Mushroom Gravy (Keto/ Paleo/ Vegan/ Vegetarian)

Still remember the gravy I made? This one is basically just add mushroom. And if you are vegetarian or vegan or paleo, then use vegetable stocks instead of chicken stocks. Chicken stocks works well for the ketorian.

Always remember to caramelize the onion. Somehow you’ll have better, sweeter, whole flavor without adding sugar.

End product: 2 jars of 500ml & 1 jar or 300ml

Ingredients:

• 150 gr of portabella or shitake or both mushroom (I use the leftover of both), chop them in the food processor or slice them thin.
• 1 onion, or 15 medium shallots. Caramelize it.
• 1 clove of garlic
• Salt
• Black pepper
• 2 tsp ground paprika
• 1 tbsp dry thyme
• 2 tbsp cumin ground (It’s a MUST! Trust me and use this. It’s the great taste that you’ll love.)
• 1500 ml stocks (chicken/ beef/ vegetable)

Note:
When you use vegetable stocks, you need to add 2 tbsp of corn starch diluted in water (just a little) and pour it to the gravy after it’s simmered. Or else, it”ll be too runny. You should also use hand blender to make your gravy thickens.

Instructions:

1. Chop garlic in the food processor, followed by onion.
2. Add 2 tbsp of frying oil (use vegetable oil/ coconut oil or butter) to the heated pan, and add in the chopped onion and garlic on low medium flame. Caramelize it. It’s the base of great dishes I think. When possible, always caramelize onion and garlic before cooking anything. It replaced sugar and it means healthier.
3. Add ground paprika, salt, black pepper, thyme and cumin once the onion is caramelized. Mix it up and leave it that way for around 2 mins.
4. Chop mushroom in the food processor. And then add them into the pan. Keep mixing it until you don’t see anymore moisture.
5. Pour the stock then simmer it until it goes to half the original liquid.
6. Use the hand blender, blend it and then, just strain it. Serve it warm!

Snack: Easy Corn Fritters

I cannot make this snack with egg since my bf is allergic to it. So I gotta think how to twist the standard recipe out there and make sure that it’ll look exactly the same.

Plus, since I love coriander, I have to find ways also to incorporate it into this recipe, so the batter taste like my tofu burger in blanket. Plus, I’m serious with the ice cold water. It makes all the different. It’s crispy outside and soft inside. Just the way I like it.

This recipe will give you 8 big fritters. You only see 6 because my bf “stole” 2 before I took the pic! ha ha ha

So here we go:

INGREDIENTS:

• 250 gr peeled sweet corn
• 2 carrots, grated
• Spring onion
• 1 stalk celery
• 1 clove garlic
• Salt
• White pepper
• 1 tsp Coriander seeds
• 1/2 cup of plain flour
• 1 tbsp rice flour
• 1 tbsp corn starch
• Ice cold water

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Mix everything, and pour water only until it’s attached to each other. Not too thick, but definitely not runny. We don’t use eggs here remember?
2. Heat up the oil, it should cover the fritter well. Then, use a laddle to scoop the batter and fry it until it’s golden brown.

That’s it. Nice and easy snack!

Easy Sugar-free Refrigerator Pickles

Since I’m not a believer of sugar replacement or any sweetener since I believe that everything processed is not good for our body, here is a twist of some Keto pickles recipes. Of course, without any sweetener or sugar.

I live in Indonesia and our pickles is actually a mix of cucumber, carrots, shallots and some, will add chilies. So you are most definitely okay to add chili in your pickles. I cannot. My bf cannot handle heat. 😜😜.

Alright, here we go. FYI, it will give you 2 x 500 gr jars of pickles. If you only wanna make 1 jar, then cut everything half.

Ingredients:

• 1 Japanese cucumber (dark green, long and taste is sweet. Yes, I’m taking it’s sweetness to replace sugar). Dice, slice do whatever you like.
• 1 big carrot. Again, cut it however you like.
• 10 medium shallots. Cut into half or quarter, depending the size
• 1 small yellow onion. Slice it thin
• 1 clove of garlic. Crushed.
• 3 tsp black peppercorn
• pinch of sea salt
• 10 tbsp white vinegar
• water

Instructions:

1. Prepare the veggies, then put them in a bowl, then mix with peppercorn and pinch of sea salt
2. Crush the garlic, and put 1/2 in each jar.
3. Add the veggies in the jars
4. Pour 5 tbsp of vinegar to each jar
5. Pour the water until covering the veggies.
6. Close the jar, mix it well, put them in the fridge for 24 hours. That’s it!

Vietnamese Spring Rolls & Nuoc Cham Sauce

NUOC CHAM sauce:

Crush together:

• 1 garlic
• 2 chilies
• 1/2 cup of fish sauce
• 4 lemon juice
• 4 limes
• 5 shallots – blend with water

Instruction: Mix everything and keep it in jar.

VIETNAMESE SPRING ROLLS

Ingredients:

• Basil
• Baked crunched peanuts
• Shredded crunchy vegetables (cabbage, white radish, carrots, etc)
• Sauteed peeled shrimps (optional. If you’re a vegan, just skip it)
• Banh Trang (rice wrapper)
• Warm water, put it in a big bowl with the same diameter with Banh Trang.
• Damp cloth

Instructions:

1. Mix everything with splash of the dipping sauce
2. Spread the damp cloth (this is where you will roll up)
3. Dip the Banh Trang to the warm water (don’t go too long. Just dip make sure it’s all covered, then pick it up and put it on the damp cloth)
4. Put the shrimp at the front, and mix veggies behind it
5. Roll it.

Best way to eat it? Dip it in the Nuoc Cham sauce. That easy? Yes. That easy.

 

Easy Recipe: Vegan Black Pepper Tempe & Tofu

Hello! This recipe is not twisted from any recipes. It is based on my original Black Pepper Beef recipe (yes yes…next time, meat eaters!), but I twisted it for my BF that decided to join the plant-based lifestyle. So instead of using beef, I use Tempe and tofu (a rich source of protein from soy). I also took out the oyster sauce but use everything else.

MAYBE, not a real vegan dish too (I’m being undecided) since I was using 8gr of brown sugar. But…some vegans still consider the brown sugar vegan. So…forgive me. I’m not an expert at this.

So yeah! I made it for my BF, and he called it “the last supper”. Why? I got a new job! Whoohoo!! But, my office will be about 20Km from home and in Jakarta, it is a pain in the arse to commute that far on weekdays. So I decided to rent a room nearby the office. But he said for the last supper he wants this menu as if I work in another country. Hahahaha… silly him.

Alright! Now let’s go to the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

• 250 gr tempe
• 250 gr firm tofu
• Coconut oil to fry
• 1/2 big red bell pepper
• 1/2 big green bell pepper
• 1 medium onion
• 1 garlic clove
• A dash of Sea salt
• 1 cup of water

  Marinating Sauce:

• 3 tbsp black sweet soy sauce
• 3 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 8 gr (1 stick) brown sugar
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine/ Rice wine (substitute: Pale Dry Sherry)
• 3 tsp crushed black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Fry the tempe and tofu half done. As long as you can already see the outer part is firmed, considered it’s done.
2. While you’re frying the tempe and tofu, mix all of your marinating sauce ingredients in a big bowl
3. Ground onion and garlic with a little bit of coconut oil using a food processor or mini chopper until it forms like paste.
4. Prepare the bell pepper as you like.
5. Transfer the fried tempe and tofu to the marinating sauce.
6. In the pan, saute the ground onion and garlic until you can smell a piece of heaven in your kitchen, then put the marinated tempe and tofu along with the sauce and mixed them all. Stir it until you can see some of the sauce is caramelized, then pour the water.
7. The sauce is easily thickened by the ground onion and garlic so you don’t need to add flour/ corn starch to thicken it.
8. Then simmer the sauce to your preference, then 5 minutes before you’re done, add the bell peppers, mixed it, and cover with a lid and let them simmer further for 5 minutes.

THAT’S IT. It won’t take you more than 30 minutes to prepare this dish (including washing your dishes!).

He LOVED this dish, and even more today. Go on and try, then tell me how it goes!

Easy Recipe: No Bake Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies (EXTRA: Homemade Peanut Butter Recipe!)

Hello again! It’s been a while since my last post, I know. I had a privilege of getting our assistant to cook for us so, yes… I didn’t do much. hihihi…

If you read my previous posts, you should know that my bf planned to get to the plant-based lifestyle. He started it 8 days ago and honestly, I feel sorry for him. He (still) looks miserable everytime he eats the plants on his plate. He’s never a huge fan of vegetables and fruits.

So I tried to find ideas for better plant-based recipes online and found this one. But as usual, I always try to twist it to the ingredients that we have at home. The original recipe can be found here, but you are very welcome if you keep reading this post (I thank you!).

What did I twist? Almond milk and dates. Plus, I’m making my own peanut butter (I will share the recipe here too. So let me start with Homemade Peanut Butter recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup raw peanut
• 1 garlic clove
• Enough coconut oil to fry
• 4 tbsp cup coconut oil
• 1 tsp of sea salt

TOOL: Mini chopper/ food processor/ blender

INSTRUCTION:

1. Heat enough coconut oil to fry the peanut.
2. When the oil is hot enough, fry peanut and the garlic (cut to big chunk) only about 1 to 2 minutes (half done).
3. Transfer the half-done fried peanut and garlic to the mini chopper/ food processor along with the sea salt and 4 tbsp of coconut oil. Blend to your desired consistency.
4. For this no-bake peanut butter oatmeal cookies recipe, I choose to blend the peanut to a fine blend.

 

Alright! Now we already have our homemade peanut butter. Let’s continue to the No-bake peanut butter oatmeal cookies.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup of homemade peanut butter
• 1.5 cups of rolled oats
• 5 tbsp of soy milk
• 3 tbsp coconut oil

TOOL: Food processor & refrigerator

INSTRUCTION:

1. Just throw all ingredients in the food processor and keep processing it until it looks like dough that you can roll to a ball.
2. Prepare your tray, and roll the dough to about 1-inch balls, and use a fork to shape it into cookies.
3. Put them in the fridge and you can eat it anytime you want!

 

You must wonder how’s the taste, right? I can only say, He approved. He said the cookies are delicious! So go on try and tell me how it goes!

Easy Recipe: Roasted Green Pepper Hummus

Ingredients of Roasted Green Pepper Hummus

Today I decided to make Roasted Green Pepper Hummus. A super simple recipe from Trinity’s Kitchen, which of course, made with some twists.

The consideration this time is my bf’s dislike over garlic (so I only use 1 clove), and instead of Red Pepper, I use Green Pepper. I also substituted Tahini to 1 tsp of Sesame oil (since not even once, I know what Tahini is, and I’m so sure I can’t find it here).

Today, I also make another Salsa (the 1 jar before didn’t make up to more than 3 days for both of us), Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Simple Beef Soup. Yeah, I was busy in the kitchen and enjoyed it by singing my heart out over 80’s – 90’s rock songs. Ha ha ha.

This recipe is vegan, gluten-free, dairy free. NOT low carb tho. So watch out.

 

Here are the INGREDIENTS:

• 2 green bell peppers (feel free to replace it with the red, yellow or orange)
• 1 garlic clove
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tinned chickpeas (265 gr drained)
• 1 lime and the zest
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 crushed black pepper

INSTRUCTION:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F/ 180 C.
2. De-seed and cut the bell peppers. Then put it in the oven for around 20 minutes. In the last 10 minutes, put the garlic (with the skin) and roast them together.
3. Meanwhile, drain your chickpeas and prepare your hand-blender. You can use the regular blender but I really don’t wanna leave some of the delicacy in the blender. So I decided to use hand-blender.
4. Once the bell pepper and garlic roasted and cool down, add every ingredients in a small pot and blend them all to your desired consistency.
5. Keep it in airtight meal box and leave it in the fridge. It taste better cold!

It’s that easy and simple! NOW, you don’t need to be a chef to make your own dip!