Jean Jacques waiting for his share

I Live to Eat

However, that’s not the only thing I do. I also take care of Jean Jacques, my Standard Poodle, who is even older than I am, and the nine colorful Koi that happily swim around in my pond. I’m not sure if they think they are going anywhere, but then, neither are we. Well, not soon I hope.  

We also includes my wife, Lea. That is perhaps the wrong way of putting it, as she runs the show over here. In other words, it’s not she, but I that is also included. Sometimes I lose myself in the intricacies of our relationship.

      Today is Sunday and we decided we deserved a treat and as we are in the country, miles and miles away from a proper city, but only a few miles from the nearest town (village), our options for “dining out” are not overwhelming. We have a choice between Mexican, some more Mexican and Turkish. That’s not counting a multitude of fast food places where we seldom visit. I swear I make a better Hamburger than any of them.

      We decided to give the Turk a first try, and were disappointed. We had potato balls for an appetizer and from thereon everything went downhill. The hummus was oily, the lamb chops tough as old goat and the salad served sans salad dressing, nevermind a choice of salad dressings. The baklava was not sweet enough and the coffee tasted like dishwater. For a man who lives to eat, I came close to death, and that on a Sunday.

Dinner quests hungry for Nasi Goreng

   We tried the Turkish restaurant on the recommendation of a friendly neighbor, and therein lies an extension of the problem, as now I have to lie to him. Perhaps I’ll let Lea do that. She is much more capable in that area of expertise..

      Enough of this Turkish fiasco. I am now going to give you my recipe for Nasi Goreng (Indonesian for fried rice {flied lice}). My first wife, who was born in that country when it was still referred to as the Dutch East Indies (until 1949), taught me the basics that I have since then improved on a little.

      You will need the following ingredients:

1. One pouch of Nasi Goreng mix of vegetables and spices that comes ready made by CONIMEX, available at Amazon for $5 per pouch.
2. Apart from the above you need the following spices and add them according to taste: Conimex Ketjap manis (sweet soy sauce), and Sambal Oelek. The latter is a typical Indonesian red pepper paste that you may replace with other hot sauces you happen to have available,
3. Two cups of brown rice
4. One large yellow onion
5. One and a half cup of diced small carrots
6. One cup of green peas
7. Two cups of sliced mushrooms
8. Not less than five large cloves of garlic, diced not too fine
9. One pound of lean minced meat, beef, pork or lamb, according to your preference. In Indonesia it is more likely to be chicken or goat.
10. One pound of medium sized shrimp, peeled, deveined and tail on.

       Preparation:

Add 4 cups of water to the rice in a 2 quarts cooking pot on medium heat without a cover. Let boil until all the water is gone, at which time the rice is fully cooked. If not fully cooked at that time, add a little water until rice is slightly el dente (firm and not sticky). Set aside.

Saute the shrimp in butter or margarine with some curry to taste and set aside. Make sure to not overcook the shrimp!

Add the sliced onion, garlic, carrots, peas, mushrooms amd ⅓ cup of olive oil in a large skillet and cook on low heat until onions are fully glazed,

Now add the ground beef and occasionally stir the mix until meat is cooked.

In the meantime, empty the Conimex Nasi Goreng vegetable and spice mix into a cup and add hot water. Let stand for 10 minutes and then mix it into the skillet. You may at that time add some of the Ketjap (soy sauce) and the hot sauce to the mixture.Take care not to make it too spicy and remember the Ketjap is salty.

Now is the time to add the cooked rice to the skillet and mix everything thoroughly. Place covered skillet on very low heat and serve with sides of dill pickles, spicy peanut butter sauce (peanut butter, olive oil and hot sauce) and the sauteed shrimp.

NOTE: I have served this dish to my guests in the USA and three other countries where I have lived and never had a single one of them not take seconds. Try it. You will like it.

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