Traditional Financier

 

Financiers are little French almond cakes that look like gold bars. They can be made in less than 1 hour, and enjoyed while they are warm and the edges are crispy. 

Do note that the temperature of the brown butter is key in this recipe. It needs to be still hot or very warm when added to the flour mixture so that the batter will emulsify (to get chewy-moist crumb. However, it should not be so hot that it will cook the egg whites.

The financiers are best the day they are bakes, but they can be stored in a covered container for 1 day.

Ingredients (6 pieces) - recipe adapted from Bouchon Bakery.

50g unsalted butter

20g plain flour 

30g almond flour

30g sugar

pinch of salt

50g egg whites

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220 deg Celsius.

2. Brush financier molds with butter and refrigerate/freeze the molds to harden the butter.

3. Place the sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk to break up any lumps. Sieve in the plain flour and add in almond flour. Whisk to combine.

4. Brown the butter: Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. As soon as it is melted, swirl the pan for even browning. Lower the heat and continue to cook and swirl the pan  to keep the milk solids on the bottom of the pan from burning. Once the butter is caramel coloured, remive the pan from the heat. Brown butter can be made ahead and store in the refrigerator for up to a week. Just heat it up a little before using.

5. Add the egg white to the flour mixture and gently whisk to incorporate the dry mixture until all the ingredients are well combined. Scrape the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl and whisk again. Finally whisk in the brown butter in TWO additions. 

6. Transfer the batter to a pastry bag to pipe the batter into the financier molds, or use a spoon to spoon the batter. Stop piping or spooning when the mold is almost full (1/8 inch from the top) - 27g or 1.5 tablespoon per mold. Wiggle the mold side to side, then gently drop it on the work surface a few times to flatten the top of the batter evenly. This helps ensure that the financiers will come out uniform and smooth.

7. Place the pan in the oven, lower the oven temperature to 175 deg Celsius, and bake for 20minutes or until the tops are almost completely golden browned, and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

8. Wait for 5 minutes before unmolding the financiers and cooling on a wire rack. 

* to make chocolate financiers:

50g unsalted butter

10g plain flour 

30g almond flour

30g sugar

pinch of salt

50g egg whites

30g chopped 70% dark chocolates

Method is the same as making Traditional Financier except the melting of chocolates in the butter once the latter is browned.

Sourdough Discard Crackers With Seeds

 

Below recipe from Bake With Paws. My adapted recipe for small quantity is in brackets.

Ingredients:

300g sourdough discard (100g)

75g olive oil or melted butter (25g)

180g plain flour (60g)

1 tsp salt (1/3 tsp, 1g)

2 tsp baking powder (2/3 tsp, 1.3g)

4 tsp toasted black sesame seeds (2 tsp)

or

4 tsp herbs

or 

1 Tbsp poppy seeds + 20 chia seeds + 20g flax seeds + 50g sesame seeds

Method

1. Mix the dry ingredients.

2. Add olive oil and use dough scrapper to combine.

3. Add sourdough discard and mix in. It will be very wet at first, but don't panic, continue to use the dough scrapper to fold and mix in. Once a dough is formed, cover and rest the dough for 30mins. (Note: The dough can be chilled in fridge overnight.) Divide into small pieces (depends on the size of your baking pan). Place one piece of dough between 2 parchment paper and roll as thin as possible. Use pizza cutter or dough scrapper to cut into strips. 

4. Transfer the dough to a baking pan. Bake at 170C for 15mins until light golden brown. Rotate the pan if necessary, for even baking. Cool on rack and store in airtight container.

Spaghetti Aglio E Olio

 

This is a easy dish to prepare. Watch this very useful video and you will be able cook Aglio E Olio for your friends in no time.

Ingredients (serves 4 pax)

50g garlic cloves 

240g spaghetti pasta

5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

fresh parsley (optional)

parmasen cheese (optional)

chilli flakes (optional)

your choice of protein e.g. sausages, bacon (optional)

Method:

1. Slice the garlic thinly and put into a skillet. Add extra virgin olive oil into the skillet and saute the garlic over low heat until the garlic is light golden in colour (it took about 15 minutes). Stir occasionally to brown the garlic evenly. If using chilli flakes, sprinkle them into the skillet and saute together with the garlic.

2. At the same time, bring a pot/wok of water to boil. Add some salt in it and cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Drain the pasta and apportion into serving plates.

3. Once garlic is ready, remove the skillet from heat (note that the garlic will continue to cook and turn brown, so make sure you do not over-saute them). Pour the olive oil and garlic over the pasta. Toss the pasta and garnish with fresh parsley and parmasen cheese.

4. Enjoy! Below picture shows a plate of Aglio E Olio with sausages and garnished with dried green laver seaweed (aonori).

Stir Fry Mushrooms

 

This is a vegetarian dish packed with super food - mushrooms.

Ingredients

400g Mushrooms (Shiitake, Enoki, King Oyster and Shimeiji - or any of your preferred mushrooms)

2 cloves of garlic (chopped)

1/2 tsp salt (or 5 tablespoons of sauce from cooking braised pork belly, if available)

Method

1. Prepare mushrooms:

. enoki - trim away roots and tear into bite size

. shiitake - separate the stems from the top, then slice the tops and stems thinly

. shimeji - trim the roots and separate into individual mushroom stalks

. king oyster - trim the roots and cut into thin slices

2. Heat the wok with a little oil, then sauteed the garlic until fragrant. Transfer the garlic to a plate.

3.  Heat the wok until smoking, and add all the mushrooms. Stir fry until softened. No need to add water during stir frying as the mushrooms will release some water. Add salt and mix in. Turn off wok fire.

4. Stir in the garlic and dish up.

Oats Bun

 

This recipe is adapted from Greg Wade. 

Ingredients (makes 9 buns)

Poolish: 45g bread flour, 45g water, a pinch of yeast (about 0.1g)

Oats Porridge: 35g old fashioned rolled oats, 105g water, a pinch of salt.

200g bread flour

60g fresh milk

20g water

25g honey

4g salt

1g instant yeast

Method

1. Make poolish: In a small bowl, combine flour, water and yeast using a fork. Mix until completely combined (no lumps of dry flour left), cover and leave it at room temperature to ferment until the mixture has ripened - look for these signs: bubbly on the surface, volume more than doubled. It will also pass the float test i.e. take a very small portion of poolish,  drop it into a cup/bowl of water and it should float). My poolish was ready in 4 hours (from 5.30pm to 9.30pm).

2. Cook oats porridge: Put the oats, water and salt in a small pot and cook over low heat for 2 mins until the porridge is thick. Stir the porridge to prevent scorching. Set aside to cool down.

3. Combine all ingredients, except butter and salt, in a stand mixer and knead at medium speed until it comes together in a smooth ball of dough.

4. Add butter and salt, and knead until dough is smooth and elastic. Do the window pane test (for gluten development). Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and form a smooth dough ball. 

5. Lightly grease the mixing bowl with olive oil and transfer the dough ball into it. Cover the bowl and let it proof at room temperature for 45mins or until double in size, whichever is earlier. 

6. Meanwhile, line your baking tin with parchment paper. 

7. After 1st proofing, punch down the dough and divide into small pieces. I divided the 566g dough into 9 pieces and shape them into balls to fit my baking pan. Rest the balls for 15 mins. After that, reshape into balls, cover and let it proof at room temperature for 1 hour or until double in size.

8. 15mins before end of 2nd proofing, preheat oven to 190 deg cel. Bake the buns for 25mins. Cool on wire rack.

Fried Cockle Omelete

Ingredients

fresh cockles

3 eggs

Method

1. Remove cockles from their shells. Refer to my post here.

2. Crack the eggs, add a bit of salt and use a fork to beat the eggs well. 

3. Heat up wok over high heat with 4 tablespoon of cooking oil. Pour the eggs into the wok and add the cockles. Tilt the wok slightly to allow the egg to coat the wok evenly. As soon as the sides begin to cook, flip the eggs over. 

4. Continue to cook the eggs until the omelete is set. Dish out and serve immediately.

Sugee Cookie

 

Easy to make, very fragrant and tasty!

Ingredients

55g ghee (chilled, not room temperature)

25g ground almond (or 75g to 90g ground roasted peanut)

15g semolina

10g icing sugar

65g plain flour (Prima Brand)

pinch of salt (0.2g)

Method

1. Put all ingredients in mixing bowl.

2. Use dough scrapper to mix, then use hand to bring dough together. Work quickly as the dough will be sticky once the ghee softens at room temperature. Do not overmix.

3. Chill in fridge overnight or cover and rest for at least 30mins (if making on same day).

4. Shape into 6g balls each (around 30 pieces) and flatten the top slightly with the back of a round teaspoon (measuring teaspoon also works). Or roll flat to 1cm and use preferred cookie cutter to cut. Place on baking tray lined with parchment paper. Chill in fridge for 30mins if necessary.

5. [optional] Apply egg wash on the cookies and add a piece of sliced almond flake/peanut.

6. Bake at 150C for 30mins or 160C for 15 mins until golden brown, 2nd lowest rack.

7. Cool on baking tray completely before storing in airtight container.

Potato Milk Loaf

牛奶面包

Ingredients

300g bread flour

8g potato flakes

225g fresh milk (45g for rehydrating potato flakes)

10g milk powder

40g sugar

3g instant yeast

3g salt

30g butter

Egg for egg wash (optional)

Method: 

1. Rehydrate potato flakes with 45g of fresh milk.

2. In a stand mixer attached with a dough hook, combine all ingredients except for butter and salt. Knead until it comes together in a ball of dough.

3. Add butter and salt, and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. Do window pane test (for gluten development).

4. Gently fold the dough into a ball, lightly oil the mixing bowl with olive oil and place the dough into the bowl with the seam side down. Cover with a plastic wrap and proof in a warm place for 40 minutes (first proofing) or until dough is double in size.

5. After first proofing, transfer the dough to benchtop. Divide into 2 or 3 equal portions and shape/roll into a ball. Cover and rest 15 minutes. Then, shape each dough ball (watch this video). Place the shaped dough in the baking tin, cover and proof for 45 minutes-1 hour until dough reaches the top of the tin.

6. 15 minutes before the end of second proofing, pre-heat oven to 180°C.

7. Bake for 30 minutes and remove the tin from oven. Bang the tin on counter top before tipping the bread loaf onto the wire rack to cool down. Slice the bread when it has completely cooled down.

How to cook tamban fish

When we go fishing at kelongs, we may catch tamban fishes (rainbow sardines) which we would use as fishing baits. If we catch a lot of tamban fishes, we would bring home. 

Tamban fishes are very small but they have a lot of bones! The best way to cook them is to fry them until they are crispy and eat the whole fish from head to tail. 😅

1. Clean the tamban fish (remove scale and gut) and tap dry.

2. Steam the fish for 10 minutes.

3. After steaming, set the fish aside to cool. Then tap dry with kitchen towel.

4. Deep fry the fish till crispy. 

Enjoy!

Celery salt

  

Celery salt is a key ingredient in American Southern-Style fried chicken. It is easy to make and more fragrant than store bought ones.

1. Pick the leaves from each celery stalk.

2. Wash them and use kitchen towel to dab dry.

3. Place in a single layer on a baking dish and dehydrate them in the oven (fan mode) at 70 degree celcius. Turn the leaves a few times for even dehydration. 

4. Once the leaves are crispy but not brown, remove from oven and set aside to cool. Weigh the dried leaves to determine the quantity of salt using this proportion: 1 part leaves, 2 parts salt.

5. For small amount of leaves, crush them with your fingers. For bigger batch, transfer the dried leaves to a blender and grind the leaves until they are fine. Mix in the salt. 

6. Store celery salt in an air tight container.