I am not kidding you. In fact, the "5 minutes" starts from the point of putting the can on the kitchen counter till having your first spoonful of these salty, buttery sweet corn kernels. I always keep a can or two of these in the pantry because there will be days when I'm all alone at home and instead of yearning for a full meal of carbs, I think about those styrofoam-cup-fuls of jagung sold for no less than RM3 or S$2 in the malls. Honestly I had not bought those for too many years now.
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One of the things I've been practising in the past year is to make crêpes. It sounds trivial: flour, eggs and milk beaten up to produce a runny batter which is then spooned onto a heated pan, flipped over and voilà. But you know what they say -- talk is cheap. What is the right proportion for the three ingredients? The eggs and milk: cold or at room temperature? Whisked or blended? Pan: cast-iron, non-stick or stainless steel? Heat: low, medium or high? Fire or induction? One can read up on the internet and still messes things up when doing it, for instance, lumpy batter that is not ready for the pan. And finally, there's the look on the husband's face that says it all. Meaning, he still prefers the ones he had as a kid. Meaning, "The next time we go back to France, I'll ask my mum to teach you." Which was what he did. And she did. And thus I did. In fact, in the past months I've turned crêpe-making into an organized process which, in my humble opinion, is worthy of ISO certification. JL now asks for them and can take up to eight crêpes per seating. Me, I happily oblige every time since it's been internalised. It may not be the world's best recipe but it's definitely one I can call my own. This can be done with just a wooden spoon and a bowl for the batter. But allow me to share some key details which you won't find in any magazine or food article: * As soon as you decide to make crêpes, take the milk, eggs and a tablespoon of butter out of the fridge. Leave these on the counter to warm to room temperature. Until then, carry on with your life. * Measure the flour by weight, not by cup. My "Golden Ratio" -- 100g flour : one egg : 250ml milk. Laugh all you want but, you're welcome. * It is easy to obtain a lump-free batter when you use a blender. But you can also get a smooth batter with just your spoon. So you don't need a blender, really. You just need to know how to do it with your hands. I'll describe it later. * You need to "rest" the batter for at least an hour before using it. Trust me. Ready? Let's just work with 300 grams of flour. Follow the Golden Ratio and it's always one tablespoon of butter. Start by making a well with the flour in your bowl. Break one egg in the well, use your spoon to cut into the yolk. Working in a small circular motion, gently incorporate the flour with the egg until you get a pasty texture. Add a small amount of milk and keep mixing the ingredients slowly but thoroughly. Alternate between adding of egg and milk till the third egg. Continue to stir in small amounts of milk to incorporate all the flour. Then, stir in the butter, a pinch of salt, and a teaspoon of sugar. And finally, stir in the remaining milk. You'll get a very runny batter, much like the consistency of heavy cream. Now let it rest. After some years of teaching mathematics and music in Singapore secondary schools, I have two words engraved on my forehead: Best Practices. And this is my setup for crêpes - from left to right - input, process, output. Also, I find that induction cooktop is better than gas (fire) because the pan is consistently and evenly heated up. More pleasant to work with too. I use moderate-high heat and only start when my palm feels hot over the pan. With just that tablespoon of butter already in the batter, there is no need for oil on the nonstick pan.
The rest of it comes with practice, practice, and more practice. First, you get the hang of the process, right from taking the ingredients from the fridge to eating it. Then, work on getting the exact amount of batter to put on the pan. If you keep using the same ladle and pan, very soon you'll be able to tell if it is too much, too little or just right. Work on your wrist action - how you swirl the pan to spread the batter evenly without any hole. After that, how thin can you get? When do you turn the crêpe over? How? Don't forget to savour that split-second when you slide the crêpe onto the plate. I came to realize that my true enjoyment of crêpes lies in the process of making them, and not so much in the eating. I like that the entire process has been well thought through -- my RO (reporting officer) would have been impressed if this were my KRA (key result area) -- and that it is simple to the point of being primitive. But more importantly, I love watching how the husband turns into that boy all over again, sprinkling sugar before rolling it up like a cigar. Just the way he likes it. Having spent holidays at my in-laws over the years, it has become very clear that appetizers are a "must" before dinner, especially when there are guests coming over. Aperitifs, as it is known in the French culture, is when one enjoys finger-food with drinks, before the real meal.
Here at my in-laws, aperitifs could be as casual as store-bought nuts and crisps with Coke (JL and his father), Orangina (me) or fruit juice (the MIL); or as elaborate as the MIL's homemade puff pastries, tapenade or duck rillette canapes, with the FIL's homemade walnut wine (me), pastis (JL), wine from his little inventory built over the years (the FIL) and fruit juice (the MIL). Casual or otherwise, the common denominator being assembly work. It also helps when there is a little collection of trays and platters in the house (husbands, beware!) to hold different shapes, sizes and portions. But at the very worst, the dessert plate or coffee cup saucer does the job as well -- just like the picture above. It was taken during our time in Cambridge when we had only a set of dinnerware for four people. These appetizers are more American than French, though. Six years ago when I decided to really learn how to cook, I started with Jacques Pépin's Fast Food My Way. Perhaps I was drawn to the photos in the book. But looking back, I think it was more because I was living in Singapore on a budget, thus when it comes to buying cookbooks, I had to be sure that all the stated ingredients were indeed available in that part of the world. Also, that I wouldn't have to pay too much premium for them. (Try buying sweet cherries in Singapore!).
Put simply, I wanted to milk whichever book I bought for all it's worth. One of my all-time favourites from Monsieur Pépin is his mock tiramisu. I love tiramisu. But I hate the fat, calories, cholesterol and eventual weight gain that comes with it. So imagine the excitement upon seeing an egg-free version of it, fully endorsed by this great man. Make this once, twice and by the third time (within the same month), you'll just tell yourself "one, one, quarter" and be spontaneous thereafter. Since my last post was on making a basic Béchamel sauce, I might as well share a simple recipe which you can use your "practice sauce" on. As you get more used to it, you can also make variations to the recipe by changing the vegetables, like carrots or thin-sliced potatoes (and you're getting closer to Gratin Dauphinois).
If not for today's entry, no one will ever guess from whom I learned my first chicken dish. Yes -- first, ever. I was 18 and starving in someone else's kitchen. Not that the last bit mattered because back then, all I knew was to make instant noodles, so who'd care about having a fully equipped kitchen. But for some reason, there was just nothing to eat. Not even a packet of instant noodles.
"It's very easy, one! Just chin-chai, agak-agak add dark soy sauce, sugar and oyster sauce to it. Then microwave!". That's how we Malaysians talk. But I just didn't think he could pull if off, my brother S, as he took some chicken parts out of the fridge. Why not? S was 20 and had been staying on his own for sometime then. But all our years of growing up, I had never seen him touch raw meat, let alone light a stove, that's why! Despite our foolishness (him being overly optimistic; me not trusting the brother who watched my back all through our primary school years), we walloped the chicken that day. And that "guesstimate" approach never left my head. This is one chicken dish that tops my list of comfort food. Well, not exactly the way S had done it, but a little variation of it. Nonetheless, if you're making this for the first time, you may want to start with the recommended proportions and fine-tune it subsequently. Don't get me wrong. I didn't make just 15 brownies. Among the celebrity chefs who have ventured beyond restaurant kitchens to change the way we cook and eat, my "first love" has gotta be Jamie Oliver. Sir Jamie Oliver. The Naked Chef has certainly come a long way!
"Fifteen" refers to the foundation and restaurant Jamie set up in 2002 to help a selected (no prizes for guessing the number) group of young hopefuls have another chance in life. The first Fifteen restaurant came up in London, with subsequent spin-offs in Amsterdam and Melbourne. I've lost count of Jamie's publications but I do have two of his cookbooks which were bedtime stories for yours truly. And these two, in my opinion, are the most inspiring books he had written. Cook With Jamie, is perfect for serious beginners who want to start on the right note. And it is this book from which these brownies were adapted. Because I had the luxury of an entire afternoon with my favourite playlist that kept me going, here are some step-by-step photos to go along with it. Since my earlier post was about kitchen "mishaps", I might as well keep to the theme of "edible mistakes". Besides, this one particularly suits the ocassion all because of how the strawberries are cut. Yup, this is how I usually do it: cut a V-shaped indent and half the strawberry. How this strawberry tart came about I can't quite remember. I think it was based on a recipe in Everyday Food. But my store-bought pie crust couldn't hold its shape when baked blind. The edges just fell inwards in the oven, thus the thicker "folded" look. I spread an entire block of lemon-flavoured cream cheese on it and arranged the strawberries towards the center. They look shiny because of mandarin preserves that was brushed on them.
Happiness is not all about making the right choices and doing the right things every time. Sometimes, happiness occur through the little "accidents" in everyday life. So here's to a lovely Valentine's and a lifetime of happiness, although accidents are not pre-requisites. Confession: what you see above was a mistake. Due to the sudden demise of my five-year-old laptop (I'm still grieving now and then), I thought I'd just go ahead and make some sticky rolls by intuition. No need for looking up ideas on the internet. I'm not a huge fan of cinnamon to be honest, but with the cinnamon swirls which I love from Peet's in mind, I took out the last box of Pepperidge Farm puff pastry sheets and there's no turning back.
Here's what I did, in brief: 1. Roll pastry sheets to slightly bigger than the size of a laptop. 2. Spread fig jam over both sheets. Lightly sprinkle castor sugar over the area. 3. Roll up the sheets loosely. Cut each sheet into 6 wheels. Reshape them a little. 4. Sitting them cut-side up, stuff as much dried cranberries inside the wheels (between layers). 5. Top with torn-up pieces of figs from the jam. Do an eggwash on top and around the wheels. 6. Arrange the wheels on baking tray and sprinkle castor sugar over. Bake 25-30 minutes at 400F. On hindsight, I should have sprinkled the dried cranberries in step 2, after the jam, before the sugar. I suppose it all turned out well - I managed to finish the jam that's been sitting in the fridge for months (neither of us liked it enough...). Edible mistakes - what more to ask for? Coming from two very different cultures, there are days when one struggles to put together a meal which satisfies both myself and the Boss. Some examples of our contrasting tastebuds: yogurt versus tofu, dijon mustard versus pickled mustards (咸菜). I was in a dilemma today: the Boss wanted to have fish, as simple as it can be. Salmon doesn't do it for him. But I like salmon. In fact, I love salmon, especially when it is pan-fried in teriyaki sauce, topped with golden brown garlic bits. That explained the scrunched up face this morning, darling. Anyway, it turned out to be a good problem after all. Almost parallel to that of couples who have grown much older, wishing for nothing more than just "companionship" so to speak. What do they do? They sleep together, but in separate beds. Only in our context, "beds" are two large portions of parchment paper folded in halves. East Meets West En Papillote Serves 2 as a meal Ingredients 0.8lb haddock fillet, rinsed and pat dry 0.8lb salmon fillet, rinsed and pat dry Knob of ginger (thumb-size), peeled and julienned 2 large Shitake mushrooms, sliced 10 cherry tomatoes, sliced 2 stalks scallions, cut to 2-inch lengths, julienned Bunch of cilantro, cut to 1-inch lengths 6 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce 2 tablespoon sesame oil |
brieflyJL and S grew up in France and Malaysia respectively. They met while living in Singapore, stayed a year in the USA (Cambridge, MA) then the south of France, Malaysia, and are back again in the USA (New York, NY). archives
March 2015
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