35% Off

But it is still one of the most expensive cook book I own I think. I bought it on an impulse having what must had been a rather miserable day. Thai Street Food by David Thompson is full of glossy photos and only after I got it safely tucked in my arms that rainy night that I looked for some confirmation on whether my then, new purchase is an investment or a dud. Many people seem to critise the numerous photographs the book has and how the book has far less recipes than DT's Thai Food book, which those same people swear is a classic and one can't live without.



Of course that rattled me a bit... I was a bit concerned that I made a not so judicious purchase. (note usage of past tense dear friends). Why I like this book is how the recipes are rather looong and requires maaany ingredients, that when I manage to cook something from it I feel so accomplished. Mind you I have only tried 2 recipes from the book. The first one is this jungle curry. Hot like hell, but very more-ish.

Whoopie!

This my new bicycle! It is lovely... and tall! And after some thought I'm going to call it Gargamel. I haven't taken it out for a ride yet... due to the fact that I had only managed to work out how to lift the kickstand after a telephonic conversation with the seller, and that I'm slightly wary that I might fall. I don't think training wheels are available in adult size bike but anyway, I'm going to practice and I can't wait to be so proficient that I can ride it on the streets!! Just like those elegant Copenhagen chic cyclists!

So otherwise, how have you been? Such a wet week! I'm staying indoors under the doona watching Survivor repeat. Again. Here is the recipe for the Opera that I mentioned last week.

L'Opera
(makes about 20 servings)

The cake
6 large egg whites, at room temperature
30 gr granulated sugar
225 gr almond meal
225 gr icing sugar, sifted
6 large eggs
70 gr flour
45 gr unsalted butter, melted and cooled

To make the cake : Preheat the oven to 220°C and position the racks to divide the oven into thirds. Line 2 31x39 cm swiss roll pans with baking paper and brush with melted butter. In a clean dry bowl beat egg whites until they form soft peaks and gradually add the granulated sugar until the peaks are stiff and glossy.
In a different bowl, beat almonds, icing sugar, and eggs on medium until light and voluminous, about 3 minutes. Add the flour and beat on low speed ONLY until it disappears. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the meringue into the almond mixture then fold in the melted butter. Divide the batter between pans and spread evenly. Bake for 5-7 minutes until they are lightly browned and just springy to the touch. Put the pans on a heatproof bench, cover each with a sheet of baking paper, turn the pans over, and unmould. Carefully peel away the paper then turn over and let the cakes cool to room temperature. The cakes can be made up to 1 day ahead, wrapped and kept at room temperature.

The coffee syrup
125 gr water
65 gr sugar
7 gr instant espresso or coffee powder

To make the syrup : Stir the water, sugar and coffee together in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and cool. The syrup can be covered and refrigerated for up to a week.

The coffee buttercream
10 gr instant espresso or coffee powder
15 gr boiling water
100 gr sugar
60 gr water
pulp of 1/4 vanilla bean
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
200 gr unsalted butter, at room temperature

To make the buttercream : Make a coffee extract by dissolving the instant espresso in the boiling water; set aside. Bring the sugar, water and vanilla bean pulp to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring just until the sugar dissolves. Continue to cook without stirring until the syrup reaches 124°C, pull the pan from the heat. While the syrup is heating, putt the egg and yolk in a bowl and beat until pale and foamy.

When the sugar syrup is at temperature, reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly pour in the syrup down the side of the bowl. Don't try to stir the spatters into the eggs if some syrup spin to the sides of the bowl. Raise the speed to medium-high and continue to beat until the eggs are thick, satiny, and at room temperature, about 5 minutes.

Working with a rubber spatula, beat the butter until it is soft and creamy but not oily. With the mixer on medium speed, steadily add the butter in 2 tbsp chunks. When all the butter has been added, raise the speed to high and beat until the buttercream is thickened and satiny. Beat in the coffee extract. Chill the buttercream, stirring frequently until it is firm enough to be spread and stay where it is spread when topped with a layer of cake, about 20 minutes. The buttercream can be packed airtight and refrigerated for 4 days or forzen for 1 month; bring it to room temperature before using, then beat to smooth it.

The ganache
240 gr bitter sweet chocolate, finely chopped
125 gr whole milk
60 gr heavy cream
60 gr unsalted butter, at room temperature

To make the ganache : Put the chocolate in a medium bowl, bring the milk and cream to a full boil, pour it over the chocolate and wait 30 seconds, then stir gently until the ganache is smooth and glossy. Beat the butter until it is smooth and creamy, then stir it into the ganache in 2-3 additions. Refrigerate the ganache, stirring every 5 minutes, until it thickens and is spreadable, about 20 minutes. The ganache can be packed airtight and refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for 1 month; bring to room temperature before using.



To assemble the cake : Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Working with 1 sheet of cake at a time, cut and trim each one so that you have 2 pieces : 1 25cm square and 1 25x12.5 cm rectangle. Place 1 square of cake on the baking sheet and moisten the layer with coffee syrup. Spread about 3/4 of the coffee buttercream evenly over the cake. Top with the 2 rectangular pieces of cake, placing them side by side to form a square and moisten with syrup. Spread the ganache over the surface, top with the last cake layer, and moisten with syrup. Chill the cake in the freezer for about 10 minutes.

Cover the top of the cake with a thin layer of coffee buttercream, to smooth the top and ready it for the glaze-so go easy). Refrigerate the cake for at least 1 hour or for up to 6 hours; it should be cold when you pour over the glaze. Or if you are in a hurry, pop the cake into the freezer for about 20 minutes, then continue.

The chocolate glaze
115 gr unsalted butter
150 gr bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

To glaze the cake : Bring the butter to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove the pan from the heat and clarify the butter by spooning off the top foam and pouring the clear yellow butter into a small bowl; discard the milky residue at the bottom of the pan. Melt the chocolate in a bowl set over simmering water, then stir in the clarified butter.

Lift the chilled cake off the baking paper lined pan and place it on a rack. Put the rack on the baking paper lined pan and pour the glaze over the cake, using a long offset spatula to help smooth it evenly across the top. Slide the cake into the refrigerator to set the glaze and chill the cake; it should be served slightly chilled. At serving time, using a long thin knife that you dip in hot water and wipe dry between each cut, carefully trim a thin slice form the sides of the cake so that the drip of glaze are removed and the layers revealed.

Et voilà! Don't let the different components discourage you, it is really not as hard and complicated as the instructions may seem.

Note :
1. I used hazelnut meal because I had some at home.
2. Next time I wouldn't put all the coffee extract in the buttercream.
3. I forgot to fold in the melted butter in the cake mixture! No harm done though...
4. The chocolate glaze made the cake looked like a pro. Would use this recipe again. The ganache also is nice.



ps. Another photo of my bike. Can't help it, I love it!

Happy Sunday!

What a lovely autumn afternoon in Sydney. Walking around Surry Hills this morning under light sprinkle of rain but now the sun is out. Right now I am watching a Survivor repeat with Figgy sleeping nearby. Sun is streaming in, am lounging around in my pyjama pants. Can't get any more relaxing than this. Well actually, that's the slight problem you see, as to why I would be completely useless in a masterchef challenge. But after watching masterchef I feel so pumped up and so last Sunday after masterchef for example, I decided to make a cake and thought that I would finished in 2 hours so say around half past 10, but in the end I didn't get to sleep until after midnight! So kudos to those 3 who made the black forests on Monday in 1 3/4 hours.

This is the end result. I was going to type up the recipe but it's mighty long,


Might type it up when I got time, anyhow it is from Paris Sweets by Dorie Greenspan a book I borrowed from the library. I'm going to doze off for a little nap, before I hit the kitchen to prepare dinner. Toodle-oo!

Coucou!

Ça va? It's been a while eh? Been busy. And lazy. But the past 2 weeks I made a couple of things I'm quite fond of and proud of so I took the trouble to get the old Mavica out and snapped away. The one below isn't the best one but I think I call this one, the pretty one.



You know how I've managed to make puff pastry, well the croissant recipe I tried comes from the same book. It looks simple and uses the same technique as the puff pastry. After throwing out a batch of dough in the bin because it didn't feel right... as I was of strong character (yeah right) I started another one and this time, I decided to rebel and added more liquid than what the recipe says. I won't type up the recipe by the way... it's kinda long... and I don't think my little blog attract many (if at all) discerning recipe testers.



À bientôt!

Yeast baby

I must admit that I've been slack lately, the resolution to get off internet has failed so far. I even couldn't be bothered to take photos of the pizzas I made on Saturday, because I knew I'd be too lazy to blog about it. They were quite nice, I think but nothing spectacular. I finally made peace with delicatessens and purchased some ham, pancetta and salami for the topping, I even think that I could be friends with pancetta from now on. The P's came over in the afternoon with little Pumpkin. He is such a cutie pie!

It was C who referred to Eustace 'the yeast baby'... anyway then a bit of show (off) and tell ensued as I had taken a photo of my best effort to date with the scoring, thanks to this scoring tutorial.

After the pizza, for dessert I reattempted the creamy chocolate pudding that I had already blogged about. Thanks C for having taken a few quick snaps of my chocolate pudding.


Courtesy of Yecap Photography.

Ps: Figgy was MIA all afternoon. He was hiding upstairs and barely said hi. How rude! Thanks Paceys for a lovely afternoon!

On superfoods

Any food related article catches my eyes but especially whenever I come across an article on detox, anti-aging super foods, super foods for complexion to die for, eat your way to better health, you are what you eat bla bla I pay closer attention... because I'm not exactly a spring chicken anymore, you know. Unfortunately, food I love to eat do not often appear in superfoods list.

So here is the latest list of the Anti-ageing Superfoods according to Times Online. Eat one portion of any of three of these superfoods a day to look 10 years younger! Sacrebleu! It's a must try!!
Cinnamon, dried oregano, turmeric, mustard, blueberries, raspberries or strawberries, pear, grapefruit or plum, cherries, orange or apple, dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), walnut halves, pecan halves, pistachios, lentils, kidney beans, avocado, broccoli, asparagus spears, glass of red wine

In the spirit of healthy eating, I thought I might share a recipe of this salmon bake by Jamie Oliver that I did the other week.



Quick salmon & potato al forno
(delicious magazine, August 2009 p.28)
Serves 4
1 kg chat potatoes
1 large fennel bulb
1/2 bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated
25 gr cold unsalted butter, cut inot small pieces
olive oil
4 x 200 gr salmon fillets with skin, pin-boned
a few sprigs of mint, leaves picked, finely chopped
a small handful of grated parmesan
grated zest of 1 lemon, plus lemon wedges to serve

Preheat oven to 220°C.
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Halve the potatoes lengthwise and trim the fennel bulb, reserving the fronds for garnishing later. Cut the fennel into 8 wedges and add to the boiling water with the potatoes and parboil for 6 minutes.

Drain the vegetables in a colander and leave to steam-dry for a minute and transfer to a large roasting pan and season well with salt and pepper. Sprinkle over half the chopped parsley and all the garlic, dot over with butter and drizzle well with olive oil. Toss everything together in the roasting pan and shake out into one even layer. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes or until golden.

While the vegetables are roasting, prepare the salmon fillets. Pinch the fillets so they plump up and use the length of the knife to score the skin side, about 1 cm deep. Season well both sides with salt and ground black pepper. Stuff the remaining chopped parsley and mint leaves into the scores.

Once the potatoes are nice and golden, take them out of the oven and sprinkle the grated parmesan over them. Give everything a bit of a jiggle and place the salmon on top skin side up. Sprinkle the lemon zest and drizzle with olive oil, then cook for 15 minutes. Sprinkle the reserved fennel fronds to garnish, and serve with lemon wedges.

New Resolutions

Meet Eustace, born the 1st of Jan 2010. Named after one of Bertie Wooster's mischievous twin cousins Claude and Eustace. Would really like to make friends with Bob and Philémon. (Nino II had been sent to retirement home, aka the rubbish bin, before I went on holidays.)

To keep him alive is amongst my new year's resolutions for 2010.
The rest includes:

1. To make my bed every day (if time permits)
2. To reduce sugar intake in general and not to eat sugary things every Wednesday
3. To keep track of my spending
4. To tidy up one corner of the flat every day
5. To spend less time on the internet
6. To re-pot and fertilise the 2 orchid plants at home and make them flourish or at least alive
7. To try out new recipes, same target, i.e. 50. In January I tried a new cheese loaf recipe, and a Jamie Oliver salmon and potato bake that perhaps will feature next time.
8. etc etc (I have so many)

I had no time

Hello to you if you happen to read this, Happy New Year and best wishes!
I had been lured by tumblr in December and completely neglected this blog.

Dear Mr internet inventor, you're a genius, thank you very much for providing me with so much fun and useless knowledge and life without internet would be a torture (for me anyway). But internet has been ruining my sleeping schedule, made me neglect my household chores, and my other projects... and so... for I am all for self-improvement and all that! amongst all my 2010 resolutions, there lurks one consistent message. LESS INTERNET IN 2010. 1-1.5 hours max everday. I don't know how long I'd last... mind you *gulp* I've broken that resolution already, I think, every single day and it's only been a week. So! Starting tomorrow! NO actually, starting next Monday!

1. Less internet, read more
2. Less internet, bake more
3. Less internet, cook more
4. Less internet, clean more
5. Less internet, blog more

...umm I'd need internet to blog though. Such irony.

Anyway... I kind of regret not having posted anything in December... so here are some photos of things I made.


Made the brioche and the ice cream just recently. I attempted to make brioche maybe about three times... the results had been poor. This time I tried a recipe from the Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum. At first I was quite intimidated by the length of the recipe but actually it is very descriptive and gives you expectation of how the dough will turn out so that you won't panic and start adding flour when the dough sticks to your hand like there's no tomorrow. HA! Now I sort of know how to handle the dough I'll re-attempt the recipe in my book by Michel Roux or Hermé. The recipe I used for the vanilla ice-cream this time is by Pierre Hermé, lovely and rich.



These are fail pains aux chocolats.



One from another fail batch *sigh* I'm taking a break from pâte à croissant :(


One word : Delicioso. I loved it! Recipe from Le Grand Livre Marabout de la cuisine facile : 900 recettes.



Made the paste from scratch. It was less yummy than one from Malay Chinese on Hunter street but I'm rather proud of it. Next time I will up the paste! Recipe from the Noodle book by Terry Durrack.


Somethings I made for Christmas dinner with E, as she is a girl who's into low fat things and has aversion towards butter. Crisp skin salmon with snow peas and coriander with thai style dressing, recipe by Bill Granger taken from a Delicious magazine, can't remember which edition.



I like this photo of prawns and cactus.



Some noodle salad, again from Delicious magazine this time by Jill Dupleix. Some tofu and greens for the sides, with nuoc cham.



It looks alright in this photo though honestly this wasn't great. The pavlova went soggy because I assembled it too early.

Otherwise, I roasted a couple of chickens... which turned out quite nice, next time I'll take a photo. I made some passionfruit tartelettes, a pot of asparagus soup, some vegetarian saffron risotto, some peas and zucchini risotto, some pasta salad, some friands, etc. Some fun project I did for 2 weeks was the monday-friday baking frenzy in order to cut down on internet browsing. It was great... I felt so productive! This monday-friday bake will definitely feature in my baking resolution this year. I haven't yet set my baking resolutions but I have some great ideas, so exciting! Best wishes again for you from me and Figo. xx

Note :
1. Sadly I am resigning from the daring kitchen (I've taken off the logo). My heart is just isn't in it anymore... Best wishes Daring Bakers!