Tarte Nougat - Sweet Potatoes

This rustic sweet potatoes tart is a spin-off from the favorite 'Tarte Nougat - Pommes" from Au Peche Mignon Patisserie in Paris . It has a delicious crunchy almond topping which made this tart so decadent, an impression that may well have originally inspired this 'patisserie's' playful name. "un peche mignon" means, literally, "a little(forgivable) sin," or, more figuratively, "a particular weakness

















Ingredients:

1/2 lb Ready made Puff Pastry

2 big sweet potatoes
4 tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter - cut up
4 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
salt to taste

Nougat:

1 1/4 cups plus 2 tbsp sliced almonds
1/4 cup plus 3 tbsp sugar
3 large egg whites

Method:

Grease 8 - 9 inch tart pan.
Roll out puff pastry on a lightly floured work surface to a circle which is 1 1/2 inch large than the tart pan, and a thickness of 1/8 inch.

Fit the pastry without stretching into the tart pan, trimming it flush with the edges of the tart pan. Chill the pastry for at least 1/2 hr.

Preheat the oven to 375 f. Place the pastry shell in a jelly roll pan, which helps catch the butter expelled by the crust, or on a baking sheet, line the shell with lightly greased parchment paper or a aluminum foil, greased side down, and fill with dried beans or rice.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until the pastry is pale gold. Remove from the oven and carefully remove the weights and paper/foil.

While the pastry is baking, peel the sweet potatoes and leave in cold water to preventing darkening. Cut the sweet potatoes in halves or thirds and then cut into wedges like you would for apples.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, add some of the butter(you might need less if using a non-stick pan), then some of the sweet potatoes wedges.

Cook the sweet potatoes wedges, tossing occasionally, until lightly golden, about 3 minutes. Add some of the brown sugar and a pinch of salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cook, tossing, for 1 minute longer.

Transfer the sweet potatoes wedges to a plate with a slotted spoon and repeat until all the sweet potatoes wedges have been cooked until tender but still hold their shape.

Spread the sweet potatoes wedges evenly into the tart shell.

Nougat:

Combine the sliced almonds, sugar, and egg whites in a mixing bowl. Stir to combine the ingredients without beating the whites.

Pour the nougat mixture over the apples and bake the tart for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the nougat is lightly golden and crusty.

Cool the tart on a wire rack and serve at room temperature.

Serves

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Sponge Cakes

This method of making sponge cake is fantastic. I must share with everyone, who like me, is never confident with sponge cakes. With just one recipe, i made several shapes and they are the best.




This is sort of yin and yang, not by choice, but i am glad it turned out this way. If you like the kuih bahulu to be soft crumb, do not heat the mould for too long before filling with batter and bake until just right. If you like hard crumb, heat the mould until very very hot, then pour in batter





The pattern side is light cos of the silicone madeliene mould.
































Ingredients:



100 gram vegetable oil


30 ml milk


¼ tsp salt


2 eggs, lightly beaten


5 eggs


150 gram sugar


150 gram all purpose flour


¼ tsp baking powder

Method:




Preheat oven to 35o f degree and grease the moulds except for the kuih bahulu moulds. it would have to be heated first in the oven, then grease.



Bring to a boil oil, milk and salt, stir until foamy.



Remove from the heat.



Stir in 2 beaten eggs when warm and stir until thicken.



In another bowl, beat eggs and sugar until fluffy and form ribbonlike trail.



Sift in flour and baking powder and fold gently.



Fold in oil mixture until combine, do not overmix.




Fill the moulds with batter to almost full, this batter will not rise that much, then bake until surface is golden brown. (Cooking time depends on the moulds you are using)





Serves
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Ciabatta

This ciabatta makes the best Panini








When i was at the library last week, i ran through the latest issue of Cook's Illustrated and it has 'How to make Ciabatta'. This Italian loaf boasts a crisp, flavorful crust and a chewy, open crumb—in the hands of a master, but with this recipe, you can be the master.







Ingredients:


Biga
1 cup(5 ozs) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp instant yeast
1/2 cup(4 ozs) water, at room temp.
Dough
2 cups(10 ozs) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 1/2 tsp table salt
3/4 (6 ozs) water, at room temp(i had to put alot more water to make it sticky cos i am in Denver)
1/4 cup(2 ozs) milk, at room temp.

Method:


For the biga:
Combine flour, yeast and water in medium bowl and stir with wooden spoon until uniform mass forms, about 1 minute. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let stand at room temp.(about 70 f) overnight (at least 8 hrs and up to 24 hours.
For the dough:
Place biga and dough ingredients in bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment.
Mix on lowest speed until roughly combined and shaggy dough forms, about 1 minute, scrape down sides of bowl as necessary.
Continue mixing on medium low speed until dough becomes uniform mass that collects on paddle and pulls away from sides of bowl, 4 - 6 minutes.
Change to dough hook and knead bread on medium speed until smooth and shiny(dough will be very sticky), about 10 minutes.
Transfer dough to large bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let dough rise at room temperature until doubled in volume, about 1 hr or more.
Spray rubber spatula or bowl scraper with no-stick cooking spray, fold partially risen dough over itself by gently lifting and folding edge of dough toward middle. Turn bowl 90 degrees, fold again. Turn bowl and fold dough six more times (total of 8 times). Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes. Repeat folding, replace plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes or more longer.
Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to lower middle position, place baking stone on rack, and heat oven to 450 f at least 30 minutes before baking.
Cut tow 12 x 6 inch pieces of parchment paper and liberally dust with flour.
Transfer dough to liberally floured counter, being careful not to deflate completely.
Liberally flour top of dough and divide in half.
Turn 1 piece of dough so cut side is facing up and dust with flour. With well floured hands, press dough into rough 12 x 6 inch shape. Fold shorter sides of dough toward center, overlapping them like business letter to form 7 x 4 inch loaf. Repeat with second dough piece.
Gently transfer each loaf seam-side down to parchment sheets, dust with flour, and cover with plastic wrap. Let loaves sit at room temp for 30 minutes(surfaces of loaves will develop small bubbles)
Slide parchment with loves onto inverted rimmed baking sheet or pizza peel.
Using floured fingertips, evenly poke entire surface of each loaf to form 10 x 6 inch rectangle, spray loaves lightly with water.
Carefully slide parchment with loaves onto baking stone using jerking motion.
Bake, spraying loaves with water twice more during first 5 minutes of baking time, until crust is deep golden brown and instant read thermometer inserted into centers of loaves registers 210 f, 22 to 27 minutes.
Transfer to wire rack, discard parchment and cool loaves to room temperature, about 1 hr before slicing and serving.

Notes:
I baked one loaf at a time cos i have a round pizza stone which can only hold one loaf.






BTW The bread is typically identified by its shape, which is that of a slipper, and thus the meaning of the word "ciabatta" in Italian.

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Rusty Nails/Crispy Beef

The chinese cooking term "Passing through" is a key technique in Shanghai and Szechuan cooking, where the meat is cooked by passing it through hot oil. This step makes chicken breast meat silken, transforms shrimp into toothsome creatures with a firm, almost crunchy texture, and renders paper-thin strips of pork and steak tender and juicy within. In passing through, the food is very briefly cooked in a pool of hot vegetable oil and then removed from the wok. To finish the dish, almost all of the oil is poured off from the wok, and the remaining oil is used to create the sauce. Finally, the passed through food is returned to the wok and stir-fried with the sauce.




While passing through is primarily a restaurant technique, it is worthwhile taking the time to master it because no other cooking technique can give the same results. Yes, the food is deep fried, but if it is done properly, it is not unhealthy. First, the food is always coated with a thin batter of egg white and starch, which helps keep the oil from seeping into the food.




To prepare for the passing through step in a recipe, place a metal colander on a plate near the stove to hold and drain the fried food. Use a deep-frying thermometer to test the temperature of the oil. Be sure to have a wide wire-mesh strainer for removing the food, and if there is to be a subsequent frying step (as in Crispy Beef), have a fine-mesh strainer handy to skim off any bits of fried batter. Use a large metal wok scoop or spoon to stir the food, as the mesh on the wide strainer could disturb the coating on the meat. Place a large bowl on a heatproof plate nearby to hold the excess oil.




Heat the wok for a few minutes over high heat until it is very hot. If you flick water from your fingertips into the wok, the water should sizzle away on contact. Pour in enough vegetable oil to reach at least 1 inch up the sides of the wok - this will be about 4 cups in a 14 inch flat-bottomed wok, there are cases, due to the large quantity of food, use less oil, so that it reaches 1 1/2 inch or 2 inch up the sides of the wok. Don't skimp - any food that sticks out of the hot oil will not cook at the same rate as the rest of the food, and it will get soggy too. But i do skimp, i use 1/2 the amount of oil and cook the meat in small batches.




The temperature of the oil is the key to passing through. The oil should be hot enough to cook the food but not hot enough to brown it . 300 f to 325 f(Higher temperatures are reserved for true deep-frying, where the food will develop a crisp golden brown crust.) With the wok preheated, the oil will take only a few minutes to reach the proper temperature. Do not underestimate the value of a deep-frying thermometer. If you don't have one, you can gauge the temperature of the oil with a 1/2 inch cube of white bread: it should take at least a minute to brown in the hot oil. But unless you are an experienced cook, use the thermometer.




The protein food(meat, poultry, or seafood) will have been marinated in the egg-white/starch coating. Carefully add the food to the hot oil, one of two pieces at a time, taking care that you don't splash the oil. Add the food quickly, but do not dump everything in at once, and try to keep the pieces as separate as possible so they don't stick together. The food will sink to the bottom of the wok, where the oil around it will bubble, but not furiously. The temperature will drop when the cook food is added, so keep the heat on every high to help the oil return to its original temperature. When all the food has been added, stir the food gently or quickly, depending on the recipe, with the metal scoop(wok chan) to keep the pieces from clinging to each other. Cook until the pieces of chicken, shrimp, or fish turn white on the surface, about 45 seconds, or until pieces of beef or pork turn a light brown (which could take a bit longer, depending on the size of the pieces) Use the strainer to transfer the food to the colander.




In most cases, you will now (carefully!!!) pour the hot oil into the large bowl leaving 2 tbsps of the oil in the wok. If you have a subsequent frying step, be sure to heat the oil in the wok to required temperature before continuing.




My family calls this dish 'Rusty Nails' cos the fried meat looked like them. Sorry for the lengthy text but it is so important to know. Now for some action.











Ingredients:

1/2 pound tender beef/flank steak strips (1/2 in wide, 1/4 inch thick and length of 2 - 2/12 in.)



1 1/2 tsp baking soda




Sauce:




2 tbsp sugar


2 tbsp red wine vinegar


1 tbsp shaoxing rice wine


1 tbsp soya sauce


1 tsp cornstarch




Vegetable oil for "passing through"




1 cup cornstarch


1 large egg white, lightly beaten


1 small onion - sliced


1 tsp sesame oil


1/4 tsp hot chilli paste(optional)




Chopped spring onions for garnishing


Method:




Mix the steak, baking soda, and 3 tbsp of water in a medium bowl. Cover, and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight(The baking soda will tenderize the steak)




To begin the sauce, mix the sugar, vinegar, rice wine, soya sauce, and cornstarch in a small bowl. Set aside.




Heat a large wok over high heat. Add enough vegetable to come about 1 1/2 inches up the sides of the wok, and heat it to 375f. Meanwhile, add the cornstarch and egg white to the steak, and mix well to coat the steak with the batter.




Add the steak to the oil, one piece at a time so it doesn't splash or stick together, and stir gently until it begins to look crispy, about 1 minute. Using a wide wire-mesh strainer, transfer the steak to a colander to drain. Using a fine-mesh wire strainer, remove any bits of fried batter from the wok.




Reheat the oil to 375 f, return the steak to the wok, and fry again until the beef is crispy all over, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a strainer to drain. Remove all but 1 tbsp of the oil from the wok.




Return the wok with the oil to high heat, add sliced onions, steak, sugar-vinegar mixture, sesame oil and hot chilli paste(if using). Stir fry until all of the ingredients are well-blended about 30 seconds.




Dish out and sprinkle with chopped spring onions.




Serve immediately with white rice.



Serves

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Spicy Crabstick with Fries

When we eat out, we are sure to end up with alot of french fries not eaten. The fries will be packed home and end up as a dish for tomorrow's dinner.




Ingredients:
3 cups french fries
1/8 lb imitation crabsticks
2 tbsp Garam Assam Paste

1/4 cup fried peanuts
salt and sugar to taste
oil for deep frying

Method:

Open up and tear/cut imitation crabsticks into thin julienned strips
Heat oil and deep fry the julienned strips of crabstick until crispy. Drain and leave aside.
Remove all the oil except for 2 tbsp, add in the garam assam paste and saute.
Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Adjust taste with salt and sugar.
Serve with rice
Serves


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Chrysanthemum tea Jelly

Chrysanthemum flowers is one of the items in my pantry which gets replenished even before the last flower is used up. My generation grew up with this tea but not the younger ones though. Since i got a new jelly mould which is available online from Biodiversityherbs.com, decided to make jelly with chrysantermum tea to entice Renee. To my surprise, she liked these jelly, now i know what to make her when her throat hurts.
Read about the medicinal values from Wiki:
Chrysanthemum tea has many purported medicinal uses, including an aid in recovery from influenza, acne and as a "cooling" herb. According to traditional Chinese medicine the tisane can aid in the prevention of sore throat and promote the reduction of fever. In Korea, it is known well for its medicinal use for making people more alert and is often used to waken themselves. In western herbal medicine, Chrysanthemum tea is drunk and used as a compress to treat circulatory disorders such as varicose veins and atherosclerosis.
In traditional Chinese medicine, chrysanthemum tea is also used to treat the eyes, and is said to clear the liver and the eyes.[citation needed] The liver is associated with the eyes and the liver is associated with anger, stress, and related emotions. It is believed to be effective in treating eye pain associated with stress or yin/fluid deficiency. It is also used to treat blurring, spots in front of the eyes, diminished vision, and dizziness






Ingredients:

1 pkt (10 gm) konnyaku powder
210 gm sugar
30 gm chrysanthemum flowers
700 ml water
250 ml boiling water

Method:

Put chrysanthemum flowers in a teapot and pour 250 ml hot boiling water. Put the lid on and let the tea steep for 10 minutes. Strain and leave aside. Reserve the flower for garnishing.
Mix konnyaku powder with sugar and stir to mix.
Bring 700 ml water to the boil and add in the konnyaku with sugar mixture. Stir until the sugar and konnyaku dissolve. Add in the 250 ml chrysanthemum tea and stir to blend.
Wet the konnyaku mould with water but do not wipe dry. Put a chrysanthemum flower onto every mould and fill the mould with konnyaku jelly.
Leave to set in refrigerator.
Remove from moulds when set and serve cold


Serves

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Kuih Siput

This is very addictive malaysian snack which looked like the sea shells you find on the sea shore. Siput is sea shell in Malay and to make this sea shells you will need an utensil which looked like this


I had dreams of this snack but was unable to make some cos i could not find this utensil. I was elated when Julie Tan from Biodiversityherbs.com wrote to me and said she has baking supplies for sale and i found this so 'hard-to-find' utensil that i longed for in her site.



Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp margarine/oil
1 tsp sugar
1/2 egg - beaten
1 tsp black pepper powder
2 tbsp curry powder
2 tbsp coconut milk
1 tbsp water
Oil for deep frying

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together into a smooth dough and let it rest for at least 1/2 hr.



Roll dough into small pea size balls














Using the utensil, press a ball with your thumb to form the shell shape
















When all the balls are shaped into sea shells.
Heat oil in medium heat - 325 f and fry the sea shells until brown and crispy.
Drain on kitchen towel.


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