Tri-colored carrots with honey glaze and parsley

My kids love love love this side dish, it's so obvious because of the sweetness and the color is so interesting. I was so happy to got tri-colored carrots, it's not available all the time here in Bellingham. You can use baby carrots if you could not find tri-colored carrots.

Anyway, the cooking method is similar to Green Beans Amandine, in term of blanching the vegetable, so you can prepared this process ahead of time, put it in the refrigerator and ready to toasted in honey glaze the next day.

Tri-colored carrots with honey glaze and parsley

1lb of tri-colored carrots

2 tbsp unsalted butter 

2 tbsp honey

1 tbsp lemon juice and about 1/2 tsp lemon zest 

Black pepper

dash of salt

1/4 cup of flat leave parsley, chopped.

Method

Blanch the carrots, set aside

Melt the butter in a pan then add honey

Add the carrots and stir or toss it

Add the remain ingredients, stir again to make sure every carrot is coated by honey glaze.

Remove from the heat and ready to serve. Enjoy!

Green Beans Amandine

This is definitely my favorite thanksgiving side dishes, it's very simple to make yet very tasty. I love the toasted almond in it, it gives a nutty flavor... Love it love it!!

I use the recipe from this website, did not reduce or add anything at all, it's just perfect as it is!!

1-1/2 lb. haricots verts (thin French green beans) or green beans, trimmed 
1 oz. (2 Tbs.) unsalted butter 
2 Tbs. pure olive oil 
1/2 cup slivered almonds 
1 tsp. minced or pressed garlic (1 medium clove) 
1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice (from 1 small lemon) 
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 

---

Bring a 6- to 7-quart pot of water to a boil. Add the beans and cook until bright green and barely crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold running water until completely cool. Spread the beans on a clean kitchen towel and dry thoroughly.
In a 12-inch skillet, heat the butter and oil over medium-low heat until the butter melts and the foam subsides. Add the almonds and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden-brown all over, about 3 minutes.
Using a slotted spoon, transfer the almonds to a plate. Reduce the heat to low and add the garlic to the skillet. Cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the beans, increase the heat to medium, and cook, tossing occasionally, until crisp-tender and lightly browned in some places, 5 to 8 minutes.
Stir in the lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to a serving platter, sprinkle with the almonds, and serve.

make ahead tips

The beans can be blanched (boiled until barely crisp-tender) up to 1 day ahead; refrigerate wrapped in paper towels in a plastic bag.

Salted Egg

Still about egg!! this time is Salted Egg. I made this long time ago but never had a chance to post it here.

I often craving for salted egg especially when I made some Rawon (Indonesian style beef stew), but the salted  egg I got from Asian grocery is so much different from Indonesian one, I do not like the taste and its texture, it's way way too salty for me.
Commonly salted egg is made using duck egg, but since I do not have duck eggs here I used chicken egg instead. I raised some chicken at the back yard and I was so excited when I found out one of the chicken is giving me a light blue egg, just exactly the same color with duck egg's shell.

To make salted egg, normally we use some kind a sand mixed with lots and lots of salt. Then we cover the egg and let it sit for days up to a week or so, after that then it can be harvested.
The most commons way to cook it is to boil it, but I you can also mix it with nasi goreng or even some other dishes just to give an extra savory and salt flavors.

Since I do not have and do not dare to use any available sands here, I use water instead. Actually I knew this technique from a good friend of mine, at first I was kind a reluctant to try, but I did it anyway. The result was so good and I honestly think the taste is so much better compared to the one I got from Asian Market.

SALTED EGG (Telur Asin)
1 dozen of chicken egg (preferably duck eggs)
2 cups of salt (or more)
2 litters of water

Method : 
Mix the water with salt until dissolve, soak the eggs and make sure the water covers it. Use a small plate or any other object and put on top of the eggs so it can be covered by salted water. Put aside for up to 1 week (I some times do more than that). Do not worry the salt will protect the eggs from getting rotten.
After 1 week try to boil one of the eggs, if you satisfied with the saltiness you can harvest it all, if you think it is not salted enough then let it sit in the salted water for another week until ready to be harvested.

Marbled Egg

Marbled egg is called Pindang Telor by Indonesian, if I am not mistaken, I think this is one of the Chinese influenced dish enjoys by many Indonesian. The Chinese version however is quite different because they are using a completely different spice and herbs. The only similarity is its cooking technique.
This kind of egg is very commons to cook on a special occasions or celebrations as a side dish. Back home my mom still making this if they have something to celebrate or we call it SYUKURAN (a special occasion of thanking God for all His Blessing by inviting people to enjoy some traditional dishes). And afterward they usually going home with a box of rice and so many side dishes, and this kind of egg is one of them.

Traditionally to cook this egg you'd need lots of red onion's skins and guava leaves to add some unique colors. But since I am lack of the guava leaves I am using teabag instead, works great!!
I enjoy this egg with some rice porridge or some Nasi Uduk (Indonesian Fragrant Rice).

MARBLED EGG (Pindang Telor)

1 dozen of eggs (or more)
Red onion's skins (as much as you have)
5 cloves of unpeeled garlic (whacked)
1 bay leaf
2 big slices of galanga
1 teaspoon turmeric powder

Method :

Boil the eggs with all of the other ingredients until the egg is cooked, turn the heat off, set aside and let it cool. Crack the egg shells but do not peel it, just enough so the juice can get trough and give its marbled pattern and color.
Reboil for another hour or so until the colors turned much darker. Set aside and let it cool, ready to serve.

I also put this egg in my son's bento, you can check it out here.

Korean BBQ Tofu

I just tried this new trick to make plain tofu taste more flavorful and enjoyable for my boys. They love tofu already but I thought this might be something new for them.
If you do not like tofu, try this trick, you might change your mind. Use extra firm tofu, cut it into cubes then you can enjoy it for your Asian salad to substituted chicken.
My boys just eat them like that along with stir fried rice noodle with some vegetables for dinner tonight. I also packed some leftover for tomorrow's lunch, you can see it HERE

Korean BBQ Tofu 

Ingredient :
1 block firm tofu
3 tbsp Korean BBQ Sauce (terriyaki sauce is optional)
dash of salt (if desired)
3 tbsp cooking oil

Method :

• Cut the tofu into small squares, about 1.5 cm thickness
• Marinade the tofu with Korean BBQ sauce and salt for couple hours (I did mine overnight)
• Heat the cooking oil in a nonstick skillet, then pan fry the tofu until one side get caramelized brown, turn it once and let the other side get caramelized as well.
• Carefully take it from the pan and put it in a paper towel.
• Ready to serve.

I like to enjoy tofu with some fresh Thai bird chili and a little bit of soy sauce, it's the Indonesian way :D

Sambal goreng udang & kentang

Ingredients:

Udang, kupas goreng

2 ato 3 buah kentang, kupas potong dadu goreng

3 tomat ukuran sedang, potong kotak sedang

15 cabe merah ( haluskan ) atau sambel oelek (4 atau 5 sdk makan)

5 bwng merah, iris tipis

Kaldu blok (bila suka)

5 lembar daun jeruk

cuka sedikit

Directions:

Tumis bawang merah sampai kuning,masukkan irisan tomat lalu masukkan cabe dan udang goreng dan kentang gorengnya, kemudian daun jeruk dan kaldu blok...aduk sampai bumbu cabe mengental dan tomat lembek. Tambahkan gula pasir dan garam sesuai selera...

Hati2 bila menambahkan garam, karena kaldu daging sudah bergaram.

Masukkan kentang goreng dan aduk rata.

Hmhmhm...nikmat dimakan sama nasi anget-anget!

Sapo Telur Puyuh

Ingredients:

15 butir telur puyuh, rebus, kupas ... (aku pake telur puyuh kaleng)

60 gr jamur kancing, (aku pake jamur shitake)

100 gr kailan potong2 

100 gr wortel, potong2

Tomat, potong dadu

Aku tambahkan bakso ikan (sisa dari bekas cap cay)

Kuah sapo :

900 ml kaldu daging/air

1 batang daun bawang, potong serong

2 buah bunga pekak (star anisse)

3 sdm minyak untuk menumis

4 siung bawang putih, cincang halus

2 sdm bawang bombay, cincang kasar

2 sdm saus tiram

1 sdm ang ciu (aku skip)

1 sdt minyak wijen

1 sdt lada halus

1 sdt garam

1 sdt gula pasir

1 sdt tepung maizena (larutkan dgn sedikit air dingin)

Directions:

1. Kuah : panaskan minyak, lalu tumis bawang putih dan bawang bombay hingga harum, masukan telur puyuh, aduk rata.

2. Tambahkan saus tiram, angciu, minyak wijen, gula pasri, bunga pekak, daun bawang, lada dan garam. Tuang kaldu/air, masak hingga mendidih.

3. Tuang larutan tepung maizena, wortel, kalian, jamur, dan tomat. Masak hingga semua bahan matang. Angkat.

4. Hidangkan panas2.

Sumber Resep : mas Budi

Tumis Pare

Ingredients:

Paria, potong2

Daging cincang sedikit aja (optional)

Cabe ijo (harus, kalo nggak adapun hrs diganti cabe rawit) dipotong serong

Bawang merah (aku pake bawang bombay) dirajang kasar

Bawang putih, iris halus

Merica, gula putih dan garem

Kaldu block (kalo suka)

Tomat (kalo suka aja)

Minyak goreng untuk menumis

Directions:

Tumis bawang putih dan bawang bombay sampe layu, masukin daging cincang aduk rata, lalu masukin paria dan cabe ijo-nya, aduk lagi, terakhir masukin gula putih, merica dan garem, dan irisan tomat. Aduk2 lagi dan angkat kalo sudah mateng.

Sayur Cabe Ijo

Ingredients:

Cabe ijo/jalapeno (sesuai selera) dipotong memanjang tapi jangan sampe putus.

1 potong lengkuas

2 lembar daun salam

2 sdm kecap manis

Bumbu yang dihaluskan :

4 siung bawang merah (aku pake bawang bombay 1/4 potong)

4 ato 5 siung bawang putih 

5 butir kemiri

3/4 sdt ketumbar

garem dan merica secukupnya

Santan ato susu sedikit aja (optional biar kuah lebih berasa)

minyak goreng untuk menumis

Directions:

Tumis bumbu yang dihaluskan sampe wangi ... lalu masukan cabe ijo-nya ... aduk perlahan ... terakhir masukan daun salam dan lengkuas .. lalu kasih air sedikit aja ... terus kasih kecap :):) angkat klo udah mateng.

Note:

Kalo gak mau terlalu pedes bisa dicampur buncis, tahu, tempe, telor rebus .. apa aja dech .. asal cabe ijo harus ada :):):)