My second meal - Beef Rendang

Today I'm cooking Beef Rendang.  E brought some for me to taste before I bought the TM.  Hers was so good, that I thought I'd have to make some for myself.

So, Mum and I went shopping to buy all the things I'd need.  It was fun trying to find chilies, ground cloves, bay leaves, and a whole heap of other things I didn't have.  We couldn't find ground cloves, so I bought a small jar of whole cloves to grind up in the TM.  The coconutty smell of the cooking rendang is finding its way into the lounge room as I type this blog!

Anyway, back to the shopping.  We couldn't find fresh bay leaves so we bought a packet of dried ones.  I had no idea that these came in a packet.  The chilies were also tricky.  I had no idea that they came in all sorts of sizes, loose, and in packets.  We had to get a large one, so settled on a large squat chili.

The cooking went quite smoothly.  It was great to smell the different spices as I put them in, although I think that tumeric smells and tastes disgusting!  Although I'm sure it will add something special of its own to the dish.  The hardest thing was measuring the coconut milk.  I wish these recipes had measurements as well as weights.  I'll have to find a website somewhere to find out how much stuff weighs, as I forgot to check the measuring jug to see how much coconut milk I used.  Also, the cloves took a surprisingly long time to grind up.

Before I started, I told Mum that I wanted to cook this dish alone, as I will never gain confidence in the kitchen if I always cook when there is someone there.  However, I think she was worried about me, as she wouldn't leave!

She didn't help me at all though, so I suppose that's OK.  At least I'll be able to do it entirely by myself next time.  I have half a can of coconut milk left, so I'll have to make some more rendang, or something else.

Actually, it's probably a good thing she did stay.  Remember the hili I mentioned earlier?  Well, it wasn't a chili, but a very small capsicum!  So, I was able to dispatch Mum off to the shop to get a chili.

I'm glad that cooking isn't an exact science most of the time.  E told me this when I used her TM to make the stir fry.  I'm not very good at measuring things.  The manufacturers of the spice containers don't make it very easy either buy putting the spices in bottles with tiny holes ikn the top, which are too small for me to fit my measuring spoon into.  Oh well, now I've found a use for my Tupperware spice containers.