Friday, May 10. 2013
This dish was one of the first dishes that I made after arriving into the US, so it holds somewhat of a special place. When we first moved in, our kitchen was barren except for the essential appliances. I never realised how many things were required just to stock the basics, not to mention figuring out where to get them. We just happened to have arrived during a cold spell, and all that I wanted was hot water, but we had neither pots/pans nor a kettle. It took three days before we settled on a set of pots/pans, which we used to boil water, until the desired kettle arrived two weeks later. Then came the challenge of finding tableware and cutlery. Can you believe it took us over seven big name stores before we found some simple, plain, yet elegant-looking, tableware??! Everything was either oddly shaped, coloured, patterned, unsubstantial, or too expensive. And the cutlery. What happened to silverware, cutlery that actually felt like metal rather than plastic??! I'm still hunting, even now, for coffee spoons because all the ones I've found thus far can bend, or break, with the slightest of pressure.
One of the pleasures of shopping, though, was finding the new variety of food available to us. Inexpensive fresh shrimp was something that we hadn't seen for many years, and we found them peeled and de-veined for a very good price. Food, especially meat and seafood, that required minimal preparation was key at that time as my knives and other utensils had yet to arrive from abroad. My first dishes with the shrimp were very very simple. Once my kitchen supplies arrived, though, I started to explore old dishes that I'd cooked in France, and this was a spin-off from one of them. The prawns are lightly sautéed with garlic before they are tossed with the cooked pasta and a pesto-like sauce. It's simple, all fresh-made, and the combined smell of seafood, pasta, and cheese can make anyone hungry.
Shrimp Pesto Pasta (Serves 2)
A mortar and pestle can help bring out the flavours of the sauce better, but it is not necessary. The sauce can simply be prepared in a bowl beforehand.
- 2 sun-dried tomato halves, diced
- 10g (2 tbsp) ground nut (the standard is pine nuts, but it works with almonds and pistachios, as well)
- 1g (2 tsp) dried basil
- 1g (2 tsp) dried parsley
- 0.5g (1/2 tsp) dried garlic (or 1 clove, finely minced)
- 10g (1/2 tbsp) maple syrup
- 10g (1/2 tbsp) olive oil
- 60g (3/4 cup) grated parmesan cheese
- shrimp (I used 454g, or 1 lb)
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- pasta (I used 170g, uncooked)
- Boil water, add salt, and cook pasta until desired done-ness. Drain pasta and reserve liquid.
- Combine pesto sauce ingredients and set aside.
- In another pot/pan, heat oil with garlic, then add shrimp. When the shrimp have turned colour but are still translucent, add the drained pasta. Continue cooking until the shrimp are done. Pasta stock can be added if too dry.
- Add the pesto sauce ingredients. If the pasta is still a bit soupy, continue cooking until most of the liquid has evaporated. If it is too dry, the pasta stock can be added until the desired consistency.
Friday, May 3. 2013
If you've been following my old posts, you would have most likely read about my adventures hunting for certain cuts of meat in the French-speaking world. (If not, you can read it here, here, and here.) Now that we've arrived into a new place, the same quest begins. Language should theoretically not be a problem, but I still had difficulty, especially as my butchery vocabulary was mostly in French... One of the things that I miss from France is having a butcher that I could call "mine". Butchers don't quite exist in the US. But fortunately, we found a supermarket with a meat section that could provide services similar to the French butchers. We've enjoyed scanning the display cases and choosing cuts of meats that had to be specially ordered (or didn't really exist) back in France, but there were still certain cuts that could not be seen. Hoping to change our food repertoire a bit, I thought of the "intercostal meat" (牛肋條) and inquired to see if they might happen to have it somewhere in the back of the store. Indeed, they had the back ribs of the cow, which were left over from de-boned prime ribs. They didn't look quite right, but given the low price, it was worth a try. I then, suddenly, thought of beef cheeks and was quite excited when I learned that it could be specially ordered. I jumped at the opportunity as "beef cheeks" was one of the cuts that we treasured back in France for it's special texture, leanness, and low price.
Thursday, March 28. 2013
One of the biggest challenges for me is the food and cooking. Basic meat and produce themselves taste different. I did not realise how lucky we were with the French chicken, where the most basic free-range tasted miles better than those that you can find in the generic supermarkets here. They don't even have the characteristic long breast and thigh bone structure! Products that are distributed internationally are also different, as the recipes tend to be tailored to the local taste. Coming to a new place is a reason to revamp one's food repertoire, but it can be difficult when nearly everything is different! But it's coming along. And the change has allowed me to explore making various sauces/spices from scratch (recipe to come when more finalised).
Yet one of the pluses is the incredible variety available. We are loving all the leafy greens that can be accessed so easily now. And the special "health foods" (e.g. specialty grains, diary-free alternatives, allergen-specific products, etc) are so readily accessible and fairly affordable that I've begun exploring vegan baking. Chinese/Asian food/restaurants are also easily obtained, which means fewer chances of me needing to recreate them at home. It's a wonderful feeling knowing that we can always grab something quick if time gets the better of me (especially with the surprises a little one can bring).
This relocation has been another milestone in our lives as we (re-)adjust to a new culture and a new phase in life. I'll continue to share my cooking and food-related adventures but now with the added challenge of soon cooking for a little one. 
For a start, I bring a little France to the US with a slightly re-vamped old recipe: butter-free chouquettes and gougères. They are essentially dairy-free, except for the cheese in/on the gougères (hence "butter-free" rather than "dairy-free"); so if you manage to use a dairy-alternative cheese, even the gougères can be completely dairy-free.
No Butter Chouquettes and Gougères (makes ~30 one to two bite-sized puffs)
Replacing the butter/vegetable oil spread with vegetable oil, weight-for-weight, was all that was necessary. The final product puffed without difficult and tasted just as nice. Nutritionally, using vegetable oil actually contains more overall fat than the vegetable spread, although the total saturated fat is less. Seeing this, I may try to decrease the amount of vegetable oil next time to see if the recipe will turn out as nicely.
"Pearl sugar" is not as readily availabe here in the US, so I just sprinkled a bit of powdered sugar for the sweetness. It's not the same, as the crunchiness is part of what makes chouquettes special, but it works. Granulated sugar can be used as well.
Choux pastry:
- 1/2 cup (125ml) water
- 3 tbsp (40g) vegetable oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (70g) all-purpose flour (for gluten structure)
- 2 large eggs
- 2-3 tsp sugar
- Gougères: 3/4 cup grated hard cheese (e.g. parmesan)
- Chouquettes: powdered/granulated sugar
- Combine the oil, salt, sugar, and 1/2 cup (125 ml) water in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
- Remove from heat, add the flour all at once, and stir quickly with a wooden spoon until well blended. Return the pan over medium-low heat and keep stirring until the mixture forms a smooth ball that pulls away from the sides of the pan. Continue stirring over the heat for an additional one to two minutes.
- Remove from heat, and let rest 2-3 minutes.
- Add the eggs one by one, stirring quickly and well after each addition (so as not to “cook” the eggs). The batter will first appear lumpy; but after a minute or so, it will smooth out. (A food processor can be used as well). Test to see if the dough is becoming too wet before adding the second egg. This is called "choux pastry".
- Divide the choux pastry into 2 parts. Add about 3/4s of the grated cheese and the chives to one part, and stir until well-mixed to make the gougères.
- Cover both choux pastries and refrigerate for 30 minutes, or up to a day (allows the dough to rest a bit).
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Remove the batter from the fridge and use two teaspoons – or a piping bag fitted with a plain tip – to form small balls of batter, about the size of a walnut or small cherry tomato with an inch of space between them.
- Chouquettes: Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
- Gougères: Sprinkle with remainder of grated cheese.
- Bake for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 375°F (190°C) and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes, until they’re completely golden brown (make sure NOT to open the oven door during the first 10 minutes of baking). Make sure the puffs are completely browned on top and on the sides to prevent deflating after cooling.
- Turn off the oven, open the door a crack, and leave the chouquettes and gougères in for another 5 minutes to prevent a temperature shock, which
would cause them to deflate.
- Transfer to a rack and let cool completely before serving.
Notes*:
- It is helpful to use a smaller pot for the roux. Mixing will be easier and less strenuous on the arms. Tilting the pot at an angle will also speed up egg incorporation.
- For extra-crispy puffs, the sides of each puff can be poked to release the steam and returned to the oven to finish baking.
- Leftovers can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature or refrigerator for up to 3 days at most. Reheat for 5-10 minutes in a 300°F (150°C) oven to restore the original texture. They can be frozen in a zip-top freezer bag for up to one month. Defrost at room
temperature, then warm briefly on a baking sheet, until crisp.
Nutrition (out of a batch of 30):
- Chouquette (1 bite-sized) -- 30 calories, 1.7g total fat, 0.2g saturated fat, 24.1mg sodium, 1.6g total carbohydrate, 0.7g sugar, 0.06g fibre, 0.3g protein.
- Gougère (1 bite-sized) -- 49 calories, 3.1g total fat, 1.1g saturated fat, 115mg sodium, 2.5g total carbohydrate, 0.6g sugar, 0.06g fibre, 2.7g protein.
Wednesday, January 9. 2013
With extra red bean paste left from the mochi, I thought of making the traditional steamed red bean bun; but I wanted something a bit more special/decadent. I found a recipe from Christine's blog for a sweet bread similar to the Hokkaido milk bread that is used for making sausage rolls in Hong Kong. It seemed the perfect fit. Some chestnut paste (crème de marron) meant lotus seed-like buns could be made as well.
As the Hokkaido milk bread, I used evaporated milk (1/2 fat) for the dairy component. My evaporated milk comes in 80g/75mL portions, so I added half water and half rice milk (what I had on hand) to make 125 mL. I also replaced the butter with olive oil.
Tangzhong
- 25 g rice flour
- 125 ml water
Bread
- 350 g all-purpose flour
- 55 g sugar
- 5 g salt
- 5 g instant dry yeast
- 56 g whole egg (= 1 egg)
- 125 mL evaporated milk (1/2 fat) + water/rice milk
- 120 g tangzhong
- 30 g olive oil
- Tangzhong: Mix flour in water well without any lumps. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly to prevent burning and sticking, until see “lines” appear in the mixture for every stir you make with the spoon. Remove from heat.
- Transfer into a clean bowl. Cover with a cling wrap sticking to surface to prevent from drying up. Let cool and chill in fridge for several hours. (Note: When ready to use, let rest in room temperature before adding into other ingredients. The tangzhong can be stored up to a few days as long as it doesn’t turn grey. If so, it needs to be discarded and re-made.)
- Bread: Combine all dry ingredients: flour, salt, sugar and instant yeast in a mixer bowl. Whisk and combine all wet ingredients: milk, egg, butter and tangzhong. Add to dry ingredients.
- Knead dough with dough hook for 20-25 minutes until the dough is smooth, no longer sticky and elastic. Knead into a ball shape. Place in a greased bowl and cover with a damp towel or cling wrap. Let proof until doubled in size, ~40 minutes.
- Transfer to clean floured surface. Deflate and divide the dough into desired portions. Knead into ball shapes. Cover with cling wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.
- Roll the filling paste (red bean, chestnut, etc) of desired proportion into balls.
- Shaping: Flatten ball of dough. Place rolled filling paste in the center of dough. Wrap the bread dough around the filling paste by gently pulling the dough edges up until they converge at the top. Pinch to seal. (Note: You can rub a bit of oil on your hands before handling if the dough gets sticky during handling.) Cover and leave for second proofing, ~40 minutes, or when doubled in size.
- Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Brush surface
with whisked egg. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or when golden brown. Remove from the oven, transfer onto a wire rack, and let cool completely. Store in an airtight plastic bag or container once thoroughly cooled.
Thursday, January 3. 2013
For the Japanese, one of the traditional food items eaten around the New Year is mochi, a sweet treat made of glutinous rice. Cooked glutinous rice is pounded with a bit of water to create a sticky dough, and various fillings are then added. The most common is red bean. Here is a video of the mochi-making process in Japan. As a child, we often picked up one of the larger versions whenever we visited the Japanese supermarket. It was never cheap, but it never occurred to us to try and make it at home. Who would have thought that mochi would be so easy to make?! It's even easier with pre-made filling. Just a few inexpensive ingredients (except the paste filling) and 30-45 minutes can yield what would have cost at least three times to buy pre-made. The texture may not be exactly the same, but it's a fair trade given the recipe's simplicity and low cost. Its definitely worth a try if you like mochi. The variations can then be limitless and tailored to your tastes. Red Bean Mochi -- Yields 6 large mochi
- 160g glutinous rice flour
- 15g sugar
- 1.4g salt
- 173g water
- Red bean paste
- Mix all 4 ingredients together.
- Cover and microwave on high for 3 minutes.
- Remove and stir with a strong utensil (wooden/metallic spoon,
fork, etc).
-
Cover again and microwave for another 1 minute.
-
Remove and stir 100 times.
-
Cover work surface and hands with flour (corn starch, tapioca,
etc).
-
Roll the dough out and separate into equal portions.
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Roll the red bean paste into balls of desired size.
-
Wrap the rice dough over the red bean dough: flatten the rice
flour dough, place the red bean paste ball on top, wrap the sides of
the flour dough around the red bean ball until fully surrounded.
-
Roll finished mochi in a bit of flour (corn starch, tapioca,
etc). Store in air-tight container and refrigerate.
