Sunday 27 November 2016

More flatbread

This time, did it on a non stick, round, oven safe skillet. More convenient and more pleasing shape.

I said this is similar to French bread dough but I'm wrong. There's a little bit of sugar in it, and this seems to make a lot of difference to the internal softness of the bread.


Tuesday 22 November 2016

Turkish bread

The dough is similar to baguette dough.

I proofed it 7 hours overnight in wine cooler. Seems to work, so can have fresh baked bread in the morning in future.

Actually can try a slightly longer proofing.





Sunday 13 November 2016

Hard boiled eggs with liquid center


This method appears to work. Might even want to try a 6.5 minute boil for even more tender result.



1. Bring a pot of water to a furious boil.
2. Insert egg or eggs (but not too many to cool the boil down) into water. I used 60g eggs.
3. Keep water at a rolling boil for 7 minutes.
4. At a about the 4 minute mark, tap each egg in the pot just enough to crack the shell very slightly (or take the egg out and drop it on the countertop and put it back)
5. At the 7 minute mark, take eggs out and plunge into ice cold water for about a minute.
6. Peel.

Point 4 is about making the egg easier to peel smoothly. The original advice was to tap the egg before  putting it into the water, but I found that it caused leak of egg albumin and if you tapped too much, the heat gets inside the egg and cooks the yolk. Much better to wait until some solid egg white has formed, then to tap the egg - this causes hot water to seep into the crack and cause the shell to separate a little.

Saturday 12 November 2016

First attempt at hot smoked salmon


Can be improved. Logging attempt here.

1. Dry brine salmon overnight. Then wash and dry and leave it in the fridge for a few hours.
2. Light some hickory chips in a metal container. Then place in a wok.
3. Put the salmon on a up turned metal plate (next time use a grate) and place it in wok above chips.
4. Cover wok. Seal edges with wet towels.
5. Turn heat on high till air temp inside wok is about 70-80C
6. Smoke till inside of fish is 57C. Take out and immediately refrigerate.

Result. Salmon is lightly smoked and flesh is just right. Think the cooking method is about right, but I used too little smoke. Tastes nice however. It is possible more smoking is not indicated. Will try again next time.

I used the flaked flesh in a salad with Creme Faiche for the dressing. Not liking it too much - I think I prefer vinegrette. I shall try that next time.

In summary, next time, more smoke, vinegrette as dressing. I may also add sliced beets for the fresh taste and texture.

After note: this much salmon is about good for light lunch for 2. Or starter portion for 6-8.