[Success] Everything carries an expiration date (recipes - Pizza dough, short bread)

November 2, 2015
Monday

There are days when we fail. Due to the undying will, we pick ourselves. Sometimes, the failure persists and then eventually, we find a solution. We as humans, have been trained to be problem solvers.

Culturally, as Indians we grow on spicy food. Baking is something which does not come to us as an intuitive notion - we learn though. We adapt, we persist and with enough passion, I think we can develop and preserve the skill in the kitchen.

The last time I tried doing, I was deflated not just metaphorically but the pizza dough actually deflated... if it ever left the baking surface. Today, Monday a new day, a new week and I have managed to rekindle the successful habit. I guess its also with the mindset. The days when it just doesn't work out, I questioned whether I actually belonged here. Eventually, after reading through the possible problems, I did manage to figure out a problem with my dough - Expired Yeast!

Believe or not, but everything in kitchen carry an expiration date. Make sure to check for ingredients whenever cooking with baking ingredients. I'd also recommend from now on to ensure the quality of ingredients for spicy-blended foods. Needless to say, experimenting in the kitchen is the best habit, just not for direct servings please. Try experimenting with the skill set and from my personal experience, you'd start developing an intuition for the local ingredients and flavours.

Trip through the experimenting lane - pizza dough

Even before I begin, the pizza did manage to melt in my mouth. However, the dough could further rise if yeast is cured properly. Yeast generally takes effect in tepid/lukewarm water in about 15 minutes. At this time, its ready to be mixed with in the dough.

In my second attempt, after the failure on the first on October 26-2015, today I let the yeast sit in warm water for about 8 minutes. The stickiness which imparts the chewiness to the dough returned. However, the dough did not double in size. The reason I figured out was again as suggested, the yeast needs to get activated in warm water for about 15 mins. Because of the lesser time, the yeast wasn't fully activated. Due to this, the dough could not fully rise.





In my third attempt, I corrected the error and let the yeast sit and get activated for about 12-14 minutes. The result was the doubling up of the yeast-water mixture, which hopefully shall give it the increased size. Lets hope for tomorrow. I'd update it then.

The pizza dough recipe I'm following is this -
White flour - 200 g
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Yeast (Active dry yeast) - 1 tsp
Lukewarm water - 120 ml
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Olive oil - 1 tsp

In the water, mix the sugar and stir until mixed. Stir in the yeast and let it sit for about 10-15 minutes. You'd see the yeast getting activated and a foamy mixture rising. After 15 minutes, stir in the white flour and start folding sideways from one end with your hands. Once mixed thoroughly, transfer to a flat base where you can knead it using some flour. Take a bowl, line it with olive oil, let the dough sit there at room temperature for about 45 minutes - 1 hour, till the dough has doubled up. Sometimes depending on the low temperature, it may take a while. Take the doubled up dough out, give it another knead and follow the usual pizza flattening and layering with the toppings as per your taste.

There's another form of yeast which is quick action. That doesn't need to get activated and can be used just like the baking powder which does not need any activation as well.

To check whether the yeast is functional, follow this link -
http://redstaryeast.com/yeast-baking-lessons/yeast-shelf-life-storage/yeast-freshness-test/


Short bread



Ingredients

Unsalted butter - 150 g
Caster sugar - 100 g
Plain flour - 180 g
Rice flour - 55 g
Baking powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1/8 tsp




Instructions -

1. Grease an 8 inch cake tin.
2. With electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until smooth and very light. Mix all the flours along with salt and baking powder.
3. Give a gentle knead through hands to the entire mixture, so the dough binds together and not fragmented.
4. Spread it in the tin with the hands. I later pricked with a fork just for some decoration and of course the baking to take place evenly inside.
5. Bake in the over for about 50 minutes at 160 C.
6. Follow it up with 5 minutes at 200 C. This shall give it a golden crust.

Voila, enjoy!


Additional

I also managed to make crispy garlic Hakka noodles spiced up with green/red chilli sauce, condiments and a Lot of Vegetables.

[Failure] Pizzas - failed dough

October 26, 2015
Monday

Thomas Edison failed about 3000 times before inventing the light bulb. When asked about the failure, he remarked “I did not fail a 3000 times, I learnt 3000 ways of not making a bulb!”

The good thing about failure is, it makes the successful days of cooking so much better. The pizzas through the microwave oven is such a difficult recipe to master. Frankly, we must remember the successful days exactly, so in times of distress and going haywire, I can return back to a successful recipe. It just reassures me about what good times have I actually created as well (or been a part thereof).

 More importantly, it has given me a chance to discuss about the beautifully prepared ingredients. Even with the expired dough failing to rise through yeast, which in itself was possibly expired. So, lesson for today - use fresh ingredients even while baking. Yeast is a living organism which becomes less active over time, much like yogurt cultures.




Toppings used - 


Caramelised onions
Caramelised mushrooms
Diced tomatoes
Diced Zuccini
Julienned Red pepper





The ingredients

For the toppings, I had tried baking the toppings yesterday. However, as the water evaporated from the high water content items like onions and mushrooms, they shrunk to a really small size. Part of it also got burnt, which left back the burnt flavour. However, the overall taste of the toppings was quite intense. Mushrooms do leave a strong smell in the air which getting roasted sometimes, which was all good.

The dough disaster today 

There are a number of issues which popped up today. I must check the effectiveness of the yeast next time through the yeast test described here - http://www.eatbydate.com/other/baking/yeast/.

According to this website, Cake Yeast (also called Compressed) is even more perishable than dry, requiring constant refrigeration below 45 deg. F to maintain its freshness and activity. Generally, the eat by date is usually reliable on the packet.

 The yeast needs to become activated in 10 minutes when added in warm water (not greater than 110-115 deg.



Yeast or baking powder?

The failure has also urged me to delve a bit more into the entire technique. Why don't we use baking powder instead of yeast? Well, yeast is the traditional leavening agent, which makes the dough very soft. Hence, the pizza dough becomes quite chewy. In the more modern case, yes, baking soda or baking powder can be used as the leavening agent. However, from experiences previously, the yeasted version tastes much better.

Italian Almond Biscotti - experiences that balance

2015, October 24

 The days when I do something quite awe-inspiring, and then back-it-up by those silly, little but awful mistakes generally emanating from possible exhaustion. The story of experimenting with home-made Italian Almond Biscotti, and then, backing it up with experimental failure story of burnt pizza-ingredients.



Italian Almond Biscotti 



The kind of day - After the horrific in-the-face kind of customer service at one of the cellphone service providers in Chandigarh called BSNL, I decided to make it up by trying something new and experimenting with my techniques. The interesting thing is, generally the value chain of big companies is such big that even if the product is reliable, because of the direct bitter experience with front-desk sometimes, the take-away is a bad impression of the company itself. Anyways, Biscotti has been a favourite in my repertoire ever since shopping for them at Kroger's or be it as birthday presents from Chef Lynn at the Co-ops (The North Campus Co-operatives) in Ann Arbor.





Italian biscotti recipe

Makes about 25 pieces

 Ingredients -
 200g non-blanched almonds
 215g plain flour
 100g sugar
 1/8 teaspoon salt
 1/8 teaspoon saffron powder
 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda (sodium bicarbonate)
 2 eggs
 1 egg while, slightly whipped for glaze

 For the complete instruction, please refer to Martha Day - Complete baking.

 The overall setup is as follows - I roasted the almonds, and then about 1/4th I pulverised. The remaining chopped into 2-3 parts for each almond. This fine part was mixed with all the dry ingredients, mixed well. Then, I added the two eggs, and mixed. The mixture was still dry and so I improvised with 50g melted salted butter. Once the mixture was thoroughly mixed, I transferred to a sheet for kneading whereupon I rolled the rest of chopped almonds into the mixture... divided the entire dough into three parts, rolled into long cylinders, applied the whipped egg white and put in the oven for 21 mins at 180C. After 21m, took out made slanted cuts, and put 'em back for 25 mins at 140C. Voila!

 In hindsight, I feel I could have chopped the almonds a bit finer as well, lets say 5-6 parts each. The roasted almonds leave an amazing aftertaste.

Experiment of the recipe - Baking is generally an exact method. Follow the recipe exactly, and generally things go as described in recipe, which means the steps when followed exactly yield a similar looking product. However, sometimes events just can not as planned, and the ability to improvise comes with a certain feeling of the gut, an intuitiveness of what ingredients might go together just fine. What I have experimented with was this. The 2 eggs weren't able to bind the ingredients into a dough. So, I decided to add 50g salted butter melted through pre-heat. In hindsight, the butter should have been unsalted, but it was still alright. The salted butter tends to leave a different aftertaste which is more towards sweet-salty. However, after cooling in refrigerator, the taste is suppressed a bit, and the flavour of almonds has been elevated.




Technique(s) learnt -

The glaze applied by the egg white and allowing to bake was ground breaking in my cooking skills. It gave the biscotti a thin brittle shining crust. I had always wondered about it in the past.





Mushroom, zucchini, tomato, onion, red-pepper pizza

I baked the vegetable except tomato before spreading on the pizza base. The base was readymade, but I intend to make the dough and try my own pizza base very soon. However, the vegetables got burnt, well at least some. But, they did give off some genuine flavour to the pizza as the water got dried up, and only taste from the ingredients was left behind. As usual, I applied two base sauces on the two-halves - pesto and pizza base sauce, which has been quite overpowering spicy in the past.

The fragrance of baked bananas in the bread

Wholewheat banana nut loaf

Reference recipe - Complete baking, Martha Day

And then the knife simply glides through! 

Credits 

The credit for my baking inspiration, exposure and learning completely goes to Chef Lynn in Ann Arbor. She gave me the opportunity to work with her, assist her and learn from her in a commercial kitchen which fed 150 people every evening for 300 days in a year at least. Besides that, she had also given me the correct tips of what not to do while baking, which in my opinion, are quite the lifesavers in the kitchen.

Presentation

Food presentation is something which I had to work upon myself. Its a continuously evolving process and requires understanding of audience, photography skills and the kind of food being served. Look for the Full course description here which defines the various aspects and timings of food to be covered. I think it serves as a good starting point to theme your food if/when required. Obviously, there exists a choice like service à la française, where you might serve everything in one go giving the choice to the person of defining their menu.

Thoughts to bake with 

You can't have too much butter, there's butter as a key ingredient in every baking expedition I can imagine. I am targeting at putting one recipe per week on average. The beauty of cooking by myself is I get to pick the ingredients, perhaps tweak some to the reference recipe (if there's one). The most important fact about cooking in my case is, it becomes my stress buster. My daytime job demands me to dig in about developments in human space exploration. 

The tweak

Instead of using butter (unsalted) and then adding extra salt to balance the baking flavours, quite a few times I use salted butter and not add additional salt. This adds the flavour from the Amul butter, which I think is exceptional in this country. During my travels across India and abroad, the most important article I missed across was the flavour of Amul butter. Now I am really out of excuses yeah!

Shuchi you inspired.. Paneer Makhani

2013, May 30
Paneer Makhani

(Insert image here)

The day could best have been described as non-productive, but it had its weight. I spent time with a local trip with parents, and doing things for once not for personal gratification at all. Even the trip made with family wasn't for a personal satisfaction. Well then, family does invoke such irregularity in actions!

While the recipe for Paneer Makhani can be had from any of the contemporary websites/weblogs, the inspiration to personalize and indulge in an effort to bequeath flavor to the connoisseur's appetít cannot be plagiarized. The inspiration to render a flavor to Paneer (Indian Cottage Cheese) with not just the spices but the nostalgia from the past cannot be quantified... and the ability in a lab to not just utilize religiously the ingredients but tweak them is an empowering state, so much for who may not try shall be considered an ignominious act in my opinion. I inspiration but blanched and seeded tomatoes along with a suggestion of whisking water with sautéd onions and adding cashews later on provided the entire taste. Also, I'd recommend using fresh ground herbs and spices.


Here is the recipe:

Paneer

- 400 g (I used Verka paneer cut in 2.5*1*1 cm*cm*cm, cleansed in hot water through 5 mins)

Onion - 1 large (coarsely chopped)
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Coriander - 1/2 tsp (I used the home dried and ground coriander)
Cumin - 1/2 tsp
Cardamom - 1/2 tsp
Cream - 1/2 cup (Brand: Amul)
Tomato (puree + finely chopped seeded) - 3/4 cup
Mint - 4 large leaves for garnish
Green chili - 1 big (finely chopped)
Cashew nuts - 4-5
Butter - 2 tbsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Ginger - 1/2 tbsp
Garlic - 1/2 tbsp

1 cup = 250 ml


The process:
One medium flame, I sautéd the onions in light oil along with ginger and garlic.
Took out the onion mixture and in a blender, ground everything. I added some water and cashew nuts at this point, and made the mixture with a white frothy look.
In the pan now, the butter was melted on medium flame. At the point of butter melt, I added the onion-cashew mixture.
I added the spices (coriander-cardamom-cumin) and the chopped green chillies.
Once the mixture was golden brown, I added the tomatoes and let them cook till the flavor of raw tomatoes wasn't present anymore. (approx. 5 mins)
Then, added the paneer cubes and mixed them thoroughly (2 mins)
Finally, added the cream and once mixed, let it stand on low flame for 2-3 mins.

Transfer from skillet to a Corelle and garnish/decorate with mint leaves.



Sides:
Rogni naan



So tomorrow is Chicken Kiev on the menu. Lets see how my travails with chicken turn out.. Hey chicken, please do NOT lose your tenderness and moisture content! Can't wait to blather about the story of tarragon hunting!


Credits:
Inspiration - Shuchita Singla
Sous chef - Leena Anand Jain

Note: 

The contact info of various credits can be shared if at all required.

The story of Tarragon search: Chicken Kiev

May 31, 2013
Chicken Kiev

The story of making something elegant, yet encapsulating isn't just hard work. In retrospect now, it seems an adventure. The adventure of not just finding motivation over months, but also executing that abstract motivation into an objective culmination article. The story of not just finding a good quality chicken breast, but the adventure of roaming through Chandigarh exotic shops to find the correct ingredients. How Tarragon search, a spice, was proving despicable and how in the end the singular entity might not even matter. Its about the journey.

What I feel immediately now, after having eaten Chicken Kiev, is like the chocolate coded rush in The Matrix Reloaded! The recipe is simple, yet not plain; and certainly wasn't a physical but a mental orgasm through it here, though the flavor flows through my mind and psyche; cause and effect.

A few months back a near relative commented on a recipe (Honey Chilli Cauliflower) I had prepared in celebration of uncle staying an extra day here while visiting home. I could see his eyes closing, as if the love flowing and heart palpitating with all the extra experience just too much for the palate. I feel the same way now. A Brand New Experience .

All the work put in preparation, the nervous instances where I had a knack of overcooking chicken, leading to very dry inside, being nimble to go to the backup mode of baking in oven for phase-2 when the chicken just didn't get thoroughly fried in phase-1; all these moments have eventually made the Chicken Kiev today so much more personal and a living memory; not to mention about going out of the regular mainstream culture of cooking here in Chandigarh 'The Indian Way'.

Of all the things the recipe and I underwent, I'd remember Chicken Kiev for having cooked perfectly inside. All my life till now, while preparing chicken, I wondered what was the right amount of chicken cook. Today, I could taste the juiciness in the chicken and could comment on the quality of chicken itself. The recipe itself has made me nostalgic of my stay in Belgium where eating any recipe was considered healthy and, the correlation between taste and nutrition factor wasn't skewed, especially when eating some cuisine. Chicken Kiev is a French recipe although the name strongly suggests its Ukranian affiliation. Today marks my nervy attempt to this exotic, simple yet delightful main course recipe.


Recipe:

Ingredients:

Chicken breasts - 2
Chicken breast for creating a seal - 1
Unsalted butter - 100 grams (I used D'lecta)
Parsley - 50 gm (chopped fine)
Kosher salt - to taste (say 1 tsp)
Garlic - 5 cloves
Pine nuts - 1 tbsp
Persillade - 1 tbsp (I used Ducor brand preserved back from my Belgian days)

Bread crumbs - 1 cup
Organic eggs - 2 (I prefer organic eggs, they taste very virgin)
Flour - 1 cup
Chicken stock premix - 1cube (I used brand Maggi)

Oil for frying

Rice
The local name is 'Parmal'. I considered it underrated even though it provides much more flavor than the most popular Basmati rice in North India.

Off we go.............


Instructions:

First I made a paste of butter at room temperature and fine chopped parsley.
Then I chopped garlic cloves on put some table salt on it. I mixed the salt and garlic thoroughly, and let them stay there for a bit.
Chop the pine nuts fine and mix salted garlic and crushed pine nuts into the butter parsley mixture. I call it the Filling.
Took a piping bag and put the Filling in the bag. Sealed it.
I then took the chicken breast and cut a slit through it.
Subsequently, I filled the breast with the Filling prepared above and put it on the side.
I then took cling film and wrapped a tender chicken breast with an extra 1/2' bleed on each side of the breast covered on both side. I then took a meat hammer and gently started beating it to flatten the breast out. This shall be used to seal the slit in the chicken breast with the Filling.
Once finished, I took half of the flattened breast and covered the slit. Eventually, I pinned it by using three wooden-tooth picks.
Now I put the two prepared breasts in the refrigerator till I'd prepare the surface coat.

For the surface coat, I took three bowls.
First, filled with flour and chicken stock cube finely crushed and mixed together.
Second, to prep an egg mixture
Third, filled with bread crumbs.

Now, I took the breast out of refrigerator, layered it by dipping completely in the following sequence: Flour-chicken stock   -> Egg mixture -> Bread crumbs -> Egg mixture -> Bread crumbs
Once coated, I put the two kievs on a plate, cling wrapped them again and let them stay in refrigerator from 1430-1830 hrs.

Frying:

Took out one kiev, and heated in oil. Once I placed the kiev in oil, the crust quickly got cooked. When I cut through it, the inside was still uncooked. So, I placed it for 5 mins in tandoor over, changing sides every 2 mins. Outside came a melody!

NB - The next time, the frying shall come out fine. It was only that the oil for frying was over heated. I should have known. Normally, only frying should be sufficient for ensuring a thorough, yet tender cook inside.



Note: 'The Indian Way' I refer to anything with a blast of spices.



recipe index -
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/chicken-kiev-recipe/index.html

Avocado, mango, bacon salad salad

The photograph of the creation almost becomes a premise to showcase the creation and the foundation for any gustatory sensations.

Ingredients -
3 bacon rashers
1 mignonette lettuce
1 mango
1 medium avocado
1/3 cup walnut/almond semi-crushed

Dressing -
1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp fresh thickened cream
1 tsp Dijon Mustard

Method -
Step 1  -  Cook bacon in a lightly oiled pan until crisp. Chop the bacon.
Step 2  -  Wash lettuce, separate the leaves, dry gently and line in the serving salad bowl.
Step 3  -   Peel and slide mango and avocado.
Step 4  -   Sprinkle it with chopped bacon and walnut/almond halves.
Step 5  -   Combine the dressing ingredients and whisk them until a smooth mixture is formed. To make it free flowing, extra olive oil as per taste may be used (ay 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil)
Step 6  -   Drizzle the dressing over the salad before serving.