6/10 - The Best Dinner Rolls!

Brushed with Butter + Honey mixture after proofed...minutes before popping into the oven



Fresh out of the oven



Sweet caramelized tops


insides nice and moist and airy...outside gives a nice bite




Ingredients:

• warm water - 278 g (64%)
  
• butter - 22 g (5%)
  
• ap flour (sifted)* - 434 g (100%)
• milk powder - 22 g (5%)
• sugar - 35 g (8%)
• salt - 8 g - 1.8%
• yeast - 9 g (2%)

for butter honey (optional)

• melted butter - 2 tbsp
• honey - 1.5 tbsp

Steps:

1. pop butter into mixing bowl
2. pour hot / warm water on the butter and allow it to soften
3. sift flour + mix all other dry ingredients in order into the mixer
4. set bread machine to "sweet" bread dough...
5. walk away for 1 hr 35 min
6. take out dough from machine onto tabletop
7. cut dough into 16 equal pieces
   
8. roll into balls and place in a 4x4 shape in a stainless steel baking pan
9. proof for 45 minutes
10. preheat oven 375 degrees
11. melt butter and stir with honey in a small bowl
12. use a brush and liberally brush entire tops of the bread incuding the intersections between doughballs (this allows for entire top to brown when it expands in the oven)
13. place into the middle of the oven and set timer to 20 minutes
14. after 10 minutes, rotate tray 180 degrees
15. when timer goes off, turn down oven to 340 degrees (tops of bread should be golden brown now but edges still light
16. microwave honey butter mixture for 20 sec and brush entire bread tops again
17. place into oven and set timer for 10 minutes
18. take out of the oven and remove immediately from pan onto a wire rack to cool completely...
19. allow 30minute to cool, then dig in
    

* sifting flour allows for lighter bread...tried it before without sifting and much denser...i didn't beleive it myself
** used double fiber Eagle Mills All Natural All Purpose Unbleached Flour from costco

Result:

• The best damn dinner rolls in the world!
  
• love the texture...very similar to pain de mie texture which has more of a bite than boring old store bought dinner rolls...
• the honey tops are very nice and just to the point of caramelisation but not burnt and bitter...
• ate one after it was cooled and it was slightly dry...so maybe increase moisture next time
• love the color and shine of the rolls
  

mistake: i did not cool it on a rack but instead left it in the baking pan and bottom got lil soggy because of the honey mixture

Next time: try to bake at 350 degree oven for 30 minutes therefore don't need to turn down oven midway...maybe the tops won't be as browned though...slightly dry if i had to be superpicky, therefore try adding slightly more water to the mix

5/28 - Home Grilled BBQ NY Steaks

Bone-in New York Steak from Safeway (about 1 inch thick)...on sale!!


salted + seasoned steak...left out about 1 hr on table


sear the fatty edges, then the bone first


get a good sear on one side, and flip


after a few more flips, we are done!



Steps:

1. take steak out of refrigerator about 1 hr prior to cooking
2. season with about 1tsp salt
3. season with all over liberally with 1-2 tbsp of bbq spice mixture (homeblend of paprika, brown sugar, chili powder, garlic powder, black pepper, salt, cumin, and onion powder...about equal parts each)
4. when 1 hour is up and steak no longer super cold, pat down steaks to remove moisture on meat
5. heat up cast iron grill pan...leave on medium high heat
   
6. sear fatty edge for 1 minute, then sear other fatty side 1 minute...run the sides all along the pan to grease it up
   
7. Sear bone side for 1 minute
8. Sear presentation side of steak for 2 minutes
9. flip and sear other side for 2 minutes
10. sear bone side again for 1 minute
    
11. flip and rotate to give presentation side the criss cross marks and cover with a pan (turn down heat to medium if needed)...cook leave for 2 minutes
    
12. flip and rotate again and cover for 2 more minutes
13. check temp...should be about 125-130 at about this point
14. rest 5 minutes on a heated place and loosely cover with foil

Result:

• super tender all around (meat was only select grade at best...no marbling at all...)
  
• all around medium rare even near the bone
• crisp thick crust...nice and caramelized because of sugar
• when cutting, not much juice or blood came out...resting really helped
• beautiful color
  

5/17 - Sambal Inspired Roasted Flounder

"sambal" ingredients:

• fish paste - 2 slices of 1x1x1/4 or about 1.5 tbsp
• garlic - 4 cloves minced
• onion - 1/2 minced
• ginger - 1 inch knob minced
• dried chili pepper - 1 ea (seeded)
• ketchup - 3 tbsp

fish - 2 flounders with head cut and gutted

Steps:

1. bash up garlic, onion, ginger, and chili pepper in a mortar and pestle
   
2. saute fish paste with 2 tbsp oil in medium heat pan
3. add garlic, onion, ginger, and chili pepper mixture
   
4. add ketchup and mix, then turn off heat...total time is about 4-5 minutes
5. let mixture cool
6. preheat oven to 425
   
7. salt fish lightly
   
8. slather on top of flounders and cut slits in fish to allow more absorption of flavor
9. place fish into oven and set timer for 20min
10. check doneness of fish and take out...should bea bout 20min and "sambal" should be darkened...(if too dark, turn down to 400)
11. serve asap!

** didn't write down recipe immediately so might have forgot a few ingredients (celery, sugar, and / or fish sauce might have been used)

Result:

• wow...the flavor is just amazing...spicy, sweet, and super complex
• crispy sambal but fish not crispy enough...
• very moist fish and salty enough
• sauteing fish paste and adding ketchup to it was amazing! never tried it before
  

Next Time:

• bake fish at 450 degrees 5 minutes, then place sambal on and roast at 400 til done...about 20 minutes total (to allow fish to get crisper and dryer)

4/4 - 2 medium pizzas

ingredients:

dough

• 300 g - bread flour
• 192 g - water
• 6 g - salt
• 4.5 g - yeast
• 25 ea - black peppercorns
• optional (15g EVOO)

pizza sauce

• 1 can chopped tomato

pizza toppings

• olive oil
• 4 handfuls of cheese (mexican blend this time because no mozzarella at home)
• precooked chicken (pan seared) - 1 pc cut into medium dice

make pizza sauce:

1. strain tomatoes, save liquid
2. reduce liquid til syrupy (10 min)
3. pour tomato back into cooled tomato juice (liquid)
4. blend til smooth
5. add pinch of salt and pepper

make pizza:

1. knead with bread machine at dough setting for sweet breads (1:30)
2. cut dough into 2 pieces + round it out...wait 10-15 to rest dough
3. shape dough into pizza
4. top with tomato sauce, then cheese, then chicken breast
5. optional: brush olive oil on the edges of crust for better color
6. bake at 500 degree oven on pizza stone at floor of oven...8-10 minutes

A+...proportions for pizza dough is great...very crusty...would be better with the optional oil but not necessary...chicken breast was great...only thing was that cheese not stringy like mozzarella...but any cheese is tasty

1/8 - Quick Braised Chicken Thighs

ingredients:

• 5 skinless chicken thighs
• flour
• 2 big tablespoons of bbq sauce
• 1 can chicken stock
• 1/4 can of tap water
• 1/2 onion sliced
  
• 2 bayleaves
• 2 garlic cloves smashed
  

steps:

1. season thighs with salt and pepper
2. lightly dust the thighs on all sides
   
3. heat to mid-high and when hot, sear skinless chicken thighs on dutch oven with couple tablespoons of oil..about 2-3 minutes per side til rich brown...took 2 batches as to not crowd pot
   
4. turn heat to medium, add onions and cook til slight coloring...about 3 minutes
5. add chicken stock and bbq sauce, then scrape fond
6. add back chicken, garlic, and bayleaves...
7. if not enough liquid, add just enough to go slightly above 1/2 up chicken...(was about 1/4 cup water for me
8. when strong simmer, cover and turn heat to med-low
9. braise for about 30minutes til meat very tender and nearly falling off bone and middle is hot
10. serve with braising liquid as sauce..should be correct about of saltiness

flavor:

• very nice...my bbq sauce has whiskey (old crow) in it so it tasted similar to a coq au vin
• meat was so tender...amazing texture
• very complex salty and sweet flavor...umami-like in my opinion
• sauce is just slightly thickened as the flour from the chicken was able to give it a nice silky consistency
  
• browning of chicken with the flour made the outside taste very very similar to chicken skin...very nice...
• aroma is amazing...like a complex ketchup but not...
• one of the best chicken recipes i ever made
  

12/5 - Potato Bread

this was a complete accident...messed up my potatoes for the gnocchi as it came out very off color and gluey pile of mess so i tried to salvage it by adding flour then yeast and making it into a bread...remarkably, it turned out very well and became one of my best loaves ever...haha

ingredients:

• potato mess from roasting shaved potato in a foil pouch with a little but of water for 40 minutes at 400 degrees (40%)
• bread flour (60%)
• 2 tsp yeast
• 2 tsp kosher salt

procedure:

• break off golf ball sized pieces of potato mess and add onto a pile of flour
• start kneading as potato mess has lots of liquid...don't add any water...if anything, i added more potato
  
• when smooth and tacky feeling, its done so roll into a ball and placed into an oiled bowl...oil the dough ball then cover with plastic wrap
• when risen to double size, gently pat out then fold onto itself and shape into a circle shape and flour all sides, then place on cardboard
  
• wait about 1 hour for it to rise about 50-70%, then turn on oven to 450 degrees
• when oven at 450, score bread several times vertical and same amount of times horizonal (i did 3x3)
• presteam the oven, then add bread
• bake for 45 minutes (til hollow and 205-210 degrees internal temp)...may need to turn down to 425 or400 if gets too dark...potato bread darkens faster so be ready to turn down...i turned down to 400 for last 20 minutes

Evaluation: (grade A-)

• dark flavor to the crust but very nice crust
• soft interior but slight sticky
• wish holes were bigger
• potato cannot be tasted
• i think potato just makes the bread more sticky and smooth and less dry
  

12/1 - Singapore Inspired Crab

ingredients:

• crabs - 2 whole ( broken down and cracked)
• garlic - 6 cloves (smashed)
• ginger - 2 inches (sliced)
• green onion - 1/2 cup (1 inch slices)
• onion - 1/2 (chopped)
• chili pepper - 1 pc (crushed and seeded with hands)
  
• ketchup - 2 tbsp
• fish sauce - 2 tsp
• coconut milk - 1/2 can

steps:

1. take food processor to garlic, ginger, and onion til a pulp
2. add oil to wok
3. stir fry garlic mixture with chili pepper with a pinch of salt and pepper
   
4. fry til mixture releases flavor and translucent and slight brown (3-5 minutes)
   
5. add ketchup, fish sauce, and coconut milk and mix til bubbles
6. add crab pieces (except shell)
7. mix and stir fry 1 minute
8. add shells (shell side up, hole side down) and mix a little bit more
9. if too little liquid, add 1/4 cup of hot water
   
10. cover and cook at med high about 5-8 minutes til turns red and cooked
11. if too thick, add cornstarch + water (should be thick like chowder...not too thin)
    

grade: A