Yum! I was attracted to the picture in this blog and really tempted to try out ~
Courtesy of http://allthatsplatters.blogspot.com/2009/04/french-bread.html
3-1/2 cups bread flour
1 packet yeast (2-1/2 teaspoons)
2-1/4 teaspoons salt
1-1/3 cups cold water, plus additional 1/3 cup cold water
Place the flour, yeast and salt in the bowl of the food process. Pulse to mix. Add 1-1/3 cups of water and process until the dough comes together. If the dough doesn't form a ball, add a little of the extra water. Process for about 60 seconds, turn off machine and let dough rest for 5 minutes.Turn on the machine again and rotate the dough about 30 times under the cover, and then remove it to a lightly floured work surface. it should be fairly smooth and quite firm. Let the dough rest for 2 minutes and then knead roughly and vigourously. The final dough should not stick to your hands as you knead (although it will stick if you pinch and hold a piece); it should be smooth and elastic and, when you hold it up between your hands and stretch it down, it should hold together smoothly.Preliminary rise - 40 to 60 minutes at around 75°F(23°C). Place the dough into a clean dry bowl, (do not grease the bowl), cover with plastic wrap, and set in a warm place free from drafts. (Note the French do not grease the bowl because they believe the dough needs a seat to push up from.) This first rise is sufficient when the dough has definitely started to rise and is about 1-1/2 times its original volume.
Deflating:
Turn the dough onto your lightly floured work surface roughly and firmly pat and push it out into a 14-inch (35cm) rectangle. Fold one of the long sides over toward the middle, and the other long side over to cover it, making a 3 layer cushion. Repeat the operation. This important step redistributes the yeast throughout the dough, for a strong second rise. Return the dough smooth side up the bowl; cover with plastic wrap and again set to rise.Final rise in the bowl - about 1 to 1-1/2 hours or longer. The bread should be 2-1/2 to 3 times its original bulk. It is the amount of rise that is important here, not the timing.
To shape:
Cut the dough in half. Set one piece aside and cover with a towel. On a lightly floured work surface pat the dough into a 14-inch rectangle, squaring it up as evenly as you can. Fold the rectangle of dough in half lengthwise and using the heel of your hand, firmly press the edges together where they meet. Seal well. Pound the dough flat. Now repeat - patting the dough out again and folding it over and sealing the edges. Pinch the edges well and Rotate the dough so that the sealed edge in on the bottom. Repeat with second piece of dough.Cover with plastic wrap or loosely with a towel and let rise to more than double again at about 75°f.Place baking stone in oven and preheat oven to 500 F(260C). Slash three long cuts into the loaves and place on the hot stone. Immediately toss a number of ice cubes on to the bottom on the oven to create steam. Bake until bread is golden and has an interior temp of 200°F(93C). Takes about 20 - 30 minutes.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Pizza Sauce
I was attracted to the picture, how wonderful is the color of this Pizza sauce. It has an orangy red color, looks thick and viscous,
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup celery, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 small bay leaf
1 teaspoon fennel seed
Directions
1In a large skillet, melt butter with the oil. Add the onion, celery and garlic and saute until soft and transparent.
2Add tomato sauce and tomato paste and stir until smooth.
3Add remaining ingredients and bring to slow simmer.
4Simmer for 30-60 minutes (or not at all depending on your taste and time frame).
5Remove the bay leaf and spread the sauce on your prepared pizza dough.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup celery, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 small bay leaf
1 teaspoon fennel seed
Directions
1In a large skillet, melt butter with the oil. Add the onion, celery and garlic and saute until soft and transparent.
2Add tomato sauce and tomato paste and stir until smooth.
3Add remaining ingredients and bring to slow simmer.
4Simmer for 30-60 minutes (or not at all depending on your taste and time frame).
5Remove the bay leaf and spread the sauce on your prepared pizza dough.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Business: Thinking of opening a restaurant of your own?
I am currently doing some research online, regarding cooking tips, recipes, other's cooking stories and so on.
Sure do - make cooking my career one of these days have come across my mind. But elderly always tell me how difficult it is to own a business to yourself, being your own boss is not really an easy thing. I have never experience that, nor see an actual one around me (I do not have any family members or relatives that opens a restaurant) to tell me how challenging can this industry be. Sure, people can constantly tell me 'it's hard, it's not as easy as hosting a dinner party,' but without actually see one, or experience one, is like telling a blind person 'colours are beautiful', that is what I feel now. It looks fun, challenging, satisfying, and looks a whole lot like those cooking games I use to play when I was younger.
The following article that I came across in Chow.com is a review of what happens to others whom I have the same idea with. I have to start putting this in my mind that; to be realistic and rational, besides being able to cook, business strategies are important to in order to keep the restaurant open, since the purpose of opening a restaurant is to earn some money and sustain the restaurant, either to get you rich or just simply want to share great food with people.
Important facts learn here:
Courtesy of http://www.chow.com/stories/10902
Sure do - make cooking my career one of these days have come across my mind. But elderly always tell me how difficult it is to own a business to yourself, being your own boss is not really an easy thing. I have never experience that, nor see an actual one around me (I do not have any family members or relatives that opens a restaurant) to tell me how challenging can this industry be. Sure, people can constantly tell me 'it's hard, it's not as easy as hosting a dinner party,' but without actually see one, or experience one, is like telling a blind person 'colours are beautiful', that is what I feel now. It looks fun, challenging, satisfying, and looks a whole lot like those cooking games I use to play when I was younger.
The following article that I came across in Chow.com is a review of what happens to others whom I have the same idea with. I have to start putting this in my mind that; to be realistic and rational, besides being able to cook, business strategies are important to in order to keep the restaurant open, since the purpose of opening a restaurant is to earn some money and sustain the restaurant, either to get you rich or just simply want to share great food with people.
Important facts learn here:
Courtesy of http://www.chow.com/stories/10902
- “Owner’s Syndrome” is described by Vivian Olkin, 'It’s the destructive urge on the part of someone who has been successful in a non-food-related field to sink his or her hard-earned cash into a bound-to-fail restaurant venture.'
- "three-year failure rate for small businesses has been reported at as high as 60 percent." I'm not sure how true is this, and where is the survey source comes from, but it's a good precaution, and something to ponder. You really need to do some homework before starting the real thing
- "spending most of her small-business loans on equipment and inventory—dishware, refrigerators, a security system, a stage, insurance—she didn’t have enough capital to keep the restaurant open long enough to build up steady business, even after pressing her mother, husband, son, and uncle into service. The neighborhood economy, which she’d hoped was on the rise, slumped further; people just didn’t seem to be going out to eat." yup. In weekdays I hardly see people walk in to restaurants to eat during brunch time, lunch time, tea time, and it looks slightly better during dinner time (but not full house even in franchise restaurants). Think about the rent of the shop, bills, average in a day if only dinner time looks a little more promising, (assuming 7pm - 9pm full house, out of a day rented 24 hours only 2 hours are 'business hour', it's only around 8% efficient)
- "Besides understanding things like cost accounting and double-entry bookkeeping, says food marketing expert Stephen Hall, author of From Kitchen to Market: Selling Your Gourmet Food Specialty, you should consider whether you really have the personal characteristics necessary to help a business succeed: an entrepreneurial flair (you like to cook—do you like to write press releases to send to every paper in a 500-mile radius?), a high tolerance for rejection, and an unending willingness to bend to consumer tastes, even if that means changing the recipe for Auntie Eleanor’s caramels." So, is not just all about cooking, but other thing like how to attract customers into the restaurants, how to advertise the restaurant, how to manage the money flow. That, I am clueless.
- "If you grew up female in America, until the 1980s you were probably required to take a home-ec class that taught you how to cook so you’d have “something to fall back on.” But Idov, Anderson, and others can attest that when it comes to making food for a living, you’ll need something else to fall back on. In other words, don’t quit your day job." :) that is the definate work out insurance and you don't need to buy it
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Pizza: Mitch's Basic Pizza Dough
I've tried this recipe.
The texture is not too hard, not too soft, fragrant with strong pizza dough smell, and there's a lot of little air bubble inside making it spongy, yet bitey. I love this recipe and will definately try it again:)
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Pizza dough, how hard can that be?
I get a special request from someone special, so I am going to try the recipe below:
Courtesy of http://www.fabulousfoods.com/recipes/article/46/17753
Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups flour
1 cup warm water
2 tablespoons yeast
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions:
To Mix Dough by Hand:
Pour warm water into a bowl. The water should be about 85 to 115° F. Test it with your hand. It should feel very warm, but comfortable. Add the honey and salt. Mix by and hand (or any other method) until well blended. Add the yeast and mix some more. Let this mixture sit for about 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of flour and the olive oil and mix until well blended. Add the rest of the flour (and any other additions) and mix well. The dough should turn into a ball. If the dough does not ball up because it's too dry, add water one tablespoon at a time until it does. If your mixture is more like a batter, add flour one tablespoon at a time. Adding water or flour as needed to get the right consistency will assure you always get a perfect dough. Just remember to do it in small amounts.
Once the dough is balled up, place the ball on a floured board and knead for about a minute. This builds the gluten which helps the dough to rise and become fluffy when cooked. Place the dough in a plastic grocery bag or a covered bowl and store in a warm, dry area to rise.
After about 45 minutes the dough should have about doubled in size. Show it who's boss and punch it down. That's right, give it a good smack so it deflates. Let it rise for another hour to an hour and a half. The dough is now ready to be rolled out. You can punch the dough down one more time if you want and wait another hour or two before rolling out. The choice is yours.
Rolling Out Pizza Dough
One mistake most people make when working with dough is not using enough muscle. Dough fights back. You push it, it pushes back. Don't be afraid of the dough. It won't bite you and you can't really damage it, either. When working with dough, use plenty of flour, but don't let it get too dry. It should be fun to work with, not too sticky and not too crumbly.
Form it into a flat ball about six to eight inches wide.
Using both hands, one on top of the other, press from the center outwards on it to start stretching it out, turning the dough a bit on each push. You can also pick up the dough and squeeze the edges of it while turning it like a steering wheel. This allows the weight of the dough to stretch it.
Once the dough is about 1/2" thick all the way around, use a rolling pin to flatten it out to about 1/4" thick. I usually run the pin over once or twice, flip the dough over and give it a quarter turn and roll it again to make it even.
Take a fork and put puncture holes all over the dough. This keeps it from bubbling up while cooking and it also helps to hold the sauce on as well.
Transfer dough to pizza peal sprinkled corn meal or place it on a lightly greased cookie sheet.
Top with sauce, cheese and/or toppings and bake in a 400° F. oven until the crust is light brown. Bake on either baking stones or on the cookie sheet or a pizza pan.
The texture is not too hard, not too soft, fragrant with strong pizza dough smell, and there's a lot of little air bubble inside making it spongy, yet bitey. I love this recipe and will definately try it again:)
-----------------------------------------------------------
Pizza dough, how hard can that be?
I get a special request from someone special, so I am going to try the recipe below:
Courtesy of http://www.fabulousfoods.com/recipes/article/46/17753
Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups flour
1 cup warm water
2 tablespoons yeast
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions:
To Mix Dough by Hand:
Pour warm water into a bowl. The water should be about 85 to 115° F. Test it with your hand. It should feel very warm, but comfortable. Add the honey and salt. Mix by and hand (or any other method) until well blended. Add the yeast and mix some more. Let this mixture sit for about 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of flour and the olive oil and mix until well blended. Add the rest of the flour (and any other additions) and mix well. The dough should turn into a ball. If the dough does not ball up because it's too dry, add water one tablespoon at a time until it does. If your mixture is more like a batter, add flour one tablespoon at a time. Adding water or flour as needed to get the right consistency will assure you always get a perfect dough. Just remember to do it in small amounts.
Once the dough is balled up, place the ball on a floured board and knead for about a minute. This builds the gluten which helps the dough to rise and become fluffy when cooked. Place the dough in a plastic grocery bag or a covered bowl and store in a warm, dry area to rise.
After about 45 minutes the dough should have about doubled in size. Show it who's boss and punch it down. That's right, give it a good smack so it deflates. Let it rise for another hour to an hour and a half. The dough is now ready to be rolled out. You can punch the dough down one more time if you want and wait another hour or two before rolling out. The choice is yours.
Rolling Out Pizza Dough
One mistake most people make when working with dough is not using enough muscle. Dough fights back. You push it, it pushes back. Don't be afraid of the dough. It won't bite you and you can't really damage it, either. When working with dough, use plenty of flour, but don't let it get too dry. It should be fun to work with, not too sticky and not too crumbly.
Form it into a flat ball about six to eight inches wide.
Using both hands, one on top of the other, press from the center outwards on it to start stretching it out, turning the dough a bit on each push. You can also pick up the dough and squeeze the edges of it while turning it like a steering wheel. This allows the weight of the dough to stretch it.
Once the dough is about 1/2" thick all the way around, use a rolling pin to flatten it out to about 1/4" thick. I usually run the pin over once or twice, flip the dough over and give it a quarter turn and roll it again to make it even.
Take a fork and put puncture holes all over the dough. This keeps it from bubbling up while cooking and it also helps to hold the sauce on as well.
Transfer dough to pizza peal sprinkled corn meal or place it on a lightly greased cookie sheet.
Top with sauce, cheese and/or toppings and bake in a 400° F. oven until the crust is light brown. Bake on either baking stones or on the cookie sheet or a pizza pan.
Soup: French Onion Soup!
I've tried this recipe and really love the Onion Caramelize part, the aroma is fantastic and it gives u the surprise of how Onions can actually taste this sweet without adding sugar! It's thick and flavourful. However I didn't make the taste up to the standard I've tasted before in restaurants. I will definately try more different French Onion soup recipe to see if there is a recipe that suits me (i'm not so good in caramelising the onions yet)
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Yum~ i'm gonna try some French Onion soup:)
what do you need to take note of in a French Onion Soup?
Courtesy of http://www.cookography.com/2008/the-best-french-onion-soup-ever#
Serves 6
Ingredients
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 large yellow onions
Table salt
2 cups water
1/2 cup dry sherry
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups beef broth
6 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
Ground black pepper
Cheese Croutons
1 small baguette , cut into 1/2-inch slices
8 ounces shredded Gruyère cheese (about 2 1/2 cups)
Directions:
For the soup:
Adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 400 degrees.
Generously spray the inside of a heavy-bottomed large (at least 7-quart) Dutch oven with a nonstick cooking spray. Place the butter in the pot and add the onions and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, covered, for 1 hour (the onions will be moist and slightly reduced in volume). Remove the pot from the oven and stir the onions, scraping the bottom and sides of the pot. Return the pot to the oven with the lid slightly ajar and continue to cook until the onions are very soft and golden brown, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours longer, stirring the onions and scraping bottom and sides of pot after 1 hour.
Carefully remove pot from oven and place over medium-high heat. Using oven mitts to handle pot, cook onions, stirring frequently and scraping bottom and sides of pot, until the liquid evaporates and the onions brown, 15 to 20 minutes, reducing the heat to medium if the onions are browning too quickly. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the pot bottom is coated with a dark crust, roughly 6 to 8 minutes, adjusting the heat as necessary. (Scrape any fond that collects on spoon back into onions.)
Stir in 1/4 cup water, scraping the pot bottom to loosen crust, and cook until water evaporates and pot bottom has formed another dark crust, 6 to 8 minutes. Repeat process of deglazing 2 or 3 more times, until onions are very dark brown. Stir in the sherry and cook, stirring frequently, until the sherry evaporates, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the broths, 2 cups of water, thyme, bay leaf, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, scraping up any final bits of browned crust on bottom and sides of pot.
Increase heat to high and bring to simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove and discard herbs, then season with salt and pepper.
For the croutons:
While the soup simmers, arrange the baguette slices in single layer on baking sheet and bake in a 400-degree oven until the bread is dry, crisp, and golden at edges, about 10 minutes. Set aside.
To serve:
Adjust oven rack 6 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Set individual broiler-safe crocks on baking sheet and fill each with about 1 3/4 cups soup. Top each bowl with 1 or 2 baguette slices (do not overlap slices) and sprinkle evenly with Gruyère. Broil until cheese is melted and bubbly around edges, 3 to 5 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yum~ i'm gonna try some French Onion soup:)
what do you need to take note of in a French Onion Soup?
- Normally it is a combination of Onion Soup, and baked Gruyere cheese on top on baguette slice
- The caramelisation in the bottom of the pan is the key in this soup. Need to scrap the caramel film from bottom of pan after adding in broth. This film is the sugar from onion after it has been cook for some time
- White wine is use in this soup
- Soup consist of Onions, Thyme as flavouring, chicken/ beef broth, butter, white wine and the brownish caramel film
Courtesy of http://www.cookography.com/2008/the-best-french-onion-soup-ever#
Serves 6
Ingredients
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 large yellow onions
Table salt
2 cups water
1/2 cup dry sherry
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups beef broth
6 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
Ground black pepper
Cheese Croutons
1 small baguette , cut into 1/2-inch slices
8 ounces shredded Gruyère cheese (about 2 1/2 cups)
Directions:
For the soup:
Adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 400 degrees.
Generously spray the inside of a heavy-bottomed large (at least 7-quart) Dutch oven with a nonstick cooking spray. Place the butter in the pot and add the onions and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, covered, for 1 hour (the onions will be moist and slightly reduced in volume). Remove the pot from the oven and stir the onions, scraping the bottom and sides of the pot. Return the pot to the oven with the lid slightly ajar and continue to cook until the onions are very soft and golden brown, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours longer, stirring the onions and scraping bottom and sides of pot after 1 hour.
Carefully remove pot from oven and place over medium-high heat. Using oven mitts to handle pot, cook onions, stirring frequently and scraping bottom and sides of pot, until the liquid evaporates and the onions brown, 15 to 20 minutes, reducing the heat to medium if the onions are browning too quickly. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the pot bottom is coated with a dark crust, roughly 6 to 8 minutes, adjusting the heat as necessary. (Scrape any fond that collects on spoon back into onions.)
Stir in 1/4 cup water, scraping the pot bottom to loosen crust, and cook until water evaporates and pot bottom has formed another dark crust, 6 to 8 minutes. Repeat process of deglazing 2 or 3 more times, until onions are very dark brown. Stir in the sherry and cook, stirring frequently, until the sherry evaporates, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the broths, 2 cups of water, thyme, bay leaf, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, scraping up any final bits of browned crust on bottom and sides of pot.
Increase heat to high and bring to simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove and discard herbs, then season with salt and pepper.
For the croutons:
While the soup simmers, arrange the baguette slices in single layer on baking sheet and bake in a 400-degree oven until the bread is dry, crisp, and golden at edges, about 10 minutes. Set aside.
To serve:
Adjust oven rack 6 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Set individual broiler-safe crocks on baking sheet and fill each with about 1 3/4 cups soup. Top each bowl with 1 or 2 baguette slices (do not overlap slices) and sprinkle evenly with Gruyère. Broil until cheese is melted and bubbly around edges, 3 to 5 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Today I think of Salad
Salad would appear in my mind once in a blue moon.
Something fresh, crispy and quenching, nothing else can substitute a salad meal in a big hot day especially after having oily food over the last few meals.
Salad, a mixture of vegetables, and anything you can think of ranging from toppings and dressings, a simple combination that can build you millions of different recipes!
I have a quick thought and put down the ingredients, so that I can think of a combination in future
Something fresh, crispy and quenching, nothing else can substitute a salad meal in a big hot day especially after having oily food over the last few meals.
Salad, a mixture of vegetables, and anything you can think of ranging from toppings and dressings, a simple combination that can build you millions of different recipes!
I have a quick thought and put down the ingredients, so that I can think of a combination in future
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