STEW PIG'S TAIL AND PEANUT

Soft and juicy peanuts

in thick, dark porky gravy,

do you like it?

Peanuts take long hours of cooking, 

so normally it is  soaked overnight,
and
boiled until almost done before adding the pig's tail.

Well, what is the ratio?

No fixed ratio, depend on how big is the tail that you bought

and how much peanuts you have in the pantry!

Simply smash a piece of old ginger and add to the boiling stew.
This is a must to remove the smell from the pork.

The rest of the seasoning includes
ground pepper, both dark & light soya sauce, sugar and salt.
Of course, for added flavour you may add herbs like clove, star anis and cinnamon sticks.

To achieve that thick gravy,
opt for long hours of slow cooking.

Enjoy

SOYA SAUCE DRESSING

This Soya Sauce Dressing

looks like any of the store bought soya sauce.

There is not much difference in colour & thickness,

but 

the taste has been greatly improved!

Thank you Jeffrey Fong for sharing this marvelous sauce recipe,

that can be used on any dishes.

Simply pour it on boiled vegetables, chicken, pork or fish

and it brings out the taste wonderfully.

You can even use it as a dipping sauce.

Cooking meat? 

No problem, just use it as seasoning in stew.

The ingredients are simple.

Get a good quality soya sauce, Maggi seasoning sauce and some rock sugar.

Here is the recipe provided by Jeffrey Fong:

1 bottle Superior light soya sauce (640ml)

250g rock sugar

1 Tbsp Maggi seasoning soya sauce

1100ml water

1) boil water & rock sugar until sugar is dissolved

2) turn off fire and let it cool completely

3) stir in the rest of the ingredients, and bottled up

4) leave in the fridge until required.

5) when using, no need to re-boil, just pour onto the food

6) add some garlic oil, shallots oil or sesame oil

7) some crispy fried shallots or garlic will add more flavour to the dish.

8) enjoy

BOILED VEGETABLE

Boiled Vegetables

Often times we wonder why we cannot maintain the colour of greens after cooking.

When stir frying, we tend to over cook it.

When boiling it, we tend to leave it in the hot water for too long.

So, the problem is over cooking!

These are some of the tips to boil vegetables:

1) ratio of water to vegetable should be about 2:1, 

    as too little water will bring the temperature down when vegi is added

2) bring the water to rolling boil 

3) drain the vegetable well while waiting for the water to boil

4) add some oil & salt to the boiling water prior to adding the vegetable

5) do not turn down the flame when vegi is added, continue on high heat

6) when small bubbles appear by the sides of pan, it is ready to dish out the vegi!

7) pour sauce & oil over the vegetable to cool down

8) serve warm

SAMBAL HAEBEE - HAEBEE HIAM

Sambal Haebee

gives a finishing touch to whatever food that you are having.

I express my special thanks to my Facebook friend

Ding Mee Ling

from Sitiawan

for this Classic Nonya recipe

It may be time consuming to prepare

but it really worth the trouble.

Remember, never reduce the amount, you will regret cooking too little!

Ingredients:

500g dried shrimps, soaked & chopped 

600g shallots, peeled & sliced

1 bulb garlic, peeled & sliced

10-15g dried chilli, soaked & sliced

5-10 fresh chilli, big

5-10 chilli, spicy type
8 lemongrass, white part only

3" fresh turmeric

1" belacan

1 ball assam jawa. add water & squeeze out juice

10 limau perut leaves, torn 1/2 (optional if you do not have)

brown sugar & salt to taste

1. blend shallots, garlic, lemongrass all chillis, turmeric & belacan together

2. heat kuali and fry chopped dried shrimp until dry, remove

3. heat 2-3 cups oil in the kuali, add the blended ingredients & fry until fragrant 

4. when oil emerge from the chilli, add the fried dried shrimp

5. add limau perut leaves, if used

6. add assam jawa juice, brown sugar & salt to taste

7. leave to cool before storing in bottles

SINGLE PROOF PANETTONE

Single Proof Panettone

I tried Iginio Massari’s panettone recipe

Found in wildyeastblog.com. 

The panettone was so flavourful, nice and spongy, 

even though I did not get it done properly.

The 1st dough rose beautifully.
I thought maybe I could do something to shorten the waiting time
by incorporating some of the ingredients in the Final dough to it.

However, I still have to build The Stiff starter as stated in his recipe, no short cut!
This recipe yields 3 nos. 5.25” panettone.
Sharing with you this Single Proof Panettone adapted from Iginio Massari's recipe:-

Step 1
To build The Stiff Starter:
Sourdough is fed frequently & maintain at room temperature
to render it less acidic than a typical sourdough.
1. Convert SD to 50% hydration over several days
2. Once converted, continue feeding 4 hourly
3. Final feeding should be given 4 hours before mixing the dough

Method
1. convert sourdough from 100% to 50% hydration over several days.
2. Once achieved,
     mix 20g of 50% hydration sourdough with 20g flour & 20g water, ferment for 4 hours
3. Repeat feedings at 4 hour intervals,
     each time discarding all but 20g starter, and feed with 20g flour & 10g water
4. For nightly feeding before going to bed, use only 10g starter with 20g flour & 10g water
5. For last feeding (4 hours before mixing the dough),
     feed with 40g starter, add 40g flour & 20g water

INGREDIENTS

(A)  346g bread flour
        190g water
        1/2 tsp instant yeast
        83g sugar mixed with seeds from 1/2 vanilla pod
        55g egg yolk
        1.5 tsp diastatic malt powder
        83g salted butter, at room temperature
        86g stiff starter
        Zest from 1/2 orange

(B) 100-120g raisins, sultanas & orange peels

Glaze (optional)
83g granulated sugar
2 tsp ground almonds
1.5 tsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp corn flour
1,1/8 tsp cocoa powder
30g egg white

Topping (optional)
Powdered sugar
Swedish pearl sugar
Whole Blanched almond

Special supplies
Three 5.25” paper panettone mold
6 bamboo skewers to skewer through the molds

Method
1. Build sweet starter over a period of several days. Final feeding should be given 4 hours before mixing the 1st dough
2. In a stand mixer, combine all ingredients (A) and mix for 14-15min.
3. At the last 1 min of mixing, add the dried fruits & continue mixing until the mixer stops.
4. Divide and shape dough into 3 portions. Place into the panettone molds to Proof.
5. Proof for 5-6 hours,
     until the top of the dough dooms & the sides are about 1” below the top of molds.
6. Preheat oven 175’C with lower rack in the oven.
7. If glazing the panettone, whisk together all glaze ingredients.
     Brush generously over the top of the loaves.
     Sift powdered sugar generously over the top,
     then sprinkle with pearl sugar & garnish with blanched almond.
8. If not glazing, use scissors to snip an X on the top of the loaf & tuck a pat of butter inside.
     You can also leave it plain as shown in the photo above
9. Place loaves on the oven rack & bake for 35-40min until the tops are brown.
     Tent bread if the tops get too dark.
10. While the panettone is baking, set up the hanging apparatus.
       When bread is done, hang them as quickly as possible.
       Hang for at least 4 hours, up to overnight.

FUN & PUN

Fun and Pun
Received this, thought it may be good for a laugh...
Thanks to the person who wrote it

*Q: Can February March?*

*A: No. But April May!*

*Q: Did you hear about the painter who was hospitalised?

*A: Reports say it was due to too many strokes!*

*Q: Have you heard the joke about the butter?*

*A: I better not tell you, it might spread!*

*Q: How do you know that carrots are good for eyesight?

*A: Have you ever seen a rabbit wearing glasses?*

*Q: Music Teacher: What's your favourite musical instrument?*

*A: Kid: The lunch bell!*

*Q: What did the triangle say to the circle?*

*A: You’re pointless!*

*Q: What do you call a person that chops up cereal*

*A: A cereal killer!*

*Q: What kind of emotions do noses feel?*

*A: Nostalgia!*

*Q: Where do boats go to when they get sick?*

*A: The dock!*

*Q: Why can't a leopard hide?*

*A: Because he's always spotted!*

*Q: Why did the tree go to the dentist?*

*A: To get a root canal!*

*Q: Why was the maths book sad?*

*A: Because it had too many problems!*

PEANUT BUTTER MELT IN THE MOUTH COOKIES

Peanut Butter Melt In The Mouth Cookies

Peanuts Butter is a common spread for bread.

My hubby is a fan of peanut butter.

He likes it creamy.

Many people like it crunchy.

Whether creamy or crunchy, you can easily turn it into a cookie.

Sharing with you here,

 a tender, crumbly, melt in the mouth Peanut Butter Cookies.

Peanut Butter Melt In The Mouth Cookies

240g peanut butter

12Og  icing sugar

1 large egg yolk

Pinch of salt

1. Preheat over to 180’C
2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl
3. Divide into 15g portions & form into a ball
4. Arrange the balls on a lined baking sheet & press criss-cross with a fork
5. Bake for 15-20min until slightly brown
6. Cool on tray for awhile before transferring to the wire rack
7. store in air tight container

NUTRI SOURDOUGH SOFT TOAST

Sourdough Bread making can be tedious,

especially you need to wait long hours for the dough to proof.

This is a single proof recipe,

baked on the same day, if you have sufficient time to work on it.

If you do not have a bread machine,

and 

lazy to knead with your palms,

use the stand mixer with the dough hook.

I assure you, it can do the job beautifully.

The procedure can be done in one or two days, 

depending on the flexibility of your time.

It involves 2 stages of preparation of

1. sourdough

2. main dough

Nutri Sourdough Soft Toast

Day 1

Preparation of sourdough, night before

mix together & leave to rise at room temperature until double or up to 24 hours

25g cold sourdough from fridge

25g water

25g bread flour

Day 2

anytime from morning to the afternoon,

stir in 50g water & 

          50g bread flour,

and leave to rise at room temperature, until 2 times its original volume.

It will take about 2 hours. Can do a float test to see if it is ready.

Main dough

150g sourdough starter from the above, use at its peak

165g bread flour

30g spelt flour

3/4 tsp salt

40g sugar

1 egg

55g milk

20g butter/oil

1. knead together all ingredients for 10-15min. depending on the power of your mixer,

    until window panes is reached.

2. shape into a loaf & leave to proof at room temperature until 3X its size (about 3 hours)

3. bake in preheated oven 190'C for 30min

4. tent bread with aluminium foil if it gets too dark on the top.

Notes:

If you suddenly remember you need a loaf of bread for tomorrow

1) Prepare starter

Take out 60g cold sourdough starter from the fridge, stir in 50g water & 50g bread flour and leave aside at room temperature to rise until 2X its original volume. This will take about 3 hours (1 hours longer than the above recipe).

2) Main dough

Follow Steps 1-4. When shaping is done, leave the bread dough on counter top to proof until 2X its original size (takes about 5-6 hours). Cover & leave in the fridge overnight. Next day, remove from fridge & leave on counter top to continue proof another hour until 3x in size. Bake as recipe.