Georgina Hayden

Feeding since 1982

  • Recipes
    • Breakfast & brunch
    • Starters & sides
    • Light meals
    • Main meals
    • Snacks
    • Baking & puddings
    • Drinks
    • Preserving
    • Travel
    • Reviews
  • Books
    • Nistisima
    • Taverna
    • Stirring Slowly
  • Styling
  • About
  • Contact
  • Press

Batch, budget cooking – Beef Rendang

01.08.2019 by georgie // Leave a Comment

Oh January you funny month. When pay day can’t come soon enough, no one can be bothered to leave the house (SO COLD), and an empty diary is a dream – or is that just me?

And now for slight digression (bear with me). I get asked to do lots of interesting things via the weird and wonderful world of Social Media, brands that you wouldn’t necessarily associate with a food writer. I mostly end up saying no because, well, authenticity. However last year Voucher Codes got in touch to ask me if I’d be up for filming a budget friendly family recipe for them. Interesting. Whilst they are not a food brand I appreciate their aim to help people save money and be more savvy. I am constantly trying to be less wasteful, for the environment and for our pockets. So I said yes, and gave them one of my favourite batch cook recipes.

At the time I had just cooked this beef rendang for friends that had come to stay. There were 4 adults in total and 3 children, aged 9, 5 and 16 months. I actually made it with chicken thighs, which you can very easily do. And left out nearly all the chilli, as Persephone was due to eat it too (I sneaked in a very little bit). I simply added chilli oil to the adult portions at the end.

So, here you go, if you can face it, theres a video below of yours truly demonstrating how easy it is to make said Rendang. Perfect for all ages (just adjust the chilli), great to make in advance, little involvement and it freezes really well. I hope you like it.

BEEF RENDANG

  • 4 – 6 dried red chillies
  • 2cm piece of ginger
  • 2 lemongrass stalks
  • 2cm piece galangal (if you can’t find galangal replace with an extra piece of ginger)
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 3 shallots
  • 1kg beef shin or stewing beef
  • 1 x 400g can of coconut milk
  • 4 kaffir lime leaves
  • 50g desiccated coconut (unsweetened ideally but don’t worry if not, just soak it in boiling water for a few minutes first)
  • Basmati rice, to serve
  • ½ bunch of coriander

Store cupboard ingredients:

  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • Groundnut or vegetable oil
  • 1 star anise
  • 1 stick of cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp soft light brown sugar
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Method:

  1. Place a large casserole pan on a medium heat and toast the dried chillies for a minute.
  2. Meanwhile peel and roughly chop the ginger, galangal (if using), garlic and shallots.
  3. Add to a food processor along with the turmeric and toasted chillies.
  4. Blitz the spices to a paste, adding a splash of water if need be.
  5. Trim the lemongrass stalks and bash them gently in a pestle and mortar.
  6. Pop a large casserole type pan on a medium heat and pour in a couple of tablespoons of groundnut oil.
  7. Add the star anise, cinnamon and lemongrass and fry for a minute.
  8. Spoon in all the spice paste from the food processor and reduce the heat a little.
  9. Gently saute for 10 minutes to soften, stirring often so it doesn’t catch.
  10. Chop the beef into 3cm pieces, removing any large pieces of fat, and add to the pan.
  11. Fry for a few minutes to brown then add the coconut milk along with the kaffir lime leaves.
  12. Turn the heat up and gently bring to the boil. Stir in the brown sugar and a good pinch of salt and pepper.
  13. Once boiling cover the pot and cook on the lowest heat for around 2 – 2.5 hours.
  14. Check the beef, it should be tender and falling apart. If using shin it may take longer, up to 4 hours.
  15. While the beef is cooking toast the coconut. If your desiccated coconut is sweetened, soak in a small bowl in boiling water for a few minutes, then drain it in a sieve to remove the excess sugar.
  16. Toast the coconut in a dry frying pan over a low heat until lightly golden, then keep to one side.
  17. When the rendang is ready, remove the lid and stir in the toasted coconut.
  18. Turn up the heat and bring the rendang back to the boil. You want to cook it over a medium- high heat for a further 15 – 20 minutes, so that the liquid completely cooks away and you are left with a sticky and gnarly curry, that is coated in the coconut spice mix.
  19. Don’t be afraid to let it catch slightly as it cooks, you want it to darken and caramelise.
  20. Cook your rice according to packet instructions and serve alongside the rendang, garnishing with the chopped coriander leaves.

Categories // Batch Cooking, Family, General, Main meals, Stirring Slowly

Hayden Weekly Menu, but not as you know it…

01.02.2019 by georgie // Leave a Comment

When I first met Pete I was obsessed with the fact that his parents have had the same weekly menu all their lives. What madness! It tickled me, and I loved it. I still love it in fact, because it means when we visit I know I am having roast chicken for dinner on a Saturday night with potatoes, peas and cauliflower cheese. And that there is vanilla Vienetta for pudding. This hasn’t changed in 37 years. For the longest time I just couldn’t get my head around the idea of a set weekly menu. Now that I am juggling work and baby and house maintenance I TOTALLY GET IT. And while I’m never going to have the same week menu on rotation (my job/ I need to experiment etc), I fully appreciate the ease and calmness it must have provided my mother in law. She had 3 boys to raise, a full time job once they were at school and a husband to cook for. Of course the woman had dinners set in stone for goodness sake.

When I am shooting and developing recipes for work, it’s just days of leftovers. But on quiet weeks like this a menu plan is a God send. So here I am sharing this weeks plan with you. It’s not that I think it is the best thing ever, or I’m saying go copy it word for word, it’s more for a bit of inspiration and to show how we do things. I’ll be sharing some of the recipes along the way too (over on @peaandthepod).

Also bear in mind that we have a kid in childcare 3 days a week so that means lunches + tea are taken care of Monday – Wednesday. She still comes home and will eat a little of whatever I am making for dinner, so I still need to make sure there is something Persephone can eat on the table but it is definitely less manic. We are also both at work those days so the meals are less fussy. They are quicker, simpler, freezer reliant and leftover friendly. On the days where I am at home I tend to cook a little more, and weekends are naturally a little more indulgent.

Anyway, I hope this helps a little and keep an eye on IG for any recipes that might tickle your fancy. Oh and Happy New Year! x

WEEKLY MENU – JAN 2019

THURSDAY

  • B: Pete’s sourdough toast
  • Snack: Carrot rounds
  • L: red lentil + squash soup (take to the park in thermos)
  • Snack: yoghurt + pear
  • D: Sweet potato + black bean quesadillas, mashed avocado
  • (Make overnight oats)

FRIDAY

  • B: Overnight oats + yoghurt
  • Snacks: red pepper + a little feta
  • L: Eating out
  • Snack: Yoghurt + clementine
  • D: Coconut beef curry with rice noodles (batch cook curry for freezer) Recipe to come on Pea + the Pod

SATURDAY

  • B: Overnight oats + yoghurt
  • Snack + L: Eating out
  • Snack: banana bread
  • D: Semolina gnocchi with greens on the side. Recipe to come on Pea + the Pod

SUNDAY

  • B: Chocolate porridge + blueberries
  • L: Herby pea + cheese omelette (use whatever is in fridge)
  • Snack: Carrot rounds
  • D: Indian Shepherd’s Pie with peas + spinach (Pete to cook)
  • Pud: Yoghurt

MONDAY (P NURSERY)

  • B: Cereal
  • L: Leftover Shepherd’s pie (Pete + Georgie)
  • D: Khichdi: slow cooked split peas, rice and kale – batch cook Recipe to come on Pea + the Pod

TUESDAY (P NURSERY)

  • B: Golden porridge + banana
  • L: Leftover khichdi (Pete and Georgie)
  • D: Defrosted coconut beef curry with rice + broccoli

WEDNESDAY (P NURSERY)

  • B: Granola, yoghurt + pear
  • L: Out out
  • D: Jacket potatoes, miso tuna + avocado Recipe in Stirring Slowly

Categories // Family, Parenting, Pregnancy and Parenting, Stirring Slowly, Vegan and Vegetarian

Have child, will travel: The Lake District

12.05.2018 by georgie // Leave a Comment

I’ve banged on about food being my life for a few years now, but connected to that is travel. One equates to the other for me – my love of food is not only what is on my doorstep (although that is important too). But also taking inspiration from where I go, what I see and do. It always has been, with every passing year being centred around trips and journeys. Even when Persephone was born one of the first things we did was book tickets to Australia, as we thought it was a good idea to go long haul before she was fully mobile (it really was). Pre-baby I realised a lot of my destinations were picked on what I wanted to eat. I adore spicy food, so Asia has seen a lot of love. When we lived in a Vietnamese populated part of London we became obsessed with the food so a trip to Vietnam seemed obvious. Then there are journeys closer to home – a train journey through France, heading for Italy – Piedmont to be specific – in November for truffle and hazelnut season. Staying on a hazelnut farm for £50 a night. It isn’t always about big monies.

[Read more…]

Categories // Family, Travel

Meet


Georgina is an award winning food writer, cook and presenter from North London.
Read more about Georgina

Instagram

Butternut squash, chickpea + spinach soup
Insanely delicious @saturday.kitchen line up today. See you at 10am!
One pan noodle bowl, for one!
I don’t think you’re ready for this… Strawberry and rose crema jelly 💅
Ya favourite Greek Cypriot auntie vibes, incoming…
September health kick incoming. Whilst the summer hols have been amazing I’m going to have to ween myself off the daily ice creams and pastel de natas!

Recent Posts

  • Nistisima (And Hello!)
  • My love affair with Delicious
  • How to Make… Taverna Recipes
  • Cyprus! Taverna! What a few months…
  • Pancake Day!

Copyright © 2023 · Modern Studio Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in