January 8, 2011: Basic Scrambled Eggs

Scrambled eggs is one of those dishes that can be simple, but many people have their variations on the recipe. This is my take on scrambled eggs.



The ingredients are simple - eggs, butter, salt and pepper. Added ingredients range from water, milk, heavy cream, sour cream, creme fraiche or nothing at all.

I opt for simplicity where I generally use milk, water or nothing.

Another variation between recipes is cooking time where recipes call for cooking anywhere from 1 to 5 minutes.

I believe that in a heated pan over medium heat, scrambled eggs should cook in under 1 minutes once the beaten eggs is poured into the pan. Any longer you run the risk of ending up with dry eggs.

Basic ingredients (Scrambled eggs for two)
3 large eggs (beaten/whipped for about 1 minute)
1 T Milk
A little salt
Butter for cooking


My YouTube Video below

Enjoy!

January 5, 2011: Lumpia Shanghai

I'm been trying to recreate a lumpia (Filipino Spring Roll) that I remember from my childhood.
My first attempt was September 12, 2008: Lumpia and Pancit.

This recipe is an all meat filling recipe. All meat filling is similar to what my Filipino friends and classmates made.



Filling
(Adapted from the Lumpia Wrapper Package)
1 lb Ground Pork
1/3 C Water Chestnut, chopped
3 Shiitake Mushrooms, chopped
1 t Salt
1 t Soy Sauce
1/2 t Garlic Powder
1 Egg

As with my previous posts, I'm starting to use YouTube a lot more.

I even tried CC (Close Captioning) this video.
Enjoy :-)

January 3, 2011: Pork Chops on YouTube

Happy Belated New Year!

I'm starting to post my food adventures on YouTube under the name, "eat4f1".
This was one of the first I created where we all made a pork chop dinner.

Enjoy :-)

Dec 25, 2010: Merry Christmas!

Today we're having dinner with my brother's.

My contribution is red-cooked (or red-braised) spare ribs.

Red cooking is basically braising meats in a soy sauce based liquid. The soy sauce colors the meat which gives the meat it's "red" color.

Typical recipes call for fresh soy sauce (light soy sauce - not to be confused with the light, low sodium soy sauces) and aged soy sauce (dark soy sauce). The aged soy sauce is what provides a majority of the coloring.

This recipe is adapted from Fuchsia Dunlop's, "Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook."
What caught my eye with this recipe is the use of caramelized sugar instead of aged soy sauce.

Braising Liquid Ingredients
1 slab Pork Spare Ribs (about 2 to 3 lbs)
2 T Brown Sugar
2 T Oil
Ginger (about 5 to 6 quarter size slices)
1/4 t ground cinnamon (or 1 stick)
1 Star Anise
1 Green Onion
1 Clove Garlic
Water or Broth (enough to almost cover the ribs)

The rest is on YouTube.

Enjoy! :-)

December 22, 2010: Winter Solstice Tong Yuan

Yuan (or Tong Yuan which is similar to Mochi) is a glutinous rice flour "dumpling" soup we ate during the Winter Solstice.

I remember asking my dad why we ate this soup. His answer was "Yuan represented snowballs that occurred during the Winter."

As I grew older, I asked myself, "They lived along the coast in Guangdong, China. It snowed in the Tropics???"

Wikipedia's explanation is the round dumplings represent togetherness and family unity.

Togetherness and family unity. Isn't that's why we all gather around the dinner table?

I digress. Back to the soup...
The soft, chewy dumplings are served in a rich savory broth.

Basic Recipe
1 lb Glutinous Rice Flour
1/4 lb Tapioca Pearls (Soaked overnight, at a minimum, and drained)
1/2 t Salt
Water to form a soft dough (about 1 cup, but add water slowly as you knead).

The key to making the little round dumplings is to keep them small, about 1/2 inch in diameter. Too large... you end up with a large bland, chewy mochi ball.

Also, the tapioca pearls help reduce the chewiness. (A family secret... lol!)

The YouTube Video...

December 14, 2010: Daring Cooks Poaching

Jenn and Jill have challenged The Daring Cooks to learn to perfect the technique of poaching an egg. They chose Eggs Benedict recipe from Alton Brown, Oeufs en Meurette from Cooking with Wine by Anne Willan, and Homemade Sundried Tomato & Pine Nut Seitan Sausages (poached) courtesy of Trudy of Veggie num num.

For this month, Jenn and Jill decided to focus on a technique that seems intimidating to many, but with a little practice it’s really not that hard at all – poaching. All poaching means is cooking something in simmering (not boiling) water. And what more perfect way to practice the skill of poaching than learning how to poach an egg? They can make a tasty breakfast, or salad accompaniment; there are so many different ways to use poached eggs, and they are used in cuisines from a variety of cultures.

The 1st recipe is one of the most well known poached egg dishes: eggs benedict – an open sandwich of English muffin, Canadian bacon, poached egg, and hollandaise sauce. This rich and decadent dish can be served as a really nice breakfast or brunch for having company over, and is sure to impress! The “daring” with this dish is in successfully poaching an egg in water, as well as making one of the famed mother sauces of France, the hollandaise.

Our 2nd recipe, oeufs en meurette (eggs in meurette sauce), is a classic dish from the region of Bourgogne (Burgundy) in France. It involves poaching an egg in a red wine/stock, which will then turn into a fabulous reduction sauce. One serves the poached egg on top of fried croûtes with sauce, bacon, mushrooms and pearl onions. This is also a great dish for breakfast/brunch as well.

[Eat4Fun - For this challenge I'm making Hollandaise sauce and Bacon Eggs Benedict Deluxe. The deluxing is in the form of tomatoes, mushrooms and sauteed spinach.

Also, I've taken a whole new approach to documenting my results. I'm going video!]



Mandatory Items: To use the technique of poaching an egg.

Recipe Sources:
Hollandaise sauce by Alton Brown
[It's been a long time since I've made Hollandaise. The last time I ended up with mayonnaise. I didn't know about the trick of adding hot water to thin it out the mayonnaise thick sauce.]

Eggs Benedict
[To be exact, Bacon Eggs Benedict Deluxe]

Ingredients
4 eggs (size is your choice)
2 English muffins*
4 slices of Canadian bacon/back bacon (or plain bacon if you prefer)
Chives, for garnish
Splash of vinegar (for poaching) [I used 2 T vinegar per quart of water.]

For the hollandaise (makes 1.5 cups):
3 large egg yolks
1 tsp. (5 ml) water
¼ tsp. (1 ¼ ml/1½ g) sugar
12 Tbl. (170 g/6 oz.) unsalted butter, chilled and cut in small pieces [Used salted butter]
½ tsp. (2 ½ ml/3 g) kosher salt [Since I used salted butter, additional salt was not needed.]
2 tsp. (10 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
Pinch cayenne pepper (optional)

Directions:

Hollandaise Sauce
1. Fill a medium saucepan halfway with water and bring to a simmer.

2. Cut the chilled butter into small pieces and set aside.

3. Whisk egg yolks and 1 tsp. (5 ml) water in a mixing bowl large enough to sit on the saucepan without touching the water (or in top portion of a double boiler). Whisk for 1–2 minutes, until egg yolks lighten. Add the sugar and whisk 30 seconds more.

4. Place bowl on saucepan over simmering water and whisk steadily 3–5 minutes (it only took about 3 for me) until the yolks thicken to coat the back of a spoon.

5. Remove from heat (but let the water continue to simmer) and whisk in the butter, 1 piece at a time. Move the bowl to the pan again as needed to melt the butter, making sure to whisk constantly.

6. Once all the butter is incorporated, remove from heat and whisk in the salt, lemon juice, and cayenne pepper (if using).

7. Keep the hollandaise warm while you poach your eggs in a thermos, carafe, or bowl that you’ve preheated with warm water.

Poaching eggs -
8. If the water simmering in your pan has gotten too low, add enough so that you have 2–3 inches of water and bring back to a simmer.

9. Add salt and a splash of vinegar (any kind will do). I added about a tablespoon of vinegar to my small saucepan (about 3 cups of water/720 ml of water), but you may need more if you’re using a larger pan with more water. [I used 2 T of vinegar for every quart of water.]

10. Crack eggs directly into the very gently simmering water (or crack first into a bowl and gently drop into the water), making sure they’re separated. Cook for 3 minutes for a viscous but still runny yolk.

11. While waiting for the eggs, quickly fry the Canadian/back bacon and toast your English muffin.

12. Top each half of English muffin with a piece of bacon. Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon, draining well, and place on top of the bacon. Top with hollandaise and chopped chives, and enjoy!

Bacon Eggs Benedict with tomato, mushroom and sauteed spinach.
Although the egg yolks turned out medium, cooked solid but still golden, the egg whites were very tender, almost melt in your mouth tender. That's the advantage of poaching.

Poaching slowly cooks protein at low heat so the protein molecules bind together loosely, which means tender.

Nov 14, 2010: Daring Cooks Souffle

Dave and Linda from Monkeyshines in the Kitchen chose Soufflés as our November 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge! Dave and Linda provided two of their own delicious recipes plus a sinfully decadent chocolate soufflé recipe adapted from Gordon Ramsay’s recipe found at the BBC Good Food website.

There are basically two parts to a soufflé recipe: the base and the egg whites. For savory soufflés, the base is usually a thick roux-based sauce made of butter, flour and milk or stock – to which you add the flavoring ingredients and the egg yolks. Sweet soufflés are based on a crème patisserie, or thick custard. The egg whites are beaten separately so that they incorporate lots of air bubbles; then the egg whites are folded into the base and the mixture spooned into a soufflé dish. After baking in the oven, the soufflé will magically rise. However, be warned that what goes up must come down: even a perfect soufflé will start to ‘deflate’ once you remove it from the oven - so be sure to serve it (or photograph it!) as soon as possible. In fact, Dave and Linda think the photographic aspect of this project may turn out to be more difficult than the culinary part.

[Eat4fun: I've always wanted to give a go at making a souffle. Here's my chance.
I'm typically a savory kind of guy, but this time around I choose the chocolate souffle.]

Chocolate Souffle
Adapted From BBC Good Food Recipe by Gordon Ramsay

Ingredients

FOR THE DISHES
2 Tbsp (30 ml) 1 oz (30g) unsalted butter, for greasing
Cocoa powder or finely grated chocolate

FOR THE CREME PATISSERIE
2 tbsp (30 ml) (18 gm) (2/3 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
2 tsp (10 gm) (0.35 oz) caster (superfine) sugar (regular sugar is OK)
½ tsp (4½ gm) (0.15 oz) corn starch (aka cornflour)
1 medium egg yolk
1 medium whole egg
4 Tbsp (60 ml) milk
5 Tbsp (75 ml) heavy cream (or double cream)
3 oz (90gm) good-quality dark chocolate preferably 70+% cocoa solids, broken in pieces
2 Tbsp (30 ml) (15 gm) (½ oz) unsweetened cocoa powder
Optional: 2 tsp orange zest or 2 tsp minced chipotle chile en adobo or 1 tsp chipotle chile powder. (The chile version is a Monkeyshines favorite!) Optional: powdered sugar for dusting

FOR THE EGG WHITES
6 medium egg whites
6½ Tbsp (95 ml) 3 oz (90g) superfine/caster sugar (if you don’t have it, regular sugar is OK)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to moderate 375 ˚F/190 ˚C/gas mark 5.

2. Take four 1 cup/~240ml soufflé dishes and brush them completely with softened butter. Tip a little cocoa powder or grated chocolate into each dish, roll the dish around tilting it as you do so it is evenly lined all round.

[Instead of four 1 C ramekins, I used a larger 2 quart Pyrex dish.]


3. For the crème patisserie, mix the flour, sugar and corn starch into a small bowl. Put egg yolk and whole egg into a medium sized bowl, beat lightly, then beat in half of the flour mixture to give a smooth paste. Tip in the rest of the flour mixture and cocoa powder and mix well.

[The egg yolk mixture is pretty straightforward.]


[Amazing how the cocoa powder will mix in to form this very dark high viscosity liquid.]


4. To make the ganache, pour the milk and cream into a pan and bring just to the boil. Remove from the heat. Add the chocolate and beat until it is melted and smooth with no lumps.

[Whoa! This ganache is very watery, not like any ganache I've made in the past. Hopefully, the thick egg yolk mixture will compensate for the watery ganache.]


5. Gradually stir hot chocolate ganache into the paste from step 3, and add the orange zest or chile if using. This is your crème patisserie.

6. Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks with an electric whisk. Sprinkle in the sugar as you are mixing. Keep whisking to give stiff, firm peaks to give volume to the soufflés.

[Stiff Peaks. You must have patience with whipping egg whites to stiff peaks. It takes about 5 to 10 minutes so don't give up.]


7. Stir about 2 tbsp (30 ml) of the beaten egg whites into the crème patisserie. Carefully fold in a third of the rest, cutting through the mixture. Fold in another third (take
care not to lose the volume), then fold in the rest.

[Stirred in what was on the beaters plus a little more to lighten up the patisserie.]


[Adding the egg whites 1/3rd at a time.]


8. Spoon the mixture into the dishes. Run a spoon across the top of each dish so the mixture is completely flat. Take a little time to wipe any splashes off the outside of each dish, or they will burn on while cooking.

[Another trick is to wipe the edge of the dish so the mixture forms a little trench between the dish and the mixture. This is supposed to help the souffle rise in the center.]


9. Bake the soufflés for 15-17 minutes. [For a larger dish, I baked about 20 minutes and used a skewer to check for doneness. The skewer should come out clean. I ended up cooking for 30 minutes, but probably could have pulled the souffle out at 25.]

[The next three photos show the rising during cooking.
Just into the 350F oven.]


[About 15 minutes into the cooking.]


[About 20 minutes into cooking. A skewer was used to test for doneness. At 20 minutes, the skewer came out wet so the souffle was allowed to bake another 10 minutes.]


10. The soufflés should have risen by about two thirds of their original height and jiggle when moved, but be set on top.

[The souffle out of the oven after 30 minutes of baking.
A bit overcooked where the souffle seems a little dry. The skewer came out very clean.]


[No fancy plating.
We just dug into the souffle.
The final results were drier than I expected with the texture of a angel food cake. A soft, airy cake. Surprisingly very light, chocolatey and not overly sweet.

We remedied the dryness with a generous dollop of whipped cream. :-) ]


Overall, the chocolate souffle/angel food cake was delicious.

I will probably try the recipe again, but bake only 25 minutes before checking with a skewer. Also, I'll probably try a savory recipe. I'm on the fence whether souffles will become part of my standard recipe collection.