Dinner Club - Rendang

Jennie gave me access to post our Dinner Club meals here a long time ago, but I just remembered about it. Luckily, we just had a Dinner Club, so here's my first posting. This is not an Everday Good Eat - Dinner Club meals are usually time-consuming and labor intensive, which is why we team up for cooking. But they are always delicious and fun, and ususally from a particular country or region of the world! Karen and I decided to try to make Rendang, a Singaporean coconut beef stew. Spicy, too!

We tripled the recipe below, which fed 11 with leftovers (we were told this tastes better the next day or the next week, even!). I'll write the recipe as it is in my friend, Weelit's, recipe book and put our substitutions next to it.

570 g (20 oz.) coconut, white WE USED FROZEN, SHREDDED

605 g (21 oz.) beef brisket or topside WE USED TOP ROUND

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp msg WE DIDN'T USE THIS;INSTEAD ADDED EXTRA TAMARIND PASTE

2 tsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp tamarind, remove seeds WE USED PASTE

10 shallots UH, REALLY? WE USED 3 LARGE ONES

6 fresh red chillies WE COULD ONLY FIND THAI CHILLIES

14 dried chillies WE GOT SCARED, SO ONLY USED ABOUT 5, AND SHOOK OUT ANY LOOSE SEEDS

30 g (1 oz) ginger

1 stalk lemon grass

2 thin slices galangal

2 cloves garlic

2 tblsp fried coconut

1-1 1/2 tsp palm sugar WE JUST USED REGULAR SUGAR

1 level tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp msg YOU CAN ADD A BIT EXTRA SALT IF DESIRED

2 tsp dark soya sauce WE ASSUMED THIS WAS SOY SAUCE

2 tblsp oil WE NEVER USED THIS...I WONDER WHERE IT'S SUPPOSED TO GO?

170-225 ml (6-8 fl oz.) boiling water

THE RECIPE CALLS FOR FRESH COCONUT AND GETTING THE MILK FROM THE MEAT, BUT WE JUST BOUGHT 2 CANS OF COCONUT MILK.

Dry-fry 115 g of the cocnut till dark brown. Cool. (You'll need an extra 2 tblsp later. We forgot it and just added it fresh. I think it was ok).

Season beef with first 4 ingredients and coconut and leave for 2 hours.

Grind the third set of ingredients (from shallots to 2 tblsp coconut) to a fine paste. A food processor is VERY useful at this point. I have no idea how else it could have ever been done!

Squeeze remaining coconut for milk and set aside. Set aside. Add 225 ml water and squeeze for more milk. Set aside. (WE TOTALLY SKIPPED THIS)

Combine the rest of the ingredients, except the oil and water, in a large saucepan. Add watery milk and bring to a boil. Add meat and boil, uncovered, over moderately high heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.

Add coconut milk and stir well. Reduce heat, cover pan and cook for 3/4 - 1 hour til gravy mixture turns oily and fragrant.

WE ADDED THE MILK ALL AT ONCE, AND IT WAS THICK, NOT WATERY. IF WE DID IT AGAIN, I'D ADD ONE CAN THICK MILK AND ONE CAN COCONUT WATER, LATER.

We also didn't add all of the paste mixture, because we were afraid it would be too spicy. But we kept it and think it will make a great starter for a chicken dish or something. Smells sooo good!

Dinner was the Rendang served over rice, a jicama and papaya salad and broiled gailan (chinese broccoli) with oyster sauce. If you're looking for a challenge, this one was delicious!

Sausage, Shallot & Spinach Pizza

Another quick dinner can be fresh pizza - you can purchase dough pre-made and just add toppings. Set 1 package pre-made pizza dough (used garlic & herb version from Trader Joe's) out for 20 min as you gather your ingredients. Set the oven to 450 degrees.

In a skillet, cook 2 silcilian sausages (with casings removed) as the meat browns, add one, small, thinly sliced shallot. Spread your dough out on a lightly floured surface and when it is stretched out to the size and shape you want. Cover the dough with about 1/4 cup of tomato sauce, add the sausage and shallot evenly on top. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of chopped, fresh spinach on top and finally put 1/2 cup of shredded cheese on top.

Pop in the oven for 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and a bit browned.

Variation on Quick Vegie Soup

This is a variation to my inital posting - Quick Vegetable Soup.

To start, rough cut all your vegetables - they don't have to be pretty because you will be pureeing them all. (I wash the carrots, zucchini and potatoes with vegetable wash but do not peel anything.) Use the following amounts for a vegetables will produce roughly 10 cups of soup;

• 1 small onion
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 3 medium-sized carrots with skin
• 2 medium-sized zucchini
• 1.5 cups of fresh spinach
• 5-6 medium-to-large baby potatoes with skin

In a larger, deep-sided pot heat about 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil and saute all the vegetables for about 5 minutes - stirring intermittently. Then add 1 quart of broth - I tend to use vegetable but chicken is also good. You want the liquid to just cover the vegetables so you might have to add another cup or so of water. Cook over medium to low heat until the carrots and potatoes are soft - about 20 minutes.

Turn off the burner and remove the pot from the stove (or to a cool burner). The fastest and least messy way to puree the soup it to use an immersion hand blender. However, if you only have a traditional blender you will have to puree in batches. I suggest using a slotted spoon to scoop out vegetables and using only a bit of your broth - this will minimize the danger of the lid of your blender "popping" off with the pressure from the heat. You might even consider letting the soup cool a bit before pureeing in a traditional blender.

When you have pureed the soup, salt and pepper to taste. If you want the consistency to be a bit thinner simply add more broth or water.

Granola

Here is a good and tasty Granola recipe adapted from Jane Brody.

Granola

1/4 cup butter or extra virgin coconut oil

1/4 cup of honey

3 cups of oats

1 cup of shredded of flaked unsweetened coconut

1 cup of untoasted sunflower seeds

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup of wheat germ

2/3 cup of dried fruit

Melt the butter or oil and honey together.

Mix everything together Except the wheat germ and dried fruit and bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes stirring several times. Add the wheat germ and bake about ten more minutes until golden.

This is the recipe from Jane Brody. I change it a little as I like to add nuts too, and I use dried cranberries or chopped dried apricots and some ground up crystallized ginger.

I have also made it with a multigrained oatmeal style cereal.