Butternut squash chips

This was a bit of a disappointment but I can see the potential so will try again.

Made very thin chips and deep fried them with the intention of making crispy chips. 

Initially had a nice intense pumpkin like taste but wasn't crispy and was soggy and oily (possibly let oil temp get too low). Then I spread then out and tried drying then out in oven but they got semi burnt. Still edible but lost most of the pumpkin taste. 

Have 2 variations the next time. One, cut thicker and oven bake. Second, same as this time but use more oil and control the temp better.

Pic : bowl on top of pic

Fried fish skin

Had some fish skin. 

Salted it liberally. Waited 10mins, then rubbed most of it off with a paper towel.

Then deep fried till crispy. Tastes good.

Note to self. If frying with only a little oil, monitor the temp with thermometer. Ideal is around 170-180C - putting in the skin will immediately lower the temp. Can't wait to try this on induction (which has the reputation of being able to maintain temp much better)

Olive bread

Seems to be a hit (pictured here with regular buns)

Dough is basically a variation on my slider  bun version with half the weight of olive oil subbing for the butter. Then add some olive bits and Rosemary.

Goes well with fish stew and (for breakfast) salted butter.

Seafood stew

Used the salmon bones from the other day plus extra from prawn shells and crayfish to make stock in pressure cooker (20 mins with celery, fennel, peppercorns, bay leaf, carrots and garlic)

Then made the soup. Mirepoix first with some cumin (mom didn't like that), more pepper corns, thyme, fresh cut tumeric roots, more fennel, mirrin, thyme,  plum tomatoes and then fish stock.

Did the fish in this order mackerel, salmon, prawns then crayfish/clams. For the clams bring to boiling and then turn off heat.

Result is ok, not great. I've done better with a more classical style (no cumin or tumeric. Have anchovies). Didn't taste the tumeric at all - the mild ginger taste may have been lost)

Dinner at home

Did salmon (what else!) on a bed of purée  green peas (with wan Sui, olive oil and lemon zest + juice). Sides of lap cheong rice and a stir fry of bacon and chopped long beans.

As usual, plating skill is low. Also check out my inconsistent fabrication skills - the fillets are different sizes. My countertop has very limited space for plating... Can't wait for my new digs

Attempt at fabricating salmon

Noticed that whole salmon was almost 1/4 the price of the filleted version so I decided to buy the whole fish and fabricate it. 

The bones (for stock) of course take some of the weight but after I was done I figure I got the fish for about 1/2 to 1/3 the price of buying the pieces separately.

Wasn't too bad but I really need more working space to do this properly.

Back to baguettes

Back to doing baguettes. This time I tried to work with really wet dough. In this case 80% by weight of water to flour. Very sticky and hard to shape. 

Practice makes perfect... I hope eventually. Even though I've been making soft bread recently, I still prefer hard breads like this.

Eating tomorrow morning. Hoping for the best.

Pork stew

Did a pork stew with 1/3 pork belly and 2/3 pork shoulder. For once I did this in the pressure cooker. Was a hit.

The supermarket bought smoked bacon gave the dish a distinctive flavor. I shall source for pancetta next time. Should be even better.

Coleslaw variation

The way I see it, the only critical ingredients to my style of coleslaw is the fresh tumeric and the mayo. I really like the mild ginger taste of this root.

For this one, I changed some ingredients such as black olives, Japanese cucumber and Dijon mustard. I also added more tartness with the lemon juice.

Sunday night dinner

Had a nice dinner. Took last weeks braised beef and recooked it in the pressure cooker for 10 mins. 

Then I did a coleslaw. 

- home made mayonnaise.

- lemon juice.

- finely chopped fresh tumeric

- finely shredded cabbage.

- finely chopped bell pepper.

- one stalk celery finely chopped.

- chickpeas (25 mins in pressure cooker).

- Black pepper

- salmon cavier.

The tumeric was sold as "yellow ginger" on the pkt.  It has a mild and interesting ginger taste - it gave the coleslaw a distinctive taste.

The coleslaw was pretty nice. I might have added a bit more lemon juice. The salmon cavier wasn't very necessary.

Sunday morning chores

Did this before mw woke up.

I think I've had enough of the soft bun after about 4 weeks of it. Will try other stuff.