4th try at baguette

Getting there.....

Texture is pretty good (though ugly). It has a crunch on the outside and chewy inside. I sprayed a bunch of water on the silpat before putting it inside the steam filled oven.

The taste inside is better, due to sitting in the fridge for 2 days (allows yeast to do its thing for flavor).

Inside, still no big holes, but I've researched it and I think I know why. More on the next installment.

I might get better shape and probably helps with the holes (though not the main cause) if I used bread flour. Yes, I have been using AP flour all this time! Incremental changes to allow me to see the effects.

Breakfast with the result

The one above is off the same batch of dough only baked one day later. Shape is nicer now.

Third try at Baguette

This one looks the nicer looking of the 3 (don't know about taste yet - that's for breakfast tomorrow).

This time, I did not follow instructions and open the oven every 5 mins to spray water. First my oven isn't as hot as 550F, and every time I open the oven I lose heat. Instead I just lined the bottom of the oven with a tray and 2 bowls full of water and preheated the oven to max temp of 250C and have the the water boil furiously. Second I baked in the oven for longer 20 to 25 mins not 15.

The bottom of the loaf is white looking, but this time, no matter. When I want to eat, I'll turn on the grill and grill that side.

Made some herb butter as well. A bit dubious about it. The top one is thyme and rosemary. The bottom one is basil and garlic. For the first one, I got impatient and heated the butter in the microwave - big mistake. Hope its okay (can't see herbs - all sunk to the bottom).

Getting closer to a presentable baguette.

Breakfast the next morning below. Threw away the herbed butter with the Rosemary and Thyme - it didn't look good. Bread is pretty decent. Basil and Garlic herbed butter was nice but garlic is slightly overpowering (will add less next time).

Second try at Baguette. Plus Beef Stew to keep it company.

Ok. My second try at doing a baguette. The dough this time is a little wetter because after I kneaded it for a bit, I sprinkled water until it seems ok. Second, I did not use the Silpat, instead I placed it on the pizza stone. I also made the loaf larger and wetted the inside of the dough before I folded it. 

The top of the baguette looks ok. The bottom is a little underdone - i think next time I try placing the baguette on the grating instead so that air gets at the bottom. (Wonder if a steam convection oven might help :-) wishful thinking). Just before dinner, I turned on the top grill in oven and grilled the bottom of the baguette to fix this.

Taste test: Fairly good this time! The crust is pretty good. Inside, the bread is denser than a normal baguette, but otherwise is good.

Stew. Some notes for the record.

1. Browned beef in a few tablespoons of my duck fat (left over from my roast duck experiment).
2. Stir fry mirepoix on moderate heat until the veg looks a bit translucent. Then add the tomato paste and garlic and stir fry to let it caramelize. The browned beef bits should be scraped off the bottom and incorporated at this time.
3.  Didn't have herbs de provence. Inexplicably went missing. Subbed with a tied up bunch of thyme and a large bay leaf.
4. 1/3 bottle of red wine, 1/4 cup or so cognac and a little chicken stock to balance the fluid.
5. After initial boil, place the pot in oven at 90C. Since it was in an oven, I went out for lunch - about 90 minutes.
6. Take out beef and large cut carrots. Remove herbs. Blend the rest smooth. Put the beef back. Tested beef - not quite tender yet (as expected).
7. Put pot in oven for another hour or so at the same low heat.
8. Fry mushrooms in butter and add it to stew. Simmer another 20 mins or so.

MW says stew quite good, but not my best.

Looks a bit better than last time. This time after I mixed it and kneaded a little, I sprinkled water and continue kneading until "it looks right".

Finished product. The underside is a little white. Next time I try grill.

Same from different angle.

Haven't done beef stew for some time. Clockwise, mirepoix from celery, carrots, onions and bell pepper, duck fat (left over from my roast duck - I used a few tablespoons), tomatoes, canned tomato paste, beef (lightly floured). The beef was on special - $15+ for about 700+ grams.

Browned beef cubes.

Browned bits just before I do the mirepoix.

Cooking the mirepoix.

Took out the beef and large carrots and the herbs (thyme and bay leaf). Blended the rest and put it back. This sauce has a 1/3 bottle of red wine and quarter cup of cognac in it.

looks all right, but a bit dense perhaps.

One more pic at dinner.

First try at Baguette

Tried to follow this one: Food Wishes Baguette

Mediocre result.

First mistake is I think my dough was a bit dryish.

Second mistake was in the baking. The recipe called for a very hot oven at 550F (mine was 250C or 482F plus pizza stone), but perhaps its not the heat. Maybe I should shape a larger baguette, and bake slightly longer in the middle of the oven (I used the top).

Will retry.

Red wine and chocolate mousse

Ordered valrhona chocolate mousse at neighborhood eatery. On a hunch I also ordered a cab merlot to go with.

Tastes good! Sort of like having the chocolate with slightly sour cherries.

Note to self. Get something slightly acidic, less tannic and fruity. 

Later note. Apparently wine and chocolate pairing is well known. Oh well I still had the thrill of discovery...

Schizophrenic Dinner

I had a frozen duck carcass leftover from my roast duck lunch last week. I decided to make use of it but I became schizophrenic. The soup had kiam chye (abt 200g), sour plum, tomatoes, duck bones (whole duck) but no duck meat. Instead I put in pork ribs.

I might as well have made bak kut teh. The soup was nice enough but no real duck essence as I might have guessed haha. MW said the taste was fairly balanced though.

The pork ribs were nice - extremely tender, fall off the bone type, but not falling apart. After the soup was basically done, I blanched the ribs, and then put it in the pot. I then put the pot in the oven at 100C, set the timer for 90 minutes and went to Yoga. Came back 2 hours later.

Yu Tiao. Bought from Food Court, then I popped it in the oven toaster. Quite nice when freshened this way.

The original soup pot. After that, I took the ribs out and sieved the soup.

Roast duck

I did a roast duck for CNY lunch for 9 people (plus steam boat). I read up Cantonese Roast Duck, but didn't have the cojones to try it. Instead I roasted duck like I would roast chicken except that I "chinese-sified" it :-).

Taste was good esp with the gravy. But skin not crispy enough - more on that later.

For the glaze, I did it with 4 tblsp honey, 1 apple vinegar and 1 hoisin sauce.

For the stuffing, it was hoisin, spring onions, ginger, shao xin wine, my orange liquer + 5 spice substitute (cinnamon powder, fennel seeds, anise, pepper, coriander powder). I sewed up the duck opening and left the head on to stop up that opening.

The duck was brined 8 hours and then I dried it and put it in the fridge to dry out overnight.

It doesn't work (the "drying" for the skin). When I pulled it from the fridge, I could see moisture collecting on the skin - condensation from the humid air. I think should have tried the Cantonese Duck style of pouring over boiling water and then hang drying (I desisted coz I didn't have the equipment to hang the duck in cool dry place) or perhaps blow torching the skin prior to putting it in the oven.

The  approx 2.3 kg duck was roasted for about 2 hrs 15 mins at 180C, taken out, applied glaze and then roast at 230 C for about 15 mins. (Internet says 30 mins per pound of duck at 180C).

The gravy was made "western style" but using Shao Xin wine. i.e. 3 tablespoons duck fat + drippings from pan + 3 tablespoons flour + salt + a generous dash of wine and chicken stock (1.5 cups). Gravy was a little thick, but really tasty.

One advantage of doing duck yourself is that you can cut all the fat out. Indeed, the amount of meat left after carving was surprisingly little.