We had this Wii tournament going on two weeks ago. A co-worker invited us; so after work, me and my husband, along with other co-workers went to his place. We ordered pizza from Skipolini and they were very good pizza. Each of us did the Wii fit and it turned out I was the oldest, my Wii age was 59 year-old...I was the most un-balanced and I guess I need to exercise more now.. :)

So the following week, we hosted the Wii tournament at our place. Instead of ordering food, I made this BBQ Beef Sandwich, since they're easy to make and can be prepared a day ahead. For our dinner, we had these sandwiches with chips, a meat pie and Vanilla ice cream with homemade organic strawberry jam.

We had a great time playing and everyone loves the food. It was a fun night. Everyone left after 11 pm (on a Wednesday night) :)

The recipe is from Elise from Simply Recipes

Braised BBQ Beef Sandwich

Ingredients

Posted by Caroline at 03:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Printer-friendly version

Sop buntut is our family's favorite food, they are good eaten with spicy chilli and lime juice. I like to add mine with a little bit of sweet soy sauce (kecap manis). The recipe below is of my grandma's.

To make the soup "a little bit" healthier, after the soup is ready and cooled down, I'd spoon out the solid fat on the top.

Sop Buntut (Oxtail Soup)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Kg Buntut, 2 Lbs Oxtail
• 1 bh Bw Bombay, large Onion
• 6 siung Bw putih, cloves garlic
• merica putih, white pepper
• pala, nutmeg
• 1 bh Bw prey, leek
• Seledri, Celery
• Garam, Salt
• Bawang merah goreng, fried shallot

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Iris bw bombay kotak2 kecil. Chopped onion in small squares
2. Iris tipis2 bw prey dan seledri. Thinly slice leek and celery
3. Ulek bw putih, merica dan pala. Grind garlic, pepper and nutmeg
4. Goreng bw bombay dan bw prey. Sautee onion until transluscent, then add leek
5. Bw putih, pala dan merica ulek dimasukkan. Add garlic, nutmeg, and pepper
6. Tambahkan air dan buntut. Add water then oxtail.
7. Masukkan seledri dan bw merah goreng setelah buntut matang. Add celery when the oxtail is cooked and topped with fried shallot.
8. Sop buntut siap dimakan dengan sambal dan jeruk nipis. The soup is ready to be eaten with chilli and lime juice, with warm rice.

Posted by Caroline at 01:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Printer-friendly version

   There's only one word to describe this steak...heavenly, my husband and my little brother even gave two-thumbs up..

   The recipe is very simple, just marinate the steak overnight using coke (yes, as in coke the coca cola), beer, balsamic vinegar, and black pepper. then panfried with butter...I used the extra liquid from the juice to stir fry the vegetable which makes them even tastier...and the leftover goes to our lunch box for the next day,,, =)

Posted by Caroline at 12:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | Printer-friendly version

Mie Goreng is a typical Asian food. While the recipe is very simple the taste is delectable. There are many variations you can try; with or without meat. I made the vegetarian version for few times, using shitake mushrooms, scrambled eggs and vegetables, and they turned out as delicious as the non-vegetarian version.

The keys to a tasty stir fry egg noodle are two things: don't overcook the noodle and crush the garlic (lots of them) using only the traditional mortar and pestle, instead of food processor. The tip is from my mom, from which the recipe comes from. 

Mie Goreng - Stir Fry Egg Noodle

Ingredients:

-Bawang Putih, ulek - Garlic, crushed

-Kecap Manis - Sweet soy sauce

-Mie kuning rebus sampai 3/4 matang - Egg noodle, boil until almost cooked

-Dada ayam, potong kecil2 - chicken breast, cut very small

  --or--

-Daging babi cincang - Pork meat, thinly sliced

-Bakwan, potong kecil2 - Meatball, cut in 4 pieces

-Udang - Shrimp

-Telur di orak arik - Scrambled eggs 

-Sawi - Choy Sum or any kind of vegetables

-Optional: Jamur - mushrooms

-Garam & merica - salt and pepper

-Bawang merah - Fried Shallot

Instructions:

1. Oseng2 bawang putih sampai harum. Masukkan ayam/babi, kemudian udang dan bakwan.

   Heat oil, add garlic. Sautee until fragrant. Add chicken/pork, shrimp and meatball.

2. Masukkan telur, mie dan sawi. Tambahkan kecap manis, garam, dan merica.

   Add scrambled eggs, noodle and choy sum. Add sweet soy sauce, salt and  pepper.

3. Tambahkan bawang merah goreng diatasnya.

   Add fried shallot on top.

Posted by Caroline at 01:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Printer-friendly version

I made this soup so many times, especially during cold weathers. And over the time, I noticed that I am combining both recipes from my mom and my m.i.l., and the blend of both recipes brings out a truly wonderful taste.

The trick to a great sup merah lays in the boiled tomatoes, I loved mine a bit tart and sweet to balance the richness of the meats.

Sup Merah – Tomato Soup
~~oOo~~

1 kaleng maling potong kecil2 & goreng, can of spam cut into small pcs and fry

2 biji dada ayam potong kotak2 kecil, pcs of chicken breast cut into small cubes

¼ kg udang, ½ lb shrimp

Sosis daging dipotong kecil2 & goreng, beef sausage cut into small pieces and fry

Jamur kuping, ear mushroom

Wortel dipotong kecil2, carrots cut into small pieces

Seledri, Celery

Kacang polong, peas

6-8 siung bawang putih dipotong2, garlic, chopped

1 bawang bombay dipotong2 , onion, chopped

3-4 bj tomat direbus, pcs of tomatoes – boil

1 kaleng saus tomat, can of tomato paste

1-2 sdm kaldu ayam, tbs chicken stock

1 sdm anggur merah / arak, tbs cooking wine

1 sdm saus inggris, tbs worcestershire sauce

1 sdt pala, tsp nutmeg

½ std merica, tsp pepper

Gula, garam, sugar and salt

Kecap asin, soy sauce

1 ½ sdm tepung maizena campur dgn air, tbs cornstarch mixed with water

1.      Ayam & udang di marinate dengan kecap asin dan merica, biarkan beberapa menit

      Marinate chicken with soy sauce and pepper

2.      Panaskan minyak, masukkan bawang putih dan bawang bombay, kemudian ayam dan udang

      Add garlic and onion into preheated oil. Add the marinated chicken and shrimp

3.      Masukkan perasan air dari tomat

      Strain the tomato. Bring in the liquid from the boild tomatoes

4.      Masukkan kaldu ayam dan wortel

      Add in chicken stock and carrots

5.      Masukkan spam, sosis, jamur, saus tomat, gula, garam, pala

      Add in spam, sausage, mushrooms, tomato paste, sugar, salt and nutmeg

6.      Setelah wortel lunak, masukkan seledri dan kacang polong

      When the carrots is soft, add in celery and peas

7.      Masukkan maizena

      Add in the cornstarch

Posted by Caroline at 03:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (9) | Printer-friendly version

I would say that empal goreng is a common lunch or dinner food for many of Indonesian. The recipe I post here is just one of the many variations of empal goreng out there.

This particular recipe is very simple because you only need lots of garlic to bring in the taste of the meat. My grandma used to serve it with sop daging (clear beef & vegetable soup) and sambal terasi (shrimp paste chilli) and kecap manis (sweet soy bean sauce). My mom, on the other hand, most often serve it with nasi goreng terasi (spicy fried rice).

Whichever you choose, empal goreng is always good to be eaten with warm rice...  

Empal Goreng (Fried marinated beef)

~~~~~~ooOoo~~~~~~

Ingredients:

1/2 kg Daging, 1 lb beef shanks

20 Bawang putih diulek, garlic - grind

 

Asem dicampur air secukupnya, tamarind mixed with 2 1tbs of water

Gula & garam, salt and sugar as needed

 

Instructions: 

1.Godog daging sampai empuk, potong2 dan pukul2

   Boil beef until tender, cut into squares and pound until tender

2.Ulek daging dengan bumbu halus, biarkan sampai meresap beberapa menit dan goreng

   Mixed the beef with the garlic paste, tamarind and salt and sugar. Marinate for few minutes and fry in hot oil

Posted by Caroline at 02:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Printer-friendly version

This recipe is my husband's family recipe. whenever my mother-in-law made this food, she always made from both chicken and beef because Romana and I love the chicken version while Rico loves the beef version.

Empal Menado (Fried Marinated Meat)
~~~~~~ooOoo~~~~~~

Posted by Caroline at 03:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | Printer-friendly version