039 - Cheesy Smashed Potatoes #EasyCooking

Time for another cheesy goodness!

Who doesn’t love cheese right? I’m salivating just by thinking of it. Imagine, melting hot Mozzarella inside your mouth right now. Wash it off with a glass of cold Coke. OH MY GOD.

But this time around, it’s not Mozzarella we’re about to use. Nu uh, it’s way too expensive to be put into my kind of cheap cooking. I’ll stick to everyone’s favorite cheese (well, in Indonesia at least), CHEDDAR.

And the co-star of today’s dish is none other than….POTATOES!!!

This is CHEESY SMASHED POTATOES

This Carb and Fat laden sinful dish always gets me every friggin time. There’s nothing this baby can’t do (well, it has yet to cure someone’s heartbreak, but who knows?)

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For 1 Servings, you will need:

200 grams of baby potatoes. Baby potatoes are the lil’ brother. It is small, cooks fast, and most of all, looked awesome on this dish. But it you’re kinda lazy to get it, you can substitute with regular potatoes, just make sure you cut it into bite size pieces!

30 grams of Cheddar cheese. The cheese we need to use on this have to be able to melt. IT MUST. Feeling rich? Substitute with Mozzarella, Emmental, even Brie for that awesome flavor

½ tsp of Salt

1 tsp of Black Pepper

1 tbsp of Butter

4-5 tbsp of Cooking Oil. The exact measurement can be more, can be less. We’ll see once we start cooking, so just keep some extra in reach.

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Ready? Here We Go!

Step 1 – Get a pot filled with water, and let it boil. Meanwhile, give the baby potatoes a wash and cut it in half. Once the water is boiling, put your potatoes in. This stage is called Par-boiling. This is where we’re pre-cooking the potatoes so it will take shorter time to cook in the pan later on. The par-boiling should take around 6-7 minutes. How to know when it’s done? You stick a knife in the middle and the potatoes slides of easily.

No need for salt, just h2o and Poh-tay-toh

Legend has it, this speeds up the cooking process

Pierce-able!

Step 2 – Once all the potatoes are done, drain it (DON’T SKIP THIS) and quickly get a heavy object, and SMASH THE F*** OUT OF IT. Meanwhile, grate your cheese. And no, don’t cheat on me, don’t sneak a taste!

"No Sir, i'm begging you, please, i have a family..."

"...GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

Scenes from upcoming zombie movie "DAY OF THE SPUD"

Step 3 – Get a pan, and coat it with the oil. Set the heat to medium. Once the pan is smoking hot, put your potatoes in. Please ensure the potatoes have dried completely before throwing it into the pan. Remember kids, Water and Oil doesn’t mix. Season the potatoes with salt and cook it for around 6-7 minutes without moving!

Just in case you didn't know already, this is olive oil

The Spud's get the treatment they deserve!

Salt the wound!

Step 4 – After 6-7 minutes, give the potatoes a flip. You can see that the bottom is now golden brown and crunchy (and definitely tasty too!). Now, put the butter in. Ensure all the potatoes got the butter treatment they deserve. Here’s a confession; I use way too much butter during this photoshoot, 1,5 tbsp to be exact. I ended up scooping the excess butter out so the potatoes don’t get soggy.

LOOK AT THAT

PEPPER THAT B***H UP!

BUTTER THAT UP

Step 5 – Round up the potatoes on the center of the pan, and spread the cheese evenly on top. Cover it, and let it melt

CHHEEEEESSSEEEEE

Step 6 – Serve!

Top the cheesy potatoes with parsley, some hot sauce, and boom. Heaven.

Why don’t you whip this up for the weekend? It’s not hard, it’s easy to do, and it costs less than what the restaurant will charge you.

Peace

xx

031 - CHICKEN KATSU (So easy, you'll be amazed)

Comfort food time! You might recognize this recipe from one of the most famous fast food chain in Indonesia. It is crunchy, savory, and goes perfectly well with cabbage and piping hot white rice. CHICKEN KATSU, that’s what it is.

I consider this dish as the perfect introductory dish to Japanese cooking. It only uses a small amount of ingredient, it tasted awesome, and it cooks hella quick.

Like all dishes, the key to nailing the perfect katsu lies in the ingredients. Get a fresh chicken breast, and always use the Panko. Panko is Japanese breadcrumbs. It’s not expensive (around IDR 12.000/US$ 1.00 per bag), and it is now readily available in most supermarkets in Indonesia.

For 1 servings, you will need:

1 large, boneless Chicken Breast. Buying a pair of boobs, oops, breast in supermarket is fun. Chicken Breast are always sold in pairs, left side and right side of the breast. This recipe only needs one half of it.

Enough oil for frying

For the breading:

100 grams Panko Breadcrumbs.

100 grams All Purpose Flour

1 Egg

1 tsp of Salt

(Optional) ½ tsp of MSG. Yes, this might scare some people, but MSG is the Umami key. IT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE!

Ready? Here We Go!

Step 1 – Clean your chicken properly, remove any excess fat and small bones left behind. Wipe it dry with paper towel, and make sure it’s in room temperature. Then use a heavy object (i use my meat mallet) to tenderize the chicken. Don't skip this part, ever.

Dry it out.

And a quick punches.

Step 2 – Mix your all-purpose flour, salt, and MSG (if you’re going with the optional), give it a stir, set it aside. Oh, and i shit you not, the MSG DOES MADE A DIFFERENCE.

Flour

Salt

MSG BITCHEZ

Stir, Stir, STIR.

Step 3 – Crack the egg, give it a nice mix.

Step 4 – Heat your oil, use medium heat. Set a coating line of flour-egg-panko.

Step 5 – After the oil gets hot enough, dip your chicken to the flour first. Shake off the excess, and dip it in the egg. After that, it all goes down to the Panko before the nice hot bath in the oil.

Step 6 – Let the chicken sit untouched for around 2-3 minutes. Once you see the edges turn brown, give it a flip. Remember, don’t hack the process with higher heat, you will end up with burnt outside and raw inside. No no. Cook the other side for an additional 2 minutes. Once it’s all cooked up, take it out of the oil and let it rest on paper towel to drain off excess oil.

The answers is in the edges, Son.

Bloody lovely!

Step 7 – Serve!

Garnish with a side of thinly sliced cabbage, and voila, your first step into Japanese cooking made easy.

It’s crunchy, it’s savory, it’s satisfying.

Give this a go, your loved ones will go crazy over it!

Peace

xx

030 - EL GIGANTE BURGER

Okay people, especially those living in Jakarta, have you heard this entire buzz about the new burger joint called Three Buns? Words on the street says this is one of the best tasting burger right now, if not (some actually said), of all time. 

But there's a catch: despite the lovely semi outdoor setting and the great cocktail, the place had little to none parking space. And that means an instant turn-off for me. I'm not the kind of people who'd fight for a parking spot over a food that I can (possibly) whip up at home with less cost and comparable taste. Decision, decisions. Maybe I'll try that Burger joint sometime soon.

So anyway, while I wait for the hoo-hah to actually calm down, let me show you a killer Burger I whip up recently. It has 2 patties, cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, cheese bacon, and peanut butter. HELL YES, PEANUT BUTTER. The cream of the crop of a PB&J. It actually tasted awesome in a burger. No kidding here.

Please welcome, EL GIGANTE BURGER

Gi·gan·tes

  [ji-gan-teez] 

plural noun

huge monsters, the children of Gaea,

You will need:

1 Burger bun.

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

For the patty:

200 grams of minced beef. Here's the deal: if your butcher can freshly mince a meat to your order, do so. Get a combination of sirloin and chuck. But if you're left without an option, a regular minced beef will do the job just fine. Just get the freshest beef of the day.

1 fresh garlic, grated finely. If you can't find a grater, you can simply chop it super fine. Be careful though, cut it a lil’ bigger, not exactly the kind of experience I wanna taste on my burger.

1 tsp of Worcestershire sauce (optional, but it makes the difference!)

Herbs of your choice. Parsley worked great in this recipe. Again, this is optional.

1 tsp of Onion powder. It helps brings out the meatiness. Fucking A, Son.

For the garnish :

2 slice of Cheddar cheese. Or any kind of melting cheese will work, Cheddar is the best for this though

1.5 tbsp of Creamy Peanut Butter

Cheese bacon (I've posted this recipe before)

Romaine Lettuce. It has more crunch and more nutrients than the typical lettuce. And it looked hella better.

Ripe tomato. Sliced thinly.

Dijon Mustard

Ketchup

Please people, no Mayo.

Ready? Here we go!

Step 1 - Always ensure your meat is at room temperature before mixing. Grate your garlic, and mix it with the beef. Add the Parsley, Onion Powder, and Worcestershire, mix lightly with your hands. Warning: DO NOT overmix. Over mixing will yield a chewy Burger, and I HATE THAT. Split the most mixture in half, 100 grams each and Shape the burger into a nice concentric circles, and make a small indentation with your thumb right in the middle of the patty. This will help during the grilling process to ensure a nice and even cooking. Set it aside

Garlic

Onion Powder

Parsley

The Cream of the crop

Right after the mix

Shape, gently.

Booya!

Step 2 - Heat your non stick pan, get a nice olive oil to coat the surface just enough so the patty won't stick. Use highest heat. Before the patty goes it, season the side that would hit the pan first with salt and pepper. Once you see a smoke, throw your patty in. Get a spatula and SMASH the burger for 10 seconds. This will create the Maillard Reaction, a.k.a that lovely brown crust. Season the other side with salt and pepper, and for the love of God, DON'T FREAKING MOVE IT. Let it sear for around 1,5 minute. Once you see the edges turn brown-ish/grey, give it a flip

Burgers don't like it sticky.

Press. 

SMASH.

Season

Flip

  

Step 3 - After the flip, top both patties with cheese. Now here's the neat trick to melt the cheese: pour around 3-4 tablespoons of water to the pan, and cover it. The steam will kickstart the melting process. I mean, isn't melted cheese is one of the most fun you had while eating a burger?

Cheese on top

Steam

COWABUNGA!

Step 4 - Toast your bun. Ensure it gets warm and crisp.

Step 5 - Assemble your Burger. Here's how I do it: bottom bun, ketchup+mustard, patty, PB, cheese bacon, patty, lettuce, tomato, top bun.

Dijon Mustard

Ketchup

Patty

PB

Cheese Bacon

Patty

Romaine Lettuce

Tomato

Top Bun

Step 6 - serve.

El Gigante needed a knife to stand. It's humongous. It's ferocious. It'll destroy your stomach.

Things might get as messy as your relationship with your ex, but El Gigante fucking killed it 

In every bite, appreciate the complexity of the flavor. The saltiness of the burger patty, the savoury taste from the Peanut Butter, and the crunch of the lettuce.

Not exactly what I refer to as 'healthy', but why not?

Serve with a side of French fries fries (again, I made the recipe previously), and a whole lot of regret afterwards. But fret not, it is a good kind of regret.

Peace

xx