I can do that!

The Inconvenient Blizzard of 2009

oggi.icandothat@gmail.com (oggi) — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 15:22:00 +0000

global warming has visited Ashburn, VA and the rest of the Eastern USA/sarc

total snowfall in Ashburn: 20 - 21.5 inches

Bibingka And Suman

oggi.icandothat@gmail.com (oggi) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

ginger suman and black and white bibingka

black and white layered bibingka topped with coconut jam

suman with grated fresh ginger

This is my last post for the year and here are a few favorite Filipino snacks I'd like to share: black and white bibingka (actually purple and white), suman, and if you have the energy, puto bumbong.

For black and white rice bibingka and puto bumbong, it is important to use glutinous black rice. There are non-glutinous black rice which I am not recommending because they don't have the same consistency as glutinous and take forever to cook.

For the suman, you can add a variety of flavors after boiling the glutinous rice in coconut milk and sugar. Fresh grated ginger is extra yummy paired with a mug of hot cocoa, chai, or jasmine tea. Another delicious flavor is the combination of chopped peanuts and chocolate, adding either grated dark chocolate or dark cocoa powder. Wrap in banana leaves and steam for 30 minutes.

Black And White Layered Bibingka
1 cup black glutinous rice
1 cup white glutinous rice
3 cups water, halved
½ cup sugar, halved
2 cups coconut milk, halved
salt
banana leaves
coconut jam

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8-inch round or square pan with banana leaves, set aside.
Cook the rice in 2 separate non-stick saucepans: Heat 1½ cups water, then add each of the rice. Let come to a full boil, lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk, sugar, and a pinch of salt and cook for 1 minute more. Spread the cooked black rice evenly on the lined pan. Spread the cooked white rice evenly on top of the black rice. Spread coconut jam all over the rice.
Bake for 30 minutes. Transfer the pan on the upper rack, turn on the broiler, and broil for a few minutes until jam is bubbly and browned. Do not let burn. Cool before slicing.

See you in 2010!

Cannellini Bean Soup With Kale

oggi.icandothat@gmail.com (oggi) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:00:00 +0000

Kale is my latest green leaf vegetable "flavor of the month". The dark green leaves are very good simply steamed and served with flaked sea salt and drizzled with lemon juice. They are also excellent baked into crispy chips, and of course added to soups. Kale not only tastes great, it's also very nutritious.

Bean soup with kale is the perfect comfort food during the cold months. It has been very cold the past 2 weeks; we had 6-inch snow 2 Fridays ago which took almost two weeks to melt completely. Where is this so-called global warming when you need it because we have 20°F nights for weeks now, our heater is working overtime and it's not even officially winter yet. It's okay though because I love the cold months, giving me a reason to cook and enjoy soups.

Cannellini Bean Soup With Kale
8 ounces dry cannellini beans
1 ounce pancetta or unsmoked thick sliced bacon, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
2 whole unpeeled garlic cloves
1 bay leaf
1 sprig each fresh rosemary and thyme
2 teaspoons sea salt, or to taste
2 cups coarsely chopped de-ribbed kale
2 medium tomatoes, seeded and coarsely chopped

Clean the beans and soak overnight in cold water.
The next day, preheat oven to 250°F. Rinse the beans, drain, and set aside.
In a Dutch oven, heat the oil and saute pancetta until golden brown. Add the chicken broth, water, garlic, bay leaf, rosemary, thyme, and beans. Bring to a gentle boil, cover, transfer into the oven, and bake for 1½ hours. Remove from oven, uncover and gently stir in the salt, then add the tomatoes and kale. Cover and continue to bake for another half to one hour or until the beans are tender. Discard garlic, bay leaf, rosemary, and thyme.
Transfer into a serving bowl, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil if desired.

New York Deli Rye: BBAC #31

oggi.icandothat@gmail.com (oggi) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 22:00:00 +0000

with onions, perfect for sandwiches or dipped in soups

The Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge Recipe #31: New York Deli Rye. I don't recall ever eating this type of rye bread; maybe I had although I'm not too sure.

Anyways, for this recipe, I divided the dough (with buttermilk but sans caraway seeds) and added cooked onion in one half and left the other half plain, let them rest on the the kitchen counter for 4 hours before putting them in the refrigerator overnight. The simple preparation and rising the next day took a total of about 5 and ½ hours. Both loaves are very tasty, slightly tangy, sweetish, and chewy. The one with onions make perfect sandwiches and I love it extra crispy dipped into soups, and the plain one is excellent toasted and buttered for breakfast. This recipe is another winner IMHO.

baked in a Pullman loaf pan

Rating:
flavor 5
texture 5
visual appeal 5
ease of preparation 5
performance 5
worth 5
Total: 30
Average: 5

It was not in my schedule to bake this week but when I read last Sunday's Pearls Before Swine comic strip featuring toasted rye bread I decided to make it since it's next in line to be baked anyway.

I love puns including this groaner, it made me roll my eyes and laugh at the same time.^__^

Sweet Potato Gnocchi With Chestnuts And Sage

oggi.icandothat@gmail.com (oggi) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:30:00 +0000

I never imagined gnocchi could be so delicious. I've had these in restaurants many years ago and also bought ready made ones from the refrigerated section at the grocery stores, not too often, just a few times. They were not too exciting and I remember them being chewy. I never had them again until I saw a recipe of sweet potato gnocchi with chestnuts and sage in the Gourmet magazine October 2009 issue. Anything that has chestnuts gets my attention right away, and the article describing the gnocchi as pillowy soft made me salivate even more. And it's true, they are pillowy soft, a bit sweet, and the simple combination of butter, crispy fried sage leaves, and chestnuts enhances these little orange gems. These are the best gnocchi I ever had, gnocchi-ding! Sorry for the bad pun.:D

Sweet Potato Gnocchi With Chestnuts And Sage
recipe adapted from Gourmet magazine

1 pound yukon gold or white potato
¾ pound sweet potato
1 large egg
½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese plus more for serving
1½ cups all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup sage leaves
1/3 cup roasted chestnuts, crumbled
2 tablespoons salted butter

Scrub both potatoes, place in a large pan, cover with water, and boil until soft (or bake them, if preferred). Cool potatoes slightly, then peel and force through ricer into a sheet pan, spreading in an even layer. Cool potatoes completely.
Lightly flour 2 or 3 large baking sheets or line with parchment paper.
Beat together egg, nutmeg, and salt in a small bowl.
Gather potatoes into a mound in sheet pan and form a well in center.
Pour egg mixture into well, then knead into potatoes. Knead in cheese and 1 and ¼ cups flour, then knead, adding more flour as necessary, until mixture forms a smooth but slightly sticky dough. Dust top lightly with some of the flour.
Cut dough into 6 pieces. Form 1 piece of dough into a half-inch-thick rope on a lightly floured surface. Cut rope into ½-inch pieces and lightly dust with flour. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough.
Turn a fork over and hold at a 45-degree angle, with tips of tines touching work surface. Working with one at a time, roll gnocchi down fork tines, pressing with your thumb, to make ridges on one side. Transfer gnocchi as formed to baking sheets. Occasionally rub clean and flour the tines as it gets sticky.
Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. Fry sage leaves in 3 batches, stirring, until they turn just a shade lighter and crisp (they will continue to crisp as they cool), about 30 seconds per batch. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Season lightly with salt. Fry the chestnuts briefly and transfer into a plate.
Add butter to oil in skillet and cook until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Turn off heat.
In a large pot, bring well salted water into a boil, add half the gnocchi and stir. Cook until they float to the surface, about 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to the skillet with butter sauce. Cook remaining gnocchi in same manner, transferring to skillet when cooked.
Heat gnocchi in skillet over medium heat, add chestnuts, and stir to coat. Transfer into a serving plate. Serve sprinkled with fried sage and grated Parmesan.

Gourmet note: Uncooked gnocchi can be frozen up to 1 month. Freeze in one layer on a baking sheet then transfer into resealable freezer bag/s. Do not thaw before cooking.

I buy Chinese roasted chestnuts from the Korean grocery. They are about a dollar for a 3.6-ounce packet, which contains more than enough for this recipe. In my opinion these small chestnuts from China are the best tasting and they are a bit sweeter than other varieties.

Basic Sourdough Bread: BBAC#30 Plus 5 More

oggi.icandothat@gmail.com (oggi) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 15:00:00 +0000

The Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge #30: Basic Sourdough Bread

For this challenge I used wild yeast mother starter (mistakenly referred to as BARM in the book) to prepare the sourdough starter. I didn't use commercial yeast for the final dough and fermented at a shorter period so the bread doesn't become too tangy. The sourdough refers to the starter which is acidic but depending on individual taste, the breads made with sourdough starters can be very sour or not at all. I prefer the latter because I never liked breads that are very sour.

I added a very small amount of rye flour to the dough and I really love the flavor of the bread which has a hint of sweetness. I made a free standing loaf and a small pain d'epi with half of the dough and into the second half I kneaded crumbled blue cheese then baked them in three 5 x 2 inch loaf pans. The mini loaves are incredibly yummy and the aroma is just wonderful. The crumb is chewy and the crust is very crispy. I love these tiny loaves. I started eating a large piece that I tore off from one of the loaves right after photographing them and ended up devouring the whole loaf while uploading the photos into my laptop. Yes, the bread is thaaat good. Mini sourdough loaf with blue cheese rocks!

shaping pain d'epi needs more practice

the middle part of the mini loaves had an enormous oven spring; they look like toy cars, don't they

mmmmm

Rating:
flavor 5
texture 5
visual appeal 5
ease of preparation 5
performance 5
worth 5
Total: 30
Average: 5

==================================================================

I continued baking while on "vacation" from this blog and here are the photos and ratings:

#29 Pugliese

another flavorful bread from the book although crumb is not as open as I would have liked; the slices make very nice appetizer toasted and drizzled with black truffle-flavored olive oil, then topped with lemon zest and chiffonade of mint

Rating:

flavor 5
texture 3
visual appeal 5
ease of preparation 5

performance 4

worth 5

Total: 27

Average: 4.5

#28 Potato Rosemary Bread

I love everything about this bread: the flavor, the texture, and aroma

Rating:
flavor 5
texture 5
visual appeal 5
ease of preparation 5

performance 5

worth 5
Total: 30

Average: 5

#27 Portuguese Sweet Bread

sweet and soft, delicious just with butter; an instant favorite

Rating:
flavor 5
texture 5
visual appeal 5
ease of preparation 5

performance 5

worth 5
Total: 30

Average: 5

#26 Poolish Baguettes

bread is tasty but crumb is not open

Rating:
flavor 4
texture 2
visual appeal 4
ease of preparation 5

performance 3

worth 3
Total: 18
Average: 3

#25 Pizza Napoletana

the best tasting pizza ever; the bread is sweetish, its edges are crispy and the rest of the thin crust with its almost charred bottom is chewy, just the way I like it; it's also perfect for sweet dessert pizzas with berries, apples, or pears drizzled with chocolate sauce or ribbons of Nutella

Rating:
flavor 5
texture 5
visual appeal 5
ease of preparation 5

performance 5

worth 5
Total: 30
Average: 5

Apple Marzipan Tart

oggi.icandothat@gmail.com (oggi) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:00:00 +0000

Fall means apples either for snacking or for making apple pies and tarts. For my first apple tart of the season I put a thin layer of marzipan on the bottom before adding the sliced apple halves. For extra crunch and sweetness I drizzled a little almond flavored caramelized sugar all over the baked tart. Very very yummy.

For this recipe, I suggest to use only sweet apples because there is very little sugar sprinkled on top. I used Honey Crisp, they're sweet and don't become soggy.

Apple Marzipan Tart
crust
1¾ cups pastry flour
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 stick butter, diced and chilled
6 tablespoons ice water

filling
1 cup marzipan, homemade or store-bought
6 medium Honey Crisp or Fuji apples
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons coarse raw sugar
1 tablespoon butter, shaved

topping (optional)
2 tablespoons sugar
¼ teaspoon pure almond extract

Prepare crust: Put flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor, pulse to combine. Add the chilled butter and pulse for a few seconds. Add ice water 2 tablespoons at a time. Gather into a ball, wrap in plastic film, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Roll dough into a 14-inch round and ease into a tart pan with removable bottom. Press the dough gently onto the sides of the pan; there should be a 2-inch overhang.

Flatten and roll the marzipan to fit the bottom of the pan and place on the crust.

Peel, halve, and core the apples. Slice the apple halves, leaving the slices in place and with a knife or offset spatula, transfer halves onto the marzipan, arranging to fit the pan. Dot with the shaved butter. Fold the crust overhang over the apples. Sprinkle all over with both sugars.

Place the tart on a sheet pan and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Remove tart from sheet pan and transfer to a wire rack. Let cool for 30 minutes before removing the sides of the pan.

For the caramel: In a small skillet, heat the sugar until melted and golden in color. Turn the heat off and stir in the almond extract. Immediately drizzle all over the apple tart.

If you have the patience to make it yourself, marzipan will cost just a fraction of the price of the ones from the store. You will need a food processor to make marzipan.

Marzipan
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
½ cup water
8 ounces blanched almonds
8 ounces icing sugar
1 tablespoon pure almond extract or rosewater
extra icing sugar

In a small pan, heat the sugar, light corn syrup, and water until sugar has dissolved. Boil until candy thermometer registers 235°F. Let cool slightly then transfer into a measuring cup.
Place the nuts and icing sugar into the bowl of a food processor and process until nuts are super fine. With the processor running, slowly add the syrup and almond extract until it gathers into a ball.
Dust work surface with icing sugar. Transfer almond paste on the work surface and knead, adding more icing sugar as needed, until smooth and pliable. Wrap in plastic film and refrigerate until needed.

homemade marzipan

Panettone: BBAC #24

oggi.icandothat@gmail.com (oggi) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:00:00 +0000

One word to describe Panettone, The Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge #24 : meh. I didn't care much for this bread. I have never liked panettone (the store-bought variety); I find it dry and blah. I was hoping that homemade will be better but my taste buds can't be wrong, this panettone like the ones from the stores is dry as bone and not tasty at all. Good thing I only made half a recipe.

IMHO this bread recipe needs MORE sugar and eggs. I prefer fruity breads moist and sweet and rich. I didn't want to waste all the candied peels, citron, dried fruits, almonds, and liqueur so I made it into bread pudding with lots of sugar, milk, eggs, and melted butter.

Rating:
flavor 1
texture 1
visual appeal 3
ease of preparation 3

performance 4

worth 0
Total: 12
Average: 2

Strawberry Flan

oggi.icandothat@gmail.com (oggi) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 20:00:00 +0000

a weekly gallery of food photography is hosted by SpiCes. The Iron Chef inspired theme for this week is Strawberries.

If you like flan and strawberries, here is an easy and delicious recipe.

Strawberry Flan
1 cup sugar for caramel
1 pint strawberries, hulled and washed
½ cup sugar, more or less to taste
6 eggs
1 can sweetened condensed milk
fanned strawberries for garnish, optional

Caramelize the 1 cup sugar and pour into the bottom of molds or ramekins. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 325°F.
Place the strawberries, sugar, eggs, and condensed milk in a blender and blend until strawberries are minced and all ingredients are mixed thoroughly. Pour the strawberry mixture into the prepared ramekins. Cover each ramekin with aluminum foil. Bake in a bain marie for 1 hour. Refrigerate overnight before unmolding.
Garnish flans with fanned whole strawberries if preferred.

Pane Siciliano BBAC#23

oggi.icandothat@gmail.com (oggi) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:00:00 +0000

The Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge #23: Pane Siciliano

Pane Siciliano is tasty and has a fantastic aroma coming out of the oven. Its slightly sweet soft yet chewy crumb is open with irregular large and medium holes similar to French bread. The golden brown crust is just thin enough to get a good crunch when toasted. I like it a lot.

Although this is a 3-day bread, it's very easy to make as most of the time spent is for fermention/refrigeration. I shaped a third of the dough into the S pictured in the book and the rest I plopped into a loaf pan. After an overnight stay in the refrigerator, they were made to rest for half an hour before baking and had good oven spring. The only thing I didn't like is the sesame seed topping. I love sesame seeds, they add a wonderful flavor to this bread but they fly all over the kitchen when slicing and more than half of the seeds just go to waste. This bread is a keeper and I won't mind baking it again, perhaps I'll use a bit of sourdough starter next time and shape them into baguettes.

So far, 3 Italian breads are in my favorites list, including this one. The next two recipes are also Italian, Panettone which I occasionally bought a long time ago during the Christmas season, and Pizza Napoletana. Will they become favorites too? Stay tuned.;-)

a bit "plump-in-the-middle" S bread

Rating:
flavor 5
texture 5
visual appeal 5
ease of preparation 5

performance 5

worth 5
Total: 30
Average: 5

Maja Blanca

oggi.icandothat@gmail.com (oggi) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 20:35:00 +0000

Maja Blanca is the Philippine version of white pudding made of cornstarch, milk, sugar, and vanilla extract. Maybe I am biased but IMHO our white pudding tastes way better because it has coconut milk and sweet corn kernels. I'm loving the recipe from KULINARYA guidebook which uses buco (young coconut) water and powdered milk and served with strips of buco meat on top. Really delicious!

Maja Blanca
adapted from KULINARYA guidebook
1 cup thick coconut cream
350 ml buco water
2 ears of sweet corn
2 tablespoons water
2 cups coconut milk
½ cup powdered milk
¾ cup sugar
½ cup cornstarch mixed with ½ cup water
buco meat, cut into strips

In a small skillet, heat the thick coconut cream over medium heat. When it starts to boil, lower the heat and continue cooking, uncovered, for 30 minutes. The milk should separate into oil and solid curd (latik). Remove the latik and set aside.
Cut the corn and scrape the cob on a large glass bowl. Add 2 tablespoons water, cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 1½ minutes.
In a medium non-stick saucepan, mix together the buco water, coconut milk, powdered milk, sugar, cornstarch mixture, and corn. Bring to a boil then lower heat. Simmer, uncovered, over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring constantly. Turn off heat when mixture thickens.
Transfer into individual bowls or a serving dish. Allow to cool and set. Top each serving with buco strips and latik.

coconut overload maja blanca

Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day

oggi.icandothat@gmail.com (oggi) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 20:00:00 +0000

Good news! PETER REINHART'S ARTISAN BREADS EVERY DAY will be published October 27, 2009 and is now available to pre-order at amazon. If anybody is interested in attending one of his classes or events here is the link to his blog.

I love most of the recipes I tested for this book. Learning an easier and quicker method for making flavorful rustic breads (ciabatta, pizza, mini baguettes, focaccia) and being able to bake delicious flaky croissants on my first try are reasons enough for me to recommend it.

Here are a few photos of the breads I tested:

my very first attempt at making croissants: super flaky crust, pillowy soft multi-layered delicious crumb

cheese bread with 2 variations: a soft one and a crusty [with levain] version, both are very yummy

chocolate babka that everybody will love

Prawn Sinigang

oggi.icandothat@gmail.com (oggi) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 22:00:00 +0000

It's definitely fall already. The past few days have been cold and windy that I started bringing my plants inside the house. First to come in are the calamansi tree which has hundreds of tiny fruits growing right now, and the Spanish pimiento which I want to try to continue growing indoors. We've had several consecutive 40°F nights and my tomato plants are now starting to die. The plants still have plenty of unripe fruits, some I already made into green tomato jam which is yummy, btw.

Thinking of ways to use the green tomatoes aside from frying them, sinigang (soup) came to mind. Yes, since green tomatoes are a little bit more acidic than the ripe ones, they are definitely perfect as additional souring agent for sinigang. I used a packet of frozen young tamarind leaves and together with some vegetables from my garden I made prawn sinigang, very yummy.

homegrown vegetables: tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, sitaw

heirloom tomatoes: pink beauty, German green, Brandywine

Prawn Sinigang
4 cups rice water or water
souring agent such as fresh tamarind, young tamarind leaves, or kamias
4 large ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges
4 green tomatoes, cut into wedges
yardlong beans, cut into 1½-inch pieces
2 small Asian eggplants, sliced
1 cup edamame or lima beans
2 green medium-hot peppers (siling haba)
2 teaspoons sea salt or to taste
½ pound prawns

Place water and souring agent in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, turn heat down to medium, cover, and let boil for 10 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients except prawns. Simmer, covered, for 3 to 5 minutes or until eggplants are soft.
Add the prawns and cook uncovered until they turn pink or red and completely cooked. Transfer into a serving container and serve immediately with steamed rice and fish sauce.

Me Want Cookie!

oggi.icandothat@gmail.com (oggi) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:30:00 +0000

It's been a looong time, probably 2 years, since I last had chocolate chip cookies. I haven't baked them because there are no longer small children in my house to appreciate these treats. I'm also too busy baking other goodies like meringue, macarons, and silvanas, and tons of bread.

Last week, I suddenly had a craving for chocolate chip cookies after reading Snickers Bar Chocolate Chip cookies at Joelen's blog. I didn't have Snickers candy bars but I did have toffee brickle chips and peanut chips. I adapted the recipes on the packages adding chocolate chips in both doughs.

Both cookies are very good and will surely bring out your inner Cookie Monster.
Me want Cookie! Cookies! Nomnomnom

Toffee Brickles And Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 stick butter, softened
6 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons dark brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
¾ cup toffee brickle chips
½ cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350° F.
In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until fully incorporated.
Stir together flour, baking soda, salt, and cream of tartar. With mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture. Stir until just combined. Stir in both chips.
Using a small ice cream scoop, drop dough on parchment lined cookie sheets 1½ inches apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until light brown.
Cool on wire racks for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies on a flat surface or on wire racks and let cool completely. Store in an airtight jar.

Chewy Chocolate And Peanut Chip Cookies

1 stick plus 2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup peanut chips
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350° F.
Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt, set aside.
In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until fully incorporated. With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture until just combined. Stir in the peanut and chocolate chips.
Using a small ice cream scoop, drop dough on 2 parchment lined cookie sheets 2 inches apart. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on wire racks for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies on a flat surface or wire rack and let cool completely. Store in an airtight jar.

Pain de Campagne: BBAC #22

oggi.icandothat@gmail.com (oggi) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:00:00 +0000

I had so much high hopes for The Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge # 22: Pain de Campagne but wasn't too thrilled with the result. It is not as tasty as Pain a l'Ancienne. The tight crumb is soft-ish although chewy, which is good. The book doesn't have any photo of the crumb so I can't really tell if it is supposed to be open or tight. I don't really care because I won't be baking this bread anytime soon. The flavor is so-so and there's nothing to rave and write about it. I decided to substitute photos for a lengthy write-up instead.

The only thing I enjoyed the most in making this bread is the shaping. The couronne Bordelaise looks so pretty but the book does not have the instructions which I found here. It's really fun to make and you don't really need a lined banneton to be able to shape it. A 10-inch pie plate or skillet and a smooth kitchen towel will do the job.

I improvised a couronne basket by taping a small plastic container in the middle of a wicker banneton with removable liner

the lining was dusted with lots of flour before laying on top of basket and plastic container

proofing

proofed dough inverted on a piece of parchment and ready for baking

the bread up close

Rating:
flavor 3
texture 3
visual appeal 4
ease of preparation 5

performance 3

worth 2
Total: 20
Average: 3.3

Vinegar And Chili Dipping Sauce

oggi.icandothat@gmail.com (oggi) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 20:00:00 +0000

chili infused vinegar is great with breakfast favorite longaniza patty topped with fried egg, or with grilled fish, meat, and chicken, and with fried lumpia taugeh

One of the most popular Filipino dipping sauces (sawsawan) is vinegar and birds-eye chili peppers. The dipping sauce enhances the flavor of any meal of the day including breakfast. It can be prepared fresh just before eating or already bottled, homemade or store-bought. Seasonings such as sea salt, fish extract, soy sauce, caramelized sugar syrup, or bagoong are added according to individual preference.

Chili In A Bottle (of Vinegar)
fresh red and green hot peppers
2 peeled whole garlic cloves
1-inch piece peeled and sliced ginger
palm vinegar (sukang paombong)

Fill a clean bottle half-full with chili, add the garlic and ginger. Fill with vinegar. Put the lid on and leave on the kitchen counter for 3 to 5 days for the flavors to meld. Pour a few tablespoons of the chili-infused vinegar in a dipping dish, add the preferred seasoning and a few sliced or crushed chili peppers from the bottle.

a weekly gallery of food photography, Filipino style, is hosted by SpiCes.

Pandan Crêpe Layer Cake

oggi.icandothat@gmail.com (oggi) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 23:00:00 +0000

I found a year-old [home canned] jar of mangoes in syrup in my pantry. They aren't spoiled and still very good so I sliced them really thin to fill the pandan crêpes I had been planning to make. I stacked the crêpes and mango and cream filling instead of fill/roll individually. It is not such a brilliant idea because they went slipping and sliding when I cut the "cake" into slices. It's okay, though, because it is so good and with chocolate sauce is extra yummy. I just pushed them back together to make it look tidy. I'll make a proper pandan chiffon layer cake with similar filling next time.

Pandan Crêpe Layer Cake
crêpes
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
½ cup pandan water (blend 6 pandan leaves with ½ cup water and strain)
2 eggs
¼ teaspoon sea salt
4 tablespoons light olive oil
3 drops green food dye gel
butter

filling
thin slices of ripe mangoes
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons condensed milk

Mix crêpe ingredients except butter in a blender until smooth. Heat a 7-inch skillet, rub with butter and pour about a quarter cup of batter, rotating the pan quickly to spread evenly. Cook on medium-low heat until edges are dry, lift, and flip to cook the other side. Stack on a plate and let cool completely.
Prepare the cream filling: Whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. Add condensed milk and whip for 30 seconds until blended.
Fill individually with mangoes and cream, roll and place on a plate seam side down. Drizzle with chocolate sauce. Or, if you prefer the layered look: place one crêpe on a platter, arrange sliced mangoes on top, spread 2 tablespoons of cream and repeat with the rest of the crêpes and filling, and a crêpe on top. Cut into 6 slices. Drizzle with chocolate sauce.

all my favorites in one yummy dessert: pandan, mangoes, cream, condensed milk, chocolate

BBAC #21: Pain à l'Ancienne

oggi.icandothat@gmail.com (oggi) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:00:00 +0000

After baking 20 bread recipes in The Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge, I can honestly say Peter Reinhart is absolutely spot on when he says bread Number 21, Pain à l'Ancienne is one of the easiest doughs in the book to make. There is very little kneading involved, no shaping, no proofing, and scoring, which IMHO is almost futile anyway, is just an option. All you do is mix, refrigerate overnight, cut the dough into equal portions, elongate the pieces a little bit which is not hard to do, bake, and 20 minutes later, you will be enjoying a crispy [crust] sweetish light and airy most delicious bread you will ever have, at least to me it is. It is so good I can't stop eating it. This is currently my favorite bread from the book. Wait, didn't I just say that last week, and the week before last? Aack, I am starting to sound like a broken record! And there is a possibility that I will say the same thing the next 22 weeks.^__^

The slack dough uses ice-cold 40°F water and after mixing with flour, yeast, and salt, the dough is immediately stored in the refrigerator overnight. Peter explains that the delayed fermentation using ice-cold water produces a bread that "has a natural sweetness and nutlike character that is distinct from breads made from the same ingredients but fermented by the standard method, even with large percentages of pre-ferment". It has something to do with the natural sugars in flour but I won't go into details of the chemical reactions going on in this dough. The bread is delicious and it's all that matters.

Some of the loaves came out nice and straight but some are crooked and uneven which I like even better because of their rustic appearance. Adding to my delight are the irregular large holes in the crumb. Once again I am grateful to Nicole for this nifty idea of becoming Peter Reinhart's virtual apprentice and being able to bake great tasting loaves of bread. This is one recipe that I will be baking over and over. I actually baked a second batch the very next day and the result is consistent in flavor and texture, light airy crispy flavorful bread.

We didn't wait for the bread to cool because the loaves finished baking just in time for dinner. We spread aioli on the slices and had them with Green Bouillabaisse for a most satisfying vegetarian meal. This dough can also be shaped into ciabatta or focaccia which I will be making very soon.

Rating:
flavor 5
texture 5
visual appeal 5
ease of preparation 5

performance 5

worth 5
Total: 30
Average: 5

Help For the Philippines

oggi.icandothat@gmail.com (oggi) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:40:00 +0000

This is an appeal for aid to the victims of the devastating typhoon that hit the Philippines last Saturday. Here is the link to find how you can help:

http://www.google.com/landing/typhoon-ondoy.html

Here are two of the several photos a friend emailed me yesterday. The sources are unknown so I can't acknowledge them but thanks for the images.

at Katipunan, Quezon City

at Taft Avenue, I believe that is De La Salle University

Green Bouillabaisse

oggi.icandothat@gmail.com (oggi) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 15:30:00 +0000

delicious meatless dinner: all-vegetable bouillabaisse, crusty bread, and aioli

After weeks of having chicken and meat, we usually crave for vegetarian dishes to sort of "clean the palate". And Michel Richard's fishless bouillabaisse recipe is the perfect dish to satisfy an all-vegetable craving. The preparation is a bit involved so I cut it down by using frozen baby artichokes. I also used very young rainbow chard from my garden in place of baby spinach and the white parts of green onions because we don't care much for leeks. The combination of flavors is fantastic and a large bowl of this healthy and delicious green bouillabaisse is extremely satisfying specially with aioli-topped fresh out of the oven Pain à l'Ancienne.

Green Bouillabaisse With Aioli
adapted from Michel Richard's Green Bouillabaisse

4 large ripe tomatoes
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 sweet onion, chopped
3 green onions, white parts only, sliced
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
orange
½ pound frozen baby artichokes
a pinch of saffron
½ tablespoon sugar
a quarter of a star anise
½ cup dry white wine
1½ tablespoons Pernod (anise liqueur)
1 sprig thyme
salt and ground black pepper
1 zucchini, cut in half lengthwise then sliced
1 fennel bulb, cored and julienned
2 celery sticks, sliced
2 cups baby spinach

Cut the tomatoes in half. Remove seeds over a strainer on top of a bowl. Set aside the strainer. Grate the tomato halves directly on the bowl. Discard tomato skins. Strain to measure 1½ cups tomato water. Set aside. Discard tomato pulp or keep for another use.
Using a peeler, remove a quarter of the orange zest. Set aside.
In a saucepan, heat the oil and saute onion until soft. Add the green onions and minced garlic and stir fry for 3 minutes. Add sugar, star anise, saffron, and orange zest. Cook for another 3 minutes. Add artichokes, wine, Pernod, thyme, and tomato water. Season with salt and ground black pepper to taste. Let mixture come to a boil and simmer, uncovered, until artichokes are tender, about 10 minutes.
Add zucchini, celery, and fennel. Simmer until fennel is tender crisp. Turn heat off and add spinach or chard.
Remove and discard the sprig of thyme. Transfer bouillabaisse into a serving dish and serve with slices of crusty bread and aioli.

Aioli
one 4-ounce Yukon Gold potato, peeled, diced, and steamed
4 garlic cloves, finely minced or grated
1 egg yolk
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ cup grapeseed oil
fine sea salt
ground cayenne pepper
a few drops of lemon juice

Put potato, garlic, egg yolk, and 1 tablespoon oil in a blender. Blend until potato is fully mashed. With blender running on high, slowly drizzle the oil, stopping to scrape down the sides when necessary, until mixture has thickened.
Season aioli with cayenne, lemon juice, and sea salt to taste. Transfer into a jar and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Lasang Pinoy, Sundays: Fruits And Vegetables

oggi.icandothat@gmail.com (oggi) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 22:00:00 +0000

a weekly gallery of food photography, Pinoy style, is hosted by SpiCes.

For this week's [freestyle] theme, here are a few of my favorite fruits and vegetables. Oh, how I wish I could have atis and green mangoes all year round.

atis

manggang hilaw

ampalaya, patola, sitaw, puso ng saging

Malaysian Laksa

oggi.icandothat@gmail.com (oggi) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:30:00 +0000

One of the dishes I had in Singapore over 30 years ago was a delicious mix of egg noodles and fried tofu chunks in red spicy broth garnished with prawns, mungbean sprouts, and sliced boiled eggs. I didn't remember the name of the dish and have forgotten about it. A few Top Chef seasons ago I recognized the dish when a cheftestant prepared something similar which she called Laksa (the judges deemed her version of the dish awful BTW). I immediately looked for a recipe in my ancient Singaporean cookbook but didn't find one. Thankfully ready made spice pastes from Malaysia are now available at the Asian groceries and the paste makes superb Laksa just like the one I had in Singapore.

If you want to make the spice paste from scratch, here is a recipe I adapted from one I found online. I made it once and it is very good but I prefer the convenience of the prepared spice paste.

Laksa
spice paste
10 fresh long red hot chili pepper, chopped
8 purple shallots, chopped
5 candlenuts
1-inch piece fresh galangal, peeled and chopped
1-inch piece ginger, chopped
2 stalks lemongrass, white part only, chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil
1 teaspoon belacan or gapi (shrimp paste)
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar

Place ingredients in a food processor and process until finely chopped. Set aside ½ cup and keep the rest in a jar in the refrigerator or freezer.

Laksa soup
1 tablespoon oil
½ cup spice paste
1 can coconut milk, or low-fat yogurt
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
fried tofu, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 pound cooked peeled prawns
cooked fresh egg noodles
mungbean sprouts, blanched
boiled eggs, quartered
Vietnamese mint leaves
chopped red hot chili, optional

In a wok or saucepan, heat the oil and stir fry the paste until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add the coconut milk and broth and bring to a boil. Add the tofu and let simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Divide (warm) noodles into 4 serving bowls. Ladle the soup on top of noodles, arrange pieces of tofu, cooked prawns, eggs, bean sprouts, mint leaves, and chopped chili.

Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire

oggi.icandothat@gmail.com (oggi) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:30:00 +0000

The Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge week 20: Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire.

If you are like me who loves hearty chewy bread with a bit of crunch, then this is the loaf for you. The slices are very good as they are and utterly delicious toasted for sandwiches. I spread mayonnaise on the toasted slices, piled thick slices of heirloom tomatoes sprinkled with sea salt, and had the best and satisfying sandwich ever! Seriously. This bread is just perfect, in my honest opinion. I also love it for open-faced cucumber sandwich and with the slightly sour-sweet caramelly cheese mysost.

The bread I made is loaded with a soaker combination of polenta, millet, quinoa, rolled oats, and wheat bran, plus the cooked brown rice in the dough. There was too much dough for my loaf pan so I shaped the extra into 2.5-ounce buns. I then rolled the tops of the shaped loaf and buns in white poppy seeds.

The bread is chewy from all the various grains and high-gluten flour but the extra chew comes from the brown rice; and the crunch is from polenta, quinoa, and poppy seeds. The honey and dark brown sugar, which might be too much for some but for me it is just about right, and buttermilk contribute to the bread's overall flavor and yummyness. I love soft white milky breads but this easy to make extraordinary multigrain bread is an absolute keeper; another winning formula from Mr. Reinhart. Can you tell I have a new number one favorite bread recipe from the book?

to make the seeds stick on the unbaked dough, I spread them on the counter and pressing slightly, roll the tops of the shaped dough on the seeds

Rating:
flavor 5
texture 5
visual appeal 5
ease of preparation 5

performance 5

worth 5
Total: 30
Average: 5

Piaya

oggi.icandothat@gmail.com (oggi) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 01:15:00 +0000

filled with ube paste and muscovado (raw sugar)

One of the Philippine treats we truly love is the highly addicting piaya, sweet flaky flat bread snacks from the Negros province. These are best eaten when freshly baked and importing them from the Philippines is not possible, unless there are friends and family who are willing to hand carry them as pasalubong. I make them whenever I get the craving which is way too often.:-)

a weekly gallery of food photography, Filipino style, is hosted by SpiCes.

Japanese Cheesecake

oggi.icandothat@gmail.com (oggi) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:30:00 +0000

eating a slice of Japanese cheesecake is like eating a piece of cloud

The Japanese are very creative and innovative when it comes to breads and cakes. Last year I read that their cheesecake is softer and lighter than the cheesecake we know. I have always wanted to make it since and recently found in my opinion the best recipe. It has only half a pound of cream cheese, lots of eggs, and a little bit of cake flour and cornflour. Whipping the egg whites to soft peaks produces a chiffon cake-like cheesecake that is cotton soft, melt-in-your mouth, and light as cloud but tastes exactly like cheesecake. I love that the recipe doesn't have too much sugar and the sweetness to me is just perfect. As usual, I used calamansi juice in place of the lemon juice. This cheesecake is just heavenly.

Japanese Cheesecake
8 ounces cream cheese
4 tablespoons butter
3 ounces milk
6 egg yolks
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 ounces cake flour
1 ounce cornstarch
¼ teaspoon salt
6 egg whites
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
¾ cup sugar

Grease and line with parchment paper the bottom and sides of an 8-inch x 2 inch round cake pan, set aside.

Melt cream cheese, butter, and milk over a double boiler, stirring with a rubber spatula, set aside to cool. When cool, fold in the flour, cornstarch, egg yolks, lemon juice, and salt; mix well.

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add in the sugar and beat until soft peaks form.

Add the cheese mixture to the egg white mixture and mix well. Pour into the prepared pan and bake in a bain marie in a preheated 325°F oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. Transfer into a serving plate. Enjoy!

bake until top is golden