My husband is leaving for fishing in Alaska tomorrow. I was so not in the mood for cooking, but I have my thing that I gotta cook for my husband before he travels. That way, if something bad happens to him (knock on wood.. please God protect him!), he at least fills his tummy with my cook. Strange? Yeah, I am!

Anyway, so today I didn't feel like cooking but I needed to cook. I recalled one of my online buddies posted a very simple dish that I was looking forward to try.

It tasted... interesting! The cumin made it really fragrant. I liked it. But my husband said, "Hm.. it's different. It tasted like... chilli powder?" He's not a big fan of it. But when he ate it over warm steamed rice mixed with stir-fry bok choy, he said, "Oh, this is not bad at all!"

And there you have it, Ven!

Here is the link to the original recipe:
http://bookshop.multiply.com/recipes/item/129/Lamb_with_Cumin_Meat_Seafood

Wakakak.. nggak bermutu banget ya masakan gue! Haha.. habis gimana, dong. Lagi hamil gini pengennya makanan kampung. Gampang dan sehat.

Bahan:
- Tempe (digoreng setengah matang)
- Tahu (digoreng)
- Bawang merah diiris halus
- Bawang putih digeprak aja kali yee..
- Cabe diiris, yang banyak
- Tomat
- Laos digeprak (or galangal powder)
- Tauco
- Daun salam
- Pete (optional)
- Garam
- Gula
- Kecap manis (cap Bango, yaa...) dikit aja

Cara bikinnya? Walah... gampang banget. Tumis bawang putih, bawang merah, cabe. Tambahkan laos dan daun salam, tomat, juga pete. Masukkan tahu dan tempe. Tambahkan tauco, plus gula, garam dan kecap sesuai selera.

Hidangkan dengan nasi panas. Enak, dong! Wong lagi laper berat gini. Apalagi makannya sambil baca Glamour magz yang baru. Hehehe...

There's no way I'd grill fish in Indonesia. Why would I? I couldn't compete with Babe Lili and street vendors. But here, when I crave for anything.. I have no choice. Gotta shop for the ingredients, cook, eat, clean. I'm a lazy cook, but I still manage to cook at least 4 times a week (I don't cook when I have class on Thursday, and we like to dine out on weekends).

Last Friday, I grilled Black Pomfret (Bawal Hitam). Easy, actually. Marinade the fish in salt and lemon for an hour. Rinse, then marinade in mixed paste of candlenut, turmeric, coriander, garlic, shallot (hm... just be creative with the spices!) for at least an hour (the longer the better). If you'd like the taste of sweet soy sauce and margarine, add some before you grill (or broil). Turn over a few times until it's done. Voila... fish is ready to eat with cucumber and sambel terasi/sambel kecap. As for me, I fried some sambel terasi with pete (stinky bean, as Paul says). Yum, yum...

He liked it (with no pete, of course). Me, looooooved it.

OK, would you promise not to laugh at me? See, you start to laugh! Bad, bad...you!

I normally fix instant noodle (Mie Sedap curry flavor is the best!) with lots of topping when I'm lazy to cook. It's not healthy. But it's easy and it resembles Indonesian meal that I always long for. The thing is, now I'm nursing, I hesitate to eat too much instant noodle that contains MSG and preservatives.

Do I give up the "easy to prepare" Indonesian flavor meal? Hell, no! This is what I cook when I'm unmotivated: fried egg with margarine (or butter) rice.

Fry two eggs (toss the yolks if cholesterol scares you!) in lots of margarine (Blue Band is the best!). Half cooked, mix leftover rice with the egg, stir with garlic salt. Garnish with fried shallots or french fried onions or bacon bits. Or if you like the taste of shrimp, top with powder shrimp. Shrimp crackers will do fine too.

Where's the vegetables? Dooo... just eat a bowl of salad. As for me, I drink a big cup of milk and lots of fruits afterwards. Just to make me feel good about having some vitamins!

Orange chicken I bought from Costco has flavor like chicken in pancake syrup. I know orange chicken is supposed to taste sweet and sour, but that chicken just didn't feel right. Even Panda Express has better version of orange chicken. But wasting the food is rarely my option. Luckily the chicken and sauce are in separate package. So, I decided to dress up the chicken with my own sauce.

As you can tell from the picture, my sauce is basically blends of chillies, garlics, shallots, and pineapple (I was thinking about sweet pepper, but didn't have any in the fridge), and a tad of the original orange sauce. We ate it over steamed rice and sauteed bok choy. And yeah, it was enjoyable to eat. At least, we didn't have to get take-out dinner tonight!

So, my friend, spice-up your tasteless frozen dinner!

I've been craving for nastar... actually the one that Ceu Tetty sells at Femina. It has that soft-melted-in-the-mouth texture that's hard to resist. I used to eat almost the whole 1-lb-package in one afternoon! I was thinking to ask my friend to send me those cookies here, but I think it's a little bit unrealistic. So, I tried to make nastar. First try, when I was still pregnant, didn't work well. After that, I stopped trying. I think I'd rather focus on fish cake (pempek). But lately I feel like trying to bake nastar again. And my ex house mate, Adrie Anne post the recipe. I've been a big fan of her cooking blog... so I gave another try. Turned out, it's unbelivably yummy, even with the major mistakes I made: as I read the ingredients, I orderly put item by item in big bowl right away... while I should have mixed the egg and butter first. Hehehe...

Anyway, here is the recipe:
(http://andrieanne.blogspot.com/2007/10/nastar-keju.html)

I used 200 grams wijsman butter and 50 grams Blue Band margarine.

This recipe is strongly recommended. It doesn't taste exactly the same with one Ceu Tetty sells in Jakarta, but it's more than "fine" to satisfy my cravings.

Mine might not look as pretty as Anne's. Try to understand. I'm a beginner, not in the same league with her. Hehehe...