SUMMER COOKING.. GOULASH

Summer comes early, the temperature has been up till 3 digits, 109'F was the highest, and it's still going up, I wonder how high it will be when the real summer comes.. I hate summer, and unfortunately it will last for at least 5 months.. some plants are dying because of the heat.. yesterday we had to pick all of  our spinach plants because they dried out, now we have lots of young spinach in our refrigerator, but no worry, I already had an idea what to do with it, we'll talk about it in my next post..

our homegrown spinach

Like last summer, this summer I'll be going for my summer vacation, visiting my sister and going to see my niece's ballet recital.. I'll be gone for about 5 weeks, alone.. my husband stays home to take care of his plants, it's summer, he needs to water them twice a day.. that is his excuse for not going with me, but it's okay.. everybody needs some time alone :)

Like usual, before I leave for my vacation I like to cook some meals for him, I'll put them in container, name them and freeze them... with that way I wont feel too guilty to leave him alone for quite a long time :) I know.. I know... wink2 (can't find my wink icon :))

So starting today I prepare the meals for him, I cook in big batch, for our daily meals and keep the rest frozen for his meals while I'm gone next month..

I've been wanting to eat GOULASH for a while, today I got all the ingredients I needed for it and this is the recipe I used, Bobby's Goulash by Paula Deen.. very simple, I made some changes, so it's simpler and tastier..

Ingredients

• 1 lbs of hot breakfast sausage (Jimmy dean)
• 2 hot link (Louisiana hot link), diced 
• 1 large onions, chopped
• 2 cups water
• 1 (29-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 big tomato, diced 
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
• 3 bay leaves
• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 
• 1 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of black peppers 
• 1 tsp of chili sauce ( homemade)
• 2 cups dried elbow macaroni ( I used vegetable Rotini) 

Directions

In a Dutch oven, saute sausage over medium-high heat until no pink remains. add in diced hot links, Break up meat while sauteing.

Add the onions to the pot and saute until they are tender about 5 minutes.add garlic,  Add 2 cups water, along with the tomato sauce, tomatoes, Italian seasoning, bay leaves, soy sauce, chili sauce, black peppers and salt. Stir well. Place a lid on the pot and allow this to cook for 20 to 25 minutes.

Add the Rotini, stir well, return the lid to the pot, and simmer for about 20 minutes. Turn off the heat, remove the bay leaves and allow the mixture to sit about 30 minutes more before serving. oh I sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.. pasta and Parmesan sound yummy, right :)

GYOZA aka CHINESE DUMPLINGS

I'm so tired today.. I've been cooking for the whole afternoon, well, on and off, but my  oven was on for a few hours, I roasted turkey breast, we bought one big breast, about 10 lbs at Safeway's it was on sale, I know my hubby loves turkey breast, so when he looked at it, I suggested him to buy.. nice, right? lol .. so today I had to pay for that, I knew that I could always let him cook, but he had something else to do, like his daily bike ride, or browsing the internet, yeah right.. so with his permission I cooked the turkey breast and I 'suggested' what to marinate with, like usual, he said 'okay', he was happy to cut some Rosemary and Oregano from his tiny garden.. so I marinated it with mustard, sea salt, rosemary, oregano, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and lemon juice, I rubbed the meat under the skin too.. he suggested to stuff it with potatoes, a whole orange and onion.. it went in the oven on 325'F

Like usual, it's my habit to cook several dishes when I use my oven, so today I made some Chinese style pork jerky per a friend's request, it was not hard, but it needed attention, I had to guard the oven every 10 minutes to turn my pans..so while roasting my turkey breast, I baked my jerky, I managed to finish both at the same time..

After all were cooked, I prepared my husband dinner, he had the honor to slice the breast, I did a good job on roasting it, it was so succulent and tender, I cooked it until the inside temperature reaches 165 to 170.. oh I could see his happy face, and it makes me happy, he was imagining turkey sandwich, turkey burrito, soup and more.. it's good for me too, easier for me to plan our daily meal, at least for this week.. happy dance :)

As for me.. I lost my appetite, I think the turkey was too much to look at, even only looking at it made my stomach fulled.. I'm gonna grab pbj sandwich later :)

sweet pork jerky 

Ooops.. what I want to talk today is my lunch.. I made some GYOZA, it's a kind of Chinese Dumplings which actually is Japanese style, but today I made my own style, with all the ingredients I have in my house.. here is how I did it

What I need:
- Gyoza wrapper, this time I got the right one for it
- 8 oz ground meat, I used ground pork
- 4 oz of shrimps, peel and coarsely chopped ( I like to taste my shrimps in my dumplings)
- 1 tbsp of fish sauce
- 1 tbsp of oyster sauce
- 1/2 inch of fresh ginger, grate it
- 1 tsp of sesame oil
- 1 tbsp of fried garlic oil
- 1 tsp of tapioca starch
- black pepper and sugar to taste
- some chives, roughly chopped
- green onion, finely chopped

homegrown chives 

gyoza wrapper

What I do:
- combine all the ingredients, stir until well blended
- grab 1 piece of gyoza wrapper, place 1 tsp of the meat mixture on the center of it
- brush water on the edges of the wrapper
- carefully fold the wrapper and pinch the edges ( this time I successfully pleated it.. happy dance.. again :))
- place them on a container, try not to crowd them, cover with damp towel
- heat 1 cm oil in a pan (with lid)
- place gyoza carefully, not too crowded in the pan, lower the heat to medium, cook about 3 to 4 minutes (depend on the heat), then turn it over, carefully pour 1/4 cup of water in the pan, cover the pan with the lid, cook for another 4 minutes, uncover the pan, cook again until the water is evaporated.
- or pan fry it, watch the heat, it browns so fast, maybe 3 minutes each side

the brown ones were pan fried 

up, close and personal 

Serve with chili sauce, today I used 1 tbsp of oyster sauce + 1 tbsp of sweet chili sauce ( store bought) and 1/2 tsp of vinegar..

I'll stop now.. even typing this is tiring me too..  aah.. wait.. still have to clean and wash the dishes and the pans.. sigh.. but..  then I'll be a couch potato, watching my fave TV shows.. nite nite

INDONESIAN SPICY BEEF RENDANG

Okay... now it's about my comfort food again :) INDONESIAN SPICY BEEF RENDANG.. it's one of an authentic foods from Indonesia, to be precise, it's from West Sumatera region, it's famous with it's heat, very hot and spicy, as some of them would use a half kg of Birdseye chili to cook 1 kg of meat, that is the specialty, hot and spicy, it says that those who eat it should be sweating while eating it because of the heat.

There are hundreds way to cook it, after trying some of them, I finally settle with this way:

INDONESIAN SPICY BEEF RENDANG 
Ingredients:
A:
 3/4 lbs shallots
 6 cloves garlic
 20 Thai chili or Birdseye peppers 
 1 inch fresh ginger root
 1 inch of turmeric
 2 candle nuts (can substitute with macadamia nut)

B:
 2 to 3 lbs beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes (I usually use chuck roast as I like fatty meat)

C
 1 stalk lemon grass, smash
 1 inch galangal, smash
 1 tbsp ground coriander 
 1 tbsp of ground cumin 
 1 tsp grated nutmeg
 2 tbsp of grated palm sugar or 1 tbsp of brown sugar
 5 whole cloves
 1 cinnamon stick
 4 kaffir lime leaves, if you can't find it, substitute with 1 tbsp of lemon zest 
 2 bay leaves 
 1 tsp of tamarind paste 
 3 packs of coconut powder  
 salt to taste
 1 cups shredded coconut, toast and finely blend 


Method:


1. Using a blender or a food processor, blend ingredients A until forming thick paste, set aside 
2. Heat a larger wok, add 1/2 cup of canola or vegetable oil, add the spice paste, kaffir lime leaves and bay leaves, sautee it until brown, fragrant and oily
3. add in ground coriander, cumin, nutmeg, clove, cinnamon stick, smashed galangal lemon grass , tamarind paste, salt and palm sugar, cook for few minutes, stir continuously, add beef, keep stirring until all the meats are well coated with the spices 
4. move meats to a slow cooker, let it cook for hours until the meats are  tender,almost as tender as you like, stir it occasionally, meanwhile do not wash the wok, we'll need it later 
5. dish out the meats with all the juice and put them back in the wok, using medium heat, add the 3 packs of coconut powder, keep stirring continuously until the sauce reduced and thickened (it takes some time :)), add in the toasted coconut, give it some last quick stirs 

I know it's time consuming but worth every minutes.. and I know it's not consider healthy food because of the fat  but who cares, I don't eat it everyday :) I usually cook a big pot, 5 to 6 lbs of beef, separate in few bags and freeze it, at any time I have company over for dinner, I'd take some out and heat it, my husband and some of our American friends love it too, so I cook it with moderate heat 


Serve it with warm steamed white or brown rice, or mash potatoes or even couscous 

and you can add hard boiled eggs or potato or carrot too 

here is the my coconut powder, my favorite brand, it's made in Indonesia, you can use other brands, mostly from Thailand

SALMON PASTA CASSEROLE

We love salmon, any way I cook it, we both love it.. the other day I saw a recipe on cooking.com, salmon cooked in casserole style, it caught my eyes and I was interested, so I tried it out, it tastes really good, a bit  different than regular casserole.. I rummaged my pantry and freezer and came up with this recipe..

Ingredient:
- 11/2 lbs of salmon fillet, boneless and scaled ( I let the skin on)
- 1/2 of lemon, juice it
- 1/2 cup of cooking wine or your favorite wine
- salt and pepper

For the casserole:
- 1 lbs of  Bow Tie pasta / Farfalle (you can use any kind of small pasta), cook following the instruction of the package, drain
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 2 stalks of celery, diced
- green and red bell pepper, diced
- 2 cans cream of mushroom soup
- 1 big tomato, coarsely chopped
- scallion or other herbs, finely chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- variety of your favorite cheeses, I used mozzarella, Mexican blend
- panko breadcrumb and parmesan cheese for topping

Method:
- season salmon with lemon juice, bit of salt and pepper, pour in the wine, bake uncovered in a greased pan for 15 minutes, let it cool and coarsely flaked the salmon, set aside with all the juice in it
- sautee onion, garlic with 2 tbsp oil until fragrant, add celery, red and green bell peppers, stir until soft, add in mushroom soup, cook until it reduced a bit, add tomato, stir quickly, turn down the heat
- pour in pasta and salmon including the juice, add scallion and half of the cheese, blend well
Meanwhile, heat oven to 350'F, grease a casserole pan, pour the mixture in it, add more cheese on top, sprinkle with Panko Breadcrumb and Parmesan cheese
- bake for 40 to 60 minutes, broil for a few minutes at the end of cooking time

For 8 servings

It's good with some splash of Tabasco

EGG DROPS SOUP

Egg drops soup is a very popular soup in Chinese restaurants, there are many ways to cook it, but if we order it in the restaurants, usually more broth than the veggies, today I cooked it my way, I have many ways for this soup, depends on what I have in my freezer, mostly I used boiled chicken, crab meat, ham, even sausages...

These few days my husband picked a lot of snow peas from his garden, seeing them sitting on my counter reminded me of this soup, so I decided to cook it today.. it's my husband's favorite soup,  in Jakarta we call it CORN SOUP, because mostly using corn and crab meat only, the first time he came to Jakarta, he wanted Egg drops soup, we could not find it anywhere, then I suggested him to try corn soup, when he saw it, he said: this is EGG DROPS SOUP... so EGG DROPS SOUP it is.. and he likes it very much, anyway I cooked it, he'd give me his thumbs up

Today I used ham, I usually used boiled chicken, then shredded it

So the ingredients:
- ham or chicken, slow boiled with 1 liter of water
- onion, slice
- garlic, coarsely chopped
- ginger, chunk diced
- various veggies, frozen mix veggies (green peas, corns, green beans), snow peas, asparagus
- salt, black pepper, 1 tbsp sesame oil and 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 egg white, lightly beated

How to cook:
- boil chicken/ham with water and ginger, turn down the heat after the water boiling, then simmering with low heat for 2 hours, dice the ham or shred the chicken
- heat skillet, add 1 tbsp butter + 1 tbsp oil, add onion and garlic, cook until fragrant
- add all the veggies, season with salt, fish sauce, sesame oil and black pepper
- add in chicken/ham broth, cook until the broth boiled,
- thicken with cornstarch
- turn off the heat.. don't over cook
- slowly pour the egg white in the hot soup, swirl with fork

serve hot, it's good if serves over brown rice (so my hubby says)

EASY BREAKFAST

Cloudy and gloomy sky this morning, we decided to skip our morning walk and I went back to sleep.. I woke up with much better mood, the sun is still in and out but much brighter sky.. funny to say.. gloomy sky always comes together with gloomy mood.. I hate it

With not much to do, I decided to fix a good breakfast for my hubby... on my walking days he usually has very simple breakfast, toasts and lots of butter (that's why I always bake breads, for his easy breakfast, easy for both of us).. I remembered we bought 3 red bell peppers at Sprout's last weekend, so with the usual ingredients of breakfast, I fixed this stuffed bell pepper and he is a very happy guy for the day :)

- 1 big red pepper, cut in half
- 1/2 cup of cooked sausage (leftover)
- 2 eggs, beat well
- cheese and some herb
- olive oil for brushing

- brush bell pepper with OO
- mix all the remaining ingredients
- stuff the mixture in the pepper
- bake for 15 minutes on 350'F

ready to serve.. for 1 serving.. as for my breakfast, I prefer 1 slice of toast with PBJ (peanut butter jam) and 1 cup of kopi susu

VERTICAL ROASTED CHICKEN

I've always wanted a rotisserie roaster, when we bought our new portable oven, I tried to get the one with the skewer for it, but we could not find the one that matched our need.. so we had to get the regular one, and we are happy with it :)

I saw one of the member on the cooking forum using the vertical roaster, it was the first time I knew about this 'tool' and it interested me, I looked around the stores, could not find any... time passed by, my interest faded until one day when I and Vickie went to a thrift store owned by a church, I saw it standing on a shelf, the box was dusty and yellowed, but the 'tool' was still shiny, and looked brand new, no scratch at all, without second thought I grabbed it, total damage on my wallet was $2 and I was happy, almost did my happy dance :)

Yesterday I took it out and tried it for the first time, after washing it repeatedly, it was ready to be used.. we bought a whole fresh chicken at Sprout's the day before, about 2 to 3lbs, I washed the chicken, sprinkled it with lemon juice, salt and blackpepper, then I rubbed it with red curry paste (store bought), I added some coconut powder and my homemade chili sauce in the paste.. I inserted some of the paste under the chicken skin and inside the chicken, I let it sit for 1 hour before baking them.. I preheated oven on 400'F, I inserted my chicken on the vertical roaster and put it in a drip pan.. I baked my chicken for 30 minutes, then I rotated the pan 45 degree, baked again for 20 minutes, rotated every 10 minutes until the chicken is done, about 90 minutes, before I rotated it, I took it out and brushed with the remaining curry paste + the chicken fat/juice that dripped in the pan.. chicken turned out so good, tender and juicy..oh don't forget to wrap the whole chicken after taking it out form the oven for 10 minutes.. then we are done, ready to enjoy the tasty roasted chicken.. I matched it with warm rice and steamed asparagus, my husband was happy his with dinner roll..

this will be my favorite way for roasting chickens or other birds, actually there is another way to do it, with soda can, we can fill the soda can with any liquid we like, such as orange juice, insert the can filled with juice in the chicken, let it stand on a pan and bake it.. I ate it at Vickie's house and it was delicious, tender and juicy

curry paste chicken on vertical roaster 

tastylicious roast chicken