Risotto for a Daring Cooks Challenge

The 2010 March Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Eleanor of "MelbournefoodGeek and Jess of Jessthebaker . They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make risotto. The various components of their challenge recipe are based on input from the Australian Masterchef cookbook and the cookbook Moorish by Greg Malouf.

We were required to make the stock for the risotto dish from scratch and I decided to make do with a simple chicken stock. Risotto is not something I have ever cooked before in my life and to be honest I have not eaten risotto before. The only one time I have ever cooked anything that somewhat resembles risotto would have been a seafood paela. It was delicious but not something I would make over and over again. To get into the mood for this challenge, I searched out recipes for risotto. I was amazed that you could make so many variations of this rice dish and it sort of confused me somewhat. I ended up toying with one idea, and then abandoning it for another. Oh dear, and time was ticking away. In fact I only decided on the final recipe mid week and made this dish only last night. This is really winging it as I don't like to rush things at the last minute. There is really no room for errors in this case and if this recipe really bombed out, that's it. However I am so glad that it worked out well. This recipe blends in flavours that we love which is Thai. I decided to make the risotto really dry and it ended up like a Chinese claypot version. I used some of the same ingredients to stir fry the prawns which was laid out as a side dish accompanying the risotto. My hubby really, and I mean really enjoyed this. Next time I will try it with green curry instead.



Thai Red Curry Prawn Risotto
Recipe Adapted from "Quick & Easy Workday Dinners"
Serves 3 - 4

Ingredients:

400ml fresh chicken stock (recipe below)
2 pieces lemon grass (use the white part only), bruised
6 fresh kaffir lime leaves, shredded
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium sized red onion, finely chopped
4 Tbsp good quality Thai red curry paste
1 1/2 cups arborio or short-grained rice, washed and drain of water
200ml coconut cream + 4 Tbsp coconut cream extra
350g raw prawns, peeled and deveined with tails intact
250g raw prawns, peeled, deveined and chopped
3 bird's eye chilli
Fish sauce to taste

Method:

1) Pour the chicken stock into a saucepan, add the lemon grass and half the kaffir lime leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, covered for 10 minutes.

2) Heat the oil in a deep pot (preferably non-stick) and add in the onion. Cook on medium-low heat for about 3 minutes. Stir in 2 1/2 Tbsp of the red curry paste and fry until fragrant (about 1 minute).

3) Then stir in the rice until it is well coated. Strain about 300ml of the stock into the rice and then add in 200ml of coconut cream. Add in the remaining lime leaf and simmer until the rice is cooked. If the rice looks a bit dry and is still uncooked, slowly add in the remaining chicken stock. The rice will continue absorbing the stock whilst it is being cooked.

4) Once the rice is cooked (test for doneness), add in the chopped shrimp and cover the pot for about a minute until the shrimp is cooked. Season with fish stock to taste.

5) For the remaining shrimp, mix 1 1/2 Tbsp of red curry and mix it with 4 Tbsp of coconut cream. Pour mixture into a frying pan and slowly fry it until fragrant. Add the whole shrimps, chilli and 2 shredded lime leaf. Stir fry until the shrimp is cooked. Season with fish sauce to taste.

6) Serve the risotto whilst hot and add the red curry shrimps on the side. Garnish with finely sliced lime leaves.

To Make the Chicken Stock (can be made a day or 2 beforehand)

Ingredients:

3 kg of meaty chicken bones (backs, necks, breast bones), skin removed.
8 cups of cold water (or enough to cover chicken pieces)
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 stalks of celery, coarsely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
2 bay leaves
1" ginger, sliced
3 springs of coriander
1 tsp whole white peppercorns

Method:

1) In a large stockpot, combine all ingredients. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 3 hours (essentially, the longer you simmer it, the more intense the flavor), adding water as needed to keep ingredients submerged.

2) Strain stock into a clean pot or heatproof plastic container and discard solid ingredients. Let cool and refrigerate overnight.

3) In morning, skim solidified fat from the top and re-refrigerate until ready to use. Left over stock can be frozen.

A Gingerbread House to Celebrate the Holidays

The December 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to you by Anna of Very Small Anna and Y of Lemonpi. They chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ everywhere to bake and assemble a gingerbread house from scratch. They chose recipes from Good Housekeeping and from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book as the challenge recipes.

I was extremely keen to participate in this month's challenge especially as we were asked to do a gingerbread house. I've never done anything like this before so it would be really something as far as I was concerned. Both Anna and Y had posted their own gingerbread dough recipe. However we were also allowed to use any other recipe of our own choosing. I randomly picked a recipe from BBC Good Food and also used their gingerbread house template.

I really had great fun putting the entire house together. The house templates were baked and kept in the fridge a week ago. During the mid week, I scouted around for different candies, cookies, etc that would be used to decorate the house. My niece and nephew who happened to be in town this week helped out by putting up the wood pile and fence around the gingerbread house. They in turn had their own pieces of gingerbread cookie to decorate whilst I was assembling mine. I think for every piece of candy that went onto their cookie, one piece would be popped into the mouth .... that's kids for you!

Anyway I also wish everyone of you a happy New Year and hope you have a great kick start to usher in 2010.





Gingerbread House

For the Gingerbread Dough

Ingredients:

250g unsalted butter
200g dark muscovado sugar
7 tbsp golden syrup
600g plain flour
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
4 tsp ground ginger

Method:

1) Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Melt the butter, sugar and syrup in a pan. Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and ground ginger into a large bowl, then stir in the butter mixture to make a stiff dough. If it won't quite come together, add a tiny splash of water.

2) Cut out the template. Put a sheet of baking paper on your work surface and roll about one quarter of the dough to the thickness of 1/4". Cut out one of the sections, then slide the gingerbread, still on its baking paper, onto a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, re-rolling the trimmings, until you have two side walls, a front and back wall and two roof panels. Any leftover dough can be cut into Christmas trees, if you like.

3) Bake all the sections for 12 mins or until firm and just a little darker at the edges. Leave to cool for a few mins to firm up, then trim around the templates again to give clean, sharp edges. Leave to cool completely.

4) Put the egg whites in a large bowl, sift in the icing sugar, then stir to make a thick, smooth icing. Spoon into a piping bag with a medium nozzle. Pipe generous snakes of icing along the wall edges, one by one, to join the walls together. Use a small bowl to support the walls from the inside, then allow to dry, ideally for a few hours.

5) Once dry, remove the supports and fix the roof panels on. The angle is steep so you may need to hold these on firmly for a few mins until the icing starts to dry. Dry completely, ideally overnight.

6) Decorate the gingerbread house with a variety of candies, sweets and chocolates. For the roof, I used oat bran crackers for a more realistic effect.

How about some French Macarons?

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

Oh wow! Macarons! For the life of me, I did not expect this. To be frank I'm really not that much into macarons (I think they are a bit too sweet) which is probably why you only see them making a rare appearance in this blog. I remembered the very first time I made macarons. Of course prior to actually venturing into it, I did a whole lot of research and finally picked a recipe posted by none other than the Queen of Macarons - Helen of Tartelette. I used the Italian method which is suppose to give a more stable macaron. Not sure what I did wrong but every single one cracked, even though the tops were shiny! It took a long while before I dared to try again! The next time round I used David Lebowitz's recipe and I didn't even age the egg whites, which is suppose to be a "no-no". Lo and behold, my macarons developed feet and they didn't crack. I was so excited. I remember running out from the kitchen, exclaiming, feet - feet! Any one other than my hubby would have certainly thought that a mad woman had ascended upon them. I guess only bakers can appreciate the excitment of seeing "feet". Would you believe me if I told you I still get this excitment plus the fact that I will stare ardently into my oven for the first 10 minutes just to see the macarons rise up.



For this particular challenge, I made two different batches over separate weekends. The first was a Hazelnut Espresso Chocolate Macaron sandwiched with a bittersweet chocolate ganache which had been flavoured with orange liquor. I sprinkled the top of each macaron with cocoa nibs. Huh - talk about chocolate overdose and it does sounds delish right?? Well they were! The espresso and bitterness of the chocolate counter-balanced the sugar just nicely! Pair these with a cup of espresso coffee and you'll be in 7th heaven!

The next batch was Almond Lemon-Mint Macaron sandwiched with chai flavoured chocolate ganache. I coloured the macarons in baby blue and even did some swirls on some of them, just for the sake of experimenting. These were delicious as well and the lemon-mint paired quite well with the chai flavour. I wasn't sure at first!

In all, this month's challenge has been another fun adventure. To check out other beautiful creations, go visit my fellow bakers at Daring Bakers .



Equipment required:

• Electric mixer, preferably a stand mixer with a whisk attachment
• Rubber spatula
• Baking sheets
• Parchment paper or nonstick liners
• Pastry bag (can be disposable)
• Plain half-inch pastry bag tip
• Sifter or sieve
• If you don’t have a pastry bag and/or tips, you can use a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off
• Oven
• Cooling rack
• Thin-bladed spatula for removing the macaroons from the baking sheets
• Food processor or nut grinder, if grinding your own nuts





French Macarons

Ingredients

Confectioners’ (Icing) sugar: 2 ¼ cups (225 g, 8 oz.)
Almond flour: 2 cups (190 g, 6.7 oz.)
Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoons (25 g , .88 oz.)
Egg whites: 5 (Have at room temperature)



Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 200°F (93°C). Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl. If grinding your own nuts, combine nuts and a cup of confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery.

2) Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.

3) Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning on adding zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.

4) Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806). You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. It’s easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.

5) Pipe one-inch-sized (2.5 cm) mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).

6) Bake the macaroon for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375°F (190°C). Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly colored.

7) Cool on a rack before filling.

Yield: About two dozen filled macarons

Daring Bakers on a Vols-au Vent Venture!

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon . She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook "Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan".

Puff pastry (aka pâte feuilletée) is something most of us usually buy at the grocery store, but I guess being Daring Bakers we have to dare ourselves further! This wouldn't be the first time we would be making puff pastry. In June last year, we were challenged to work with laminated dough to bake a danish braid. A laminated dough consists of a large block of butter (called the “beurrage”) that is enclosed in dough (called the “détrempe”). This dough/butter packet is called a “paton,” and is rolled and folded repeatedly (a process known as “turning”) to create the crisp, flaky, parallel layers you see when baked. Unlike Danish or croissant however, puff pastry dough contains no yeast in the détrempe, and relies solely aeration to achieve its high rise. The turning process creates hundreds of layers of butter and dough, with air trapped between each one. In the hot oven, water in the dough and the melting butter creates steam, which expands in the trapped air pockets, forcing the pastry to rise.

I had skipped the August challenge so when 1st Sept came, I could not wait to find out what would be this month's challenge. When Steph posted that it would be vols-au vent, I was pretty excited! I had in fact planned to make some in the next week or two, so this was indeed perfect timing. And guess what, another challenge which my other half would love to be my "official tester"! I decided to make bite-size vols-au vent; both savoury and sweet. I toyed with several different ideas .... even to extend of mumbling to myself on the type of filings I would use. I'm not sure if my husband thought it was funny or down right irritating by the end of the weekend. Anyway I ended up with several types of filings. For the savoury, it included carmelized onion with tomato confit, a wild mushroom ragoo, an egg mayo salad, apple and walnut chutney and honey baked ham with creme fraiche. For the sweet version, I simply piped each vols-a vent with lemon pastry cream and topped the pastries with filings such as blueberry confit topped with fresh blueberries, freshly chopped figs and miniature marshmallows. Can you imagine that the preparation part took almost a day and the consumption part took about 30 minutes only. So much for that!



Vols-au Vent

Equipment Required:

- food processor (will make mixing dough easy, but I imagine this can be done by hand as well)
-rolling pin
-pastry brush
-metal bench scraper (optional, but recommended)
-plastic wrap
-baking sheet
-parchment paper
-silicone baking mat (optional, but recommended)
-set of round cutters (optional, but recommended)
-sharp chef’s knife
-fork
-oven
-cooling rack

Prep Times:

-about 4-5 hours to prepare the puff pastry dough (much of this time is inactive, while you wait for the dough to chill between turns…it can be stretched out over an even longer period of time if that better suits your schedule)
-about 1.5 hours to shape, chill and bake the vols-au-vent after your puff pastry dough is complete



Forming and Baking the Vols-au-Vent
Yield: 1/3 of the puff pastry recipe below will yield about 8-10 1.5” vols-au-vent or 4 4” vols-au-vent

In addition to the equipment listed above, you will need:

-well-chilled puff pastry dough (recipe below)
-egg wash (1 egg or yolk beaten with a small amount of water)
-your filling of choice

Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside.

Using a knife or metal bench scraper, divided your chilled puff pastry dough into three equal pieces. Work with one piece of the dough, and leave the rest wrapped and chilled. (If you are looking to make more vols-au-vent than the yield stated above, you can roll and cut the remaining two pieces of dough as well…if not, then leave refrigerated for the time being or prepare it for longer-term freezer storage. See the “Tips” section below for more storage info.)

On a lightly floured surface, roll the piece of dough into a rectangle about 1/8 to 1/4-inch (3-6 mm) thick. Transfer it to the baking sheet and refrigerate for about 10 minutes before proceeding with the cutting.

(This assumes you will be using round cutters, but if you do not have them, it is possible to cut square vols-au-vents using a sharp chef’s knife.) For smaller, hors d'oeuvre sized vols-au-vent, use a 1.5” round cutter to cut out 8-10 circles. For larger sized vols-au-vent, fit for a main course or dessert, use a 4” cutter to cut out about 4 circles. Make clean, sharp cuts and try not to twist your cutters back and forth or drag your knife through the dough. Half of these rounds will be for the bases, and the other half will be for the sides. (Save any scrap by stacking—not wadding up—the pieces…they can be re-rolled and used if you need extra dough. If you do need to re-roll scrap to get enough disks, be sure to use any rounds cut from it for the bases, not the ring-shaped sides.)

Using a ¾-inch cutter for small vols-au-vent, or a 2- to 2.5-inch round cutter for large, cut centers from half of the rounds to make rings. These rings will become the sides of the vols-au-vent, while the solid disks will be the bottoms. You can either save the center cut-outs to bake off as little “caps” for you vols-au-vent, or put them in the scrap pile.



Dock the solid bottom rounds with a fork (prick them lightly, making sure not to go all the way through the pastry) and lightly brush them with egg wash. Place the rings directly on top of the bottom rounds and very lightly press them to adhere. Brush the top rings lightly with egg wash, trying not to drip any down the sides (which may inhibit rise). If you are using the little “caps,” dock and egg wash them as well.

Refrigerate the assembled vols-au-vent on the lined baking sheet while you pre-heat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). (You could also cover and refrigerate them for a few hours at this point.)

Once the oven is heated, remove the sheet from the refrigerator and place a silicon baking mat (preferred because of its weight) or another sheet of parchment over top of the shells. This will help them rise evenly. Bake the shells until they have risen and begin to brown, about 10-15 minutes depending on their size. Reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF (180ºC), and remove the silicon mat or parchment sheet from the top of the vols-au-vent. If the centers have risen up inside the vols-au-vent, you can gently press them down. Continue baking (with no sheet on top) until the layers are golden, about 15-20 minutes more. (If you are baking the center “caps” they will likely be finished well ahead of the shells, so keep an eye on them and remove them from the oven when browned.)

Remove to a rack to cool. Cool to room temperature for cold fillings or to warm for hot fillings.

Fill and serve.

*For additional rise on the larger-sized vols-au-vents, you can stack one or two additional ring layers on top of each other (using egg wash to "glue"). This will give higher sides to larger vols-au-vents, but is not advisable for the smaller ones, whose bases may not be large enough to support the extra weight.

*Although they are at their best filled and eaten soon after baking, baked vols-au-vent shells can be stored airtight for a day.

*Shaped, unbaked vols-au-vent can be wrapped and frozen for up to a month (bake from frozen, egg-washing them first).



Michel Richard’s Puff Pastry Dough
From: Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan
Yield: 2-1/2 pounds dough

Note: This recipe makes more than you will need for the quantity of vols-au-vent stated above. Extra dough freezes well, you can halve it successfully if you’d rather not have much leftover.

Ingredients:

2-1/2 cups (12.2 oz/ 354 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups (5.0 oz/ 142 g) cake flour
1 tbsp. salt (you can cut this by half for a less salty dough or for sweet preparations)
1-1/4 cups (10 fl oz/ 300 ml) ice water
1 pound (16 oz/ 454 g) very cold unsalted butter
Extra flour for dusting work surface

Mixing the Dough:

Check the capacity of your food processor before you start. If it cannot hold the full quantity of ingredients, make the dough into two batches and combine them.

Put the all-purpose flour, cake flour, and salt in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse a couple of times just to mix. Add the water all at once, pulsing until the dough forms a ball on the blade. The dough will be very moist and pliable and will hold together when squeezed between your fingers. (Actually, it will feel like Play-Doh.)

Remove the dough from the machine, form it into a ball, with a small sharp knife, slash the top in a tic-tac-toe pattern. Wrap the dough in a damp towel and refrigerate for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the butter between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and beat it with a rolling pin until it flattens into a square that's about 1" thick. Take care that the butter remains cool and firm: if it has softened or become oily, chill it before continuing.

Incorporating the Butter:

Unwrap the dough and place it on a work surface dusted with all-purpose flour (A cool piece of marble is the ideal surface for puff pastry) with your rolling pin (preferably a French rolling pin without handles), press on the dough to flatten it and then roll it into a 10" square. Keep the top and bottom of the dough well floured to prevent sticking and lift the dough and move it around frequently. Starting from the center of the square, roll out over each corner to create a thick center pad with "ears," or flaps.

Place the cold butter in the middle of the dough and fold the ears over the butter, stretching them as needed so that they overlap slightly and encase the butter completely. (If you have to stretch the dough, stretch it from all over; don't just pull the ends) you should now have a package that is 8" square.

To make great puff pastry, it is important to keep the dough cold at all times. There are specified times for chilling the dough, but if your room is warm, or you work slowly, or you find that for no particular reason the butter starts to ooze out of the pastry, cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate it . You can stop at any point in the process and continue at your convenience or when the dough is properly chilled.



Making the Turns:

Gently but firmly press the rolling pin against the top and bottom edges of the square (this will help keep it square). Then, keeping the work surface and the top of the dough well floured to prevent sticking, roll the dough into a rectangle that is three times as long as the square you started with, about 24" (don't worry about the width of the rectangle: if you get the 24", everything else will work itself out.) With this first roll, it is particularly important that the butter be rolled evenly along the length and width of the rectangle; check when you start rolling that the butter is moving along well, and roll a bit harder or more evenly, if necessary, to get a smooth, even dough-butter sandwich (use your arm-strength!).

With a pastry brush, brush off the excess flour from the top of the dough, and fold the rectangle up from the bottom and down from the top in thirds, like a business letter, brushing off the excess flour. You have completed one turn.

Rotate the dough so that the closed fold is to your left, like the spine of a book. Repeat the rolling and folding process, rolling the dough to a length of 24" and then folding it in thirds. This is the second turn.

Chilling the Dough:

If the dough is still cool and no butter is oozing out, you can give the dough another two turns now. If the condition of the dough is iffy, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. Each time you refrigerate the dough, mark the number of turns you've completed by indenting the dough with your fingertips. It is best to refrigerate the dough for 30 to 60 minutes between each set of two turns.

The total number of turns needed is six. If you prefer, you can give the dough just four turns now, chill it overnight, and do the last two turns the next day. Puff pastry is extremely flexible in this regard. However, no matter how you arrange your schedule, you should plan to chill the dough for at least an hour before cutting or shaping it.

Tea Time Treats with Mallows and Milan Cookies

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth . She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

Nicole has mentioned that we could attempt either one or both cookie challenges. I found it pretty intriguing that the first cookie had an element of making your own marshmallows. Not that I am keen at all about marshmallows! I find it too sweet and the texture all too mushy! However trying to attempt something new and this being one, really had me going. I decided to do both cookies as the recipes were pretty simple to follow. I also did some research on how to make marshmallows as well as watching some videos on the entire process. The twist about the marshmallows used in the Mallows cookies was that they didn't require the 12-hour setting period. The marshmallow batter (if you can call it that) was piped immediately onto the cookies instead. I decided to go about making a small batch of strawberry marshmallows to pair off with the cookies.



Would you believe if I told you that I did both challenges over a Saturday? Well I did and I am glad that I had as it left my Sunday free to do other things. I started off with the Milan Cookies first as it was the easier of the two. And like Nicole's instructions, the cookie batter did spread quite a bit. As a result it was difficult getting consistently shaped cookies. Instead of lemon extract, I used orange blossom water and a bit of orange zest to the batter. For the filing, I made lavender bitter chocolate ganache instead of the original posted recipe. As I tasted the first batch that came out of the oven, the taste and texture reminded me very much of another previous Daring Baker's challenge, tuilles.

For the Mallows Cookie, I made strawberry marshamallows and these were piped onto the finished cooled cookie. I also added some mixed spice powder to the cookie batter. I didn't think much of the cookies on it's own when I had a quick taste. In fact I thought it was quite plain and paled in comparison with the Milan Cookies. But once the marshmallow and chocolate ganache were incorporated into the entire assembly, the Mallows tasted fantastic. I must say that the combination of all three worked perfectly. Thanks Nicole for such an interesting challenge this month!



Mallows(Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies)
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website
Serves: about 2 dozen cookies

3 cups (375grams/13.23oz) all purpose flour
1/2 cup (112.5grams/3.97oz) white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter
3 eggs, whisked together
Homemade marshmallows, recipe follows
Chocolate glaze, recipe follows

Method:

1) In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients.

2) On low speed, add the butter and mix until sandy.

3) Add the eggs and mix until combine.

4) Form the dough into a disk, wrap with clingfilm or parchment and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.

5) When ready to bake, grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a silicon mat.

6) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

7) Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, on a lightly floured surface. Use a 1 to 1 1/2 inches cookie cutter to cut out small rounds of dough.

8) Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.

9) Pipe a “kiss” of marshmallow onto each cookie. Let set at room temperature for 2 hours.

10) Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicon mat.

11) One at a time, gently drop the marshmallow-topped cookies into the hot chocolate glaze.

12) Lift out with a fork and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl.

13) Place on the prepared pan and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm, about 1 to 2 hours.

Note: if you don’t want to make your own marshmallows, you can cut a large marshmallow in half and place on the cookie base. Heat in a preheated 350-degree oven to slump the marshmallow slightly, it will expand and brown a little. Let cool, then proceed with the chocolate dipping.





Homemade marshmallows:

1/4 cup water
1/4 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup (168.76 grams/5.95oz) sugar
1 tablespoon powdered gelatin
2 tablespoons cold water
2 egg whites , room temperature
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1) In a saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage, or 235 degrees on a candy thermometer.

2) Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve.

3) Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix.

4) Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites.

5) Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff.

6) Transfer to a pastry bag.



Chocolate glaze:

12 ounces semisweet chocolate
2 ounces cocoa butter or vegetable oil

1) Melt the 2 ingredients together in the top of a double boiler or a bowl set over barely simmering water.



Milan Cookies
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website
Serves: about 3 dozen cookies

12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 cups (312.5 grams/ 11.02 oz) powdered sugar
7/8 cup egg whites (from about 6 eggs)
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons lemon extract
1 1/2 cups (187.5grams/ 6.61 oz) all purpose flour
Cookie filling, recipe follows



Cookie filling:

1/2 cup heavy cream
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 orange, zested

1) In a mixer with paddle attachment cream the butter and the sugar.

2) Add the egg whites gradually and then mix in the vanilla and lemon extracts.

3) Add the flour and mix until just well mixed.

4) With a small (1/4-inch) plain tip, pipe 1-inch width sections of batter onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, spacing them 2 inches apart as they spread.

5) Bake in a preheated 350F degree oven for 10 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges. Let cool on the pan.

6) While waiting for the cookies to cool, in a small saucepan over medium flame, scald cream.

7) Pour hot cream over chocolate in a bowl, whisk to melt chocolate, add zest and blend well.

8) Set aside to cool (the mixture will thicken as it cools).

9) Spread a thin amount of the filling onto the flat side of a cookie while the filling is still soft and press the flat side of a second cookie on top.

10) Repeat with the remainder of the cookies.

Baking a Bakewell Tart with Daring Bakers

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar . They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.

Don't ask me what is a Bakewell Tart cause frankly I have no clue whatsoever! However based on the initial pictures made by my fellow Daring Bakers it looked like a normal frangipane tart with the exception of a layer of jam in-between. I guess this type of tart is not that popular here in Singapore as I've not seen it in the bakeries that I have frequented. Anyway, this month's challenge again gives us the liberty of using any filing that we choose to pair off with the pastry crust and the franginpane. I toyed with many ideas, even to the extent of doing a chocolate crust. As June was nearly coming to an end, and partially due to my fault of having waited so long to do this challenge, I had to settle for something less exotic. However I did manage to squeeze in two different preserve/jam flavours.



The first is a cran-raspberry preserve. Using frozen berries, I placed 60g of raspberries, 30g cranberries with 30g sugar and 1 tablespoon of lemon zest into a saucepan. Place over a low heat and simmer, stirring, until the mixture becomes thick. There is no need to add any pectin as the cranberries have natural pectin which will help to thicken the jam. The second preserve/jam flavour is a pineapple one. In fact this preserve is commonly used for pineapple tarts which is a local speciality biscuit favoured during the Chinese New Year. I used a can of Dole crushed pineapple, juice removed and added in 1 stick of cinnamon, 2 annise seed and 3 cloves. The entire mixture was then placed over a very low fire and cooked for about an hour until it became thick and sticky.





Cran-Raspberry and Pineapple Coconut Bakewell Tartelettes
Makes ten 3-inch tartelettes

Sweet shortcrust pastry:

225g all purpose flour
30g sugar
1/2 tsp salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 egg yolks
1/2 tsp lemon extract (optional, and you can use any other extract or flavouring of your choosing)
1-2 Tbsp cold water

Frangipane:

125g unsalted butter, softened
125g icing sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract extract
125g ground almonds (or other nut of your choice)
30g all purpose flour

Jam or preserve of your choice

For the Dough:

1) Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.

2) Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

For the frangipane:

1) Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour.

Assemble the tartelettes:

1) Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it's overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out.

2) Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pans, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits.

3) Place the tarts on a baking sheet line with parchment paper and chill in the freezer for 15 minutes. (I made the tart dough the night before and kept the shells in the fridge overnight)

4) Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Position a rack in the center of the oven. (I did a variation to the original recipe by blind baking [using beans placed on top of a parchment paper] on the tart shells half way and then filing it with jam and frangipane. I then continued with the rest of the baking thereafter.)

5) Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish.

Strudeling with the Daring Bakers

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of Make Life Sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks . They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

I remember about 8 years or was it 10, my memory fails me now, when Apple Strudel became a craze here in Singapore. As there were only so few outlets which would sell these desserts, people would queue for ages on weekends just to take one home. And you guess right, I too was one of those. It’s often said that a favourite past-time for Singaporeans is to queue for anything that is new, be it food, a new product, a new restaurant … basically anything that is new! I guess the craze has now waned off as I don’t see that much excitement hanging out in strudel shops. Maybe we’ve had enough of it or maybe that so many have now sprung up over the island, that it may be a case of one too many! Whatever it is, a strudel is a great dessert to serve at a dinner party or simply to treat yourself once in a while. The strudels we get here in the shops look more like mille fueille (open faced) rather than the ones that are being baked by Daring Bakers this month.

I had actually wanted to come up with two variations this month, i.e. a sweet and a savoury strudel. However time was against me and thus had to settle for one only. Instead of using the recipe provided, I used a pretty similar recipe for the filing. We loved eating this strudel especially warm from the oven, the crispy outer layer and the infusion of the sweet and tart fruit filing inside ... simply delicious! Many thanks to Linda and Courtney for coming up with a recipe to challenge us all.

Apple, Blueberry and Cranberry Strudel

Preparation time
Total: 2 hours 15 minutes – 3 hours 30 minutes

15-20 min to make dough
30-90 min to let dough rest/to prepare the filling
20-30 min to roll out and stretch dough
10 min to fill and roll dough
30 min to bake
30 min to cool





For the Strudel Filing:

70g fresh breadcrumbs
170g butter, melted
150g brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
4 granny smith apples, cubed into 1/2" pieces
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 fresh or frozen blueberries
1/4 cut chopped walnuts

Method:

1) In a frying pan, lightly fry the fresh breadcrumbs in 70g of the melted butter until golden. Set aside to cool.

2) Preheat the oven to 190C (375F). Line a large baking tray with parchment and lightly grease it. Place a rack in the middle of the oven.

3) Make the strudel dough as described in the recipe below.

4) In a large mixing bowl, toss together the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon rind. Then add in the fruit and walnuts and mix well. Add ½ teaspoon of flour into the filing to absorb some of the juices that will come out. This will prevent the strudel from becoming soggy whilst baking.

5) Spread about 3 tablespoons of the remaining melted butter over the dough using your hands (a bristle brush could tear the dough, you could use a special feather pastry brush instead of your hands). Sprinkle the buttered dough with the bread crumbs. Spread the filing about 3 inches (8 cm) from the short edge of the dough in a 6-inch-(15cm)-wide strip.

6) Fold the short end of the dough onto the filling. Lift the tablecloth at the short end of the dough so that the strudel rolls onto itself. Transfer the strudel to the prepared baking sheet by lifting it. Curve it into a horseshoe to fit. Tuck the ends under the strudel. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter.

7) Bake the strudel for about 30 minutes or until it is deep golden brown. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Using a small sieve, dust with a fine layer of icing sugar. Use a serrated knife and serve either warm or at room temperature. It is best on the day it is baked.





For the Strudel Dough
Recipe from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

1 1/3 cups (200 g) unbleached flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons (105 ml) water, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

Method:

1) Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.

2) Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.

3) Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.

4) Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).

5) It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.

6) Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.

7) The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it's about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time. Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.

Tips

- Ingredients are cheap so we would recommend making a double batch of the dough, that way you can practice the pulling and stretching of the dough with the first batch and if it doesn't come out like it should you can use the second batch to give it another try;

- The tablecloth can be cotton or polyster;

- Before pulling and stretching the dough, remove your jewelry from hands and wrists, and wear short-sleeves;

- To make it easier to pull the dough, you can use your hip to secure the dough against the edge of the table;

- Few small holes in the dough is not a problem as the dough will be rolled, making (most of) the holes invisible.

Baking a Cheesecake With the Daring Bakers

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny of Jenny Bakes . She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

I was very pleased that we would be baking a cheesecake this month as this would be one cake my hubby will certainly enjoy. He’s not partaken of most of my Daring Bakers cakes (other than the savory recipes) as cakes and cookies are “off-limits” to him. Don’t think that this is due to any medical condition rather that he doesn’t fancy it at all. However if it has cheese as a main ingredient, it’s a total ball-game altogether. My brother-in-law is the same too. Both men will complain that the cake is too dense (trust me it is not), too much butter, too much flour, too eggy! My goodness, have you ever heard of such a string of excuses!

I very seldom make a “baked” cheesecake as I usually find them a bit heavier than chilled ones. Chilled ones are much creamier, lighter and has less steps as well. The couple of times I’ve made a baked cheesecake, the recipe did not call for a water bath. So in a way, this is something new to me as well. For this month's challenge I decided to tackle two different types of cheesecake; chocolate and berries. I halfed both recipes below and made them into 4" minis.





Chocolate Cheesecake with Valhora Chocolate Pearls
Make one 8" cake

For the Cheese mixture:

300g cream cheese
200ml whipping cream
120g caster sugar
2 whole eggs
4Tbs Dutch process cocoa powder
4tsp freshly squeeze lemon juice
1/2 cup valhora chocolate pearls

For the Crust:

180g Oreo cookies (w/o filling)
100g unsalted butter

* Cheesecake is best make using a spring form pan or a pan with removable bottom (I use the later).

* You can get your cake sliced just like the one they sell in the café by following these simple steps: first soak a knife in a cup of hot water, wipe off with a towel, then cut the cake while knife is still warm. Try to cut it through with only one cut and do not “saw”. Whip off any cake crump/residue and slice again. Just repeat these steps and you will have neat and pretty slices of cake that rival what they sell in the patisseries.

Method:

1) Preheat oven to 160 degree C/325 degree F.

2) Wrap the bottom (up to half way) of the pan with 2 layers of foil paper. Boil some water for later use (appx. 2 liter).

For the crust:

Break the cookies into small pieces, then place into a zip lock bag or any heavy weight plastic bag (remove air bubbles), and crush + roll using a rolling pin until cookies become fine crumb. Place butter in microwave and heat for 1 min. over medium heat. Pour melted butter into the bag, remove air bubble and close the bag, then shake it to mix the two. Pour this mix into the pan; using the back of a large spoon, press crumb firmly to pan until packed; set aside.

For the cheesecake:

1) Place the cream cheese in a mixing bowl. Using a whisk, whisk cream cheese until blended; add the other ingredients in the following order, sugar --> cocoa powder --> eggs --> lemon juice --> whipping cream, make sure that each item is well blended before adding another. Strain the cheese mixture then pour into the cake pan. Then randomly drop in the chocolate pearls.

2) Pour hot water (1 inch in depth) into a roasting pan, place the pan inside the roasting pan and bake for 45 - 50 minutes. If the water dried out while baking, be sure to refill with more hot water. Once the center of the cake no longer quiver and the sides begin to pull away from the pan then it is done. Remove from oven and let cool completely on wire rack. Place in fridge for overnight to set.

Dark Chocolate Glazing

100g whipping cream
125g water
40g cocoa powder
160g granulated sugar
10g leaf gelatine

Method:

1) Pre-soak gelatine in a bowl of cold water, squeeze out excess water; set aside. If using powdered gelatine, add 2 spoon of water.

2) Place whipping cream, sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to boil over medium heat. Then add in the cocoa powder and bring to boil again or till mixture slightly thicken; stir constantly to avoid mixture sticking to saucepan. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes then add the pre-soaked gelatine; stir until completely melted; strain. When cool to lukewarm, pour glazing onto cheesecake and let some drip down the sides. Place back into fridge for another hour before serving.

3) For final dressing, pipe rosettes of whipped cream around the edge of the cake before serving.







Yogurt Berry Cheesecake

Graham Cracker Base

1 1/4 cups wholewheat cracker crumbs (you can use graham)
3 Tbsp sugar
4 Tbsp butter
1 tsp of cinnamon

Cheesecake Filing:

8-oz cream cheese, room temperature 113g
16-oz citrus flavoured yogurt (or natural yogurt), room temperature
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 Tbsp of lime zest
1 tsp lime juice
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
pinch salt

Method for the Crust:

1)) Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and stir until well combined. Press into a 9-inch springform pan, pressing the crust slightly up the sides if you don’t wish to have a thick crust on the bottom.

2) Prebake a graham cracker base into a 9-inch springform pan; a 9-inch graham cracker pie crust should work fairly well, too. This cheesecake can also be baked without a crust.

Method for the Filing:

1) Preheat oven to 350F (176C)

2) Wrap the bottom of the pan with double foil paper. Boil some water for later use (appx. 2 liter).

2) In a food processor, blend cream cheese, yogurt, sugar, eggs, zest, juice, vanilla extract and salt until mixture is very, very smooth.

2) Pour hot water (1 inch in depth) into a roasting pan, place the pan inside the roasting pan and bake for about 40 - 50 minutes. If the water dried out while baking, be sure to refill with more hot water. Once the center of the cake no longer quiver and the sides begin to pull away from the pan then it is done. Remove from oven and let cool completely on wire rack. Place in fridge for 3 hours or overnight to set.

3) Cool to room temperature before refrigerating. Refrigerate overnight before serving.

4) To serve top the cheesecake with a mixed berrie (blackberries, raspberries and blueberries) compote and sprinke some lime zest on the top as decoration.

Lasagna of Emilia-Romagna presented by Daring Bakers

This month’s March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagna of Emilia-Romagna from Lynne Rossetto Kasper's The Splendid Table as the challenge.

When I read the details, I was particular excited as it reminded me of the time when we were asked to make pizza from scratch, including tossing the pizza dough. In this month’s challenge, we were required to hand make our own spinach pasta and this happens to be the main criteria. This is one task which I certainly would not have attempted from scratch especially when there is easily available pasta in the supermarkets, both fresh and dried. This particular the lasagna has to be accompanied with a béchamel (white) and ragu sauce, either using the recipes provided by our hosts or using our own favourites. Lynne had also kindly included instructions on how to roll the pasta for those of us who do not own a pasta machine … me being one of them! At first I thought of running out and buying a pasta machine but after weighing the pros/cons, decided against it. Hmmm how many times would I be using it any way! Nah .... certainly not worth spending the money!

I used the spinach pasta and béchamel sauce recipes provided but substituted the ragu sauce with my own version. I think the rolling of the pasta was the most difficult of all. I tried to get it as thin as possible and this took some bicep strength. I also didn’t use all the flour that was required for the pasta and omitted about ½ cup out. The dough was already quite dry by then. I think (and I’m not an expert at this) this could be due to the type of flour used and room temperature conditions. When it came to assembling, I followed my own version of layering, plus adding mozzarella in addition to parmesan for the lasagna. However I must have been a bit too over generous with layering the béchamel, ragu sauce and cheese, and these somewhat overwhelmed the spinach pasta. Next time, I’m be way less generous! Overall this is an excellent recipe and the lasagna was delicious. The spinach pasta was very delicate and I found that it’s as good as any found in an Italian restaurant. Many thanks to our March hosts for coming up with another challenging experience and another acquired skill for me.



Lasagna of Emilia-Romagna (Lasagna Verdi al Forno)
(Serves 8 to 10 as a first course, 6to 8 as a main dish)

10 quarts (9 litres) salted water
1 recipe Spinach Pasta cut for lasagna (recipe below)
1 recipe Béchamel Sauce (recipe below)
1 recipe Meat Ragu (recipe below)
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (parmesan)
2 cups grated mozzarella

Working Ahead:

The ragu and the béchamel sauce can be made up to three days ahead. The ragu can also be frozen for up to one month. The pasta can be rolled out, cut and dried up to 24 hours before cooking. The assembled lasagna can wait at room temperature (20 degrees Celsius/68 degrees Fahrenheit) about 1 hour before baking. Do not refrigerate it before baking, as the topping of béchamel and cheese will overcook by the time the center is hot.

Assembling the Ingredients:

Have all the sauces, rewarmed gently over a medium heat, and the pasta at hand. Have a large perforated skimmer and a large bowl of cold water next to the stove. Spread a double thickness of paper towels over a large counter space.

Cooking the Pasta:

Bring the salted water to a boil. Drop about four pieces of pasta in the water at a time. Cook about 2 minutes. If you are using dried pasta, cook about 4 minutes, taste, and cook longer if necessary. The pasta will continue cooking during baking, so make sure it is only barely tender. Lift the lasagna from the water with a skimmer, drain, and then slip into the bowl of cold water to stop cooking. When cool, lift out and dry on the paper towels. Repeat until all the pasta is cooked.

Assembling the Lasagna:

Spread a thin layer of béchamel over the bottom of the baking dish. Arrange a layer of about four overlapping sheets of pasta over the béchamel. Spread a thin layer ragu sauce on top of the sheets. After that sprinkle about 3 or 4 spoonfuls of béchamel sauce. You do not need to spread the béchamel sauce as it will spread out whilst cooking. Then top with 1/3 of the mozzarella. Repeat the layers until all ingredients are used, finishing with béchamel sauce and mozzarella and your final topping would be a generous dusting of parmesan. (I used only half my ingredients and assembled it into a 3-layer lasagna, using a 10” x 10” square pan. I saved the rest for the day after.)



Baking and Serving the Lasagna:

Preheat the oven to 200C. Cover the baking dish lightly with foil, taking care not to let it touch the top of the lasagna. Bake 40 minutes, or until almost heated through. Remove the foil and bake another 10 minutes, or until hot in the center (test by inserting a knife – if it comes out very warm, the dish is ready). Take care not to brown the cheese topping. It should be melted, creamy looking and barely tinged with a little gold. Turn off the oven, leave the door ajar and let the lasagna rest for about 10 minutes. Then serve. This is not a solid lasagna, but a moist one that slips a bit when it is cut and served.

Spinach Egg Pasta (Pasta Verde)
Preparation: 45 minutes
Makes enough for 6 to 8 first course servings or 4 to 6 main course servings, equivalent to 450g dried boxed pasta.

2 jumbo eggs (60g or more)
300g fresh spinach, rinsed dry, and finely chopped; or 170g frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
3 1/2 cups (400g) all purpose unbleached (plain) flour (organic stone ground preferred)

Working by Hand:
Equipment

A roomy work surface, 24 to 30 inches deep by 30 to 36 inches (60cm to 77cm deep by 60cm to 92cm). Any smooth surface will do, but marble cools dough slightly, making it less flexible than desired.

A pastry scraper and a small wooden spoon for blending the dough.
A wooden dowel-style rolling pin. In Italy, pasta makers use one about 35 inches long and 2 inches thick (89cm long and 5cm thick). The shorter American-style pin with handles at either end can be used, but the longer it is, the easier it is to roll the pasta.

Plastic wrap to wrap the resting dough and to cover rolled-out pasta waiting to be filled. It protects the pasta from drying out too quickly.

A sharp chef’s knife for cutting pasta sheets.

Cloth-covered chair backs, broom handles, or specially designed pasta racks found in cookware shops for draping the pasta. (I used the oven’s baking rack for this purpose)


Mixing the dough:

Mound the flour in the center of your work surface and make a well in the middle. Add the eggs and spinach. Use a wooden spoon to beat together the eggs and spinach. Then gradually start incorporating shallow scrapings of flour from the sides of the well into the liquid. As you work more and more flour into the liquid, the well’s sides may collapse. Use a pastry scraper to keep the liquids from running off and to incorporate the last bits of flour into the dough. Don’t worry if it looks like a hopelessly rough and messy lump.


Kneading:

With the aid of the scraper to scoop up unruly pieces, start kneading the dough. Once it becomes a cohesive mass, use the scraper to remove any bits of hard flour on the work surface – these will make the dough lumpy. Knead the dough for about 3 minutes. Its consistency should be elastic and a little sticky. If it is too sticky to move easily, knead in a few more tablespoons of flour. Continue kneading about 10 minutes, or until the dough has become satiny, smooth, and very elastic. It will feel alive under your hands. Do not shortcut this step. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and let it relax at room temperature 30 minutes to 3 hours.



Stretching and Thinning:

If using an extra-long rolling pin work with half the dough at a time. With a regular-length rolling pin, roll out a quarter of the dough at a time and keep the rest of the dough wrapped. Lightly sprinkle a large work surface with flour. The idea is to stretch the dough rather than press down and push it. Shape it into a ball and begin rolling out to form a circle, frequently turning the disc of dough a quarter turn. As it thins outs, start rolling the disc back on the pin a quarter of the way toward the center and stretching it gently sideways by running the palms of your hands over the rolled-up dough from the center of the pin outward. Unroll, turn the disc a quarter turn, and repeat. Do twice more.

Stretch and even out the center of the disc by rolling the dough a quarter of the way back on the pin. Then gently push the rolling pin away from you with one hand while holding the sheet in place on the work surface with the other hand. Repeat three more times, turning the dough a quarter turn each time.

Repeat the two processes as the disc becomes larger and thinner. The goal is a sheet of even thickness. For lasagna, the sheet should be so thin that you can clearly see your hand through it and see colours. Cut into rectangles about 4 by 8 inches (10 x 20 cm).

Dry the pasta at room temperature and store in a sealed container or bag.

Basic Ragu Sauce:
(serves 6 - 8 as main course)

Ingredients:

200g of minced beef (or substitute with any other minced meat)
200g streaky bacon (sliced into strips)
300g mixed variety of sausages (Cumberland, bratwurst, Italian) casing removed and lightly mixed the meat together
1 medium size carrot, roughly diced
2 stalks of celery, roughly diced
1 large onion, roughly diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 x 400g can of stewed chopped tomatoes
4 Tbsp tomato paste
3/4 cup of canned or freshly prepared stock (beef, chicken or vegetable stock. Alternatively you could use either red/white wine or just water)
Kosher salt and coarsely ground black pepper to taste
1 Tbsp of dried Italian herbs to taste
2 dried bay leaves (or 3 fresh ones)

Method:

1) Add oil to pan, and fry the bacon until lightly browned.

2) Add into the same pan, the diced onion and garlic, fry for about 1 minute. Then add in all the diced vegetables and cook for about 2 minutes.

3) Add the minced beef and sausages with the vegetables and fry for about 8 to 10 minutes, until the juices start to seep out. Then add in the canned tomatoes and bay leaves, and stir for about a minute or 2.

4) Then add in the stock and tomato paste. After that cook over low fire, simmering for about 10 minutes and then add in the salt, pepper and herbs to taste. Cover the pot and let it gently simmer for another 20 minutes, and taste. Add more seasoning if insufficient.

Béchamel Sauce
Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

60g unsalted butter
4 Tbsp (60g) all purpose unbleached (plain) flour, organic stone ground preferred
2 and 2/3 cups (approx 570ml) milk
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Freshly grated nutmeg to taste (I used store bought nutmeg powder)

Method:

Using a medium-sized saucepan, melt the butter over low to medium heat. Sift in the flour, whisk until smooth, and then stir (without stopping) for about 3 minutes. Whisk in the milk a little at a time and keep the mixture smooth. Bring to a slow simmer, and stir 3 to 4 minutes, or until the sauce thickens. Cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes, until the sauce thickens. Season with salt, pepper, and a hint of nutmeg. Once cooked, take off stove. Cut a piece of cling wrap film and cover the top of the sauce to prevent it from form forming a skin.