Peter Reinhart's Biscuits

One of the enriched baking powder breads in Peter Reinhart's baking book Artisan Breads Every Day is biscuits which he calls The Best Biscuits Ever, and I agree with him. The recipe is so rich with a whole cup of heavy cream and half a cup of butter in less than 2 cups of flour. It's richer than any biscuits and scones I have ever baked. They are very flaky and truly delicious but if you are health conscious, buttermilk is a good substitute for the cream and will still be very yummy.

The Best Biscuits Ever
adapted from Artisan Bread Every Day by Peter Reinhart

½ cup unsalted butter
1¾ cups all-purpose flour, sifted (I used 2 cups)
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
extra all-purpose flour for dusting
1 cup very cold heavy cream mixed with 2 tablespoons lemon juice or cider vinegar

• Leave the butter in the freezer for 30 minutes until firm. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, and salt. Using the large holes of a grater, grate the butter directly onto the flour. Mix with a spoon or spatula and add the cream.

Fresh Spring Rolls

Fried or fresh spring roll is perhaps the food Filipinos are most identified with. Our lumpia wrapper, made with just 2 ingredients, flour and water, in my opinion is the best spring roll wrapper. Because it is very thin it becomes crispy when fried and so light when used as wrapper for vegetable fresh spring rolls.

I made fresh spring rolls with tofu and chickpeas instead of the usual prawns and pork. Because I heart tofu I'm not the least bit surprised that I love this vegan version. I don't eat eat tofu every day but I don't mind having it once a week.

Fresh Spring Rolls
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
½ cup onion, sliced thin
1 cup fried tofu, coarsely chopped
1 vegetable cube
3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoons sea salt, or to taste
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup green beans, julienned
1 cup cabbage, shredded
1 cup carrots, julienned
1 cup sweet potato or jicama, julienned
1 cup cooked garbanzos (chickpeas)
¼ cup chopped roasted peanuts, optional
curly green lettuce
store bought lumpia wrapper
brown sauce
minced garlic

• In a wok or large sauce pan, heat the oil and stir fry garlic and onion for 2 minutes or until onion is translucent. Add the vegetable cube and 1 tablespoon water and stir until cube has dissolved. Add the rest of the vegetables except garbanzos and lettuce.. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally until vegetables are tender. Add the garbanzos and stir until garbanzos are heated through. Transfer into a bowl and let cool slightly.
  
• Separate the wrappers and steam one at a time over simmering water or in the microwave oven covered with wet towel until soft, about 20 seconds. Lay a lettuce leaf in the middle of the wrapper leaving a few inches off the bottom. Spoon vegetable filling on top of the lettuce, and sprinkle with a teaspoon of peanuts if using. Fold the bottom of the wrapper over the bottom of the lettuce and wrap one side over the filling. Wrap the other side to cover completely, leaving the top exposed. Serve with brown sauce and minced garlic.

Brown Sauce
½ cup sugar
1½ cups water
1½ tablespoons soy sauce
1½ tablespoons cornflour

• Caramelize the sugar in a medium stainless steel saucepan. In a small container, mix soy sauce, cornflour and a little of the water until cornflour is dissolved. Add to the rest of the water. When the sugar has caramelized to a slightly dark brown color, add the water mixture; it will bubble. Let it come to a simmer over medium heat, stirring and scraping the hard sugar constantly until the mixture becomes clear. Transfer into a gravy boat or serving container.

I read somewhere that lumpia wrapper is made with equal parts flour and water. The mixture is brushed thinly on a moderately warm skillet and more of the mixture is brushed on until it is thin enough and cooked just until the edges are dry. I tried making with just half a cup each but it was a FAIL, not epic but still a fail. Some parts were too thick and the edges were too thin. I was just curious and now I know it's not that easy to make flour lumpia wrapper.

This post is for a weekly gallery of food photography, Pinoy style, hosted by Spices.

Hot Cross Buns! Hot Cross Buns!

I joined a new baking group, the Mellow Bakers created by Yumarama Paul and as the name suggests, the baking will be at a more relaxed pace which is just perfect. We will be baking breads from BREAD by Jeffrey Hamelman.

The first bread chosen for the group is Traditional English Hot Cross Buns. Hard to believe but I have never baked nor eaten a hot cross bun, traditional or otherwise. For real.

The recipe is simple and straightforward. Assemble all the ingredients, mix, let rise, shape, bake, and in less than 4 hours you will enjoy munching on delicious, soft, and slightly sweet hot buns studded with currants. The only thing I had a teensy bit problem with was piping the paste on top of the unbaked buns. The paste, made with a combination of flour, oil, and water has a slight slimy consistency and the ends are difficult to break off. It creates a curly tail and sticks to everything making the tips of the crosses untidy. I practiced first on a plate as there was a lot of paste to spare, which I already halved BTW, but as the photo of the baked buns shows, the lines are crooked and the thickness is not uniform. I had to smooth out the curly ends with slightly wet fingertips. It's not a big deal really but next time I'll omit the oil and just mix flour and water until the paste is pipeable. Although I like the syrup for added sweetness, it made everything sticky. I was constantly washing my hands while taking photos and also while eating. I remedied the sticky mess by putting the bun in a 325° F oven to dry out the syrup resulting in a sugar coating that is oh so good. I will surely make these again but with these minor changes; the recipe is a keeper.

I used cute tiny currants and candied lemon peels

practice did not make perfect crosses

soft, sweet, fruity, citrusy, and yummy

Come join and bake with us. Click on the Mellow Baker link above or on the left side bar logo. You can view a recipe based on Hamelman's here.

Eggplant Relleno

Grilled Asian eggplant is one of my favorite vegetables because of its smokey flavor. I usually prepare grilled eggplants and chopped tomato salad with ginger juice and sea salt dressing. It is also delicious simply dipped in beaten egg and pan-fried, Tortang Talong in Flipino. Yesterday I wanted to make egg plant relleno stuffed with vegetables and ground pork but the pork was frozen solid and I didn't want to wait for it to defrost so I used chopped puffed tofu. The result is a very yummy and healthier stuffed eggplants and I didn't notice the absence of pork. I think it tastes even better without because the smokiness of the eggplant is more pronounced. I love it.

Eggplant Relleno

3 Asian eggplants

3 tablespoons light olive oil

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

½ cup chopped onion

½ cup chopped sweet red, yellow, or orange bell pepper

1 tomato, chopped

4 pieces puffed tofu squares, chopped

1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste

pinch of ground black pepper

2 eggs, well beaten and mixed with a pinch of sea salt

• Wash the eggplants, trim the top and leave stems on. Prick all over with the tip of a paring knife. Char the skin of the eggplants directly on the stove fire. Wrap in aluminum foil and leave to cool. When cooled, remove the skin and discard. Transfer eggplants into a plate and flatten. Set aside.
• Heat 1½ tablespoons oil in a skillet and stir fry garlic and onion. Cook until onion is soft, add pepper and tomatoes, stir fry for 2 minutes. Add tofu, salt, and pepper and stir fry for 2 minutes. Transfer into a plate and divide into 3 portions. Wipe the skillet with a piece of paper towel. Heat 1 tablespoon of the remaining oil on medium heat. Place one tofu portion on the skillet, shape it into an oval the size of the eggplant, pour 2 tablespoons of the beaten egg all over the filling and top with one eggplant dipped in beaten egg. Fry for 2 minutes, flip and fry the other side for 1 minute or until light brown. Repeat with the remaining eggplants, adding more oil if necessary.