Okonomiyaki!

So the partner and I have always been interested in Japan.

The culture, food, anime, manga, and all of the above.

I don't quite remember how we stumbled across this dish, but we've made it twice now and it's so easy! And so yummy!



Okonomiyaki - derived from the word okonomi, meaning "what you like" or "what you want", and yaki meaning "grilled".



Toppings and batters varies in the different areas of Japan. I would probably class the one we cooked as an Osaka style, which is cooked with the batter and other ingredients fried on both sides.



Ok first! Ingrediants!

Now this made 4 decent sized individual okonomiyaki.



1/4-1/2 a cabbage

2 cups of flour

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups of miso

250g bacon

4 small chinese pork sausage

1 bunch of shallots (spring onion)

1 pk udon noodles

Peanut oil



For garnishing:

Benito flakes (dried fish flakes)

Kewpie mayonaise (popular asian used mayonaise, tastes like whole egg mayo, but I'm sure any will work)

Dried shallots

Katsu sauce.



Katsu sauce version:

BBQ Sauce

Worcestershire sauce

Soy Sauce

- Equal quantities of all sauces mixed together.

1tbsp Corn Flour (for thickening only, mix with a bit of the sauce seperately before adding)





Directions!



Fry udon noodles quickly in a pan with a bit of peanut oil.

Seperately, fry bacon off so it's pre-cooked.



Slice cabbage up into long thin strips. Don't worry about it too much, any shape will work but long thinner strips seems to work best.

Slice half of the shallots finely.



Mix miso paste with 1 1/2 cups of warm water til it dissolves.

Put miso into a large bowl. Whisk 2 cups of flour into miso.

Add 2 eggs and whisk in.



Add the cabbage and udon noodles to batter mix.



Slice the bacon and the chinese sausage. Place in a seperately bowl and mix in half of the shallots.



Heat a flat pan with a bit of peanut oil. On about medium-low heat.

Place a quarter of the bacon, sausage and shallot mix in the middle of the pan and shape into a round. Cook for 2-5mins.



Place a large spoon of batter, enough to cover the meat generously - on top of the meat mix and shape into a round. Cook for 5mins.



Flip carefully. Then cook for 5-10mins or until the batter is cooked through.



Remove from pan onto plate. Top with katsu sauce, mayonaise, shallots, benito flakes and dried shallots.



Repeat 3 more times!

Enjoy!

Baker's Challenge: Croquembouche

So a challenge it was. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out looking anything like a Croquembouche.

The non-puffy puffs still tasted yummy, and the custard filling was delicious!

I must say I think I was at a slight disadvantage. I decided to cook it with my boyfriend's sister.

She is lovely and we get along great, but I don't think we'll be opening a restaurant together any time soon!

It just so happened, that prior to my visit, she was bowled over by her horse - nothing too serious - but she was on crutches. Which made things in the kitchen a little more interesting!

But alas - my finished product still tasted good!

I think I added too many eggs to the pastry mix!

MAY 2010 - Daring Baker's Challenge : PIECE MONTÉE

Blog-checking lines: The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.

Equipment required:• several baking sheets• parchment paper• a whisk• a pastry brush (for the egg wash)• a pastry bag and tip (a plain tip or no tip is best for piping the puff pastry; you can use a plain or star tip to fill the puff pastry with the cream)• a flat surface such as a baking sheet or cake board/stand on which to assemble your piece montée• some of the items you may want to use to decorate your piece montée include ribbons, Jordan almonds, fresh flowers, sugar cookie cut-outs, chocolates, etc.
Ingredients:
For the Vanilla Crème Patissiere (Half Batch)1 cup (225 ml.) whole milk2 Tbsp. cornstarch6 Tbsp. (100 g.) sugar1 large egg2 large egg yolks2 Tbsp. (30 g.) unsalted butter1 Tsp. Vanilla
Dissolve cornstarch in ¼ cup of milk. Combine the remaining milk with the sugar in a saucepan; bring to boil; remove from heat.
Beat the whole egg, then the yolks into the cornstarch mixture. Pour 1/3 of boiling milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so that the eggs do not begin to cook.
Return the remaining milk to boil. Pour in the hot egg mixture in a stream, continuing whisking.
Continue whisking (this is important – you do not want the eggs to solidify/cook) until the cream thickens and comes to a boil. Remove from heat and beat in the butter and vanilla.

Pour cream into a stainless steel/ceramic bowl. Press plastic wrap firmly against the surface. Chill immediately and until ready to use.
For Chocolate Pastry Cream (Half Batch Recipe):Bring ¼ cup (about 50 cl.) milk to a boil in a small pan; remove from heat and add in 3 ounces (about 80 g.) semisweet chocolate, finely chopped, and mix until smooth. Whisk into pastry cream when you add the butter and vanilla.
For Coffee Pastry Cream (Half Batch recipe)Dissolve 1 ½ teaspoons instant espresso powder in 1 ½ teaspoons boiling water. Whisk into pastry cream with butter and vanilla.
Pate a Choux (Yield: About 28)¾ cup (175 ml.) water6 Tbsp. (85 g.) unsalted butter¼ Tsp. salt1 Tbsp. sugar1 cup (125 g.) all-purpose flour4 large eggs
For Egg Wash: 1 egg and pinch of salt
Pre-heat oven to 425◦F/220◦C degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Preparing batter:Combine water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. At boil, remove from heat and sift in the flour, stirring to combine completely.
Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until the batter dries slightly and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Transfer to a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon 1 minute to cool slightly.
Add 1 egg. The batter will appear loose and shiny.

As you stir, the batter will become dry-looking like lightly buttered mashed potatoes.

It is at this point that you will add in the next egg. Repeat until you have incorporated all the eggs.
Piping:Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large open tip (I piped directly from the bag opening without a tip). Pipe choux about 1 inch-part in the baking sheets. Choux should be about 1 inch high about 1 inch wide.
Using a clean finger dipped in hot water, gently press down on any tips that have formed on the top of choux when piping. You want them to retain their ball shape, but be smoothly curved on top

Brush tops with egg wash (1 egg lightly beaten with pinch of salt).
Baking:Bake the choux at 425◦F/220◦C degrees until well-puffed and turning lightly golden in color, about 10 minutes.
Lower the temperature to 350◦F/180◦C degrees and continue baking until well-colored and dry, about 20 minutes more. Remove to a rack and cool.

Can be stored in a airtight box overnight.
Filling:When you are ready to assemble your piece montée, using a plain pastry tip, pierce the bottom of each choux. Fill the choux with pastry cream using either the same tip or a star tip, and place on a paper-lined sheet. Choux can be refrigerated briefly at this point while you make your glaze.
Use one of these to top your choux and assemble your piece montée.
Chocolate Glaze:8 ounces/200 g. finely chopped chocolate (use the finest quality you can afford as the taste will be quite pronounced; I recommend semi-sweet)
Melt chocolate in microwave or double boiler. Stir at regular intervals to avoid burning. Use the best quality chocolate you can afford. Use immediately.
Hard Caramel Glaze:1 cup (225 g.) sugar½ teaspoon lemon juice
Combine sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan with a metal kitchen spoon stirring until the sugar resembles wet sand. Place on medium heat; heat without stirring until sugar starts to melt around the sides of the pan and the center begins to smoke. Begin to stir sugar. Continue heating, stirring occasionally until the sugar is a clear, amber color. Remove from heat immediately; place bottom of pan in ice water to stop the cooking. Use immediately.
Assembly of your Piece Montée:You may want to lay out your unfilled, unglazed choux in a practice design to get a feel for how to assemble the final dessert. For example, if making a conical shape, trace a circle (no bigger than 8 inches) on a piece of parchment to use as a pattern. Then take some of the larger choux and assemble them in the circle for the bottom layer. Practice seeing which pieces fit together best.
Once you are ready to assemble your piece montée, dip the top of each choux in your glaze (careful it may be still hot!), and start assembling on your cake board/plate/sheet. Continue dipping and adding choux in levels using the glaze to hold them together as you build up. (You may want to use toothpicks to hold them in place – see video #4 below).
When you have finished the design of your piece montée, you may drizzle with remaining glaze or use ribbons, sugar cookie cut-outs, almonds, flowers, etc. to decorate. Have fun and enjoy! Bon appétit!
Additional Information: Here are some videos you may want to take a look at before you get started on your piece montée.
1) Martha Stewart Assembles a Croquembouche:http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/marthas-famous-croquembouche
2) Assembling croquembouche using the interior of a cylinder:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq-UgMxe0Y43) Asembling Free-standing Croquembouche with Chocolate Glaze:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrIanD5pi9E&feature=related
4) Assembling a Croquembouche with Toothpicks and Cone:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIGaidsM-NI&feature=related
See this google images search of Croquembouche for inspiration:http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&source=hp&q=croquembouche&btnG=Sea...
Here’s a link to a dairy-free pate a choux and crème patisserie recipe:http://dairyfreecooking.about.com/od/dessertsbeverages/r/creampuffs.htm

Mexican Stack

I have a tendency to forget about the recipe side when posting and making dishes.

For the most part, I don't follow a specific recipe when I cook.

I've very much a "oh about a handful or 3 of rice for this" kinda cook.

My dishes do come out pretty good though!

Mexican Stack

Ingredients:

500g beef mince (lean works best)

1 medium brown onion

1 jalapeno chilli ( I use a jar of jalapenos. They're not really spicey and I don't use alot so it keeps!)

Fountain Hot Chilli Sauce

Trident Sweet Chilli Sauce

1 teaspoon crushed red chilli

3 teaspoons crushed garlic or garlic granules

1 small can or container of tomato paste

1 medium zucchini sliced long and thin

1 large carrot sliced long and thin

1 medium capsicum sliced long and thin (I've tried it with both red and yellow so far!)

English spinach or baby spinach, just a small handful.

2-3 teaspoons ground cumin seeds

4-6 regular tortillas

250g cheese (monzerella work's well. But any type will do)

Regular spring-form pan.

Frypan

Method:

Dice onion and brown off in frypan.

Once onion is ready, add beef mince and cook through.

While mince is cooking, add jalapeno, crushed red chilli, ground cumin and garlic to the pan.

Put a tortilla on the bottom of the spring form pan. You may need to gently fold the edges into each other to sit nicely up the sides.

Spread rougly a teaspoon of tomato paste onto the tortilla kind of like you were spreading it onto a pizza. Then spread a teaspoon of hot chilli sauce and sweet chilli sauce on the base as well.

Spoon enough mince to evenly cover the tortilla in the spring-form pan.

Sprinkle a bit of cheese on top. Not too much though, you don't want it too cheesey between the layers, it will cause the tortilla to be soggy.

Place another tortilla on top. Repeat the sauce process from before.

Cover the surface evenly with the spinach leaves. Use roughly half of the chopped up capsicum, zucchini and carrot and arrange on top of the spinach for a level surface.

Sprinkle a bit of cheese again, then place another tortilla on top.

Repeat sauce process and cover with the mince and sprinkle with cheese.

Cover with a tortilla.

For the final layer, I cover with the sauce.

Then I place the vegies for presentation purposes. Sprinkle more cheese on top.

Place in oven at roughly 190 degrees. Probably 180 for most normal ovens though!

Roughly half an hour to 40mins. This will depend on your oven. If your using a fan-forced oven the timing will vary from my own.

Basically, once the cheese on top is nicely melted, maybe slightly brown it's done.

Keep an eye on the edges of the tortilla sticking out the top, these will burn up if the oven is too high for too long.

Nanaimo Bars!

Homemade Graham Crackers

Ok, so last month I decided to sign up for the monthly Daring Bakers Challenge.
And here's my first challenge!

Completed Nanaimo Bars!

Blog-checking lines: The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and http://www.nanaimo.ca/.

Posting Date: January 27, 2010

Notes for gluten-free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars:

• Glutinous rice flour does not contain any gluten, as it is made from a type of rice called glutinous (or sweet) rice.
• The graham wafer dough is very sticky. Make sure you are flouring (with sweet rice flour) well, or the dough will be difficult to remove from the surface you roll it out on. Also be sure to keep it cold. You do not want the butter to melt.
• I chose these flours because of their availability. Tapioca starch/flour and sweet rice flour can often be found in Asian grocery stores, or in the Asian section of you grocery store. Sorghum can be slightly more difficult to find, but it can be replaced with brown rice flour, millet flour or other alternatives.
• In the Nanaimo Bars, it is very important that the chocolate be cool but still a liquid, otherwise the custard layer will melt, and it will mix with the chocolate, being difficult to spread. Allow the chocolate mixture to come to room temperature but not solidify before spreading the top layer on.

Variations allowed:
• Although I highly recommend using gluten-free flours, as the chemistry is very interesting and the end result can be amazing, you are allowed to use wheat.
• If making them gluten-free, no wheat, barley, rye, triticale, kamut, spelt, durum, semolina, or other gluten containing ingredients may be used. Removing those ingredients ensures it is safe for those with Celiac Disease and other health issues where gluten causes problems. If you do plan on serving this to someone on a gluten-free diet, also ensure no cross-contamination occurs.

Preparation time:
• Graham Wafers: 30 to 45 minutes total active prep, 2 ½ hours to overnight and 45 minutes inactive prep.
• Nanaimo Bars: 30 minutes.

Equipment required:
• Food Processor
• Bowls
• Parchment paper or silpats
• Cookie sheets
• Double boiler or pot and heatproof bowl
• 8 by 8 inch square pan
• Hand mixer or stand mixer (You may use a wooden spoon, but this makes it much easier!)
• Saucepan

For Gluten-Free Graham Wafers
Ingredients
1 cup (138 g) (4.9 ounces) Sweet rice flour (also known as glutinous rice flour)
3/4 cup (100 g) (3.5 ounces) Tapioca Starch/Flour
1/2 cup (65 g) (2.3 ounces) Sorghum Flour
1 cup (200 g) (7.1 ounces) Dark Brown Sugar, Lightly packed
1 teaspoon (5 mL) Baking soda
3/4 teaspoon (4 mL ) Kosher Salt
7 tablespoons (100 g) (3 ½ ounces) Unsalted Butter (Cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen)
1/3 cup (80 mL) Honey, Mild-flavoured such as clover.
5 tablespoons (75 mL) Whole Milk
2 tablespoons (30 mL) Pure Vanilla Extract

Directions:
1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine the flours, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Pulse on low to incorporate. Add the butter and pulse on and off, until the mixture is the consistency of a coarse meal. If making by hand, combine aforementioned dry ingredients with a whisk, then cut in butter until you have a coarse meal. No chunks of butter should be visible.

2. In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the honey, milk and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture until the dough barely comes together. It will be very soft and sticky.

3. Turn the dough onto a surface well-floured with sweet rice flour and pat the dough into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, about 2 hours, or overnight.

4. Divide the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator. Sift an even layer of sweet rice flour onto the work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick. The dough will be quite sticky, so flour as necessary. Cut into 4 by 4 inch squares. Gather the scraps together and set aside. Place wafers on one or two parchment-lined baking sheets. Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes. Repeat with the second batch of dough.

5. Adjust the rack to the upper and lower positions and preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius).

6. Gather the scraps together into a ball, chill until firm, and reroll. Dust the surface with more sweet rice flour and roll out the dough to get a couple more wafers.

7. Prick the wafers with toothpick or fork, not all the way through, in two or more rows.

8. Bake for 25 minutes, until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating sheets halfway through to ensure even baking. Might take less, and the starting location of each sheet may determine its required time. The ones that started on the bottom browned faster.

9. When cooled completely, place enough wafers in food processor to make 1 ¼ cups (300 mL) of crumbs. Another way to do this is to place in a large ziplock bag, force all air out and smash with a rolling pin until wafers are crumbs.

Nanaimo Bars
Ingredients:

For Nanaimo Bars — Bottom Layer
1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter
1/4 cup (50 g) (1.8 ounces) Granulated Sugar
5 tablespoons (75 mL) Unsweetened Cocoa
1 Large Egg, Beaten
1 1/4 cups (300 mL) (160 g) (5.6 ounces) Gluten Free Graham Wafer Crumbs (See previous recipe)
1/2 cup (55 g) (1.9 ounces) Almonds (Any type, Finely chopped)
1 cup (130 g) (4.5 ounces) Coconut (Shredded, sweetened or unsweetened)

For Nanaimo Bars — Middle Layer
1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons (40 mL) Heavy Cream
2 tablespoons (30 mL) Vanilla Custard Powder (Such as Bird’s. Vanilla pudding mix may be substituted.)
2 cups (254 g) (8.9 ounces) Icing Sugar




For Nanaimo Bars — Top Layer
4 ounces (115 g) Semi-sweet chocolate
2 tablespoons (28 g) (1 ounce) Unsalted Butter





Directions:
1. For bottom Layer: Melt unsalted butter, sugar and cocoa in top of a double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, nuts and coconut. Press firmly into an ungreased 8 by 8 inch pan.
2. For Middle Layer: Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light in colour. Spread over bottom layer.
3. For Top Layer: Melt chocolate and unsalted butter over low heat. Cool. Once cool, pour over middle layer and chill.





All in all it was a very enjoyable baking experience. I'm always up for a challenge, the crackers showed that to me! Luckily everyone loves them and there's plenty to go around!

Homemade Potato Wedges!

I had a huge craving for potato wedges, and I'd never made them myself.
All the wedges in my life were either frozen (yes, I know!) or from a cafe.

I thought...how hard could it be? And I could cook them in the oven! Easy! No Fuss!

If I can recall correctly, the spices I mixed in with the oil to create a coating were All Purpose Seasoning, Cumin, Paprika, Pepper and a little bit of Chilli.





Simple as cutting the potatos into roughly 6 wedges per potato. I think some of mine were more then 6 as they were quite large. Coat in the spiced oil. Put on a tray lined with baking paper.
In the oven at about 200 for about 45mins!

Easy as! And oh so yummy!

Wacky Cake!

I found this recipe at Savory Sweet Life.

http://savorysweetlife.com/2010/01/chocolate-wacky-depression-cake-recipe/

I'd never heard of this type of cake before. But the fact that it didn't require eggs, butter or milk was a plus in my book!
I don't always have these items on hand.
This is by far, the easiest cake I've ever made.

Being that I hadn't heard of the cake before, I was very interested to see how it would turn out.

It was quite a runny cake mix when it went into the oven. But once it came out it looked great.
Very much enjoyed it, unlike other Chocolate cakes, it wasn't too sweet for my teeth!
It had an almost, pudding-like texture to it. My better half wants to try it warm with some ice cream!

Chocolate Wacky Depression Cake (Sweet Savory Life Recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup cocoa powder

6 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 cup water

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together by hand. Add all the wet ingredients until well combined. Pour into a 8×8 pan which has been prepared with non stick spray.

Bake for 30 until done. Allow to completely cool before serving. Cake is even better if eaten the next day. Enjoy!

Daring Baker's Challenge!

So, today I made a commitment. To participate in the Daring Baker's Challenge every month.

I see it every so often on random food blogs I read. I had a nice long hard though when filling out the account application. I had to decide....would I be able to commit to it? It's only once a month. I should be able to.

So, there's only one way to find out!

Unfortunately I've been a bit slack in the blogging again.

Mostly because I only had my camera phone to take photos, and they looked dodgey.

But for christmas I got a new camera!

It's pretty neat. Gives me inspiration to take photos of the food I made.

I have another cake order coming up. A Caramel Mud cake.

I'm going to have to track down a good recipe for that.

Then next month I've got a White Chocolate Cheesecake with Strawberries for a friend's baby shower. Busy busy!

So just because I like pretty photos. I'm going to chuck a couple on here.

One of the prepared bacon-wrapped-broccolini I made for dinner the other night.

And the other one is a Spicy Mexican Tortilla Stack. They were even better then they looked!