The Wayward Oven

Rice, lentils and crisp onion

noreply@blogger.com (Jane) — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 06:46:00 +0000

RICE & LENTILS WITH CRISP ONION

I first made mejadra from a recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi which I found online. It was adapted from the recipe in his book Jerusalem, written with Sami Tamimi, which I now have and from which I have cooked extensively.

I have prepared a mejadra-like dish many times since then, but have done it in a way that I consider much simpler. The original recipe lists uncooked rice as an ingredient and everything is cooked together like a paella. I start with already cooked rice, leftover from the day or two before (always have some lying around), so this is like a salad in a way.

I also use the oil used to fry the onions as part of the "dressing"; the original recipe uses fresh oil to cook the spices and rice. But this is such a delicious ingredient, and it's a shame not to use it.

I've used white, brown and even black rice for my dish. I started eating red rice recently (ooh, try saying "red rice recently" quickly three times!) and have used it this time.

As for the lentils, I have used puy lentils and green lentils, which I suspect are the same thing. Although some recipes say to soak them overnight first, I have cooked them immediately after rinsing and they are tender in about 15 minutes.

I suppose this rice would be a side dish to meats and seafood, but I love it on its own as a one-dish meal and so I have added some rocket to it to get in some fresh and raw.

Salad or side dish... either one is fine by me

Rice & Lentils with Crisp Onion

Serves 2

3 tbsp green lentils, rinsed

1 medium onion, peeled and sliced thinly

1 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 tbsp rice flour (or cornstarch)

Vegetable oil

¼ tsp fennel seeds

Large pinch each of ground cumin, cardamom, cinnamon and allspice

1¼ cup cooked rice (coloured rice is nuttier and chewier)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Salad leaves, optional

Place lentils and a pinch of salt in a small pot and cover with water. Cook until tender. Drain the lentils but retain a little of the cooking liquid.

Toss sliced onion with both flours. Heat 2 to 3 tbsp of oil in a frying pan. Shake off excess flour and fry the onion until crisp. Remove onion from pan and transfer to a kitchen paper-lined plate to drain. Sprinkle some salt over it.

Leave about 2 tsp of oil in the frying pan and over low heat stir-fry the fennel seeds and ground spices until fragrant. Add the cooked rice and toss about to coat with the oil and spices. Add the cooked lentils. Add some of the lentil liquid if the mixture sticks to the bottom of the pan. Give it a few tosses and take off the heat. Add salt and plenty of black pepper and toss with the fried onion. Serve as a side dish or with salad leaves as a one-dish meal.

More (and moreish) sourdough brownies

noreply@blogger.com (Jane) — Fri, 31 May 2013 22:00:00 +0000

ALMOND SOURDOUGH BROWNIES CAPPED WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE

Everyone has their own favourite brownie recipe, the one some people call "the best brownie recipe ever" or "the ultimate brownie".

I don't doubt that a brownie can be the best ever or the ultimate one. But it is all a matter of taste. Personally, I'm not so keen on really squidgy or pudding-like brownies or the ones with an additional gooey layer slathered on top. If I have to eat it with a fork or keep wiping away the creamy topping or chocolate smears from around my mouth and on my fingers, then I consider that not quite ideal.

I prefer my brownies crisp and crackled on top, and chewy and tender in the middle. Brownies are often referred to as a cross between cake and cookie and that's how I like it. If there's a topping, it should be baked on. I'd like to be able to pick up a brownie with one hand and not have it crumble as I eat it.

These brownies came about because I wasn't satisfied with the Coconut Nut Sourdough Brownies that I made for the Sourdough Surprises baking group challenge. That recipe was adapted from a sourdough-less but very reliable cocoa brownie recipe from Mad About Brownies by Barbara Albright and Leslie Weiner. Well, I did say in that post that I would be tweaking the recipe.

So I played around with my basic sourdough recipe, and thought about reducing some ingredients and adding others – and changing how they are added – and this is what I came up with.

I think – in fact, I know since I have done it many times before – that it's easy to make ordinary brownies. But it's easy to make extraordinary ones too.

These cocoa sourdough brownies may not be everyone's idea of the best ever or ultimate brownie, but to my taste, they are.

Crisp top, firm nutty centre

White Chocolate & Almond Sourdough Brownies

Makes 16

Sponge

25g unfed leaven

55g all-purpose flour

45g tepid water

Mix all the ingredients together, cover and set aside until slightly bubbly, 2-3 hours.

Final batter

25g all-purpose flour

¼ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp table salt

150g caster sugar

75g butter, softened

1 egg yolk

2 egg whites

All the sponge (about 110g)

1 tsp vanilla extract

50g unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

90g almond nibs

50g white chocolate, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a 20cm square baking tin and line the base and sides with parchment paper.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolk until just combined.

Beat in the sponge and vanilla extract.

Fold in the cocoa powder, followed by the flour mixture and almond nibs.

Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until the soft peak stage. Stir a third of the egg whites into the cocoa mixture to loosen it. Fold in the rest of the egg whites.

Spoon the batter into the prepared tin and sprinkle with the chopped white chocolate. Press down lightly and bake for 35-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out with just a few crumbs sticking to it.

Cool in the tin on a wire rack until warm, the remove from the tin. Best cut and served after storing overnight in an air-tight container at room temperature.

The prawns go pop

noreply@blogger.com (Jane) — Wed, 29 May 2013 13:37:00 +0000

POPCORN PRAWNS WITH DIPS

It's been hectic for a while now and so cooking has been... well, on the back burner. But I recently had to make a dish for a cooking column I contribute to in the newspapers and came up with these popcorn prawns. Only, the column was shelved for a week and I had second thoughts about featuring the dish there after all, so I have something to post about over here.

I'm not very good at deep-frying and I actually only shallow-fried these but I'm happy with how they turned out. One of the nice things about it is that the batter stayed crisp for quite a while.

Popcorn Prawns with Dips

Serves 4

600g unshelled medium white prawns

Salt and pepper, to taste

½ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup potato flour

1 tsp baking powder

1½ cups water, approximate

Oil for frying

Have the dips ready (two recipes follow) before cooking the prawns as this dish should be served immediately.

Clean, peel and devein the prawns. Their shelled weight should be around 480g, so get already peeled prawns if desired. Season the prawns with salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine the flours and baking powder. Add 1 cup of water to the mixture and stir together, then gradually add more water until a thin crepe-like batter forms. Add the prawns to the batter and stir them around.

Heat about 5cm of oil in a wok or deep pan. Have a large plate lined with kitchen paper ready on the side of the stove.

When the oil is hot, fry the prawns in batches until they are golden brown, three to four minutes. Scoop them out with a slotted spoon or spider onto the paper-lined plate.

The leftover batter can be fried into crisp strings. Using one hand, drizzle the batter into the hot oil. They will puff up immediately. This batter remains crisp for quite a long time.

When the prawns are all done, sprinkle salt and pepper over them and serve with the dips and lime wedges.

Chilli Jam
Heat some oil in a pan and sauté one small chopped onion. When translucent, add two chopped red chillies, two large chopped tomatoes, one minced garlic clove, two tablespoons of sugar and half a cup of apple cider or wine vinegar. If it is too sour, add a little water. Simmer over medium-low heat until thickened. Season with salt. Pureé the chilli jam with a hand blender or food processor.

Lime Yoghurt Dip
Combine two to three tablespoons each of yoghurt and salad cream. Add the zest and juice of one lime. Season with salt.

Sourdough Surprises: Mad for brownies

noreply@blogger.com (Jane) — Sun, 19 May 2013 23:00:00 +0000

COCONUT NUT SOURDOUGH BROWNIES

We've all been there. We get an idea for a dish in our head and we keep smelling and tasting it in our minds. We plan how to prepare it and what would go into it. And then we just have to run with it.

For me, it was coconut. I couldn't stop thinking of coconut and just had to use it in every way possible when Sourdough Surprises came up with the idea of brownies.

Since I've used the suggested recipe for sourdough brownies elsewhere with slight modifications, this time, I adapted a cocoa brownie recipe that I've been using for a long time because it is so good (adapted from Mad About Brownies by Barbara Albright and Leslie Weiner). I cut down on the flour and liquids to make up for what is already in the starter and then piled in the coconut elements by substituting them for ingredients in the original recipe: vegetable oil --> coconut oil; walnuts --> fresh coconut meat; buttermilk --> coconut cream; and almond essence --> coconut essence.

After tasting a few brownies, I decided there still wasn't enough coconut and made a coconut marshmallow frosting to add on top. In the end though, I have to admit the brownies were all right but not outstanding. They turned out cakey rather than with that desirable chewy crumb and crackled top. I've put down the recipe below but I will be tweaking it.

Check out what other brownies the Sourdough Surprises group made (new links will appear as posts are uploaded).

Have these brownies with a drink of cold coconut water straight from the shell

Coconut Nut Sourdough Brownies

Makes 16

Preferment

25g unfed leaven

55g bread flour

45g tepid water

Mix all the ingredients together, cover and set aside until slighly bubbly, 2-3 hours.

Final batter

25g all-purpose flour

¼ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp table salt
90g fresh coconut meat, roughly chopped

160g caster sugar

75ml coconut oil

1 egg

All the preferment (about 110g)

80ml coconut cream

1 tsp coconut essence
50g unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a 20cm square baking tin and line the base and sides with parchment paper.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Toss the coconut meat with the flour mixture. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat together the sugar, oil and egg until pale.

Beat in the preferment, coconut cream and coconut essence until just mixed.

Fold in the cocoa powder, followed by the flour-coconut meat mixture.

Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 35-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out with just a few crumbs sticking to it.

Cool in tin on wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from tin to cool completely. Best cut and served after storing overnight.

Take these brownies over the top with a coconut marshmallow frosting

Coconut Marshmallow Frosting

Makes about 1 cup

½ cup milk

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp sugar

1 cup mini marshmallows

½ cup dessicated coconut

Place all the ingredients except the coconut in a small saucepan and heat gently until marshmallows are melted and mixture is smooth. Stir in the coconut. Spread while still warm on top of the brownies.

Fasta sourdough pasta

noreply@blogger.com (Jane) — Thu, 16 May 2013 23:00:00 +0000

VEGETABLE AND PASTA STRATA WITH SOURDOUGH PASTA

When Sourdough Surprises chose to make sourdough pasta for April, I was excited. I have a hand-crank pasta machine that rolls (and kneads) the dough and cuts the noodles, and I try to use it as often as I can, but to be honest, the machine only makes an appearance three or four times a year. A shame really, because although I like dried pasta and use it all the time, pasta made from scratch is a notch above.

I actually made three flavours of dough and used them for various pasta dishes, but the posting date of April 20 came and went without a word from me. I'll get to the reason in a minute.

I had made two of the sourdough pasta doughs with semolina (durum) flour and egg – one of plain, the other flecked with Thai basil. The third one, I thought I would like to try making my version of soba noodles and combined all-purpose and buckwheat flours with the addition of bamboo charcoal powder (no egg this time).

Three flavours of sourdough pasta dough

The egg doughs came together well, but not the black buckwheat noodles, possible because of the lack of eggs. The noodles broke up into little bits (they looked like orzo) almost as soon as they hit the boiling water.

However, I realised something when I tasted all three noodles: they were extremely sour! Which meant there was a problem with my sourdough starter.

I'm sure some people like that level of sourness, and in fact, it isn't extreme in a loaf of bread, but for the pasta dough that I made, it was almost like biting into a lemon.

Anyway, the reason I didn't post on April 20 was because I was really busy and didn't have time to write up a post (we had our country's General Election on May 5 and there was a lot of activity before and after the date). But that gave me time to come up with a better tasting sourdough pasta.

I discarded over half the starter I have tended to for over two years, and fed the remainder every day for a few days. Maybe I'm just imagining it, but the bread dough I made recently appeared stronger and was more flavourful. I've also made sourdough cakes with the "new" starter, and the chocolate ones have been very good.

So then, on to the sourdough revamp. I mixed the dough by hand, like I've illustrated here. For my vegetable strata (pan-fried courgette, eggplant and mushrooms, mustard cheese sauce and tomato sauce), I made just a plain egg (sour)dough, again with semolina, and the flavour of the pasta was at just the right level of sourness for me. I'll add flavourings next time.

Cubed gouda cheese and breadcrumbs for the topping

Fresh Egg Sourdough Pasta (Dough)

Makes about 240g

120g (about ¾ cup) semolina durum

Large pinch of salt

70g (a bit more than ¼ cup) unfed starter

1 medium egg

Flavourings (and colours)*

2-3 tsp tomato paste (red)

1 tbsp finely chopped basil (speckled)

1½ tbsp puree of cooked spinach (green)

A pinch of saffron threads mixed with 1 tbsp warm water (bright yellow)

Place the semolina on a work surface. Sprinkle the salt on top and stir together with your fingers. Bring the semolina together into a mound, then make a hole in the centre. Place the starter and egg* into the hole and then gradually stir in the semolina with your fingers or a fork. Incorporate the mixture until no dry bits remain.

Knead the mixture; it will be crumbly at first but the semolina will soon absorb the liquids and the mixture will come together into a smooth ball. Leave in the work surface and cover with a clean tea towel. Set aside for 1 hour before rolling out and cutting into shapes by hand or a pasta machine.

* If including flavourings, add with the liquids.

Want to go blondie?

noreply@blogger.com (Jane) — Sat, 11 May 2013 11:31:00 +0000

BROWN BUTTER DULCE DE LECHE BLONDIES

I'm a little mad about brownies at the moment. I made some coconut ones last week and nutty chocolate ones yesterday (recipes to be posted at another time). I will be feeding the nut ones to the family when we meet tomorrow for Mother's Day.

Because I had some leftover condensed milk, I thought I would turn that into dulce de leche and then use it in another sweet. But chocolate brownies again? No, with the dulce de leche, I decided to go with blondies.

I've made coconut dulce de leche before in a microwave oven, which really cuts down on the time. But since I don't have a microwave anymore, I used the stovetop method this time, which took me 35 minutes. Just pour the condensed milk into a saucepan and simmer it over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the milk is reduced and thick. However, there is a fine line between oozy dulce de leche and hard toffee so it is important not to let the milk thicken more than it should. This site, which instructs on various methods, provides some guidance.

To all mothers,

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Brown Butter Dulce de Leche Blondies
Makes 16

Dulce de leche

150g flour
1 tsp baking powder
110g butter (if using salted butter, omit salt below)
75-90g brown sugar
Large pinch of salt
2 medium eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
140-150g dulce de leche

Line the base and sides of a 20cm square tin with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Sift flour and baking powder together. Set aside.

Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Simmer the butter until it turns a golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Whisk the sugar and salt into the brown butter. Set aside to cool until just warm, five to 10 minutes.

Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla extract.

Stir in the flour mixture until incorporated.

Spoon two-thirds of the blondie batter into the prepared tin and smooth the top. Scoop little dollops of dulce de leche all over the batter. Scrape the remaining batter on top and smooth it out (no need to be precise).

Run a butter knife through all the layers in swirls (just six or seven swirls will do so that there will still be pockets of the dulce de leche).

Bake until the top is light brown and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out without any wet crumbs sticking to it, 20 to 25 minutes. Leave in the tin until just warm, then use the paper to remove the slab from the tin. Cut into 16 pieces.

Plum chutney is a good sidekick

noreply@blogger.com (Jane) — Mon, 06 May 2013 01:44:00 +0000

HOT SPICED PLUM CHUTNEY

Chutney, relish, pickle, achar... whatever you call it, a preserved condiment is a good partner to have when it comes to eating.

Of course, not all preserves are made alike. Some are sweet, others are hot, and some are sweet and hot. There are also sour preserves and salty ones too.

I keep quite a few varieties on hand. Some can be kept in the store cupboard, others have to be refrigerated. I've recently been enjoying some kumquat pickles my mother made and salted fish achar from a home-based business, both of which I've been having with my rice and curry dishes.

But chutneys, relishes, pickles and achar don't always have to play sidekick: How about a tamarind and date chutney baked into a cake or a sour masala jam of chillies, pineapple and cucumber which can hold its own against meats? And a good mango achar takes centre stage in a grilled cheese and chutney sandwich or sabich, an eggplant sandwich with hard-boiled eggs.

Recently, I got a bag of purple plums and ate most of it fresh. But I got down to the last three and thought I would turn them into a hot and sweet spiced chutney. After pitting the plums, they weighed close to 250g, which made hardly enough chutney to fill a Chinese soup bowl. But I tend to forget what I have in the fridge so if I have too much, it might just go to waste if I didn't finish it. Anyway, the chutney doesn't take long to make (though it needs to sit at least a day before eating), so I can always make more.

I don't have a precise recipe for this plum chutney. The ingredients are all to taste, but here's a rough guide.

Hot Spiced Plum Chutney

Makes ¾ cup

250g purple plums (about 3 medium)

½ tbsp neutral-flavoured oil
1 tsp black mustard seeds

1 small red onion, diced

2 tbsp sambal oelek (red chilli paste)

100ml (scant ½ cup) white vinegar (white wine or rice)

1½ tbsp brown sugar

Water

1 tsp cayenne pepper

¼ tsp each ground cinnamon, ground allspice and asafoetida

Salt to taste

Pit the plums and chop them up into medium-sized chunks.

Heat the oil in a saucepan and toss in the mustard seeds. Stir them around until they start to pop.

Add diced onion and sauté till translucent.

Add sambal oelek (chilli paste) and sauté briefly. Add brown vinegar, sugar and 2 tablespoons of water. Bring to the boil, then add the chopped plums. Simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat until fruit is soft. Use a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon to break up some of the fruit. Stir occasionally until the mixture has thickened. Add more water if it looks dry.

Stir in the cayenne pepper and spices. Add salt to taste. Simmer a while longer. Spoon into clean air-tight bottles and store in the refrigerator. Best left a day before consuming.

Short, dark and handsome

noreply@blogger.com (Jane) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:30:00 +0000

BROWN SUGAR CHOCOLATE CAKE

I've been watching the TV show, 2 Broke Girls. It's not the best, or even cleverest, show around and a lot of things don't make sense: like how two penniless women can keep a full-grown horse (all they seem to feed him is skinny carrots), or how they can stand on the job in a diner in six-inch heels (and keep wearing them throughout the day). Err, why am I watching it?

In one episode it was pointed out that the cupcakes are made from prepared box mix. Well, it doesn't surprise me that they're not made from scratch – after all, none of the chain bakeries and some standalone shops do that. How else would they be able to produce hundreds of cakes a day? (What's not right is calling their business Max's Homemade Cupcakes. Again, why am I watching the show?)

However, a couple of the flavours those girls have on the show sound intriguing. Beer batter with maple bacon frosting? Oh yeah, I can see that being a hit (especially with the stoners, said Martha Stewart in the episode in which she appears).

In contrast, a brown sugar chocolate cupcake with treacle chocolate fudge icing may not sound as compelling. But this chocolate-on-chocolate ensemble – surely the direct opposite of Max's Very Very Vanilla Cupcake – doesn't need a fancy name after you peel off a little of the cupcake case, lick the icing off your fingers (yes, it is gooey) and then take a bite.

Mind the gooeyness

These cupcakes are made from Dan Lepard's recipe for Brown Sugar Chocolate Cake (which he makes in a loaf pan) and covered with Treacle Chocolate Fudge Icing from his book, Short and Sweet (see him talking about it in this video.) Mr Lepard provided the recipe for the cake in The Guardian way back in 2005 and the recipe for a similarly named frosting two years later. That frosting contains egg yolks, however, while the one in the book doesn't. If the icing is left in the fridge, it becomes firm and I can imagine it becoming delicious truffles. Or drop a spoonful of it into chocolate cake batter baked in a ramekin and the cake would come out with an oozy molten lava centre.

A little bit about Short and Sweet: A lot of the recipes can be found on The Guardian website, but this book is so much more than a collection of recipes. And it's not filled with the mundane me-me-me writings of celebrity chefs who come out with books to coincide with their TV shows. Short and Sweet is an excellent baking reference – which is why I got the book – with recipes that I know are going to keep my oven in constant service and my family and mates in baked goods for a while.

Daring Bakers: Savarin

noreply@blogger.com (Jane) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 16:01:00 +0000

LIME SAVARIN WITH COCONUT CUSTARD AND GRILLED PINEAPPLE

Every step of the process of making savarin is rather enjoyable! The dough is very sticky, and developing the gluten by hand takes a while, but I really liked it. And when the outcome is as delicious as it was, well, all that effort was worth it.

Natalia of Gatti Fili e Farina challenged us to make a traditional Savarin, complete with soaking syrup and cream filling! We were to follow the Savarin recipe but were allowed to be creative with the soaking syrup and filling, allowing us to come up with some very delicious cakes!

I made mini savarins with half the recipe provided by Natalia. Almost all the liquid in the dough comes from the eggs which I thought was unusual since water is usually one of the components of bread. I didn't follow the instructions as given though and made the dough with much fewer steps.

I mixed and kneading the dough completely by hand, so I know this can be done without a machine.

Here's a video of how I kneaded the sticky dough (or view it on YouTube). This was after about 25 minutes, and the dough was already getting stronger. It was my first attempt at filming anything with my phone camera (the DSLR is being serviced) and I was holding it in my left hand so the video is a little shaky.

My kitchen is not the brightest spot in the flat so I had to take the mixing bowl to a table by the door to the balcony, and there are sounds of cars passing by outside. In between, when the dough plops against the bowl, there's a squelching sound of air bubbles popping. Also, the dough starts coming away from the sides of the bowl and takes scraps sticking there along with it. Another eight minutes of this and the dough had become nice and elastic, and was ready for the proofing stage.

Pipe savarin dough into mini bundt moulds

To get the dough into the mini bundt moulds, I used a piping bag, pressing out three blobs to fill the holes, then cutting the dough with oiled scissors. With a wet finger, I smoothed out the surface. Unfortunately, the pattern doesn't really show up on the mini savarins (the grooves are too shallow). And I probably could have got one or two extra savarins if I hadn't overfilled some of the moulds.

Mini savarin with lime syrup, coconut custard and grilled pineapple

Mini Lime Savarin

Makes 10-12. Find the original recipe here.

175g bread flour, divided

2 tsp sugar

¾ tsp instant yeast

1 tbsp water

3 medium eggs, separated

½ tsp table salt

40g butter, softened

Lime syrup (recipe follows)

To serve

Coconut custard pudding

Grilled pineapple rings

Toasted dessicated coconut

Place 2 tbsp flour, sugar, yeast and water in a small bowl. Blend into a paste and set aside for 10 minutes.

Put the remaining flour in a large mixing bowl with the egg whites. Stir together to form a batter. Set aside for 10 minutes.

Add yeast mixture to the egg white mixture along with the egg yolks and salt. Mix to blend.

Add butter in three batches and stir well to blend well after each addition.

Knead the dough until elastic (see video above). Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film. Set aside until tripled in size.

Lightly oil a 10-hole mini bundt pan and scoop savarin dough into a piping bag. Pipe dough into the moulds (or use two teaspoons), cutting the portions with oiled kitchen scissors. Smooth out the surface with a wet finger. Cover the pan and set aside until dough reaches near the top of the moulds.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180°C. Bake mini savarin until golden and cooked, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool in tin, 10 minutes, then completely on a wire rack. Dunk into warm syrup. Pipe coconut custard into the centre of the ring, sprinkle with toasted coconut and serve with grilled pineapple rings.

Lime Syrup

½ cup caster sugar

100ml water

Large pinch of salt

2 tbsp lime juice

½ tbsp rose water

Put sugar, water and salt into a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. Lower heat and simmer syrup for 10 minutes until slightly reduced and thickened. Take off the heat and stir in lime juice and rose water. Use while still warm.

* * *

Traditional savarin ring

Earlier, I used the recipe from this video to make a savarin in my new 24cm classic savarin mould.

It rose very high and emerged from the tin looking like an inner tube!

Not your traditional savarin

I diverted from tradition by slicing the savarin in half and brushing on an orange-pomegranate syrup. There were pockets of dry crumb though, because they didn't get enough syrup.

The savarin was filled with pastry cream, then the topped was glazed with salted brown sugar toffee.

Pastry cream-filled savarin with salty toffee glaze

This savarin was all right but I definitely prefer the mini ones since they're much easier to eat.

Check out other savarins in the slideshow on The Daring Kitchen.

Not-so-slow snail (bread)

noreply@blogger.com (Jane) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 05:54:00 +0000

COCONUT SAFFRON SNAIL BREAD

These buns started out with a recipe for Sweet Saffron Bread from Dan Lepard's The Handmade Loaf. Besides saffron, the bread also contains currants and is formed into an "S" shape.

The loaf starts off with a sponge made with some of the flour, water and a little yeast, and then all the rest of the ingredients are added. I also mixed some boiling water with saffron as it would be added later.

After the sponge and saffron water were prepared, I took a look inside Tom Jaine's Making Bread At Home which has a recipe for Guatemalan Sweet Buns. This bread also starts off with a sponge before the final dough is mixed. No saffron or currants, but the buns are flavoured with aniseed and they contain a little more sugar than Dan Lepard's saffron bread. What I found interesting was the addition of coconut milk.

Both recipes looked awfully good, so what else could I do but combine the two!

I decided on rolls because they're easier to eat and I don't have to do any slicing before eating. (I'm lazy that way.) Instead of aniseed, I used cardamom.

The Guatemalan buns are coiled into a snail shape, or ensaïmada in Spanish, also the name for a famed sweet bread snack which is said to have originated from the island of Mallorca/Majorca, although there are versions in many other Spanish-speaking countries.

The dough was soft but easy to work with, the golden yellow was beautiful and I could smell the coconut milk, cardamom and vanilla in it. After it baked, however, none of the aromas were distinctive any more. But the buns were fluffy and I liked that little bit of sweetness in them. I used half the dough for cinnamon buns.

This has been submitted to YeastSpotting.

Make cinnamon rolls with the same dough

Sweet Coconut-Saffron Snail Bread
Makes 9 large rolls

Sponge

100g all-purpose flour

¼ tsp instant yeast

100g milk

Final dough

Pinch of saffron threads (about ½ tsp)

¾ tbsp boiling water

250g bread flour

25g sugar

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp cardamom powder

60g butter, divided

150g coconut milk

⅛ tsp vanilla extract
Snow or icing sugar

Mix the sponge ingredients in a bowl, cover and set aside for 1 hour.

Place the saffron threads in a small bowl and pour in the boiling water. Set aside for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, stir the bread flour, sugar, salt and cardamom powder together. Rub in half the butter until well incorporated.

Hold back about 2 tbsp of coconut milk and stir the rest into the saffron solution with the vanilla extract. Add to the sponge and blend well. Stir this mixture into the dry ingredients until it all comes together into a rough dough. If there are dry spots, add the extra coconut milk. Cover the bowl and set aside for 10 minutes.

Stretch and fold the dough over itself a few times in the bowl and form into a ball; it should be soft but not sticky. Cover the bowl.

Do the stretching and folding three more times over an hour, forming the dough into a ball each time. Then cover the bowl and leave the dough to double in size, 1-1½ hours.

Melt the remaining butter. Place in a shallow bowl and cool.

Coiling the ropes into 'snail shells'

Divide the dough into nine even pieces and roll each one into a rope about 35cm long. Dip the whole length of the rope in the melted butter (or brush the butter on). Lay one end of the rope on a baking tray and coil it into a spiral, tucking the other end underneath. The middle section will be slightly higher than the edges. Do the same with the other pieces. Cover and set aside for about 20 minutes until slightly risen.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C. Bake the rolls until the tops are golden, 20-25 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool for five minutes, then dredge heavily with snow or icing sugar.

'Varai' good!

noreply@blogger.com (Jane) — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 09:52:00 +0000

SRI LANKAN PRAWN VARAI

I got this recipe from Mr S. Siluvairasu, the proprietor of the Yarl Beach Inn in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, when I stayed there in August 2003. I haven't cooked it much, which is a shame since it isn't difficult to do at all and is really delicious.

Actually what Mr Silu cooked when I was there (on a press assignment) was shark varai (pronounced vah-ray) – flaked shark meat cooked with grated coconut and spices. Prawns are an alternative, and the dish can be eaten with rice, thosai or stringhoppers.

One of Mr Silu's other specialities that I enjoyed was baked crabs, also a well-known dish in Jaffna and another recipe that he gave me. That one takes a bit more preparation but it's also a really wonderful dish.

Mr Silu’s Prawn Varai

500g prawns, shelled and cleaned

150g grated coconut

2 tsp chilli powder

Pinch of turmeric powder

¼ tsp black pepper

½ tsp cumin powder

Salt to taste

3 shallots, sliced

3 dried chillies, soaked and cut into 1cm lengths

Leaves from 1 sprig of curry leaves

2 tbsp cooking oil

Steam the prawns until tender. Cool and chop finely (do not mince; you want little chunks).

Mix prawns with grated coconut, chilli powder, turmeric powder, black pepper, cumin powder and salt. Set aside.

Heat oil in a wok and fry the sliced shallots, dried chillies and curry leaves over medium heat until shallots are golden.

Add prawn mixture and fry, stirring constantly, until dry and coconut turns lightly golden. Adjust seasoning if necessary.

Ka'ach bilmalch make the rounds

noreply@blogger.com (Jane) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 16:01:00 +0000

KA'ACH BILMALCH GET A RINGING ENDORSEMENT

Sometimes I make bread just for the sake of making bread. Sure, I eat it too but even while I am eating my way through one loaf, I start another because the breadmaking process is so appealing.

And then I end up with bits and bobs in the freezer. As I write this, I probably have enough bread to feed our two-person household for at least three weeks. There are half loaves of barley bread and pure levain country brown, a whole ciabatta, six sourdough tangzhong buns and a few slices of ... well, I have to admit, I don't know what bread those slices came from. In the fridge I found enough struan for about three bites and an eighth of an onion loaf. Tell me I don't bake too much bread.

So what am I doing making these little bread rings called ka'ach bilmalch?

Because ka'ach bilmalch is no ordinary bread that might only be eaten when I remember to take out the butter from the fridge to soften until it is spreadable. Ka'ach bilmalch is bread I could eat on its own in one sitting if I allowed myself to. There is never any ka'ach bilmalch left after two days.

(I say ka'ach bilmalch a lot, don't I? And I'm not even sure how to pronounce the name. Kaa-ash beel-malsh?)

Bread for sale, from Jerusalem

This is yet another recipe from the gorgeous Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi (I have the Ebury Press edition, with the beautiful cloth-bound cover). They introduce the savoury bread snack with a story of the family that makes it under the Abadi brand, which all Jerusalemites know so well that it's become the generic name for ka'ach bilmalch.

Although made with a yeast dough, ka'ach bilmalch are more cookie than bread. They're supposed to have a "pleasant crunch, hard crumble". Similar cookies can be found elsewhere in the Middle East and they remind me of the kahk or Iraqi bread bracelets I've made before.

This is off to YeastSpotting.

Simply moreish

Ka'ach Bilmalch

Makes 15-20. From Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi

250g all-purpose flour

½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp instant yeast

½ tsp sugar

½ tsp ground cumin

¾ tbsp fennel seeds, toasted and lightly crushed

50g sunflower oil

50g butter, cubed and softened

50-60ml water, approximate

1 egg, for glaze

1 tsp black and white sesame seed mixture

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl. Stir in yeast, sugar, cumin and fennel. Make a well in the centre and add oil. Stir to combine. Rub in butter. Gradually add water and mix to a soft dough. Knead until smooth, about two minutes. Form into a ball, cover and set aside for 10 minutes.

Place dough on a work surface and press into a rough rectangle. Using a bench scraper, cut dough into small portions (pic 1). Roll out each portion into a 12cm to 13cm rope and press ends together, overlapping slightly, to form a ring (pic 2). Place on a parchment-lined baking tray.

Brush rings with egg and sprinkle lightly with sesame seed mixture (pic 3). Cover and set aside for 30 minutes to rise (pic 4).

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 200°C. Bake rings for 20 to 22 minutes until puffed and top is golden. This next step is optional; I do this to get the crust lightly crisp without making the cookies too crunchy: Turn off the oven, prop open the oven door with a wooden spoon and leave the rings inside for about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely before storing in an air-tight container. Eat ka'ach bilmalch on their own or serve with a dip.

Easter-slash-birthday cake

noreply@blogger.com (Jane) — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 02:30:00 +0000

MINT-CHOCOLATE MARBLE SOURDOUGH CAKE

HAPPY EASTER!

10.30am: The troops are gathering. And by "troops", I mean my large family – who are far from doing anything together with military precision!

Today, we're also having an early celebration of my nephew/godson's birthday which is on April 3. My mother asked him what cake he wanted, he told her he'd like a mint-flavoured cake, she asked me if I had a recipe for said cake... and in my family, "Do you have the X recipe?" is code for "Can you make the X?"

I'm not complaining. I was going to make a crepe cake with a caramelised banana filling (I have a ton of frozen bananas), but that will just have to do for another day. This cake would have required more effort than a mint-flavoured cake anyway – all that standing over the stove and cooking 25 or more crepes.

After successfully adapting the King Arthur Flour chocolate sourdough cake recipe for a two-toned matcha sourdough cake, I decided to make the mint cake the same way, this time marbling two colours as well as two flavours.

The un-iced cake

And so I made a plain white sourdough cake batter and divided it. I flavoured one portion with peppermint and coloured it a soft green with food gel, and added cocoa powder to the other portion. The batters were then layered in a baba pan and swirled by cutting through them with a butter knife as the pan is rotated once. Just eight knife cuts are sufficent. The sourdough batters are thicker and stickier than normal cake batter, so there might be a tendency to swirl more than normal.

I tasted some crumbs when the cake was done, and there was a nice combination of mint and chocolate – which would be more pronounced once I added the two icings. But I couldn't tell what the inside would look like until my nephew cut it at his party.

To be continued after the cutting of the cake...

The swirls in the crumb; (inset) embarrassing the just-turned-teenager with little-girl candles

5.52pm: The swirls on the inside of the cake didn't come out as evenly as I had hoped but they were all right. My nephew was very pleased with the minty taste, and that is all that matters to me.

Daring Bakers: Hidden veggies in sweet bakes

noreply@blogger.com (Jane) — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 16:01:00 +0000

EDAMAME WHOOPIE PIES WITH MUNG BEAN FROSTING

Ruth from Makey-Cakey was our March 2013 Daring Bakers’ challenge host. She encouraged us all to get experimental in the kitchen and sneak some hidden veggies into our baking, with surprising and delicious results!

Being sneaky when it comes to food is always exciting – whether it's trying to fool children or cheating on your diet. I don't have children and I never diet (although I should refrain from eating too much of a good thing... Butter, mmmm) but this challenge is about creativity and that's always good.

I reviewed Harry Eastwood's Red Velvet & Chocolate Heartache for work a couple of years ago and tried out the Sunken Apricot and Almond Cake (made with pumpkin), the Courgette and Camomile Cupcakes and the Heartache Chocolate Cake made with aubergine/eggplant (I read on the DB forum that a few others have also made this cake successfully). They all turned out well and produced very moist bakes.

I knew I wanted to make whoopie pies and I thought of using frozen spinach, but when I checked my freezer, I realised I had used it all up. I noticed there was a packet of edamame though (there are times when we all forget what we have in our freezers, don't we?). These beans are nutritionally rich, but more important, to me, is they are sweet and chewy, and they taste good even without seasoning. I had my veg.

Springy and well-risen

The first thing that appealed to me about the cookies was their natural pastel green colour thanks to the edamame. I had kept some plain and had added a little chopped fresh mint and grated chocolate to another portion of the dough. Oddly, although I used the same amount of dough (with an ice cream scoop) for all the cookies, the mint-chocolate ones baked up larger!

To sandwich the cookies together, I used leftover cream cheese frosting that I had made for another cake – but with a few additions. To up the vegetable content, I added some mashed mung beans (another healthy food item), cocoa powder and a touch of wasabi since it goes well with edamame.

I liked the whoopie pies, but I have to admit I couldn't taste the edamame – though that clearly fulfils the requirements of this challenge: hiding a vegetable in a sweet. The mung beans in the frosting, however, could be detected – mainly because I couldn't get them really smooth in my mini food processor. Mung beans are used in a lot of Asian sweet dishes anyway so I'm used to them. I actually liked the textural feel of the frosting.

Do stop by at The Daring Kitchen for a slideshow of other ways to sneak vegetables into sweets!

Fill 'em up

Edamame Whoopie Pies with Mung Bean Chocolate Frosting
Makes 8 whoopie pies

1 cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp fine salt
Scant ¼ cup coconut oil
½ cup caster sugar
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ cup edamame purée*

Mint and Chocolate variation
1-1½ tbsp finely shredded (chiffonade) fresh mint
1-1½ tbsp grated or finely chopped chocolate

Mung Bean Chocolate Frosting
1 cup skinless split mung beans, soaked overnight
1 tbsp cocoa mixed with 2 tsp water into a paste
100g cream cheese, softened
50g unsalted butter
75g icing sugar
¼ tsp wasabi paste, or to taste (optional)

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the coconut oil and sugar together until blended. Add the egg and beat until the mixture is pale and light. Beat in the vanilla extract.

Fold in the dry ingredients, then the edamame purée. For the Mint and Chocolate variation, fold ingredients into the dough together with the edamame purée. Place dough in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 170°C. Line two baking sheets with greaseproof paper.

Using a one-tablespoon capacity ice-cream scoop, place dollops of dough 5cm apart on the baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through, until the cookies are risen and springy in the centre.

Remove from oven and transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely before sandwiching two together with frosting.

Mung Bean Chocolate Frosting: Drain mung beans and steam until soft. The frosting uses ½ cup so purée enough in a blender or mini food processor and freeze the rest for another use.

Beat the cream cheese and butter together, then stir in the mung bean purée and cocoa paste. Beat in the icing sugar and wasabi until smooth and soft.

* To make edamame purée, steam about 200g of edamame bean pods until soft. Shell them and remove the skin from the beans. Place beans in a blender or mini food processor with about ½ tbsp of water. Pulse to purée. Add a little more water if necessary to get it smooth.

Sourdough Surprises: Create waves with cake

noreply@blogger.com (Jane) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 23:00:00 +0000

TOPOGRAPHIC MAP SOURDOUGH CAKE

When it comes to making sourdough cakes, many recipes say to just add unfed starter straight from the fridge. It's certainly as quick a method as making any creamed cake.

But from experience, I've found that a well-fed bubbly starter gives cakes better rise and lightens them. It takes at least two days to make the cake, but I think it's worth it.

So when Sourdough Surprises suggested cakes this month, I got started immediately. I've made chocolate, banana, and carrot sourdough cakes before and it would be a different flavour this time – I decided on matcha – but I also wanted an interesting appearance.

At first glance, this looks like any layer cake, but the design is actually made in an unusual way. I'd seen this cake with the wavy pattern on a few blogs and was intrigued. The original cake is just a rich butter cake and in Malay, it's called "Kek Alunan Kasih" – which leads me to believe that it may be a Malaysian invention – and this is translated as Waves of Love Cake. "Alunan" is also the word for "melody", which makes sense too since the pattern does look like sound waves. (Or perhaps something you might see on a heart monitor?) I didn't do the effect so well, but take a look at these better examples.

One blogger mentioned that it looked like a topographic map – as in geography – and that's the description I like best.

The outside of the cake (left); the waves in the crumb

The process of creating the strata and waves is not difficult, but it is a bit fiddly. The cake batter – which has a dropping consistency – is divided and coloured, and after each layer, cocoa powder is sifted on top before another layer of cake batter is put on. The difficulty is in trying to level the batter over the cocoa powder without disturbing it. However, you don't want to make the layers too smooth because then the wavy effect would be lost. You can taste the cocoa but it's not very prominent.

Even without the strata, the cake is good on its own. The layers can be any colour (and from that link I provide above, you can see some kooky tie-dye combinations!) and the cake can be any flavour (the matcha powder is my cake provides the flavour and colour). I based it loosely on the sourdough chocolate cake from King Arthur Flour which I made some time ago, replacing the cocoa powder in the batter with all-purpose flour. This is a good basic recipe, and lends itself to other flavours.

Create waves with this cake

'Topographic Map' Sourdough Matcha-Vanilla Cake

10-12 servings. Cup measures are approximate.

Preferment
90g (½ cup) refreshed 100%-hydration sourdough starter

110g (½ cup) whole milk

150g (1 cup) all-purpose flour

Final batter

60g (6 tbsp) all-purpose flour

½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

140g (¾ cup) caster sugar

110g (½ cup) butter, softened

1 medium egg, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract

1½ tsp matcha powder, mixed with 1 tbsp of water into a paste

Wave pattern
2½ tbsp unsweetened cocoa

Combine the starter, milk and flour in a large mixing bowl. Cover and store in the refrigerator overnight or let rest at room temperature for 2-3 hours. If chilled, take it out of the fridge an hour before proceeding with the final batter.

Preheat the oven to 170°C. Lightly grease and base line a 20cm by 11cm (8"x4½") loaf pan.

Sift the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda together in a bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.

Cut the preferment into four or five pieces. Beat one piece at a time into the butter mixture, blending well each time. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Fold in the flour mixture. The batter will have a soft dropping consistency.

Divide the batter into two equal portions and place in separate bowls. Take about 2 tablespoons from one portion and mix with the matcha paste. Blend this mixture into that same half-portion of cake batter.

How to create the layers

Spoon half of the white batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth the surface (1). Sift one-third of the cocoa powder evenly over the top of the batter (2). Using half of the green matcha batter, distribute small dollops all over the cocoa powder (3) and then spread them out without disturbing the cocoa powder (4). Sift another third of the cocoa powder over this batter. Repeat the layering process with the white batter, then the remaining cocoa powder (5) and finish with the matcha batter on top (6).

Bake the cake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the top springs back when lightly pressed in the centre, and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Remove the cake from the oven, and set it on a rack to cool for 10 minutes, then remove from tin and cool completely on the rack. Best to allow a day before eating.

From figs to persimmons

noreply@blogger.com (Jane) — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 03:46:00 +0000

COOKED SWEET POTATO AND FRESH PERSIMMON

Yet another vegetable dish inspired by my newest acquisition, Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. There's more to come – a snack bread has already been lined up – and why not? The recipes in this book are enticing and not difficult to do, and I really like all the flavours from that part of the world.

I can't always get all the ingredients though, but that shouldn't be an obstacle. Take this dish. The original recipe calls for roasted sweet potato and fresh figs. The book authors say that this combination of cooked and raw ingredients is very popular at one of their restaurants. Well, fresh figs are difficult to find over here – although having said that, I did see some at the grocers last week (understandably, quite expensive) before I got this book – so I thought about a good substitute, and wanted to keep it local if possible.

Well, I went up and down the fruit aisle but couldn't find any local fruit that is similar to figs. And then I saw some persimmons (Korean, however) and thought why not?

As I mentioned earlier, the original recipe incorporates roasted sweet potato and fresh figs, as well as goat's cheese. I omitted the cheese, and used steamed sweet potatoes instead. They're just as good and I didn't want to turn on the oven. Well, good recipe writers inspire and Ottolenghi and Tamimi certainly do.

Substituting persimmons for fresh figs

Sweet Potato and Persimmon Salad
Serves 1-2

A handful of rocket or other salad leaves
2 medium sweet potatoes, skin on
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp sugar
3 thin stalks spring onion, sliced into 4cm lengths
1 long red chilli, sliced thinly
2 persimmons
2 tbsp sunflower oil
Flaky salt and black pepper

Arrange the salad leaves in a large plate.

Wash and dry the sweet potatoes and then steam them until tender. Cut into quarters lengthwise and then into 5cm lengths (like thick chips).

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a small frying pan and stir-fry the sweet potato chips briefly to crisp their skin. Arrange over the salad leaves in the plate.

In the same pan, heat the other tablespoon of oil and flash fry the spring onion and chilli. Scatter the mixture together with the oil over the sweet potato. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

In the same pan over low heat, place the balsamic vinegar and sugar. Simmer the mixture, swirling the pan around now and then, until reduced to about one tablespoon. Take off the heat while it is still runny as the reduction will continue to thicken.

Cut the persimmons into six wedges and tuck them around the sweet potato chips. Drizzle the balsamic reduction over all the plate (if too thick to drizzle, loosen with a drop of water).

Bread fritters

noreply@blogger.com (Jane) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 02:49:00 +0000

FRIED CAULIFLOWER STEAK AND BREAD FRITTERS

Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi anticipated that readers of Jerusalem (yay, I just got the book!) might be sceptical about their recipe for a'ja or bread fritters.

"It may not sound appetizing, but taste it once, and see what it's all about," they say about the herbed-based fritters that use leftover bread and seasonal vegetables. I couldn't imagine what they would be like when I read the recipe, but I was really pleased with how they turned out. This is a simple recipe and open to one's own interpretation.

And that is what I did when I made the fritters. I didn't have all the herbs that were asked for in the recipe, nor the feta that was included, so I just put in stuff that I had and produced something that I liked. I think the most important element is the bread – it must be robust and flavourful. I used a homemade sourdough. It was a little stale but that worked for the fritters. If you want to fool someone into thinking they were eating meat, these have the texture of minced chicken ;-)

Another inspiring recipe from the book is fried cauliflower with tahini. The cauliflower is separated into florets and fried and then served with a tahini- and pomegranate molasses-flavoured yoghurt. Unfortunately, I didn't have tahini, but again it didn't matter. Instead, I combined strained yoghurt with a little sesame oil and added chopped Chinese celery leaves, spring onion leaves, lime juice, chilli powder and pomegranate molasses (I'm sure another type of syrup would be fine).

Instead of florets, I cut a head of cauliflower crosswise through the stem to make a "steak", about 1.2cm thick. It's not seasoned but simply pan-fried on both sides. It's such an easy way to bring out the flavour of the vegetable.

The fried cauliflower, yoghurt dressing and bread fritters were excellent together, and I'm already on to more recipes from Jerusalem. The ones with vegetables all look so good and I'll be trying the meat dishes after Lent.

A'ja mixture (left) and fried with the cauliflower steak

Bread Fritters
Makes 6. Inspired by the recipe in Jerusalem. Herb and spice amounts are approximate; season to taste.

1 thick slice of good bread, crust removed (about 50g)
1 medium egg
½ tsp garam masala
¼ tsp paprika
½ long red chilli, chopped
1 tbsp chopped spring onion
1 tbsp chopped fresh Chinese celery leaves
Salt and black pepper, to taste
Sunflower oil for frying

Soak the bread in cold water for 1 minute, then squeeze well.

Crumble bread into a bowl and add the egg, spices and herbs.

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan. Scoop slightly heaped tablespoons of batter into the pan. Fry the fritters for 1-2 minutes on each side or until golden brown.

Scrambled tofu looks like eggs

noreply@blogger.com (Jane) — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 09:55:00 +0000

FORGET EGGS, SCRAMBLE SOME TOFU

I have been known to make a face when I see tofu. And I have rolled my eyes when people say tofu can absorb flavours well. I've even sniggered at vegetarians who spout off about how wonderfully versatile tofu is. (Oh-oh, I've gone and done it now. Will I find a cauliflower head in my bed?)

But honestly, I don't dislike tofu. There are some cooks who know the most amazing ways to make it delicious. Fried, steamed, stuffed, they're all good. In the wrong hands, however, tofu can remain horribly bland. And I admit, sometimes those hands belong to me. So obviously, tofu isn't completely to blame.

Well, here's something that I made myself and really like: scrambled tofu. I made it for breakfast one morning and cooked it again the next two mornings. Maybe it was just fooling my eyes because it really does look like scrambled eggs, but with the robust spices I included, the taste was also appealing.

No need to list exact amounts here. First, roast some cumin seeds in a dry pan over medium heat. Then add a little oil and stir-fry the chopped white part of a stalk of spring onion and a little crushed garlic. Then add a load of different vegetables – as many colours as possible. I used: green capsicum (bell pepper), cherry tomatoes, a fresh chilli and grated carrot. Cook until tender.

Crumble in firm tofu. Don't mash it up too much – you want some small crumbs and some clumps as well. After all, that's how scrambled eggs look.

To make it look like real eggs, add turmeric powder for that egg-yellow colour. And for a kick, add chilli powder. Stir around a bit more, season with salt and pepper, and the "eggs" are done. Sprinkle with the chopped green part of the spring onion and breakfast is ready. Serve with buttered toast.

Cran-carrot sourdough cake

noreply@blogger.com (Jane) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 11:37:00 +0000

CRANBERRY-CARROT SOURDOUGH CAKE BARS

This cake is nothing to shout about. It's not glamorous and is actually quite homely. If not for the cream cheese frosting on top, it would look quite plain. But if you're looking for something that tastes good and is a somewhat healthy snack to tide you over before dinnertime, this cake will fulfil that role well enough.

Like most sourdough cakes, this one has a tang to it and the degree depends on how hydrated you keep your starter/levain and the type of wild yeast you capture in the area where you live. But it also keeps well and should still stay fresh tightly covered in the fridge for a week or so.

I think the flavour develops only after a day – just after it's made, it tastes quite bland to me – and if kept in the fridge, I prefer to leave it at room temperature for at least half an hour before eating.

The recipe I based this cake on was twice as big. Other changes I made to the recipe were to use coconut oil (which gives the cake a light flavour of coconut) and to add some dried cranberries, since I had some in the pantry.

Cran-Carrot Sourdough Cake Bars

Serves 10-12. Based on this recipe.

130g all-purpose flour

160g caster sugar

½ tsp salt

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp ground cinnamon

125g starter at 80% hydration, from the fridge (unfed)

85g coconut oil

2 medium eggs

115g finely shredded carrots

35g dried cranberries

Cream Cheese Frosting (optional)

100g cream cheese

50g butter

75g icing (confectioner's) sugar

½ tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven at 170°C. Grease and line an 18cm square pan with parchment paper; grease paper.

Combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon in a mixing bowl; stir to blend well.

In another bowl, stir together starter, coconut oil and eggs. Place shredded carrots in a sieve and gently press with a wooden spoon to remove some of the liquid; the carrots should still be moist. Stir carrots into the starter mixture.

Add carrot-starter mixture to the flour mixture. Using an electric whisk, beat the mixture together for 2 minutes. Fold in the cranberries.

Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the top is springy and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Cool cake in tin 10 minutes, then remove and cool completely on a wire rack. Place in an air-tight container or wrap in paper and cling film and set aside for a day for the flavour to develop.

To make the frosting, cream the cheese and butter together until light and fluffy. Beat in the sugar and vanilla until smooth. Frost the top of the cake and cut into bars to serve.

For the drizzle on top, take about a tablespoon of frosting and add enough water to it to loosen it. Add some food colouring.

Take a leaf from fougasse

noreply@blogger.com (Jane) — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 02:23:00 +0000

BLACK RICE AND ONION FOUGASSE

In his book Artisan Baking Every Day, Peter Reinhart writes that his Wild Rice and Onion Bread was the most popular one at his Brother Juniper's Bakery after their struan.

The struan is a multigrain loaf with a wonderful mixture of ingredients, including cooked rice, cornmeal and oats. I first tried the struan recipe from the book when my sister and family were visiting from America over Christmas and they thought it was delicious. That first time, I had made it with brown rice, but since then have used black rice and changed some of the other grains as Peter Reinhart suggests. The bread makes excellent toast and just seems good for any savoury filling or soup.

Sandwiches are so much better with struan

So obviously, I had to move on to the second-most popular wild rice and onion bread. I didn't have wild rice so I used black rice, which I know are not the same thing – nor even in the same classification of plant – but they look somewhat alike.

To make it more interesting – which I realised later wasn't necessary – I made the loaf in the shape of a fougasse. Of course, my attempt was a little clumsy and my leaf shape was lopsided.

This bread surprised me. The onion goes into the dough raw, and it didn't make much of an impact. I considered adding some onion powder to boost the flavour, but I'm glad I didn't. When the loaves came out of the oven, the smell was simply glorious! I put some of the bread in a paper bag to eat at work and the aroma lingered long after I had finished. The co-workers I offered the bread to thought it was good. Those who don't like onion, however, may have been cursing me...

Submitted to YeastSpotting.

The black rice stains the crumb with a purplish hue

Black Rice and Onion Fougasse
Makes 2 loaves

Based on Peter Reinhart's baker's percentage for Wild Rice and Onion Bread

200g bread flour
5g instant yeast
5g salt
44g cooked black rice (substitute with wild rice)
15g brown sugar
89g yoghurt whey (top up with water; or use all water instead)
30g soured milk
60g fresh onion, diced
Pinch of za'atar (or another spice/spice mix)
A few grinds of black pepper

Combine all the ingredients. Stir to incorporate them. Develop the gluten using whatever method is comfortable. Place in a lidded plastic container and refrigerate overnight.

Transfer the dough to a floured work and divide into two. Shape each half into an oval. Using a bench scraper, cut slits into the dough like the veins of a leaf. Place loaves on lightly greased trays. (Shape into batons, if desired.) Cover and allow to proof for about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 190°C. If the slits have closed, gently pull the loaves to open them up. Place the trays in the oven and bake until the top is brown and the bread is cooked, 20-25 minutes, rotating the trays halfway through the cooking time. Cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes.

Cooking from the WWW*

noreply@blogger.com (Jane) — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 03:10:00 +0000

MEJADRA, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?

* A few dishes I have cooked lately, using recipes off the World Wide Web.

The more I read about Jerusalem, the cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi, the more I want to get it. All the recipes I have seen so far on newspaper websites have looked delicious and easy to do. The latest one I read, in the Los Angeles Times, is mejadra, a dish of rice and lentils topped with crisp fried onions.

Sticky ginger cake

I never pass up Sticky Ginger Cake and the recipe from The Guardian was one to try. It's from the book Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer: A Golden Treasury of Classic Treats by Jane Brockett. Although I was anxious to have a slice straight out of the oven, I restrained myself and followed the instruction to wrap the cake in greaseproof paper and foil so that it would get an more sticky and gingery. It is a suggestion that should always be heeded. Yum.

Emily Dickinson's coconut cake

Emily Dickinson's Coconut Cake from The History Kitchen. The Emily in question is the American poet. This is a good full-flavoured, moist cake. Fresh grated coconut gives it a rich coconut flavour. I was surprised to learn that fresh coconut was used in cooking in Massachussetts in the 19th century. I thought coconuts were just targets to knock down in old-time fairground games (very often rigged!).

Sourdough Surprises: Flatbreads - Thosai

noreply@blogger.com (Jane) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 15:18:00 +0000

THOSAI, A DELICIOUS SOUTH INDIAN FLATBREAD

Thosai (also spelled tosai and dosa) is an Indian crepe-like bread I grew up eating. It's one of the staple dishes served in south Indian restaurants in Malaysia, especially at breakfast time, quite often on a banana leaf. The bread is so popular that there are instant mixes that you just add water to, but really, it's not difficult to make from scratch.

The Sourdough Surprises challenge for this month is flatbreads which is defined as "a soft, pliable bread that is cooked on a griddle or stovetop". One of the flatbreads I usually make with my sourdough discard is the Indian chapati, made with a soft wheat flour called atta.

Thosai doesn't actually contain sourdough starter (made with wheat/rye flour), so perhaps it doesn't fulfil the requirements of the challenge. But the batter – made with raw and cooked rice and black gram lentils – is left to ferment overnight, and the whole thing is basically a sourdough. It even has a naturally sour taste and will rise slightly. Some recipes call for rice flour instead of raw rice. It does simplify the process, especially if you don't have a blender strong enough to make a smooth purée.

Thosai is often served plain with a selection of dhall curries and chutneys – coconut chutney is a must, and that is the only condiment I like with my thosai. But thosai can also be filled, usually with spicy mashed potatoes, turning it into masala thosai.

The thosai that I have made here is soft and spongy. For a crisper thosai, the batter is spread very thinly, and is about 45cm (18 inches) in diameter or more! It's usually only found in restaurants with huge griddle plates on the burners. The thosai is then rolled up like a large cigar or a cone shape. It's called "paper thosai".

I have posted a day late because I just wasn't able to get to the shops for grated fresh coconut to make my favourite coconut chutney. In the end, I didn't make it, after all. I do, however, have a tomato chutney and spinach with dhall as side dishes.

In restaurants, the server may bring along a spoon and fork with the order, but the best way to eat thosai is with the fingers!

Thosai
Makes 6 medium thosai

½ cup raw white rice
¼ cup skinless black gram lentils (ulunthu)
Large pinch fenugreek seeds
2 tbsp cooked white rice
½ tsp salt, or to taste
Vegetable oil

Wash the raw rice, dhall and fenugreek seeds and soak them separately in water for about six hours (overnight is fine).

Drain and rinse the soaked ingredients. Blend them together until very smooth with enough water to turn the blades of the blender. Transfer to a large bowl. Blend the cooked rice with a little water and stir into the bowl. The batter will be fluid but quite thick (pic 1). Cover and set aside at room temperature, preferably overnight, to ferment.

Thosai batter: before and after overnight fermentation

When fermented, the batter will have domed slightly with tiny bubbles on the surface (pic 2). Stir in salt. The batter should have the consistency of pancake batter so if it too thick, add a little water.

Heat a tava or crepe pan or large non-stick frying pan. Dip a crumpled up piece of kitchen paper into some oil and rub it on the surface of the pan.

Use a metal ladle or similar implement (a metal measuring cup, for example) to scoop up about ¼ cup of batter and pour it onto the pan. Using the bottom of the ladle/cup, quickly spread out the batter into a thin circle but with slightly raised "ripples" (pic 3). Turn down the heat.

The first thosai never turns out well! This one stuck to the pan.

For crisper edges, dribble a little oil around the thosai.

Bubbles will form all over the surface like a pancake. The thosai is not flipped so leave it until the top is no longer wet and the bottom is a light brown, about 30 seconds. Fold the thosai in half and serve.

(For crisper thosai, spread the batter thinner and more evenly. The thosai is then usually rolled up like a large cigar or even into a cone shape. It's called "paper thosai".)

Make only as many thosai as will be eaten. Store uncooked batter in an air-tight container in the fridge. It can be used straight from the fridge.

Barley: The biga the better

noreply@blogger.com (Jane) — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 05:45:00 +0000

IT'S A BIGA DEAL WITH BARLEY

The biga blew the lid off ... literally.

There was a loud pop and I looked over to the plastic bucket that was holding the preferment and found the cover on the floor. In hindsight, I shouldn't have pressed the lid on so tightly. Those organisms in fermenting bread doughs are mighty powerful!

The next time I made the bread, I used a bowl and just covered it with a tea towel.

The recipe was the white bread with 80% biga from Ken Forkish's Flour Water Salt Yeast. I followed it exactly, baked it in a Dutch oven and it turned out to be the tastiest and best-looking plain bread I had made in a while. It had a wonderful aroma and the crackling as it cooled was so loud I could – no exaggeration! – hear it across the room. Although it didn't have the crack on the top like the loaf on the book's cover (the breads in Ken Forkish's book are not scored but baked seam side up so the crust opens up naturally), I thought it still looked pretty.

The crumb was springy and airy and when I bit into a slice, I knew that this was the gold standard by which I would have to judge all my breads henceforth.

Ken Forkish's white bread with 80% biga

But it is made with 100% white flour and if I wanted to eat more healthily I needed to use "browner" flours.

I have added barley flour to bread dough before but in very small amounts. Then I read about how The Vicar Died Laughing uses up to 20% barley flour in his sourdough bread (it looks great!). Since Ken Forkish's recipe had worked so well, I thought I might substitute a fifth of the white flour with barley.

I shaped the dough into a batard and proofed it in a rectangular basket, then baked the loaf using an improvised "hearth" baking method (a preheated upturned tray in the oven with a steam tray below it).

The oven spring came 15 minutes into baking. The crust didn't get as brown or as crusty as the all-white bread but I put that down to the oven not being steamy enough. The bread had a slight tang which I think is because of the slow rising overnight, and a hint of nuttiness from the barley, which also gave the crumb a yellow tinge.

Overall, a very nice bread. It's going to YeastSpotting.

Barley gives the crumb a yellow tinge

20% Barley Bread with 80% Biga
Makes a 750g loaf. Adapted from Ken Forkish's white bread with 80% biga

Biga
400g strong white bread flour
Pinch of instant yeast
272g water

Final dough
100g barley flour
103g water
9g salt
1g yeast
All the biga

Combine the ingredients for the biga and mix well. Place in a container and cover but not so that it is air-tight. Set aside to ferment until it has risen and the top is slightly domed and bubbly, 8-12 hours (depending on room temperature).

Combine the barley flour, water, salt and yeast in a bowl and mix well. Incorporate the biga and mix into a dough.

Develop the gluten using whatever method is comfortable (I did three stretch-and-folds over 1½ hours), then bulk proof (total time: about three hours at a room temperature of 27°C).

Shape and place into a proofing basket. Place basket into a food-grade plastic bag and leave to rise in the refrigerator overnight.

Do a poke test to determine if the loaf is ready for baking (this loaf was baked straight from the fridge). Preheat the oven to 225°C. If using a Dutch oven, preheat in the oven. Or put a steam tray in the oven for hearth baking.

Slash the loaf and bake until the crust is a deep brown and the loaf feels light for its size, 35-40 minutes, rotating the loaf halfway through the cooking time. The internal temperature should be around 95°C. Cool on a wire rack.

Love letter to gnudi

noreply@blogger.com (Jane) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 13:11:00 +0000

SPINACH RICOTTA GNUDI

It's easy to wax lyrical about the food we love. Poems have been written about everything from almonds to zucchini, songs have been sung about fried fish and bananas, and, well, cooking blogs only exist because food is never the last thing on our minds.

Last week, in our Don't Call Me Chef recipe column in The Star, Indra, Ivy and I paid tribute to the fattening dishes or ingredients we love so much that even if they gave us love handles, we would continue to cook and eat them. Indra is besotted with butter, Ivy can't stay away from any kind of fried chicken, and I love cheese and pasta. My recipe was for spinach ricotta gnudi and I wrote a soppy love letter to the cheese dumpling.

Gnudi is made with ricotta cheese. Spinach, however, is not what defines gnudi although Google images show these to be the most popular kind.

Recipes for spinach ricotta gnudi are quite straightforward – most advise to keep a light hand and to not overmix. Some dumpling mixtures are stiff and can be rolled out into ropes then cut, while others are pipeable or shaped into little ovals with teaspoons. Most instruct to cook the dumplings immediately after they are mixed, but I like the guidance given in April Bloomfield's recipe at Serious Eats that has one extra step: drying out the gnudi before cooking to prevent them from getting soggy.

It apparently takes her three days to make her famous Ricotta Gnudi which she serves at The Spotted Pig restaurant in New York. That may be a little too long for most of us, including me, but there was one time when I left the uncooked dumplings covered in semolina for two days in the fridge and they did taste a little lighter after they were cooked. Most times, I leave them to dry for just a day.

Spinach Ricotta Gnudi

Makes two generous servings

1 tub (250g) ricotta cheese

½ cup steamed spinach, finely chopped

¼ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

2 egg yolks

½ tsp flaky salt

½ cup plain flour, approximate

½ cup semolina flour (optional)

2 cups tomato (pasta) sauce (preferably homemade)

Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, to serve

Remove ricotta cheese from the tub and place in three or four layers of kitchen paper on a sieve over a bowl. Leave for 20 minutes to drain. Discard the whey or reserve for another use (for example, add to soups or use in bread doughs).

In a large bowl, stir together the ricotta, spinach, Parmigiano-Reggiano and egg yolks until blended. Stir in salt to taste, then gently stir in the flour, mixing just enough so the mixture comes together. It will have the texture of a creamed cake batter (pic 1).

This next step is optional but it will prevent the gnudi from becoming soggy. (Proceed to cooking the gnudi if omitting this step). Line a large plate with parchment paper. Sprinkle the semolina flour on it. Using two teaspoons, shape and compact the ricotta mixture into ovals. Dredge them in the semolina flour and leave them on the plate (pic 2). Place the plate in a large plastic bag and chill overnight or up to three days.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Heat the tomato sauce in a sauté pan on another burner and keep it over low heat.

Drop the gnudi directly into the boiling water in batches; do not crowd the pot. The gnudi will float to the surface when done, two to three minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the gnudi to the tomato sauce (pic 3). When all the gnudi are cooked, transfer to individual bowls. Shave Parmigiano-Reggiano over the top and serve at once.

Note: The cooked gnudi can also be frozen. Place in the fridge to thaw and heat up in the tomato sauce.

New year cherry blossom

noreply@blogger.com (Jane) — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 16:01:00 +0000

CHERRY CHOCOLATE KUCHEN

I had intended to post today on a loaf of bread decorated with a stencil of Chinese characters that read "good fortune". Good intentions, unfortunately, don't always pan out, and so I am posting on something else but still on bread.

But before that,

HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR

GONG XI FA CAI

HAPPY SPRING FESTIVAL

to all who celebrate and wishing you Good Fortune this Year of the Snake!

It's good to have a sweet yeast dough in one's baked goods repertoire. The dough can be filled or topped or layered with fruit and streusel, and even made into plain rolls or a loaf.

This kuchen resembles cake in taste – and a little in looks too. Cakes may be quicker to whip up, but I prefer this bread topped with cherries, chocolate and crumb topping. It isn't as rich or high in fat, but it still tastes fantastic.

The dough doesn't take long to mix. It doesn't have a high hydration and is easy to knead by hand.

Incorporating the butter with the 'clothes wringing' kneading method

To incorporate the butter, I use a "clothes wringing" method which I read about in The River Cottage Bread Handbook. The pictures above show the process done with only one hand – the left is holding the camera – but both hands are actually necessary! This kind of simulates the movement of the dough hook of a stand mixer.

For this, the kneading is done in the mixing bowl. Hold the dough at opposite ends and then wring it as if you are wringing out wet washing so that the dough is twisted (left pic). Then, fold the dough in half so that the two ends meet, holding both ends in one hand (right pic). Hold on to the midsection that is folded (it's now the opposite end) and twist the dough again. Repeat until all the butter is incorporated.

I must say it's very therapeutic. Try humming along with the movement.

This is submitted to YeastSpotting.


Russian Rose Braid made with this basic sweet dough

Basic Sweet Dough

Adapted from Baking Artisan Pastries & Breads by Ciril Hitz

350g full-fat milk, cold is fine

1 medium egg

1 tsp lemon essence

Seeds from 1 vanilla bean

660g bread flour

7g malt powder

13g instant yeast

70g caster sugar

13g salt

70g cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Combine the milk, egg, essence and vanilla seeds.

In a mixing bowl, combine all the other ingredients except the butter.

Add the liquids to the dry ingredients and mix to incorporate. The dough will be a little dry at this time. Set aside for 10 minutes.

Add the butter in three batches, incorporating it well after each addition. By this time, the dough will come together in a ball.

Knead the dough to develop the gluten using whichever method is comfortable. Cover and set aside at room temperature to bulk ferment, 1-2 hours.

Transfer the dough to a lidded plastic container sprayed with oil and store in the refrigerator overnight.

This makes a large amount of dough (about 1.4kg) and it can be divided into two or three portions. These can be stored in separate containers in the refrigerator for up to four days. For longer storage, wrap portions in cling film, place each one in a plastic bag and store in the freezer for up to two weeks. Thaw frozen dough in the fridge overnight before using.

What's kuchen?

Cherry Chocolate Kuchen
Serves 8-10

½ batch Basic Sweet Dough
½ a 425g tin of pitted cherries, drained
1½ tbsp medium chocolate chips

Crumb Topping
From Baking Artisan Pastries & Breads by Ciril Hitz. Makes 2½ cups. Use half batch for the kuchen. Store the remainder in a lidded container in the fridge.

160g all-purpose flour
⅛ tsp baking powder
120g light brown sugar
⅛ tsp table salt
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
115g cold unsalted butter, roughly chopped

Make the crumb topping: Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and cinnamon in a bowl. Add the cold butter and cut into it with pastry cutter or rub in with fingertips until the mixture looks like sand with a few larger clumps.

Assembling the kuchen

Assemble the kuchen: Lightly oil a 28cm x 24cm baking pan (or equivalent size). Press the dough into the pan. If it resists and springs back, set aside to relax for about five minutes, then continue. Dimple the dough with the fingertips.

Break the cherries into two and spread them over the dough. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and then with half the crumb topping.

Cover the tray with cling film and leave to rise, about 1 hour. Alternatively, the tray can be placed in the refrigerator overnight to rise slowly.

Preheat the oven to 165°C. Bake the kuchen for 30 to 35 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through the cooking time. The top will be nicely golden and the bottom a light brown.

Place tray on a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes. Eat warm or cool further before serving.