How can Autumn go without apple tarts? Our neighbors gave us a bagful of apples a week ago. It seems like a perfect excuse (not that I need any) to make one of my favorite dessert combos, apples and frangipane with my favorite dessert tart dough.
Apple frangipane tart
For tart dough:
- 120 g plain flour
- 120 g bread/strong flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp sugar
- pinch of salt
- 100 g melted unsalted butter
- 40 g room-temperature water
For apple filling:
- 5 to 6 medium size apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
- 100 g sugar
- 100 g ground almond
- 100 g melted unsalted butter
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- melted butter to brush the apple slices
- 1-2 tbsps demerara sugar
- warm apricot jam to glaze the finished tart
Preheat the oven at 180C. Grease and flour a 9x13in tart tin.
To prepare the tart dough, mix both flours, baking powder, sugar, salt together in a bowl. Stir in melted butter, mix lightly with a rubber spatula, and then drizzle in water. Mix until the dough is well combined. Tip the dough out onto a large piece of cling film. Gather four corners to help form a ball.
Roll the dough out between two sheets of baking paper to a thickness of 50p coin (2mm). Transfer the dough onto your prepared tart tin. Ease the dough into all slides and four corners. Pierce the tart base with a fork. Cover the tart tin with a grease-proof paper followed by baking beads. Blind bake for 20 minutes, with the last 10 minutes grease-proof paper and baking beads removed. Remove the tart tin from the oven. Keep the oven heat on.
Prepare the frangipane filling by mixing sugar, ground almond, melted butter, eggs and almond extract together. Spread the frangipane all over the tart shell. Arrange the apple slices in a decorative manner. Brush melted butter on top of apple slices and scatter demerara sugar on the top. Bake the tart at 180C for 40-50 minutes, until the edge of apple slices starts to brown. Turn the tart case 180 degrees halfway through.
When the tart is baked, remove it from the oven. Brush apricot jam all over on top of the apple slices. Cool before serving.
After what has happened thisweek, I am beyond sadness. Bewildered, even a bit frustrated, then I played Anthem by Leonard Cohen, over and over again.
I thought it was not possible to bring so much hope with so few words after Leonard Cohen's Anthem
There is a crack in everything That's how the light gets in. - Leonard Cohen, 1992
But Hilary Clinton did it for me this week.
Many of you are at the beginning of your professional, public, and political careers — you will have successes and setbacks too. This loss hurts, but please never stop believing that fighting for what's right is worth it. It is worth it. - Hilary Clinton, 09 November 2016
I will do what Dear Polly Heather Havrilesky suggested, stay away from social media, peer away from newspaper political columns for a while. Just remember what's truly mattered in life and do your bits, even though some may not join, for a world which belongs. to. everyone.
I got a carvery ready lamb shoulder, about 1.2 kg. Seasoned the lamb inside out with a mixture of olive oil, garlic powder. thyme and oregano leaves, black pepper and salt. Put the lamb in a wide and shallow casserole on top of 3 red onions and pour 1 cup of liquid consisting of half sherry and half water. Cover the casserole with a lid and roast the meat at 160C for 4 hours. The lid is on for the first three hours but off for the last one for the meat to crisp up. Before serving, I reduce the pan juice with a tiny amount of sugar and vinegar. Best lamb I've ever had.
Carrot puree
Boil 500g carrots in chunks for 30 minutes (or until they are tender). Drain the carrots (save 1 1/2 cup of water for couscous later) and let them steam dry for 5 minutes. Put 2 tablespoons of butter in and mash the carrots. Adjust the taste with salt and a pinch of sugar. I usually further season the carrot puree depending on what goes with it. For the roast lamb tonight, I added 1/4 teaspoon of homemade Baharat spice (see below). Harissa is a good substitute or just cumin powder. It's a nice and different way to serve carrots as a side dish.
Boil 1 1/2 cup of water (I used the water saved from cooking carrots) in a saucepan. Season the water with 1/4 teaspoon of Baharat spice and a pinch of salt. When the water comes to boil, add in a handful of raisins and half cup of frozen peas. Bring the pot back to boil and pour in one cup of couscous. Stir, cover and turn the heat off. After 10 minutes, remove the lid and fluff the couscous with a spoon/fork.
This dessert makes use of store-bought brioche and canned apricots. The preparation is merely an assembly job, layering the brioche slices, spreading the filling and topping with apricot slices. I added two tablespoons of amaretto to the filling. The brioche remains soft but firm enough to be a tart base. The taste is simple but elegant, a very good dessert indeed.
I discovered this little delight while travelling to the Alps this summer. Tiny little rectangles with light snowy glaze on top, perfumed with warm spices, distinctively Christmassey. The only "official" version I tasted seems to have some hazelnut undertone. I will substitute ground hazelnut for 1/2 cup of flour next time. Nevertheless, the recipe below produces something overall fairly close to what my first taste is like and is a great start-point to play with.
3/4 cup honey
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup rye flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2/3 cup almond flakes
200 g finely chopped candied citrus peel (or 1/2 cup finely chopped candied orange peel + 1/4 cup finely chopped candied citron peel)
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
A generous splash of rum (or kirsch)
1 teaspoon mixed-spice
1/2 teaspoon quartre-epice
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons water
In a small saucepan, combine the honey with the granulated sugar and salt. Cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the honey and sugar are melted and beginning to simmer, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a large heatproof bowl and let cool slightly, about 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 175C and line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. In a small bowl, sift the flour with the baking powder. Using a sturdy spatula or wooden spoon, stir the egg into the honey mixture. Stir in the almonds, candied citrus peels, orange and lemon zests, all spice powders, then stir in the sifted flour.
Scrape the dough onto the prepared baking sheet and, with floured hands (or with an off-set spatula), press into a 13-by-9-inch rectangle, about ¼ inch thick. Bake for about 20 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through, until golden and puffy.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the confectioners’ sugar with 2 tablespoons of water and bring to a boil over moderately high heat. Boil the syrup until it begins to thicken, about 5 minutes. Keep warm.
As soon as the leckerli is done, brush the surface with the hot glaze. While it’s still hot, carefully slide the parchment onto a work surface. Using a sharp knife, trim the edges of the rectangle and cut the leckerli into 2-by-1-inch bars. Let cool before serving.
Note 1: Cutting the glazed leckerli after 10 minutes out of the oven is recommended to avoid cracked top.
Note 2: The baked product has a thickness of 1/2 inch when using 13-by-9-inch baking tin. While the result is still delicious, using a larger baking sheet if you want the authentic 1/4-inch thickness.
It all started when I tried to figure out how to reliably create a muffin dome. The biggest factor, at least for me, is to bake the muffin dough directly into a muffin tin, with no paper case. Yes, I can hear you, baking directly in a muffin tin, how do you get muffins out intact?
First thing first, all non-stick muffin tins only work magically for the first few times in my hand. After the new tin honeymoon period passes, creating a nonstick surface on a nonstick pan is necessary for my peace of mind. There are a number of nonstick baking sprays you can buy and they work well. After that, there is an ancient way of preparing a nonstick surface with oil and flour. You first apply a thin layer of oil all around the inside of a cake tin. Then you light dust flour all over. It works as well, for all kinds of tins, including muffin ones. Then there is something called cake release, a thick paste which you brush it all over a cake tin and bake the dough directly in. That's it. I was intrigued by its ease of use and effect, and almost made a purchase. While I was googling for the product to buy, posts kept coming up mentioning a homemade version. I was hooked.
All posts about the homemade cake release uses the same recipe, mix equal parts (in volume) of flour, vegetable oil and solid shortening. Store in a nice glass jar. That's it. Three ingredients, less than any commercial version, and everyone who makes and uses it raves about it. I was bought.
So here is my cake release with 1/4 cup of all-purpose/plain flour, 1/4 cup of canola oil and 1/4 cup of solid coconut oil. And tonight I tried my cake release the first time. I brushed it all over the muffin tin and baked my muffin dough directly in. After cooling the muffins in the tin for 10 minutes, I tipped the tin side way and the muffins just. fell. out. I felt my bake tin honeymoon started all over again!
Finally the temperature feels like autumn with crisp nights and cold mornings. The wind, the falling leaves, the sound and the color of nature slowly going into a hiatus, all is familiarly calming. I think I am an autumn person.
This is my first year of growing tomatoes, probably also the last. I did enjoy my experience but growing fruits/veggies does take more effort than growing ornamental flowers. At this moment, I think I will stick with flowers for some time. Here is how my cherry tomatoes looked like in August.
My first harvest of cherry tomatoes.
I also learned that tomatoes can still ripen/turn red after they are picked. What a revelation! As evidenced from the second picture, the left bunch is ripened after they were picked (or rather rescued after the branch broken off), and the right bunch is vine ripened. I have to confess that the the vine ripened bunch is so much sweeter than the the ones ripened after being picked. Nevertheless, the less sweet ones can go into cooking. Nothing is wasted in this household.
And finally, my orchid. Can you believe that this orchid of mine has been flowering from February till now? Remarkable. I can see that it's going into its last leg of blooming but what a rewarding plant to have in the house.
This is how it looked like back in February.
This is how it looks like now in mid-September. The color surely has faded and it is ready to rest before the next year bloom. Thank you my orchid for this year pleasure.
For all these years, I've been wanting to create the much desired muffin dome. I think I may have found one or two tricks which may give me this very ticklish-able dome more reliably. One is to bake at higher temperature at the beginning. I found that the dough receives the heat shock much better when baked directly in an oiled/floured muffin tin than a tin lined with paper case. Secondly, the dough needs to have less liquid in proportion (i.e. thicker dough, think spoonable rather than pourable). Therefore, I adapted my trusted muffin recipe to use 1/2 cup of yogurt, instead of 1 cup of milk. By using both tweaks, here is what I got this morning:
I was ecstatic! First proper dome with nice color all around. I will repeat a few times to pose my final recipe in the future.
This has to be the best pasta I've ever made and I have made a lot of pasta dishes in my cooking life. The recipe came from the culinary wizard, Yotam Ottolenghi. And for once this is one of Ottolenghi's recipes which does not require a spice pantry fit for a king, not that I am complaining.
With a few ingredients easily accessible which may already exist in your fridge and pantry, the sum is so much more than its individual parts. The taste is perfectly balanced and the flavor is not overly complex. Livened by the gentle yogurt tang, soothed by sweetness from peas, based in undeniably aromatic basil savory note, the dish is given a final sparkle by a subtle fiery kick of chilli. Although the taste reminds me of summer, the end product is warm which makes it perfect for a crisp autumn evening when the long days are gone. I urge you to give it a go!
500g Greek yoghurt
2 teaspoons of garlic powder (or 4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed)
90mL + 60mL olive oil
100g + 400g fresh peas (or frozen, defrosted)
500g pasta (conchiglie pasta shell or farfalle)
60g coarsely chopped walnuts (or pine nuts)
2 tsp kirmizi biber/turkish pepper, to taste (I mix Aleppo pepper and Urfa chilli flakes. Ottolenghi suggested a substitute using regular chilli flakes with a tiny amount of smoked paprika)
40g basil leaves, roughly torn
240g feta, broken into chunks
Salt and freshly ground white pepper
To make the sauce: In a large bowl, puree the yoghurt, garlic, 90ml of the olive oil, 100g of the peas and 1/2 teaspoon of salt with a stick blender. You can use a food processor for this step.
Cook pasta while preparing chilli nutty oil. Cook the pasta in plenty of salted water according to the package. While it's cooking, heat the remaining oil (60mL) in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add the walnut pieces and chilli flakes, and fry for four minutes, until the nuts are golden and the oil deep red. Season the nuts with a pinch of salt. At the same time, heat the remaining peas in a pan of boiling water, then drain.
Drain the cooked pasta into a colander, shake well to get rid of as much as water possible. Let the cooked pasta sit in the bowl steaming away further moisture for 10 minutes. Stir the pasta a few times with a rubber spatula to help cool down the pasta. Add the warm pasta to the yogurt sauce . Add the peas, basil, feta, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and plenty of white pepper, and toss gently. Transfer to serving bowls, spoon over the walnuts and the chilli-infused oil, and serve immediately.
This dish tastes best when it's just made, when all flavors are the brightest in harmony. The leftover may need additional stir-in sauce to refresh the flavor and it certainly tastes much better blood-warm than fridge cold.
Time is flying at speed of light ever since I entered 40. Months and years pass me by before I have a moment to say, what? Well, it's not the quantity but the quality, remember? I will try.
This July we spent six fantastic and exhaustive days in the Alps. The Alps must be the place where the fittest people go. Because while I was trying with every bit of my sweat and concentration to focus on a very steep and slippery road (upwards and down), people kept passing me by, running, in fact, most of the time, as if they were walking along the beach promenade. Despite the testament to my physical ability, this trip is an unforgettable experience for me. I start to understand why people have been fascinated about the Alps for all these time. The vastness of this mountain range, the most vivid color you will find in the midst of summer and the ever changing terrain, how can one be ever bored there!?
Shortly after we came back, we had the pleasure of our nieces and nephew visiting. How big they have grown! Long gone the image of them playing with their toys when they were half of our height. They are now as tall or even taller than I am! And what a nice group of fine young adults they turned out to be. They are eager to talk to me and help me around the house. They are such a pleasure to have around.
And this summer is also a summer of incessant heatwave, at least 5 degrees above normal, sometimes 10 degrees. I don't remember British summer being so long. It's nice, having a proper summer finally, although I am behaving a bit like a Brit when one always longs for the opposite. Well, life is good here, with heatwave or not, considering whatelseishappeningacrosstheglobe. I am grateful.
This weekend, we managed to go through a kilo of Greek Yogurt! A kilo! How did it happen? Not every gram is eaten but the whole kilo is either in the form or dessert or salad waiting in the fridge. And I just realised I need more to make this pasta salad for the next week when more heatwave is expected.
How bad can it be when the only thing I get to complain is not enough Greek yogurt?
Butter chicken or Chicken Makhani is possibly my favorite Indian meat dish. Gently spiced but highly flavorful. Every mouthful is a joy. Over the years, I've tried a number of recipes and the one below is now part of my repertoire.
- 10 chicken drumsticks, skin removed; or 800g chicken boneless thighs, skinned and cut into big chunks
- 2 teaspoons of tandoori chicken masala powder (or garam masala)
- 2 teaspoons of tumeric powder
- 2 teaspoons of cumin powder
- 4 tablespoons of plain full fat yogurt (regular or Greek)
- 3-4 drops of liquid smoke or 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
Marinade chicken with all ingredients listed above for one hour or overnight. Roast drumsticks or chicken thighs at 180C for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven while you prepare the sauce.
Butter sauce
- 50 g butter, melted
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, grated
- 1 tablespoon of grated ginger
- 1 cinnamon bark
- 1 tablespoon of chicken masala powder (or garam masala)
- 1 can of tomato (400g)
- 1 cup of double cream
- 1 tablespoon of fenugreek leaves
- 3 tablespoons of ground almond
- chopped fresh coriander leaves
In a big saute pan, melt the butter and fry the onions until they are lightly golden brown. Add in grated garlic, grated ginger, cinnamon bark, and chicken masala powder. Stir to mix everything and cook the spice mixture on medium heat for 3 minutes.
Add in one can of tomato. Bring the pot to a boil and reduce the heat to medium low. Cook the sauce for 20 minutes. Add in cream and ground almond. Crush the fenugreek leaves between your palms and let it fall into the pan. Stir to combine. If the sauce is too dry, add some stock. If too loose, reduce the sauce until it looks like thick smoothie. At this point, stir in roasted chicken. Cook the curry on the medium heat for 10 minutes. Sprinkle coriander leaves before serving.
The pizza dough is based on Serious Eats Sicilian Pizza. The flavor is good, but on the greasy side. I guess I still prefer the traditional dry base which I can eat with my fingers without getting greasy. Also, despite with plenty of oil in the sheet pan, part of the pizza was still stuck to the sheet pan after baking. Note to self, use a baking parchment next time. I made my own tomato sauce based on Marcella Hazan's recipe mixing in oregano and garlic. And for toppings, it's a mixture of pepperoni and smoked pancetta.
Conclusion: it's a recipe I will make it again but significantly reducing the oil for pizza dough baking next time.
The long Easter weekend, ah, who doesn't like it after long, dark and uninspiring winter days? For me, Easter weekend formally signals Spring. The longer days, warmer temperature and unstoppable sings of life, everywhere you look, how can not anyone feel cheerful?
Today is Easter Monday, the last day of the long weekend. The sun is out and the wind (thanks Storm Katie) has subsided. Time to get the flower seeds in the ground!
I planted Zinnia and African Marigold in three pots each. Also, I put two begonia corms in the ceramic pot on the terrace, and sowed some tomato seeds which were thrown in for free by the vendor. Our world may still be going through some turbulence but at least in my 15-sq meter garden I can toss my worries away for a moment to have a sense of pure joy, just being alive.
1) 50% of the flour is all-purpose
2) 2 tablespoons of white sesame seeds and 1 tablespoon of linseeds added in the beginning before autolyse.
The all-purpose flour seems to absorb less water than high-protein bread flour. It was so sticky that I had to add a couple of tablespoons of bread flour. I am not sure whether the high ratio of all-purpose flour is a reason as why the crumb structure is not as open as before.
The plus side is the flavor is nice. The sesame seeds came through nicely.
I learned a great deal of bread making by reading and re-reading Dan Lepard's Short and Sweet. It's a great book and a good reference for almost anything baking. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know about baking. I also benefit much by severalbreadforums across the internet. They are truly useful source of information and experiences to learn bread baking.
There are two things which improve my bread baking tremendously. The first is "autolyse" and the second is "stretch-and-fold". By harnessing both techniques, not only does it make dough handling a lot easier and pleasurable (machines not needed!), but also produces satisfying outcomes. Especially with "stretch-and-fold" technique, it regularizes and strengthens the gluten structure. As a result, the dough holds bubbles much better and gives an attractive look of an open crumb structure in the baked product.
Below is the recipe I use for a basic white loaf. If you are a beginner, start with 65% hydration. It's less sticky and easier to work with. If you are more experienced, go up to 70% (or even higher). This basic recipe is highly adaptable for different flavors, shapes and flexible with processing time. The pictures below are all based on the same recipe, with different variations (shown at the end). I hope you give it a go.
Plain white
Cranberry and linseed
Rye and caraway
Cranberry loaf
My simple versatile loaf
Basic recipe
400g white bread flour
260-280g tepid water (65%-70% hydration, water/flour ratio)
1 tsp dried yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp diastatic malt powder/flour (optional)
1 tsp table salt
oil to manipulate the dough
Mixing
In a large bowl, mix together tepid (bloodwarm) water, yeast and sugar. Stir in flour and diastatic malt powder (if using). Gently knead a few times to form a ball. The dough doesn't have to be smooth but has to come together as a ball without visible dry specks of flour. Rest the dough in a covered bowl for at least 30 minutes. Longer time is fine. I sometimes leave it overnight in a cold room (15-18C). This step is called autolyse, a process when gluten starts to form. Gluten forming is a chemical process, with or without kneading. I find kneading much easier and quicker when the dough has autolysed for at least 30 minutes. It is important not to add salt at this stage as salt greatly inhibits gluten formation. Traditional autolyse does not include yeast but I find no discernible difference when adding yeast at this stage.
After 30 minutes (or longer), the dough is relaxed and stretchy at the same time. Knead in the salt now. It usually takes me kneading 20 times to incorporate the salt fully. Gentle does it. There is no need to be violent with the bread dough. The dough should become less sticky and quite smooth now.
After the salt is well mixed in, rest the dough for 10 minutes. After that, lightly oil the dough all over, inside of the bowl, your hands and working top. This helps the following the short kneading step greatly. Lightly knead the dough for 30 seconds and shape it into a ball. Cover the dough. You are ready to start the first stage of fermentation/proofing.
First fermentation
During the first stage of fermentation, I aim to proof my dough at least risen twice as large. It will take about 2 hours depending on the room temperature. If it volumes up too quickly, deflate the dough slightly by kneading it back to a ball and start again. During the first stage of proofing, perform the "stretch-and-fold" technique (at least) three times, at regular intervals. Grease your hands and the dough if it's sticky. Here is the video example of "stretch-and-fold".
Shaping and final fermentation
When the dough has risen twice its starting size, tip it out onto a floured surface. Pat the dough out into a rectangular shape. Roll it up (like a swiss roll) or fold it like a blanket into a batard. This is the easiest shape for me as a beginner. Remember to roll along the short side of the rectangle. Here is a video for batard shaping.
After shaping the dough into a desirable form, let it proof the last time, in a proofing basket (banneton) or a floured surface. Cover the dough with greased cling film. I like to proof my bread again almost twice its starting volume here. Some say you only need 50% larger. I get better results when I final proof my bread twice as large. Feel free to experiment.
Baking
When the dough is about twice as large, preheat the oven as high as your oven would allow (>200C) for 15 minutes. If you have a baking stone (or pizza stone), put it inside the oven now. If you only have baking sheet pan (as I do), put it in as well. 10 minutes into preheating, pour 1 cup of freshly boiling water into a baking tray (or a skillet) and stick it into the oven. The location doesn't really matter. The aim is to create steam in the oven before the dough goes in. Steaming createsa crackling and chewy crust which many of us like.
After preheating the oven for 15 minutes, slash or score the bread dough if you like and put it on top of the pre-heated baking stone or sheet pan. Some people suggest spritzingwater on top of the bread dough to encourage an “ear” formation - a raised flap of crust at the edge of a cut. Brushing the dough with water before slashing is another way to create crust,if you don't have a spritzer (I don't).
Bake the bread at 200C/fan for 15 minutes with the pan of water in. After 15 minutes, remove the water tray, reduce the temperature to 180C/fan and bake for another 20 minutes. If the bread browns too quickly, cover the top with a sheet of foil. When the total baking time reaches 35 minutes, reduce the temperature to 100C for another 5 minutes. The total baking time is 40 minutes. After that, turn the heat off and leave the oven door ajar to let the bread cool slowly in the turned-off oven.
The above baking procedure is based on my electric fan-assisted oven and also to create my preferred final look (not dark brown, just golden bronze). You may need to adjust the baking time/temperature for your oven and to create the loaf you like.
Variation 1: playing with the flour mix
Mixing different flour brings depth and taste to the final product. I try to keep the white bread flour at 75% of the total flour weight. This is to ensure a good rise in the final product. The more wholemeal wheat or rye flour you add, the less dough will rise. Experiment with different flours and find your favorite combo.
My favorite combo is to use the following flour combination and follow the rest of the basic recipe.
100 g wholemeal spelt flour (sometimes 50 g rye + 50 g spelt)
300 g white bread flour
Variation 2: playing with different liquid and spice add-ins
One of my favorite recipes from Dan Lepard is his Black Pepper Rye Bread. The genius behind this recipe is to use coffee instead of water to make the dough. There is no need to use expensive espresso. The instant will do. The end product doesn't taste any coffee, but has a nice delicate toasty flavor, perfect with caraway and black pepper add-ins.
Follow the basic recipe but with the following changes.
260-280g coffee Americano in place of plain water
2 tsps caraway seeds
1 tsp ground black pepper
You can also add a couple of tablespoons of plain yogurt to the mixing water. Or go as far as you dare like in this Yogurt Bloomer recipe. This will create a light sourdough taste. Or, use milk or soya in place of water to create a more tender crumb.
Variation 3: playing with dried fruits, nuts and seeds
Simply add in a handful of dried cranberries to the basic recipe will change your daily loaf to a nice breakfast toast! I try to avoid raisins unless I can make sure I can hide them well inside the dough. They tend to char more severely than cranberries.
Follow the basic recipe or Variation 1 with a handful of dried cranberries (and 1 tablespoon of golden linseeds) added in during mixing.
This is another great recipe my friend S shared with me. Below is my adaption.
Chicken tagine with apricots and green olives
- 800-1000g chicken pieces (I like thighs)
- 2 teaspoons of grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon of paprika
- 1 teaspoon of cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper
- 1-2 teaspoons of water
- 2 tablespoons of oil
- 1 large onion, minced
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons of tomato puree (or 2 fresh tomatoes, chopped)
- pinch of saffron (optional)
- 2 cups of water/stock
- 12 dried apricots (use less if yours are big), halved or not, it's up to you
- half cup of green olives, halved
- chopped coriander leaves
In a big container, marinade the chicken pieces with ginger, paprika, cumin, cinnamon, turmeric and black pepper for at least one hour or leave it in the fridge for overnight. You may need a little bit water to bring the spice paste together.
In a wide bottom pan, heat the oil until hot. Sear all sides of the chicken pieces. Watch out the heat so that the spices are not darkened too quickly. When the chicken pieces are golden all around, remove from the pan.
In the same pan, cook the minced onion until lightly golden. Add in minced garlic and cook for another minute. Stir in the tomato paste and cook it for another minute or two.
Add in water/stock along with a pinch of saffron. Scrape the bottom of the pan to make sure nothing is stuck. When the water comes back to boil, put the chicken pieces on top, try not to overlap. The water level should be just about the level of chicken pieces. There is no need to add more water to submerge the chicken completely. Turn the heat to low, lid on, cook the chicken for 45-60 minutes.
During the last five minutes of cooking, stir in the apricots and green olives. Let the cooking continue for 5 more minutes. Heat off with lid back on for another 5-10 minutes.
When it's ready to serve, scatter chopped coriander leaves (or parsley leaves) to the top. It's great with couscous or coconut turmeric rice (as is served tonight) and a plate of roasted vegetables.
This is another great recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi. It is an upside-down rice dish from middle east, but I assembled the dish in a pot as it would come out flipped to avoid accident. The flavor is very good, mild but tasty. It did take some effort to get each individual vegetable cooked before assembly but the end result is worth it. I served it with turkey brochette, Greek salad and Tzatziki sauce. Two thumbs up from hubby.
For the past three months, I have been curing my own salmon. The first time was purely out of curiosity. Can I create something at home which still has a touch flair of luxury? It all started with my friend, S, who shared her salmon curing experience with me. I just couldn't believe this is something I could attempt at home, with so few ingredients!
Since then, I have been experimenting with the curing mix and timing to come up something we like. Below is my final recipe for home curing salmon. The recipe was inspired by a number of recipes I found on the internet and tried at home. The four main components are: smoked tea leaves, sea salt flakes, brown sugar and onion powder. The use of smoked tea leaves not only does it give a smoky flavor but also leave an attractive mark on the salmon after curing. The use of onion powder adds a very nice but subtle background savory note. If onion powder is difficult to come by for you, feel free to ignore it. The final product will still be good. After repeating this recipe a few times, I noticed that the salt particle size has an impact on how salty salmon turns out, despite of the same weight. Therefore, I strongly recommend sea salt flakes such as Maldon salt to cure salmon at home, instead of regular table salt.
Home curing salmon with smoked tea leaves
- 750 g salmon with skin, pin-bones removed
- 52.5 g Maldon salt (7% of the salmon weight)
- 35 g brown sugar (a 2/3 of the salt weight)
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground white pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder* (optional but highly recommended)
- 10 g of of smoked tea leaves, crushed (about 4 Lapsang souchong teabags; you can use other types of smoked tea leaves, such as Russian caravan)
- vodka (or brandy/whisky) to rinse the salmon
*If you can only get onion salt (like I do), add the onion salt to the Maldon salt while weighing to make it 52.5g (7% of the salmon weight).
Soak salmon in a pot of salted cold water for 10 minutes. Table salt is okay to use at this step. Rinse the salmon under cold running tap water to wash away any clinging grease. Pat dry with plenty of paper towels. I like to rinse the salmon again with vodka (as a safety measure). This is optional. If you do, dry the salmon again with paper towels after the vodka rinse.
In another bowl, mix together Maldon salt, brown sugar, white pepper, onion powder and crushed tea leaves.
In a large surface, lay several layers of cling films, overlapping so as to wrap the salmon piece completely. Spoon a third of the salt mixture on the cling film, lay the salmon on top with skin side down. In the picture below, I sliced the salmon in half to fit my container. It's optional.
Cover the salmon flesh with all remaining curing mix, making sure all sides are covered. I stacked my two salmon slices skin side out so that the flesh and salt cure has maximum contact.
Bring the cling films together to wrap the salmon tightly. Put the salmon in a container with weight on top. Refrigerate for two days. You could flip the salmon parcel half way through but I don't find this step necessary.
After two days, remove the cling film from the salmon, rinse the fish under the cold running tap water. There is no need to wash away all tea leaves but make sure all the other curing ingredients gone. Pat the salmon dry with paper towels. Remove the skin and the brown bits. Slice thinly and enjoy with lemon wedges or with blini.
As much as I love my olive oil pie crust, I have to admit that nothing beats the flavor of all-butter pastry. I once learned that two parts of flour with one part of butter (or mixed with lard), by weight, is the golden ratio of a flaky pie crust. Below is the recipe based on Food Wishes' buttercrust pastry dough and satisfies my desire perfectly for flaky and flavorful pie crust.
All-butter pie crust
- 2 cups of plain flour (280 g in total)
- 110 g fridge-cold butter, small cubes
- 1 tsp sugar (use 1 tbsp for sweet recipes)
- 1/2 tsp salt (if using unsalted butter)
- enough cold water to form the dough (6-8 tablespoons)
Pulse plain flour, butter cubes, sugar and salt in a food processor until the mixture looks like bread crumbs. Add two tablespoons of cold water at a time until the mixture stick together when you press between fingers. I sometimes add one egg and just enough water to form a dough.
Tip the dough out to a floured surface. Gather all the crumbs with your hands and lightly knead to shape a thick disk. Cut into two halves (optional) and wrap each one individually with clingfilm. Rest in the fridge for one hour before using. I usually leave it overnight.
Remove the dough from the fridge and rest at room temperature for 20 minutes before rolling.
Turkey Ham Hand Pies
- 2 leeks, sliced
- thyme leaves or tarragon leaves
- splash of white wine
- 2 tablespoons of flour
- 1/2 cups of milk
- 1/2 cups of cheese (cheddar, gouda, edam, or anything you like)
- 2 cups of roasted turkey meat, in big chunks
- 2 cups of cooked ham, in big chunks
- 1 portion of All-butter pastry dough
I prefer my pie filling on the dry side so this recipe makes a rather thick cheesy Bechamel sauce. If you prefer more saucy pie filling, increase the milk to 1 cup.
I managed to get six hand pies out of the pastry dough (~500g). I find this video helpful demonstrating the folding and crimping of a hand pie.
