cups shredded carrots
1 Italian green sweet pepper, or jalapeno, thinly sliced

• Add about a tablespoon or two oil in a non stick skillet, put the skillet over a medium heat. Fry the tofu lightly, just enough to browned them. Transfer to a plate line with paper towel.


• Arrange the tofu, and  the rest of the vegetables on individual plate, top it with the gado gado dressing. You can also drizzle some good aged balsamic vinegar, if you wish. Serve immediately. 

Dressing:
1 cup chunky peanut butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp or more sambal oelek, or any chili sauce you have in hand
2 - 3 kaffir lime leaf
1 tsp seedless tamarin pulp
1/4 cup or more water

• Put all ingredients for the dressing in a food processor, whirl for a few second. Transfer to a bowl.

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CAMBODIA My Kitchen My World

Thank you to Lauren who chosen Cambodia as our challenge for this week.
Lauren is also our new moderator for MKMW.



Curry Mouan
Recipe Adapted From: The Elephant Walk Cookbook
By: Longtein De Monteiro & Kathereine Neustadt

According to this book, Cambodian consider the look of the curry is very important! They like to see lots of small dark spot of oil - dark red from the chilli peppers pooled on the surface of the sauce.

Serve 8

Paste:
¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup sliced lemongrass
3 dried New Mexico chillies, soaked, seeded, and deveined
5 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 large shallot, coarsely chopped
2 slices peeled galangal, about  1½" across & 1/8" thick
1½ cinnamon sticks, cracked
4 whole star anise
9 cardamom seeds
1 small asian nutmeg
16 peppercorns
½ tsp coriander seeds
½ tsp fennel seeds
¼ tsp turmeric
2½ tsp shrimp paste
1 cup water
¼ cup chopped cilantro

• Heat oil in a large skillet, fry all of the ingredients above, except water and the cilantro, to release their flavor about 5 minutes. Transfer to a blender,  add the water and the chopped cilantro, process until smooth. Set aside while you are preparing the other ingredients.

The curry:
½ cup plus 1 - 2 tbs vegetable oil
3½ cups coconut milk
1½ - 2 pounds chicken pieces (2 - 3 whole legs, cut into 1½"pieces, and 2 wings, severed at the joint with a cleaver)
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 tbs fish sauce
4 teaspoon sugar
1 tsp salt
1 pound Idaho potatoes, peeled, halve and cut into 1" thick-slices

• In a large heavy pot pan, heat the oil over medium heat, add 1 cup coconut milk and cook until the oil begin to separate from the milk. Add 1½ cup of the curry paste (freeze any extra for future use) cook and stirring bout 2 minutes until the flavor develop. If the surface of the sauce is not cover with dark spots, add another tablespoon of oil.


• Add the chicken, stirring well to coat, then add onion, fish sauce, sugar, and salt. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the remaining 2½ cups coconut milk, and cook high simmer, partially covered, until the chicken is tender, about 20 - 25 minutes.


• While the curry is cooking, heat the remaining ½ cup oil  over medium high heat, add the potatoes, and fry until golden brown.


• Add the fried potato into the chicken curry, and finish cooking until the chicken is done and the potatoes are tender.


• Transfer to a serving dish and serve with steam jasmine rice.

Note:
Since I used rock cornish hen for this recipe, I didn't really bother to cut them into smaller pieces. I also reduced the amount of the coconut milk to only about 1 cup. It was creamy enough to my standard, and I also didn't use potatoes as the recipe stated. Instead, I used winter squash, peeled and cut into chunk then added the curry. It was delicious!

Please visit other MKMW member to see what Cambodian dishes they come up with.

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PECEL

This was our lunch, it was so delicious and everybody in my family (especially my sisters and I) love it very much. It was a nice change after we indulged our self with all delicious food during christmas and new year's eve.

This recipe is very easy, you can use any vegetables you like, steam them and serve with peanut sauce, recipe follow. Originally come from East Java, and it is also consider a street eaten for breakfast accompany by steam rice, fried tempe, fried tofu, and krupuk. It is simply the best breakfast! 

In Indonesia, there are so many different peanut sauce, they all slightly differ from each other, depending  on what are you going to use it for (for example and the most common well know here in America is Gado-gado, and the peanut sauce for satay), they all have the same basic ingredient which is ground fried peanut, garlic, and chilies.

This one I like more then the other, it is more fragrant, and has that slight aroma that you will not get from other peanut sauce. The aroma of "kencur" (unfortunately there is no substitute for this pungent root, if you do try to substitute it with other let say, ginger, it will give totally different taste to the sauce). Of course, living here in CA, I am so fortunate to be able to get kencur from the chinese grocery, they sold in powder, and you can also get it sliced in a frezzer section. I haven't found the fresh one yet, I know I will one day! Nothing seems impossible in California, you know.

1 cup spanish raw peanuts
2 clove garlic
10 thai chillies
1 tbs palm sugar
½ tbs seedless tamarine pulp
5 kaffir lime leaves
½ tsp kencur powder, or 2 slices fresh/frozen 
salt, to taste
oil for frying the peanut

• Fry the peanuts in oil until slightly brown, transfer to a plate lined with paper towel to absorb all the excess oil. Don't over cook the peanuts, or your sauce will turn bitter.


• In a large mortar and pestle, put the rest of ingredients (without the oil), and pound them in to a paste. Transfer to a jar and keep in the refrigerator until needed, up to three days. 


• When you are ready to use the paste, mix it with a little bit of water to make a sauce, the consistency of the sauce is really up to you. I like mine very thick, so I only add a little water to the paste. It's easy, no?

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Grilled Salmon With Panang Curry Sauce

Ingredients:

1½ pounds salmon fillet, skin on

2 tbs - 3 tbs Panang curry paste   (add more if you want it spicier, or less if you don't like spicy)

3 shallots, sliced

3 cloves garlic, sliced

1 slice of fresh galangga
1 stalk fresh lemongrass, bruished

5 kaffir lime leaves

1 cup cherry tomatoes

1 cup coconut milk

½ cup water

1 tbs finely chopped cilantro (optional)

2 tbs canolla oil

1 tbs fish sauce

salt and pepper, for salmon

• Rub salmon fillet with salt, pepper, and 1 tbs canolla oil. Grill until the salmon is done to your liking, I like mine still slightly pink in the center.


• In the mean time make the sauce. In a braiser heat the remaining oil over medium heat. Add shallots, fry until soft, add garlic, panang curry paste, galangga, and lime leaves. Stir continuously to prevent sticking. Pour the water, scrape the pan back and forth. Add coconut milk, turn the heat to low, add the cherry tomatoes, and the fish sauce. Continue to cook for 5 minutes without letting the sauce to come to a boil. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.


• To serve: Place the grill salmon an a platter, pour the sauce around it, sprinkle with cilantro if desire. Serve with steam jasmine rice and simple saute spinach.

Note: The sauce should be thick and creamy.

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BAECKAOFFA Potees Boulangeres A LAlsacienne

December  the "PotatoHoDown" event will be hosted by "Where is My Damn Answer". If you happen to make any potato dishes between this week and the 19th of December, why not submit your recipe here. This is a non stress event, publish monthly ( I am pretty sure that you will make any potato dish at least once a month, right) The event was created by Cathy of Noble Pig and Krysta of The Evil Chef Mom.

So, submit any of your potato dish/dishes, don't forget to include the logo and a link to the rules and regs in your post. Better yet, why not join the Potato Ho's event (it's only once a month) for the delicious recipes and for the fun.


BAECKAOFFA/BACKO?FE is a potato-meat layer dish, traditionally baked in an earthenware specialty from Alsace. Please visit here for more information.

Recipe From: The Country Cooking Of FRANCE
Written by: Anne Willan

1½ pounds/675 G boneless pork loin, cut into cubed
1½ pounds/675 G boneless lamb shoulder, cut into cubed
1½ pounds/675 G boneless chuck, cut into cubed
2 tbs lard or vegetable oil
1 pound/450 G  onions, thinly sliced
4 pounds/1.8 kg baking potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
salt and pepper
2 cups/500 ml  water, more if needed

Marinate:
2 carrots, thinly sliced
2 onions, thinly sliced
1 large bouquet garni*
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 bottle/750 ml  dry white wine (I used Riesling)
1 tbs vegetable oil

• Put the meat in the large bowl, add the marinade. Cover the bowl with cling plastic wrap, and marinate for 12 - 24 hours.


• Take the meat out of the refrigerator, lift out the meat meat one by one with a kitchen thongs, place on a separate bowl, set aside. Strain the marinate-liquid and discard the vegetable.


• Preheat the oven to 325⁰F/160⁰C


• Heat the lard or vegetable oil in a large flameproof casserole dish, add onion slices and cook until browned.


• Take the casserole dish from the heat, spread half of the potatoes over the onions, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Transfer the meat into the casserole dish, top with the remaining potatoes, pour the marinate-liquid, add enough water just to cover the meat-potatoes. Season with salt and pepper.


• Bake in the oven for 1 to 1¼ hours, or until the meat and potatoes are tender.

*Bouquet garni: mix of thyme, parsley, bay leave.

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Tajine Of Chicken With Apricot Saffron And Orange Blossom Water

The combination of apricot and  orange flower water give this tajine a very unique sweet, fragrant and spicy flavor. 

1 (3 pounds) chicken, cut into 8 pieces

1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 can (14oz) chopped tomatoes
1/2 tbs ground cinnamon and 1 stick cinnamon
1 tsp crush red pepper
1 tsp ginger

1 tsp saffron threads, mix with  3 tbs hot water
1/4 cup dried apricot, sliced
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 - 1 tbs orange blossom water
2 tbs olive oil

For garnish:
1/4 cup dried apricot, sliced, 
1/4 cup lightly toasted slice almond
3 tbs raisins
salt 

• Put the Tajine pot or dutch oven on top of the stove, turn on the heat to medium. Add 1 tablespoon oil to the heated dutch oven, add the chopped onion and fry the onion until translucent. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the last 4 ingredients. Cook until it releases its fragrant. Add the chicken into the dutch oven, stir to coat the chicken. Cover the pot and simmer gently for 40 minutes, or until the chicken is completely done.


• Transfer the chicken to a serving platter, cover and keep warm.


• Pour the sauce into a blender, blend to a puree.


• Heat another one tablespoon oil in a small pan, add dried apricot and raisin and cook just until hot enough.


• Pour the sauce over the chicken and scatter the apricot, raisins and almond. Serve With plain couscous.

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Maple Mustard-Glazed Chicken

When I saw Cathy @ Noble Pig posted the recipe in November last year, I knew that this recipe was going to be my favorite recipe. I must admit that I always have difficulty when it comes to cook chicken breast. I tend to over cook it, since I always get scared that I might under cook the breast and my family will get e-c0li bacteria. It all changed after I tried this recipe. My family was very happy and since then, they always requested this recipe. And my son requested that I should remember to buy maple syrup soon, and try to make it with maple syrup instead of honey. 

Please visit her "Maple Mustard-Glazed Chicken" for the original recipe and the  step by step technique. Or, use my recipe that I've adapted slightly by adding tarragon and marjoram. I've to substituted  maple syrup for honey, because I didn't happen to have it in my pantry at the time.

Maple Mustard-Glazed Chicken
Adapted from Cathy @ Noble Pig, that she
inspired by Cuisine at Home

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded flat
6 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
4 Tablespoons maple syrup
2 Tablespoons whole-grain mustard
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tsp dried tarragon
¼ tsp marjoram
2 eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

• Combine dijon mustard, maple syrup or honey, whole-grain mustard, brown sugar dried thyme, tarragon, marjoram. Set aside.


• Prepare 3 plates, on the first plate mix flour with salt and pepper. Place eggs with water in  a second plate, mix well. Then the bread crumb on the last plate.  


• Coat  the chicken into the flour, shaking off any excess, dip into the egg mixture and into the breadcrumbs, making sure to coat completely.


• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the chicken breasts for 2 minutes on each side, just until browned.


• Place the chicken on a baking sheet, brush liberally with the glaze, bake  in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

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My Kitchen My World ETHIOPIA

I've always been fascinated by this country, the people, the culture, and of course the food. So when Lauren chose ETHIOPIA for MKMW to visit, I was really happy and excited to explore more about its culinary and culture. I will not write about them in this post, because there are so many resources on the webs that you can read.

If you never had Ethiopian food before, this is your opportunity to explore. Hopefully it will become one of your favorite ethnic food as well. As always, thanks to Lauren for choosing Ethiopia for this week challenge!


Pretend that this is a stack of injeras, okay?
Since it will take few days to make this Ethiopian flat bread, I took a short cut, buy mixing the Teff flour, a little bit of yeast and unbleached flour. Not perfect, but tasted good. If you interested to make this special bread the authentic way, this and especially this articles really help.



I serve Amhari-Atklit, Tigre-Alz'e (vegetable stew) and Doro Wat (Scipy Chicken Stew) with
(well, with not quite) injera.



Amhari - Atklit, Tigre - Alz'e is vegetable stew spiced with onion, garlic, ginger, and turmeric. Very simple and it is very delicious. I can just eat this vegetable stew with steam rice without anything else!



Check out my other recipe for Doro Wat using whole cut up chicken, instead of skinless and boneless chicken breast in this post. The ingredients are also slightly different. In this post I was using the berbere paste (recipe) instead of the Berbere powder mixture (recipe). Both will work quite well, I just like the paste better, and I happen to have it my refrigerator. I didn't include hard boil egg, since nobody will eat the egg and I feel ashamed if I have to waste it. In the photo above, the stew was a little bit on the drier side.

Once you have the berbere in your pantry, it is quite easy to make any meal from vegetarian to meat, fish or poultry dishes. Just saute some onion and garlic, add the berbere, either the paste or the powder, then whatever it is that you are going to cook. Simple and delicious!

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South Western Potato

I was so happy when I found this recipe from Jaime, I have been looking for an idea of what to submit for my monthly entry to Phd event. I don't even have to think twice of making this recipe. The title it self has won me over. Taste wise, it was absolutely delicious and worth making it. It was pretty easy, straight forward and honest down to earth food. I love it, and I'll be making this fairly often.  Thank you so much for posting the recipe Jaime!

This recipe goes to the monthly PHd, created by Cathy and Krysta. Care to join? Have any potato dish that you would like to share with us? Please visit this site to find the information. It's totaly easy!

April's Potato Ho Down roundup will be hosted by Donalyn from Dlynz on Wednesday, April 15, 2009. If you would like to join, please send your entries to Donalyn at dlynk@htva.net by Monday, April 13, 2009. Make sure you receive an email back stating she received your entry.

I didn't have any bacon and bbq sauce in hand, so I substituted them with mustard, then sprinkled smoked chipotle pepper for the smokiness. Next time, I'll definitely make it with bbq sauce and bacon.

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GERMANY My Kitchen My World

MKMW member are visiting germany for The Octoberfest. Thank you to Roxanne from Roxanne's Road Rules,  for such a great idea for this month event!



Brathendel (Roast Chicken)
1½ pounds free range organic chicken, rub with 1 tbs butter, season with salt, freshly ground black pepper, and pinch of paprika. Bake at 400⁰F oven for 45 minutes, or until liquid that runs out from the cavity is no longer pink. This simple roast is normally serve with "Semmelkn?del" (bread dumpling)



I serve this roast chicken with Semmelkn?del, simple green salad, roasted beets with Balsamic vinegar. I also made white asparagus soup, which I think it was delicious serve on a chilly weather like tonight.

The white soup asparagus is very easy to make, that is why I don't give any recipe here. I am sure everybody has their own version of asparagus soup, right?



Semmelkn?del

Recipe adapted from: Bavarian Cooking: Old Bavaria Franconia And Swabia

By: Olli Leeb

10 stale plain white buns, or 1 lb stale white bread, cut into small pieces
2 cups boiling milk
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 oz butter
3 tbs parsley, finely chopped
Zest of 1 lemon
½ tsp salt
3 eggs

• Put the bread pieces in a bowl, pour the boiling milk, and let stand for at least an hour.


• Meanwhile, saute the onion with butter until translucent, add parsley and  lemon zest. Add this onion mixture to the bread , season with salt , add the eggs, and mix well  (I chill the mixture for 2 hours in refrigerator, so that the dough become firmer and minimize the risk of falling apart when you cook them)


• Form the dough into small round dumpling. Cook in boiling water until they start floating on the surface, turn down the heat to low, then simmer gently for another 20 minutes.


• Transfer to a serving plate with slotted spoon.

And, what for dessert dessert, babe?
Oink... oink.... have this ....


Munich Apple Struddel
Recipe from: Bavarian Cooking
By: Olli Leeb

Strudel Dough:
½ lb flour
2 eggs, lightly whisk with fork
pinch of salt
2 tbs oil
½ cup water

• Mix the flour and the salt in a large bowl, make well in the center, add the eggs, oil, and water. Mix all ingredients, working outward from the center. Turn the dough out onto kitchen counter top, knead until smooth and silky. Transfer the dough into a clean bowl, cover, and let it rest for ½ hour.

3 lbs golden delicious apple, peeled, cored, and sliced
Juice of 1 lemon
5 oz raisin
5 tbs rum
3 oz butter, melted
1 cup quark
3 tbs sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
confectioner sugar, for sprinkling (optional)

• Grease a large  baking pan with butter*. Preheat the oven to 400F


• Soak the raisin with rum, set aside.


• Put the apple slices in a non reactive large bowl, add lemon juice, mix well. Set aside


• Make cinnamon sugar in a small bowl, set aside


• Lay a clean kitchen towel on your counter top, floured lightly. Pull out the dough with the back of your hands into a thin rectangular shape, brush with melted butter, dab the quark over the butter, and spread evenly.


• Spread the apple slices over the dough in an even layer, stopping short about 1" from the edge of the dough. Sprinkle with rum-soaked raisin, and the cinnamon-sugar.


• Fold the edge of the dough, and with the help of the kitchen towel, roll up the strudel loosely.


• Slide the strudel into the baking pan.


• Bring the milk and the heavy cream to a boil, and pour over the strudel.


• Bake in for 45 - 60 minutes.


• Serve hot or cold with sifted confectioner sugar if desire.

* My roasting pan was a bit too small for the strudel, so I simply bend the strudel to fit the pan.

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POT-AU-FEU

Today is my son 19th birthday, he asked me to make his favorite "Pot-Au-Feu" for dinner. I happily made it, since it is a pretty easy to make and you only need one pots or pans. So, less clean-up after cooking. And for dessert, he asked for Black Forest Gateau. Of course I made that too!

Serve 6-8 
Ingredients:

3 pounds beef shanks with marrowbone
2 pounds beef chuck 
3 pounds beef short ribs
4 celery stalks,  cut into large pieces
4 carrots, peel, cut into large pieces
4 small turnips, peel and cut in half
½ onion, peeled
2 leeks, cleaned and cut into large pieces
Bouquet garni (parsley, thyme, bay leave)
1 tsp whole peppercorn 

• Arrange the meat, halfed onion, and the bouquet garni  in a large pot, add water to cover the meat. Simmer gently, uncover for 3½ to 4½ hours until the meat are tender. Do not let the broth to become a boil, or you will not have a clear broth.

• Skim the fat and the foam that float to the surface from time to time, you might also need to add hot water during the cooking to make sure that there is enough broth to cover the meat. 


• Add the vegetable 1½ hours before the meat is being done. Taste and adjust seasoning. Discard the bouquet garni.  Transfer the meat, including the bone marrow and the vegetable into a large serving platter. 


• Serve the broth in a separate bowl.

I serve this delicious simple boil  meat with crusty bread, boil fingerling potatoes, mustard, sea salt, and cornichons. 

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Grill Marinated Salmon With Chermoula

Chermoula is a blend of spices, fresh herb, garlic, preserve lemon and chili pepper. Recipe will varies from region to region, even every household has their own recipe for chermoula. This versatile spice-herb blend is good for fish, poultry, meat and even vegetables. It can be use either for marinate or to use as a sauce pour on top of grill food. 

Tonight I served this grill salmon  with Za-louk (see recipe below), Harissa, and Spice Couscous with dried fruit

Ingredients:
2  1/2 salmon fillet

for chermoula:
Finely chopped rind of 1 preserved lemon 
2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 tsp  red chili pepper
1/2 tsp crushed fennel seed
1 cup chopped parsley
1 tsp paprika
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads
1/3 cup olive oil
juice of 1 lemon

• Mix all ingredient until well blended, transfer to a tight fitting jar, and place in the refrigerator. Use within a week.


• Rub the salmon with chermoula, let it marinate in the refrigerator for an hour. Grill the salmon over medium heat. Cook to your doneness!

Za-louk

1 1/2 pounds eggplants

2 tablespoon lemon juice

1 pound tomato, peeled and chopped

3 garlic cloves,finely chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 tablespoon chopped parsley

4 tablespoon chopped cilantro

1/4 cup black olives, to garnish

Dressing:

In a small bowl combine all ingredients below and mix well.

2 tablespoon olive oil

2 lemon juice

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground chili pepper

2 teaspoon toasted cumin seed, ground

Salt and pepper

• Prick the eggplants all over with fork or knife, bake in a preheated oven to 475⁰F for 45 - 55 minutes until really soft and the skin are wrinkled. Cool, peel and drop them in a bowl of water with 2 tablespoon lemon juice to keep the flesh pale.


• Roughly chop the eggplant, mash a little with fork and place them in a colander to let the juice run out completely.


• In a medium sauce pan, heat a tablespoon olive oil, add garlic and saute until fragrant. Add the chopped tomato, continue to cook for about 20 minutes until reduce to a thick sauce.


• Transfer the mashed eggplant into a large salad bowl, add the tomato sauce, chopped parsley, chopped cilantro, and the dressing. Mix gently, taste to see if its need more seasoning.

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M A N T I

Manti is Turkish dumpling that normally filled with ranges of spicy ground meat, garbanzo, spinach to different kind of chopped nuts. This one is the vegetarian version using garbanzo bean.

Dough:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup cold milk
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups light sodium chicken stock

• Put the first three ingredient in a mixer, with the dough hook on a low setting, mix the ingredients, add olive oil and the cold milk little by little until all the dough just start to form a clump. Change the setting to medium and continue to process just until its start to pull away from the side of the bowl. Transfer into kitchen counter top, shape into a ball, cover with a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rest at room temperature for 1 hour.

Filling:
1 can (14 oz) garbanzo bean, drained
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon crushed coriander
1 teaspoon ground red pepper (optional)
salt and pepper

• Combine the ingredients for the filling in a bowl, mix well (do not over mix) cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.


• Preheat the oven to 375F.


• Turn out the dough onto lightly floured counter top. Roll the dough as thin as possible into a retangular. Cut the dough into 2" squares.


• Place the filling into each square, about 1 teaspoon each. 


• Bring four corners on each square together and press them with your fingers, so that the dough is seal.


• Place the dumpling into lightly oiled baking pan (at least 2" high), bake them for 15 - 20 minutes or until they are lightly browned.


• Remove the pan from the oven, pour the chicken stock over the dumpling and return the pan  to the oven. Lower the oven temperature to 325F, and bake for another 15 - 20 minutes. Take out from the oven, let rest for 5 minutes before serving.


• To serve: ladle the tomato sauce into a warm plater, add the dumpling, drizzle with yogurt garlic sauce and paprika oil.

Simple Tomato Sauce:
1/2 onion, diced

1 clove garlic, sliced

1 canned fire roasted tomato

2 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

salt and pepper to taste

• Saute onion until translucent in a medium pan over medium high heat, add garlic, cook for a few second then add canned tomato. Continue to cook for another 10 minutes. Add parsley season with salt and pepper, stir and taste to see if need more salt or pepper. 

Yogurt Garlic Sauce:
In a medium bowl, combine 2 cups plain yogurt, 1 teaspoon mince garlic, juice from 1/2 lemon, salt and pepper to taste. 

Paprika oil
Heat gently 2 tablespoon olive oil, 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint in a medium heat. As soon as the mint wilted, turn off the heat, then add 1 teaspoon sweet paprika. Swirl the pan to mix all ingredient. 

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My Kitchen My World My Moms Recipes

The theme for this week is "Be Thankful", and share your family recipe, that will remind you of your heritage, or your families tradition.

I am thankful that my grand mother handed down the recipe to my mom, thankful that  she always made this dishes when we were growing up. Now that I have a family of my own, I am so thankful that I can cook this humble dishes for my own family. Last but not the least, I am also thankful of this week theme chosen by Lauren.

These Are the food that we always had when we were growing up. They were humble food, delicious, and my mom would actually made them herself without the help of our maid. Though I would never consider her as a great cook, she did made few dishes that were memorable. These were a few of her dishes that I consider memorable.

When she cook, which was very rare site for us (most of the time our maid, did the cooking for us) she never really referred to a cookbook. She loved to say, "oh, this is how my mom used to make it". So, these recipes actually came from my grand mother (from my mother side of family) to my mom, then to us. And, eventually to my son, nieces, and nephew, hopefully!

Here they are:



Pesan Be Pasih Mebase Nyuh
(Spiced Salt Water Fish With Grated Young Coconut
Wrapped In Banana Leaves)
Very Delicious. My mom will make this with tuna, and occasionally would use tofu instead, and it was equally delicious.

Recipe:
Makes more or less 3 parcels

2 cups cubed (about 1" cubed) tuna, or salmon, or tofu,
1 cup very young fresh grated coconut
(can be found at gourmet market, or asian market in a freezer section)
3 medium size shallots*
3 cloves garlic*
5 or less fresh Thai chilies*
2 balinese long pepper, no substitute*
¼" fresh turmeric, or ¼ tsp powder*
½" kencur (zedoary), you can use ¼ tsp powder zedoary*
1" fresh ginger*
½" fresh young galangal*
1 tbs coriander seeds
3 whole candlenuts, no substitute
shrimp paste, can be substitute with ½ tbs fish sauce*
(this one is the best brand out there)
6 fresh kaffir lime leaves*
1 to 2 tbs oil
salt, to taste
6 fresh cayenne pepper, or fresh Thai pepper,  leave whole (optional)
Fresh banana's leaves, or parchment paper
6 tooth picks



This is how it looks like before unwrap

• Prepare the steamer, and let it boil on medium high heat.


• Place * ingredients, except only use 3 of the kaffir lime leaves in a mortar and pestle, or food processor and process until you have the consistency of a paste. Fry the paste with 1 tbs of oil until fragrant. Taste if need salt, since the shrimp paste or the fish salt are very salty, it is a good idea to taste the paste before adding more salt. I normally don't need any salt. Cool slightly.


• In a large bowl, combine the fish with coconut, and the paste. Mix well.


• Prepare about 3 - 12" to 14"  square Banana's leaves, transfer  the fish mixture equally among each banana's leaves. Top with 2 fresh cayenne, or fresh Thai chilies, and fresh kaffir lime leaves. Secure the ends with the tooth pick. Steam the parcels for 10 minutes. Meanwhile prepare your grill.


• Transfer the parcels to a plate, brush with a little bit of oil. Then grill (do not unwrap) for 2 minutes on each side.


• Serve unwrap with steam rice.

Tuwung Metunu-Mebase Lalah

(Fiery Grilled Eggplant)
She made it so often, and surprisingly, we never get bored of this fiery eggplant dish . In Indonesia, the eggplant is quite different. It is more roundish, like the heirloom eggplant here in the U.S. but, much more flavorful. Though I made it couple of months ago, I thought I will be nice to mention it again, since the theme is making the food that will remind us with our heritage, or country, or simply your mom's humble cooking.



Be-Siap Mebase Nyuh

(Shreded Chicken With Young Coconut)
This one is also, appeared at our dinning table very often, she would normally made this from the left over chicken breast, that otherwise, unappreciated by us, the children. But, as soon as she turned it into this dish, we devoured this delectable chicken without any complaint.

The recipe is very simple. Use any left over chicken breast. Make the sambel tabya, which is also very simple to make. You will need to fry sliced shallots, sliced garlic, and fresh chilies. Use your own judgement on how much ingredients you will need. Then add this shallots mixture to fresh grated young coconut. Season with salt and pepper. As simple as that, yet very delectable.

Hope you'll like them!

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Zalouk

Another absolutely delicious Moroccan Salad!

1  1/2 pounds small Italian eggplants

2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 pound tomato, peeled and chopped
3 garlic cloves,finely  chopped 
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 tablespoon chopped parsley
4 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1/4 cup black olives, to garnish (optional)

Dressing:
In a small bowl combine all ingredients below and mix well. 
Set aside while preparing the eggplant.
2 tablespoon olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon chili pepper flakes
Salt and pepper

• Prick the eggplants all over with fork or knife, bake in a preheated oven to 4750F for 45 - 55 minutes until really soft and the skin are wrinkled. Cool, roughly chop the eggplant, and place them in a colander to let the juice run out completely.


• In a  medium sauce pan, heat a tablespoon olive oil, add garlic and saute until fragrant. Add the chopped tomato,  cook for about 20 minutes, or until reduce to a thick sauce.


• Transfer  the chopped eggplant into a salad bowl, add the tomato sauce, chopped parsley, chopped cilantro, and the dressing. Mix gently, taste to see if its need more seasoning. Serve with couscous, rice pilaf or pita bread.

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Grilled Halibut Wrap in Grape Leaves Serve With ZHOUG

This is Superb dish, and can be made in an individual portion, which make it easier to serve if you have gathering, and although it is pretty rustic dish, it presented beautifully. And taste delicious with exotic flavor. It's even better with home made Rash-el Hanout. If you never had Zhoug before, well ... you have no idea what you are missing. 

1 Halibut fillet (about 1 pound)
1 tablespoon rash-el hanout
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
10 fresh grape leaves

• In a small bowl mix Rash-el Hanout, salt and pepper, and olive oil. Rub the fish all oever with this mixture. Transfer to a clean plate, cover, and let marinate in the refrigerator for an hour. Mean while blanch the grape leaves over boiling water for one minute, or until the color of the leaves turn into olive green color. Drain - set aside to cool.


• Take out the fish from the refrigerator, heat the grill over medium. 


• Lay 5 grape leaves on the working surface, overlapping them slightly so it fit the size of the fish with enough room on all sides. Place the fish in the middle, include all of the marinate. Lay the remaining leaves on top of the fish, wrap then secure with kitchen twine. Brush all over with a little oil, grill about  5 minutes on each side, depending how thick the halibut is. 


• Transfer onto serving plate, drizzle with Zhoug sauce. Serve with grilled lemon and grilled tomatoes on the side  if desire.

The Sauce:
1 tablespoon (or, less, depending how spicy you want it) Zhoug      
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
3 tablespoons or more olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

• Place all ingredients in a small bowl, whisk with a fork just to mix.

For the Grilled Tomatoes and Lemon:

1 - 2 lemon, halfed

2 Roma tomatoes, halfed

• Brush with a little olive oil, and grill

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Simple Tomato Tart With Pesto

A very simple meal to serve during the week, when time to spare in the kitchen is limited. It is light and delectable serve with simple spinach or green salad. It can be serve as an appetizer as well. 

The ingredients I have below is for a rectangular  tart pan (4½ inches by 14 inches), use any size of pan available to you and adjust the amount of ingredients accordingly. 

Ingredients:
1 sheet store bought puff pastry (if you can. buy the one that has "butter only" as the main ingredient), thawed in the refrigerator overnight, or according to package direction
2 - 3 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 cup ricotta cheese (I used low fat)
1 large egg
¼ cup (or more) parmesan cheese 
1 tbs finely chopped Italian parsley
Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
½ cup pesto*

• Preheat the oven to 375⁰F. Grease the tart pan lightly with butter. Roll out the puff pastry thinly, transfer onto the prepared tart pan. Trim off the excess.


• Mix ricotta, egg, parmesan cheese, Italian parsley, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Pour this mixture on top of puff pastry. Arrange the cherry tomatoes neatly on top of the ricotta mixture. Dot with with pesto.


• Bake in the middle rack for 45 to 50 minutes until the pastry is golden.

Pesto for the tart:
1 bunch (about 2 cups) fresh basil
1 small clove garlic
¼ cup pine nuts
½ cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

• Process all ingredients in a food processor until you have the consistency of a paste. With the machine still running, slowly add olive oil, mix until the oil is well incorporated. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Of course you can make this pesto in a mortal and pestle too. To do that, you need to pound the ingredients all together except the olive oil. Then slowly drizzle the oil with one hand, while the other hand keep pounding (you get the idea, I am not that good in explaining this, sorry)

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Balinese Sate Using American Buffalo Meat

My two sisters will really like  this sate, and hope that they won't be discourage by the long list of ingredients. If you can't find Buffalo (Bison) in your area,  you can use regular ground beef or pork for this recipe. Actually, taste even better with pork. 

Ingredients:
1 pound ground Buffalo
2 large shallots, chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
5 Thai chili
1 tbs ginger
2 tsp cumin
1 tbs coriander
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp powder galangal
2 lemongrass, white part only-sliced
½ small kaffir lime, seeded
2 whole Balinese long pepper (unfortunately there is  no substitute for this one)
1  whole clove
nutmeg, just enough for a taste (optional)
5 black pepercorn
5 white pepercorn
5 kaffir lime leaves                  
1 cup roughly chopped  cilantro
1 tbs Javanese palm sugar aka Gula Jawa, available in Asian grocery store
1 tbs fish sauce, use this brand, it's less fishy/stinky.
bamboo skewer

• Soak the bamboo skewers at least 15 minutes before using it.


• Place all ingredients in a food processor, except the ground buffalo, process  to make a paste. Or, using  mortar and pestle (it will taste much more delicious), pound all ingredients until you get the consistency of a smooth paste. Transfer to a large bowl, add the ground buffalo-mix well.


• Mold more or less a  handful of this mixture around the wooden skewer. Grill until golden brown. Serve immediately with steam rice and saute green.

I'm sending this to: Shinta, Deetha, and Ayin for their event, Masak Bareng yuuk! Hope they like it! 

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Grilled Yellow Tail Snapper With Spicy Kemiri Nut and Lemon Basil Sauce

The kemiri nut (normally available at the Asian store) in this sauce not only for the flavoring, but also to thicken the sauce. If the Kemiri nut is not available or hard to find, Cashew will be the best substitute.

1 whole (about 2 pounds) yellow tail Snapper, cleaned-gutted

1 tbs coriander seeds

½ tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp salt
2 tbs canola oil

• Rinse the fish under cold running water, then pat dry with paper towel. Make three slashes on each side of the fish. Place on a large plate, set aside while you make the marinate.


• Coarsely grind the coriander seed, transfer to a small bowl, add turmeric, salt and the canola oil. Rub this mixture all over the fish, don't forget to stuff some of the marinate into the cavity. Let marinate for at least fifteen minutes.


• Grill over medium heat for about 5 to 10 minutes on each side, or until the fish is cooked.


• Pour the sauce on top, garnish with fresh basil, serve hot with steam Jasmine rice, and simple green vegetables.

The Sauce:
3 shalots, chopped roughly

2 cloves garlic, chopped roughly
2-3 Kemiri or Candle nuts, chopped roughly (if using Cashew, use about 10 to 15)
2 red jalapeno, chopped roughly
½ teaspoon kencur (Zedoary) powder
½ tablespoon fish sauce
¼ cup coconut milk
¼ cup water
5 - 10 Thai chilies, leave whole
a few handful lemon basil, or Thai basil

2 tbs Canola oil

• Put the shallots, garlic, candle nuts, red jalapeno in a blender, add a few tablespoon of water and process until smooth. Place this mixture onto skillet, add the kencur or zedoary powder, and fry this sauce with oil on a medium heat until fragrant, about 5 minutes.


• Add the coconut milk and water, turn the heat to low, add the fish sauce, stir and continue to cook on low until bubbles start to appear at the edge of the pan. Do not let the sauce to become a boil, or it will be separated. Although, this will not change the taste, it will give the sauce unpleasant appearance. Add the whole Thai chiles and the fresh basil, taste and adjust seasoning if needed, turn of the heat. The sauce is now ready.

Note:
If you do able to find Kemiri nut or Candle nut, make sure you store them properly, preferably in the freezer, out reach of children as this nut is poisonous and should never be eaten raw. The nut has to be crush together with other ingredients into a smooth paste, then cook. Once cooked, it is quite safe to eat. Kemiri nut look very similar to macadamia nut, but I wouldn't recommend to use macadamia as a substitute, as they are quite different in taste.

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Bibb Lettuce Salad - Salad De laitue Simply Beautiful and Delicious too!

Very simple and elegant salad, perfect for entertaining my family who will otherwise get really bored with the same salad dressing. I honestly think that Thomas Keller is a brilliant chef. He always able to turn a very simple recipe into edible art, visually beautiful and delicious.

I was flipping through the pages of his book "BOUCHON" and this salad really caught my eyes, it is visually beautiful (you know what I mean if you see it in the book) nothing compare to mine. The way he stacked and arranged the bibb lettuce was pretty amazing, I couldn't get it right, no matter how hard I tried. What intrigued me about this salad was the use of tarragon in the dressing. I really like tarragon more then any other herb in the world. I didn't have to think to much, always have butter lettuce in my refrigerator, so I made it!. The dressing was pretty easy to make as long as you have fresh tarragon, shallots, chives, Italian parsley, chevril leaves, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, and canola oil. Pretty simple right, now you can have both very beautiful and delicious salad. I hope you will like this as much as I do!

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