Fresh Tagliatelle all’Amatriciana with grated pecorino cheese

J & I have started a love affair with our new Marcato Atlas 150 pasta machine. Like two eager kids we attacked pasta making with excitement; taking ‘me, me, me’! turns at cranking out long strands of pasta. Gone are the days of rolling out noodle/pasta dough with a rolling pin and then painstakingly cutting up the dough that never seemed to be thin enough, into equal sized strands (which is quite backbreaking for me). Although there’s some waiting time involved, the results are worth it! The pasta tastes so fresh, silky and has a great bite to it! I have been obsessing about sugo all’Amatriciana this entire week so that’s my sauce of choice to accompany our fresh pasta. Traditionally, sugo all’Amatriciana is made up of “guanciale (dried pork cheek), pecorino cheese and tomato” but I’ve tasted a version many years ago which incorporated black olives and chilli flakes tossed through rigatoni pasta hence I’m partial to these additional ingredients; gotta jazz it up a little! I’ve used bacon here because I love that smoky flavour. It’s still a simple sauce but the flavours are beautiful especially with a splash of robust, grassy extra virgin olive oil and a generous sprinkling of pecorino cheese. Perfect for a weekend lunch!

I’m already concocting plans for our new toy; having thoughts about osso bucco ravioli, sweet potato pappardelle, Aunty Jane’s lasagne and even fresh filo pastry for baklava and börek. Bring it on - yeeeeehaaaaa!

Everday Quick Pasta Recipe
(adapted from Jamie Oliver: The Naked Chef)
serves 5-6

500 g strong pasta flour (Tipo ’00′) (’00′ flour is superior for fresh egg pastas but you may substitute with plain flour if ’00′ is unavailable)
5 fresh, large free-range eggs ( I used 60 g eggs at room-temperature)
semolina flour for dusting ( I just used the same flour for dusting)

Making the dough (use any of the 3 following methods)

Stage 1- By hand

Make a well in the centre of the flour and add the eggs. Using a fork, break up the eggs slightly as you bring in the flour from the sides. As it begins to form a semi-soft dough, start using your hands. Work the dough hard for about 3 minutes or until smooth, silky and elastic. Wrap it in clingfilm and allow it to rest in the fridge for 60 minutes.

Stage 1 – In a mixer

Use a dough hook on the mixer. Add the flour to the eggs/yolks and mix at a medium speed for about 3 minutes or until it forms a tight dough. Take it out of the mixer and finish kneading by hand for about a minute or until smooth, silky and elastic. Wrap in clingfilm and allow to rest in the fridge for 60 minutes.

Stage 1 – In a food processor

Plonk it all in and turn it on. Within 30 seconds, it should look like chewy-looking breadcrumbs. Leave it just a little longer to allow it to start working the gluten. It should now start to come together into larger balls of dough. Take it all out ( the bowl should be clean) and work by hand for 2 minutes or until smooth, silky and elastic. Wrap in clingfilm and allow it to rest in the fridge for 60 minutes.

NOTES

• The general rule of thumb for a basic pasta recipe is 1 egg per 100 g flour.
•  If the mixture is too dry, you may add some water. Likewise, if it’s too soft, add some flour. A good mixture should never stick to your fingers.

Rolling the pasta into sheets

I followed the instructions that came with our Marcato Atlas 150 pasta machine:

• Cut the rested dough into 4 portions and roll out the dough one piece at a time; keeping the remaining dough covered at all times (Oops! I forgot to cover mind, so the last piece dried out a little)
• Set the machine regulator (knob) to position 1 (this is the thickest setting) so that the two smooth rollers are completely open.
• Pass a piece of pasta dough through the machine, turning the handle; repeat this operation 5-6 times, folding the dough over and adding some flour to the middle if necessary.
• When the dough has taken a regular shape, pass it through the rollers once only with the regulators set on number 2, then once again on number 3 continuing until you obtain the desired thickness (I stopped at number 5 which gave me a pasta thickness of approximately 2mm.  Number 9 is the finest setting at approximately 0.2mm)
• With a knife, cut the dough crossways in pieces approximately 25 cm long.
• Insert the handle in the hole for the tagliatelle/fettucine cutting rollers, turn it slowly and pass the dough through. (You might need a second person to help catch the cut pasta strands at the other end)
• Place the pasta on a table-cloth and leave it to dry for at least an hour. (I  hung mine on a pasta drying hanger)

rolled pasta sheet ready to be cut into Tagliatelle strands

 Tagliatelle hanging on a pasta drying rack

Foodsze’s Tagliatelle with Sugo all’Amatriciana

Ingredients

200 g streaky bacon rashes (or pancetta), roughly chopped
2 large brown onions OR 3 small onions, sliced
170 g tomato paste
3 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
3 tablespoons or 70 g pitted kalamata olives, halved
handful of Italian, flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
2 tablespoons light olive oil
380 ml water
2 teaspoons sugar (or to taste)
salt, to taste
1/2 – 1 teaspoons chilli flakes (or to your liking)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil, to dress the pasta (a full bodied, grassy &  fruity oil goes well with this)
Pecorino cheese, grated to serve
fresh tagliatelle ( or you can substitute with dry pasta if you wish but follow the cooking instructions listed on the back of the packet)

Method

1. Bring a large pot of salted boiling water to the boil ( I roughly dump in 1 - 2 tablespoons of rock salt into 6 litres boiling water)
2. Whilst waiting for the water to boil, heat up the light olive oil in a separate pan; add the chopped bacon (or pancetta) and fry for about 1 1/2 minutes to render the fat or until fragrant; add in the sliced onions, reduce to medium heat and sweat them until softened (about 5 minutes); stir in the tomato paste and cook for a minute; add in the chopped tomatoes and cook for a further 2 minutes; gradually stir in the water, then the olives; put a lid on and simmer for about 15 minutes.
3. Season with sugar, salt and chilli flakes to taste; turn off heat and stir through the finely chopped parsley.
4. Add the tagliatelle to the boiling salted water and cook until al dente (to the bite). (I cooked my 2mm thick tagliatelle for about 2 minutes in two batches)
5. Strain the pasta and toss through the sugo all’Amatriciana.
6. Serve warm with a splash of robust extra virgin olive oil and a generous dose of grated pecorino (the cheese makes all the difference so don’t skimp on this  )

NOTE:

I used all the fresh pasta from the above recipe but if you prefer a saucier pasta, you can hold back a small portion of the uncooked tagliatelle, dust this with a bit of flour and keep this in an air-tight container or bag stored in the fridge. Use within 4 days.

Dig in!

©2012  foodsze. All Rights Reserved.

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These days, I am extremely fickle when it comes to meal ideas. With massive cravings and nightly food-related dreams (I kid you not), I just could not decide on what to cook but in most cases, convenience and ingredients on hand dictate what I eventually end up cooking. So yesterday I thawed some frozen lamb and considered making an African dish I cooked a few years ago called Liboké de Viande (Meat in Banana-Leaf) but I ran out of peanuts and didn’t feel like having any rice to accompany the flavoursome dish . With fresh rosemary, carrots and onions on hand, I settled for classic lamb and rosemary pies; recipe sourced from Taste.com.au. As I did not have 600 grams of diced lamb, I substituted the variance with diced potatoes. I think there were some errors on the recipe with the quantity of puff pastry sheets required but as with most home-cooking, nothing’s set in stone so you adjust accordingly; in this case, I used 3 instead of 2 pastry sheets and there was a lot of pastry patchwork involved! This rough-and-tumble approach to the pastry produced a rustic looking pie. They were delicious with a simple salad on the side dressed in nothing but balsamic vinegar and very good extra virgin olive oil.

Lamb & Rosemary Pies
(adapted from recipe on Taste.com.au. Items in italics are additional notes)
serves 4 ( I made 5 pies)  

Ingredients

3 sprigs rosemary
2 tablespoons olive oil
600g diced lamb leg, cut into 2cm pieces (or 400 g diced lamb + 200 g desiree potatoes, diced into 2 cm pieces)
1 large brown onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 carrot, peeled, diced
2 tablespoons plain flour
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 cup red wine
1 1/2 cups beef stock
cracked black pepper, to taste (not too much so it doesn’t overpower the lamb and rosemary flavours)
olive oil cooking spray
2 sheets frozen ready-rolled puff pastry, partially thawed
1 egg, lightly beaten
optional – nigella seeds to decorate

Method

1. Remove leaves from 2 rosemary sprigs. Cut remaining sprig into 4. Set aside. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add lamb. Cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until browned. Remove to a plate.
2. Add onion, garlic, carrot and rosemary leaves to pan. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until tender. Add flour. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Combine tomato paste, wine and stock in a jug. Add to pan. Cook, stirring, until sauce
   comes to the boil. Return lamb (and add diced potatoes if using)  to pan. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until lamb is tender. (if mixture looks too thick, you can thin it down with a little more beef stock; taste and adjust seasoning and cracked black pepper accordingly). Set aside to cool. (Do not fill pastry cases with hot filling as the pastry will become soggy)
3. Preheat oven to 200°C. Spray four 3/4-cup capacity Texas muffin holes with oil. Cut two 15cm rounds and two 9cm rounds from each pastry sheet. Use large rounds to line muffin holes. Fill with lamb mixture. Brush edges with water. Top with remaining pastry rounds. Press edges to seal. Brush tops with egg. Press in rosemary sprigs (and a sprinkling of nigella seeds if using). (you will need at least 3 puff pastry sheets; to prevent wastage, you can use the pastry offcuts to line the remaining 2-3 muffin holes; patch any holes or gaps to prevent the filling from leaking)
4. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden. Cool for 5 minutes. Run a knife around pie edges to loosen. Remove from pan. Serve.

Notes

©2012  foodsze. All Rights Reserved.

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Oh M Gee! I am so excited! I can feel it- the morning sickness phase is starting to dissipate, oh but I have a nagging suspicion the ferocious appetite and cravings are settling in. The past four weeks have been an absolute *toot* *toot* nightmare!  My body has never been assailed with so many unfamiliar aches and pains and ‘praying to the porcelain altar’ three to four times a day is not exactly my idea of fun! Add in heartburn, indigestion and heightened senses which had me screwing up my nose at four brands of shampoo and handwash and a constant bitter taste in my mouth plus extreme fatigue, I HAD IT REAL BAD!

Despite all the groaning, I AM thrilled about becoming a mommy! J has been nothing short of amazing and supportive; all that running around to get a myriad of weird and wonderful foodstuff and being an absorbent shoulder to soak up tears that seem to just burst out from nowhere; raging hormones it seems

So far I have not craved for anything sweet; it’s been savoury all the way until today. My baking mojo has completely flown out the window since we got the good news, so to be able to bake today, albeit the humble muffin is a welcomed change from spending days on end kowtowing to er..said altar..

I had chocolate and frozen raspberries so a quick flick through the pages of my Bourke Street Bakery cookbook and it was decided – Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Muffins which are apparently their best selling muffins. “Warm from the oven when the chocolate is still soft these muffins are a real treat”

Needless to say, I attacked the warm muffins with great relish and if not wanting to run to the loo immediately is any indication, the beginning of the end of morning sickness is near <fingers crossed>

Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Muffins
(from Bourke Street Bakery: The Ultimate Baking Companion)
(makes 12) ~I made 12 regular muffins and 6 jumbo muffins (it’s better in jumbo size)

Ingredients

400 g (14 oz/ 2 2/3 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
300 g (10 1/2 oz) caster (superfine) sugar
310 g (11 oz) unsalted butter
480 ml (16 3/4 fl oz) buttermilk
3 eggs
225 g (8 oz) dark chocolate (55% cocoa), roughly chopped
225 g (8 oz) raspberries, washed
55 g (2 oz/ 1/4 cup) raw (demerara) sugar
icing (confectioners’) sugar, for dusting

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190^oC (375^oF/Gas 5). Lightly grease two large 6-hole muffin tins and line with paper cases.
2. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl and add the sugar, mixing well to combine.
3. Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat, then remove from the heat and stir in the buttermilk. Using a whisk, stir in the eggs to combine. Pour over the dry ingredients and whisk to combine – don’t worry if there are still some lumps of flour at this stage. Use a large spoon to gently fold through the chocolate and raspberries.
4. Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin holes. Sprinkle the tops with the raw sugar. Reduce the oven temperature to 180^oC (350^oF/ Gas 4) and bake for 25-30 minutes. It may be necessary to drop the temperature about 10 minutes before the end of baking time if the muffins are starting to brown on top. To test if the muffins are done, push the top gently to feel that is is firm and turn one out of the tray and see that the bottom has coloured.
5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes, before eating. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

©2012  foodsze. All Rights Reserved.

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No I didn’t disappear to some exotic island but sometime after my last entry in May, I found myself hurled into a whirlwind of The Busy; family flew over for an impromptu visit, completing the final hurdle of Cert III Patisserie, birthday and wedding cake orders, and a new small business venture handmaking toys and how that sucked up all my cooking and blogging time. Procrastination soon grew into a permanent molehill; at least until recently when delicious crisp homemade spanish churros zapped me out of my two month foodsze amnesia! These are simple and quick to make; ingredients are minimal but stirring the stiff flour paste and then squeezing it out through a piping bag requires muscles! I had the paste in a disposable plastic piping bag at first and it split before I even got the first squeeze out, so make sure you use a sturdy polyester bag. Dust these deep-fried spanish doughnuts with icing sugar, sprinkle a touch of cinnamon or better still dip them in some luxurious melted chocolate and you’ve saved yourself a trip to San Churros

SPANISH CHURROS
(adapted from The Cookie and Biscuit Bible)
Makes 8-10 14cm long churros

Ingredients

250 ml water
1 tablespoon sugar
pinch of salt, plus extra for coating
175 g plain flour
1 egg (I used 2 x 60g eggs)
oil, for deep-frying
1/2 lime or lemon

Method

1. Pour the measured water into a heavy pan, add the sugar and salt and bring to the boil over low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat, tip in the flour and beat until smooth (requires quite a bit of strength, the dough should come away from the sides of the pan. Leave to cool slightly for approximately 15 minutes before beating in the eggs)
2. Beat in the egg(s) (one at a time)  until the mixture is smooth and satiny. Set aside.
3. Heat 5 – 6 cm depth of oil with the lime or lemon in a deep-frying pan to 190^oC or until a cube of bread browns in 30-60 seconds.
4. Pour the batter into a large piping (pastry) bag with a fluted nozzle ( I used a 2 cm star-shaped nozzle). Pipe 7.5 cm strips (I made mine 14 cm long) of batter into the hot oil. (Use a small knife to dislodge the paste from the tip of the nozzle). Fry a few at a time for 3-4 minutes until golden. Remove, drain on kitchen paper and roll in granulated sugar.  ( Or you could simply dust with icing sugar, pinch of cinnamon or melt 200 g of good quality chocolate to serve with the churros)

©2012  foodsze. All Rights Reserved.

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I LOVE spices!  Particularly those of the indian and middle eastern variety. You can liken my kitchen pantry to a spice bazaar. Having compiled a list (just so I could keep track of what’s in my pantry) I have:-

• Amchur (mango powder)
• Asafoetida (Hing)
• Bay Leaves ( ok, they should be under herbs but I use the dried leaves for home-blended garam masala)
• Black Peppercorns
• Caraway Seeds
• Cardamon Pods (green and black)
• Cayenne Pepper
• Chilli Powder
• Cinnamon (bark, stick and ground)
• Cloves
• Coriander Seeds (whole and ground)
• Cumin Seeds (whole and ground)
• Curry Powders (assorted for meat, poultry and fish)
• Dried Chillies
• Fennel Seeds
• Fenugreek Seeds
• Five Spice
• Garam Masala
• Mustard Seeds
• Nigella Seeds
• Paprika
• Saffron Threads
• Star Anise
• Turmeric

So, am I a consummate spice lover? You betcha!  With such an array of aromatics, even the simplest dish can be transformed into something magnificent. Take this Turmeric Chicken dish for instance; minimal ingredients and fuss-free cooking - perfect when you can’t be stuffed cooking an elaborate meal. I do love my meat but I can be a very happy vegetarian when there’s such an abundance of spices to liven up some of my favourite pulses (lentils and beans) and vegetables like eggplant, tomatoes, okra, pumpkin, aloo (potatoes), cauliflowers and more!

Whenever I cook with spices, the meal is often a labour of love; I find it all very therapeautic, be it roasting the spices to release their intoxicating perfume and then bashing them into smithers, stewing or braising spice-rich curries, blending up an accompanying chutney or cooling raita with a few spices tossed through and there’s the making of rotis and parathas as well – so warming and comforting.

These lamb koftas are delicious; the flavours of warming spices and green chillies are balanced and yoghurt imparts a tang as well as a tenderising effect on the lamb mince. As winter approaches and my mint leaves are getting punier by the week, a mint and coriander chutney is in order; luckily my coriander patch is thriving robustly. The chutney complements the meaty koftas so well and to complete our meal, I improvised a wholemeal and besan (chickpea flour) roti.

wholemeal and besan (chickepea) flour roti/flat bread

roughly break the koftas to make wrapping easier

Lamb Kofta with Mint & Coriander Chutney
(adapted from ‘A Little Taste of India’)

1 small onion, roughly chopped
5 cm (2 inch) piece of ginger, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
2 green chillies, seeded and roughly chopped (I used 1 large green chilli)
15 g (1/2 cup) coriander (cilantro) leaves
2 tablespoons thick plain yoghurt (I used greek yoghurt)
500 g (1 lb 2 oz) minced lamb
2 ^1/2 teaspoons ground cumin (I toasted cumin seeds and ground them to a powder)
1 ^1/2 teaspoons ground coriander ( I toasted whole coriander seeds and ground them to a powder)
2 teaspoons garam masala
1/4 teaspoon chilli powder
2 ^1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 – 4 tablespoons oil

1. Blend the onion, ginger, garlic, chopped chilli and the coriander leaves together in a food processor until they form a paste. If you don’t have a food processor, use a mortar and pestle, or finely chop everything together with a knife. Add yoghurt to the paste and mix well.
2. Put the lamb in a bowl, add the paste and mix by hand, kneading the ingredients into the meat until thoroughly combined. Add all the spices, and the salt and pepper, and mix again to distribute evenly. Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours to allow the flavours to develop and also to make the mixture firmer and therefore easier to handle.
3. Wet your hands and roll small handfuls (about a heaped tablespoon) of the mince mixture into small balls (wetting hands prevents the mixture from sticking to your hands). You should have about 30-40 meatballs (I rolled mine slightly larger)
4. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large, heavy-based frying pan. When hot, but not smoking, add 10 meatballs in a single layer. Brown on all sides by gently shaking the pan for 2 – 3 minutes. Don’t be tempted to turn them over with a spoon or they may break up. Test a kofta by breaking it open. If it is cooked through, there should be no pink meat inside. If the meat is still pink, cook for another minute or two. Remove and drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining meatballs. Mint and coriander chutney is the perfect accompaniment but other chutneys are also suitable.

Mint and Coriander Chutney
(adapted from ‘A Little Taste of India’)

30 g (1 ^1/2 cups) mint leaves
30 g (1 ^1/2 cups) coriander (cilantro) leaves
1 green chilli (small)
1 tablespoon tamarind puree
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 ^1/2 teaspoons sugar
3 tablespoons thick plain yoghurt ( greek yoghurt is perfect )

1. Wash the mint and coriander leaves. Discard any tough stalks but keep the young soft ones for flavour.
2. Blend all the ingredients together in a blender or food processor, or chop everything finely and pound it together in a mortar and pestle.
3. Taste the chutney and add more salt if necessary.

Note: If you want a creamier, milder chutney, stir in the yoghurt ( instead of blending it with the other ingredients)

Wholemeal and Besan (Chickpea) Flour Roti

140 g wholemeal flour
60 g plain flour
50 g besan (Chickpea) flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoons chilli powder
2 teaspoons oil
125 ml lukewarm/tepid water

1. Sift the flours, salt and chilli powder into a bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the oil and water and mix to form a soft pliable dough. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes. Place in an oiled bowl; cover and allow to rest for 30 minutes.
2. Divide the dough into 4 – 5 balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each dough ball evenly to a circle about 1 – 2 mm thick. Cover with a cloth to prevent dough from drying out.
3. Heat a non-stick frying pan until hot, cook one roti at a time. Cook each side for 1 minute; turn and cook for a further 1 – 2 minutes (you can press lightly with a tea-towel. It will puff up slightly).  Cook until you see a smattering of brown patches on the roti.
4. Remove the roti and keep warm, wrapped in aluminium foil while you cook the remaining rotis.
5. Serve warm with a smear or ghee or butter.

©2012  foodsze. All Rights Reserved.

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Warm Ginger Sticky Date Pudding with Butterscotch Sauce, garnished with chopped pistachios

Warm and luscious butterscotch-sauce soaked sticky date pudding; the only consolation for the misery I’ve been feeling (and still do) for the past 2 days. Something I did must have triggered an old neck injury. I can neither look up or down without wincing and turning my head to the left is well, an absolute PAIN IN THE NECK! I’m just resting up now but any more of this pain and it’s a definite trip to the physio.

Neck pain aside, this is a simple but very delicious rendition of Sticky Date Pudding from the pages of ‘COOK’ by Australian Women’s Weekly. However, I did modify the method i.e. creaming the butter and sugar then eggs prior to folding in the date mixture as opposed to the all-in-mixing method of the recipe. I also added a few personal touches like a spoonful of grated ginger to give it a spicy kick, added vanilla extract and a bit more sweetness to the butterscotch sauce and baked it in a 6-cup jumbo muffin pan over a water bath so it’s got that steam-bake action in the oven (for added moistness). The recipe actually mentions baking it in a  20 cm round cake pan; you can do that and cut the cake into slices before drizzling on the butterscotch sauce or you could use dariole moulds for individual puddings (which was what I was aiming for except I don’t own dariole moulds, hence the giant muffin pan). A pinch of salt enhances the butterscotch sauce. This decadent hot dessert is best enjoyed with generous lashings of caramel sauce oozing down and through the recesses of the warm pudding. Simply gorgeous!

Sticky date pudding drizzled with cold (thickened) butterscotch sauce, which eventually soaks through the hot pudding

Sticky Date Pudding with Butterscotch Sauce
(recipe adapted from ‘Cook’: Australian Women’s Weekly. Grated ginger, salt and vanilla extract were personal touches to the recipe and method modified from all-in-mixing to creaming method)

1 ^1/4 cups (275 g) seeded dried dates
1 ^1/4 cups (310 ml) boiling water
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
50 g butter, chopped and softened
1/2 cup (110 g) firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 cup (150 g) self-raising flour

optional
2 cm piece ginger, finely grated

Butterscotch Sauce

3/4 cup (165 g) firmly packed brown sugar (See Note)
300 ml cream (I used thickened cream)
80 g butter
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to moderate (180^oC/160^oC fan-forced). Grease a deep 20 cm-round cake pan; line base with baking paper OR if using, grease a 6 cup jumbo-sized muffin pan.
2. Combine dates and the boiling water  in a food processor. Stir in bicarbonate of soda; cover with lid, stand 5 minutes; roughly process the date mixture.
3. With electric beaters, cream the softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy; add in the eggs, one at a time and beat well after each addition. Fold in the date mixture, grated ginger and flour until well combined.
4. If using the 20 cm round cake pan, pour in the batter then set the cake pan into a larger pan or roasting tray; fill with hot water to reach halfway up the sides of the 20 cm cake pan and bake uncovered in preheated oven for about 1 hour or until skewer inserted comes out clean.
5. If using the 6 cup jumbo muffin pan, divide the batter into each well-greased muffin cup; place into a larger pan or roasting tray; fill with hot water to reach halfway up the sides of the muffin pan. Grease a sheet of aluminium foil and cover the muffin pan loosely (greased-side against the puddings). Bake in pre-heated oven for 45 minutes or until skewer inserted comes out clean.
6. Make the butterscotch sauce; stir the brown sugar, butter, cream and vanilla extract in a small saucepan over low heat until sauce is smooth and thickened slightly. Add in the pinch of salt (or to taste)
7. To serve, stand the 20 cm cake for 10 minutes; turn onto serving plate. Serve warm with butterscotch sauce.
8. If using the jumbo sized muffin pan, let the puddings cool for about 30 minutes before unmoulding (as hot puddings are fragile and will fall apart if you unmould it immediately). To unmould, run a small knife around the muffin cups then overturn them gently onto a baking tray. To serve, place an individual pudding onto a microwave-safe plate; drizzle on a generous amount of butterscotch sauce and microwave on high for about 20 seconds.

Note:

• I added 80 g more brown sugar for a richer, sweeter sauce bringing the total sugar amount in the sauce to 245 g. Adjust sweetness to your liking. 

devoured with pleasure

©2012  foodsze. All Rights Reserved.

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Melbourne’s more than chilly weather off late makes me crave for soup. Hot, heart-warming nourishing soup! I think I’m the hibernating kind when temperatures plummet to brrrrrrrfreezing cold (for me at least); my appetite is unusually suppressed during the winter season. It’s the perfect time for soups, stews, roasts, carbs, lots of warm bread and puddings but all I want to do is hibernate (tsk tsk tsk..such a bear). You see, where possible, J and I try to conserve energy and keep tabs on our power usage and yes the bill, hence we rarely turn on the heater (unless my fingers and toes are on the verge of falling off) so having to pile on jackets, scarves and a thick pillow-soft robe means I’m in some state of stupor and all I want to do is count the ZZZZZzzzzs.

White Radish, Coriander from the garden and Red Dates

The heavy pots and casserole dishes will reemerge from their cabinet hideout and soon our home kitchen will be filled with wafts of french onion soup, spicy pumpkin, creamy broccoli and cauliflower soups, sweat-inducing seafood tom yum, tom kha gai (broth of chicken, galangal, lemongrass and coconut milk) and plenty more. That temptress Sticky Date Pudding is definitely singing her siren song and messing with my head right now; gorgeous caramelly dates in a warm cake cocoon drenched in silky lick-your-spoon-clean butterscotch sauce <earth to foodsze earth foodsze..hello..pork rib soup? remember? knock knock>

White Radish

Oh yes, back to my pork rib and white radish soup, this chinese-style soup has a clean flavour where maximum sweetness and flavour comes just from the pork ribs, a handful of red dates, white radish and coriander roots. Seasoning is minimal with fish sauce instead of salt and white pepper to taste. It is dead easy and I’ve simmered mine for 2 hours on the stove but this can be easily thrown together in a slow-cooker before you head to work and the soup’s ready and waiting when you get home. Ok. let’s get rolling; this mama only has sexy sticky date pudding on her mind right now! Whatever happened to all the nonsense up the top about suppressed appetite? Well, when sticky date pudding’s involved, resistance is futile. Stay tuned!

Pork Ribs & White Radish Soup

900 g meaty pork ribs
1 large white radish (mine was about 700g), cut into batons or rough chunks
120 g red dates
4 coriander roots & stems, washed clean (keep the leaves for garnishing)
3 litres water
3 tablespoons fish sauce
white pepper to taste
salt, to taste

1. In a pot, cover pork ribs in cold water then bring to the boil; boil for 5 minutes to remove the scum that surfaces; rinse out the pork ribs with cold water then return this to the clean, washed pot.
2. Add the 3 litres of water, red dates, coriander roots and stems to the pork ribs; bring to the boil then simmer for 1 hour.
3. Add in the white radish batons/chunks and fish sauce and continue simmering for another 1 hour until meat is very tender.
4. Season with white pepper and salt to taste; garnish with coriander leaves.

Note:
If using a slow-cooker, complete step 1 i.e. remove the grey-ish pork scum then chuck all ingredients in the slow-cooker and hit the ON button    

~Slurp~ 

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It looks deceptively like cheesecake but it’s not!

Surprise, wide-eyed wonder and best of all daggy open-mouth looks were all the reactions I expected when I unleashed this dessert upon my unsuspecting cousins; great entertainment for me! And how could it not be when popping candy’s featured as the hidden surprise! Revisiting Heston Blumenthal’s Popping Candy Cake recipe but leaving out the chocolate mousse and glaze components, I topped that lovely base of toasted hazelnuts, melted chocolate and the featured ‘pop rocks’ with a titillating French Earl Grey tea infused bavarois and an intense orange marmalade gel layer to cut back, NO! more like complement some of that floral creamy goodness. And the rest, as they say is history! This is a no holds barred dessert enjoyment extravaganza.

There was no doubt in my mind that the french earl grey tea infusion would work but what to top it with besides chocolate got me thinking; I wanted something to offset all that cold set cream. And since classic earl grey is composed of citrusy bergamot orange and I spied a jar of home-made marmalade in the fridge, I decided to go with the citrus theme and turn the marmalade into a gel layer. Orange juice just wouldn’t cut it as it doesn’t have the same intensity of juice, skin and pith reduction (not sure if reconstituted orange juice would work..seems like a possible shortcut) but the combination worked and it got my pulse afluttering. I made a batch of orange marmalade several months back as inspired by A Table For Two‘s Mandarin Marmalade recipe but if boiling and simmering jam isn’t your cup of tea, you could just get a jar of good quality marmalade from your supermarket, grocer or farmers market. As my jam was pretty thick and set, I thinned down and simmered it with lemon and orange juice (for more zing!) which is then set with gelatine leaves.

Boing Boing Boing!!! I’m definitely making this again and would probably include a macaron or dacquiose layer next time!! Wooohoooo!

  Cross section of the cake

Earl Grey Bavarois and Popping Candy Surprise
(You will need an 8 inch cake ring)

Popping Candy Base
(adapted from Heston Bluementhal’s Popping Candy Cake recipe – the following amounts have been doubled from the original recipe to fit an 8-inch cake ring)

170 g whole hazelnuts
  80 g milk chocolate (I used good quality 70 % dark chocolate)
     4 tsp mixed spice (I used ginger spice)
200 g popping candy (from any local sweet shop or food ingredient shop)

Earl Grey Bavarois 
300 ml   full cream milk
  2 tbsp   French Earl Grey loose-leaf tea
       3        egg yolks
      45 g   caster sugar (for the milk)
      45 g   caster sugar (for the egg yolks)
       4        gelatine leaves, gold strength
300 ml   thickened cream (35% fat)

Marmalade Gel

130 g orange marmalade (130 g net after passing marmalade through a sieve to get a fine puree)
10 ml fresh lemon juice
60 ml fresh orange juice ( 1 small orange)
2 ^1/2 gelatine leaves, gold strength
(Note: In total, the strained marmalade + juice = 200 ml) 

1. Place an 8 inch ring mould on a serving plate and line the sides evenly with acetate sheets.
2. To make the base, preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F/Gas Mark 4 and roast the hazelnuts for about 10 minutes until lightly coloured. Blend to a paste in a food processor, then set aside. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or a basin/bowl sitting atop a saucepan/pot of simmering water – take care that the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water; Stir the mixed-spice and popping candy into the melted chocolate. Next, fold in the hazelnut paste. Gently press in the base mixture to a depth of about 1cm (Make sure it is compact and flush against the sides of the lined tin). Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until hard.
To make the bavarois, bring the milk,  45 g sugar and tea leaves to just boiling; turn off heat and let stand (to infuse) for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, using a balloon whisk, blend the egg yolks and 45 g remaining sugar thoroughly in a bowl.
Soften gelatine leaves in cold water
Bring the infused milk to just boiling then immediately pour onto egg yolk mixture; Blend well. Strain the mixture back into the pot (make sure there are no loose tea leaves) and heat gently; all the while stirring continuously until the mixture is cooked and coats the back of a wooden spoon (about 82^oC). Immediately take the pot off the heat (you don’t want to overcook the custard – it will split); Squeeze out excess water from the softened gelatine leaves and stir this through the custard to melt. Cool custard to room temperature.
Whip the cream to soft whip point (soft peaks)
When the custard mixture has cooled, fold through the softly whipped cream; pour onto the hardened popping candy base and chill in the refrigerator until set.
To make the marmalade gel, combine the strained marmalade, lemon and orange juice in a saucepan. Bring to the boil; stirring until smooth.
Soften the gelatine leaves in cold water; squeeze out excess liquid and stir through the hot marmalade liquid  to melt ; pour this on top of the set bavarois and chill in refrigerator until set.
You can leave it plain or pipe on some decorative patterns using melted chocolate.
To serve, remove the cake ring and gently peel away the acetate sheets; Use a hot knife to slice the cake (dip the knife in hot water then wipe off excess liquid with paper towel before cutting each slice)
Enjoy with mouth wide-opened for maximum popping volume!

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Chocolate Angry Bird (seemingly guarding his precious egg) wants to wish you all a  Happy Easter and Anzac Day long weekend! Made with 100% natural vanilla dark and white couverture chocolate and powdered food colours for the Angry Bird chocolate plaques,  this creation stands at approximately 22.5 cm tall and weighs 900 grams.

I seem to be suffering the worst case of writer’s block right now so let me just say it was incredibly fun melting, tempering and painting my very first Chocolate Egg and it tasted Weeeeeeeeee-licious!!

Happy Easter everyone! Enjoy the photos!

The Dark Chocolate half with the green pig from ‘Angry Birds’

My collection so far..have yet to crochet the Black and Green angry birds

J chomping on the Chocolate Angry Bird

Poor Piggy!

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I love the simplicity of this chicken dish. Aunty Jane used to bake us turmeric chicken marylands and I remember how I’d tuck in with relish; it will always be just one maryland per person so there’s no room for greed! As a plus, I think this dish is pretty healthy too and with just a few ingredients and 20 minutes cooking time,  you’ll be licking your fingers clean in no time. For my quick grilled version, I’ve chopped up chicken thigh fillets into chunks then rubbed in turmeric powder, crushed garlic, soy sauce, a good splash of extra virgin olive oil and tossed in fresh curry leaves that impart a slightly peppery, citrusy, definitely curry-ish aroma to the dish. Wonderful!

Oven-Grilled Turmeric Chicken

600 g chicken thigh fillets, roughly cut into chunks 
2 heap teaspoons turmeric powder
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon raw sugar
dash of white pepper
good splash of extra virgin olive oil (about 1 tablespoon)
2 stems of curry leaves (roughly 20 leaves removed from stem)

1. Pre-heat oven to 220^oC. Set to grill.
2. Combine all ingredients. (If time permits, leave chicken to marinate for 1 hour)
3. Line a baking tray with aluminium foil and lightly brush with a little oil; place chicken chunks and curry leaves in one layer then grill for 20 minutes or until cooked through.
4. Serve with rice or bread/roti to soak up the cooked juices or serve simply with a side of steamed vegetables.

See, easy peasy – short and sweet!

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Easter’s just a few days away; a good excuse to whip up some hot cross buns and fill the house with the scent of warm spices and freshly baked bread! I have been feeling rather despondent lately and no sweets, desserts, entertainment or even ferocious crocheting could snap me out of this blue fog. No major concerns, no dramas; in fact I’m in a good place at the moment. April has certainly kept me occupied with birthday cakes, ‘New Baby’ cupcakes for the coming week and loads of crocheting projects that I hope to turn into a moolah-making venture, albeit small, it should be fun!  Yet, here I am feeling down in the dumps; Bah! Must be the shorter days and longer, colder nights <shrugs shoulders>

Alright, time to stop being a sourpuss. I tried to channel all that emo-ness into the upcoming Easter festivities. While I don’t exactly celebrate it, other than the usual pig-out sessions with whoever’s not on a long-weekend getaway, this is a good excuse to get creative in the kitchen. So I’ve decided to load up my hot cross buns with rum-soaked sultanas, peel, dark chocolate chips and crosses made from a flour and hazelnut paste. Buns turned out really soft and scrumptious indeed especially when consumed warm and slathered with butter!

Had a play with egg-dyeing as well; looked up some tips from Martha Stewart.com. Mine were simply dyed with food colouring using the boiled method; hardboiling the eggs in a simmering solution of water, colour and vinegar. I tried using elastic bands, fronds and sprigs of herbs from my garden for pretty imprints but I suppose I lacked the patience and finesse to produce more intricate results. Still love the colours though! Can’t wait to experiment further with this craft especially blowing the eggs out of their shells then colouring, painting, stencilling  or applying decoupage on them; I could see myself going nuts!

Drying out the dyed hard boiled eggs in the oven

Magic Eggs?

Alien Purple Egg?
 

 Blue egg with very faint carrot-leaf imprint

 Dinosaur Egg?

Well better luck with the eggs next time. Tomorrow I’ll be attempting giant chocolate eggs! It will be one big happy mess in my kitchen! And hopefully, those chocolate endorphins will help kick the blues in the butt!

Fruit and Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns

A)  14 g dried yeast
       50 g caster sugar
       375 ml warm milk (body/blood temperature 37^oC)

B)  600 g plain flour
      1 teaspoon mixed spice
      1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

C)  60 g butter, cut into small cubes
      1 egg

D)  70 g sultanas, rinsed with water then soaked with 2 tablespoons rum
      60 g dark chocolate chips

Flour & Hazelnut Paste

35 g plain flour
40 ml water
20 g hazelnut meal
30 g brown sugar
20 g butter
25 ml frangelico (hazelnut liqueur)
20 ml water (extra)

Bun Glaze

2 tablespoons caster sugar
2 tablespoons water
zest of one lemon

1. Combine (A) in a small bowl; cover with cling-wrap and stand in warm place for about 10 minutes or until mixture is frothy.
2. Sift (B) into a mixing bowl; pour in the yeast mixture, (C) egg and butter and with a dough hook, set to knead on medium speed for 6 minutes or until dough is elastic. Alternatively, knead with hands until smooth and elastic. Add (D) and knead well into the dough; cover the bowl with cling wrap and leave to proof in a warm area (35^oC warm oven would be ideal) until dough has doubled in size. (Mine took 35 minutes)
3. Grease a 10 inch square pan or a swiss roll tray.
4. Punch/Knock back the dough then turn out onto a lightly floured surface; divide the dough into 16 equal sized portions then knead into balls. Place buns on greased tray, cover loosely with cling wrap then let them proof  for another 15 – 20 minutes or until dough has doubled in size.
5. While the buns are proofing, make the flour and hazelnut paste; bring the butter, brown sugar and water to the boil; stir in the flour and hazelnut meal and stir the mixture until you get a thick paste that leaves the sides of the pan (cook for about 1 minute over small to medium heat). Transfer this paste to a bowl. With electric beaters or a whisk, mix in the frangelico and extra water a little at a time and incorporate well with the flour paste. Spoon this into a piping bag fitted with a small plain tube and when ready, pipe crosses on top of the buns.
6. Pre-heat oven to 220^oC (200^oC for fan-forced)
7. Bake buns for 20 minutes; meanwhile make the bun glaze by bringing all glaze ingredients to the boil (until sugar dissolves). When ready, immediately brush warm glaze on hot buns. Leave to cool on a wire rack.
8. Serve warm with butter. 

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Bite-size savoury pumpkin cakes

Aunty No. 2 from my dad’s side of the family has bestowed many slabs of this tasty treat to us when we were growing up and it remains a personal favourite snack of mine. Much like the white radish cakes served at yum cha establishments, this savoury pumpkin cake is made with rice flour and a whole bunch of aromatics; loads of garlic, dried shrimp, chinese sausage (lap cheong) and five spice powder so it does pack a flavour punch! The appearance however, is a little unremarkable especially when left in it’s steamed form but this is rectified by slicing the starchy slab into squares and then pan-frying them to that golden hue. (Pumpkin in chinese translates to Golden Gourd/Melon/Fruit). Pan-frying also adds a slight crisp to its starchy texture. This is considered a snack but it does fill you up pretty quickly and I could definitely scoff a few down with some very fine  Tie Guan Yin chinese tea. Mmmmmm….

Making this recently was extra special because the pumpkin, chillies and spring onions were from our garden so it was very rewarding to eat from our own harvest. We are slowly going through our autumn stash of pumpkins (harvested a 5.4 kg beauty plus 19 misshapen butternut pumpkins that leave a lot to the imagination ) Mom was obviously thrilled at our pumpkins and took back (overseas) five as souvenirs!

Well if you’re planning on making this, don’t be deceived by the sticky batter (It does look quite yuck) but once steamed and left to cool and set then pan-fried, it is undeniably irresistable.

My favourite childhood snack!

Savoury Pumpkin Cake

650 g pumpkin flesh, cut into rough 5 cm chunks
250 g rice flour
1 tbsp Green/Mung Bean Flour
700 ml water
2 teaspoons five-spice powder
2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon white pepper
 
8  cloves garlic, minced
90 g/3 sticks of lap cheong/ chinese sausage, minced
100 g dried shrimp, finely minced
2 long red chillies, deseeded and chopped
handful of spring onions, finely chopped
3 tablespoons oil

extra  cooking oil for pan-frying the sliced pumpkin cakes

1. Mix the flours, five spice powder, salt and pepper in a large bowl.
2. Steam the pumpkin chunks until soft (about 20 minutes); then mash while still warm; add this to the flour mixture then stir in the water to form a batter.
3. Heat up the oil then sauté the dried shrimps until fragrant; add the minced garlic and continue cooking for about 1 minute or until fragrant; add the minced lap cheong/chinese sausage, chillies and stir-fry this for about 2 minutes (until the oils are released from the sausage). Lastly, add in the spring onions.
4. Lower heat and add the pumpkin and flour mixture. Stir until batter is well mix ( It will look quite lumpy and sticky at this stage but this is ok.. ) Taste and adjust seasoning (you may add a little more salt if you wish)
5. Pour the batter into a greased 25 cm (10 inch) square tray. Smooth the surface with the back of a lightly oiled spoon.
6. Steam covered for 40 minutes; remove from heat; mixture will still be soft so wait for the pumpkin cake slab to completely cool down before cutting into smaller squares or cubes.
7. To serve, heat up some oil in a wok/frying-pan then fry the pumpkin cake slices until all sides are crisp and golden brown. Serve immediately with chilli sauce.

larger squares!

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Believe it or not, this is my first successful chinese egg tart attempt! I would say it’s been eight years since I made my very first egg tart, with less than exciting results; burnt blistered top, overly sweet yada yada which I could sneakily disguise as Portugese egg tarts (brulee style) except that it’s not the correct pastry <hehe> But thanks to Wendy of Table For 2 or More,  any qualms I have regarding the difficulty level of this treat can now be put to rest. It was pretty straightforward. I have polished many egg tarts in my lifetime; from bakeries to restaurants to dim sum parlours in Hong Kong, on the street etc. Which chinese egg tart do you prefer? The short crust pastry version (pictured above) or dim sum style with the intricate layers of flaky puff pastry? I love both but for the flaky version, it has to be done really really well; it must be petite and not cloyingly greasy as lard is used instead of butter.

Gimme gimme gimme!!

Wendy’s recipe produces a really light and delicate texture for both egg custard and buttery crumbly pastry. The pastry does require a little bit of work and finesse as it is so short that it just wants to crumble but the mouth-feel is excellent! I’ve made very minor variations to the recipe; a little salt here, vanilla essence here, icing sugar etc. and have added some notes on how to dislodge the very fragile tarts from the tins. It is so fragile that Wendy recommended eating this with a spoon! I actually couldn’t wait to bake them so I’ve fast-tracked the process by freezing the pastry cases hard for 30 minutes instead of the 2 hour to overnight chilling in the refrigerator <grin….I couldn’t wait>. Any notes or additions on my part are highlighted in blue.

Egg Tarts

Egg Tart recipe sourced from Wendy of Table for 2 or More

Pastry
250g plain flour
2 tbsp castor sugar (I used Icing Sugar)
1 egg yolk
150g cold unsalted butter, cubed (I left this to soften before creaming)
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1. Cream the butter with the egg yolk and sugar.
2. Add in flour. Mix well. (If the dough is sticky for you , well maybe your yolks are larger than mine, add in extra flour by the teaspoon until it no longer feels sticky, but got a slight flour feel to it, but not too much though, as it will toughen the crust. the borderline of stickiness and dry feel is very thin.. so, add extra flour with caution)
3. Roll out pastry in between two sheets of plastic (I used silicon baking paper) into thickness of about 4mm. Stamp out 9–10cm circles of pastry with a pastry cutter.
4. Lightly press the pastry circles into foil tart cases. (I used aluminium tart tins.) Make sure no holes or pastry breakage is visible as the custard might leak and make dislodging difficult.
   Refrigerate the lined foil cases/tart tins for 2 hours/ overnight. (I wanted to fast track this so I froze them till solid for 30 minutes)  
5. Melt the sugar in hot water, add milk, salt, vanilla essence. Beat all the eggs lightly and mix in all together. (I chilled this for 30 minutes before using) 
6. Sieve egg mixture and pour into the cold tart crust.
7. Bake at 180^oC for 25 minutes. (I placed all my tarts on a baking tray and it took 23 minutes to cook as I have a very hot oven. The tarts are ready when the center is still slightly wobbly. Do not overbake! The custard will continue to set when it cools)
8. Let cool for at least 40 minutes to an hour (It’s cold now in Melbourne so mine cooled really fast). To dislodge the tarts, quickly and carefully overturn the tart flush onto a flat plate. Jiggle the tart tins lightly or with the tip of a knife, just encourage the pastry out of the tin. Carefully overturn tarts onto paper cases. If the tart refuses to come out, then best to eat it out of the tin with a spoon since the custard has leaked and stuck the pastry to the tin. 

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Whenever J & I opt for a Shanghainese meal out, we always order a serve of ‘Wor Tip’ otherwise also known as ’Pan/Pot Stickers’. The name comes from the method in which they are cooked; pan-frying and steaming only one side of the dumplings as if they were stuck  to the pan. The result is a crisp-on-one-side-tender-on-the-other parcel enveloping a juicy and meaty filling. I believe the key to a great tasting dumpling is ginger juice; lots of it! YEAH! You can pretty much add anything to your mince pork mixture; traditionally, shredded chinese cabbage is added to the mix but I’ve always loved the flavour of chives so I’ve chucked in a whole bunch of this herb to my meat filling together with grated carrot and the very important grated young ginger and its juice. I ‘gasak-ed’ 10 of these tempting morsels for lunch today (gasak = malay slang denoting ‘devoured’ but in a more gluttonous manner) <grins shamelessly> It was by far the best tasting dumplings I’ve ever made; if I may say so myself. Enjoy!

Pot-Sticker Dumplings/ Shanghai Pan-fried Dumplings
method inspired from Pot-Sticker Dumplings, Taste.com.au
makes about 45 dumplings
serves 5 – 6  

Ingredients

1.0 kg pork mince
80 g young ginger
80 g carrot (1 small to medium sized carrot)
90 g chives, (one bunch)
500 g packet of dumpling wrappers (the white round ones)
oil for frying
hot water (for steaming)

Seasoning
60 ml/3 tbsp soy sauce
10 ml/2 tsp sesame oil
30 ml/ 1 1/2  tbsp shao hsing rice wine
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
2 tsp sugar

Dipping Sauce
ginger, fine julienne
Chinese black rice vinegar
optional – sliced red chillies

Method

1. Finely grate the ginger; squeeze out the juice into a separate bowl and set this aside. Finely grate the carrot; chop the chives and add these to the grated ginger.
2. Combine the pork mince with the grated vegetables, ginger juice and seasoning. With gloved hands, knead all ingredients until well-mixed. Set aside this meat filling for at least 30 minutes.
3. Fill a small bowl with water. Place 1 heap teaspoon (20 g) of meat filling in the center of the dumpling wrapper. Dip the tip of your index finger into  the water; then wet the inner edges of the wrapper. Fold wrapper in half, then pleat or press to seal. Place dumpling on a dry plate dusted lightly with corn flour to prevent sticking. Repeat with remaining dumpling wrappers. See Note
4. Heat about 1 tablespoon of oil in a non-stick frying pan; when hot add 10 – 12 dumplings, pleated side-up; reduce heat to medium flame. Fry for 1 – 2 minutes or until brown underneath. Do not flip the dumplings.
5. With a lid ready, carefully pour 1/2 cup boiling water into the frying pan (watch out for splatters!). Steam half-covered for 4- 5 minutes until all water has evaporated and dumplings start to fry again. They are ready as soon as the bottom regains that crispiness  (takes about 1 minute from the time all water has evaporated)
6. Serve immediately with a side of grated young ginger steeped in black rice vinegar. Add sliced red chillies if you like it hot! Alternatively, enjoy with a touch of chilli oil.

Note
(Adapted from taste.com.au)

1. I prefer to only make and cook the dumplings in small batches (10 per batch) or close to serving time so they remain piping hot. If you haven’t got the time to do this, you may make the dumplings ahead of serving time (up to 6 hours), placed them on a tray lightly dusted with cornflour to prevent sticking. Cover in cling-wrap, refrigerate and fry them later.
2. You may also keep the fried dumplings warm (while you fry the next few batches) by wrapping them in aluminium foil and placing them in a 150^oC pre-heated oven.
3. Leftover meat mixture can be fried and enjoyed with noodles.

the grated and chopped vegetables/herbs

pleated dumplings ready to be pan-fried

Pot-Stickers!

one side is crisp and brown, the other – steamed and tender

need to improve on my pleating skills

gave up using chopsticks with my left-hand – too awkward! So have to ‘unchinesely’ use a fork! Nope, I haven’t got a camera stand

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These irresistable salt and pepper coated crispy chunks made the pain of cleaning up after a session of deep-frying worthwhile. Crispy-liciousness got kicked up a notch with golden, translucent deep-fried basil leaves, albeit my leaves were crushed when I tossed them through the fried chicken pieces. Quick and simple, this popular Taiwanese dish makes a very naughty but tasty snack. A balanced salt, pepper and sugar mixture is all it takes to flavour the chicken pieces but you could also include soy sauce, shao hsing rice wine and a tiny amount of chopped ginger to the marinade. A coating of coarse sweet potato flour, available in asian grocery stores, makes the chicken ultra-crispy (hence pop-corn chicken). Coarse sweet potato flour works best for this dish but my sister a.k.a The Frying Queen, suggests that an alternative mixture or cornflour, tapioca starch and rice flour would work as well; especially rice flour for a light crispy result.

To begin with, let’s make a basic salt and pepper mixture. Any leftover can be stored in a glass jar in a cool, dry place. You can use this to season any meat, poultry or fish.

Salt & Pepper Mix

2 tablespoons salt (I used rock salt which I pounded till very fine)
1 1/4 tablespoons sugar
1/2 tablespoon ground white pepper

To get a fine mixture, grind all ingredients with a pestle and mortar or in a spice grinder.

Taiwanese ‘Pop-Corn’ Salt and Pepper Chicken with Crispy Basil Leaves 

2 – 3 chicken thigh fillets (approximately 320 g), cut into 3cm-4cm chunks
1/2 teaspoon salt & pepper mixture
1/2 teaspoon five spice powder
1 teaspoon shao-hsing rice wine
1 teaspoon corn flour
50 g course sweet potato flour (you can also use corn flour but sweet potato flour gives a much crispier result)
1/2 cup basil leaves, washed clean and pat dry with a tea towel
extra salt & pepper mix for tossing & serving

Method

1. Marinate the chicken pieces with the salt and pepper mixture, five spice powder, shao-hsing rice wine and corn flour. Leave to marinate for about 30 minutes
2. Heat oil in a deep-fryer/wok/deep-saucepan to about 180^oC (or insert a WOODEN chopstick into the oil; once it bubbles around the chopstick, the oil is hot and ready for frying)
3. Coat the chicken pieces in the sweet potato flour; brush off excess flour then deep-fry until golden brown; dish out to drain on a paper-towel lined plate and let cool for 2 minutes. Return the chicken pieces into the hot oil and deep-fry for a further 3 minutes (double frying makes the chicken crispier). Drain on paper-towel lined plate.
4. While the oil is still hot, add the basil leaves to deep-fry (have the deep-fryer lid or a cover ready as the addition of basil leaves to the hot oil will cause some splattering). BE CAREFUL with this step. Fry for about 1 minute until crispy then drain well.
5. Toss the fried chicken pieces with 1/2 teaspoon of the extra salt and pepper mix.
6. Serve chicken pieces on a platter; garnish with crispy basil leaves and extra salt and pepper mixture on the side

 Crispy Basil

 scrumptious!

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