black pizza

I have not touched yeast longer than I had expected given that my stand mixer had been with me for more than a month.

I was worried that my pack of yeast had gone dead, so I tried proofing a small amount earlier this week and got positive results. With that, I made pizza :)

I have done pizza more than a few times in the past, but this is the first time since my bread baking class.  I used the same recipe I always used--and will continue to do so until my weighing scale reaches me, then I can play around with recipes.

'before' shots are never flattering!

I used a mix of wholemeal and unbleached all purpose flour.  On top is a medley of my favourite things like squid ink, cherry (or grape) tomatoes, capers, anchovies and while it is not my favourite as I like making my own, random dollops of ready-made spaghetti sauce. 

Some basil would have been great, but I didn't have any.

black is beautiful

Luckily I had cut the pizza right out of the oven because in a matter of seconds almost, it had gone crispy.  Good luck not shattering crispy pizza--even with a sharp pizza roller.

Squid Inked

When a good friend asked me last week what my favorite pasta was, I thought immediately that it is spaghetti.  For sauce my number one is anchovy and garlic oil, close second is puttanesca.  Pesto and Marinara are tied at third.

I told her that I remember feeling down when I found out that one of the cafes that I frequent stopped serving squid ink marinara.  Suddenly, I don't feel like eating their new marinara anymore.  It doesn't taste (and look) as much as coming from the sea with the standard linguine as it did with squid ink spaghetti.

Incidentally, another friend who attended a pasta making class told me that the chef taught them two variations, one was with spinach and the other with, you guessed it!  Squid ink.

These two incidents got me thinking about making squid ink pasta.  So I searched high and low for squid in where I live.  NOT EASY.  

After securing the coveted ingredient I made pasta dough.

What lies beneath?

The dough was so dark and so rich that I could not help but laugh like an evil queen.  

hung

I would have wanted to make spaghetti, but for some reason the idea of black velvet ribbons changed my mind.

happily eaten after

My husband loved the texture and managed to eat three servings.  I struggled to stop at a serving and I half--but a girl has got to do what a girl has got to do :)

I still have packets of Squid Ink, I am thinking of other fun pasta projects I could do with those.

fettuccine

I had been reading a lot and watched videos on pasta making.  What becomes clearer each time is that there is NO ONE best / perfect pasta.

There are good and very good pasta though.

I like how purists talk about less is more, that great pasta do not need bells and whistles.  Simple.  

SIMPLE.  I am so in!

I did not rush to experiment on infused and coloured pasta because I wanted to experience basic pasta first, as in wheat, semolina, all purpose flour and eggs.  That was it.  

I did try it with and without salt and olive oil.  

I am still learning.  I have not decided which one I like best.  

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Having experienced the basic pasta preparation, I ventured on making parsley infused pasta.  It turned out pretty good, so today, I made tomato and pepper fettuccine.

Truth be told I prefer spaghetti, but I though the tomato bits and peppers would show better in thicker noodles.

I know I don't look much, but wait till I had rested!

I did expect the dough to be more red and I was surprised it kind of looked "normal".  Not much colour difference.

This is a mix of all purpose flour and semolina--you can see the texture of the semolina in the dough.  

The smallish tomato bits were also a nice touch--so much better than having pink pasta :) 

find the spots, go on.

When making spaghetti, even with well floured dough I find that I need to separate each strand from the rest which is frustrating.  However, with my fettuccine cutter--there is nothing to it!
 

like soldiers

 Because it is so humid where I live, it sometimes seem like drying the pasta doesn't really dry it.

Oh well, cook fresh :)

excited to find out what I'm gonna be :)

Round 2: Pasta Making

I remember the first time I made fresh pasta.  It was a whim.  I googled the recipe and used the first one I saw.  No reading about dough texture, kneading or best practices. 

I also had no tools except a rolling pin. 

Pasta was pretty decent all things considered.  But with too much energy spent on the pasta itself, I served it with a rushed sauce.  Somehow this made me feel like starting off with great shoelaces and ending up with forgettable shoes.  It did not make sense.  

I remember Marco Pierre White saying that the end result should be better that the ingredients going in.  OBVIOUSLY.

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There was no more pasta making after that, I decided that the only way I’d make pasta again was if I had a pasta roller. 

Last Saturday, my stand mixer came.  It is a little bit funny because my pasta roller attachment came before the stand mixer.  It had been waiting for a while.

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How was my pasta?  Much, much, much better.  I was able to roll it dramatically thinner than last time. 

It also helped that I had been reading about pasta making.

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How do I feel about pasta making now?

I feel that it is definitely worth it—but only when you have time to enjoy the process, are equipped with a pasta roller (mixer or a food processor would be a bonus), and have good sauce worthy of the labored pasta.

There is, I discovered some skill in feeding pasta dough into the roller.  Really.  The last dough ball turned out much better than the first one I rolled out.  Watching videos makes you think that there is nothing to it, but there is.  Experience will allow you to roll better.

Feeling the dough is critical.  It seems like the more I read about pasta making the more I realise that it is really a touchy-feely process.  Your recipes are good guides but you need to know how good dough should feel and look like.  I love how certain chefs and experienced home cooks tell you how it should be.  How it needs to be shiny, how it is smooth, how upon rolling it changes, how suddenly, flour and eggs had transform into silky pasta :)  I love that.

no kneading (promise)

With all my baking stuff packed (and ready to move) and the void that is the absence of a mixer in my life, I had a sneaky suspicion that I would not be making bread anytime soon.  At least not for the next three weeks.

But you see, curiosity and information are dangerous things.  DANGEROUS.

During the classes last week, Chef taught us to make and use sponge and also demonstrated--more like prepared a no knead bread that looked like it was a prop from some artisan bakery photo shoot.  

Without a weighing scale I could not really practice my baking ratios.  I also had only one packet of active yeast--given to me by a good friend because she knew how hard not baking was for me!

So I googled and used a random recipe for no knead bread.  

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Oh, I had to bake my bread using a frying pan.  FRYING PAN.  

Remember?  Baking stuff inaccessible!

I split my dough into two so that I can experiment on the difference in outcomes.  
The first one I baked covered with aluminum foil (and cool frying pan) and the second on a pre-heated frying pan with no cover.

mentos inspired

The second rose much better, it had a rounder profile and had a smoother crust.  

As I finished the entire first loaf--it is clear that there were no complaints here.  The crust was so crispy and inside was soft.

I'm sure Mom is excited to visit to taste these breads.

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I have some left over yeast from the small packet, so I went ahead and made another batch using a different recipe.  We shall see how tomorrow's bread would turn out.

crispy corn dog

I had some time today to make a snack to kick off the long weekend.  Having packets of sausages, I took a spicy italian and another with cheese.

Some wholemeal dough intended for our pizza dinner tonight went around each quartered dog.

we've been quartered, wrapped and 'milked'

 As I haven't used this dough to wrap around before, I was a bit worried.  Although I was quite hopeful that they'd come out crunchy.

While wrapping, I thought about making a cheese sauce for dipping.  My husband loves cheese, he also loves dipping.  Perfect opportunity :)

'smiles'

Some dough decided they'd stick out, which reminded me of McDonald's Twister Fries!

Crispy, cheesy and spicy.  Perfect.

let's all jump into the cheese bath!

Meat Pie

I had been wanting to bake a pie for a couple of weeks now.  I knew I was going to make a pie crust from scratch but I was torn between making a fresh fruit filling or selling out and getting the filling in can since my pie crust recipe is not a tested one. 

The more I thought about it, the more buying canned filling didn't seem like a good idea.  I mean there is nothing wrong with buying ready made stuff--it's just that I bake to learn so I didn't really have to think more about the filling.

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I kept going through my a litany of fruit and fruit combinations for my filling.

In the end, I decided on a meat pie. 

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I needed to get a pie pan, when I went to the store there was one on sale--a heart shaped one.

I'm not really a heart-shaped-pie kind of person, but as I didn't want to pay five times more for the round one--the heart came home with me.

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Inside my pie would be onions, beef, potato, carrots seasoned with salt and pepper.

beef on a bed of onions

Of course I could not close the pie without throwing in chunks of butter.

"I need closure"

I decided to do the classic crisscross pattern.  And as I'm not happiest with my pan shape, I thought I'll go extra corny.  I put a heart where the heart of the heart ought to be.

can you say 'tongue and cheek'?

I might not be too happy about the pie shape, but when the pie came out--I was ecstatic :)

home is where the 'heart' is

I love how golden the crust was.

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I had to leave for yoga class right after the pie came out of the oven, so I was not able to take photos of the sliced pie using my camera.  The next two are mobile photos.

open heart surgery

 How do you properly divide a heart shaped pie?  No idea.

late lunch

I love how the crust was flaky and creamy--melt-in-your-mouth creamy!

I can't wait for my parents to visit, I will definitely make some for them to try :)

i heart meat pie

corn dog

What is essential is invisible to the eye.  

I read that from The Little Prince.  I am sure he was not talking about corn dogs, but I believe the same is true for corn dogs.  No matter how great the batter, the meat is really the meat.  

I bought spicy Italian sausages.  They were looking a bit square--literally after I got them out of the chiller, but after they had warmed up, it was apparent that they were quite well rounded.  Not unlike some people. 

who are you calling chicken?

I was a bit nervous about the sticks.  While I didn't want the puny ones that may break or seem like it would break.  The ones I got were quite dangerous.  I mean, I seriously was reminded of stakes hammered into vampire hearts in some old movies.

not a toy

The length and width was perfect for the stubbly sausages that I got.

ready for wardrobe

The dough?  Oh the dough.  I hope it would turn out well worth the drama.

golden ribbon

I enjoy working with dough--but this was extra extra fun!

I wrapped the strip all around the sausage, tucking and stretching and pinching where I need to.  

"what are you all looking at?"

After I had wrapped all six, I had some extra dough, so I decided to put a little extra on the corn dogs too!

It was the perfect time to use my brand new cookie cutters!

pimped

Now, I anticipated that the details would make the corn dogs cuter, but I didn't expect them to look as cute as they did coming out of the oven.

Really.

REALLY.

BEAR with me

The contrast of the animals made me gasp.  Maybe I even clapped a little ;)

bunny Wabbit

 

the gang

How did it look inside?

Well...

Tada!!!!

not bad at all

Of all the things I've baked, I think this one is really the one I was most happy about the end result.

where's the party?

I'm knead-y

I had finally found a grocery that carries corn meal! 

One would be surprised on just how many didn't.

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My original plan was to make corn muffins--and that will happen, I know.  My craving got in the way. On Friday I couldn't stop thinking of corn dogs.    

I have not seen any store selling it where I live--that seems strange.  MAYBE it's because I never really looked.

I got myself some Italian sausages, sturdy sticks, wholemeal flour and I was ready to make some serious yellow dough.

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I was happily mixing, talking, laughing and kneading--excited of what the end product would become.

The dough seemed to feel different, like it needed more liquid.  More kneading.

 Then it felt like it needed more flour.  More kneading.

Then I thought I should give it a rest.

I put it aside to rise. 

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One hour later,  I came back to check.

OH MY GOD.

It was as if time stood still.  NOTHING happened to my dough.  It looked exactly like it did when I left it.  If only, it looked dry.

I googled my way to a workable solution.

I read that it may be due to the temperature so I placed the dough in warm-er place.  Waited 15 minutes.  Nothing.

I read that you can potentially steam the dough.  I did.  Waited 15 minutes.  Nothing.

I read that I could revive it by adding yeast dissolved in liquid and more flour.  I did.  Believe me when I say that all this time I felt like a doctor pumping someone's chest waiting for a break on the flat line.  Kneading.

I did that.  Nothing.

Not happy.

I was really frustrated, but I had to remind myself that things like this happen and there is a lesson to be learnt here.

That did not stop me from throwing away the dough though.  I did find out later on that I could use this dough for crackers.  Too late.  Too stubborn.    I hate that I threw it away because I really don't like wasting food.  It is wrong.  I was wrong.

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It was late, but I was determined.

I whipped out another batch, this time careful not to add too much liquid or flour and kneading only for a couple of minutes.

I read that over kneading makes stubborn dough.  A dough can only take so much pressure  :)

And what do you know?  My lovely dough rose!

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I love happy endings.

parsley calzone

I had been thinking of calzone all week. 

In the end, I decided to put a handful of parsley into the dough.

I love how it smelt.  It didn't hurt that it looked pretty appetising too.

makes me think of summer

What was inside?

"sides"

I wanted to make this calzone more well rounded than last time.  For the side, I had shitake mushrooms, tomato and spinach cooked in olive oil with some salt and pepper.

For the main, each calzone had a piece of rosemary chicken breast.

star of the show

I cut the chicken into smaller, more manageable pieces.

party

"my lips are sealed"

Off to the oven.  

Adam and Eve -- my first two

As I had learnt my lesson last time on sealing--and the amount of fillings, there were so leaks on any of the four that I made.

my favorite part

I especially love the edges--they are very crunchy and remind me of garlic sticks :)

i'm on the edge

I restrain myself from finishing the edges right away as it would make eating the calzone impossible without a mess--so I save it for later instead.

I ate half of out giant thing for breakfast--making sure there was a good two hours before my yoga class.

utensils optional

The other half I ate after yoga class.  Between sun salutations, I couldn't stop thinking of my other half  patiently waiting for me.

i knead you

I bit the bullet and made my first dough.  Yes, from scratch.  As in using basic ingredients like flour, yeast, water, what have you.  It was for pizza.

It was a lot of hard work!  I kneaded by hand.  The person I'm with helped me too.  He was so nice wiping sweat off my forehead as I worked the dough.  As some point, he got half the dough and kneaded some.  We spent a good part of our Friday night kneading.

I kept reminding myself and him that Daniel didn't think much of kneading dough, but Mr. Miyagi proved him wrong--it was good (fighter) training.  I would be saying the same if one day, we find each other cleaning windows, only I'd add wash in, wash out.    

I made dough enough for eight, but only baked four.  The one in the photo is literally the first one out of the oven :)

As you can see I can still learn a few things to help with the shape and layout.  I may have placed a certain mozzarella pieces too close to the edge.

more that a rectangle

I made the pizza dangerously thin, only because I want pizza crust that way.   The same is true for the rest of our household.

So it was pizza for (late lunch) for the person I'm with on Saturday.

I was happy to hear him say wow after the first bite :)  He ate half his pizza, then had the other half for breakfast on Sunday.

basil and mozzerella on my home made tomato sauce

For toppings, I made home made tomato sauce.  I thought I'd go all the way homemade, the dough part was the hardest anyways.  So I made a sauce from whole tomatoes, basil and a lot of garlic.  Some olive oil plus salt and pepper too.  Much better that something from a can.

I really enjoyed this project that I think I'd give it another go applying things I've learnt :)