Bread!!!...........I am obsessed.......

Life has been busy....Just realized that my last post was in June.......What have i been doing?

Well, let me think..............

Oh yes! Went to Hong Kong and Taiwan with my husband, opened a hostel with my husband, removed over 12,000 nonnative fish from the lake.........................not too too much, right :P

Anywaz, when i actually managed to find some free time, I have been obsessed with bread making.

With different styles!

French, Japanese, Chinese style....

And different techniques too!

Sour dough starters, Wet base starters, Low temp proofing, etc....

Loving all the fresh bread in my house :)

A High Altitude Cupcake Experiment

I know I have neglected my blog for a long long while.....but life has been busy....and what else can i say :P..........

But now I have a new project....and I want to document it, so my blog comes in handy again :)

A High Altitude Cupcake Project..............My quest to find a good cupcake recipe fit for high altitude baking. Recently a permanent residence at 6250 feet........I am troubled with tasty cupcakes like the ones from sea-level.....plus I have another reason to do this, but I will tell you all later :)

More later.....right now, studying "Pie in the Sky: Successful baking at high altitudes" to get some ideas on what i am dealing with........

Wish me luck :)

My first bagel attempt

My first bagel attempt......was ok.....It actually looked and tasted like a bagel......but it is a little on the flat side............will need some improvements

A tricky bbq pork bun business.......

I don't even have a picture of them this time, cause they got devoured so quickly.... it is not even funny! The one above is from a while ago :)

Even since the first time I made them........BTE, CS, and MW have not stop requesting them......I have even recruited the whole of Ryan household to make some a while ago...........

Since I haven't made them in a long while, I decide to produce some to satisfy those hungry minds :)

I said I was going to post the recipe a long while ago, but i forgot.......so I will do that this time..........

Cha Siu Bao (BBQ Pork Buns)
Make about 12

Dough

2 ¼ cups of All purpose flour ( I usually use 1 ¼ cup of bread flour and 1 cup whole wheat)
3 tsp baking powder
½ C white sugar
2 ½ tbsp vegetable oil
3 tbsp water
8 tbsp milk

Procedure:
1. In a large mixing bowl, mix all dry ingredients together (flour, sugar and baking powder)

2. Add milk to the mixture and mix it with your hands until the flour completely absorbs the milk

3. Add water and mix it with your hands until completely absorb

4. Add vegetable oil and try to form dough. At this point the dough is still not very smooth and elastic.

5. Take the dough out of the bowl and knead for about 15 to 20 mins until dough become smooth and elastic

6. You can also do all that with the bread maker just follow the procedure of adding the ingredients

7. Cover the dough with saran wrap and let it rest for an hour

8. Divide dough into desire size, row them flat with a rolling pin (roll the edges thinner for easier wrapping) and is ready for use

Filling

1 C diced BBQ pork (pork marinated with Chinese BBQ sauce and cook either on BBQ or in the oven)
½ C diced onion
*I also like to put other vegetables in them, e.g. yellow squash, zucchini

Seasoning for the filling

½ tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp ketchup
1 ½ tsp soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
2 ¼ tsp corn starch
5 tbsp water

Procedure

1. Heat oil in medium low heat and add chopped onion in pan, sauté until golden brown (about 5 mins)

2. Turn to medium high heat, add pork and sauté for a few min

3. Add Chinese cooking wine and give it a quick stir

4. Add all other seasoning (except corn starch) and 3 tbsp of water and allow to simmer for a few min

5. Mix corn starch with remaining water and add the pork mixture

6. All the sauce to thicken (keep stirring)

7. Turn off the heat and add sesame oil and mix well

8. Allow to cool and sauce thicken

9. Ready for filling

Buns

1. Fill flatten dough with fillings

2. Steam for 8-10 mins on boiling water until bun become nice and fluffy


I usually have to put them into bags and separate them so everyone gets a fair share of them........and this is how much they love them.......

CS and BTE came home after a day of boating and wanted some...... but they weren't going to share, so each of them took one out of their own bag..............then when CS was about to leave.....BTE was like "do you want to look after MW's bag?"............and CS was like "of Course......extra buns for me"...................I had to hide MW's in the freeze so they won't disappear into the boys' stomachs......

Then the next day I ask BTE if he can bring MW's pork buns to her at the soccer game.....and BTE's response was....... "sure..... but it will cost her.......one pork bun for delivery"........

See......BTE and CS have also went as far as wanting me to make "all you can eat pork buns" for them.........

See that is why it is a tricky business........I can only make some many.........sigh

but Thanks, boys and girls for loving them so much :)

Went sailing...................

A view of the sky, the mainsail, the boom and................a black object :P

I just had an epic field week this past week............I was out on the lake in the boat for a whole week..... every single day!!! Hahaha.... don't worry, I am not complaining.... I just want to make you all envious of me hehe (evil eh!?!).

Anywaz, was gonna have my first outdoor climbing experience in Tahoe last weekend, but that fail through instead I went sailing (not a bad alternative eh!). So last Sunday, I went sailing on BTE and DT's sail boat.........It was actually the first time this summer that I was on a boat but not WORKING!!! Amazing..............

Boat owners........DT and BTE

It was kind of a short notice so I didn't have enough time to make a spread of food...........I used up some of the peaches i bought for making a Brown butter Peach Tart for another event and some leftover puff pastry from 4th of July and made some Mini Peach and Goat Cheese Tart.


It was raining in the beginning so we had to hang out in the Van for a bit, which was kind of fun...almost like a car picnic :) Then, the sky started to clear up a little bit........and off we go............There wasn't much wind on our way out to Commons Beach...........so we basically powered out there, anchored, listened to some pretty so so music, drank some wine and relaxed!!!


On our way back, wind started blowing so we managed to sail a tiny bit...............but not for long , and the wind was gone (oh it rhymes!!!)

Melanie steering us home during our 5 mins of actual sailing!!! (and yes we made it home :P)

Heading home (if you look close enough, you will notice that we were motoring home hehe)

Non work related boating was really fun...........Hopefully will get to again soon..........well if you guys can give an earlier notice.........I promise I will make more food :)

Bread trial # 4: Sweet potato bread

I have to say.... or as all of you can tell.............I have be in love with bread making lately!!!........

I have always thought that breads are really hard to make, but what I have realized after these experiments is that they are actually easier than other forms of baking (e.g. cake, pastry, etc...). The most important component is patience............

The particular bread making method used for this sweet potato bread can be said to be the ultimate patience tester!!!

Different from the other methods.......This one is (again I am making this name up):

Cold Rising Method

The dough after the initial kneading process is then stored in a Ziploc bag and let rise in the fridge for ~20-24 hrs...... apparently this allows the flour particles to absorb and re-distribute the H2O.............and allow the gluten to form slowly and steadily to develop flavours..........


I added some mashed sweet potatoes in the bread dough.......sweet potatoes not only provided the bread with some natural sweetness........but they are also responsible for the orangy, gold glow of the loaf


Methods

300 g Bread flour

100g Whole wheat flour

180ml Whole milk / soy milk

~250g Mashed Sweet potatoes
*I just cooked mine in the microwave with a little bit of milk and then mashed it

80ml Honey
*that is about 1/3C

20g Milk powder

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp dry yeast

1) Combine all dry ingredients

2) Add wet ingredients to Mix 1

3) Knead dough until a smooth and elastic dough is formed
* This dough is a bit wet, so it will still be slightly sticky but certainly elastic is key

4) Let rise in RT for 30 mins

5) Transfer dough into a large Ziploc bag and put it in the fridge

6) Let rise in the fridge for ~ 20-24 hrs

7) Take out and let sit at RT for 30 mins

8) Shape dough to desire shape or add fillings

9) Let rise in a warm draft free place for another 40 mins or until dough double in size

10) Baked @ 180C for 20-40 mins depending on shape and size
* I made two loafs..... so they are bigger and took about 40 mins to bake


Result


A lovely orange loaf with a hint of sweet potato both in flavour and scent........!!! delicious............

2/3 of a loaf was gone in 2 mins...........


After all these experiments, I have to say


I WANT A BREAD MACHINE


Maybe i should save up and then instead of buying a car when i move to Tahoe, I should buy a BREAD MACHINE

I guess unless I can be as lucky as Inga and manage to find one off the street for free.... I doubt that would happen in Tahoe..........

I guess i can only hope :P

Bread trial # 3 Sweet bun with lotus seed filling

Using the same bread recipe as Bread experiment # 1 but added much more moisture because I want to create a moister bread..............

I have also used the "old" dough method.........not sure what the proper name is in English, but it is a really popular bread making method in Asian. What you do essentially is to combine in your "new" dough an "old" dough that you saved from your previous bread making experiment. This method is suppose to create a moist and full of flavour output, because the flour, gluten, moisture and all the lovely little yeast were given time to be friends with each other in your "old" dough and that little piece of "old dough you saved with give your "new" dough a whole new level of texture and flavour............well theoretically speaking

Methods:

Bread flour 500g ( I used 300 g of white bread flour and 200 g of whole wheat flour)
* I also added a hand full of oatmeal, wheat bran, and grounded flex seed

Sugar 35g

1 large egg

butter@room temperature 50g

Yeast 1 1/2 tsp

Salt 1 1/2 tsp

Milk or soy milk 300ml

* I had some pear sauce left (~ 2 tbsp) so i added that in there too, figured it will make the bread more moist


1) Mix the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, yeast, salt) together

2) Add egg and pear sauce and mix until combined

3) Add milk/soy milk

4) Use dough hock and knead at low speed for 5 mins, then switch to medium speed and knead for about 5 mins

5) The dough should appear slightly sticky and wet

6) Take out the dough and head knead it until smooth and elastic (when you pull the dough and stretchy thin film should form)

7) Let rest in a warm spot for ~ 1hr (x2 in size)

8) Reshape and rest for 10 mins

9) Cut and shape dough, or add fillings to your desire
* So I added some lotus seed paste filling which you can get in China town, mine came in a can ~$ 2.50)

10) Let rest again for another ~ 1 hr (cover with wet cloth, ~ x1.5 in size)

11) ~180C oven for about 10-20 mins depending on shape and size

And the result was:





Some yummy looking golden little buns............is super moist and soft, plus the lotus seed paste added a different note and texture to the bread................lovely!!!

Well I guess what i have to say about my own bread is not a unbiased source for proper data collection.......I should really wait for the true comments from my daring tasters @ RW to validate my result :)

But this is sure to be an interesting method..........so next time when you try to make bread, be sure to save a little for your future bread making endeavors

If you have tasted this bread, please leave a comment!!! Thanks!!!

Bread Trial #2 Chocolate Bread

I saw this recipe on NPR (click to see and listen to the yummy choc bread) about a week ago.............and i have been thinking and thinking about it...............so since i got to go home early today (i.e. 8:30pm)..........I decided I am going to give it a try.................

Yeah I have been super busy these days. I thought post thesis days would be more play, fun and relaxing............but I am as busy as before...........I guess mostly is because I have to prepare for my driving test this Friday, plus i have a whole bunch of errands i need to do to prepare for my "still don't know when I am leaving" departure to Tahoe.............

Anywaz.... my dough is in the oven rising...................Get bigger Get bigger..........stay tune !!!

Trader Joe's Mocha Green Tea Cake Mix--MY interpretation

My version of Trader Joe's Mocha Green Tea cake mix.....

I turned them into mini cupcakes with mocha infused white chocolate...............

I love green.................and green tea

p.s. I am now a Master of Science HAHAHAHAHAHA

Bread Trial # 1 (Read Bean, Scallion, Raspberry)

Here are the experimental results.................I will post the method and conclusions later..........

ToFu in Brownies???...It is actually yummy!!!

Vegan baking............



It was always hard for me to imagine baking without eggs, butter, and milk.... just mixing those 3 ingredients alone with some sugar and loads of yummy desserts can be made........

For people who love bake goods......i guess butter can be replace with margarine, cow's milk can be replace by soy milk....... but eggs would be something hard to take away...... that golden glow that eggs give to a pie and bread...... that rich texture that eggs give to mousse and cookies......

BUT....i got some interesting news..........BTE told me he is allergic to eggs.........NOOOoooooooo

What to do.... what to do......

For a sweet tooth like BTE, i guess Vegan baking is the only way..........

So there, i started my quest of baking WITHOUT eggs......


Experiment #1

Fudgy Chocolate Brownies

I am sure a lot of you know that...... eggs and butter are two of the key ingredients for really fudgy brownies.........well i guess butter is easy... just replace it with vegetable oil.... but what about eggs......

I found this really cool vegan website.... which seems like is pretty famous among the Vegan circle.... and they have a recipe for some tasty brownies...... and its main ingredient is TOFU!!!

Well I eat a lot of tofu, but i would have never imagine to put tofu in brownies....where i guess you can coat anything with chocolate and make it taste good (maybe not everything :P)........plus it has all these great reviews..................I CAN DO THIS!!!

www.theppk.com

go to their website and get the brownies recipe....... they also have loads of other really yummy looking recipes......

I change the amount of some of the ingredient a little bit and it still turns out great!!!

I add a little extra water to my tofu mixture... mine just seemed too thick in the blender, perhaps my tofu was just extra extra firm (hence lower water content)?

I have to warn you the final mixture (after you add in the flour and coco powder) doesn't look like you typical brownie mixture.... it is much stiffer.... sort of dough like.....doesn't really pour out. I actually have to pat down my "dough" into my baking dish.......

Results:

Extremely delicious Brownies.... animal products free...........

Tomorrow is V-day....... I think i will pack some of these to work......why make myself skinny when i can make everyone else fat haha!!!........The joy of sharing :P

Conclusion:

Vegan baking is achievable.... and not as hard as i think it would be......... therefore this research project will be continuously funded by ME!!!

A Day Off: Chocolate Banana Cupcake with pecans cream cheese frosting

Today is the second day of the biggest snow storm ever..........



I have never ever seen so much snow before..... well i guess that is also partly because i grew up in a very warm place up until I was 18

Got a call today from my boss Mary...... "the library is close today.......too much snow..... I don't think anyone will come to the library today"

I usually work on Sunday at the library as a librarian from 1-8.......Yeah a day off..... but what am i going to do?

I can't really get to school (or i don't want to head out in the crazy snow) and work on my thesis......

maybe i will make that cupcake that I have been dreaming about ever since i found those mini muffin tins in the kitchen at my new place.........

I have to admit during busy times, i am a lazy baker and find myself using a lot of cake mixes to save some time..........but i always use organic cake mix...... cake mix without all the weird chemicals in conventional cake mix that i myself ,a self-proclaimed scientist or my chemist sister cannot even understand.............and if you are a label reader like me.... you will find that the ingredients in organic cake mixes are just about the same ingredients that you would use if you start from scratch

In this package of cake mix that i used...... the ingredients are

1. organic wheat flour
2. organic cane sugar
3. baking soda
4. cream of tartar
5. salt
6. organic natural vanilla flavour
7. organic carob bean gum

Not bad eh? everything pre-measured and ready to go............so i can just focus on adding other ingredients to make the standard vanilla cake mix more interesting!!!

This cake mix calls for

1. 3 large eggs (Organic if you want to maintain the organic theme)
2. 2/3 cup (150 ml) organic milk
3. 1/2 cup (125 ml) organic vegetable oil

To make my chocolate banana cupcakes, I changed the above ingredients just a tiny bit

Materials:

1. 2 large eggs
2. 1/2 cup organic soy milk
3. 2 over ripen organic banana (mushed by a fork and some "heavy duty arm strength")
4. 1/4 cup organic pear puree (which act as a substitute to the vegetable oil.....you see that people use applesauce for the same purpose a lot too.....but i like the idea of pears in cakes.......* A little trick of mine: you often find applesauce or other fruit puree come in big jars and if you only use it for baking once in a while, then is really not worthy to buy a big jar..... what i do is i get the baby food fruit puree.... they are inexpensive, alway come in little jars and free of additives)

Methods:

1. Preheat oven to 325F
   
2. Mix all wet ingredients together
   
3. Combine wet ingredients with cake mix
4. Pour batter in mini muffin pans (a package of cake mix should yield ~48 mini cupcakes)
5. Bake for 15-20 mins
6. Cool in pans on rack for 10mins and then remove from pans for complete cooling
   
7. Ready for frosting

I used the cream cheese frosting recipes from the famous Sprinkles Cupcakes in L.A. to make my pecans cream cheese frosting. I found the recipe a long time ago and i can't really remember where it came from.

Materials:

1. 1 pkg of cream cheese (~8 oz)
2. 1/2 stick of butter (~1/4 cup)
3. Pecans as much as you like
4. 3 cups of confectioner's sugar
5. a dash of vanilla extract

Methods:

1. Blend cream cheese and butter until soft and fluffy
2. add sifted confectioner's sugar in the mixture until desire sweetness and consistency
3. Add a dash of vanilla extract for flavouring
4. Grind pecans in food processor or coffee grinder until fine (not the one you use to grind coffee though)
5. Add processed pecans into cream cheese frosting and mix with a spectula

Conclusion:

Frost the cupcakes and CONSUME!!!

* I coated some pecan with organic dark chocolate for deco of the cupcakes

* I know the piping is a bit weird..... I can't find my piping tips.... WHERE ARE YOU???
* You might see some pink bites in the frosting.... that was because i added too much sugar in the frosting cause i wanted a stiffer consistency and end up being to sweet, so i added a little bit of grapefruit juice to cut the sweetness