Basic Bouillon for Your Health

My mom has been sick since I was in high school. TBC, diabetes mellitus (DM), herpes, etc (yes, she's a collector :P). She has been a DM patient since I was born (that's why I was such a big cute baby :P). The DM was getting worse about 3-5 years ago. Everytime she has cold, it fells like she suffers from a dangerous disease. She is also becoming very sensitive to pain, because the DM also affected her nerve system. Well, every time her body is "not delicious" (This is actually a joke where we suppose to act like stupid Indonesians who are translating word by word literally from English to Indonesian. You should be able to speak bahasa to understand this joke :P). Anyway, here is my favourite recipe for my mom, everytime she is sick. This is a basic recipe to make bouillon. You can make different kind of foods by using this basic bouillon recipe from chicken soup and pourige to my version of nasi hainan. The bouillon is good to increase our immune system.

Ingredients:
1-2 pieces of chicken or 250gr chicken fillet
4 cm ginger or 4 tea spoons of ginger powder
10 cloves of Indonesian red onions or 1 clove of onion
3 cloves of garlic
Salt

How to cook:
1. Chop the onions, garlic. Chop or smash the ginger. It is better if you fried the ginger (without oil- how do you call frying without oil? hehehe... me and my terrible english!) first.
2. Boil half of pan of water.
3. Put the chicken. After 10 minutes, put the onions, garlic, ginger and salt. After 5 minutes, turn off the stove.
4. The bouillon is ready to be used for soup, pourige or nasi hainan.

Beef/bacon/chicken and Yummy Bread for Breakfast

There isn't much alternatives for the eggs in the morning. The "conventional" options are usually either you fry it, make a "telur mata sapi" egg, or boil it, or make a scramble egg or "telur dadar" (sorry for my english limitation :P). Booooring. On the other side, there isn't much alternatives for the bread in the morning. So, I combine these two, bread and egg with milk :-) Of course you can still eat it with a conventional (continental) breakfast, with beef/bacon/ham/chicken or any other fatty but yummy meat :-) A tribute for meat lovers in the morning! :-)

Ingredients:
4-8 slices of bread
2-4 eggs, stir it
Half cup of milk
Salt
Lots of Pepper (if you're a pepper person like me :P)
Cooking oil
Beef/bacon/ham/chicken or any other kind of meat that you like :)

How to cook:
1. Stir the eggs, mix it with half cup of milk. Add some salt and pepper. If you're an Indonesian, you will probably add some sugar too. Nope, just kidding :-) But you can put some chili or chili powder if you like. Put the bread in it so both sides of the bread are covered by it. Fried the bread, whether it is medium or well-done, it's your preference! As for me, I like it well-done :-)
2. Fried the beef/bacon/ham/chicken or any other kind of meat that you like.
3. If you're an Indonesian, you will probably eat it with chili sauce, even for breakfast :-)

Alternatives: you can also add some cheese either in the eggs and the milk or after it is fried.

Smoked Salmon Salad with Mushroom Sauce

I just loooove smoked salmon. And hey, eating vegetable is very healthy and has lots of benefits. This salad is a mix of steamed fresh or canned vegetables (brocoli, carrots, sweet corns, and beans), smoked salmon and with mushroom sauce. I used to make this everytime I was invited to a party during my study at ISS. I hope you can enjoy this!

Ingredients:
Carrots
Brocoli
Sweet corns
Beans
2 boxes of mushroom
250-500 gr of smoked salmon
Salt and pepper
1 spoon of olive oil
1 sache of instant mushroom creamy soup
1 glass of water
2 cloves of garlic
half or 1 clove of onion

How to cook:
1. Steam the brocoli and carrots. Put it in a medium/large salad bowl. Add canned veggies: sweet corns and beans. Add large chopped smoked salmon.
2. For the mushroom sauce: put a tea spoon of olive oil in a medium cooking pan, put garlic and onions wait for 30 seconds then put the mushrooms. Add salt, pepper and pour half cup of water. Wait for 1-2 minutes. Put 1 sache of instant mushroom creamy soup in half cup of cold water, stir it and pour it in the pan. Mix it for 1 minute and the creamy mushroom sauce is ready! You can add smoked cheese if you like.

My Version of Nasi Hainan

It is my simple version of nasi hainan. Very easy to cook. Just put everything in the rice cooker and let it cook for itself :-). I "invented" it when my mom went home from the hospital after all of her toes were operated. I cooked this yummy food for her in the morning and she can easily turn on the rice cooker, it is still hot when she's having it for lunch :-)

Ingredients:
1-2 pieces of chicken or 250gr of chopped chicken fillet
1-2 cups of rice
Chopped vegetables (carrots, beans, anything you like)
Mushrooms (if you like)
1-2 cloves garlic
1 cloves onion
2 cm ginger or 1 tea spoon of ginger powder
1 tea spoon of sesame oil
1 tea spoon vegetable oil
Salt and pepper

How to Cook:
1. Boil the chicken or the chicken fillet with garlic and add some salt, pepper and ginger or ginger powder to make a basic bouillon (or chicken stock).
2. Put the rice in the rice cooker and pour the bouillon. Add the vegetable and sesame oil. You can also add extra garlic, onion, pepper, ginger or ginger powder and salt. Turn on the rice cooker.
3. Five minutes before the rice is cooked, put all the vegetables and the mushrooms into the rice cooker.

My Version of Chicken Lemon with Mint

This is one of my favourites recipes. It is very easy to cook, using chicken fillet. It is more healthy because you leave out the chicken skin which contains all those unhealthy fat :-) Highly recommended for the beginners :-)

Ingredients:
500 gr chicken fillet, chopped it.
Mushroom
Vegetables (carrots, beans,anything you like)
1-2 cloves garlic
1 cloves onion
Chilies or paprika (if you like it spicy :P)
Mint leaves
1-2 lemon
vegetable oil or any kind of healthy cooking oil
salt and pepper

How to Cook:

1. Heat up the stove. Put two table spoon of oil, wait for 1 minutes.
2. Put garlic, wait for around 15 seconds and put the onions, wait for another 15 seconds.
3. Put the chopped chicken filled until it colours turn to white, and pour some water, wait for 10 minutes
   
4. Put the mushrooms, 15 seconds later the veggies, chilies (if you like), salt and pepper.
5. After another 5 minutes, put everything on the plate and pour squezeed lemon and mint leaves. Ready to be served.

Welcome to My Cooking Studio!

I arrived at The Hague, Netherlands, on September 1st, 2005. I took my master degree in developing studies at the Institute of Social Studies (ISS). Actually, there are many abreviations for ISS, other than Institute of Social Studies. It can be that cleaning service company in the hague :) or "Institute Sekolah Sinting" (according to Ery), or "Institute Senang Senang " (according to us :P)

Anyway, ISS is a great place to learn and to interact with other people from all around the world. Indeed, ISS is a micro world within Den Haag, with 185 students from at least 60 countries all over the world. Sure you would instantly feel the multiculturalism atmoshphere there. Different people, different cultures and traditions, including different taste of foods and drinks! What an experience!

With all those schedules, assignments, group works, essays, exams bla bla bla the boring stuffs of course :) still we must find some time to do some things that we really loveeeee to do for: cooking experiments! trying something new from my neighbours or making my own recipes. And this blog records those cooking experiments during my study in The Hague and when I got back to Indonesia.
Hope you will enjoy the recipes :-)

cheers,

Herni S. Nurbayanti