Join me on this journey and fill your belly with contentment.
These are some of my favourite recipes and they originate from many sources. From childhood through to my formative years, learning from my parents and then finding creativity in the many discovered recipes I’ve collected along the way and made my own (through adaptation and tweaking flavours and spices). So the range is wide and varied. When I stumble upon a recipe that I embrace in its original state, I will always honour the source from which it came - highlighting the chef or baker. I will always give a nod to those giants that bring their craft and share this with us. Who inspire the everyday cook, every day.
Grazing.
The pathway before mains.
Chicken Croquettes
Imagine this. Tender filling of chicken thighs, cooked in a bechamel sauce, formed into round balls or croquette shapes, crumbed and gently fried or air fried till golden. Offer this with English Mustard and serve as a grazing option before dinner. One won’t be enough. Five, one after the other, might just be sufficient.
Click here for the recipe.
Indonesian Spring Rolls (Loempia)
Crispy golden morsels, filled to the brim with an Indonesian version of the universally loved spring roll filling. These spring rolls are full of healthy vegetables; grated cabbage and carrot, garlic, shallots, bamboo shoots, tofu and ginger, with minced pork. I roll these up in the pre-made sheets and often freeze 80 at a time for moments of indulgence to share with hungry friends and family. They are best eaten with the sweet, peanut chilli sauce my Dad taught me to make. (Included in this recipe). I find them so filling and delicious, they could also qualify as a main dish!
Click here for the recipe.
Sweet soy chicken wings
Luscious, sticky, chicken wings, (these are soy-glazed with ketchap manis the essential ingredient) is the fail proof grazing dish that everyone loves.
Click here for the recipe.
Pork & Fennel Sausage Rolls
Full credit to my friend and former work buddy Edwina for this fabulous recipe that has stood the test of time, just like our friendship, over 20 years. The toasted fennel, garlic and onion, is mixed into the pork and pistachio mix, bringing the divine mix of italian flavours into a neat, little package of grazing joy that is the sausage roll.
Click here for the recipe.
Devour.
The main event.
Indonesian Chicken Satays
This is a frequent item on our menu for friends and family. It’s one of those delicious, ooh ahh recipes that hit the spot. Deep Asian aromas arise from the ketchap manis soy sauce, coriander, brown sugar and spices, all mixed together for a couple of hours to soak the flavours, and then the chicken is skewered and cooked on a hot charcoal grill. The taste always reminds me of cooking with family.
Click here for the recipe.
Satay Peanut Sauce (Gado Gado)
Saucy indeed. This is the combination sauce that belongs with the Indonesian Chicken Satays. You can’t have one without the other. That would break a cardinal rule.
Click here for the recipe.
Star Anise Roast Chicken
Star Anise is the superpower when cooking Asian dishes. This jam-packed star shaped magic spice - scientifically derived from the Illicium evergreen tree, native to South China and northeast Vietnam, closely resembles anise in flavor. But don’t let that put you off if you don’t like anise. This is like tasting the whole of Asia on a spoon. And the real magic? For one roasted, sweet soy whole chicken in the oven, you only need two of these at the bottom of the tray to transform this dish into a thrilling exotic adventure.
Tofu & Prawns in Chilli
This is a dish my mum was famous for. To be fair, all my Dutch Indonesian aunties were famous for this as well. Everyone in our family orbit often prepared this at feasts for family gatherings.
Lots of tofu, chillies, lemon grass, coriander, cumin and prawns. A cheat version of this, to get that typical warm colour in the coconut sauce is to add chopped tomato or a discreet peep of tomato sauce. You can make this as spicy as you like - just add more chillies.
Click here for the recipe.
Guilty Pleasures. There’s always room for dessert.
Dutch Marble Cake
I grew up with this cake, the aroma bringing back evocative memories, no matter how many times I bake this. It’s a staple in our household. Late nights, when I just need that home made sugar hit, I throw the ingredients into the mixing bowl, and it always comes up with the same moist, rich, warm, just-out-of-the-oven thrill. The first bite makes the late night bake-off worth the lack of sleep.
Click here for the recipe
Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Biscuits
These are thin, slightly crispy, sweet nothings from one of my favourite Australian chefs, Donna Hay. The joy of only needing to bake this flavour-laden biscuit for just ten minutes, is rapid reward for very little effort. Ingredients I keep in my pantry always include hazelnut meal, almond flour, butter and good quality couveture dark cooking chocolate (Callebaut when ever possible).
Click here for the recipe.
Dutch Apple & Walnut Cake
With a strong Dutch Indonesian heritage, this cake is a nod to my Dutch background and a variation of the original marble cake recipe. It’s a great base to work off, and many ingredients can be swapped including almond meal for flour, swap cocoa for walnuts and lemon zest to bring a whole new fresh and nutty flavour profile to the surface. Eating the sugary crunch that rises to the top of the cake once it’s cooked, is one of life’s pleasures. It explains why, when I eat cake, I have a do-not-disturb expression on my face.
Click here for the recipe.
Almond (or cashew) Praline
Praline presented in shards on top of a beautifully iced cake, or pulsed into a lovely textured dust for decorating biscuits, belies the simple process of making toffee in a pan and laying it out flat to harden. Someone described this as crack. All I know is that it is the finest combination of nuts and a gently browned sugar. Chemistry at its finest. You can use any raw nut for this recipe, including almond, cashew, walnut, hazelnut, or macadamias.
Click here for the recipe.
But wait, there’s more.
Essential Indonesian spice garnishings
If you ask any Asian, across the cultural spectrum, they’ll likely agree that condiments, sauces, freshly cut chilli, and crispy fried golden shallots, are just some of the garnishings that fuel the desire to eat Asian food. Indonesian food is similar. Toasted, spiced coconut is one of my favourite condiments to put on freshly steamed rice. We call this serundeng. The meal is incomplete without this crunchy accompaniment. This recipe is courtesy of Anita at the Daily Cooking Quest. https://dailycookingquest.com/about.html
The best macaroni cheese. Because. Soul food.
Soul food means comfort food. We grew up with Mum’s macaroni cheese, and it filled our bellies and then some. Fast forward, and dinner time for my family at home attracts deep discussion, matching moods to flavours, and then a further discussion on the method of cooking given my son is passionate about live fire cooking (anything to do with a BBQ). But sometimes you just need to throw ingredients into a pan and let the oven bake at its pace. With a crunchy golden bread crumb this macaroni recipe grounds me.
Green Peppercorn Lemon Chicken
This requires a small tin of those fine Mauritian green peppercorns. A recipe I’ve taken from my sister who makes this perfectly. The secret is to slice the chicken breast into thin pieces and sizzle on a hot stove with butter and freshly sliced garlic before mixing into the sauce. It all comes together in a rich creamy concoction, eaten best with fluffy white rice as this soaks up all the green-pepper laden flavours. You can also serve this with fettuccine pasta and accompany it with steamed green beans.
Dutch Cat Tongue Biscuits
There’s a french name for this delightful, melt-in-your-mouth biscuit; called Langues De Chat. The Dutch call it Kattentong. No matter the language, it’s the perfect, delicate, thin sliver of sugar and flour that brings joy. The challenge is limiting your intake to three or four, and before you know it, the entire batch is consumed without any sense of feeling full. That’s the magic of this recipe.
