My Sedap Singapore Meal Plan

Found on fashiontag.com

I must confess some of the meals in this week’s plan I may not be wholly responsible for cooking!

So who’s the fine looking lady you are asking? I could lie, but I won’t. It isn’t me. But it is what my hair will look like tomorrow, yay. It is important to look stylish at all times (hah) even when cooking.

I am being kind to myself this week – it has been a busy one already and it’s only Tuesday. My washing machine has broken down, which completely sucks when you have three children aged four and under who soil their clothes with reckless abandonment. On the plus side, I will be regaining some sense of style, and as if that wasn’t enough to make me smile, my big sister and family are coming to stay this weekend (who live in another country usually – woohoo). So, I shall be busy baking lots of lovely bread for the weekend, and be cooking up a storm of cakes and treats for their stay. So not much time left for regular meal cooking, between baking and looking uber glamorous!

Monday (or day one) – Roasted sea bass in Heng’s Nonya sauce, rice and corn on the cob
Tuesday – Mee Goreng with added veggies and less chilli for the kids
Wednesday – Ginger and Honey Stir Fried Pork with sweet potato, rice and garlic broccoli
Thursday –  Ayam (Chicken) Curry with fresh condiments, mango chutney and rice
Friday – Beef rendang with green leafy veggies

Top Tip for moms with little kids – Stock up your freezer
For those days when I cook something too spicy or way out for the kids taste buds, I have a freezer stocked with kid friendly food like fish fingers, leftover casseroles, mini sausages, bolognese and soups. So I don’t have to cook two different dinners, just cook one, defrost one!

Put the lime in the coconut and drink it right up!

Okay, it’s not a drink, but I cannot write about coconut without this great song popping into my head. Blogging on Friday night, I clearly need a Pina Colada!

So here goes, play the clip and read on…

I think I may have stumbled upon a secret ingredient, although now it’s not so much of a secret…but hey I am all about the sharing people. Want a crunchy, light crumble? Easy! Add coconut to your crumble mix.

I have been making crumble for approximately 30 years, so I don’t follow a recipe anymore. I will endeavor to weigh the ingredients next time so I can let you know.

I use butter (not margarine), plain or self-raising flour whichever is to hand, and a few tablespoons of caster sugar. I’ve added oats in the past, roughly chopped almonds, cinnamon, and or lemon rind…these ingredients all help to add a bit more flavour or crunch or nutrition. Last week I decided to do a tropical version and included mango and apple in the filling (yummy), and I added approximately 4 tablespoons of desiccated coconut to the crumble mix.  The coconut added a noticeable lightness to the crumble without it becoming floury – I will definitely use it again.

Some other fillings I have tried in the past you might like to try…
Rhubarb (with some sugar to sweeten), Apple, Pear and Apple, Rhubarb and Strawberry, Apple and Blackberry, Apple and Blueberry, Mango and Apple, and Pineapple and Apple.

“Yes Luke, I am your feeder “…(meal plan)

It’s January and everyone is blogging about detoxing, eating healthy, exercising more, running faster and so on.  A bit like a lemming, I too plan to walk my ass off on the buggy school run and during mommy ‘downtime’ bounce my butt off on the kids new 13 ft trampoline. However, my fitness goal is more to do with the fact I’ve stopped breastfeeding (my baby, not me personally – eeuuww) and the pounds are looming…

The new school buggy run is very pleasant for the most part. There’s a nasty hill at the end but thankfully I can just make it up to the school without any audible grunting. At 8am it’s still relatively cool, I get to peek in the driveways of the monster-mansions of my prosperous neighbours, Adam and I discuss the news of the day (or sometimes just trains and the moon) and there is the chance of monkeys. And who knows my butt might be a fraction firmer because of it. Stranger things have happened.

However as you enlightened people know, there is no Yang without Yin. So to balance out all this carb-burning New Year’s activity I have a meal plan from the dark side. Yes Luke, I am your feeder.

Oh So Easy Chocolate Cake – click here for recipe
Sticky Ribs, Potato Salad and veggie of your choice (or not)
Coconut & Mango Crumble  – recipe to follow later next week
Nonya (Malaysian Chilli Paste) Baked Fish with Rice and Garlic Long beans
Meatballs in Home-Made Tomato and Basil Sauce with Spaghetti

My delightfully tropical Coconut & Mango Crumble

Did I mention some of the above are desserts or cakes?  But note, they offer more than enough calories to keep you going. Plus you are all big enough (sorry, is that a sore point after Christmas?)..and beautiful enough, to make sure your get your veggies.

Elaine’s Beef Rendang Istimewa

Beef Rendang (Daging Rendang)

One of my all time favourites….Beef Rendang. It tastes so damn good. If you have never eaten this, your culinary life is incomplete! If you are too lazy to cook I can recommend Ivins Ivins peranakan restaurant in Binjai Park, Singapore. But you know what they say, ‘give a man a fish’ and all that…..

Now, the aficionados will probably be cussing me after this post as this recipe is slightly bastardized to fit my store cupboard. Whatever dude.

Ingredients:
Approx 500g Beef shin or chuck steak cubed (the best stew steak in my opinion – and usually cheap)
1x 400ml Canned Coconut Milk and 100g desiccated coconut, or, two large handfuls of freshly grated coconut* from which you will make your own milk and coconut for the sauce.
One stalk lemongrass
3-4 large cloves garlic peeled
1 large knob fresh root ginger (about size of a golf ball) peeled
1 large onion peeled and roughly chopped
2-4 Lime leaves (fresh or dried)
1 heaped tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 fresh green chillies, or, 1-2 tsp chilli powder (more or less as you like)
6 stoned prunes, or, 1 tbsp tamarind paste
1 large pinch sea salt
3-4 tbsp. cooking oil (rapeseed or olive, or vegetable)

Blitz in a food processor: onion, garlic, ginger, fresh chillies or chilli powder, prunes or tamarind paste, spices, salt and 2 tbsp of oil.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a heavy bottomed pan. You are going to cook this dish for almost 2 hours on the hob so you need a large, solid pan to make sure it doesn’t burn. Add the paste and fry for a few minutes until the paste is sizzling. Add the cubed beef and stir for another couple of minutes till the meat is browned and thoroughly covered in the paste.

Smash your lemongrass bulb till split but in one piece and drop into the pan with the meat. Add lime leaves and stir.

Add tinned coconut milk and desiccated coconut, or home-made milk and grated coconut, and stir and gently bring to the boil. Cover the pan and simmer for 2 hours stirring occasionally.

This is a relatively thick stew so don’t worry if the sauce reduces down. If it gets very low add a small amount of water.

Garnish with fresh coriander and serve with white rice. The flavours in this dish get even better eaten a day later – just remember to store it properly ;).

*fresh grated coconut is available from supermarkets and vegetable markets in Singapore. It is packaged in supermarkets and found in the chiller section by fresh noodles, dumplings, tofu etc. In the market you will need to ask market seller to grate it for you on the day. When you have got it, just mix in a medium bowl with approx 900ml drinking water, and with clean hands squeeze the coconut in the water. Do this for about 5 minutes and set aside till you need it. The cream will rise to the top but you can just stir it back in to get really creamy coconut milk – sedap!