Foccacia first attempt

Not too bad. This could be a foundation of a savory carb for a party of people. 500g makes quite a bit of bread. 200g is probably a minimum.

Next time, I'll use a slightly less hot oven and take it out when it is slightly less brown this time. I might also use more water/oil because I was a little afraid it was too much. Basically it turned out a bit more crispy crust than I like. I might also use AP flour.

1. Make the dough. 80% hydration inclusive of 3 tablespoons of good olive oil in the water. 2% yeast, 2% salt. About a tablespoon of sugar and 500g bread flour. Knead about 10 minutes and put in fridge overnight.

2. Take out dough. It may already have doubled in the fridge. If not, leave on counter top until it does.

3. Punch down dough. Spread it flat (maybe 5 mm thick) on a very well oiled (olive oil) pan.

4. Let it rise until about double in size.

5. Using 2-3 fingers, press down the dough until almost down to surface without puncturing it, until you get big dimples all over.

6. Wait again - maybe 30-40 mins this time. Start the oven (used 230C, next time will go for 210C).

7. Scatter rosemary bits over.

8. Mix about 1/4 cup water + 1/4 cup good olive oil in a jar. Shake vigorously to turn it to an emulsion. Then, with the help of a spoon to scatter the fluid more evenly, pour it over the dough.

9. Bake until golden.

Japanese style salted egg

This is pretty awesome and easy to make for a starter type dish. It has a long savory finish that stays on the tongue for a while.

Because it turns out a bit salty (MW found it so, and I thought it was ok), its probably better paired with some salad leaves (plus a little vinegrette) and probably some kind of nut (peanuts, pine nuts etc). Will try this for next time I entertain.

The egg white will turn slightly brown as some of the miso migrates into the white.


Make a hard boiled egg. I made mine with center slightly moist.
Peel and encase egg in miso.
Put in Fridge, and wait 4 hours.
Wash excess miso off and lightly dry the egg.

Sa Po Fan

Did chicken claypot rice in a paella pan. Turns out quite well as the blue steel based paella pan is conducive to working up the burnt crust we like in a sa po fan. The paella pan heats very rapidly and passes the heat directly to the rice, which then burns a bit and sticks to the pan.

Because it is in a big pan, you need some way of evenly cooking the rice so it turns moist and plump. In my case, I used my steam oven.

This recipe uses everything in an entire chicken, which I like. I also took out quite a bit of skin and fat.

1. Buy one chicken (smallish to medium) and debone it. 
2. Wash 2.5 cups rice, and then dry it in the sun for several hours over a sieve.
3. Remove as much skin and fat as possible. Left the skin on the chicken wings though. Chop meat into 3-4cm pieces (except chicken wings).
4. Marinate meat with about equal weight of low sodium soya sauce, dark soya sauce. Add a bit of scallop sauce (or oyster sauce), a few dashes of fish sauce, pepper and a capful of brandy (did not feel like buying a bottle of chinese wine just for this). Leave for at least several hours in fridge.
5. Take the bones, neck, feet, scraps of meat (sans skin and visible fat) and make chicken stock with one leek, bunch of spring onions, dried mushrooms, garlic, knob of ginger and a dash of fish sauce.
6. Steps 1-5 can be done way ahead of time.
7. slice 5 lap cheong thinly. Saute in medium low heat in pan until fat from lap cheong renders out  and lap cheong brown - about 20 mins. Remove lap cheong and leave fat in pan.
8. saute salted fish (about 1/2 to 3/4 of a small fillet, broken into small pieces) in the oil. Then when fragrant, add sliced garlic (about 5 bulbs worth). May have to add a bit more vegetable oil if rendered lap cheong fat not enough. Saute a bit more.
9. add dried rice and gently fold in the rice, coating it with the oil.
10. Add the marinated chicken pieces, taking care not to add the excess marinate. 
11. Fold the chicken into the rice. 
12. Add sliced fresh shitake.
13. Add 3 cups of chicken stock (skim stock to remove chicken fat).
14. Put into steamer and steam 30 mins.
15. Take out from steamer, and then turn the heat to high on stove top. Put the paella pan on top and heat until you hear a crackling sound and smoke coming out (open windows, turn fan on, turn cooker hood on). Lower heat, wait for smoke to dissipate, and repeat for 4-5 times.
16. Sprinkle fresh chopped spring onions on top.
17. Just before dinner, steam in oven for a minute or two. Serve hot. Use large metal spoon to break crust and mix into rice.

forgot to take pic until we had served ourslves. Oopsie

Potato something or other.

This is the first time I'm trying something like this and its surprisingly tasty. It was from some odds and ends I had.

I had 2 chorizo sausage and some marinated minced pork from a previous project in the freezer. Also had potatoes on hand, as well as a small amount of vegetable soup.

I browned sliced sausage in the pan, then took it out.

I sliced one yellow onion and one stalk of leek. Sauted it in a pan with a teaspoon of fennel. 

I took the lot out, then fried the minced meat at high heat until cooked, stirring well. Then I added back all the other ingredients and large diced potato from about 5 potatoes plus a small amount of vegetable soup. Pushed the lot into a 200C oven for about 40 minutes or so or until the potatoes were tender.

Chana Shorba

mw had this soup at a buffet and she liked it. So I tried to replicate it.

Turns out that the internet has as many recipes for this as there are search results.... almost.

And none of them pureed their chickpeas like mw had in her buffet.  So I winged it a little.

It was quite nice.

1. Fry slices of one yellow onion (with sliced leeks from one stalk) in a little oil, with about a tablespoon of cumin seed, very slowly to caramelise it, spraying water from a spritzer as necessary to keep it from charring up, until well browned.
2. Add this to about 1 knob ginger, 1 knob fresh tumeric 1 teaspoon powered tumeric, 4 cloves garlic, a few shakes of chilli flakes, about half a tablespoon or more of pepper, 2 tablespoons yoghurt, 3 tablespoons tomato paste, sliced bits of 1 fresh tomato, generous shake of dried coriander, 1 kaffir lime leaf. Then blend the lot finely.
3. Fry the blended mix for about 10-15 minutes at medium heat. This is the marsala.
4. Add 2 cans of pre-cooked garbanzo beans (chickpeas) with their fluid. Add a bit more chicken stock or water, bring to boil and simmer for about 15 minutes. Add salt to taste.
5. Put the lot into a blender and puree the soup. 
6. Put it back in the pot, add a little water if necessary to make it less thick.

jeera rice

I've tried doing Jeera rice without butter - nope doesn't work.

Anyway, this version is pretty simple. Toast generous pinch of cumin seeds in butter till fragrant. Then add basmati (pre-soaked and then dried partially) and gently fold rice to coat with fat. Continue turning over rice for a few minutes. Pour in about 1.25 times the volume of the rice with stock. Bring to the boil at high heat, then cover and cook at low heat for 15 minutes. Turn off heat and let it sit for at least another 20 minutes. Lift cover and test for doneness and whether it needs more water. If necessary, add a touch of water, put the lid back on and turn the heat back up for a bit, and then let it rest again.

PIzza

After about 4 tries, still trying.

My pizza is fairly mishaped, don't think I've gotten the hang of jerking it off the peel nicely yet.

Crust tastes ok'ish. Probably better than chain pizza, but needs improvement. Not sure how I can do that. Will be trying again.

Lesson 1: the dough needs to be high hydration! e.g. 70% (like baguettes). Otherwise will turn out leathery.

Lesson 2: 6 mins at 275C on a pizza stone will do it. Don't over do it in the hope of seeing more browning.