Dorie Greenspan’s gougeres

I have been wanting to make gougeres for the longest time. I have this phobia of making choux pastry, fearing my roux would burn, the mixture becoming lumpy and so on. Since I was in the “French” mood, I brave up and attempted to make some gougeres.

Oh man, gougeres were so easy to make. My roux didn’t burn and everything was taken care by the mixer. The only tedious work that need to be done was grating of cheese. And silly me who got so scared about gougeres.

The wonderful thing about making gougeres is that you can prepare extra and freeze them, and bake them when needed. Dorie Greenspan’s version uses Gruyere cheese which is salty and delicious. You can also use other cheeses like Cheddar, Parmesan, Comte and so on.

I like gougeres when they are fresh out of the oven – they are crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle. I brought them to my friends’ office and served as breakfast – they actually don’t mind them at room temperature. Still, I think they are best consumed while warm.

Dorie Greenspan’s Gougeres

(Adapted from Around my French Table)

Makes about 36 gougeres

Ingredients

1)      120ml (½ cup) whole milk

2)      120ml (½ cup) water

3)      120g unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces

4)      ½ teaspoon salt

5)      120g all purpose flour

6)      5 large eggs (280g without shell), at room temperature*

7)      170g coarsely grated cheese (Gruyere or cheddar)**

8)      Pinch of black pepper (optional)***

 

Methods

• Preheat the oven to 220^oC. Line two baking sheets with silicon baking sheets or parchment paper.
• Add the milk, water, butter and salt in a saucepan and place it on the stove (At this stage, you should also standby your wooden spoon). Over high heat, bring the mixture to a rapid boil.
• Add the flour all at once and reduce the heat to medium low. With your wooden spoon, quickly stir the mixture. A dough will be formed and a light crust might develop. Just keep stirring vigorously for 1-2 minutes to dry out the dough. You should end up with a smooth dough.
• Remove the pot from the heat and place the dough in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment (you can also use a hand mixer. If you are using a wooden spoon, you need to work fast).
• Let the dough sit for a minute – I would usually turn the mixer on a low speed and spin the dough a couple of rounds to release the heat.
• On medium speed, slowly add the eggs one by one until everything is incorporated and the dough is thick and shiny. If the dough separates while you are adding the egg, do not panic. Everything will come together when the last egg is added.
• Once all the eggs are added, you can beat in the grated cheese and season with a pinch of black pepper (if you are doing so).
• The dough needs to be spooned out immediately.
• I like to use an ice cream scoop (about 1 tablespoon size) to spoon the dough – this way I will get even-sized gougeres and I don’t have to worry about the dough sticking onto the spoon. If you do not have an ice cream scoop, you can use 2 spoons – one to scoop the dough and the other to push and drop the dough. Drop the dough onto the baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches of space in between.
• If you do not wish to bake all the gougeres, once you have spooned the dough onto the baking sheet, put the sheet in the freezer. Once frozen, you should be able to lift the gougeres off the sheet easily and pack them in ziplock****.
• Place the baking sheets in the oven and immediately drop the temperature to 190^oC. Bake for 12 minutes, rotate the baking sheets, from front to back and top to bottom. Continue baking until the gougeres turned golden brown and formed a crust. They should also puff up at this stage. This will take about 12-15 minutes.
• Once the gougeres are done, you can serve them immediately. If not, transfer them to rack to cool. They are best eaten on the day you made them.

The inside

*The size of the egg is quite important for this recipe. Do not use those extra large eggs – too much egg will cause the gougeres to collapse. If you want, you can actually measure the amount of egg as stated above (A large egg is around 56g without shell).

**In Singapore, not every supermarket stocks Gruyere cheese. If you spotted Gruyere cheese, make sure it is AOC certified – you would be able to see the Le Gruyere Switzerland branding on the cheese rind.

***Beside black pepper, you can even try out freshly grated nutmeg, chilli flakes and so on.

****You can bake the frozen gougeres straight from the freezer (no need to defrost). You might just need to bake about 1-2 minutes longer.

Tags: dorie greenspan, gougeres

I am back from Perth! And a piece of good news.

Hello everyone! I am back from Perth! Technically I was back since last Wednesday. It was a wonderful trip back to the down under. For those who don’t know, Perth is practically my second home. I spent almost three years studying in Perth, met a lot of great folks and of course ate tons of delicious food.

While I was in Perth, the weather was fantastic. It was 22^oC, it was like having my own personal air-conditioner with me all the time. It did rain a bit but definitely didn’t spoil my day. To make the trip even sweeter, I managed to catch up with a few of my university mates, and met some new friends/ food bloggers – The Food Pornographer and her sister, Juji.

And of course, the next big news is I am going back to the workforce. I decided it was time to be a responsible adult. I really enjoyed my time doing freelance work. However the reality is the income is not stable and I hate to beg for money that I deserved. For all those business owners out there, I salute you.

That said, I am praying hard I would be able to continue the blog on a regular schedule *fingers crossed*. And there is going be some changes in the next couple of months. Not sure how I would fare but trust me it is all good.

In the meantime, I leave you all with this awesome picture of my friends Betti and Szili baby girl Bo eating St John’s afternoon bun. Betti (with help from Bo) made the lovely afternoon bun, and I heard it was a hit.

St John’s afternoon buns

A couple of days ago, my friend Betti asked me if I could share with her my favourite bread recipe. Of course I said yes.

Hello dough!

Over the years, my favourite bread recipe kind of changes according to my mood and the time I have. There was a period of time I was madly in love with this recipe. And then another recipe came along – started well but the more I made, the worse it became (don’t ask me why. I have zero clues). If I wanted something more decadent (read: arteries clogging), I would opt for a brioche. However this year, St John’s afternoon buns just stole my heart.

These afternoon buns are served at the famed St John’s Hotel, London during tea time. They have three different flavoured buns – anchovies, prune and chocolate. However I made them plain and discovered they were absolutely delicious.

St John’s afternoon bun

The plain buns also became my “multi-purpose” buns. I served them with oeuf en cocotte. I stuffed them with tuna, anchovies, olives and capers. I even used them as hamburger buns. So I think it is safe to say these babies are my favourites for the year.

St John’s Afternoon Buns

(Barely adapted from Jamie, Issue 27, March/ April 2012)

Makes 24 buns

Ingredients

1)      600g strong white flour or bread flour

2)      2 teaspoon salt

3)      40g caster sugar

4)      330ml water (I like to use lukewarm water, temperature around 46^oC)

5)      10g dried yeast or instant yeast

6)      1 large egg

7)      50g butter, cubed and softened

8)      Egg wash (1 egg lightly beaten with milk) for brushing

Chocolate Filling

1)      8 squares of 70% cocoa chocolate

2)      Cocoa Powder for dusting

Prune Filling

1)      8 prunes

Anchovy Filling

1)      3 garlic cloves

2)      25g tinned anchovies in oil, drained

3)      1-2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

4)      1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

 

Methods

• Combine the flour, salt, sugar, yeast and egg (excluding the egg wash’s egg) in the bowl of the stand mixer. Using the dough hook attachment, mix on a medium speed. Slowly add in the water and continue mixing for about 6-8 minutes, or until the dough is coming away from the sides. Turn off the mixer and let the dough rest for 5 minutes.
• Start the mixer up again on a medium speed and slowly add in the cubed butter bit by bit to the dough. You might need to scrap the side to ensure all the butter is incorporated into the dough.
• Once incorporated, increase the speed to high and mix for another minute. At the end, you should be able to get a smooth and shiny dough. I like to “pull and fold” my dough before I let it rest. I think it looks pretty (like a baby butt) and helps to make the rise smoother.
• Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and leave the mix to relax for 10 minutes. At this stage, you can leave the dough to relax for up to an hour. There are times I do forget to check on my dough.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment (or using a non-stick baking tray). Turn the dough out on a work surface, and divide into 24 pieces. What I would usually do is weigh the dough and divide the weight accordingly. In this way, I am guaranteed to have equal size buns.
• You can roll the dough into balls. Or I prefer the “pull and fold” method. I pull the sides of the dough and fold it in.
• For the chocolate and prune buns, push a piece of the chocolate/ prune into the centre of each ball, pulling the dough around it so that it is completely enclosed, and reshape the dough into a ball.
• Move all the buns to the baking tray, leaving room for them to spread and ensuring you know which is which.
• Using a spray bottle (or pastry brush), lightly spray a thin layer of water and leave them in a warm place for about 30 minutes or until doubled in size*. What I like to is I would warm up the oven at 100^oC for 15 minutes and switched it off and I will leave the tray of dough inside. And 10 minutes before baking time, I will remove them from the oven.
• Meanwhile, you can start on the anchovy filling. Blend the garlic and a pinch of black pepper to a fine puree in a food processor or with a pestle and mortar. Add the anchovies and blend/ bash until they break down. Gradually add enough oil to make a thick paste, then stir in the vinegar. Check seasoning and set aside.
• 10 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 200^oC. Because this is a bread recipe, it is very important to make sure the oven is hot enough. This is why I always stick an oven thermometer to check on the temperature.
• Brush the egg wash over the buns. Dust the chocolate buns with cocoa powder as well. Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.
• Slice the anchovy (or plain) buns in half while warm, spread with the filling and sandwich together. Eat warm.
• These buns will keep for 2 days in an airtight container.

*The original recipe actually suggested covering the dough with a damp tea towel. When I did that, the dough raised and stuck onto the towel. Hence I decided to use a spray bottle so that the dough will not dry out. 

Tags: bread, bun

A simple lunch

Recently I had this insane craving for asparagus. Perhaps it was all the tweets about spring time and the abundance of asparagus. Or maybe it was all these recipes on this gorgeous vegetable.

Asparagus is one of the easiest vegetables to cook and there is almost no prep work needed. All you need to do is trim or snap off the woody ends and they are ready to be cooked. Before I start to cook asparagus, I like to blanch them in boiling water for 30 seconds. This process turns them into a brighter green.

For lunch, I pan-fried some homemade chorizo. While the sausage was almost done, I threw in the (blanched) asparagus for a quick stir-fry. In this way, the asparagus will be coated with some of the oil from the chorizo.

A simple lunch - asparagus and chorizo

To serve, I placed some alfalfa sprouts on the plate, topped it with the asparagus and chorizo. I finished off with spoonful of cottage cheese and a bit of Colman’s English mustard. If I had crème fraiche in my fridge, I would mix it with a bit of mustard, Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice, and you get this sharp and creamy dressing.

This lunch is quick and easy to prepare and great on a bloody hot day.

Tags: asparagus, chorizo, lunch

Heidi Swanson’s a simple tomato soup

Since young, I never really like tomatoes. My first encounter with tomatoes was when I was about four or five year old. I saw my mother, Mdm Tan, munching on a tomato like what she will do to an apple. She was enjoying this juicy red fruit, and I was curious and wanted to take a bite. I took my first bite and immediately I spit out the tomato. It was disgusting. The slimy seedy pulp and the sourish sweet taste just turned me off.

Some of the ingredients

It was only when I went to Australia for school, I began to like tomatoes. Perhaps my taste bud had changes. Or the tomatoes in Australia were more delicious. Every two weeks, I would pick up a 1kg pack of tomatoes. I would use them in sandwiches, stir-fry and pasta. And I slowly learn to like tomato-based soup like minestrone and creamy tomato.

Last month, I saw Heidi Swanson’s recipe for a simple tomato soup (which was an interpretation of Melissa Clark’s curried coconut soup) and was immediately drawn to its simplicity and flavour profile. Perhaps I don’t make enough soup, I would not put curry powder in my soup.

When I was making this soup, surprisingly I doubled the amount of curry powder – I found the “curry flavour” was not pronounced. Like Heidi, the soup actually tasted really good on its own without the coconut milk. However it is on an acidic side (and could be because of the canned tomatoes I used). I added just a touch of coconut milk to balance the flavour, and the soup was lighter and more drinkable.

A simple tomato soup

What surprised me the most was the suggestions on how to serve the soup. Heidi recommended serving the soup with brown rice, toasted almond slices, poached eggs and so on. It never occurred to me to put rice and ang moh (Western) soup together. And it worked! I had the soup with brown and wild rice, and toasted almond slices with herbs. This breaks the mundane of always having bread with soup. The wild rice and almond slices provided the crunch and the brown rice gave it substance.

For anyone who don’t like tomatoes like the five year old me, give this soup a try. It might make you fall in love with tomatoes.

Tags: Heidi Swanson, soup, Tomato

Rachel Khoo’s oeuf en cocotte

I rarely like female host for cooking shows. However recently I made an exception for Rachel Khoo. I started watching The Little Paris Kitchen: Cooking with Rachel Khoo a couple of weeks ago and got addicted to the show. Now, I want to cook all things French.

The concept of The Little Paris Kitchen is to demystify and simplify French cooking. What I really like about the show is Rachel used a few quality ingredients and managed to whip up all these delicious looking dishes in her tiny (and almost non-existence) kitchen. That is a pretty amazing feat.

Breakfast fit for champion!

There are a few recipes that I wanted to try. So baby steps – I chose to make oeuf en cocotte (egg in a pot). Yes, yes I am not a fan of eggs. But when mixed with other ingredients which helped to mask the “yolky” taste, that is when I will eat eggs.

Oeuf en cocotte is a really simple dish to make. And it is also a recipe that is (almost) impossible to mess up. The best part about this dish is that you can even use any leftover in your fridge – that little knob of sausage, the half cut bell peppers – and put them in that little pot with crème fraiche and egg.

In my case, I kept my oeuf en cocotte simple – in my ramekin (sidetrack: I bought these awesome vintage T.G. Green ramekins long ago, so I was super duper happy that I can use them in this recipe), I only put in crème fraiche, egg and some seasoning. To serve, I had it with tuna mixed with this wonderful jar of Waitrose Puttanesca Mix(which has olives, capers and anchovies) and homemade buns. You can have it as afternoon tea or like me, had it for breakfast.

Oeuf en cocotte

Oeuf en Cocotte

(Adapted from Rachel Khoo’s The Little Paris Kitchen)

Serve 1

Ingredients

1)      1 egg

2)      2 tablespoon of crème fraiche

3)      Seasoning – salt and black pepper. In my case, I also used my favourite Korean chilli powder.

4)      Herbs – Rachel’s original recipe calls for dills. As I don’t have that readily available, I used parsley and spring onion.

 

Methods

• Preheat the oven at 180^oC
• Put 1 tablespoon of crème fraiche at the bottom of a ramekin. Season it accordingly. The original recipe calls for salt, black pepper and freshly grated nutmeg. In my case, instead of the nutmeg, I used Korean chilli powder.
• If you want to add in any vegetables or sausages, you will need to cook them first and add in after the dollop of crème fraiche is placed at the bottom of ramekin. You might not need to season the crème fraiche if you have seasoned your vegetables/ sausages.
• Crack an egg on top. If you are not a confident “egg cracker”, you can crack the egg in a separate bowl and put it on top of the seasoned crème fraiche.
• Put the last tablespoon of crème fraiche on top and season accordingly.
• Place the ramekin in a baking dish and pour enough lukewarm water into the dish to come halfway up the sides of the ramekin. This will ensure the content in the pot cooks evenly.
• Bake for around 15 – 18 minutes depending on how you like your egg.
• To finish, sprinkle some herbs on top. You can use parsley, dills, or even thyme.
• This dish is best eaten warm with crusty baguette or good bread rolls.

Tags: eggs, french, Rachel Khoo

Lara Ferroni’s baked cinnamon sugar doughnuts

When I was a kid, it was always a rare treat when my parents brought me to the confectionary – there were so many things to see and smell. Cakes were decorated with Doraemon, Hello Kitty, freshly baked buns from the oven and like any kids, my favourite was doughnuts on a stick.

I do not know who came up with this way of eating doughnut. Sugary cake bread on a stick means parents don’t have to worry the doughnut would fall onto the ground and the kids won’t get their hands dirty. It is genius.

Now as an adult, I will still go to Four Leaves and sneak in a pack of their sugary doughnuts and start munching on them. It just takes a few minutes and the whole packet is empty.

I have always wanted to make doughnuts. But I don’t want to fry them. I don’t want to mess up my kitchen and seeing all that oil goes to waste is such a shame. So I was very happy when my friend, Biona showed me a recipe on baked doughnuts by Lara Ferroni.

It is not difficult to make the dough as most of the work will be done by the stand mixer. The only thing you need to have is patience – waiting for the dough to rise can be quite torturing.

If you do not have a cookie cutter, you can use the rim of a jar and a shot glass or simply use a small glass (you don’t really need the hole in the middle). Do eat the doughnuts while they are warm – they are so light and fluffy, you need to have some self control and stop yourself from popping all of them into your mouth.

Baked cinnamon sugar doughnuts

Baked Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts

(Adapted from Lara Ferroni’s Doughnuts)

Makes about 24 doughnuts

Ingredients

1)      1 small egg

2)      25g caster sugar

3)      ½ cup (120ml) whole milk, heated to 46^oC

4)      1 ½ teaspoon active dry yeast

5)      ½ teaspoon salt

6)      1 teaspoon vanilla extract

7)      250g – 300g all-purpose flour

8)      60g unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes

Toppings

1)      60g unsalted butter, melted

2)      100g caster sugar mixed with 1 tablespoon of cinnamon

 

 

Methods

•  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the egg and sugar on medium speed until blended. This will take about 1 minute. Add in the warm milk, yeast, salt and vanilla extract and blend.
• Reduce the speed of the stand mixer, slowly add in about 120g of flour and beat until the dough is thick and pulls away from the side. If the dough looks wet and sticky, add in more flour till thickened. This process will take awhile.
• Switch the mixer to the dough hook. On medium speed, add in the cubed butter one at a time, and beat until no large chunks of butter are left at the bottom of the bowl. Don’t worry if you see bits of melted butter at the side of the bowl. Once we add in the remaining flour, everything will be incorporated.
• Reduce the speed of the stand mixer and add in the rest of the flour bit by bit until the dough gathers around the hook and clean the side of the bowl. You might need less or more of the flour stated. Hence it will be good to standby some flour at a side.
• The dough should be soft and moist but not overly sticky.
• Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead gently until the dough no longer sticks to your hands.
• Lightly grease a mixing bowl.
• Transfer the dough to the bowl and turn to coat. Cover with a damp tea towel and let it rise in a warm spot until doubled in size or about an hour.
• Punch down the risen dough and roll out to ½” thick. With a doughnut cutter, cut out 3” diameter with 1” diameter hole (I used 3” and 1” cookie cutters).
• Preheat the oven to 200^oC and line the baking sheets with parchment.
• Place the doughnuts 1” apart on the baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap, let it sit in a warm spot until nearly doubled in size or about 20 minutes.
• Bake until the doughnuts turned light golden brown – around 5-8 minutes. Be very careful not to over-bake the doughnuts. Over-bake doughnuts are hard and chewy.
• Once the doughnuts are out from the oven, lightly dipped it in the melted butter and coat it with the cinnamon sugar. I like to use chopsticks for this. If you don’t have chopsticks, you can use a tongs.

Tags: doughnuts