Stewed Goodness.

It is yet another dready day here in Melbourne. (Guess what song started playing in my head? Lemon Tree. “I’m sitting here in a boring room. It’s just another rainy Sunday afternoon..”. I know, i feel like gagging myself as well) With ominous clouds overcasting the sky, and nary a glimpse of the sun, the city seems to have been lulled into a slumber. It’s just as well the weekend’s almost here for i doubt any effort to get anything done will be fruitless if the weather keeps this way. It’s days like these that i find myself longing for a hearty bowl of stew, accompanied with a couple of thickly sliced french loaf.

There’s something to be said about the wonders a bowl of good stew does for the soul. The layers of flavours melded with the meat falling apart at the gentlest nudge of a fork- if that doesn’t chase the blues from a rainy, cold day, i don’t know what will. Even cooking the stew is therapeutic in itself; there’s hardly anything i enjoy more than simmering stew over the stove as the aroma wafts about the apartment.

I made this French stew a couple of weekends ago and boy did it hit all the right spots. You know what they say about cooking only with wine you would drink? I’m not huge on red wine but i went with one of my favourite brands, [ yellow tail ], and i think it made all the difference.

The bacon and beef are first browned over the stove to seal in their juices and enrich their flavours then simmered in a hearty red wine sauce for a whole hour in the oven.

For all that waiting, the reward comes in the form of a delightful stew, flavourful beef and bite sized vegetables perfectly tender, having been slow cooked and simmered in the red wine. Served on a bed of smooth mashed potatoes, with a side of mushrooms and onions sauteed in olive oil and butter and steamed green beans, i really couldn’t have asked for a better dish to nourish the spirit and sooth the soul.

Beef Bourguignon [adapted from The Age Good Weekend September 1st 2007's issue]

Ingredients
Olive oil
250g bacon, cut into bite size pieces
1.5 kg gravy beef, cut into 3cm cubes
1 large brown onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
450ml red wine
375ml beef stock
3/4 cup chopped tomatoes
Bouquet garni

1 large brown onion, cut into eighths
200g button mushrooms, quartered
Butter
Olive oil
Flat leaf parsley, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 160C. Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan and cook bacon till crisp. Remove from pan and set aside.
2. Fry beef in pan till well browned, adding olive oil if needed. Remove from pan and set aside. Add garlic, onions and carrot to pan, fry till lightly browned. Tip into a flameproof casserole dish. Add beef and bacon to casserole dish.
3. Deglaze the pan with red wine and add to casserole dish along with enough stock till meat is almost covered. Stir into tomatoes and add in bouquet garni. Bring to a simmer, cover and place in oven for about an hour till meat is tender.
4. To make garnish Saute onions and mushrooms in a little butter and oil till tender and lightly browned. Season and add a generous amount of freshly chopped parsley.
5. When meat is tender, remove bouquet garni and skim off any fat. Serve with mashed potatoes and green beans. Serves 6

Celebratory Cakes.

The date October the 22nd was marked in my little organizer right at the start of this year. Circled twice, highlighted and written in big bold loud colours were the words ‘Thesis due”. For all the hours i spent working on my thesis, all the times i wanted to tear my hair out when the results from my model didn’t make much sense, i pushed on, for i knew that magical day, that day when the sun shines a little brighter and the birds sing a little sweeter would arrive and it would all be over.

I have to say, the day arrived a lot quicker than i thought it would. Largely i suspect due to the vast amount of work i had to do within the three weeks i got my draft back and when the thesis was due. It was a mad rush to get everything done, having constantly to edit the paper so as to make it all read a little smoother. But that day, today, did come and I can hardly believe it but it’s done.

I have to admit though that i submitted it with a tinge of sadness that comes along with letting go for something, be it good or bad, that has become part of your life. I’ll miss looking up journal papers on technology, sitting in front of my laptop and just letting my fingers work with the flow but most of all, i think i’ll miss working with my advisor- the lighthearted banter, hours spent sitting in front of the computer picking at each other’s brains, the frustrated moments trying to figure out Word in vain. I would have in all honesty not been able to come this far with my paper if not for the guy. So of course i had to show my utmost appreciation for his display of patience with me and well, for the hell i put him through with my paper.

One of the first things i noticed about him when i stepped into his office to introduce myself way back early this year was what a coffee junkie he is, though i highly doubt he would appreciate my using those words exactly. There were Illy coffee tins everywhere, empty ones being used to hold his stationary and unopened ones neatly lined up on his desk, waiting for their moment to shine. And then of course, he had numerous coffee plungers of varying sizes on his table as well, always accompanied by a cup of freshly brewed coffee. So when i decided to make him cupcakes, there really was no contest when it came to deciding the flavour.

I suppose there’s no shame in admitting how excited i was about making these little babies, way more excited than the prospects of turning in my thesis itself. So much so i leaped out of bed the moment my alarm clock went off, despite only having turned in hours before. Here’s where my story takes a little turn, in typical me fashion. I knew i only had half the quantity of instant coffee the recipe called for but i decided that since i’m trying to cut down on the amount of coffee i consume, rather than buy a whole jar of it, i would just add a couple more tablespoons of Kahlua. Brilliant right? So there i am, happily melting and mixing everything in a saucepan. Everything’s going swimmingly well till i, as i always do, do a little taste test before i fold the flours and egg in. Now i’m not sure if it was just me because i like my coffee really strong and sans sugar, but the mixture was pretty sweet which did not sit well with me at all. And of course, i couldn’t fix it because i had ran out of instant coffee.

So i did the only thing i could think off; run off to my immediate neighbours’ to ask if i could have a couple tablespoons of instant coffee. Being the nice sweet couple that they are, inspite of the fact that i had obviously interrupted their breakfast and not having any instant coffee powder themselves, insisted i take their pack of ground coffee beans and coffee plunger.

So i did, shamelessly if i might add. Adding and tasting as i went along, i must have added in about a quarter of a cup of strongly brewed coffee before i was happy with it. I was a little worried though that the batter might end up being too liquidy since i had added in all that extra liquid. But my fears were soon forgotten as a quick peek into the oven halfway through saw the cupcakes rising like the gorgeous babies that they are.

The cupcakes were really moist with beautiful complimenting coffee and chocolate undertones- the two very best flavours in the world if you ask me. I had today, a day after they were baked, and the flavours had come together really well. I did think of topping them with buttercream instead of the whipped cream the recipe suggest. But given that the cupcakes were pretty dense, which i think might have been due to all that extra coffee, the buttercream would have just made the cupcakes really rich and heavy. The whipped cream was definitely the wiser choice.

I had so much fun decorating the cupcakes; topping it with whipped cream then piping on melted chocolate. It sure was a nice change from all that thesis work

Have a good week you all. I’m catching the Phantom of the Opera tomorrow night with GT and a couple of Honours friends- i can’t wait!

Mochaccinos [adapted from the Australian Women's Weekly]

Ingredients
165g butter
100g dark chocolate
1 1/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup water
1/4 cup Kahlua
2 tsp instant coffee powder
1 c plain flour
2 tbsp self raising flour
2 tbs cocoa powder
1 egg

300ml pouring cream, whipped

1. Preheat oven to 165C. Line a 12 hole cupcake pan with liners and set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine butter, chocolate, sugar, water, Kahlua and coffee powder over low heat. Stir till smooth then transfer to a large bowl and allow to cool for a bit.
3. Whisk in sifted flours, cocoa powder and egg. Divide evenly among cupcake liners and bake for about 40 minutes. Top with whipped cream when cupcakes have cooled completely. Makes 12

All That Crackles.

Ahh, look at that. I don’t know what that picture does for you but it sure as hell makes my mouth water.

Every time my family and i, or GT and i for that matter, eat at a Chinese restaurant, this will definitely be on my table and polished off quickly than you could ask another glorious piece. Yes, we sure love our crispy roast pork.

I live a stone’s throw from Chinatown, easily a two minutes’ walk, and i could have just gone out to get my fix of crispy roast pork, still have time for dessert, take a nice long stroll to Country Road and admire this dress i’ve been thinking of getting, walk all the way back home and would have been done faster than the time it took me to make this roast pork. But really, i just couldn’t resist making it the minute i laid eyes on the recipe in Marcus Wareing’s How To Cook The Perfect..

I’ve raved about this book before but if you ever come across it, take a moment to just browse through it and you’ll see why i can’t and won’t stop yakking about this book already. Like the title says, Marcus promises to help you attain perfection with each recipe in the book. Every recipe, accompanied by gorgeous photographs, has a little section next to it filled with tips on how to get that touch of perfection. And from my experience with this book so far, Marcus sure hasn’t disappointed. Hell, in fact if anything, his recipes has far exceeded my expectations.

For this crispy roast pork, Marcus suggest that you use both fine salt and coarse sea salt for salting the pork belly; fine salt to draw out the moisture and sea salt to create that crackling crust. Of course i know better than to disobey a guy who made his custard tart for the Queen’s 80th birthday banquet, so use both types of salt i did.

I’ve always thought of crispy roast pork belly as more of a chinese dish, usually served with a slightly sweet sauce on a bed of rice, so having it with Spanish onions and green apples was first for me.

It was a perfect marriage of flavours, with the slight tartness of the onions and apples cutting through the saltiness of the pork belly. As promised, the crackling was perfect, crisp and salty, just as we like it.

This was one dish we really enjoyed, so much so the three of us (GT, my sis and i) polished everything off in one sitting. It sure as hell isn’t something you can whip up in an instant but the results are so damned worth it.

Roast Pork Belly with Crackling [adapted from Marcus Wareing's How to Cook the Perfect..]

Ingredients
1 piece of boneless pork belly, about 1 kg, finely scored on the diagonal across its width
10g fine salt
2 Spanish onions, cut lengthwise into wedges
3 Granny Smith apples, cored and cut lengthwise into wedges
1/2 bunch of fresh thyme
Olive oil, for drizzling
Sea salt and freshly ground white pepper

1. Trim off and discard any excess fat from the underside of the belly. Wipe the skin dry, then rub half of fine salt into the skin and in between the score lines. Set aside for about 3 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 160C. Put onion and apple wedges into a heavy roasting pan, along with the thyme. Drizzle with oil and a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper.
3. Place pork belly on top of onions and apples, and wipe skin dry again. Sprinkle in remaining fine salt over the skin and drizzle with oil. Massage these in well then sprinkle with sea salt.
4. Place pan in the hottest part of the oven and roast for 45 minutes. Increase temperature to 190C and roast for a further 45-60 minutes till crackling is crisp. Remove pork from oven and allow to rest in a warm place for about 15 minutes.
5. Remove crackling and cut into thin strips, then carve the meat crossways into neat slices. Serve the pork and crackling with some roasted onions and apples. Serves 4

Baby Steps.

Yeast has sadly never been a friend of mine. Much as i’ve tried to play nice and make its acquaintance in making garlic foccacia, the friendship has somehow never been sealed. Since that flop, i’ve never quite given yeast a second shot, despite dying to make cinnamon scrolls and bagels. So a couple of weeks, i decided it was time to head back to basics before i started messing with yeast in the kitchen; it was time to make bread from a box. Yup, you heard me right. From a box.

It was the first time i’ve ever baked anything out of a box as far as my memory goes so i was extra cautious with this one, reading and re-reading the instructions. It seemed simple enough- just add lukewarm water, mix, knead, proof, punch down, proof some more, chuck into the oven for a bit and viola, bread!

I have to say my favourite part in making this and dough of any sort really is the kneading. All that messing around with flour and kneading till the dough is no longer sticky is highly therapeutic. It was to the extent that i totally forgot about having to work on my thesis, which is alarmingly due in half a weeks’ time.

But that aside, this hardly involved any work although all that proofing is fairly time consuming as far as bread making goes. I made it on a fairly chilly day so i left it to proof for about an hour and a half the second time while i ran off to the gym and shoved it into the oven to do its thing when i got back.

It smelled so damned good while it was baking i swear i ran to the oven every ten minutes to check if it was done. I couldn’t resist and had a slice of it straight out of the oven. The crackly crust was perfect textural contrast to its light and fluffy interior, generously studded with grains.

This mini success with yeast, although straight out from a box, has given me a little of the much needed confidence to start working with yeast. If all goes well, you might be seeing some of those cinnamon scrolls and bagels on this space in the coming months.

By the way, i know this is totally random but if you’re looking for something to read, Mental_floss is such an amazing site. I’ve always love reading and still go through anything with words like they’re gonna be extinct tomorrow but i’m always on the lookout for a good site on the internet- looks like i’ve found it right here. I’ve taken to this site so damned much i just had to rave about it somewhere and where better than here.

So go check it out and start filling your brain with some really interesting knowledge such as how much money exactly you can make off competitive Scrabble and my personal favourite- have product placement deals ever found their way into novels (you would surprised at the answer).

Just don’t blame me if you never get anything else done till you’ve read every word on the site like i have