Friday 30 May 2014

Javanese Dishes


These are the pictures of various dishes based on Javanese cooking, my heritage, delicious and beautiful recipes from Java.  The authentic flavours are there, but the presentation may be ' new ' and different.

Recipes and how to cook them will be posted shortly.



Pictures are Randomly Taken from My File.

Arem-Arem is stuffed steamed rice rolled with savoury meat filling.  Cut-sliced when it is cold, served for snaking.

Arem-Arem  Daging Ayam
Stuffed rice rolled with spicy chicken


The Cooking

The traditional arem arem is made of plain steamed white rice instead of turmeric rice.  
I do them as well, but with the turmeric rice, it looks pretty, and the taste of the turmeric with this filling is so right.


Other Dishes 

Sweet and Savoury
Wajik
Made from glutenous rice and is sweetened either with gula jawa -coconut sugar or cane sugar Cooked in coconut milk, sliced when it is cold.  Served as a snack with tea.


Wajik sweetened with sugar cane (pink) and palm sugar (brown)


Klepon
Made from glutenous rice.  Stuffed balls glutenous rice powder with coconut sugar, poached and rolled in freshly grated coconut, and sprinkle with icing sugar to serve.

Resoles
A pan-fried pancake rolled with braised meat and vegetable filling



Vegetables
Salad - Lotek

Oseng Oseng Bunces
Saute Green Beans with hot chillies 


Oseng Oseng Terong
Saute Eggplants


Tahu Guling
Tofu with vegetables in spicy Sweet Soy





Meat  and Side Dishes
Empal is double cooked beef, first it is braised with aromatic spices, then fried in deep oil.
Empal

Keringan
Hot and Spicy mixed Nuts and Tempeh

Telur gulung-Egg rolled with cabbage.

Ayam Goreng
Double Cooked Fried Chicken


 Tahu Bacem
Pan-fried Tofu, after braised with sweet soy




Rice Dishes
Nasi Kuning dan Lauk Pauk
Yellow Rice with Garnishes

Nasi Tumpeng dengan sayur, telur pedas
Rice cone with salad and hot egg curry


Nasi Putih dan Lauk pauk
Steamed White Rice with Garnishes.



Sayur Lodeh
Braised vegetables in coconut milk


Bakmi Kuning
(Yellow noodles-turmeric flavoured)



Cooking Glutenous Rice
Soak the rice in water overnight, prepare the following morning
to add some desiccated coconut and water, boil until the liquid is absorbed.  Add some coconut milk, salt and white sugar,  mix together, cover the pot, cook over low heat.









Now you have a delicious, moist, shiny glutenous rice.


Yellow Rice with Garnishes
Nasi Kuning with accompaniment (not traditional)


Nasi Rames
Steamed white rice with garnishes (empal, hot chicken leg, sweet
sauteed tofu, egg in spiced coconut milk and mixed vegetables
with desiccated coconut dressing)


You have seen some of the pictures from the previous posts and also the recipes, but new cooking and the recipes are coming soon.  Stay Tuned


Thanks for Visiting
Susy

Sunday 25 May 2014

HYDRANGEA


Hydrangea is one of the most beautiful flowers, it changes colours dramatically in its season, from white, pink to blue into greenish tint before it dies down.
Sadly my hydrangea plants are not doing well this year,  the flowers are tiny, and also only a few, maybe because the weather has been so hot and dry.
It was still early autumn, but I decided to cut down all the plants in the hope that they will grow and flower well in spring.  But I was wrong.

I learnt from my reading about it; apparently I just made a big mistake.  By pruning drastically, the plants won't die, they will grow back with a lot of leaves in spring, but probably won't' be flowering.  I am disappointed, as I have to wait, maybe until the following year to enjoy the flowers.

They can be very spectacular when they are in flowers, this picture was taken some time around late Spring a few years ago.
The hydrangea flowers at their best, Spring 2012

Hydrangea plants were drastically pruned in the early Autumn 2014



 The new short and pruned plants were soaked in water, the plants grow well in moist soil.


After Pruning:

- loose soil around the plants

- give a little fertiliser 

- water them regularly

- clear from weeds and slugs

- extra mulch around the plants

- a good feed in spring


That is all that I have to do for the plants, and I believe that they will grow back again.

The flowers are beautiful from spring to summer.
When they are in flowers, people who are passing by our place often admire the bloom which they can see beyond the gate. It pleases me, being the gardener.


The last flower for this year.


In the Netherlands,  Hortensia or hydrangea grows beautifully, and the flowers are enormous. The bloom stays in the garden for an extended period because of the pleasant cold climate.

Here in Australia, the plant grows well and flowers can be beautiful too only the size is not as large compared to the bulbs in the colder climate.  And also because of the harsh weather-strong wind and hot heat, the plant suffers, and the flowers wilt quickly and become brownish.  However, I love to have them in my garden.  I celebrate, and plant them in the ground and also in pots, they are pink, blue ball and white lace hydrangeas.  Gorgeous Flowers!!!


Beautiful and Colourful Hydrangea-2011



Dried Flower Arrangement - Hydrangeas

My hydrangea flower arrangement has changed colour through time, over the years.  Starting from pink and blue colours and now they become white or light brown and whitish.



I will let you know what is happening about the hydrangea plants in spring.  Are they flowering or just flourishing with a lot of green leaves. 


This weekend is wet, cold, but restful.



Have a good week to you all.

Until Next Post
Susy