Saturday, January 21, 2012

Osmanthus Jelly

Its Lunar New Year so I'm following my family's tradition of basically me making a bunch of delicious things, packing them into little boxes, and bringing them over to my parents' house to be enjoyed by all before settling down to hot pot dinner. This year I've started with osmanthus jelly. Why osmanthus? Years of perfect product placement finally got to me. I've always loved watching historical Hong Kong movies. Great costumes, melodrama, and wire-fu. What's not to love? And in those movies the rich or royal ladies would always be snacking on osmanthus cakes. Supposedly the fragrance was heavenly (it is!) and some magical substance in the tiny osmanthus blossoms would make your skin beautiful. I've always been DYING to try some of those royal dishes and while I haven't figured out the perfect recipe for the cakes yet, jelly seemed easy enough to tackle.



Osmanthus Jelly


10 grams konnyaku powder
950 ml water
4 tsp dried osmanthus flowers
1/4 cup honey
sugar to taste

Add flowers to the water. Bring to a boil. Turn off and leave covered for 30 minutes. Bring back to a boil. Add honey then enough sugar to taste a bit sweeter than preferred. Add powder and let boil for 8 minutes while whisking occasionally. Pour out into molds and it will set as it cools.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Conquering the tiny yeast II

So this is my second attempt using yeast. My first bread had delicious flavor but lacked the texture I was looking for. I have since learned the no knead breads are more geared toward "artisan" style loafs. Big crusty things with structure to the crumb. I had hoped for something more like the Asian breads I grew up with from the bakery. A little sweet crust on top, soft fluffy white insides with just a bit of chew to it. I think I've found the secret here with the aid of the tangzhong method. Google it and there a ton of information about it online but basically its making a kind of water roux to add to the bread. This roux absorbs a ton of moisture and releases it back into your dough while baking, giving you lofty rise and a super soft fluffy loaf just like the bakery. I gave it a try in the common hokkaido loaf, basically just a loaf of fluffy white bread enhanced by a little sugar and milk. I deviated a bit because I was too lazy to hit the store and used almond milk. Also I added raisin into half the batter to see how that would work out since my dad loves raisin bread. By the way, my belly hurts from eating too much bread. Somebody please come and pry the rest of this loaf from my greedy little hands.



Tangzhong


50 grams bread flour
250 ml water

Whisk flour and water together in a pan until smooth. Continue to slowly whisk over a medium high heat and watch carefully. It will thicken up and as soon as you can see your whisk creating little trails in what looks baby food paste, stop! Pour out into bowl and top with plastic wrap to keep from drying. Let cool in fridge over night. Bring back to room temp before using.

Hokkaido Milk Bread


2.5 cups bread flour
3 tbsp + 2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp bread machine yeast (also called instant)
2 eggs (save one for the glaze)
1/2 cup almond milk
120 grams tangzhong
3 tbsp butter (cut into small pieces at room temp)
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Combine flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. Create a little well in the center. In a separate bowl whisk together 1 egg, almond milk, and tangzhong. Pour the liquid mixture into the well. Mix with dough hook until all the flour is incorporated and you get a shaggy looking dough. Add in butter. Continue to knead with dough hook about 20 minutes more until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl and is elastic and just slightly sticky. To test stretch a little piece into a square, you should be able to get a thin filmy square without the dough tearing.

Lightly grease a bowl with oil. Turn dough out into bowl. Cover with a damp cloth and let proof until doubled in size, about 50 minutes.

Pour dough out onto work surface. Divide into 4 equal parts. Lightly shape into round balls. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.

Roll out a ball of dough into a round. If using raisins, sprinkle some on now (I used raisins for 2 balls and no raisins for 2). Imagine a line running across the middle of the circle. Fold the top of the round down so the tip of circle meets the line. Fold the bottom up to meet the line. Now imagine a vertical line down the middle. Fold the right side over so the tip meets the line. Now fold the left side over to meet the line. Pick up the dough and flip it over so all the seams face down. Roll it back out until a strip. Now roll the strip out and place the dough roll, seam down, into a loaf pan. Repeat with the rest of the balls until you have 4 rolls of dough nested next to each other in your loaf pan. Cover with a damp cloth and let proof for about 40 minutes until it has doubled in size.

Beat the remaining egg. Brush on top of the loaf as a glaze. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let cool to room temp and enjoy.

Lapin aux Pruneaux

It sounds better than bunny n prunes right? Never had rabbit before? Give it a try. Its got the smooth richness of dark meat chicken without any of that fatty feeling. I haven't seen them much around the standard supermarkets here but frozen ones are readily available in the asian marts. When I first came across this recipe I was excited to see a savory main dish use for the humble prune. I couldn't wait to give it a try. It melts into the sauce and thickens it while adding just a touch of sweetness. I'm going to be using this prune trick more often in the future. The original recipe is found in one of my favorite blogs here and for once I followed it pretty true except for the finishing touch which she does state is optional. My bunny did not come with any liver. Never has in the past either...


Lapin aux Pruneaux


One rabbit, cut into six to eight serving parts
1 tbsp butter (I used some rendered duck fat)
3-4 large shallots, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
15-20 prunes
1/2 cup shaoxing wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
salt & pepper to taste

Melt butter in braising pan big enough to hold all the rabbit pieces in a single layer. Brown the rabbit pieces and set aside. In the same pan, add shallots and garlic and cook until the garlic is fragrant and the shallots translucent. Add thyme, bay leaf, wine and chicken stock. Boil until reduced by half. Add back in the rabbit pieces and prunes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Braise over a medium low heat for 45 minutes. Plate rabbit pieces and continue to cook the sauce for about another 5 minutes over medium high heat until thickened. Pour over the rabbit and serve.