Poppy seed Bagels

Sorry folks, as you are aware, i'm currently in a transition period. Without a place of my own, i won't be baking anything special unless sth comes up. N i realised there were many old photos from previous attempts which had not been posted during the time they blocked Blogspot in China, so i decided to fill in this opportunity to repost all of them. Therefore, this again, is a back dated post.

If i'm not wrong, these were the last bagels i made for Mr Jiang before we left for Singapore. That means it has been abt one n half years since i last baked a bagel. Time flies huh? I am writing against some key selection criteria for a job application, n it really amazed me at how time actually had passed by. Just by reflecting n writing my past working experiences, i feel i am really getting old. I am not fearing my age in numbers, but wondering if i have actually did my best to fulfill my dreams, or had i been wasting time?

I remember i started making bagels because Hub had a crave. Haha, so from this first attempt to the final one which is this post, i guess i finally succeeded in the shape, the look, n the texture. But suddenly it appears to me that, so what if i have succeeded? i gave it up for one and a half years or even longer, and when the time comes, i have to start everything all over again. I have to read back my recipe n notes, i have to get in line with that feeling, i have to re-master the skill! But it has been an awesome break. And rest assured, i will work harder for the new resurrection. So now, anyone queuing for my bagels?

Breadsticks

Today marks the first month of my arrival. Time flies, like how i had hoped. I had been lazy, i admit it; out of that four weeks, i only spent one week sitting down, seriously writing n putting in efforts in my job applications. HAHA, n i just realised i haven't submitted any applications for the last almost two weeks? On the first week, for abt 9 days, Hub was here n we were busy travelling, getting to know the city. then, that week after he left, i was enthusiastically searching, preparing, writing KSCs n applying for jobs. the following week the internet slowed a bit as the usage was reaching the 'limited' capacity. I did search, but no applications were made. Last week, Uncle changed the broadband subscription to unlimited access, n i was busy catching up my singaporean drama series on youtube till yesterday. Gosh, wat a lazy bumb i am!

I promised myself from today on, i will sit down quietly to focus on all the job adverts until my sister's arrival. That leaves me with exactly two weeks. :-D. Jiayou Jiayou!

Anyway, i'm goin to leave you with old Breadsticks today. Hit me with them if i dun do what i've promised.

:-P

On a rainy day all i think of was my first pretzel. n You.

The temperature dropped (again) today. Woke up to a gloomy, cold and dark drizzling day, leaving me no choice but to stuck up at home. Didn't expect the rain to last till now (it's 8pm now, so that's more than 12 hours!).  which means i've been home whole day! I find weather in Melbourne really strange. A good example was yesterday. Remember i mentioned walking under the hot sun in the afternoon, so hot that i was sun burnt? Well it turned dark suddenly in the evening. The wind came and was particularly 'very strong'. But it din last coz in less than 30 mins, the sky turned clear n sunny. N THIS...din last either coz the rain then came. All happened within an hour. How abt tat? no wonder they say, one can experience four seasons within a day in Mel. Wat a place! :-D

I'm not sure if i have mentioned abt pretzels here before, but am sure i did in my other blog which i have deleted. This is my first n only pretzel so far, and ya, i know they looked ugly.

My skills were amateur n bad, as you can see. While Auntie Anne's is thin, crispy with that chewiness so good to taste, mine tasted like a normal plain bread with cinnamon sugar on top in the form of a pretzel. How pathetic!

too fat n plump! tat's all i can describe! perhaps my proofing time was too long? or that i had kneaded too much? Let's hope i can brush up my skills here in Mel, who knows one day i will be famous for Auntie Joyce's pretzel?? LOL. HAHAHA. Dreaming again.......

Custard Raisin Bread

Good morning! :-D. Weather is not as sunny as yesterday, but thank God for today! Went to Boxhill yesterday again, (i love that place for no reason) n woohoooo, saw many many items which i really really really wan. (Mr Jiang, work harder ya **hint*hint*). Like kitchen heaven lol, here goes my wishing list:

1. Kenwood 400W Patissier Mixer (12 speeds, electronic slide controls)  - $349.00 (heavy duty mixer)

2. Breville Juice Fountain Plus (2 speed) - $229.00 (for your daily juice :-D)

3. Philips Lattemento Milk Frother - $139.00 (for hot steaming frothy cocoa :-D) 

4. Tefal Bread Machine - $179.00  (this is super good, lotsa functions! you can have homemade bread everyday!)

Other basic items like good SS kettle, slice toaster, slow cooker, rice cooker, good Tefal woks n frying pans, steam iron (if necessary), Electrolux Side loader washing machine, and fridge?.

And, ya ramkins, sillicon baking wares, pyrex pots, n more more.

Sigh, let's work hard for now and go back to reality.

I'm goin to feature another recipe here, n this time it's BREAD! Yeah, after shortbread n cheesecake, it's time for bread! LOL.

Custard Raisin Bun

(A)

75g bread flour

75g cake flour

1 tsp yeast

60g milk

1/2 egg

30g sugar

25g butter

(B)

1 tbsp custard powder

1/2 tbsp sugar

85g milk

10g butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

20g raisins

Glazing: 1/2 egg

Bring (B) to a boil. Leave to cool, wrap wtih cling film touching the surface of the custard. Mix (A) to form a dough.. Knead. Rest for an hour. Punch gas out and rest for another 15 mins. Roll out, spread (B) and raisins. Roll like swiss roll. Allow to proof till double in size. Cut and arrange onto a round tin. Bake in preheated oven at 180oC for 15 minutes or till brown. Cool before serving.



Sausage - pizza like buns

I love kneading bread doughs! It's my way of releasing stress, anger, disappointment or watsoever tat need not stay inside me. Most of the time, it wld just be myself. I'm angry because i cannot take into control certain things, and lately things have been pretty tough. I do not understand, or maybe it's not up to me or pointless even if i do. So, kneading comes handy when i need to sweat out tat frustration, punching punching punching.......!!

Of course, another good side is my 'punching' doesn't go 'rewardless'. I reap tasty, nice scent of freshly baked homemade bread which becomes an important starter for my day. Yeah, so to me, making homemade bread is a very rewarding process, don't you think so?

Using the basic sweet bread dough, i simply smeared mayo and ketchup before garnishing them with shredded cheese and diced sausages.

Homemade bread, unlike outside bakery ones, is not as soft and fluffy due to none addition of reagents such as bread improver/softener or watsoever. However i'm happy enough becoz i know i'm not eating additional chemicals which may or not, be harmful to my body. Haha, although lately, i've been buying more outside bread than making my own due to busy peasy schedule.

BTW, God is amazing, we found another place to move, and guess wat, they have an oven as well! Din really thought of it as a prerequisite, but again, it's awesome tat everywhere i stay, there is always an oven!! :-)

My Homemade Paus

Now that i'm back into blogging business, it's time to write about food and baking! Haven't got the chance to try out the kitchen here in Singapore, but seems like our landlady is pretty well equipped. If i'm not wrong, there are two Kitchen Aid heavy duty mixers hiding in the cupboard, and the big 'supposed-to-be' built-in oven tells me that it's just sooner or later. Not forgetting there are adorable kids here! The most blessed thing is, i'm allowed to use everything!! :-) God is super gracious, isn't He?! That is my Jehovah Jireh!

For the past couple of months, i've been baking and trying out many new goodies in BJ, just to make sure that i've learnt all i could while i was 'free'. I was a bit upset when they blocked blogspot in May (think it had sth to do with the Xinjiang incident), and was not then keen to take photographs of everything i've made. Most of them were chiffon cakes as they were considered the healthiest version but i guess the most significant reason was that everybody was trying to keep 'fit'. So ranging from this weird flavour to the other, i think i've baked more than 50 chiffon cakes in the past six months. Scary huh? Not to mention, the amount of butter and cream cheese i've used for the past year, freaks me out when i think of it, and suprisingly, i couldn't remember how they were all consumed!

One of my significant homemade items worth blogging is pau! Yes, I can make paus now, ranging from red bean filling, char sao, vegetarian and pork with egg. Probably not as good as those from KK (KK-ers, be proud u have the best food in the world, if not best, second best!), but definitely much better than those in BJ (the char sao pau there is terrible!) or Singapore (as far as those i've eaten). I think part of the reason is because i use good and original ingredients, instead of coloring, MSG, ammonia or whatever they use in the shops to make sure their paus look as good as possible or taste ok at the lowest capital cost.

Don't have to guess, the primary reason why i decided to go all the trouble to knead that dough and cook the fillings was due to my 'addiction' or favouritism towards 'char sao pau'. I miss my childhood pau and the paus that served as my breakfast every morning. When i think of it, i feel silly, it took me so long to actually make one myself! Which means i have been eating red colorings, ammonia and MSGS all the while!

The fillings weren't as hard as i had thought. Managed to get hook of the exact taste i like during my constant trials of baked 'siew bao'. As for the pork with egg filling, just add the necessary seasonings into some fresh minced pork, boil some eggs and a good pork pau is on the way.

Like i said, i didn't snap exactly each pau, but here are some which Hubby has shot for me:

Red bean Oval Pau

Pork Bao (Zhu Rou Bao)

Mixed Paus

Can't wait to make zhu yuk pao for my dad!

Friday already?

Phew, time flies! Seems like Mother's Day was just yesterday, and it's Friday already. Even me who is considerably the most free person in the world is amazed at how time passes by every day. Every night i would look back and think of the stuff i've done throughout the day. I would feel ashamed, because the answer is often baking. It's only a hobby, but it has become some sort of a daily routine. I would then shake my head and tell myself that i need to focus on something else instead. Or work harder on my Chinese. :-P

As evidenced in the below, I've spent most of this week on baking, again. Starting from our daily breakfast sweet buns of various fillings,

to the first attempt of Guang Su Bing

and more Baguettes

for some Bruschettas (my version).

Not forgeting also, my continuous practice on chinese flaky pastries which has definitely improved a lot:

I also learnt to make hua jian (steamed flower buns) from mom in law, and helped her wrapped some chinese bao zis for dinner.

The only difference this week was i managed to visit a big local market and got some of my favourite foods like asparagus (i heart heart heart asparagus very much!!)

more raw walnuts (very good for hair and brain),

a big Chinese yam, coz i was thinking of making yam buns/ cake,

and more lychees which i can never resist hehe...

Spotted a lot of loquats and got a few since i've not tried any before.

From today onwards, i have a new commitment:

'Upgrade the proficiency of my English which includes fluency in speaking, extensive vocabulary knowledge and usage, and improvement in my writing skill.'

Trust me, as you read this blog, my English seems to be getting to nowhere.

BBQ Pork Buns

I had some leftover char sao filling from the siew bao bake the other day, so decided to make some baked buns. Wanted to imitated the ones from No. 10 or a coffee shop at Lido, but i knew i would not succeed this time as the filling itself is already far from worse in comparison to their buns. Sigh, i miss char sao bao oh :-( and many many other food like muk shu gao, sea water fish (in sweet and sour, thai sauce or asam masam), guava, and my parents' cooking (although it's just baked beans and egg). Haha, sounds like as if i had lost my trademark. It's true, no kidding, go and ask around people who know me what they knew about me, and they'll tell you 'she eats char sao bao everyday' or 'she likes sweet and sour very much'! No longer the case now, so don't be surprised if i'm lighter a few kilos.

Why am i telling you all this? No intention, i was just reminding myself that humans need to update, adapt and change to new things/ environment from time to time. Can't stick on to a habit for long, especially when it has become like an obligation or stronghold if it's the right word. I used to eat char sao bao, muk shu gao and drink countless cups of coffee everyday. Honestly, that was my daily must-have menu. And, when comes to selection of dish in a chinese restaurant, sweet and sour fish would be first on my mind. Also, I barely had any meals without tomato sauce or chilli. Reason, they are my favourites. Today i don't anymore. Not that i dislike them, infact they are still my No. 1 favourites, but i've come to the point of accepting that i can't have everything i want at all times. Every place has a different culture, eating lifestyle and habit. Importantly, i can't bring 'home' with me to wherever i go.

In BJ, i'm trained to eat lotsa vegetables (of which some i've never seen before) and nutritious snacks like walnuts, dried dates, fresh fruits and seaweed etc and drink tea instead of coffee. My meat intake has reduced a lot this year, but beef consumption seems to have doubled. In terms of fish, we have them almost every week; fresh water ones though. And oh ya, i also have an apple a day. It's my must-have now.

Nothing is impossible when comes to kicking off some old habits or routine. As long as one is willing to give up and take in new things. And this is what i'm learning hard now.

Of course home is still the best, because that's where i grew up and spent most of my years. That's the place i know i can get the best 'char sao bao' although it may not be to many people, and where i can drink good soups because my grandma and mom boil the best nutritious soup. And where i can eat lots and lots of good fresh seawater fish!

I can make Baguettes now!

Was so excited when i was attempting my first baguette last Thursday. It wasn't as hard as i had thought, just need to understand a few important steps and ta-dah, i can make my own baguettes! No need to buy anymore and i'm proud because they claimed mine's better than outside ones! (cheh) Although they could be crispier on the outside....

Baguette is actually the French term for long French stick bread with crispy crust but soft internally. Most of the time i got a bit confused over the length and diameter of the different loaves i see in the supermarkets/bakeries, because short or long, some still term them equally as baguettes or French stick. The French, on the other hand has more definite and precise terms and standard measurements for their loaves. I did a bit of research, and found that a baguette should have a standard diameter of 5 or 6cm, and can be up to a meter in length, though usually about 60cm. I'm sorry to say that mine does not meet the length requirement, as i don't have a super wide oven but diameter wise, i made sure i followed the rule properly.

The texture was pretty good, and like most others, baguette is nearly oil free. Only basic ingredients are needed, e.g. high protein flour, yeast, and water, which makes me wonder, why they mark up the price outside. Don't tell me coz they need to cover the cost of wide ovens!

With the fresh baguettes, we had good French sandwiches for breakfast the next morning!

Heavenly sesame Bagels

Tell you a joke: i've never tasted my own bagels, eventhough i've made them a few times. Not a good practice for me to improve further, but then again, it's not like i don't eat everything i made, just so happened that i don't fancy bagels. Instead, i justified my skill by taking in comments from people who consumed them, especially Hub.

I remade bagels again yesterday so that Hub who's sitting for an exam today can have his heavenly for breakfast. This time they were sesamely loaded; or lavishly covered with black and white sesame, as requested by Hub. Sesame is good; rich in calcium and other nutrients, and good for the brain (at least i think they are).

I omitted oil totally at this attempt, so they are practically nearly fat free (apart from the sesame). The sizes are much bigger (as they are only four), and i believe they look much better than my previous bagels, although i still need more and lotsa improvement.

As usual, you can sandwich anything with bagels, and my treats contain lettuce, tomatoes, beef and ham with a spoonful of mayonaise. Funny enough, i rather eat my newly bought instant dried noodles than my bagels this morning! (OK, i'm not an instant noodle fan nor do i fancy noodles, but the noodles here taste 100% much better than those back home and i need to try some before i buy back home right?)

In the end, there are two options left on the table; white or black. Let them pick.

P/S: All the best and i trust you can do it!

I heart my pita pita!

Pita pita, i'm falling in love with it! It's healthy, contains almost zero oil, and it goes very well with scrumptuous beef slices (or lamb/eggs/whatever u desire) and fresh vegetables! My all-in-one nutrition pack! Iron, fibre, carbs, calcium, zinc and vitamins...yumz!!!

Importantly, these pocket breads are easy to make! And you only need at most 1 1/2 hours to get hot freshly baked pitas! I'm noting pita down in my regular-to-do list. As a matter of fact, mom in law has even decided that we should make and eat healthy pitas instead of chinese pancakes (jian bing).



Help! Improvements needed to get big pockets!!

Pockets in pita are as important as butter in Danish pastries. I believe a successful pita is one that puffs (or swells like a balloon) inside the oven, and has this big deep gap in between the two surface when cut. The pocket is where you place your preferred fillings, so the deeper it is the more you can insert, isn't it?

I prefer my pita to be much thinner, but some people like Hub think pita with a thickness of 1cm would be just right to allow them to enjoy the goodness of wheat. Perhaps and also, I guess it's more filling if you have more starch?

Pain au chocolat? YUmmmz

Don't judge by its name. It's not as complicated as it sounds. Fairly simple, i used the leftover croissant dough from previous bake, wrapped each square piece with at least 3 chunks of Meiji Chocolates (I wanted to use my other much better chocolates, but since it was my first attempt, Meiji was the only one i was willing to give away, haha), left them to proof for almost 2 hours, and got myself these magic treats! Of course, the croissant dough didn't come easy....

Anyway, they were good, even better with my hot cup of Harrods Blend 49, and some freshly picked strawberries!

The next time i make these, i promise i'll be more generous with my chocolates.

What's next after puff?

CROISSANTS! ! ! I finally achieved another mission, isn't that great news? And believe me, this is supertedious, not in the sense where lotsa work is involved (which i do not mind), but more of like the precautions and extra care that i have to take when making them...Good stuff are normally complicated huh??

Croissant is a well known French pastry (i used to think it was Danish!) which has this crescent shape (like a moon). This buttery flaky and extremely fattening pastry is made of layers of yeast dough with butter, through three succeeding processes: rolling, folding and chilling. A well made croissant not only emphasizes on the distinct shape itself, but should be light and flaky.

Croissants and Danish pastries are the same, although croissant is more on the savoury side and danish the sweet. Both doughs are made with similar ingredients, and needless to say, very generous amounts of butter. The yeast dough is rolled out thinly to wrap up a chunk of butter and then folded into numerous layers. Chilling in between is required to ease handling of the dough and to prevent the soft butter from oozing out during the rolling process. It is the several repetitions of rolling, folding and chilling that creates the fluffiness, buttery and flakiness in the pastries.

This is my first attempt in making croissants, and definitely more space is needed for improvement. I think my croissants are too soft, which i am not pretty sure if this is right since i hardly and seldom eat croissants (considering the fats in it).