Beef Rendang...

Here is our version of a Rendang curry...
(Bits have been taken from a post I made on a Simple Savings Thread .. Some alterations have been made..)

Beef Rendang 
Paste...
5-6 cloves Garlic, chopped or 6 heaped tsp of minced garlic
2 x 10cm stalks Lemongrass, chopped (you could just add a very well bruised stalks straight into the curry but we found it became very tender when processed & wasn’t tough al all in the finished product)
1 Tbsp fresh Ginger, grated 
2 Tbsp fresh Turmeric or 1 heaped tsp of powder
2 Tbsp Fresh Galangal, grated
Chillies to taste… I will be using 1 large from the patch & adding paste if needed..
2 medium onions, chopped
About ½ cup water to help ingredients combine in processor…
3 tsp Coriander powder
3 tsp Cumin powder
10 Curry leaves

Add all above ingredients into processor & blend into a paste...
Other ingredients...
1kg of diced beef
2 x 400ml tins lite Coconut Cream
½ tsp Tamarind paste
1 tsp/cube palm sugar (If you have Tamarind sauce you can use 1 Tbsp of that instead of the paste & sugar)
All ingredients are then added to a pot & brought to a boil
Once boiled then reduce heat to a medium simmer for an hour… Don’t forget to stir about every 10 min & have a taste test or 6 as well…
Reduce to very low & simmer for about an hour or until the liquid has been absorbed stirring occasionally… Remove the Lemongrass now if you put it in whole then serve by itself or with your favourite rice...

Hope you enjoy it, We do regularly...
Have a great one...
: )»

A few bits from the weekend...

This week I made up a batch of yoghurt using some Vanilla sugar as the sweetener & I must say that it was most impressive... So much so that I snipped open one of the vacuum sealed packs of Vanilla beans & made a MEGA batch of vanilla sugar for future batches of yoghurt... I am storing it in one of the EXTRA Large Moccona coffee jars we purchased from the hospice op shop in Ipswich... Should be ready by May hopefully...



We harvested the Lemongrass from the patch on Saturday so we could use the barrel it was in for a Zucchini plant... The smaller stalks were all whizzed in the processor for storage in a container... The larger stalks were just sealed in Ziplock bags & all were placed in the freezer for curry pastes & meals at a latter date...


In keeping with our Asian for a month (well, when I cook during the week at least) we had a simple Japanese Katsu style curry made with "Golden Curry" blocks...

3Tbsp Rice bran oil
1 onion, diced chunkily
1Tbsp of minced Garlic
2 medium long Chinese Eggplants, diced large
¼ of a Red Capsicum, diced large
Small head of Broccoli, chopped into "Little trees"
Stalks of 2 small Broccoli heads, slice thinly
3 cups of water with 2tsp of Chook stock powder added
½ a packet of S&B Golden Curry

-Fry Garlic & Onions in a med enamel Caserole pot until Onion is translucent
-Add Eggplant, Broccoli stalks Capsicum until they brown slightly, 3-4 min on high heat
-Stir in Made up stock & once it boils, reduce to simmer for 5-10 min  (I like my veg to have some crunch so normally only leave it 5 or so min)
-Add ½ a packet of Curry blocks & stir until dissolved then serve over Favourite crumbed meats or just eat as is... I like it over Crumbed Chooken but have purchased it from resturants served over Crumbed Pork & loved it just as much...

Last night B☼ & I went out to a Mexican restaurant (well known & established Brisbane restaurant) & blew $50 on what I can only call Tomato flavoured mince wrapped in tortillas with grilled cheese on top... No heat or spice flavourings you would expect like Chilli, Cumin or Coriander... Most disappointing...  I think I may have spoiled us by cooking all our meals from scratch me thinks... I think Mexican is the next Cuisine that I shall be delving into further after watching some clips on a Gardening YouTube channel I subscribe to...
MMmmm, Enchiladas !!!!

: )»