A Short Break

Hi all, sorry to have neglected my kitchen for quite some time. Work has been busy, and there's something else on my plan(non-food related) currently. I hope all goes well and will update you guys. Wish me luck!

What a Boule!

Since my cookbook buying spree a few weeks back, I have been trying out different recipes from the various bread books I now have(though I don't have time to write about all these attempts yet) . The latest book is The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum, which I bought from Harris during their closing down sale(Orchard Road branch). The discount was too attractive for me to let this chance pass, since this is one of the bread books on my to-buy list anyway.

I have browsed through the book for several times, but could not decide on a recipe as I realized most of her recipes called for long rising times, sometimes stretching a few days. Finally with some nudging from a good pal, I picked an alcoholic bread - Beer Bread.

This is a pretty straight forward recipe, where the beer replaces the usual liquids like milk, water etc. If you are wondering if there is any 'beery' taste in this bread, the answer is no. In fact, the beer imparted a mellow 'wheat-y' flavour to the bread, one that you would love if you are a fan of rustic breads.

The recipe called for the usual shaping of the loaf into a boule(ball), and leaving it to rise on the baking sheet. However, I had always been 'mesmerized' by the beautiful imprints on some of the rustic loaves I have seen, mostly imparted by the use of banettons. Banettons usually refer to round or oblong willow baskets from France, but a plastic colander lined with clean kitchen towels can also be used. For me, I used my plastic colander, dust it heavily with flour and set my dough inside for the final rise. Once well risen, I inverted the dough carefully onto a baking sheet and off it went onto my baking stone in the oven.

Despite the slight deflation when inverting the dough out, it rose nicely in the oven, thank goodness! Most importantly, the flour imprints came out beautifully too. A golden brown crust, soft-and-slightly-chewy crumb coupled with the fragrance of walnuts, this is one flavourful loaf which I would love to make again!

Beer Bread (adapted from The Bread Bible)

5g active dry yeast plus 10g water

12g sugar

350g bread flour

30g whole wheat flour

240g dark beer*

7g salt

70g chopped walnuts(optional)

1) Sprinkle yeast over the water, set aside for 5-10 mins, stir to dissolve.

2) Whisk together the flours and sugar. Add in the yeast solution and beer. Using the paddle attachment of the mixer, mix on low speed until a rough dough is formed, about a minute or so. Cover the bowl and let dough rest for 20 mins.

3) Add the salt and knead the dough with the dough hook until a smooth, elastic and soft dough is formed, about 10-15 mins. Then gently knead in the walnuts.

4) Round the dough into a ball and place into an oiled bowl. Cover with cling wrap and let rise for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until doubled in size.

5) Shape the dough**. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and press it gently to flatten it slightly. Round the dough into a ball and set it(seam side down) on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover with oiled cling wrap and let rise until dough has doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.

6) While the dough is rising, pre-heat the oven to 230C, and set a rack to the lower third of the oven. If you have a baking stone, place it onto the rack and pre-heat at the same time.

7) Once the dough is ready, slash the dough and mist it slightly with water. Place the dough into the oven. After 30 secs, open the oven door and spray the dough and sides of the oven (avoid the light bulb) and close the door quickly. Repeat this two more times and bake for 10 mins.

8) Lower the heat to 200C. If you use a baking stone, slide the dough(parchment and all) to bake directly on the stone for another 10-15 minutes. If not, just let it continue baking on the baking sheet for another 10-15 mins. The crust should be a dark brown colour, and the internal temperature of the bread register 95-100C.

9) Transfer the dough onto a wire rack to cool completely.

* The recipe called for dark beer like Bass or Beck's, but I bought Baron's instead, which is white. If you use dark beer, the crumb will be a dark golden colour(according to Ms Beranbaum).

** This is the shaping method as in the book. For me, I used a plastic colander (8 1/2-inch diameter), flour it heavily(very important), set the dough in it(seam side up). Once the rising time of about 1 1/2 hrs is up, and the dough has risen to about 1 inch from the top of the colander, gently invert the colander onto the lined baking sheet. It will deflate slightly, but it is okay. Then slash, mist and bake as Step 7 onwards.

*** Baking stones can get really hot, so be careful when manipulating the dough on the stone.

Sci-Fi Food?

I found this peculiar-looking fruit during one of my supermarket trips.

I couldn't really walk away without buying this. So I went home to do some 'background check' on this fruit. The Horned Melon belongs to the cucumber family, and is grown in New Zealand and California. Due to it's intriguing appearance, people are often attacted to it. I'm certainly one who did.

Cutting through the fruit revealed the following:

The interior is filled with numerous jelly-like 'sacs', each of which encases an off-white seed. I tried eating a few of these seeds. The sacs taste surprisingly sweet and tart at the same time. The seeds pops out of its sac easily, and although the seeds can be eaten, I find them to tough to bite and swallow.

To be honest, this is one fruit which I wouldn't just scoop and eat, simply because it has too many seeds which I'll have to spit out. I guess it might be more suitable as a garnish. Or use the fruit as a decorative element on the dining table.

It's a pity I didn't like this fruit, but I guess the consolation is that I finally knew now how adventurous I can be with food :p (I would never have thought such a spiky, weird, UFO-like fruit can be eaten). Of course, I hope this could be a post for Weekend Herb Blogging too, which is hosted by Astrid of Paulchen's Food Blog this week. Do head over to check out the round-up, and also to Kalyn's Kitchen for more details on WHB.

The Goodness of Red

After a few weeks break from Weekend Herb Blogging, I’m back to participate with a post on beans – adzuki beans to be exact.

Adzuki beans, also known as red beans(a more general term), is commonly used in sweet desserts in Chinese and Japanese cooking. They can be cooked with sugar into a paste-like consistency, which is subsequently used as a filling in Japanese sweets such as daifuku(glutinous rice cake), or an-pan(sweet bread filled with red bean paste), The chinese also uses them to stuff tang yuan(glutinous rice balls) or the more familiar mooncakes.

Here I made a sweet ‘soup’ comprising of adzuki beans, lotus seeds and orange peel. This is a very common dessert available dessert stalls in hawker centres and food courts, as well as being the almost-ubiquitous ‘finale’ at a Chinese wedding banquet.

There are so many variations of this recipe, depending on personal taste and preference. So just take the recipe below as a guide.

300g adzuki beans
2 litres water
1 packet of fresh* lotus seeds, rinsed
1 piece of dried tangerine peel(available in Chinese medicinal halls)
4-5 blades pandan leaves
Rock sugar or caster sugar to taste

1) Cover adzuki beans with sufficient water and leave to soak overnight(this will cut down the cooking time substantially)
2) Drain the beans. Place them in a slow cooker(it’s also fine to cook them over the stove) and add 2 litres of water and orange peel. Let the beans boil until they just begin to turn soft and break up.
3) Discard the orange peel. Drain the cooked beans and reserve the liquid. Place half of the beans into a blender. Add some of the red bean liquid and blend to a very smooth mixture.
4) Pour this mixture into a pot, add the un-blended beans, slowly add in the red bean liquid until the consistency you prefer. Add in the lotus seeds, pandan leaves and sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil and then for simmer for about 10 mins. Discard the pandan leaves.
5) Serve hot. Or if you like, this can also be served chilled, and especially refreshing with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.

Note: Some people do not blend the beans, I do as I like it smoother, but at the same time I want some bite, so I blend a portion. Similarly, if you prefer, you could also blend all the beans for a totally smooth soup. It’s really up to your personal taste.

*If you fresh lotus seeds are not available, dried ones can be used. Just make sure to soak them in water overnight, remove the bitter germ in the centre and steam to soften them.

Rachel is hosting this week's WHB, so don't forget to head over to Rachel's Bite to check out the round-up. Of course, Kalyn's Kitchen will be where you'll find more details on WHB.

Have a slice of cake......

Or is it?

Actually, the above is bread baked in a cake tin, and so the ‘cake-like’ wedges. After baking a few sweet breads, I thought it might be a good change to make a savoury loaf. I think I still prefer something more saltish and hearty for breakfast, since that’s usually my ‘heaviest’ meal of the day.

The recipe for this Casatiello loaf is from Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice, currently my most tried-and-tested bread book. Casatiello is a traditional savoury Easter bread from the region of Campania, Italy. It’s loaded with lots of cheese and pieces of meat, usually salami, and traditionally made with lard. According to Mr Reinhart, the Casatiello is best described as the savoury version of the panettone, which is also very rich and buttery.

I totally agree with him. Even during baking, the aroma of the cheese and salami wafting through my kitchen is sufficient to make me hungry. About baking for half an hour, I could see the little pockets of cheese bursting into brown spots on the surface. Slicing through the bread reveals a moist crumb studded with salami pieces and melted cheese. You really don’t need any more accompaniments to this bread, because each piece is a great sandwich on its own.

Casatiello(adapted recipe)

Makes one 8-inch loaf

Sponge ingredients
30g bread flour
6g active dry yeast
115ml fresh milk, or buttermilk(see note 1)

Dough ingredients
260g bread flour
½ tsp salt
½ tbsp sugar
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp olive oil(see note 2)

85g coarsely grated cheese(use Swiss gruyere, provolone, Gouda or Cheddar)
100g salami slices(see note 3)

1) Make the sponge first by combining the flour and yeast in a bowl. Add in the milk and whisk to make a pancake-like batter. Cover the bowl and let ferment at room temperature for one hour. The sponge will foam and bubble.
2) In the meantime, pan-fry or toast the salami slices until crispy. Drain off the oil and crumble into smaller pieces.
3) Mix the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and add in the egg and sponge from (1).

4) Using the paddle attachment of the mixture, mix on low speed until the mixture starts to come together in a ball. If it appears too dry, add in small amount of water so that there is no loose flour. Cover the dough and rest it for 10 mins.
5) After 10 minutes, add in the olive oil and mix until incorporated. Then switch to dough hook and knead on Speed 2 until soft and elastic, about 10 mins. Add in the salami pieces and knead(or mix) until evenly distributed. Then add the cheese and gently knead(or mix) until it is also evenly distributed. The dough should be soft and elastic, but not sticky.

6) Round the dough into a ball and place into an oiled bowl. Cover with cling wrap and let rise for about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

7) Punch dough down and shape into a ball. Cover and rest for 10 minutes.

8) Line the bottom of an 8-inch round tin and grease the sides. Flatten into a disk shape and place in the centre of the prepared tin. Let rest for 5 mins. Using your fingertips, gently push/stretch the dough out from the centre until it touches the side of tin. If at anytime the dough resists stretching, let dough rest for 5 mins before continuing. Cover with cling wrap and let rise until dough has risen to the top of the tin, about 50-60 minutes.

9) Bake in a pre-heated 180C oven for about 35-40 minutes until evenly golden brown and cooked through. Turn the bread out onto a wire rack to cool at least one hour before slicing.

Notes:
(1) I make my own buttermilk by combining ½ tbsp lemon juice with enough milk to make 120ml. Using buttermilk will impart a slight tangy-ness to the loaf.
(2) If you like a richer version of this bread, use 85g unsalted butter(at room temperature) in place of olive oil at Step 5, as in the original recipe. Mine is a ‘leaner’ version.
(3) Besides salami, pepperoni, bacon or chorizo can also be used. Just be sure to cut into smaller pieces, then sauté them to crisped them and release the fragrance.

This bread is at its best served slightly warm, where there’ll still be pockets of melting cheese. But if you need to store them, toast them lightly the next day and they will still be delish.

Another Variation

Hmm...actually I dont have much to write in this post(kind of having 'mental block' these days) Just want to share with you another flavour of my favourite butter cake recipe. This time it's durian - the King of Fruits.

Durian Cupcakes

100g plain flour
125g cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
200g unsweetened plain yogurt
160g durian flesh*
85g unsalted butter
180g sugar
2 eggs, beaten

Almond flakes for sprinkling(optional)

1) Grease or line 12 muffin cups. Preheat oven to 180C.
2) Sift flours, baking powder and baking soda. Combine yogurt and durian flesh, mix well.
3) Cream the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Dribble in eggs slowly, about 1 tbsp at a time, beating constantly for about 2 mins.
4) On LOW speed, beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture until just combined. Beat in ½ of the yogurt mixture. Then beat in 1/2 of the remaining flour mixture, followed by the remaining yogurt. Finally beat in the remaining flour mixture.
5) Divide mixture between the muffin cups, sprinkle almond flakes on top, and bake for about 20 to 25 mins or till skewer inserted comes out clean.


Notes:
I use a stand mixer for this, which can ‘fold in’ the flour and yogurt gently on its lowest speed. If you cream the butter manually or with a hand-held mixer, after the eggs have been incorporated, use a spatula to gently fold in the flour and yogurt.

*To obtain durian flesh, pass them though a sieve to remove the fibres, then measure out 160g.

These cupcakes does not have an overwhelming durian taste/smell. Instead it is subtle, but yet distinct. I used a combination of flours these time, and obtained a nice moist crumb that does not fall apart easily.