Pumpkin Puree

My inspiration was this

So I steamed some pumpkin about 30 mins. Broke it up with a spoon. Added a touch of cinnamon + pinch of salt and a shake of pepper.

Then I tried adding : Creme Fraiche, My homemade yoghurt and coconut milk cream in that order (to taste).

Result: winner is the one with coconut cream, though MW says I should use less coconut cream to avoid overwhelming the pumpkin.

In the original version, the puree mix is exuded through a NO2 siphon (most likely) to give it a lightness. Obviously can't do that (unless I buy one 8-)).

No pic of the results. Forgot.

Some interesting stuff to learn from

Ate some interesting stuff. Things I might experiment on.

"Salmon Berry Sandwich" with fish eggs. Salty sweet (mostly salty) composed starter that goes well with a proscecco.

 Another starter. This one is a very light pumpkin cream with a crisp thin wafer on top. What works

• The cream is very very light. Will need to experiment. Possibly use creme frache (heavy) or coconut cream? (lighter). 
• There's a light touch of unidentifiable spice. But pumpkin goes traditionally with cinnamon and/or nutmeg. Can try that.
• The cream was probably exuded through a compressed gas siphon. Can't duplicate that, so any home effort will be a compromise

 

This is another starter. What works for this is 

• savoryness from the (again) smoked salmon
• a bit of fruitiness from a tomato confit like mix
• a touch of raw onion 
• texture from bland but crisp veg

Beef short ribs. This might be the least inventive, but well executed.

1. medium to medium rare short ribs (probably sous vide).

2. charred on the outside on the grill

3. sweet sour sauce.

4. mild pickles.

Fish dish. Fish is Hapuka (a deep sea fish). What's interesting is the tarragon crust on top, and a smoked cream sauce. Must try to replicate the smoked cream sauce if I can.

Tamarind juice

Not too bad. About 100g of crushed tamarind pulp plus 100g of sweet dried fruit we bought in chaozhou (Mw says its kumquat) with a little honey to taste, boiled for 30 mins.

Test attempt at roast duck for CNY dinner

Taste was excellent. Skin is so so. But good first start. I think good enough that CNY dinner itself will be my second attempt.

First make a 3.5 liter brine with 1.5 liter classic coca cola, 2 litre water, 170g salt, a few tablespoons of  sugar, 10-15 shakes of fish sauce, 2 medium oranges (juice and pulp added), 2 cinnamon sticks, 1 garlic bulb (halved), and some orange liquorice sweets I bought from China. Boil all together except the coke and make sure salt is dissolved. Then add the coke (cold from fridge). Let the mix cool and then put it into fridge to bring it down further.

Trim the duck, then add it to the cold brine overnight.

Remove from brine, drain duck and pat dry.

Prick skin all over (not sure if I should have done this before the slow roast or after - oh well).

Stuff cavity with one large orange.

Stick it in the oven and roast at 80C for 8-9 hours.

Take out of oven. Cool the duck with a fan airflow. Then stick in the the fridge for several hours at least.

Take duck out of fridge and let it warm up gradually (couple of hours). Cover any parts that are likely to overcook in the next step (wings and any holes in skin or cavity).

Crank oven to 300C. Then bring it down to 275C with fan. Open all windows and close the kitchen door (it will smoke).

Put duck in. And watch carefully. It should only take about 10-12 mins.

Take out duck. Cool 15-20 mins before carving.

 

 

 

After carving. Forgot to take photo pre-carve.

after the slow roast.

Stuffed peppers

Saw a bunch of small bell peppers being sold in NTUC. Was tempted to do stuffed peppers.

Filling is (from memory): minced pork, toasted whole fennel/cumin, pepper salt/fish sauce, a little soup stock, dash of sesame oil, a little oil from frying dried prawns (did not use the prawns), fried garlic, wan sui, spring onions, finely chopped shitake mushrooms, one egg, dash of sake and sweet wine. Hey, and the kitchen sink too.

Slow roasted about 40 mins at 95C (monitored internal temp till about 78C). Then cranked the oven to grill.

Result, very tender and sweet bell peppers with a savory fill. Worth repeating. Had a lot of excess which I froze - I expect they are easily gently reheated with little effect.

Note for next time:
1. filling is difficult as the peppers are small (many of the peppers weren't fully filled. Find a tool or use last finger next time.

2. Stuck the caps on, but it tends to fall out. If I'm serious about presentation, will need to find a way to keep the caps on. The fill is sticky, but not sticky enough (brush egg white around cap and run a torch very briefly over to seal the cap?).

Kueh Salat second attempt

This one's better. I'm fairly happy now. The approximate recipe is below. Quantities given can probably fill a 24cm cake mold, but I used a 20cm one.

 1. Make a concentrated pandan juice from 200g of deep green pandan leaves only. This is overkill - i think I need less, but having more juice is better than having less. Just blend with cut up pandan leaves with as little water as possible in batches, then squeeze/sieve the lot.

2. Make the rice. Steam 250g of glutinous rice (there will be excess) with a cup of half/half mix of coconut cream and water. Add 1/2 tsp salt. steam the lot for about 20 mins. Take out, fluff and mix the rice (coconut milk will not be evenly distributed). Then ladle rice to the mold (20cm dia) and tamp it down with a oiled potato masher (flat end). Should fill about 1/3 of the depth.

3. Make the custard.

3a. Mix about 150ml coconut cream + 250ml of pandan concentrate + pinch of salt and 120g sugar. Add a few drops of vanilla essence.

3b. Beat 5 eggs + 1 yolk (cold eggs from fridge). Sieve to get smooth egg mix.

3c. Gently heat mix from 3a until sugar is dissolved. When mix is hot (about 70C to 80C), add a roux (slightly runny, so use a bit more butter) made from 2 tablespoons of flour, slowly stirring it in. Stir until the mix thickens a bit and coats back of spoon. Do not over heat and boil.

3d. Pour a dribble of the mix into the egg a little at a time and stir continuously to tamper the eggs. Then when half done, combine all together. Stir to mix completely.

4. When 3d is started, put the mold into the steamer to steam another 5 mins or so to get the rice hot.

5. when 3d is ready, take the mold out of steamer and pour the mix into the mold through a sieve to catch any lumps.

6. gently steam (about 87C) until a instant read thermometer inserted into the kueh reads about 77C. Note to self: egg custard hardens at about 82C.

7. Take out and rest until kueh is cool (about 2 hours). Unmold and store, or eat.

Kueh Salat First attempt

I tried doing a kueh for the first time - this is a kueh salat. Tastes ok, but nothing like the sublime concoction I ate the other day at a function. The main difference being the wobbly texture of the top custard layer. Well... there's always another time.

I adapted a recipe from http://kitchentigress.blogspot.sg/2012/02/kueh-salat.html

What's the difference? Well, the most visible difference is lack of bunga telang
(this gives the distinctive blue color streaking the glutinous rice base). First I did not know where to get it, and second, I figured I would leave it out for the first try as not significantly affecting the taste of a first time preparation. Another significant difference is using coconut cream and not milk.

Other differences. The recipe does not mention sieving of the warm custard prior to laying on top of the rice. I did it - otherwise there'd be lumps. Instead of just adding in flour, I first did a roux (I was doubtful of just adding in the raw flour into a non-oil based liquid) with butter and flour and put it in (however, it probably did thicken it a bit too much). I did not bother with the multi-step procedure for the rice - I simply steamed it for 25 mins with a coconut cream and water mix in a separate container, then added it in, tamped it down and steamed for another 5.

Mistakes?

• I think I followed the quantities given, but I still ended up with a slightly too thin top layer.
• The top layer is over cooked. First, probably because the thin layer was too thin and the cooking time is shorter. Second, I was using my thermometer to check on it, but I forgot to set the alarm - by the time I got to it, it had hit 83C - too hot.
• I think I needn't thicken the custard that much before adding it in. A mild thickening would have done.