My Kitchen My World, My Mom's Recipes

The theme for this week is "Be Thankful", and share your family recipe, that will remind you of your heritage, or your families tradition. 

I am thankful that my grand mother handed down the recipe to my mom, thankful that  she always made this dishes when we were growing up. Now that I have a family of my own, I am so thankful that I can cook this humble dishes for my own family. Last but not the least, I am also thankful of this week theme chosen by Lauren. 

These Are the food that we always had when we were growing up. They were humble food, delicious, and my mom would actually made them herself without the help of our maid. Though I would never consider her as a great cook, she did made few dishes that were memorable. These were a few of her dishes that I consider memorable. 

When she cook, which was very rare site for us (most of the time our maid, did the cooking for us) she never really referred to a cookbook. She loved to say, "oh, this is how my mom used to make it". So, these recipes actually came from my grand mother (from my mother side of family) to my mom, then to us. And, eventually to my son, nieces, and nephew, hopefully!

Here they are:

Pesan Be Pasih Mebase Nyuh

(Spiced Salt Water Fish With Grated Young Coconut 

Wrapped In Banana Leaves)

Very Delicious. My mom will make this with tuna, and occasionally would use tofu instead, and it was equally delicious.

Recipe: 

Makes more or less 3 parcels

2 cups cubed (about 1" cubed) tuna, or salmon, or tofu, 

1 cup very young fresh grated coconut 

(can be found at gourmet market, or asian market in a freezer section)

3 medium size shallots*

3 cloves garlic*

5 or less fresh Thai chilies*

 2 balinese long pepper, no substitute*

¼" fresh turmeric, or ¼ tsp powder*

½" kencur (zedoary), you can use ¼ tsp powder zedoary*

1" fresh ginger*

½" fresh young galangal*

1 tbs coriander seeds

3 whole candlenuts, no substitute

shrimp paste, can be substitute with ½ tbs fish sauce* 

(this one is the best brand out there) 

6 fresh kaffir lime leaves*

1 to 2 tbs oil

salt, to taste

6 fresh cayenne pepper, or fresh Thai pepper,  leave whole (optional)

Fresh banana's leaves, or parchment paper

6 tooth picks

This is how it looks like before unwrap

• Prepare the steamer, and let it boil on medium high heat.
• Place * ingredients, except only use 3 of the kaffir lime leaves in a mortar and pestle, or food processor and process until you have the consistency of a paste. Fry the paste with 1 tbs of oil until fragrant. Taste if need salt, since the shrimp paste or the fish salt are very salty, it is a good idea to taste the paste before adding more salt. I normally don't need any salt. Cool slightly.
• In a large bowl, combine the fish with coconut, and the paste. Mix well.
• Prepare about 3 - 12" to 14"  square Banana's leaves, transfer  the fish mixture equally among each banana's leaves. Top with 2 fresh cayenne, or fresh Thai chilies, and fresh kaffir lime leaves. Secure the ends with the tooth pick. Steam the parcels for 10 minutes. Meanwhile prepare your grill.
• Transfer the parcels to a plate, brush with a little bit of oil. Then grill (do not unwrap) for 2 minutes on each side.
• Serve unwrap with steam rice.

Tuwung Metunu-Mebase Lalah

(Fiery Grilled Eggplant)

She made it so often, and surprisingly, we never get bored of this fiery eggplant dish . In Indonesia, the eggplant is quite different. It is more roundish, like the heirloom eggplant here in the U.S. but, much more flavorful. Though I made it couple of months ago, I thought I will be nice to mention it again, since the theme is making the food that will remind us with our heritage, or country, or simply your mom's humble cooking.

Be-Siap Mebase Nyuh 

(Shreded Chicken With Young Coconut)

This one is also, appeared at our dinning table very often, she would normally made this from the left over chicken breast, that otherwise, unappreciated by us, the children. But, as soon as she turned it into this dish, we devoured this delectable chicken without any complaint.

The recipe is very simple. Use any left over chicken breast. Make the sambel tabya, which is also very simple to make. You will need to fry sliced shallots, sliced garlic, and fresh chilies. Use your own judgement on how much ingredients you will need. Then add this shallots mixture to fresh grated young coconut. Season with salt and pepper. As simple as that, yet very delectable.

Hope you'll like them!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

I Wish you all have a very happy thanksgiving!

Soba Noodles & Shitake Mushroom soup

Serve: 3 - 4
Ingredients:

¼ pound soba noodle

vegetable  oil

1 tsp minced fresh ginger

3 oz  fresh shiitake mushrooms

3 tbs soy sauce

2 tbs rice wine vinegar

6 cups chicken stock

1 tbs + 1 tsp sesame oil

6½ oz firm tofu, cut into 1½"

white pepper to taste

• Heat 1 tablespoon sesame oil in a soup pot over medium heat, add the ginger and mushroom. Cook until the mushrooms are wilted. Add soy sauce, rice wine, white pepper and the chicken stock. Increase the heat to high, and bring the stock to boil. Reduce the heat to medium, add the tofu, and simmer for couple of minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
• Meanwhile, cook the soba noodle according to package direction, drain in a colander. Transfer the noodle to a bowl, add 1 teaspoon sesame oil to the bowl, and coat the noodle with oil to prevent sticking. 
• To serve: divide the noodle among three or four bowl, add the soup, garnish with shredded dried chili if desire. Serve hot.

IRAN, My Kitchen My World!

Khores-e-qormeh sabzi (Fresh Herb Khoresh With Lamb & Red Kidney Beans)

Recipe adapted from, New Food Of Life: 

Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies

By: Najmieh Batmanglij

(This book was given to me by my dear brother in law, Bijan) 

Serve 6

Ingredients:

2 large onions, thinly sliced

2 pounds lamb shanks or 1½ pounds deboned leg of lamb cut into 2" pieces, or 2 pounds chicken legs, cut ups

½ cup oil (actualy you don't need this much oil, I only use about 2 - 3 tbs, and that should be sufficient)

1½ tsp salt

¾ tsp freshly ground black pepper

½ tsp turmeric

⅓ dried kidney beans

4 whole dried Persian limes (limu omani), pierce

4 cups finely chopped fresh parsley or 1 cup dried

1 cup finely chopped fresh chives or ¼ cup dried

1 cup finely chopped fresh coriander 

1 cup chopped fresh funegreek leaves or ¼ cup dried

2 tbs dried Persian lime powder (limu-omani) or 4 tbs fresh lime juice

1 tbs advieh-ye-khoresh, optional (simply omit it, if you want to follow the recipe given by this book)

• In a dutch oven over medium heat, brown the meat, or the chicken with a little oil (about a tablespoon) on both side, transfer to a plate lined with paper towel, to soak up the excess oil.
• Add the onion to the dutch oven (adding more oil is not necessary since you will have lots of oil from the meat that you were just frying), cook until translucent. Stir in the salt, freshly ground pepper and the turmeric, add 4 cups of water  if using the meat, and 2 cups if using  the chicken. Return the meat, or the chicken back to the pot. Add the kidney bean and the whole persian limes. Bring to a boil, then simmer over a  low heat for about 30 -45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, fry over medium heat the parsley, chives, coriander, and the funegreek leaves in the remaining oil. Cook and stirring constantly for about 20 - 30 minutes. The aroma of the herbs will rises. It is important that you don't skip this process, or it will impart the taste of your stew!
• Add the fried herb and the lime powder or lime juice to the pot. Cover the pot, and simmer over low heat for another 2½ hours. Stirring occasionally. 
• Serve with chelow, (if you curious about the different type of rice cooking technique and the names, click here) saffron-steam rice, or my potatoes crusted-saffron rice.   

Note: 

The original recipe doesn't require the spice mix for this khoresh, I've added about 1 tablespoon "Advieh-ye-khoresh" (this fragrant spice mix contain dried flower such as roses and angelica, you'll soon find your self  becoming addicted to its perfumed) for this recipe. In the past I've tried both the original version from this book, and the one that I've adapted by adding advieh-ye-khoresh (persian spice-mix for khoresh). My family prefer the one with the spice mix, I encorage you to try both version to see which one you like better.     

PUERTO RICO, My Kitchen My World

Thank you to Lauren from I'll Eat You, for choosing Puerto Rico for this week challenge.

I made a simple grilled salmon with sofrito sauce. Sofrito Sauce is very easy to make, you'll only need a few ingredients that most likely you already have in your refrigerator. I serve this with rice pilaf and sauté  green vegetables. 

Sofrito Sauce:

½ small onion

½ medium size green bell pepper

3 cloves garlic

½ cup roughly chopped cilantro

½ cup roughly chopped parsley

2 tbs fresh oregano

salt and pepper to taste

2 tbs olive oil

• Process all ingredients in a food processor to make a smooth sauce ( I like mine, a bit chunkier) transfer to a jar, refrigerate up to 2 days.

Manggy's Kalbi Jim

The minute I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try to make it. As always I put a little tweak by added dried chile peppers, not that I don't like the original recipe, it was more of my addiction to spicy food. As Mark (oh gosh, he's so talented) also noted on his post, the original recipe suppose to have ginger and Asian pear. I passed on the Asian pear (though I love this fruit very much, not that keen on the idea of cooking it) but, I did put ginger to zing it up! 

Unlike Mark, I didn't use my pressure cooker,  I don't mind the wait for the long braising process, plus I have the time and it was one of those easy relaxing Sunday cooking. 

Everybody in my family was at home, everybody was with their on laptops sitting in our family room adjacent to my kitchen. The smell made our stomach rumbles, even our dogs got very excited. Somehow, they knew that they would be part of our Sunday lunch. Yes, they waited for the bones...

I made this Kalbi Jim, as soon as I got up in the morning, then barely simmered the the ribs for hours (almost 5 hours) then,  added shitake mushrooms and carrots for the last hour of cooking. By 1 o'clock we had our delicious lunch. It was heavenly, and we ate it with Japanese rice! 

Thank you for the recipe, Mark! Now I have to find the time to make your "Trio Chocolate Moose Cake" that looks so professional and sinfully good!

IRELAND, My Kitchen My World

Thank you to  Michelle from My Year To Get Skinny, for choosing Ireland as our culinary journey this week.

UPDATE, on cozy Saturday morning....
We sat down here in the kitchen this morning to enjoy Michelle's "Sister Ita's Sultana Scones" It was really delicious, and we were so happy chatting and munching the scones with strawbery jam (wish I had clotted cream in the fridge)

OMG, I went to visit Michelle this morning, and found out that she made this "Sister Ita's sultanas scones", for MKMW that made my mouth water instantly. My husband really loves scones, sadly I don't make them very often. When I saw Michelle's scones that sounded delightful, I right away went to the kitchen and started to bake this delectable scones. I didn't put any sultanas because I want my son to be able to eat it as well. For some reason, he hates sultana, though my husband and like really it. So Michelle, I thank you again for choosing Ireland and for the delicious "Sister It's Sultana Scones" recipe. I also enjoyed reading your post about Ireland. 

I made a simple meal that was not only satisfying, but it is also perfect for the chilly. A humble potato, leek and vegetable soup, serve with soda bread hot from the oven. The soup was not really a vegetarian soup, since its contain chicken stock in it, but it can easily replace with water for a true vegetarian. I took the idea from the classic potato and leek soup, but added many different kind of vegetables such as, carrots, green beans, parsnips, turnips and cabbage. 

I serve the soup with soda bread, as you all know that this bread is  amazingly easy and quick to make. And I am very sure all of the MKMW members already know how to make it.

Recipe for Irish Soda Bread

1½ cup all purpose flour

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

½ - ¾ cup buttermilk

• Preheat oven to 400⁰F. sprinkle cornmeal on your small iron skillet. Set aside.
• Mix flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Make a well in the middle, add the buttermilk. Stir with wooden spoon to form a soft dough. Transfer onto a lightly floured kitchen counter top, knead for one minute. Shape into a ball, place the dough into the small iron skillet. Cut a cross in the top of the dough with a sharp knife. 
• Bake for 40 - 50 minutes.

GERMANY, My Kitchen My World

MKMW member are visiting germany for The Octoberfest. Thank you to Roxanne from Roxanne's Road Rules,  for such a great idea for this month event!

Brathendel (Roast Chicken)

1½ pounds free range organic chicken, rub with 1 tbs butter, season with salt, freshly ground black pepper, and pinch of paprika. Bake at 400⁰F oven for 45 minutes, or until liquid that runs out from the cavity is no longer pink. This simple roast is normally serve with "Semmelknödel" (bread dumpling)

I serve this roast chicken with Semmelknödel, simple green salad, roasted beets with Balsamic vinegar. I also made white asparagus soup, which I think it was delicious serve on a chilly weather like tonight.

The white soup asparagus is very easy to make, that is why I don't give any recipe here. I am sure everybody has their own version of asparagus soup, right?

Semmelknödel
Recipe adapted from: Bavarian Cooking: Old Bavaria Franconia And Swabia

By: Olli Leeb

10 stale plain white buns, or 1 lb stale white bread, cut into small pieces

2 cups boiling milk

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 oz butter

3 tbs parsley, finely chopped

Zest of 1 lemon

½ tsp salt

3 eggs

• Put the bread pieces in a bowl, pour the boiling milk, and let stand for at least an hour.
• Meanwhile, saute the onion with butter until translucent, add parsley and  lemon zest. Add this onion mixture to the bread , season with salt , add the eggs, and mix well  (I chill the mixture for 2 hours in refrigerator, so that the dough become firmer and minimize the risk of falling apart when you cook them)
• Form the dough into small round dumpling. Cook in boiling water until they start floating on the surface, turn down the heat to low, then simmer gently for another 20 minutes. 
• Transfer to a serving plate with slotted spoon.

And, what for dessert dessert, babe?

Oink... oink.... have this ....

Munich Apple Struddel

Recipe from: Bavarian Cooking 

By: Olli Leeb

Strudel Dough:

½ lb flour

2 eggs, lightly whisk with fork

pinch of salt

2 tbs oil

½ cup water

• Mix the flour and the salt in a large bowl, make well in the center, add the eggs, oil, and water. Mix all ingredients, working outward from the center. Turn the dough out onto kitchen counter top, knead until smooth and silky. Transfer the dough into a clean bowl, cover, and let it rest for ½ hour.

3 lbs golden delicious apple, peeled, cored, and sliced

Juice of 1 lemon

5 oz raisin

5 tbs rum

3 oz butter, melted

1 cup quark

3 tbs sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup milk

1 cup heavy cream

confectioner sugar, for sprinkling (optional)

• Grease a large  baking pan with butter*. Preheat the oven to 400F
• Soak the raisin with rum, set aside.
• Put the apple slices in a non reactive large bowl, add lemon juice, mix well. Set aside
• Make cinnamon sugar in a small bowl, set aside
• Lay a clean kitchen towel on your counter top, floured lightly. Pull out the dough with the back of your hands into a thin rectangular shape, brush with melted butter, dab the quark over the butter, and spread evenly. 
• Spread the apple slices over the dough in an even layer, stopping short about 1" from the edge of the dough. Sprinkle with rum-soaked raisin, and the cinnamon-sugar.
• Fold the edge of the dough, and with the help of the kitchen towel, roll up the strudel loosely.
• Slide the strudel into the baking pan. 
• Bring the milk and the heavy cream to a boil, and pour over the strudel.
• Bake in for 45 - 60 minutes.
• Serve hot or cold with sifted confectioner sugar if desire. 

* My roasting pan was a bit too small for the strudel, so I simply bend the strudel to fit the pan.