Delightful Doughnuts from home

I really am not a doughnut gal. I would never go out and get myself a doughnut to eat. When Krispy Kreme came to Malaysia a couple of years ago and the kind folk at the doughnut franchise brought boxes and boxes of the glazed doughnuts to the office to tempt us, I was unmoved and didn't even take one for myself.

So why in heavens name did I make some? Well, I was seduced by the recipe and challenged to see if I could make some myself.  Since mostly everyone I know likes doughnuts I wasn't concerned about how I was going to "dispose" of them once they were done: as long as they turned out, I was certain they'd be polished off in a split second.

Now, the recipe that got me was on  joepastry.com, a site that's full of great pastries to try. And they're almost always fool proof. So one Sunday afternoon, this fool decided to test her skills with  the doughnuts.

Making the doughnuts isn't difficult and if you follow the recipe well, you're bound to succeed. It's that good. What you do need is planning ahead and plenty of time.



Why planning? Well the first step in making lovely spongy doughtnuts is making a sponge. How cool does that sound? The  sponge gives the doughnuts its bounce. It  is made the day before so that it can rest overnight in the fridge for the  flavour to  develop.

Making the Sponge

120gm all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
100  ml lukewarm water
1 large egg

Combine all ingredients and mix gently with a fork till well mixed. Let the sponge ferment: keep it out at room temperature for 30 mins then in the fridge overnight.

Making the doughnuts

165 gms all-purpose flour
2.5 tsp instant yeast
17 gms  dry milk
1/4 tsp salt
14 gms  sugar
1 large egg, cold
2 tsp vanilla extract
80 gms butter at room temperature

Remove sponge from fridge and transfer to  the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add all ingredients except the butter. Knead for 10 minutes (medium speed) stopping a couple of times to scrape down dough if necessary. Add butter slowly and knead till well combined.

Transfer  dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap and leave to double in size (warm place) for roughly 1 hour.

Move dough to a lightly floured surface and shape it into a rectangle. Put it on a lined baking sheet and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Once chilled, transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and roll to about 1/3 cm. Cut into circles with a cookie cutter. Cover the  circles with plastic/damp cloth and let it rest till it puffs slightly (about 45 mins to an hour).

Heat oil to 190 F and fry the circles for just about 40 to 50 seconds per side or till light gold. Drain on paper towel and while warm roll in superfine sugar. For jelly doughnuts, poke a small hole on one side and using an icing nozzle, fill with jam (about a tbsp worth each.

For lovely pic of the whole process, go to http://joepastry.com/index.php?cat=161

Learning to love brinjal

I form opinions quite quickly and rashly when it comes to food. All it takes is one bad experience and I'm put off. I don't really remember what turned me off brinjals but for as long as I remember I have hated brinjals. That pale gooey, seedy flesh was just a turn off. Even when dressed up in a fancier name like aubergine or one that has my favourite food (egg) in it -- eggplant, I was never impressed.

My colleagues Marty and Blessed Glutz however have been slowly (and deliberately) trying to reverse my intolerance towards this vegetable. Blessed Glutz with made ratatouille and baba ghanoush (an Arab eggplant spread/dip) and Marty with a grilled eggplant focaccia sandwich. And I must say, it's starting to work. I actually enjoyed those dishes and I've been experimenting with other ways of getting my brinjal groove going.

Most recently, I spotted a recipe for a brinjal appetiser that actually got me excited. A battered and fried brinjal served with a tomato dip -- simple enough except for the twist. The brinjal -- sliced, slated and washed -- was dipped in flour first, then egg white seasoned with soy sauce and finally polenta flavoured with herbs and curry powder. Interesting, no?

I didn't eat it as an appetiser though. Instead, I used it as a filler for a sandwich I made: a spanish omelette sandwich. I made use of the recipe's pairing of the brinjal with tomato salsa but I tweaked it a little and made a pesto out of it for a spread.

The brinjals tasted really good and I am finding myself to be quite the convert. The polenta crust was crunchy and a little spicy but the brinjal was soft inside it. And the golden yellow of the polenta was fantastic to look at too.

I now have a long list of things I wanna make with brinjal. Lasagna, an arabian chickpea-eggplant stew, Eggplant tomato bake, chilli eggplants ..... what a turnaround!

I wonder though if anything will change my absolute dislike of lady fingers. Anyone wanna tempt me?

A taste of spain for lunch

The first time I had a Spanish omelette was at an Indian eating establishment in PJ and it wasn't a good experience. Frankly, the omelette tasted abysmal. It served me right, really, for who goes to an Indian restaurant to order a Spanish Omelette when there is menu full of delicious curries, kurmas, flatbreads, chutneys and such. Oh, I blame it on curiousity.

That was a good ten years ago and the restaurant has since shut down, not at all because of the omelette I am quite sure. Since then I've had the pleasure of eating delicious Spanish omelettes on numerous ocassions.

The authentic name for this omelette is "Tortilla de Patatas" and it is quite a typical Spanish dish: an egg omelette with fried potatoes and onion. Other additional ingredients are incidental and variations of the original.



You just have to slice potatoes into 1/2 cm pieces and fry them and some sliced brown onions in olive oil. You have to be generous with you rold as the potatoes have to kinda boil in the oil. Stir once in a while, cook them uncovered for about 10 mins and then covered for another 15 mins or till the potatoes are tender.  Well, almost boil. So if you cut 3 medium potatos, use about 4 or 5 tbsp oil.Season with salt and lotsa black pepper.

Once the potatos are tender, drain them well on some paper towels.

Now beat your eggs with milk. I used 5 eggs and 1/4 to 1/2 cup milk. Mix with the potato/onions and put everything back in the skillet on the fire. Fry on side on  low heat and then flip over to the other side for just a few minutes. OR you can fry one side well and then place it in the oven (grill function) for 5 -7 minutes.

Other vegetables I added in were some swiss brown mushrooms and some chopped tomatoes. I also threw in some chopped parsley and cut up some chives as well.

The omelettes are eaten cold as a tapas. I think it goes well in a sandwich too. For this sandwich. I tried a new bread made of semolina flour. It tasted nice but the crust was a little too crunchy to be used as a sandwich bread. The flavour of the semolina went well with the omelette.

As an extra layer, I added some aubergines that I sliced and coated with flour, egg whites and herb and curry flavoured polenta. These were nice as the coasting was crisp while the aubergines remained soft.

Nuts about coconut. Or just nuts.

My all time favourite chocolate is Bounty. Give me a bar of the chocolate coated sweet sticky coconut bars and I'll be at your disposal. Unfortunately, because of an atrociously weak resolve (especially in moments of stress -- which happens quite often with my job) I do not stock my fridge with chocolate. Nuts, yes. Chocolates, No.

So when I do get the occassional craving for a Bounty, it is a big problem. Especially if the craving surfaces late at night. (You see, I am a night time eater -- a total dieting no no). Anyways, it's a darn shame these yummy treats aren't stocked at 7-Eleven. So last weekend when I had three stories to hand in by Monday, I was understandably stressed. For the first time in I don't know how long, my TV remained turned off for 2 days. I was a mess. I wanted my bounty but I couldn't go out and get some because I looked like a hurricane hit me twice. (That's another thing that happens when I am under stress).

So, I decided to quell my craving by making a coconut dessert that comes close to a bounty ---Chocolate dipped/filled coconut macaroons. They're quick and easy to make and don't have to be killing-you-softly-and-slowly sweet as you can adjust the sugar according to your taste without it having an adverse effect on the recipe.



All you need is 3 egg whites, 13/4 cups dessicated coconut (you can reduce this to 11/2 cups if you want it a little stickier -- I did), 1/2 cup sugar (the recipe called for 3/4 cup). Whisk the egg whites and sugar till the mixture  start to stiffen and then add in the coconut. Spoon or shape the coconuty mix as you wish -- cones, squares, circles, oval drops, etc -- and place them on a buttered baking sheet. Bake for 12 - 15 mins or till they start to get golden.

Remove. Let cool.

Melt chocolate over boiling/simmering water. Once melted, let it cool a while. Don't let it harden or you will have to start over! I used dark chocolate to reduce the sweetness. You can either use the chocolate as a filling in between two macaroons or dip half a macaroon in the chocolate. Let it set and than eat the treats or chill them.

Eat them (careful not to eat too many or you will suffer from coconut fatigue) and worry about the calories tomorrow.

Diplomatic rolls

I went grocery shopping today. What that usually means is that on top of the five items on my shopping list, I got another half a dozen or so items I don't need and probably have never tried before -- pure indulgences, I'd say . Top of the list of indulgences today was a bottle of Thai basil relish. Yumm.  I had no execution plan on how I would use it but when I saw it on the shelf, I had to have it.

I got home and couldn't get the relish out of my mine. I decided I'd cross national borders and make some Vietnamese rolls (often dubbed summer rolls by the mat sallehs) using the Thai relish both  as an ingredient and as  a dipping sauce as well. I usually use a sweet chilli sauce to dip the rolls or a fishless fish sauce. But I was looking for something different and the basil relish was it.

Vietnamese rolls are truly a cinch to make. It's basically a fresh salad roll which means everything is fresh and, only if necessary, lightly cooked. The original filling usually is usually lightly  cooked shrimp, sliced carrots, bean sprouts, rice vermicelli, lettuce and cilantro. Without the shrimp, the rolls are still tasty but I added some thinly sliced smoked tofu and crushed peanuts, lightly peppered.

There is very little seasoning in the rolls. Just a little bit of pepper and maybe a very little lime. It's the dip/sauce that provides the added taste. The basil relish was sweetish with an obvious garlic twinge. And a very slight bite of chilli. It was lovely.

The first thing you have to do is soften the rice paper. You do this bu gently soaking it in warm to hot water for just about 10 seconds. Too long and they'll be too soft and break. Too short and they'll be too gummy and unsavoury.

Line the softened paper with a leaf of lettuce and then systematically layer on the other ingredients, leaving the nuts to go right on top.

Roll from the side closest you up, tightly, folding the edges in. Let them rest, seam side doen on a plate.



You can either serve the relish seperately or spread a little on top of the roll. You have to eat the rolls whens they're relatively warm or else they get a little chewy. In case they do get cold, you can steam them for just a few minutes.

The tale of a bun that grew up to become soup

FIVE MINUTES. That's all it took for my wonderful wholemeal buns to go from crisp and golden to extra crisp and charcoal. You don't know frustration utnil you've spent  more than 2 hours carefully making some buns -- and they turned out pretty good -- only to answer a phone call, leaving  them  FIVE MINUTES longer in the oven (it was switched off, mind you), only to come back and see them in with black tops.



GREAT. Now what do I do with 9 blackened buns? I didn't include pictures of the disaster buns because ... well they were just too ugly.  First I scrapped off the tops. They looked less ominous but still unpresentable. Buns must have smooth rounded tops not scraggly, uneven flat tops. So I thought, as small as they were, I'd scoop out the middles and fill them with soup. Kinda a bread bowlette (I am making up words as I go along).

Tomato soup was what I deemed suitable. It's easy to make and delicious with bread and some cheese. Plus I had lotsa tomatoes which were ripening fast.

Let me not kid you. The buns were way to small to be bowls and could only hold three spoons of soup. However, topped with some mozerella and grilled in the oven for 7 mins, they came out really well. The soup thickened and the cheese melted and the bread softened. You needn't scoop the meagre soup out; you could bite into the bun which had become a tomato -cheese filled wholemeal bun. He he he.



Because I wanted to melt the cheese over the soup, I opted not to make a creamy tomato soup. By the way, if you want a creamy soup, try Jamie Oliver's ... it's fantastic. My clear soup was pretty easy to put together.

Wholesome Tomato Broth

250 ml Vegetable stock

1 onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1/4 carrot, grated

handful each fresh basil, sage and thyme  (or 1 tsp of the dried equivalent)

1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar

3 -4 ripe tomatoes

salt and black pepper to season

3 tbsp olive oil

Heat olive oil and add the onion, garlic and a while later the  carrot  and herbs stalks into saucepan.  Cover and let them cook for about 7  minutes, stirring once in a while. Add  the tomatoes (chopped)  and stock and simmer on low heat for about 15 mins, covered. You can puree it in a blender or mash it in the saucepan with your wooden spoon. I wanted it a bit chunky. Pre heat oven grill at 150C for about 10 mins and transfer soup into bread bowls or ramekins, topped with cheese and cook for about 5 to 7 mins. You can add some croutons into the ramekin before pouring in the soup fr added goodness. Remove and serve hot. Garnish with some fresh basil.

Stuffed pocket: always a good thing

Pita bread is a delicious pocket bread that's associated with Middle Eastern or Mediterranean cuisine. What's amazing about the pita bread, or simply pita, is the way a pocket of air opens up in the centre while the dough puffs up in the oven. Quite ingenious, no? The pocket makes pita perfect for a sandwich, though many use it to scoop sauces or dips.

This post isn't about pita but a pita sandwich (look out for the pita post soon). I had some leftover hummus I wanted to finish off and what better bread to go with hummus that pita? Putting the sandwich together was real easy but there was some prep involved sine I wanted to add sundried tomato pesto to the mix. What this entails is hours of slow baking cherry tomatoes in the oven (five to six hours!) and then blending them with some pine nuts, olive oil and cheese. Once you get this done, you're good to go.

Toast the pita. Spread a generous layer of hummus on the bottom sleeve of the pocket. Hard boil two eggs and then chop it up small and mix in some pitted black olives (chopped small too) and Parsley (chopped as well). Slice some iceburg lettuce. Mix them all together and season with salt and pepper.

Fill a layer of the sundried tomato pesto on the hummus (or you can spead it on the top sleeve of the pocket) and the spoon the egg+olive+parsley filling in.

Sit yourself in front of the TV and enjoy!

A tempe-ting Curry in a Sandwich

Fermented soybean cakes. Now that doesn't sound very appealing, does it? Too many  people, I think, snub  the Indonesian delight,  tempeh when they discover what it is and how it's made. A shame, really because apart from being very nutritious (it's very protein rich), it's also very tasty -- chewy, nutty, pungent and textured. (You can find out more here).  My mother used to cook tempeh as a curry -- with potatoes and tomatoes and coriander. My aunt steams them and mashes them up with boiled potatoes (and seasoning) to make cutlets. My colleague  makes a delicious sambal with the tempeh. And they all taste great.

Now, I'd been toying with how I can use tempeh as a sandwich filling for quite a while. As usual, I went online to check out what other cooks have done. Surprisingly, most of the sites with tempeh dishes were western. It's an Indonesian ingredient that's eaten widely in Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries but there are but a handful of local blogs/sites that brag about the goodness of tempeh.

Nevermind. I checked out a few of these mat salleh sites. Many of them were vegan/vegetarian food blogs and proved to be very inspiring. It gave me lotsa ideas: using  tempeh in a spread or a dip, for example. Pairing it with apples in a salad -- another interesting idea. Tempeh with a spicy peanut sauce ... or in a peanut sauce. Good, no?

Still I could not find one recipe for a tempe sandwich ... well not one that inspired me. I prefer to keep the flavour of the tempeh Asian and so I wasn't quite taken by the idea of a honey or red wine marinade for the tempeh as some recipes suggested. So I decided I would bring the flavour of my mum's curried tempeh onto my  sandwich.



First, I marinated my tempeh (cut it into 10cm x 4.5 cm slices)  in a thick curry paste (curry powder + cumin + black pepper + salt+ water) for at least 2 hours (turning the slices around to ensure the flavour soaks in evenly).

Beat an egg and spread some breadcrumbs on a shallow plate. Dip the marinated tempeh in the egg and coat it with breadcrumbs. Twice. I flavoured my breadcrumbs with some dried thyme and paprika.

Shallow fry (on low heat) till golden on both sides. Set aside on paper towels to drain access oil.

Fry  the remaining egg (used to coat the tempeh) into a thin omelette -- season with salt, pepper and chopped coriander.

Thinly slice a potato (scrub clean but don't remove skin) and shallow fry it till it's cooked and turning golden. Remove and drain on a paper towel.

Optional: Roughly chop up some coriander for garnish.

I usually eat this on Foccacia but was too lazy to bake one so I used store-bought multi grain bread. Very healthy, but of course, not the same as home made bread.

Assembling: Buttered bread, layer of egg, breaded tempeh, potato slices, layer of egg, bread.

Options: Chopped coriander between the potato and egg; herbed tomato relish; caramelised onions -- they all complement the sandwich but aren't necessary. The sandwich is delicious as is.

I brought the sandwich to work a couple of times and received positive feedback. The curry flavour was a hit and the breaded tempeh was appreciated. And, because the tempeh is packed dense with soy beans, an entire sandwich is really filling! You may not want to, but you may need to share the sandwich.

Curried Tempeh Sandwich

Fantastic Focaccia

I never thought I’d say this but more than 10 years of having to wait not so patiently for a chronically late boyfriend has made me a better baker. My dinner plans got cancelled last night and so, I decided to make the most of my free evening to make some Focaccia bread. Focaccia — doesn’t it sound delicious? Well anyway, I didn't realise how much waiting was involved in baking a Focaccia!

A flat baked Italian bread, Focaccia is basically made the same way a pizza is. In fact, some people prefer to make a pizza out of their Focaccia loaf by heaping toppings (most likely cheese and tomatoes) onto it when it’s half-baked.

The dough for the Focaccia is basically the same as your pizza dough. But for Focaccia, you season it generously with olive oil and herbs and salt. You can also add caramelised onions, tomatoes and sliced, pitted olives for vareity. I like to eat my Focaccia as a bread: either on its own (it’s really tasty enough) or to sandwich some delicious vegetables. For the sandwich above, I kept the filling simple --  layer one: melted mozzarella; layer two: grilled aubergine cooked lightly in herbed tomatoes; layer three: deep fried oyster mushrooms; layer four: sliced avocado. Trust me, it was delicious.

Making the bread

All you need for the dough is 3 cups high protein bread flour, 2 tsp active yeast, 2 tsp salt, 1 cup water and 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil. Activate the yeast by adding tepid water to it. Wait till it froths and add it to the flour + salt and mix them, adding 2 tbsp of the olive oil and the water gradually.

Knead till the dough forms a ball and comes off the mixing bowl easily. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for a few minutes. Pour the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil into a bowl; transfer the kneaded ball of dough into the bowl and coat it with the oil. Cover with a damp cloth and leave it aside for a couple of hours to rise. It should double it’s size.

Done?

Next, transfer the dough onto a lightly floured work surface, sprinkle some flour on the dough and knead for a few minutes. Cover, and let it rest for about 20 mins. See what I mean about waiting and waiting?

While waiting, preheat your oven to 200C. Grease a 13x9 pan with some olive oil. When the dough has rested enough, transfer it onto the greased pan and shape it into a rectangle in the centre of the pan. Let it rest for about 5- 10 minutes.

Slowly stretch the dough to touch the sides of the pan. This might be easier said than done because the dough is elastic. Take your time. Stretch it as much as you can without tearing it and if it is stubborn, let it rest another few minutes before you try again. See, more waiting!

Once you’re done, use your knuckles and dimple the dough. Drizzle olive oil (2 tbsp) and sprinkle salt (about 2-3 tsp) and herbs. I sliced some black olives and pressed them onto the dough, lightly.

Lower your over temperature to 180C and bake your bread for 30 mins or till the top is golden. I confess, I lost track of time and I left it in the oven for 40 mins: it turned out pleasantly crispy at the sides which made it quite delicious.  A fortunate accident!

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No cinn with this bun

I"VE been watching a lot of Chopped on the Asian Food Channel. It's a weekly cooking challenge between established cooks and chefs in America. Each episode features four chefs who are given a basket of "mystery" ingredients to cook up a three-course meal. After each course, the  contestants are judged and the one that  was least impressive gets "chopped". The last chef standing is awarded US$10,000.  The "mystery ingredients" (they get a surprise basket before starting each course) are truly a hodgepodge of everyday ingredients that probably traditionally don't go together. Thus, the chefs need to be creative ... and they only ehave 20 mins to whip up one dish.

I love the show.  Most often, the chefs impress me with their resourcefulness and their creativity. But sometimes, it's quite amusing to see these professional chefs stumbling in the kitchen, making common mistakes with in prep and while cooking ... makes your realise: whoa! chefs are human too?

So ok, this ain't a TV review. What I am getting to, albeit it a long winded manner, is that I've been watching Chopped so much, I've been issuing people challenges right, left and centre. Before my brain registers what I'm doing, I would have engaged  someone in a challenge. Usually, the "someone"s I challenge are more competent cooks that me. Take this cinnamon roll challenge for example. Marty was talking about making these rolls months ago ... long before I got hooked on bread making myself. So last week I stated my intent to  make them and we kinda got into a friendly challenge. Make it this weekend and post our recipes up at the same time today. I was pumped.

And then I got home and realised just what I'd gotten myself into. I felt like the hog that challenged the roadrunner to a race. (don't go scouring the Internet for this fable, it's made up!)

BREATHE, I ordered myself. I have never made cinnamon rolls in my life -- ate em loads of times before but have never tried making them. But I've been having a lot of fun making bread and I thought it would be fun to make something other than plain bread (as delicious as they are).

My favouritest in the bread family are Cinnamon Rolls... the stickier the better, the gooey-er the better. Buttery and sweet (not too sweet). What can be better for Sunday breakfast?

So I read through Mark Bittman's recipe at least a dozen times and it seemed straighforward, though not as simple as I would like.  I decided, it being the weekend and all, I could afford the time to let my dough rise plenty.

Flavours improve the more you let the dough rest and rise, says Bittman. So, instead of the minimum two hour rising time stipulated, I let the dough sit uninterrupted for about three hours. The dough for the cinnamon rolls is deliciously rich: 3.5 cups high protein bread flour, 2 tsp yeast, 2 tsp salt, 1 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp cold butter, 2 eggs, 1 cup milk (more or less). You will need some softened butter to grease the pan and glaze the dough before it goes in the oven.

Combine the flour, yeast (if using active yeast as I did, activate it in tepid water first), salt, sugar and butter in a mixer until the butter is cut up evenly throughout the flour mixture.

Add the two eggs and mix till combined. Add the milk while the mixer is running. Mix till the dough forms a sticky ball. You have to access the texture of the dough and add more milk/flour as needed. I found mine a little too sticky and had to add about a quarter cup more flour.

Move the dough onto a floured flat surface and knead a little. Place it in a lightly greased bowl and cover with a damp cloth, letting it rise at its own pace for at least two hours. As I said, I left mine for three.

Once the dough had risen, transfer to your floured work surface again, lightly de gas it, form into a ball and cover with the damp cloth till it puffs up a little (about 20 mins).

Meanwhile, butter a 9x3 inch baking pan.

Combine 2 tbsp ground cinnamon and 3/4 cup sugar in a bowl.

Once dough is puffed up, press and roll into an oblong shape (about the size of a baking pan). If the dough is too elastic, you have to roll it and let it rest another 10 mins).

Sprinkle the dough generously with the cinnamon and sugar mix. Sprinkle or spray some water along the cinnamon-sugar spread and using a fork, rub the mix into the dough lightly. It should be a thick paste.

Roll the dough lengthwise till it looks like a swiss roll. Press the seam close. Slice the roll into about 15 pieces and place them cut side up on the baking pan. Lighly top the dough with some melted butter ( a little only) and bake for 30 mins.

Top the hot rolls (fresh outta the oven) with icing sugar or glaze (icing sugar mixed with melted butter/water) or cream cheese topping (creamed cream cheese with icing sugar and butter/water) and eat it warm.

I was quite pleased with the result. the buns were soft and gooey. And they didn't look too bad either. Even my brother, my harshest critic, said they were delicious. Challenge aside, making these buns were deeply satisfying. Eating them too.

Eating Morocco

*SPOILER ALERT* This recipe isn't for you if you don't like carrots!

A vegetable sandwich is decidedly different from a vegetarian sandwich. A vegetable sandwich is what I would define as a sandwich filled only with vegetables — no mock “meats”, no tofu. Just vegetables and your choice of spread(s).

This was a challenge I gave myself. It wasn’t easy coming up with one that  I would like since I don’t fancy raw vegetables. Something like a green salad sandwich (lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onions, peppers and several other RAW green) would not cut it. No way.

And so my quest began. I looked at many websites, blogsites and read through several cookbooks. And along the way, I came upon a recipe for Moroccan Carrot and Goats Cheese sandwich with green olive tepenade. I've always wanted to go to Morocco, so maybe this is a sign. You think?

Now goat cheese is really an indulgence I can only afford it every now and then. Cheese in Malaysia is just terribly expensive! So I had a good look at the recipe for the Morrocan sandwich and played with it a little, finding substitutes here and there. It took a couple of attempts before I was satisfied with my adaptation of the original which is on www.epicurious.com by the way.

I used some of the same spices (cumin, cinnamon, paprika) to marinade my carrots but instead of chilling the marinated carrot, I toasted them in a little butter and then caramelised them.

You can either slice the carrots (2mm) thinly using a madoline or shred them into little orange matchstick-like pieces. (If you don’t quite fancy carrots in your sandwich, eating a pile of sliced carrots may be a turn off).

Instead of goat cheese, I chose to use mozzerella/cheddar: either melt a slice of mozzerella over both slices of bread or shred some hard cheddar and mix them up with the shredded carrots — the different shade of orange are quite pretty.

Now the tepenade. I don’t eat anchovies, obviously, but I liked the idea of using olives and so I made some hummus and added some finely chopped some black olives to the hummus as a spread for the sandwich.

I added an extra layer. I had some leftover pesto from a dish I made a couple of days ago that I thought would go with the rest of the ingredients. It did! Yay.

I tried this out on a couple of friends and got different reactions. Everyone liked the hummus spread and the pesto. And the cheese? Well, who doesn’t like cheese. But opinions were divided on the carrots. Some loved it, some thought it overpowered the sandwich — especially when sliced.

Replace the carrots, they say.

How can? I say. Cos then it would no longer be a Moroccon carrot sandwich!

So, once again, if you don't like em carrots, look away.

Let’s eat some drink and be berry, Yo!

It's crazy. I came back from work close to midnight, dead beat and all I wanted to do was bake. Working in the kitchen, I suddenly found a burst of energy. I knew exactly what I wanted to make. I had bought a small tub of blueberries about a week ago because they were ridiculously cheap -- RM5 for 200gms or something like that.



I've been hankering to use them but I just never got round to it because I have been so consumed by making bread. But, at 11.30pm, it was ridiculous  to even contemplate baking a bread. Ok, at 11.30pm it's pretty insane to start baking anything but ...

So I dug out the recipe for a Blueberry Yoghurt Cake with Rum and got crackin. It's an easy cake to make really. It took just 30 mins to prep and another 30 mins to bake. 30 mins to cool, 20 mins to photograph and I was done for the night.

I didn't have rum; only single malt whiskey and some Bailey's Irish Cream and so I used the latter as I felt it would go with the yoghurt and blueberries. The rest of the ingredients I had: plain yoghurt (250 gms), 2 eggs, 1/3 cup vegetable oil, 1 cup sugar, 2 cups all purpose flour, 1.5 tsp baking powder, 1/5 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp vanilla extract and 250 gms blueberries ( only had 200gms). Oh and 1 tbsp Baileys.

Blend the yoghurt, sugar, vanilla extract, egg and oil till well mixed. Add the flour and mix. Don't overbeat the batter. Fold in the blueberries and trasnfer batter into a greased 10 inch round pan.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 30 or 35 mins or till the top of the cake is golden and tester comes out clean. Let it stand for 10 mins once done and then transfer onto rack to cool completely.



This cake doesn't rise all that much; it's soft and smooth and the texture is slightly chewy and moist because of the yoghurt, I think. It's not too sweet; and if that;s a problem you can top it with some glaze or syrup once its oyut of the oven. It was fine for me. You can hardly taste the Bailey's though ... perhaps a little more or next time I'll actually use rum. And If I ever grab some blueberries again, I'll add some lemon zest to the cake for some extra punch.

Egg sandwich, pepped up and ready to go

An egg sandwich is hardly glamorous. But in the world of sandwiches, my comfort food is the good ol' egg sandwich. Not the type that's smothered with mayo, but a good, juicy (yes, juicy isn't reserved for steaks) fried egg sandwich with onions and relish of choice.

My egg sandwiches have gone through several phases of evolution. In the early years, they were simple — just fried with some onions and scallions, seasoned with pepper and salt.

Then, my grandmother acquianted me with her way of frying an egg — mixing cumin and chilli powder into a paste that’s beaten with the egg; the onions stay but not the scallions.

Over the years my fried eggs are filled (with a variety of vegetables from mushrooms to spinach to potato) and are served with a relish of some sort — home made and randomely concocted, of course.

This morning’s egg sandwich was filled with mushroom (swiss brown, sliced) and leek and covered with melted mozzarella; seasoned with red pepper flakes, black pepper, salt and some oregano; and served on a bed of lettuce laced with some pesto I made from parsley (pic above). I polka dotted the pesto covered leaves with some yellow mustard — a trendy sandwich — and included a generous slice of tomato, lightly grilled.

It’s a really simple sandwich but because of the pesto, there is some prep involved. You can of course use store bought pesto but I find them way too expensive. Plus, where'd you go to find parsley pesto?

But hey, you end up not only with a delicious egg sandwich but some pesto to use for a pasta dinner.

Loafing around

I had grand plans to try some sweet potato buns and a blueberry - cream cheese loaf but I decided to try and make a  Sandwich Loaf instead. Bitten by the bread bug, I have in the last week alone laid my eyes on at least a dozen varieties of bread I want to try -- loafs, rolls, buns ... it's like a secret world opened up to me. But,  I decided I first needed to perfect by basic loaf before I venture further into other more "exotic" breads.

To be honest, just a  month ago, I was laughing at my pal Marty's passion for baking bread. She speaks about kneading as if it's the best therapy in the world ... massaging sticky dough, she claims, is an experience in itself. I laughed, it would appear, out of ignorance and now as I excitedly spill my guts about my daily experiences baking bread, Marty rolls her eyes.

I admit my mistake and though I don't get as much pleasure kneading, I am almost euphoric when I watch  my loaves swell  in the oven.

I've stumbled upon some pretty good resources for bread making. The fresh Loaf is one and I also often google Delia Smith for some great recipes. But for this sandwich loaf,  I decided to refer to my "go to" cook, Mark Bittman. In his How To Cook Everything Vegetarian, Bittman offers cooks a wide variety of breads to try, each with several variations. He offers five or six ways to make this simple Sandwich Loaf alone. What really got me was Bittman's guarantee that, following the recipe properly, even a ten year old can make the perfect loaf.

If it works, I will publicly declare my love for you Mark Bittman. ;)



Now, every baker has his own trademark and with Bittman, he believes in the need to let the bread rise as much as possiblet at it's own pace. While some recipes show you shortcuts where you can hasten the rising of your dough, Bittman believes that leaving your dough to rise at its own natural pace -- preferably overnight, even -- will result in truly flavourful bread.

So, when trying his recipes, time is something you must be willing to spend. Now, this doesn't mean you have to be at  the mercy of your loaf -- you can prepare the dough and let it sit while you work out at the gym or grab some lunch. Even watch a movie. Your  dough doesn't need a babysitter. It just needs time.

This sandwich loaf took about 3 hours to be readied. Mixing and kneading the dough took about 30 mins but then the dough had to be left alone to rise for two hours and then de-gassed and left to sit for 15 mins; then it had to be shaped and left to rise a further hour. At least.

It was all worth it and true to his word, it was pretty easy. the texture of the dough was perfect, the rising was magnificent and the loaf tasted really good (even though my crust was a little too dark ... I was distracted by an episode of Entourage, guest starring Matt Damon).

Sandwich  Bread

3.5 cups high protein bread flour, plus more for dusting

2 tsp salt

1.5 tsp active dry yeast (Bittman used instant and so his recipe differs just a little)

1 tbsp sugar/honey (more depending on taste)

2 tbsp butter

1.5 cups cool milk

First, activate your yeast by adding 1/3 cup tepid water to it and wait for it to froth. In your mixing bowl, add the flour and salt and the frothed yeast and mix for about 30 seconds with your electric mixer -- dough hook attached. Add the sweetener, oil and most of the milk and continue to mix/knead for a couple of minutes. The dough should be well mixed, barely sticky and an easy to handle ball.

Grease a separate mixing bowl and transfer the ball of dough into it. COver with a damp cloth and let it rise -- approx 2 hours.

Once its doubled (dont shorten the time), deflate the dough and transfer onto a lightly floured flat surface. Let it sit for 15 mins, covered with the damp cloth.

Use only enough dough to keep it from sticking to your hands and the surface, form the dough into a rectangle and then fold in the long sides to form a loaf. Grease your loaf pan {9 inch by 5 inch) and transfer the loaf shaped dough into it. Cover and let it rise -- approx 1 hour or 90 mins.

30 mins before the time, preheat your oven to 180C. Once the dough rises to the brim of the pan, put it in the oven and bake for about 45 mins.

When you remove the loaf from the oven and tumble it out of the pan, the bottom should sound hollow.

Let it cool and slice.

So, since it worked well, I will honour my promise. I Love You Mark Bittman :)

No ordinary potato bun, Rosemary.

In my bread baking adventure, I am beginning to realise that practice really does make perfect. You can read heaps about making the perfect loaf and avoiding  common mishaps (bread that doesnt rise, yeast that doesnt froth, crust that's too hard, rock hard buns, etc) but you aint gonna get it right unless you try and try again and improve your technique.

Making bread is really not difficult technically, but it does require a lot of patience, especially if you're a novice and not a natural baker (I do believe some people have a natural ability to craft the perfect loaf with minimal effort).

So, though I had success with my first loaf -- Delia Smith's Quick and Easy Wholemeal Loaf -- I wasn't too successful with  my next recipe, Potato and Resemary buns ... well, at least at first.

Unlike the Wholemeal Loaf, this recipe required some kneading and some knocking back. Also, the yeast has to be 'activated' by dissolving it in tepid water before it could be added into the flour mix.

I decided to try and try and until I succeeded. The obssessive compulsive in me needs to succeed. It took me three tries berfore I got it right. My first two attempts (pic below), the dough didn't quite rise as it should have and they sorta were a cross between a biscuit and a bun .. a buncuit.



The recipe calls for instant yeast which you can combine with the other dry ingredients before adding the required liquid. I substituted it with active dry yeast and followed the same instructions.

The problem? Active dry yeast needs to be "activated" first -- by dissolving it in tepid water which will cause the yeast to froth and hence get activated. My mistake?  The second time, my water wasn't quite tepid -- it was a little colder and so the yeast didn't activate. (Tepid water, by the way, is very warm water but at a temperature that's allows you to  dip you fingers in and keep them there for a good 10 seconds without getting scalded).

The third time, I got it right. The yeast frothed up nicely and the dough did rise.

Also important is to get the texture of the dough correct. After mixing the dry ingredients with the water and kneading, your bread dough should be sticky but  should be able to come off your mixing bowl in one lump. You should not have to scrape little chuncks from the base and sides.

And, with bread it's better to have a little too much water than too little.

These potato rolls taste way different from the ones you get in kedai runcit or even those from bakeries. For one thing, while those are sweet buns, this one is savoury  and a little hot hot or spicy, courtesy of the ingredients: ground black pepper, salt, dried rosemary and sage. You first have to  boil and mash one potato (better with the skin on, scrubbed of course) and the mix together with the high protein bread flour, salt, butter, herbs and yeast. Mix and knead for about 5 to 10 mins, adding 1 cup tepid water. Knead till you get the right texture. Cover with a damp cloth for 60 to 90 mins. By this time it should have doubled in size (if it hasn't you're in trouble -- as I was my first two times).

Next, de-gas the dough by  gently "punching" it and the shape them into balls (bigger than a golf ball, smaller than a tennis ball) and place them on a greased and lined  baking sheet. Cover the dough balls with a garbage bag for another hour.

15 mins before the hour, preheat your oven to 180C.

Bake for 10 mins, rotate the tray and bake for another 10 to 15 mins. The bottoms should be slightly crisp.

The rolls taste great eaten alone or with a little butter. They semll wonderful while baking and you can most definitely get a herb high ;)

For the full recipe (and to get hooked onto a great link) go to www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/potatorosemaryrolls