{Recipe} Beef Rendang

This is a repost from my old blog (August 8, 2009); please forgive the terribly blurry photo lol

Felt like a proper Malay dish last week so made myself some :) Here's the recipe with the ingredients in order of usage.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 lemongrass
2 red chillies (about 2 tbsp)
1 medium red onion, half sliced thinly
3 garlic cloves
1 tbsp ginger
3 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp cumin
600-750 grams beef, sliced and cut into bite pieces
1 cinnamon stick
4 curry leaves
2 tsp brown sugar
2 cups coconut milk
1 tbsp lemon juice

1. Blend lemongrass, chillies, half of onion and garlic and ginger. Set aside.
2. Mix the beef with coriander, turmeric and cumin.
3. Sautee the sliced half of the onion until soft.
4. Add the beef mix and cook until browned.
5. Add cinnamon stick, curry leaves, brown sugar and coconut milk. Cook covered for 1 hour.
6. Removed lid and cook a further 1 1/2 hours or until it reaches the consistency desired. Stir every once in a while.
7. Removed cinnamon stick and add in lemon juice.

Adjust the sugar and other spices according to your preference. Great eaten with rice cakes, glutinous rice or even plain rice/bread. I know it seems like a lotta work and takes so long! But if you're missing/craving it... Well, it'll be worth it, enjoy! Ta ra~

{Recipe} Portuguese-style chicken

A repost from my old blog horrendezvous.blogspot.com 

We just bought bulk chicken so our freezers are overflowing with whole chicken, chicken pieces, thighs, well you get the picture. In order to keep interest high in our meals, I have to scour the deepest of internet oceans to come up with different recipes for the same meat. This particular one was altered from this recipe. It tasted great and caramelised very well so it was juicy and sticky, just the way we like it. Have a try!

Ingredients:
4 chicken thigh fillets
2 tbsp oil
4 tsp ground coriander
3 tsp paprika (I mixed regular and smoked)
1 tsp dried oregano
2 garlic cloves, crushed and finely chopped
Juice from half a lemon
1/2 tsp crushed dried chilli (optional)
Salt to taste, I finely ground sea salt over the fillets so I used maybe 1/2 tsp (will need more if using coarser grains) but we tend to undersalt our food

1. In an oven proof dish big enough to hold the chicken, mix all the marinade ingredients. 
2. Put the chicken in and rub thoroughly. Cover the dish with its lid or cling wrap and let marinate in the fridge for 1 hour or overnight. Take it out for about an hour before baking.
3. Preheat the oven to 200°C (190 fan-forced).
4. Take off the lid and bake for 20-30 minutes, basting the chicken with the marinade every 5-10 minutes.
5. Take out and rest the chicken for about 5 minutes and serve with a spinach salad and rice. Drizzle the juice over the meal and enjoy!
   

Notes:  

• I rub about a tablespoon of salt on the chicken I use and thoroughly rinse to get rid of the 'chickeny' smell
• You can replace the fillets with breast/chicken pieces/whole chicken but please be sure to adjust the amount of marinade and baking time. 

Happy cooking! Ta ra~
 
Image sources for ingredient board:

Chicken thighs - http://www.farmfreshgrocer.com.au

Olive oil - http://www.newhealthguide.org 

Ground coriander - http://www.mediterraneanfoods.co.nz

Paprika - http://www.savoryspiceshop.com

Dried oregano - http://www.finecooking.com

Garlic - http://www.bbcgoodfood.com

Lemon - http://vladimiria.blogspot.com.au

Dried chili -  http://www.thalgoldenspice.com

{Recipe} No cook breakfast: Apple and cinnamon muesli

A repost from my old blog horrendezvous.blogspot.com

How many times have you stumbled out of bed wishing you had already had something ready for breakfast instead of having to put on a frying pan and crack those eggs? Well, that happens to me pretty much every morning so I tend to skip it even though my mum keeps drumming it into me that ‘breakfast is the most freaking important meal of the day!’. Ok, she didn’t really say it that way. So when I stumbled upon this post by Fat Mum Slim, I made it (a variation of it anyway) right away. The beauty of this recipe is that you can have whatever variations you crave.

Apple and cinnamon muesli (serves 1)

Ingredients

½ cup traditional oats (not quick)
½ cup milk (I used whole as I love the creaminess; skim is fine too)
2 tbsp vanilla yogurt (go on sneak a couple of spoons more)
½ apple, coarsely chopped (eat the rest :P)
Honey for drizzling (optional)
Ground cinnamon for sprinkling (optional)

1. Shake oats, milk and yogurt up in an airtight container and leave in the fridge overnight.
2. Good morning! Drizzle the honey and sprinkle the cinnamon on, grab a spoon and enjoy!

Tips and variations: 

• This recipe can be easily multiplied and for breakfast on-the-go, simply put in separate containers.
• Substitute apple with a handful of blueberries/strawberries and top with more.
• Substitute apple with a handful of dried cranberries and milk with cranberry juice (great body cleanser).
• Substitute vanilla yogurt with plain/or any kind really.
• If you use a yogurt with fruity bits, you can skip fresh fruit altogether.

The Big Kahuna is a chronic snacker and he says when he has this for breakfast, he does not think of snacks at all, gets him straight to lunch. So do have a try.

Ta ra~

{Recipe} Jjajangmyun (black bean noodles)

A repost from my old blog horrendezvous.blogspot.com

Annyeong! How many times have you sat down and watch K-dramas (especially rom coms) and thought to yourself, man how good do they make food look?? The way they eat their noodles *slurp* and the spread they put out for breakfast... That happens to me and the Big Kahuna every single time and so I have been dabbling in Korean cuisine, sort of, lately. I have made jjajangmyun countless times now, experimenting with different ingredients and brands of black bean sauce :D

This dish originated from China and so is considered a Chinese dish enjoyed by many Koreans. I have tried the instant noodles version. Alas, not to my liking lol.

The recipes I found mostly use pork belly for the protein and since we are not pork eaters, this recipe has been altered in that sense and in many other ways to suit our taste. So this might not appeal to most people, least of all actual Koreans! Sorry! But jjajangmyun is so tasty that it would be awesome if people who find pork or even meat a deterrent to try making it at least once! :) If you're vego, just leave out the meat and it would still be super delicious, trust me ;)

Jjajangmyun (black bean noodles) Serves 4-6

Ingredients

Olive oil
1 onion (diced)
A quarter of a cabbage (roughly chopped, about 2 cups; optional, can be substituted with 1 diced radish)
2 carrots (chopped; optional)
2 potatoes or 1 sweet potato (diced)
1 zucchini (diced)
1 chicken breast (diced; optional)
2-3 cups water
1/4 cup black bean paste
Sugar to taste
2 tbsp potato starch or cornflour mixed with 1 tbsp water
White wheat flour noodles, follow instructions on packet
Half a cucumber (julienned, for garnish)
Kimchi (accompaniment; optional)
Sesame oil (optional)

Cabbage, potatoes, onion, carrots and zucchini

Diced carrots, onions and zucchini

Chopped cabbage

Diced potatoes

Diced chicken breast

The black bean paste I used this time (I always like to try different brands to find the best-tasting ones; this one was nice)

Noodles I used

Cornflour mixed with water

1. Heat oil in a wok or a big saucepan with a lid.
2. Sautee onion and carrots.

Sauteeing carrots and onion

3. When onion is transluscent, add cabbage, potatoes and zucchini.

Sauteeing the rest of the veggies

4. After a few minutes, add chicken and stir fry for a couple of minutes.

More sauteeing, with chicken

5. Add water until just covered and place the lid on. Let simmer for 20-25 minutes or until potatoes are cooked. Remember to stir every once in a while to make sure that the potatoes don't stick to the bottom.

Water added

Chuck the lid on

6. Remember to cook the noodles in the meantime!

Cooking noodles in boiling water

7. Add black bean paste and sugar. Add more of either if you'd like it saltier/sweeter. You can heat up some oil in a small saucepan and fry the black bean paste before putting it into the mixture but it is not necessary.

Frying the bean paste

8. Add potato starch or cornflour mixture to thicken the sauce bit by bit. You might not use it all or you might have to add more. You'd want a very thick sauce that when you mix it with the noodles, it'd make this squishing noise lol.

Sauce which still needed thickening

9. Place noodles in a flat bowl/plate, heap a serving of black bean sauce on top and garnish with cucumber and a dash of sesame oil. Enjoy with or without kimchi. Mashittda!

Voila! Jjajangmyun with a side of cheat kimchi (recipe to come)

Notes and tips:

This is not traditional but I usually blend all the vegetables together and this gives the sauce a thickness (possibly the starchiness from the potatoes), I do this when I can be bothered :P Since the sauce is already thick, I would add very little water and sometimes I don't even need to add cornflour/potato starch mixture.

One happy customer!

If you find you have too much cabbage cut up, don't panic, you can make kimchi using a very easy recipe which will be put up very soon.

The beauty about this dish is that if you do not have certain vegetables, you can either substitute or omit. I would keep at least three different vegetables in.

Since I cook for two, we usually have heaps of leftover sauce. You can chuck it in the fridge if you're lazy to cook the next day or in the freezer to have over the months.

Happy cooking! Ta ra~