Potato with Shiitake Mushroom, Sweet Corn, and Brussels Sprouts

In the mood for something easy but tasty? Here’s a one-pot meal that combines great colors, textures, and flavors.

We’ll need:

  • 2 shallots (thinly sliced)
  • 6 Brussels sprouts (halved)
  • 6 Red baby potato (halved)
  • 2 cups of Shiitake mushrooms (stems removed and cap chopped)
  • 2 ears of corn (peeled) or substitute with one cup of frozen corn
  • Salt
  • 2 tablespoon of vegetable oil

Steps:

  • In a small pot, boil the potato for 15-20 minutes and set aside
  • Heat up a medium pan and then add oil (over medium heat)
  • Cook the shallots for a minute or two
  • Add Brussel sprouts and cook until they turn a little yellowish/brownish
  • Add ¼ cup of water and bring to boil
  • Add salt
  • Add chopped mushrooms and peeled corn while the pan is bubbling. Bring back to boil. (You could also grill the corn first and then cut the corn kernels out of the cobs)
  • Turn of the heat and add the boiled potato into the mix
  • Serve on a plate

Great to serve by itself or as a side to my oven roast chicken.

Crispy oven roasted chicken

Harini Riana3 Comments

Goat Satay

Goat satay (sate kambing) is one of my favorite street food in Surabaya.

Illustration: Satay Vendor

Recently, I attempted to create the satay in my kitchen. Though I deviated a bit from how the satay vendors normally prepared theirs in the motherland, my version was nothing short of delicious. The meat-on-skewers came out with the three qualities I had in mind: tender, aromatic, and a little sweet. I served it with rice and  chili sauce on the side.

Here’s my version:

Serve 2

  • 1 pound of roast cut goat meat (cubed)
  • 3 garlic
  • 1 sprig of fresh rosemary
  • 1 tablespoon of apple vinegar
  • 2 tablespoon of olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 tablespoon of sweet soy sauce (if you don’t have it, create your own by mixing 1 ½ teaspoon of light soy sauce and 1 ½ teaspoon of honey)

I mixed all of the above in a container, covered with the lid, and let it marinate overnight or at least for six hours. Afterward, using 10-15 skewers that I have soaked in water for 30 minutes prior, I pushed the skewers gently through the meat. Then I fired up the grill and let the satay cook for 3-4 minutes on each side.

If you’re into spicy food like I am, serve the satay with this special chili pepper sauce:

Warning: Very Spicy!

  • 5 Thai peppers (substitute with hot finger peppers for medium heat)
  • 2 shallots
  • 2 tablespoon of sweet soy sauce

Chop the chili peppers and shallots and mix them with the sweet soy sauce. Serve as condiment or drizzle it on the satay.

Hope you like it!

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Harini RianaLeave a comment

Guacamole

A recent weekend trip to the dunes by Lake Michigan sent me home with plenty of food inspiration. One night at the cottage we rented, I saw my newly-wed-couple friends mashing avocados into guacamole on the kitchen’s island. They worked together like couple of scientists in a lab, immersed in the task at hand. I, on the other hand, stood nearby, watching, and waiting impatiently, like a little kid, eager to taste that avocado sauce. Ro added some salt to the cut up avocados, mashed them up, and tasted it. Then he added some onion, garlic, and lime juice. Zulma tasted it and she said it needed a bit more of something something. I was so hungry I couldn’t concentrate on what she was saying. It seemed like the mashing, adding things, and tasting continued on for a while before I could get my arms around the bowl of goodness. The couple’s hard work paid off though. They produced a fantastic guacamole.

After Jeff and I got home from the cottage, I couldn’t wait to try my friends’ guacamole recipe. Actually, I’ve made it twice in the past two weeks. The vibrant flavors of garlic, cilantro, onion, and jalapeno peppers mix so well together with the sweetness of the avocados. I am addicted to this sauce.

Chunky Guacamole
Or make it: Smooth and Creamy Guacamole. Either way is good for me 🙂

Here’s how I made mine:

(Serve 2-3 people)

  • 3 avocados
  • 1 handful of cilantro (finely chopped)
  • 3 garlic (finely chopped)
  • ½ sweet onion (finely chopped)
  • 3 jalapeno peppers (finely chopped)
  • Salt to taste
  • A pinch of Cumin
  • Lime juice from 1 lime

Steps:

  • Peel, cut up, and mash the avocados
  • Mix everything together in a bowl and then drizzle with lime juice
  • Serve with tortilla chips

Special thanks to Roneil and Zulma for the guacamole and the recipe

Harini Riana1 Comment

Easy Summer Recipe: Grilled Squid in Spicy Salsa

I’ve gone grill crazy this summer. I seriously have :). Here’s another result from my obsession with cooking over an open fire: grilled squid. Yes, squid! Oh… the aroma and taste of it after being grilled, just divine! Growing up in one of the world’s largest (and most populated) archipelagos surrounded by seas and oceans, I got introduced to all sorts of fresh seafood early in life. Hence my love for it.  For this recipe, I put a little bit of Mexican twist to the dish by adding one of my favorite flavors: spicy salsa. Intense!

We will need:

  • 1 pound of frozen squid (usually they are already cleaned)
  • Lemon juice from 1 lemon
  • 1 serving cup of store-bought refrigerated fresh spicy salsa (usually are placed next to hummus and tabbouleh salad). OR we could also prepare a bowl of our own homemade salsa by chopping two or three tomatoes, a half of sweet onion, a handful of cilantro, three garlic, five jalapeno peppers, and adding salt and lime juice.
  • Olive oil

Steps:

  • Cut the thawed squid tubes into rings and the tentacles into smaller pieces
  • Drizzle the cut squid with olive oil and lemon juice
  • Let them marinate for 10-15
  • Meanwhile, heat up a small pot on the stove (over low heat), add a tablespoon of vegetable oil, and add the fresh salsa. Let it cook for 5-10 minutes to let most of the water out (and to sharpen the flavor of the salsa). Set aside on a serving plate.
  • Brush the grill rack with oil
  • Fire up the grill
  • Grill the squid for 2-3 minutes total, turning only once. They cook very fast, so please be careful not to overcook.
  • Mix the cooked squid with the salsa.
  • Combo suggestion: serve with my Bitter melon with Shiitake Mushroom stir-fry and jasmine rice

Hope you like it!

Have a great weekend, everyone…

Harini Riana4 Comments

For the serious veggie lovers: Bitter melon with Shiitake mushroom stir-fry

Is it possible to be bitter and good at the same time? In the case of bitter melon, it is. Just as the name implies, bitter melon…is… bitter. But with the right seasonings/spices this vegetable can make a delicious dish.

Growing up, stir-fry bitter melon would often show up as a side dish on my family’s dinning table. My mom would cook the vegetable with garlic, shallots, and chili peppers. Whenever the dish appeared, I would have a bite and convince myself that it would be less bitter from the last time I tried it. Of course, it was never the case. Each time it showed up on the table, I would always have a bite. I guess after years of “having a bite” of it, I grew to like this dish.

It had been years since the last time I had stir-fry bitter melon. At a recent trip to the market, I saw one bitter melon left on its section on the vegetable rack. I took it home and followed my mom’s recipe. But I also added my own twist to the dish: I added two cups of Shiitake mushrooms and a little bit of light soy sauce.  The mushrooms definitely offered a sweet flavor and meaty texture to stir-fry. Both bitter melon and mushrooms absorbed the mix of garlic, shallots, chili peppers, and light soy sauce really well.  Here’s how I did the stir-fry:

To prepare:

  • Halve one bitter melon. Remove the core with a small knife (the most bitter part)
  • Slice them up into thin cuts
  • Fill up a medium bowl with ¼ of water and two tablespoons of salt
  • Soak the bitter melon cuts for an hour or so. The salt water helps get rid of the bitterness of the melon.

After an hour/two:

  • Rinse the bitter melon from the salt water, set aside. (Please rinse them really well. Otherwise they’d be too salty.
  • Chop three garlic, two shallots, and two Thai peppers
  • Heat up a medium pan on the stove
  • Add one tablespoon of vegetable or canola oil
  • Add the garlic, shallots, and peppers and let them cook in the pan for two minutes
  • Add one teaspoon of light soy sauce
  • Add the rinsed bitter melon to the pan
  • Add the stemmed and chopped Shiitake mushroom
  • Cover the pan with a lid and let everything cooks for 5-8 minutes (until the bitter melon cuts and mushrooms are soft)
  • Set aside and let it sit in the pan for a few minutes (10-15) to give some time for the dish to absorb all of the seasonings and flavors
  • Serve with jasmine rice

A great side dish to accompany my spicy squid (next blog entry).

Harini Riana1 Comment