Fruity Bread by Breadmaker

I never wanted to buy a breadmaker as I am I am a strong believer of making bread manually as in  kneading the dough by hand. And the bread will turn out to be more fluffier and softer. But I was wrong and had to eat back my words after using the breadmaker to make bread during the lockdown due to Covid-19 pandemic. Hubby ordered a breadmaker just to prove that Breadmaker will save time and energy and that the bread will turn out beautifully soft too . And seriously it is a great buy. It saves a lot of time and energy. Just need to weigh out the ingredients and adding them into the breadmaker according to the instructions. It takes 3 hrs only and from the adding of ingredients to baking. So happy to own one . It has made life easier. I normally set the Breadmaker to work as soon as I wake up, that is about 5.30am in the morning so that it will be in time for breakfast. 

I like to make fruity bread using the breadmaker as the texture is soft and firm. When toasted it is even more fragrant with the dried fruits in it. Cranberries, raisins and black current and dried peaches. Can eat them with homemade sausages and sunny side up for a western breakfast.

Soft and firm texture, how hubby likes it

Or eat with handcrafted tomato basil butter

 

I love the Bali bought basket with netting

Ideal for storing freshly baked bread

while it cools down

Recipe for bread made in machine in proper order

275 ml water

2tbsp milk powder

1.5 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

40gm butter

3 cups Japanese Bread Flour

1/2 tsp yeast

3 tbsp Tangzhong Roux starter

Dried fruits

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup blackcurrants

1/4 cup jumbo raisins

1/4  cup dried peaches

Add dried fruit after 1st beep sound or before 2nd sound,after the knead stop after

Set machine to 

Basic Bread - 1

Color -Light

Bread Weight - 2 lb

Baked Chicken Curry Puffs

This is one healthy chicken curry puffs. Love the buttery pastry and the delicious curry chicken and potato fillings which I prepared a day ahead, so as to cut down the work load.  This curry puffs are baked in the oven for a healthier snack. I made a big load so that I can freeze them as emergency food.  First freeze them on a tray, make sure they are sticking to one another, for two hours a least. After that you can stacked them together and packed them in Ziploc bag. Can store up to 2 months. This pastry you can oven baked or deep fry them in oil but I prefer a healthier version that is baking them in oven for 30 mins. Flip them over so that both sides are evenly browned. 

 after baking they look glossy

I double egg wash the puffs

Egg wash before and after baking makes them looks glossy.

Pleating has improved ;)

This pastry is easy to handle,I have adjusted the recipe to my liking

Recipe for the fillings

1/2 chicken breast - diced into small cubes

5 potatoes - diced into small cubes and boiled till soft

2big red onions - diced

1 sprig of curry leaf

4 tbsp if meat curry powder

1tsp chilli flakes

1tbsp of sugar

Salt to taste

3tbsp of cooking oil

1clove of garlic

1 cup water

1/2 tbsp tamarind paste/ Assam Jawa

Method:

Heat up oil in a wok, saute garlic and diced onion till fragrant, add in diced chicken breast, potato ,curry powder , curry leaves and continue stir fry till chicken meat is almost cooked. Add in water and tamarind paste. Lower heat and simmer till water has evaporated. Add sugar and salt for taste. Off heat and cool the fillings before chilling in the fridge . It is easier when fillings is chilled overnight.

Recipe for the crust pastry 

( 18 pieces of puffs ) the puffs can be frozen/ bake or deep fry

Bake for 30 mins @190 Deg.C

400 gm AP flour

1 tsp sugar

3/4 tsp salt

150 gm unsalted butter

150 ml ice water + or -

Rub butter into flour mixture till it resembles bread crumbs, slowly add in ice water. Gentle form into a dough. Rest for 30 mins. Divide dough into equal portions of 38gm balls. Wrap with curry chicken potato fillings ( I prepared a day before)

Stir Fried Rice Cake/ Char Koay Kak

Previous post was on how to make steamed rice cake for this street food called ' Char Koay Kak ' .   Fried Rice Cake  / Char Koay Kak in Hokkien language,literally means Fried Squares of Rice Cake. I made the plain rice cake from scratch. We had ' Char Koay Kak' for lunch the day I made this steamed rice cake.  

Click link below for the recipe

http://www.elinluv.com/2021/07/night-market-street-food-char-koay-kak.html?m=1

Steamed Plain Rice Cake

Since the pandemic started, I have learned to make my own rice cake. Found one recipe that produce soft   firm and,springy . Perfect for making 'Char Koay Kak'... which is our all time favourite street food. Stir fried with preserved radish, bean sprouts , egg and lots of garlic.  Easy to make rice cake and the recipe is a keeper for sure. The recipe is from  Instagrammer  Sonia.  I will share her recipe below.

love the soft springy and light chewy texture

Steamed Rice Cake Recipe:

ingredients 

(A)

200gm overnight cooked rice

300g water  

(B)

100g corn flour

80 gm All Purpose Flour

1 tsp salt

60g water

Method:

Blend (A) in blender till smooth, Add in (B) and continue to blend till well combined and smooth.

Pour into a greased steaming tray and steam for 30mins.

Keep aside to cool before cutting.

Vegetarian Dish - Cabbage With Fermented Red Beancurd

Yesterday was Sunday and I thought perhaps I should cook a vegetarian dish with half cabbage, the balanced half actually after cooking the first half with sea prawns . A very delicious vegetarian dish with a combination of two types of canned mushrooms - straw mushrooms and button mushrooms, fried beancurd skin, wood ear fungus, glass noodles, carrots and cabbage. The most hero ingredient is the fermented red beancurd. Hubby likes it with not too much gravy but yet every piece of ingredients are well coated with the thick gravy of the fermented red beancurd . Of course, ginger slices and chopped garlic are important ingredients too , without them, the dish will not be flavour, they h add flavours to the dish. My late mom cooked this dish well. I couldn't recreated this dish like hers but will do for now.  Hubby enjoyed the dish eventhough he is a meat eater. I added a meat dish for him - canned Beef Curry ( Adabi brand ) A complete meal for two person.

Cabbage With Fermented Red Beancurd

Ingredients:

Half cabbage - soaked,rinsed and cut into smaller pieces 

Fried beancurd skin- for vegetarian dish

Canned straw mushrooms - cut into halves

Canned button mushrooms - sliced

Half Carrot -sliced

Wood Ear Fungus - soaked

Glass Noodles - soaked

Saute ingredients

3 cloves of Garlic - chopped

3 slices of ginger

3 cubes of fermented red beancurd + 3 tbsp of  fermented red beancurd liquid

Seasoning:

salt and chicken powder to taste.

method:

Heat up 2 tbsp of cooking oil, saute garlic and ginger till fragrant, add in fermented red beancurd cubes and liquid, stir fry till cubes are mashed up.

Add in the mushrooms, wood ear fungus, fried beancurd skin. Continue stir fry for a few minutes, add in cabbage and stir fry till well combined. Add in water enough to soften the cabbage ( adjust accordingly- I added just enough for a thicker gravy )  and add in salt and chicken powder to taste. Once the cabbage has soften, add in the soaked glass noodles and carrots. Once carrot has slightly soften ,off heat and serve with rice.

Enjoy !

Chicken Schnitzel

Chicken Schnitzel for lunch. The Meaning of Schnitzel - a thin slice of veal or other light meat, coated in breadcrumbs and fried. Easy to prepare and taste good. It has been a long time since I last made them for my Meat Eater. We have extra brown sauce from Tuck Kee Restaurant when we bought Roast Duck , so I used the extra sauce for this Chicken Schnitzel. No wastage!

I need to improve on the texture

the breadcrumbs too fine. 

Chicken Schnitzel

1 large chicken breast - sliced horizontal across into three pieces on each side of breast . Rub Salt  and Pepper on each slices. Season for a few minutes. Coat with AP flour, then dip into whisk egg. After which, coat with breadcrumbs. Fried on shallow oil till golden browned and cooked through. Drain off excess oil on paper towel. Serve with brown sauce of your choice .