Hawaiian & Portobello Pizza

Why wait an hour for pizza delivery when you can make your own in the same time with fresh pizza dough and as much topping as you like?
Plus, I guarantee it's cheaper and more delicious!

Don't believe me?
Then give this a try and tell me your verdict.

PIZZA DOUGH
Makes a 12x12" pizza.

150ml warm water
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1-1/4 tsp instant yeast
3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
225g bread flour

Stir sugar and salt into warm water to dissolve.
Sprinkle yeast over water and set aside for about 10 min to activate the yeast.
Add olive oil and flour. Stir till dough comes together. 
Then knead till smooth and springy.

Place ball of dough in a large flour-dusted bowl. 
Proof for about 30 min till double in size.

Punch dough down. Rest 5 min.
Flour the dough ball generously, then press evenly into a greased 12x12" pan.


Spread pizza sauce on top of the dough. (I took a short cut today and just used pasta sauce from a jar.) Sprinkle generously with oregano and some freshly cracked black pepper.

Then layer on your favourite toppings.
For Hawaiian: ham and pineapple cubes (I used canned pineapples, drained and rinsed) 
For Portobello: bacon and portobello mushrooms, sliced

Finally, sprinkle with mozarella cheese. 

Bake in a 200*C oven for about 20 min.  

Best enjoyed when still warm!

More pizza ideas: 

 

Cookie Cutters are not just for cookies

In a blink of an eye, a month has passed.
I realised that my last entry was just after Christmas!
How time flies...

Hope everyone had a good start to 2012 and an indulgent lunar new year!!

I haven't really baked much in the last month, other than a couple of chiffon cakes and some almond cookies.

I feel bad about neglecting my baking tools.

So I thought I'd use my cookie cutters to make some cute li'l french toasts.

I hope to get back to my usual baking frequency soon.
And back to blogging more often.
Hope you guys have not forgotten about me...

Mini Tomato Bacon Quiche

How many of you follow Pioneer Woman's blog?

I like her nonchalent style and her detailed step-by-step photos, which are also gorgeous to look at.

Sometimes, when I'm lazy - which is most times - I just scroll down her post, glance at the pictures and I sorta get what she's doing. I'd like to do that for my blog, but I get lazy...

Why am I talking about Pioneer Woman?

Cos I used a crust recipe found on her blog for this quiche. 

"This is my go-to recipe for a flaky, beautiful two crust pie," says Pioneer Woman. 

Sounds good doesn't it?  

I YYY flaky, crumbly crusts. 

So I thought I'd use this recipe together with my new set of 4" mini tart pans. 

PIE CRUST

Adapted from Pioneer Woman's Perfect Pie Crust.

Makes four 4" (10cm) crusts.

120g plain flour

1/3 tsp salt

50g butter, very cold

17g shortening

10ml cold water

Measure the flour and salt into your food processor.

Pulse to evenly combine the ingredients.

Add the butter and shortening and pulse till the mixture resembles bread crumbs. 

Add the cold water and pulse till the mixture comes together slightly.

Pour onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times till a dough comes together.

If you are working in a cold kitchen (lucky you!) and the dough feels firm enough to roll, go ahead. 

Otherwise, if your kitchen is hot and humid like mine, pop the dough into the fridge for about 20 minutes or so till it firms up.

But, again, I got lazy (and hungry) and couldn't wait for more than 5 minutes, so I improvised and just pressed the dough into the tart pans.  This, I discovered, was much easier than trying to roll out the soft, floppy dough. 

Prick the dough with a fork (so they don't balloon in the oven).

Place pie weights into the pan (optional). 

Bake at 180*C for about 8-10 min, then carefully remove pie weights and bake the shells for another 5 min.  

While waiting for the shells to cool, prepare the filling.

TOMATO BACON QUICHE
Makes four 4" (10cm) quiches.

2 rashes bacon (or ham), chopped
8 cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/3 cup peas
some finely diced onions
60g of your favourite cheese, grated or finely diced (I used cheddar, but parmesan, swiss or even blue cheese will be fine)
some basil, sage and parsley (or any herb of your choice)

2 eggs
3/4 cup (180ml) milk
pinch of salt and pepper

Place the chopped bacon into a skillet and heat till the fat is rendered.
Add onions and cook till soft.
Add tomatoes and peas and cook till soft.
Season with herbs, salt and pepper to taste.
Spoon into quiche shells.
Sprinkle cheese on top.

In a measuring cup, stir the eggs, milk and salt/pepper to combine.
Pour into quiche shells till it reaches the brim.
Bake at 180*C for about 15 min.
Best served warm, with a side of rocket salad.

NOTES:
While I absolutely loved the flaky crumbly texture of the crust, I think a sturdier crust (perhaps one with egg) would have been more suitable for a quiche. However, for an egg tart or fruit tart, I think this crust recipe would have been perfect!

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Coq au Vin, Simplified (Chicken in Wine)

Coq au Vin  
= rooster in wine  
= chicken stewed in red wine  



According to Wikipedia, Coq au Vin is a French braise of chicken cooked with wine, lardons (pork fat), mushrooms, and optionally garlic.

This is a rich, hearty, warming dish. Sorta like a stew, sorta like a casserole. It may even be sorta like a chicken bourguignon. You get the drift... 

I'm not good with descriptions... but I'll try...
This dish is full of rich red wine flavour without the hangover, and an intense sweetness from the bacon and onions that enhances the tender bite of the chicken. 

You can serve it with mashed potatoes, pasta, or just plain ol' rice.
I chose to serve it with some brown rice mixed with jasmine rice. 


COQ AU VIN
Serves 2. 

100g bacon (about 4 rashes)
1/2 yellow onion, sliced or roughly chopped according to preference
2 chicken drumsticks, skin on
3 garlic cloves
1 cup red wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1 tsp thyme
100g mushrooms

salt & pepper to taste

Start by browning the bacon. This will take a few minutes. 

Once they're nicely browned and crisp, set aside. 

Throw in all the onions and saute for a while. 

It's ok if your pot is full of caramelised goodness (that brown burnt-looking stuff on your pan). It's good stuff and will add a rich flavour to the dish. 

Don't worry, when you add the wine later, the brown stuff will be miraculously lifted away from the pan and dissolved in the stew. 

Now place the chicken skin side down in the pot. 

After a few minutes, when the skin side has browned, turn the chicken pieces to brown the naked side. 

While the naked side is browning, add the garlic, thyme and pepper.

When it feels like the naked side has browned, add the red wine and chicken stock...

... and a nice big bay leaf. 

Throw the crispy bacon back into the pot, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes till the chicken in tender. 

In the meantime, clean the mushrooms and chop it into nice chunky quarters. 

When the 20 minutes is up, dump the mushrooms into the pot and turn the heat up. Reduce the liquid till its thick and saucy.

Taste to see if more salt and pepper are needed. 

Serve with mashed potatoes, pasta or rice. 

This is my version of a simplified Coq au Vin.
If you want more flavour, you can add veges like carrots and celery.

Here are a couple of links to Coq au Vin recipes by Julia Child and Alton Brown.

Julia Child's Coq au Vin
Alton Brown's Coq au Vin 


Now, what else can I cook with the remaining bottle of wine??

Half & Half Pizza :: Smoked Salmon & Hawaiian

Can't decide what pizza to have?
Have 'em both!

The boy loves his hawaiian.
And I wanted smoked salmon.
So we had both :)

This is a simple and fairly quick meal to make. And this includes making the pizza base from scratch! Once you've had homemade pizza base, you'll think twice about buying that awful frozen pizza base from the supermarket. (God knows how long it's been sitting in the freezer collecting ice crystals.)


PIZZA BASE
Makes a thin 12" (30cm) pizza base.

120ml lukewarm water
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp instant yeast
2 tsp olive oil
200g bread flour
1/2 tsp salt

Sprinkle sugar and yeast over water. Set aside for 10 min till frothy.
Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix till a dough forms.
Knead till smooth and springy (about 20 min by hand, 10 min by machine).

Place the ball of dough in a large flour-dusted bowl.
Proof for about 30 min or till it doubles in size.
(While you wait, prepare the pizza topping.)

Generously flour your work surface.
Tip out the dough and flour the top.
Press or roll out dough to a 12" circle.
If dough keeps springing back on you, let it rest for a few minutes.

Prick the dough with a fork (so the dough won't balloon in the oven).
Place dough on a pizza stone sprinkled with bread crumbs or cornmeal, or on a greased and floured baking pan.

Brush the pizza base with a little olive oil.
Top the pizza with your flavour of choice.
Bake at 200*C for about 10-15 min till the cheese has melted and browned slightly.

HAWAIIAN TOPPING for half 12" pizza:
1 cup shredded mozzarella
2-3 slices of ham
1/2 cup pineapple chunks (canned pineapples, drained, will do just fine)

Sauce:
2 tbs tomato puree
1 tsp tomato ketchup
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
dash of cayenne pepper
salt & pepper to taste

Combine all sauce ingredients.
Spread on pizza.
Sprinkle ham and pineapples, then mozarella.

SMOKED SALMON TOPPING for half 12" pizza:

50g smoked salmon

1 small cucumber, thinly sliced

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

Sauce:

3 tbs cream cheese (I used mascarpone) 

1/2 tsp dill tips 

salt & pepper to taste

Combine all sauce ingredients.

Spread on pizza.

Sprinkle onions, salmon and cucumbers.

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Handmade Fettuccine al Funghi Portobello

Simple Sunday night dinner, made with handmade fettuccine in parmesan cream sauce, bacon and mini portobello mushrooms.

Carrot Pasta

Remember my post on my new toy - the pasta machine?

I decided to be a little adventurous and experimented with a flavoured pasta. I thought I would get nice orange-coloured pasta... but in the end, I got what looked more like ee-mee.  LOL!

Nevertheless, hubby still gave the thumbs up for taste and texture. Looks like the remaining pack of dried pasta in the pantry will be sitting there for quite a while longer...

For this batch, I doubled the recipe here. But instead of using 2 eggs, I used 1 egg and replaced the second egg with the same amount of carrot puree. Perhaps next time, I'll add some tomato puree to see if the orange colour will be enhanced.

Stay tuned for more pasta dishes  :)

New Toy!

I've been toying with the idea of a pasta machine for a while, having seen all the rave reviews about the superior taste and texture of homemade pasta vs store-bought dried pasta.  It's too expensive to buy fresh pasta here in Singapore, so the next best thing is to make it yourself.  Imagine all the possibilities - spinach pasta, carrot pasta, wholemeal pasta, chocolate pasta, porcini pasta... the list is endless!

After almost having a heart attack from hearing that the KA pasta attachment is $300, I promptly settled on a manual crank pasta machine, like this Italian one I found for a more affordable $60.  I am just so thrilled with my new toy!  Can't wait to try all the different pasta flavours.

The pasta machine is really easy to use. Feed it through the rollers from the widest to thinnest setting till you get the thickness you desire, then pick either the vermicelli or fettuccine cutters for the final step.

Basic Pasta Dough
Makes enough for 2, or 1 very hungry person.

1 cup durum wheat flour (or semolina flour)
1 egg
1 tsp salt
drizzle of olive oil
water, as required

Make a well in the middle of your bowl of flour.
Crack an egg into the well. Add salt and olive oil.
Then slowly stir in the flour till a dough is formed.  If it feels too dry, add water till you get a firm but smooth dough.  Knead till it comes together.
Rest the dough for about 30 minutes.

Flatten or roll out the dough into a disc, then feed it through the rollers at the widest setting. Slowly work your way through the narrower settings till you get the thickness you desire, flouring the dough as required so it doesn't stick to the machine.

Finally, feed it through your choice of the vermicelli or fettuccine cutters, and you get beautiful fresh pasta.

Note:
If durum wheat flour is not available, use bread or plain flour.  But your noodles will probably end up tasting more like mee pok or mee kia.

Now, don't fret about having to repeat this whole process every time you crave for pasta. Just make a larger batch and freeze whatever you don't use.  The next time you want a quick pasta fix, just thaw the amount you need and cook it for about 3 minutes in salted boiling water till al dente.

Once you give this a try, you will never want to pick up another pack of dried pasta.

Miso Black Cod + Bacon Potatoes

Tonight's dinner began last night.

What do I mean?
It's one of those dishes that requires advance planning - marination needs to take place overnight.  Not one of those dishes you can make on the spur of the moment.  Well, actually, you could; it just wouldn't taste as good.

This dish was inspired by my recent trip to USA.  You see, my entire holiday was planned around food, food and food.  Yes, first things on the list were the food spots; all else was secondary.

On our last night in Manhattan, we were supposed to hop over to Brooklyn for dinner at a popular steakhouse.  But, seduced by a Japanese restaurant we passed by the day before, we decided to ditch the steakhouse and headed for Iron Chef America's MORIMOTO.  And it was one of the best decisions we ever made. Every dish was superb!

One of the dishes was Black Cod Miso.  Here's the Iron Chef's version:

Now for my humble attempt to replicate the flavours of this dish...

First, get some black cod.  Or just plain white cod will do too.  Thaw them thoroughly, and pat them dry.

Now for the marinade...

Miso Marinade:
4 tbs miso paste
2 tbs sugar
1/4 cup sake
1/4 cup mirin

If you're wondering where to get sake and mirin, see those two yellow and green bottles in the photo below?  Those are from the wonderful store named Daiso.  Just S$2 each 300ml bottle.  Must haves if you cook Japanese dishes.

Blend everything together.

Then pour the marinade over the fish till all pieces are totally submerged.

Cover, and leave it in the fridge for at least 24 hours, and up to 72 hours. 

When you're ready for dinner the next day (24 hours), or the day after (48 hours), or the day after the day after (72 hours), remove the fish from the fridge and let it come to room temperature while you prepare your side dish.

I put together whatever I found in my kitchen.  I sliced some baby potatoes and streaky bacon, dumped them onto a tray with some cherry tomatoes, sprinkled some rosemary and olive oil, then baked them in my oven toaster for about 20 min till the potatoes were soft and the tomatoes have burst.

When your side dish is almost done, whip out your non-stick pan, drizzle some vegetable oil and pan-sear the fish pieces till they're cooked through.  Add a little water if the pan dries up.

Onto the plate it goes, and dinner is served!  Oh, don't waste the gravy that's left in the pan.  You can always drizzle it over the fish.

Verdict from the husband:  Tastes almost like Morimoto's.

Okay, that's good enough for me.  I'm happy :)



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Pizza Dough by Jamie Oliver

It's so tempting to just buy frozen pizza or frozen pizza bases. They're so convenient, aren't they? But nothing is better than FRESHLY made pizza dough, with fresh ingredients of your choice. 

A friend recommended that I try out Jamie Oliver's recipe for pizza dough. And having tried and tested it, I can now recommend it to all of you. It's simple and delicious! What more can you ask for?

Pizza Dough, by Jamie Oliver
(Recipe scaled to make a thin 12" base)

130ml lukewarm water

1/2 tsp sugar

1 tsp instant yeast

1 tbs extra virgin olive oil

200g bread flour

1/2 tsp sea salt

Sprinkle sugar and yeast over water. Set aside for about 10 min till frothy.

Pour yeast mixture and oil into flour and salt.

Knead dough till smooth and springy.

Place the ball of dough in a large flour-dusted bowl. Proof for about 30 min till double in size.

Knock back dough and roll out to a 12" circle. 

Place on a greased and floured baking pan or pizza stone. 

Pile on your favourite toppings, and bake at 220*C for 15-20 min till the crust is brown and the cheese is bubbly.

Salmon & Broccoli Quiche

Nothing beats a freshly baked home-made quiche.  Don't you agree?
The best part is: I can choose the flavours I want and however much I desire.

So I loaded this baby with salmon belly, broccoli, onions, and dill.  (Salmon belly is sweeter than fillet, and much cheaper.)

I had half for my dinner on Friday night, and shared the remaining half with hubs this morning.  Think I'll make a bigger one next time...

Saffron Fried Rice

My blog buddy, KL, gave me some a lot of saffron she bought from her recent trip to Bali.  I'm not very familiar with saffron; only that when it's cooked with rice, it gives the most amazing aroma, flavour and colour to the rice.

To prepare the saffron, soak it in hot water for at least half hour to release it's flavour and colour.  Then use the liquid as you would in your usual recipe.  Today, it's going into my fried rice lunch :)  

Here's what I put in my fried rice...

And, of course, rice...

Garnish with a few crisp curry leaves, and it's ready!

I may not be blogging much for a while.  My donation drive received such overwhelming response that I think I will be baking with whatever free time I have.  But I will do a bumper post soon when most of the orders have been fulfilled.  It will be a post with lots and lots of pictures!