Savory scones

E. gave me this recipe for her savory scones (a welcome mainstay at those long evening seminars!) in an e-mail. I am a great fan of E.'s baking. She recently made a cake with marscapone cream, which was the best cake I'd eaten in a long time.

Back in 2007, I had two consecutive dreams about scones involving a dusk-to-twilight REM battle of what to put in them. In my dreams I had decided it would be bacon and parmesan, but I never implemented it. Two years later, I'm finally making my first scones -- in fact, doing my first baking that involves me making individual rounds of stuff. Like, you know, cookies, like. Like not involving a cake or loaf pan. I know, it took me that long.

The scones in the oven right now with grated Comte, black olives and cashews. With a sprinkle of herbes de Provence. My first thought was sundried tomatoes but I couldn't get the darn jar open!

I will post the results if they look good enough to post and if I get my camera battery loaded up in time!

E.'s E-mailed Recipe for Savory Scones or Damper (a kind of soda bread)

2 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 T sugar
3 T butter
1 C milk or cream

(you can add about anything sweet or savory...1/3 C shredded parmesan cheese, crushed black pepper, fresh chopped chives or cinnamon, cloves, sultanas...etc.)

mix dry ingredients together, cut in butter and crumble with hands until pea size or smaller (like making a pastry dough). add the milk/cream and knead slightly until smooth. shape into round loaf (or into multiple single serving rounds). bake on greased baking sheet @ 375 degrees F. baking time varies depending on size of rounds (30ish minutes for single servings longer for larger loaves). regardless of size should sound hollow when tapped.

Ispahan

I can always trusted to be about three seasons late into food fashions. I like to think it's really a healthy ambivalence to food crazes that come and go, especially since they usually involve exorbitant prices, long lines, and not to mention a lot of silly hype. Much like witnessing the crowds go wild for the freshly-touched down Beaujolais Nouveau while in Japan. I'd rather be never than early, and sometimes better late than never. I suppose going by this rule I'll probably find out sometime in mid-2009 why donuts warrant TOTO-worthy lines that snake way across the Raffles City Marketplace atrium.

So when I was digging about for something I ate last weekend, I came across old archived articles about Pierre Hermé's visit to Singapore, which apparently caused a stampede and an instant black market for tickets to this and that. The fascinating bio of Monsieur Macaron aside, there was also the shock of finding my coveted dessert, with exactly the same name and ingredients, being attributed to him. These Ispahans, named after the variety of rose that gave the macaron its flavor, these delicate mini-stacks of raspberry, lychee and rose petal cream, were staring from the dessert counter of Bakerzin. Surely we're not seeing the McMacaron?

In any case it was gorgeous and enticing enough for a second go, sometime before I leave next week. And here is the recipe I found on a rather random Pierre Hermé tribute page.

Ispahan

Ingredients
(Makes about 42 x 55mm shells - roughly 60 smaller petits fours)

For almond paste for macaroon base
390g ground almonds
390g icing sugar
145g fresh egg whites
5g carmine colouring
5g strawberry colouring

For meringue
380g granulated sugar
95ml water
145g egg whites (older ones are better)
2g powdered egg white

For the rose petal cream
900g butter cream*
50ml rose syrup
Optional: 90g creamed butter with 5ml essence of rose

* Butter cream recipe incorporates enriched crème anglaise and Italian meringue - see opposite page

For assembly (per Ispahan)
2 x 55mm macaroons (see separate recipe)
20g-25g rose petal cream
8 raspberries
1 heaped tsp chopped lychee (see note at end of recipe on opposite page)
2 drops glucose
1 red rose petal

Method

The equal quantities of ground almonds and icing sugar, mixed together, is called a "tant pour tant" by pastry chefs. Beat in the egg whites to form a tacky dough.

For the meringue, put the sugar and water in a pan and boil to 121°C (1). Meanwhile, start whisking the egg whites and powdered egg until they start to rise.

While continuing to whisk the whites, pour the boiling sugar on to them in a steady stream so the sugar cooks the whites (2).

Continue whisking at a moderate speed until the temperature of the meringue drops to between 45°C and 40°C.

Put the almond paste in a mixing bowl and beat in the colouring (3). Beat in about a fifth of the warm meringue. Fold in the rest of the meringue and work it well until it obtains a dropping texture (4).

Prepare a baking sheet. On it place a sheet of baking parchment with 55mm circles marked on it. Leave 1cm gaps between each circle.

Fill a piping bag with a Savoy plain tube (10 or 12 mm) with the mixture. Pipe about 42 macaroon circles (5).

Lift the tray, tap the underside all over with your free hand. Each circle will spread a little and even out.

Leave the mixture in a warm, dry place for 35 to 40 minutes before baking.

The macaroons are ready to bake when their surface is smooth and no longer sticky. If you don't allow them to set their surface will crack during baking.

Preheat a convection oven to 165°C. Put the tray of macaroons in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes. Every oven is different. They are ready when the surface is crisp and the underneath is also set and lifts easily off the baking sheet.

Filling base

Enriched creme anglaise

Ingredients
180ml milk
140g egg yolks
140g caster sugar

Method
Boil the milk. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together till the sugar has dissolved (6 & 7). Pour the milk over the yolks and then pour the mixture back into the pan (8). Heat to 85°C. Take off the heat and pour into a cool bowl. Whisk the mixture until it whitens, thickens and cools.

Italian meringue

Ingredients
125g egg whites
15g caster sugar
250g granulated sugar
75ml water

Method
Whisk the egg whites and 15g sugar until well risen and quite firm. Boil the granulated sugar and water to 121°C. while continuing to whisk the whites, pour on the boiling syrup in a steady stream. Whisk until the meringue is cold, shiny and firm.

Butter cream

Ingredients
450ml crème anglaise*
750g softened unsalted butter
350g Italian meringue*

* See two previous recipes

Method
Combine the ingredients together either by beating or whisking. They may appear to separate, but will always come back to form a smooth emulsion.

• Note: there's enough of the mixture for about 1.5 recipes.

To make the rose petal cream, beat the butter cream and rose syrup with optional creamed essence (9).

Put one macaroon shell on the work surface, flat side up. Pipe a circle of rose petal cream around the inside of its circumference and lay seven raspberries on the cream (10).

Spoon the chopped lychee into the centre of the ring (11). Pipe a small blob of rose petal cream on the lychee (12).

Fit the second macaroon shell on top (13). Refrigerate for 24 hours for the best result. Pipe two small drops of glucose on the top macaroon and use to fix the garnish of a raspberry and a rose petal (14).

• Note on lychees. Pierre Hermé uses tinned lychees. Whether using these or fresh ones, they need to be dried out before use, otherwise their moisture will leech into the macaroons and ruin the texture. Cut the lychees coarsely. Put them in a colander or sieve. Leave to dry out for 24 hours before using them.

Source: Restaurants and Institutions

Month of cheese

I've been regaled with more cheese than I can handle this month. More than I deserve, in fact. I'd like to think my approach is still more cautionary, though like my alcohol tolerance, my ability to handle fromage has shot up considerably in Laos. All thanks to the messrs and mlles of the likes of Phimphone, Simuang, and Scooby Dou, the capital's finest delicatessens. And in Singapore, none other than the trusty Carrefour house brand Reflects de France.

Here is a cheese-related eat-list, for archival purposes:
A perky orange mimolette
Good n' proper brie
Goat's cheese with honey and herbes de Provence
Heavenly reblochon
The bubbling quattro formaggio pizze at Le Provencal
Savoyarde pizza: parma ham, reblochon, potatoes, creme fraiche, onions
Discount Carrefour comte
Melted emmenthal crostini

Participants in the Great Vientiane Cheese Massacre of April 2008, chez Uncle Frank.

Singapore street food I

Laksa and nasi lemak, Thomson Road; Kuching kolo mee

Saffron-braised carrot and rice croquettes

Like the most ordinary of days, my most surprising recipes are conjured out of necessity and limitations, rather than detailed and long-term planning. Living at a just-moved in apartment of a friend who just moved to a new city meant that eating out was pretty much the rule of the day. But the apartment was not without a variety of dried foods, and some fresh, from one of those touristy visits to a farmers' market. And, leftover rice, which always fuels my imagination. For me, they really scream croquettes!

This one is packed with rice and carrot, the two protagonists -- the carrot was finely diced and braised in a bit of saffron and water, before being added to the batter of rice, flour, an egg, half a chopped tomato, basil, a sprinkling of breadcrumbs. Then, flattened and moulded into patties which were then dredged in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs.

Banana Bean Cafe, German Village, Columbus OH

I don't eat at this lovely little cafe enough. It's Southern US meets Cuban meets French. The calamari is lightly breaded and fresh-tasting -- it's been a while but I remember the chutney as spicy -- the spinach topping was also fried, an unusual touch. Then the omelette that my friend had -- that had everything in there. The shrimp and grits were so savoury -- large, succulent shrimp.

Farfalle par absorption with zucchini and cacao

This recipe is out of Clotilde's cookbook, one of my current favorite books to cook out of. This book is great for learning new combinations of ingredients and I must admit trying this recipe out of sheer curiosity of what pasta cooked by a risotto absorption method tasted like, let alone the combination of that and cacao nibs! I just knew that if I didn't employ them in some other way, my Schaffenberger cacao nibs would just go towards topping scoop after scoop of ice cream and we wouldn't want that, would we?

I won't post the recipe here -- the book is a great buy -- but basically you fry garlic and onions and then the pasta like you would arborio rice for risotto, and add stock and cook just like in a risotto. It doesn't take as long too. I would pound the cacao nib finely next time, because they tended to overpower if you bite into one in a spoonful. But they definitely give an edge to an otherwise savory pasta, putting it a notch up in extraordinariness.

Bravo, Clotilde!

Della Santina, Sonoma, California

I almost didn't order this -- pappardelle cinghiale -- for fear that it would spoil my one experience of a the same dish -- made with wild boar indigenous to the Toscana region -- in a trip to Florence more than 2 years ago. Luckily I went ahead -- and of course I didn't remember the flavor so well after all, although I thought this one to be lighter -- just my imagination?

This was the one restaurant experience I remembered (and was remembered, as my friends will not fail to remind me) for almost going into a fit at the sight of the menu -- real northern Italian, brings back the good 'ol days of living where in a place where such food was so common. I don't care if I never made it to The French Laundry and if this was some run-of-the-mill place that Californians turn their noses up at, or if the town of Sonoma reminded me of a theme park -- for god's sake you people don't know how lucky you are.

Basi Italia

As they say -- the best part is the prettiest little garden you sit in to enjoy fresh, homely, no-fuss Mediterranean food. This was the weekday lunch menu, pecked at by office folks from downtown. The lovely part is the approach too -- for me, a short jaunt in the backroads of the Victorian Village residential estate to a little red-brick road in which the restaurant is (I think) a indicated by a vine-strewn discreet entryway and a little wooden swinging door leading to the garden.

Indian Dinner @ Dennison

Chicken curry, garlic naan, creamy mushroom and peas, and the quintessentially Indian cookie dough ice-cream and Newcastle pale ale.

Quan Ju De, Beijing

The art and style of carving duck:The crispy skin is the most precious, but check out the Olympic 5-ring burner it's on:
And finally, where many an Iron Chef sword rally was bitterly fought:

Peaches with Coconut Sorbet

You might as well call me Trader's Whore by now, judging from how half of my ingredient lists come from there. Add another: sorbet like you've never tasted before goes by the name Sharon's Sorbet, and comes in various flavors. I haven't tried most of them because I've been stubbornly loyal to Coconut. '100% coconut' my ass!, you say. But baby that's what it says on the label on that pint of goodness.

Spoon some of that on top of peeled diced peaches.

It makes for a great combo here - the sweetness of the sorbet with the sourness of peach - a distant reminder of bubor cha cha. Dang sour peaches! I want to caramelize them next, get those sugars out and dancing (no pun intended, really).

Smoked oysters, potato and romaine salad with creamy dressing

Adapted from this and that with several pantry limitations in mind. It's a delicious cross between a caesar, a hearty grotto salad and your little black dress.

Serves 3 for appetizers, 1 as entree.

Boil 5 medium to large red potatoes, skins on, in salted water, for about 12-15 minutes. Meanwhile, chop about half a medium-sized head of romaine lettuce, wash and drain. Dice half an onion (I used white, but I'd imagine red or purple would add color and tang). Open a can of smoked oysters, drain (I used Trader Joe's). Mix these in a large salad bowl.

Vinaigrette: Whisk 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar (I used orange champagne vineger, that's all I had), 4 tablespoons mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, salt and pepper to taste. Add 3 teaspoons of extra-virgin olive oil in a steady stream, whisking with every addition. Adjust seasonings according to how creamy you like the dressing.

Drizzle over the oyster, potato and romaine salad, and serve while potatoes are still warm. I chomped it down with a glass (ok, three) of Black Mountain Malbec.

Spaghetti with squid, green pepper and spicy scallop chutney sauce

I was deliberating on what to cook for lunch -- in the midst of exams and wouldn't think of running out to buy complements, and at the same time tired of the same old ways of doing pasta. So after taking some things out of the fridge, shifting packets and bottles and half-sliced vegetables around and thinking about combinations (eliminating anchovies, capers, olives and tomato out of the equation), I decided on a slight deviation from the norm: Squid with green peppers in a spicy scallop chutney.

I sauteed about half a large onion and two finely-chopped cloves of garlic in olive oil, then added chopped green pepper, stirring for a minute before adding a tablespoon of spicy scallop chutney (procured from Hong Kong, meant as -- well, a chutney!) until the green pepper looked bright and gave off that unmistakable green peppery scent (mingled with the spicy tones of reduced scallop chutney. Then added the chopped frozen calamari (half-finger length pieces, if there ever was such a measure) and a dash of oregano, salt and pepper to taste, cook for 5 minutes, then add a teaspoon (to taste) of chutney. Then in goes the pasta (spaghetti), mix it up with a cup or less of the water used for boiling the pasta over medium-high heat.

The result: just the right amount of mouth-watering spiciness from the chutney, well-matched with the tanginess of the green pepper. And well-absorbed by the calamari, without too many clashing flavors.

Soya sauce chicken gizzards with shiitake

Weekend effort: Chicken gizzards and shiitake in soya sauce, with udon and choy sum.

Izakaya Chiri--

Chiri--, an izakaya off the Kawaramachi-Shijo junction and a popular student hangout. And you get student's portions too: pictured here is the house special, the party-sized udon. Wash down with umeshusoda (you guessed! sparkly plum wine!) and a roll-call of oily finger foods: deep-fried octopus legs, agedashi tofu, soft egg roll, stewed beef tendons. Going back there again tonight - what the gut needs after an evening of throwing clay.

Rolling!

This was a lot of fun - my sensei Akiko was a real darling and she was taking the opportunity to speak English while teaching me how to beat, fold and bake the sponge, and roll it all up. Throughout the lesson I was hastily annotating my Japanese notes - she looked at it and went, "Can you read your handwriting?" The jam syrup spread was a syrup-cassis liquer-raspberry jam concoction, and the filling cream a complicated (ok, more complicated than yours truly has ever a-rolled up!) working together of Philly cream cheese, yoghurt, honey, fresh cream. Now this is cream!

This was definitely one heck of a good cake - the cream cheese filling gave such an burst of flavour and innovation in a Swiss Roll. The kind of cream that stuck to your guts and sent you off to pretty dreams post-dinner.

The cooking studio, like our pottery place, was like a bubble of sorts where women (men aren't allowed to join) come to cook together and in groups, forming an air of sweet acquiescent solidarity that can only happen in Japan. Little signs stuck to walls, refrigerators, gently instructed you do wash like this, put like that. The studio had three little colonies - bread, cake and cooking. The cooks were whipping up steaming pots of coconut curry, the smell of which wafted through the studio and into my hair and out into the lanes of the department store (Loft) that our studio was attached to. On your way out you can take a pleasurable ramble outside in the kitchen shopping lanes, where you'll find imported and Japanese fine and funky cooking ware - spatulas, cookware, mandolines, garlic peelers, teapots for all kinds of tea, sake sets, funky salad spoons.

Next up - an intriguing cafe au lait bread, and then the sample lessons are over - I've got a quick decision whether to take up the bread-making course at half price - sadly without Akiko's tutelage, as bread isn't her speciality.

I *heart * breakfast

One breakfast I nearly couldn't finish: Takashimaya 'NY' poppyseed bagel, egg scrambled with bacon and tangy parsley. C. made the plate that it was on.

Pesto Breadsticks

Equinoctal comfort

Since coming into possession of my new cookbook - The Enlightened Kitchen by Mari Fujii - I have been waiting for an opportunity to try cooking one of those delicate meals with all sorts of fancy side-dishes. I was very pleased with how this one turned out. Although I didn't go vegetarian as Fujii recommends in her gorgeous rhapsodizing of shojin ryori (Japanese temple cooking), her luscious pictures of unexpected vegetarian combinations perched on beautiful artisanal plateware zinged me into action.

So today I gave myself over to an hour of blissful indecision and happy preparation, and produced things out of ingredients I had on hand: fried eggplant drizzled with tomato sauce; lean pork sauteed with persimmon, and ginger rice. The latter came strictly out of Fujii's book - it was chockfull of flavor, good enough on its own with a heady aroma of ginger juice. The eggplant dish was also inspired by the book - but the sauce was my time-saving substitute for the more elaborate dengaku and miso flavorings featured. I didn't know what to expect from the pork and persimmon combination, but it went really well; the cubed persimmon thrown in had just enough time to render its sweetness to the pork but still retain some bite.

It was a good meal - ginger-tangy, persimmon-sweet, eggplant-savoury. And after the cooking was done I realized how autumny it was - the eggplants and persimmons in season, while ginger rice makes for a warming change-of-season comfort dish. This was one meal in which I enjoyed the cooking and anticipation as much as I did the eating.