Today's menu:

[Balifrog]

Yesterday's dinner, sirloin steack.
I am not a great meat eater, but was tempted when I saw this at Grand Lucky.

Not an expert at preparing it, so I followed Gordon Ramsay. It turned out tasting perfect !

This morning breakfast, home made mini apple turnovers (frozen dough)
I cooked the apples with brown sugar, cynamon, vanilla and a bit of lemon juice.
Very nice.
Note that the dough used for this is not the same as for croissants, danish, raisin rolls !

Again, nice and healthy eating is easy !
No reason to order some Grab junk food !

 

[Shadrach]

Yesterday's dinner, sirloin steack.
I am not a great meat eater, but was tempted when I saw this at Grand Lucky.

View attachment 5053
Not an expert at preparing it, so I followed Gordon Ramsay. It turned out tasting perfect !

This morning breakfast, home made mini apple turnovers (frozen dough)
I cooked the apples with brown sugar, cynamon, vanilla and a bit of lemon juice.
Very nice.
Note that the dough used for this is not the same as for croissants, danish, raisin rolls !

View attachment 5054

Again, nice and healthy eating is easy !
No reason to order some Grab junk food !

I hope the steak turned out soft and edible, and that you really enjoyed it! I've had a hard time buying Steaks here that don't turn out chewy! I look at the Steaks that have really nice marbling and the prices are astronomical! I just can't allow myself to buy one small piece of a cow for 800,000RP. Or more! I mean really, and this is not even Real Wagyu from Japan. It's a nice looking steak from Australia. If you think how much this small piece of meat cost. Just think what that makes an entire cow worth? Thousands of dollars! I come from the States and you can buy a really delicious Rib Eye, or New York strip steak for $20 when I really want to splurge I buy a Porterhouse. Sometimes they are two inches thick, and still reasonably priced. But I live in the West usually in Cowboy country so the cows are lucky to have free range and are able to walk freely on thousands of acres eating fresh green grass!
I know I'm being a tightwad but, I'm just not wealthy enough to afford this here now, living on a pension! It seems unreasonable, and that someone along the line is making a fortune to sell something that is really not that expensive!

Using the butter is the trick to Restaurant quality Steaks!

 

[Balifrog]

I hope the steak turned out soft and edible. I've had a hard time buying Steaks here that don't turn out chewy!

It was a bit chewy, even at 75k... Local meat...
The other option is imported Aussie meat and then we speak about 100/ 150 k

And don't even think about imported lamb chops....

 

[Shadrach]

It was a bit chewy, even at 75k... Local meat...
The other option is imported Aussie meat and then we speak about 100/ 150 k

And don't even think about imported lamb chops....

I didn't see any decent looking steak with some nice marbling for that price? At Grand lucky, the nice steaks were 800,000RP. and up. I don't understand why this meat is so expensive? Australia is not that far away, so a trip on a refrigerated cargo ship should not be so expensive. Where do you think this cost is coming from? Middlemen, taxes?

 

[Balifrog]

Poulet Basquaise this evening. A recipe from the South West of France, on the Spanish border.
A premiere for me but it turned out perfectly ! The Miss confirmed. First time she ate this.

 

[Shadrach]

Poulet Basquaise this evening. A recipe from the South West of France, on the Spanish border.
A premiere for me but it turned out perfectly ! The Miss confirmed. First time she ate this.

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Very interesting concoction? It would have been nice of you had described all these ingredients. I never imagined you could find Ratatouille in a can here in Bali? What is in the other can? Does that say polati? It looks like sauce tomatoes to me. And what is the meat in that small dish? Anyway it all looks like chicken with a tomato sauce base with a fancy name! It does look delicious. Keep up the great work Chef!

 

[Balifrog]

Made some chicken Stroganoff 2 days ago, planned some extra so that I could make a British style chicken & mushrooms in the pot for lunch today.
Just added some carrots, celery, mini potatoes. Had no green peas anymore...shame !
Was very nice.

The Missus mixed the remaining Stroganoff with califlower / brocoli for her. With Harissa sauce of course !

 

[pantaiema]

But Balifrog, you've not experienced the delight of nasi pecel for breakfast? Way to wake up your mouth!

Those accustomed to Full English and/or Continental breakfasts might also consider trying other typical Indonesian breakfast options while in Indonesia.
Bubur Ayam (Congee, chicken porridge)
Mie Ayam (yellow wheat noodles topped with diced chicken and mustard green)
Ketoprak (rice cake, tofu, cucumber, bean sprouts, vermicelli noodles, in a flavorful peanut sauce and topped with crackers)
Nasi Kuning (yellow rice, served with egg, tofu, tempeh, meats and vegetables)
Nasi Uduk (coconut rice also served with egg, tofu, tempeh, meats and vegetables))
Lontong Sayur (rice cakes in a vegetable curry), etc

In my opinion, this kind of Indonesian breakfast shouldn’t be seen as cheapo option, since its price is comparable to similar breakfast offerings in developed countries. Even within Indonesia, the cost can be quite pricey, when served in exclusive restaurants or in 4/5 star hotels.

People who get used to eating various types of breakfast: Full English, Continental, or Indonesian can benefit from special offers and discounts when opportunity arise. Also when your stomach and tongue have been trained there is also option to get it from street vendors in Indonesia which is certainly much cheaper than Full English or Continental Breakfast.

I have posted this video clip on another thread. One of the richest and most intelligent man on earth, the NVIDIA co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang is eating Indonesian street food. Also the people accompany him are not ordinary Indonesians. Vikram Sinha is the Indosat CEO, the lady in the video Najwa Shibab is one of the most famous news anchor in Indonesia.

 

[Balifrog]

Well, we just prepared our breakfast for the 3 coming days.....
I reheat what we need in the morning, so it is always fresh and crispy !

With fresh orange juice and tea.

Well, that was quite a few hours in the kitchen today.
But when together it's never boring !

 

[jstar]

They have more and more the large orange juice machines in the malls and at the big supermarkets.

Not bad, 35K per cup. And contrary to any restaurant or coffee shop, it is real, ‘tanpa gula‘ and not diluted with water.

The problem with oranges here in the supermarkets is that they don't really have the oranges optimized for squeezing. Those that have a lot of juice are rather sour. The ones with a thicker skin meant for peeling are commonly called Sunkist btw. Which obviously cost more if you want use them for juice.

 

[Balifrog]

The oranges I use are coming from the Missus kampung. It are the small greenish type, but they slowly turn yellow.
They are sometimes a bit sour.

The Miss used to have an orange plantation, then switched to corn, then to dragon fruit, back to orange till last month and now has pulled out the orange trees to go back to dragon fruit "because money more good"....
This is a typical Asian problem, the neighbour grows oranges, it works, all will grow oranges.
Hence the prices crashes.
Then one switch to another crop, it works, all follow....rince and repeat.....

 

[jstar]

This is a typical Asian problem, the neighbour grows oranges, it works, all will grow oranges.
Hence the prices crashes.
The one switch to another crop, it works, all follow....rince and repeat.....

That’s something you also see in the BENELUX glass houses.

Neighbor switches from cucumbers to tomatoes, we do the same. And the year after… you guessed it.

Now there’s a new trend again; many realize they’re working too hard for practically nothing so they switch with their huge barns to ….. RV and caravan parking.



Tomatoes dumped by the vegetable and fruit auctioneer.

 

[Balifrog]

And old classic this evening, marinated spicy chicken.

 

[Balifrog]

But I got creative for the vegetables.
A mix of baby potatoes, bricoli, cauliflower, carrots, onion, shallots and bellpepper.

Preboiled and then in the oven with a bechamel sauce and emmental topping.

And it was spot on ! The Miss said "100% success today" and she loved it.
Took a few hours in the kitchen of course....

 

[Balifrog]

Dinner today, tuna steack with vegetable & basmati rice.

Sauce for the tuna : butter, flour, white wine, fish broth, lemon juice, dill, soya sauce.

Tasted very nice and the Miss loved it as well !

 

[Balifrog]

Today is bakery / pastry day...
Swiss apple pie

Nice but next time I shall put 2 layers of apples.

 

[Balifrog]

And the Missus prepared her breakfasts for the coming days....
(Hey yeah, she doesn't do rice or noodles for breakfast..)

 

[Nicho]

The oranges I use are coming from the Missus kampung. It are the small greenish type, but they slowly turn yellow.
They are sometimes a bit sour.

View attachment 5079

The Miss used to have an orange plantation, then switched to corn, then to dragon fruit, back to orange till last month and now has pulled out the orange trees to go back to dragon fruit "because money more good"....
This is a typical Asian problem, the neighbour grows oranges, it works, all will grow oranges.
Hence the prices crashes.
Then one switch to another crop, it works, all follow....rince and repeat.....

Yep , been through that with two orange/jeruk orchards I had . Had a guy looking after them on a percentage contract who was constantly fertilizing to produce more fruit and crops per year only to cut all the trees out after 5 years and start growing watermelons then it was chillies because of the higher prices . He didn't take into account I was the getting the bill for all the excess fertilzer/pesticides/ fungicides et etc , as long as he was getting more money until the market got flooded . They can't stand to see someone else making more money than them and then cry when the prices crash . I sold both orchards when he wanted to replant oranges / jeruk again and keep paying him while I waited for the trees to mature and start fruiting before i got any return . And 99% of them use roundup and other toxic pesticides that are banned in most other countries like it's water , so all the fruit and vegetables they produce are slowly killing themselves and any one who buys there produce .

 

[Balifrog]

And 99% of them use roundup and other toxic pesticides that are banned in most other countries like it's water , so all the fruit and vegetables they produce are slowly killing themselves and any one who buys there produce .

Agreed.
The amount of chemicals I see them spraying ...
In all those countries I always peel the fruits or wash them. Vegetables is same.
Besides that I asked her once if she calculated expenses vs income.....never got an answer.
Anyway, it's her and her family business, I am not getting involved.

 

[Balifrog]

Very basic and simple dinner yesterday..

Pork sausage et white beans (Italian, canned) for me

And Merguez (spicy Moroccan sausage) with mashed potatoes, green beans and mushrooms for the Miss

Gave me some time to make a batch of croissants....