Chunky Artichoke Dip

I am hooked on artichoke hearts and I look for more ways to enjoy them. One day I saw my friend Lindsay wrote a blog entry on Spicy Spinach Artichoke Dip. I knew it was a sign to do a dip. I have roasted artichoke hearts and have also put them in salad many times but have never done a dip before. The interesting part of Lindsay’s recipe was the Greek yogurt substitute for low-fat mayonnaise. I was very intrigued.

My first step was to check what I already had. I found one can of artichoke hearts in the pantry and some left over of frozen ones in the freezer. So I thought I’d just use them all up and do only artichoke dip this time. I also still had two types of cheese in the fridge: shredded Mozzarella and Cheddar—I used a handful of each (the recipe calls for Mozzarella, Parmesan, and Monterrey Jack). Though I deviated a bit from Lindsay’s original recipe, the dip was still pretty amazing. The artichoke hearts, Mozzarella, Cheddar, and the Greek yogurt created a delicious chunky dip. I enjoyed the thick consistency more than the usual creamy one. For once I could really taste the artichoke! The dip was definitely more fragrant due to the yogurt and more flavorful from the artichoke and cheese combo. The cayenne powder definitely kicked and enhanced the dish. I enjoyed using pita chips to scoop. 

Click the link to view the complete recipe: Spicy Spinach Artichoke Dip 

Thanks, Lindsay! What a great recipe!

Harini Riana1 Comment

Chicken Soup Cooked with Turmeric and Coconut Milk

(Harini’s Version of Soto Bangilan, Origin: East Java)

It’s hard to give a short answer to the question “What’s Indonesian food like?” It depends on: who is being asked and where in Indonesia this person comes from. Cuisines vary from one island to the next. People may also find unalike tastes and types of food in different parts of an island. Now imagine if you have thousands of islands. The immense diversity of culture, ethnicity, and dialect in the archipelago unquestionably gets reflected in the cuisines too.

I have been able to cook some of the home-cooked dishes I grew up with, mostly cuisines from West Sumatra and East Java. Though I have perfected some recipes I still have plenty to try and learn to do. Recently I taught myself to make one more dish native to one part of East Java: Chicken Soup with Turmeric and Coconut Milk (Soto Bangilan). Soto is basically chicken soup that is cooked with turmeric and is infused with spices. (The significance of Soto is its yellow color that comes from turmeric.) Bangilan is the name of a small town in East Java where this particular Soto can be found and enjoyed. There are many varieties of Soto throughout the island and in the country. Chicken Soto is very popular in Java along with Soto Madura which is of the Madura island origin.

Anyway, one day my mom and I had a food talk about Soto Bangilan. She kept talking about how delicious it was. I never had the dish before. Curiosity led me to ask for Soto Bangilan‘s recipe from one of my aunts. Thanks to her I was able to add one more dish to my recipe collection!

Here is my version of the recipe:

Ingredients:

  • 5-6 Smaller size of boneless chicken thighs (diced)
  • 2-3 Boiled eggs (halved)
  • 1 Lime
  • Sweet soya sauce (usually available at Asian grocery stores)
  • A handful of thin rice noodle (dip them in boiling water until they get soft, drain, and set aside)
  • 1 Box of chicken stock (32 oz)
  • 2-3 Handful of bean sprouts (dip them in boiling water for a minute or two, drain, and set aside)
  • A handful of fried shallots (usually available at Asian grocery stores)
  • White jasmine rice (The recipe calls for lontong, a compressed rice that can be cut into pieces like cakes. I prefer to have it with regular white rice.)
  • 5-6 Scallions (chopped)

Spices to be mixed in a food processor:

  • 3 Shallots
  • 1 Teaspoon of minced garlic
  • 1 Teaspoon of corriander
  • ½ Teaspoon of turmeric powder
  • 1 Inch of Galangal root
  • 5-6 Candlenuts
  • ½ Teaspoon of shrimp paste
  • Salt

Add to the pot:

  • 3 Kaffir lime leaves
  • 1 Lemongrass
  • 1 Can of light coconut milk (the original recipe requests for more coconut milk but I prefer to have it light)

Steps:

  • In a bigger pot, saute the spices, lime leaves, and lemongrass with a little canola oil
  • Add the chicken and mix well with the spices
  • Add the chicken stock and a cup of water (or two)
  • Let it boil until the chicken is well cooked, add the coconut milk, and stir
  • Let it cook for another 10 minutes
  • Add fried shallots to the broth

Serve in a deep plate or a bowl:

  • A little bit of white jasmine rice, bean sprouts, scallions, thin rice noodles, halved boiled egg, and pour the Soto (with the diced chicken) on top of them
  • Top with a little squeeze of lime and a little sweet soya sauce
  • Serve with a little sambal (chilies) on the side (Only for those who love spicy, please)
  • Mix everything and enjoy!

Here is how to make the sambal for Soto:

  • Boil 10-15 Thai peppers and 2-3 candle nuts for 5-10 minutes
  • Drain and chop them up in a food processor
  • Add a little salt and serve
  • Note: only take a little at a time and mix with the dish

Enjoy a bowl of multifarious goodness. The warmth of the soup and its big flavor fill up a hungry stomach perfectly. Leftover is to be expected. Great for next day’s lunch!

Serve 2-4


Harini Riana1 Comment

Easy Side Dish: Caramelized Brussels Sprouts

I think Brussels sprouts are cute. They are also delicious when cooked and spiced well. I like to have them as a side dish to my grilled fish and baked potato plate. Trust me and try it.

Brussels sprouts were another type of vegetable that I used to be curious about. I never tried them until recent years. They looked like tiny cabbages but I was clueless about their taste. I would see them at the grocery store and wonder about ways to prepare and enjoy them. Also, I did not remember to have this vegetable when I was growing up in Indonesia. So, by chance, a friend told me that she was not crazy at all about this vegetable due to its strong taste. I asked her how she prepared them and she said, “Well, I just steamed and ate them plain.” Aha! This confirmed what I’ve always believed about strong-tasting green vegetables: they are more delicious and enjoyable when spiced up well.

I did some recipe search on these little fresh and green vegetable and found a few that focused on caramelizing. After a couple of tries I felt like I got a version that fit my taste preference (and Jeff’s!).

Ingredients:

  • 8-10 Brussels sprouts cut in half
  • 2 Shallots chopped into little pieces
  • 1 Cup of chicken (or vegetable) stock
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 Tablespoon of canola oil

Steps:

  • Heat up a pan and add the oil
  • Saute the shallots until they turn yellow
  • Throw in the Brussels sprouts and let them brown together with the shallots
  • Add chicken stock (you can also add chopped baby carrots if you want more colors in this dish)
  • Reduce the heat, cover the pan with a lid, and cook for 10 minutes or until the stock gets absorbed by the sprouts.
  • Add salt and pepper

The chicken stock takes away the vegetable’s strong taste while the shallots provides natural sweetness and appetizing aroma to the sprouts. The vegetable’s crunchy texture definitely complements a grilled fish plate well. Add either baked/mashed potato or mac and cheese as another side and you get a fantastic combo.

Serve 2

Harini Riana7 Comments

Stuck on My Mind: Chicken Pot Pie

Have you ever thought of one specific thing and all of a sudden you started to see it everywhere?  It could seem like the thought was following you and catching your attention every chance it got. Well it happened to me the other day. On one cloudy morning I thought about how great it would be to have some chicken pot pie. Sure enough when I checked my email I got an update from this food blog I subscribed to about… chicken pot pie. Then when I tuned into Cooking Channel later on that same day I saw two different shows presenting…chicken pot pie! I guess the chicken pot pie goddess must have wanted me to make the dish badly.

So I surrendered to the chicken pot pie calling and found a few recipes online and decided to  follow Rachael Ray’s: (click the link) Creamy Chicken and Mushroom One-Pot with Pie Toppers.

I did a little tweak to the recipe:

  • I used a frozen mixed vegetables (corn, carrots, green beans, and peas)
  • I opted out of using butter, heavy cream, and wine
  • Instead, for the broth, I mixed the poaching liquid, chicken stock, three tablespoons of flour, and a tablespoon of dijon mustard in a bowl. Whisked the broth well (until, as the author said, it “thickens to a light gravy consistency”) and then returned it back to the pot where the vegetables were cooking. Then I added the chicken back to the pot along with some salt and pepper

The meal was delicious, full of flavors, and fragrant. I especially enjoyed the peppery taste that came from the dijon mustard and the sweet aroma of sage. What a perfect winter meal!

So plan a movie night at home with loved ones, cozy up on the couch under a blanket, and enjoy a nice bowl of chicken pot pie. Have a good Monday!

Harini RianaLeave a comment

Oh the Leftovers!

What to do with the Leftover Turkey

A couple of friends invited us to their house this past Thanksgiving for a traditional turkey dinner. And of course what’s Thanksgiving without leftovers, right? Our gracious hosts begged us to take some turkey meat home. Mind you, Jeff and I had a lunch planned and a dinner to host on the following day. So this turkey had to wait in the fridge.

After two consecutive dinner parties our fridge was full of leftovers. One morning I stared at the fridge thinking about ways to transform the extra food into new dishes. Turkey meat got my first priority. I also saw the veggie tray that a couple of friends brought for appetizer on Friday night and I still had some chicken stock.  Aha! A dish came to mind: Turkey and Vegetable Soup. But then I realized that we got quite a lot of the turkey leftovers that I could make another dish. I saw some leftover jasmine rice from yesterday’s lunch and I also found red hot finger peppers, Thai peppers, shallots, and onion too in my fridge—the perfect ingredients for fried rice. Another menu was born: Turkey Fried Rice.

Turkey and Vegetable Soup

I normally do this soup with chicken. But the turkey variation did not disappoint.  I was able to make it very flavorful. The trick was to leave the soup overnight in the fridge to be enjoyed the next day.

  • Heat up two cups of chicken stock and a half of cup of water in a pot over medium heat
  • Add salt, white pepper powder, a half of teaspoon of minced garlic, and a half of teaspoon of nutmeg powder for aroma and peppery flavor
  • Shred the leftover turkey meat and put it in the boiling soup
  • Chop the baby carrots, broccoli, and celeries from the veggie tray and mix them in the pot with the turkey
  • Let it cook together for about 15-20 minutes
  • Turn off the heat and let the soup cool down
  • Put it in the fridge overnight so that the turkey and the vegetables absorb the chicken stock and spices
  • Have the soup for lunch the next day
  • Serve with a bread on the side

Turkey Fried Rice

 First, infuse more flavors into the leftover turkey:

  • Heat up a cup of chicken stock in a pot over medium heat
  • Add salt and white pepper powder and let it simmer
  • Lower the heat and let the rest of the shredded turkey swim in the simmering chicken stock until the liquid is nearly gone

 Second, prepare the sauce for the fried rice:

  • Chop and mix five red hot finger peppers, three Thai peppers, one shallots, a teaspoon of minced garlic, and a quarter of onion in a food processor
  • Heat up a large deep skillet over medium heat
  • Add a half of tablespoon of canola oil
  • Sauté the sauce for a minute or two
  • Mix the cold (cooked) white rice with the red sauce in the skillet. For best result, make two or three cups of rice  the night before and then chill in the fridge
  • Stir until the rice is coated with the red sauce
  • Add salt
  • Drain the shredded turkey from the stock and mix them with the red rice
  • Scramble a couple of eggs in a frying pan and mix with the rice and turkey
  • Serve immediately with cut up lettuce and sliced cucumbers on the side
Note: Toppings for the fried rice may vary. You can also enjoy it with beef, chicken, or shrimp.

Warning: Spicy (Please adjust the number of chili peppers according to your spicy-tolerance level)

Harini RianaLeave a comment

Standing Oven Round Roast Beef with Sweet Potatoes

Standing Oven Round Roast Beef by JNHoliday Dinner Menu (Part 3)

Jeff wanted to do a roast beef dinner with sweet potatoes for the holiday dinner. So he created his own recipe and it turned out to be a huge success. Our guests could not get enough of it. The peppery flavor of the steak went well with all of the side dishes: sweet potatoes, roasted butternut squash with Gouda cheese and pine nuts, and the artichoke, heart of palm, and avocado salad. The roast beef definitely earned its position to be one of our favorite dinner party menus.

A few days later I asked Jeff to tell me the ingredients for the roast beef and the steps to prepare it. I typed the recipe quickly and added it to this blog as another entry to our good cooking “database”.

So here is Jeff’s recipe:

Ingredients:

  • 8 lbs of round bottom round roast beef (cut in half)
  • Salt, freshly ground black pepper, chili powder, dried oregano, and salt-free steak seasoning
  • A cup of your favorite bold red wine (we used a cabernet)
  • Dried sage
  • Water

Steps:

  • Create a brine solution (to keep the steak juicy after roasting) in a large zip lock bag by mixing one or two cups of water with salt
  • Brine and soak the meat completely in the zip lock bag
  • Leave in the fridge for three days
  • Take it out of the brining bag and pat dry the day before the dinner party
  • Brush with canola oil
  • Prepare the steak’s dry rub mix in a bowl: freshly ground black pepper, chili powder, oregano, and a little salt-free steak seasoning (we used Trader Joe’s Steak and Chop Grill and Broil)
  • Massage the dry rub well into the meat
  • Place the marinated meat in a new zip lock bag and keep in the fridge overnight

About three hours before the dinner party:

  • Preheat the oven to 225F
  • Place the meat on an oven rack with a tray below it
  •  Put one cup of water on the tray and then cover it all with an aluminum foil
  • Cook until the steak’s temperature reaches 130F (it took us about 2 hours)
  • Take the meat out and crank up the oven temp to 500F and cook the meet for another 10 minutes
  • Take the steak out and cover with aluminum foil until serving

Prepare the steak sauce by collecting the juices from the cooking steak in the tray into a small pot. Mix with half cup of water, a cup of wine, and a pinch of dried sage. Let it simmer and reduce by half. Strain to make sure that there isn’t any dried sage in the sauce and serve.

Make the sweet potato dish:

  • Peel and cube  3-4 sweet potatoes
  • Boil with chicken stock, add a little salt, and cook until it is fork tender
  • Drain the potatoes and let it cool down before serving

Serve  7-9 people

Happy Holidays!

Harini RianaLeave a comment