Rough-Puff Pastry

This could not get any easier. It's light and takes only a few folding as compared to real puff pastry. A real keeper.


Notes :-
1) I've adjusted the quantities of ingredients to based on 100gm of butter ; which yielded 12 mini horn shape.
2) I've mix, rolled and folded 3x and left dough in fridge for at least 1/2 hour , following one of the reviews.


Rough-Puff Pastry
via BBC Good Food

Ingredients

250g strong plain flour (changed to 150g regular plain flour)

1 tsp fine sea salt (a pinch)

250g butter, at room temperature, but not soft (100g butter, frozen and cubed.)

about 150ml cold water (about 60ml very cold water)

Method

1. Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Roughly break the butter in small chunks, add them to the bowl and rub them in loosely. You need to see bits of butter.
2. Make a well in the bowl and pour in about two-thirds of the cold water, mixing until you have a firm rough dough adding extra water if needed. Cover with cling film and leave to rest for 20 mins in the fridge.
3. Turn out onto a lightly floured board, knead gently and form into a smooth rectangle. Roll the dough in one direction only, until 3 times the width, about 20 x 50cm. Keep edges straight and even. Don’t overwork the butter streaks; you should have a marbled effect.
4. Fold the top third down to the centre, then the bottom third up and over that. Give the dough a quarter turn (to the left or right) and roll out again to three times the length. Fold as before, cover with cling film and chill for at least 20 mins before rolling to use.

Spiral moon cake

 

On mid-autumn festival, it is tradition to share and consume moon cakes for the Chinese and Vietnamese community. Different Chinese provinces have different types of moon cakes. For this year, I am attempting the Teochew spiral/swirl moon cake.

After 2 attempts at this spiral pastry technique, as you can see, it was unsuccessful. My oil dough was crumbly and I wasn't sure how to remedy it. Add more oil to bring it together? I'll definitely have to try to do a better job perfecting this technique by the next mid-autumn festival!

Notes:-

1) I am inserting the exact texts from both links as mentioned below for my own future reference.

2) I have halved the recipe for the dough which makes about 16 medium-size mooncakes

3) I have made the full custard recipe; which is sufficient.

4) To make egg custard filling ahead to let it cool before preparing the dough part.

Spiral moon cake

For the pastry (recipe via House of Annie )

Ingredients:
Water Dough (A)
200g unbleached all-purpose flour
28g icing sugar
pinch of salt
80g cold butter
80g water
Oil Dough (B)
180g unbleached all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
90g oil (I use canola)
½ tsp pandan essence (sub. with almond extract)

Method:
1. For the water dough, sift flour, sugar and salt. Then cut butter into flour mixture using fingertips or pastry blender until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add in water and mix to form a soft, non-sticky dough. If it is sticky, you will need to add a bit more flour to get it to be the right texture. You should be able to form a soft ball that won’t stick to your hands. You don’t have to knead it. Cover and set aside to rest for 20 mins.
2. For the oil dough, sift flour and salt. Then, make a well in the centre of the flour and add in oil and pandan essence. Draw in the flour from the sides and mix to form a soft even coloured dough (same thing here, if it’s too sticky, add more dough till you form a soft ball that doesn’t stick to your hands). Do not over-mix. Cover and set aside for 20 mins.
To assemble and bake:
3. Preheat oven to 185 C or 350 F.
4. Divide A and B into 10 equal balls.
5. Taking one piece of (A), flatten and wrap (B) in it. Pinch to seal edges.
6. With the sealed side facing up, roll into a rectangle.
7. Roll up like a snail to form a ‘cylinder’, turn the cylinder 90 degrees, with the end facing up.
8. Roll again into a long thin strip.
9. Using a sharp knife or a pastry cutter, cut the cylinder in the middle into two pieces.
10. With the cut side facing down, flatten the dough, making the edges slightly thinner than the centre. I tend to leave a little hump in the center so that when the filling is wrapped around the pastry, the dough will be evenly thick all around (looks like a Mexican sombrero).
11. Wrap the filling and pinch to seal. Try not to ‘tug/pull’ too hard, otherwise the layers will tear. Best to flatten the dough larger than smaller so it’s easier to pinch. And when you pinch, you will find that the bottom looks ugly—don’t worry about it.

For Egg Custard filling (via MaomaoMom)
3 extra large egg yolks,
½ cup sugar (105g)
1/3 cup+1 tbsp milk (88g)
3 tbsp all purpose flour (34g)
(B)
2.5 tbsp dry milk powder (14g)
2.5 tbsp butter (35g)

1) Place all ingredients (A) in a medium size microwave safe bowl, whisk well with a fork-
2) Add in the same bowl, all ingredients (B)
3) Place the bowl in the microwave , heat on high for 40 seconds. Stir the content and then heat for 30 seconds, reheat with 20 second intervals until fully cooked. Let it cool then divide into 12 equal portions. Form into balls with both palms then set aside and continue to start the mooncake dough

KFC style gravy

Although not exactly healthy, I do like to serve this gravy occasionally when I make my oven-baked chicken

KFC style gravy
via PanlasangPinoy

Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter (only used 1 knob butter and vegetable oil)
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour (only used 2.5 Tbsp)
1 piece chicken cube or 2 teaspoons chicken powder (omitted)
1 piece beef cube or 2 teaspoons beef powder (half a cube of beef  stock cube)

2  1/4 cups water (only used 1 cup)
++ ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Dilute the beef stock cube in water.
2. Melt butter in sauce pan and add a little vegetable oil on low heat.
3. Add all-purpose flour and cook in low heat while continuously stirring for 7 to 8 minutes or until the color turns medium brown. There is a tendency that the flour might burn when overcooked or if high heat is applied. Be extra cautious.
4. Gradually add the beef stock (1) while stirring. Continuous stirring is needed to prevent lumps from forming.
5. Put the heat to medium and bring the mixture to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes more while stirring once in a while until the texture thickens.
6. Serve hot with fried chicken or mashed potato.

Pineapple Upside-down Cake

My first Pineapple upside-down cake.  It was delicious and so the recipe's a keeper!

Pineapple upside-down cake
via BBC Good Food

For the topping

50g softened butter

50g light soft brown sugar

7 pineapples rings in syrup, drained and syrup

glacé cherry

For the cake

100g softened butter

100g golden caster sugar

100g self-raising flour (used all-purpose flour)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

++ lemon zest

++ lemon juice

Method :-

1. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. For the topping, beat the butter and sugar together until creamy. Spread over the base and a quarter of the way up the sides of a 20-21cm round cake tin. Arrange pineapple rings on top, then place cherries in the centres of the rings.
2. Place the cake ingredients in a bowl along with 2 tbsp of the pineapple syrup and, using an electric whisk, beat to a soft consistency. Spoon into the tin on top of the pineapple and smooth it out so it’s level. Bake for 35 mins. Leave to stand for 5 mins, then turn out onto a plate. Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream.

Homemade chicken liver pâté

Chicken liver pate could be homemade easily. This kept in the fridge for 6 days! I'm not including an exact recipe but just ingredients used for my own reference.

Homemade chicken liver pate

Ingredients
300-350gm chicken liver
cooking oil and butter for sauté
Onion, sliced
garlic, minced
Spices
tarragon
smoked paprika
oregano
black pepper
salt
cream (10% fat)
butter for topping

Sweet and sour sesame chicken

Whenever we order for Chinese take-out, the sweet and sour sesame chicken is always on top of our order. So, when I came across this following recipe, I have got to give it a go. Turns out pretty good and two thumbs up for this recipe!

Sweet and sour sesame chicken
via Aprosef

Ingredients
400gm Chicken breast

For batter
200gm plain flour
1 egg
12gm baking powder (I used less)
1 Tbsp corn flour (sub. with rice flour)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
7 Tbsp water
salt, to taste

For sweet and sour sauce (adjust to taste)

4 Tbsp vinegar (I did not follow this exact qty.)
4 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp Honey (we dislike strong honey taste in savoury food; hence we adjusted to taste)
2 Tbsp oil
1 heap tsp sambal oelek
4 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Preparation


For the sauce
1) In a sauce pan, mix in all ingredients for sauce, check and balance the taste. Bring it to a boil.
2) Set aside.

For Chicken

1) Cut chicken breast into medium cube size.
2) In a bowl, mix all ingredients for batter except for water. Add water slowly to get a very thick batter.
3) Heat oil for frying.
4) Dip each chicken cube into thick batter. Make sure to fully coat it.
5) Fry in hot oil until golden brown and chicken is cooked through.
6) Place on wire mesh to drain away excess oil and keep it crispy.
7) Then immediately dip the cooked chicken into sauce and place on serving dish.

Ang Ku Kuih { 紅龜粿 / Red tortoise cake }

credit : http://sarawakchankhoo.blogspot.hu/2010_09_14_archive.html

Red Tortoise cake symbolises longevity in the Chinese culture. These soft and chewy red dumplings are therefore popularly served on the occasions of birthdays. To learn more, read the entry on wiki

Traditionally the distinct shape of this dumpling is achieved using wooden moulds;  of course, in this day and age, plastic moulds are available too.

http://teowhinchan.blogspot.hu/

And since I did not have the proper moulds, I have used my rose moulds for my cake (don't laugh :D)

Next, let's talk about the fillings. Most of the time these dumplings come with sweet mung beans paste. There are other varieties like sweet coconut and peanuts filling . etc.

Whatever the shapes, I am satisfied with the recipes used in making this cake. For my future reference I have included the recipes as follow :-

Ang Ku Kuih

Ingredients

Sweet Potato Dough

via Peng's kitchen

 

300gm sweet potato, sliced

200gm glutinous rice flour

1 tbsp rice flour

2 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp rice bran oil

180ml warm water 

Peanut filling 
via Peng's kitchen

 

150gm prepacked grounded peanuts (no salt, sugar added) 

1 tbsp toasted white sesame seeds 

50gm fine sugar 

1 tbsp oil 

2 tbsp water

Method

1. Steam sweet potato until soft, for about 25 mins.
2. Use a fork, mash the cooked sweet potatoes till smooth. Add in glutinous rice flour, rice flour, sugar and oil. Gradually add in water and knead till dough is smooth and pliable. Cover with damp cloth and rest for 30mins.
3. Shape into 30gm small ball.
4. Meanwhile, get the peanut filling ready by combining all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix thoroughly. Mixture should not be crumbly and dry. Shape mixture into small balls weighing approx. 18gm each. 
5. To shape dumpling
   1. Grease the mould  (for plastic mould) by brushing it with some rice bran oil.
   2. Flatten the sweet potato ball, place a piece of filling in the centre. Cover and seal the edge. Shape into a round ball.
   3. Place the ball into the mould, press down evenly, knock out and place on a greased banana leaf.
   4. Place the dumplings on a steaming tray and steam over medium heat for 10 mins. Turn off flame and grease the surface with some rice bran oil.