Avigayil Damm

This week’s theme is going to be what I cook or buy to eat alone. My hubby is on one of his business trips, and this time he is going to India for a training. He’s been gone since last Sunday actually, which means my solo culinary adventures have started since then.

On Saturday, my friend who moved to Bogor from Yogya came to visit and stay over the weekend, so on Sunday we went to Sushi Groove (second time this week for me), but this time I didn’t take any pictures to post here. If you want to know what I think about this restaurant/sushi bar, click here.

On Monday, I tried out an Indonesian instant food from a box. I forgot what the brand is, but it comes in a box, and is available in Hero supermarket. I forgot to take a picture of it, and although I would not recommend it to you, the picture would have at least showed which brand you should avoid. It didn’t even earn its right to be posted on this blog.

On Tuesday, I stopped by at Hero supermarket in Kemang to do some dinner shopping. Since I left late from the office, plus the bad traffic, I arrived at Hero quite late. I was determined not to have anything complicated for tonight, because I imagined that I would arrive at home at 7 or maybe later. So I took a box of ‘Quick & Tasty’ which was something like plane food, simple food that came in a box and that you only have to heat in the microwave for four minutes. I also took some other food that would be quick and easy to prepare, which I will review in later posts.

As suspected, I arrived home a little before seven. After putting the groceries in their places, I heated up my food in the microwave. I have actually tasted quite a few of this ‘Quick & Tasty’ food box, and I particularly liked the chicken terriyaki. They didn’t have that variant today so I picked up the black pepper beef. The beef itself was good and tender but the vegetables were not so good. Of course, what should I expect from such instant food right? Well, I was hoping, the instant food genre would not try to exceed its reputation once in a while. Plus, as I said, the chicken terriyaki was good, so I should probably stick to that one next time.

Based on one of the recipes in ‘The Australian’s Women’s Weekly Make It Tonight’ series (with slight modifications), tonight’s menu is one that is (or can be) cooked in the microwave from start to finish. Here are the ingredients:

• 250 gr macaroni
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 30 gr butter
• 500 gr minced meat
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp mustard
• 750 ml milk
• 125 gr mozarella cheese
• 125 gr cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley

The recipe suggested to cook the macaroni in the microwave as well, but to save time, I just cooked in on the stove as usual while I started with the other parts. So, while the macaroni is being prepared, cook the onions with the butter, on high temperature for about 3 minutes or until the onions are soft. Then, add the minced meat, cook on high, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring twice while cooking. Add the tomato paste and mustard, stir evenly, cook uncovered on high for 2 minutes. Add the milk, cook uncovered for 10 minutes or until it boils and the moisture thickens. Add the cooked macaroni, stir in 2/3 of the cheeses and parsley, mix well, and then add the rest of the cheese and parsley on the top (to cover the macaroni so it doesn’t get dry in the microwave). Cook for another 3 minutes or until cheese melts.

What I would do differently, is actually stir fry the onion so it will not have a slight sour taste. I would probably also add more cheese. Well, on second thought, I would not make it in the microwave again. I think this deserves a full attention and full time dedication. The onions should be stir fried, and so should the meat. And when it’s all mixed, it should go into the oven instead of microwave, to give it a chance to have some crusty top. Next time, I will try the oven method and post the difference here. And, this would probably be more of a weekend recipe, since the preparation to serving time is more or less one hour – 30 minutes too long for a couple just back from a long day at work.

It was time to try out another recipe. Tonight I picked fish in herb tomato sauce, a modified recipe from ‘The Australian’s Women’s Weekly Make It Tonight’ series, with recipes for cooking in microwave.

Ingredients:

• 425 gr can tomato puree
• 1 medium onion, chopped finely
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 tbsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 clove garlic, minced/crushed
• 2 small chicken stock cubes
• 1 tsp sugar
• 4 (1 kg) white fish fillet

The only white fish I came across in my last grocery shopping was dory fish, so I tried that one. The fish is cooked, covered, on high temperature in the microwave for about four minutes and then set aside. The rest of the ingredients, consisting of tomato puree, onion, garlic, oregano, parsley and thyme, chicken stock cubes and sugar,  are all mixed together and cooked, covered, in the microwave for about 5 minutes, stirring once.

The sauce is then poured over the fish and they are cooked again together, covered, for another four five minutes or until the fish is cooked through. Pardon for the poor-quality picture, but there you have the result.

Taste wise, I didn’t care much for the dory fish. What I would do next time, is probably fry the dory fish instead of cooking it in the microwave. Or, pick another type of white fish altogether, such as cod.

The onions could have tasted better if it was cooked ahead first with the garlic until soft and fragrant. Plus, next time I would go easy on the thyme – it made the dish smell slightly earthy. But I am not giving up on this one just yet. With the above changes, I will definitely try it again sometime.

After a few days of no serious cooking, I am back. Just a recap, on Sunday, after my visiting friend left, my hubby and I just heated some paprika meatballs which we stored in the freezer, so that was an easy dinner. On Monday, we anticipated coming back from work late, and being lazy to cook anything so we ordered in our favorite cheese burger from Amigos. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of those, but will do it next time and post it. On Tuesday, my hubby went to the field, so I was alone at home. I had some leftover lasagna in the freezer so that was my dinner that night, and on Wednesday I asked our guard to buy me some chicken from the street kitchen nearby. No pictures of those either, but will add them on later.

Anyways, today I whipped out the recipe which we did not get to cook last week because we came home late from the office and ended up eating something very easy. This recipe is one of our favorites because it’s fast, easy and tastes good. The usual prerequisites for a recipe to be repeated in this household. It’s peppered paprika beef. And the surprising part is, that it’s all made in the microwave!

All you have to do is prepare some thinly sliced meat, approximately 700 grams, mix in some corn flour, half a cup of water, 3 tbsp of soya sauce, 2 tbsp of sesame oil, salt and pepper. Mix these well before adding in chopped onions and chopped green and red paprika. Cook covered for 10 minutes, stirring twice, and then cook uncovered for about 5 minutes on medium. Voila! The dish is ready to be served, with any choice of side dish. We opted for Basmati rice.