No Churn Ice-Cream

Posted by Vivian in Dessert

0 comments

 

Ingredients:

• 1 litter of whipping cream
• 1 can of condensed milk (chilled)
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Preparation:

• Fit stand mixer with whisk attachment. 
• Whip whipping cream until soft peaks form.
• Turn off mixer and pour in condensed milk.
• Whisk till mixture is thick and stiff peaks form.
• Turn off mixer and stir in vanilla extract.
• Transfer mixture into container and freeze, or use as base to add in other ingredients as needed depending on flavours.

Flavour Options:

Blueberry Cheesecake

• Boil half cup of blueberry with around three tablespoons of water and 2 tablespoons of sugar.  Berries will start to burst and thicken into sauce.  Strain to remove seeds and skin.  Set aside to cool.
• Pulse soften cream cheese block using blender or chopper to break up lumps.
• Fold cream cheese into ice-cream mixture.
• Transfer  mixture into container in batches, swirling in blueberry sauce in-between.

 

OREO Cheesecake

• Break 15 to 20 pieces of OREO cookies into bits.
• Pulse soften cream cheese block using blender or chopper to break up lumps.
• Fold cream cheese and OREO bits into ice-cream mixture.

Coffee

• Prepare 300ml of concentrated black coffee.  Set aside to cool
• Chop nuts into small pieces (walnut, almond etc) 
• Fold coffee and chopped nuts into ice-cream mixture.

Ciabatta

Posted by Vivian in Bread

0 comments

 

Ingredients:

Starter

• 200gm bread flour
• 1 cup of water
• 1/4 teaspoon yeast

Ciabatta Dough

• 350gm bread flour
• 1 cup of water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt

Preparation:

• Mix ingredients for starter dough with a wooden spoon or spatula until free of lumps.
• Cover and let it sit for 8 to 12 hours on countertop, or up to 24 hours in fridge.
• Transfer starter dough to stand mixer's mixing bowl.
• Add 1 cup of water, 350gm bread flour and salt.  Mix with paddle attachment, first at low speed for a minute and at higher speed for another 4 minutes until the dough starts to pull from sides of mixing bowl.
• Prepare a large bowl and coat sides with some olive oil.
• Transfer dough to bowl and cover.  Let dough proof for 45 mins to an hour.
• Use a well-greased scrapper, gently fold dough over onto itself and let it rise for another 45 minutes.  Repeat process once more.
• Prepare a square cake pan and line with two separate pieces of parchment paper (folded with four standing sides) forming two separate rectangular sections. 
• Flour work surface and slide dough out of bowl onto work surface gently.
• Divide dough into 2 equal portions and shape into loaves using bench scrapers.
• Transfer dough into parchment paper.  Cover and let dough rest for 20 minutes.
• Heat oven to 200 degree Celcius.
• Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown.
• Slice after the bread has completely cooled down.

Focaccia

Posted by Vivian in Bread, Italian

0 comments

Ingredients:

• 500gm bread flour
• 1 heaped tablespoon semolina
• 15gm active yeast
• 50ml olive oil
• Salt
• Leaves from 2 to 3 rosemary sprigs

Preparation:

• Add flour, semolina, yeast and generous pinches of salt in stand mixer’s mixing bowl. 
• Mix 320 ml of warm water with olive oil. 
• Gradually add water and olive oil mixture to dry ingredients while mixing with a dough hook. 
• Knead till dough is smooth, elastic and springy to touch (around 10 minutes). 
• Leave dough in a floured mixing bowl/container to proof for 30 to 60 minutes until double in size (or 18 to 24 hours overnight in fridge, and if dough was kept overnight in fridge, it needs to be placed on counter for around 2 hours to be soften and back up to room temperature before proceeding to next step). 
• Line and oil baking tray or dish (around 28cm x 20cm). Transfer risen dough to tray and prod out dough to edges of tray with well oiled fingers. Leave dough to proof for 30 minutes. 
• Drizzle olive oil over dough and using tip of fingers, poke dough all over creating dimples. 
• Mix rosemary leaves with a little bit of olive oil and scatter all over dough. Season with salt and drizzle with a little more olive oil. Can be replaced with other toppings including parmesan, olives, sunblush tomatoes, salt flakes or oregano. 
• Allow dough to sit for another 20 mins. 
• Preheat oven to 200 degree Celcius (or 190 degree Celcius depending on the oven). 
• Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown and crispy (may need to tent or reduce to 180 degree Celcius at the last 10 minutes to prevent it from browning too much). 
• Leave to rest for at least 10 minutes before cutting.

(Alternative method with starter dough)

Ingredients:

Starter (Poolish)

• 200gm bread flour
• 200ml water
• 1/4 teaspoon active yeast

Focaccia Dough

• 300gm bread flour
• 120ml water (can be increased to 160ml for a higher hydration dough)
• 1 heaped tablespoon semolina
• 1 teaspoon active yeast
• Olive oil
• Salt

Preparation:

• Mix ingredients for starter dough in a large bowl and whisk with a wooden spoon or spatula.
• Cover starter dough and leave on counter in room temperature between 8 to 12 hours. If starter dough is to be used the next day, it can be stored in fridge overnight but will need to be brought back up to room temperature before use (around 1 to 2 hours).
• Dissolve 1 tsp yeast in 120ml water in stand mixer’s mixing bowl.
• Add starter dough, remaining flour, semolina and mix with dough hook. Start at low speed to prevent flour with flying. Increase to high speed and mix for around 8 minutes until the dough starts to pull away from the sides.
• Mix 1 tablespoon of salt with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.  Add into dough 
• Knead for another 3 to 5 minutes until the dough forms into a ball shape.
• Move dough over to a lightly greased bowl/container. Cover and let it proof for an hour.
• Line baking tray or dish (around 28cm x 20cm). Transfer risen dough to tray and prod out dough to edges of tray with well oiled fingers. Leave dough to proof for another 30 minutes.
• Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over dough and using tip of fingers, poke dough all over creating dimples.
• Other toppings can be added at this point
• Allow dough to sit for another 20 mins.
• Preheat oven to 200 degree Celcius (or 190 degree Celcius depending on the oven).
• Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown and crispy (may need to tent or reduce to 180 degree Celcius at the last 10 minutes to prevent it from browning too much).
• Leave to rest for at least 10 minutes before cutting.

Other tips:

• Olive oil can be infused with some rosemary leaves a day before use for added flavour.
• Dried herbs to be added to dough instead as topping to prevent drying out while in oven.
• Powdered garlic can be added to dough during last stage of kneading.

Pork Belly & Mushroom Rice

Posted by Vivian in Pork, Rice

0 comments

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of jasmine white rice
• 500 gram of pork belly (sliced to 0.5 cm thick)
• 8 pieces of dried mushroom (soaked till soft and sliced to 1 cm width)
• 1/2 of round cabbage (sliced to 1 cm thick)
• 2 to 3 tablespoons of dried shrimp (soaked till soft and diced)
• Shallots (diced)
• Garlic (diced)
• Light soy sauce
• Dark soy sauce
• Sesame oil

Preparation:

• Marinate pork belly with light soy sauce and dark soy sauce overnight. 
• Wash rice and add to rice cooker. Pour in sufficient water based on marking alongside rice cooker pot. Sieve out rice and reserve the water for later use. 
• Stir fry shallot and garlic till fragrant and add in dried shrimp. 
• Mix in pork belly and stir well to cook. 
• Add in cabbage and season with light soy sauce and sesame oil. 
• Put rice into mixture and drizzle with some dark soy sauce. Stir well to ensure rice is well coated with dark soy sauce. 
• Transfer mixture into rice cooker and pour in water that was set aside. 
• Leave mixture to cook in rice cooker for 45 to 50 minutes. 
• Set rice cooker to cook function again for another 10 to 15 minutes if rice has yet to fully cook after the first round.

Marcella Hazan's Bolognese Sauce

Posted by Vivian in Beef, Italian, Pasta

0 comments

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2/3 cup chopped celery
• 2/3 cup chopped carrot
• 1 pound ground beef (around 500 gm)
• Salt
• Fresh ground black pepper
• 1 cup whole milk
• Grounded nutmeg
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1-½ cups canned plum tomatoes, torn into pieces, with juice
• 1-¼ to 1-½ pounds pasta (preferably spaghetti), cooked and drained
• Grated Parmesan

Preparation:

• Heat oil with 3 tablespoons of butter and chopped onion in pot over medium heat.
• Cook and stir onion until it has become translucent, then add chopped celery and carrot. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring vegetables to coat well. 
• Add ground beef, a large pinch of salt and a few grindings of black pepper. Crumble meat with a fork, stir well and cook until beef has lost its raw, red colour. 
• Add milk and let simmer gently, stirring frequently, until it has bubbled away completely. 
• Add a tiny grating, about 1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg and stir. 
• Add wine and let it simmer until it has evaporated. 
• Add tomatoes and stir thoroughly to coat all ingredients well. When tomatoes begin to bubble, turn heat down and let simmer. 
• Cook sauce uncovered for 3 hours or more, stirring from time to time. While sauce is cooking, it will begin to dry out and the fat will separate from the meat. Add ½ cup water as necessary. At the end of cooking, the water should be completely evaporated and the fat should separate from the sauce. 
• Taste and correct for salt. 
• Add remaining tablespoon butter to the hot pasta and toss with the sauce. 
• Serve with grated Parmesan on the side.