Daring Bakers November Challenge...

The second daring baker's challenge!! And this time, it's savoury!!! Woohoo!!! i dun have much of a sweet tooth so am especially delighted!!!! I always have to look for friends to help finish sweet stuff...but this time, i can eat everything myself....just kidding!! Sharing is caring....

anyways!! back to the recipe!!! So what have we been discussing for the past month???
Tender Potato Bread!! And everything it has to do with the recipe...including the type of potato, flour, amount of various ingredients, kneading technique, different ways of shaping the loaf...i tell u, it's such fun to be a daring baker!!!

the kneading is quite a challenge...as some fellow DBers commented, the dough felt like Grandma's flabby arms!!! Gross description...but true!!!
I actually gave up kneading...cos i just couldn't do anything to it...and tot if i left it to raise a little longer, it should be fine.. :P
thankfully it was..!!! This time round, the recipe was quite versatile and we were allowed, and encouraged to come up with variations in shaping and topping the loaf as long as it remained a savoury bread...
I topped mine with onions rendered in chicken drippings, parsley, italian herbs and seasalt.

Brought it to a picnic where it was very warmly received...only complaint was that there wasn't more!!!

The making of the bread... see the sticky threads in the mixing bowl..?

 

Paired up with a simple salad and smoked cod dip.

 

Thanks Tanna of my kitchen in half cups for choosing such a fantastic recipe!!! 10/10!!!
Click here to check out some of the other DB blogs!! (I say 'some' cos we have grown to more than 300!!! Woohoo!!) This month's really interesting!! :D

Easiest Pot luck Dish ever!!!

i was introduced to the concept of potlucks in Singapore...where my cell mates usually get together for christmas and new year's and being the generous souls they are, everyone brings something premium to share.....but cos we r all quite busy, we usually won't cook the dishes...most probably we'll buy some famous dish from some famous hawker/ eatery...

and over here in adelaide, potlucks are even more regular affairs..usually standard fare for birthdays and any gathering for any reason...i love bringing something different everytime...usually savoury....

here's a really simple one which works really well for a number of reasons..

- minimal cooking involved!! just soak noodles in water and then when they soften, blanch in hot water!!
- vegetarian (dun have to worry about dietary constrictions...non-beef, pork eaters etc)
- low cost!!!
- no heating up required!!




this picture is a single serve in case you are wondering why it looks so small... :)

enough chattering...

here's the recipe!!!

Refreshing Mint Noodles

ingredients:
400g rice noodles (mee hoon)
3 dried chili, soaked and finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbs sugar
150 ml warm water
1.5 tbs lime juice
5 tbs fish sauce
2 carrots, finely shredded
1 cup mint leaves, finely chopped
optional: finely shredded wooden ear fungus, 1/2 cup

topping:
1/2 cup crushed peanuts, lightly toasted

method:
soak noodles in water then soft.
Blanch in hot water, drain and set aside.
Combine the rest of the ingredients. Add to noodles. Leave in fridge to chill.
Top with peanuts when serving.

Easy!!!

New ingredients!

Chilis r usually quite expensive in adelaide..so when i saw this bag of green peppers on a table labelled 'hot', i got quite excited...the proprietor told me that they were spicy banana peppers and sold me the lot for 2 bucks!! What a bargain!!! hehehee!! i've used them in place of chili padis...and also ate them raw...a word of warning: they are fierce enough to induce tears!!


and this is smoked cod....


Asked the fishmonger how to cook it..and he said to just simmer in water or milk for 10 minutes and eat it just like that.
Well...i followed his instructions and was quite delighted with the results..a little on the salty side but quite nice...firm and flaky..
(Wei Hong, perhaps u can see if it's available in Melbourne??)

Anyone has a more interesting recipe for smoked cod??? :)

Yeast induced activities..

it's swoc vac...which means that i should be studying diligently cos exams r drawing near...but it also means that i m flying home for the holidays in less than a month's time!! WooHoo!!!

but the things which go through my mind are quite incredulous...for example, instead of worrying about my exams, i fret over the stuff in my fridge and pantry...!!!!

haaa...so i have been baking ...ALOT... just so i can use up the bottle of yeast in my fridge...

the first exercise was the foccacia several posts back..absolutely delicious...then i tried another foccacia but this time i added sun dried tomatos and olives (yes, Michelle, I m thinking of you!!)...BUT i left it to proof OVERNIGHT instead of the recommended 2-2.5 hours...wahahaha....errr...let's just say the end product tasted mildly of beer....!!
Next i tried making bagels...they were alright on the first day but probably not worth the trouble...and last night, with much enthusiasm and excitment and very food-bloggerishly taking pictures of every step, i made mixed fruit macadamia cinnamon rolls.....but cos i was so engrossed in drooling over the chocolate molten cakes on Deficent Chef, i left the rolls in the oven too long...and instead the lovely cinnamon scent i was expecting, it was distinctly woody...as in charred wood!! *sigh* the top tray was nearly black but the second tray fared slightly better.

:)

So no recipes for this post...just pictures from the mixed fruit macademia cinnamon rolls.. (yes..mixed fruit n macademias r on my 'have to use up before going home' list too!) and oh yeah....to everyone having exams soon, all the best...!!! We r nearly there!!!

Chwee Kueh and Chay tou kueh!!

A very dear friend was coming over for dinner and I asked her what her favourite dish was…her reply: "Chwee Kueh."

Me: "CHWEE KUEH??!!!!"

Friend: "Chwee Kueh."

For the uninitiated, chwee kueh is a savoury steamed rice pudding with salted radish.
It literally means 'water cake' in Hokkien.
The dish is quite simple so I was surprised that my friend has such a down to earth request! She’s from Taiwan so I thought Taiwan has chwee kueh too but i found out much later, she got hooked on it in Singapore.
In Singapore, chwee kueh can be commonly found in most hawker centres and many people have them for breakfast.
Here’s the recipe which I found from another food blog…this lady has many reliable recipes but a pity that she seemed to have stopped blogging...




We had more chwee kueh than toppings so we decided to make chay tou kueh (Asian/ Singaporean carrot cake) with the leftovers..(only cos we made a double batch of the chwee kueh...you won't have the same issue if u follow the recipe..)

The steps were pretty straightforward…heat up oil, fry garlic til fragrant, add chwee kueh, fry til light golden, add radish and eggs, season with salt n white pepper to taste.




Looks pretty authentic, no?? :D