fatmanyash

all of us at some point of time must have eaten or at least seen what steamed chinese buns or pao look like . this like most of the other recipes demystifies and makes it simple. the recipe given here will make about 50 good sized steamed buns. you can reduce quantities to half or a quarter without any problems

• flour- 1 kg
• warm water- 600 ml
• Sugar-25 gms
• Salt- 20 gms
• Active dry yeast- 25 gms
• vegetable oil- 25 ml
• sesame oil- 10 ml

Filling – of your choice — we will do an assortment of fillings in another post.

Method

1. add yeast , sugar, salt, and flour to the warm water and knead well.
2. Add in salt and oil and knead until you form a semi soft dough.
3. now leave dough covered with gladwrap/ clingwrap / or clean moist towel in a warm area to prove and double in size. this can take upto 45 minutes depending on how warm or cold the area is.
4. then knock  back or knead the dough again and divide into about 20 gm balls the size of a table tennis ball.
5. if you are using a bamboo steamer, then cut out round grease paper the size of the basket and spray with non stick spray/ or lightly brush with oil.
6. arrange the balls on the rounds after placing the paper in the baskets. do not put them too close to each other otherwise they will stick.
7. let them start to proof again. when nearly double in size, heat water in a pot or wok , on which these baskets fit.
8. when water is boiling put the basket on top and cover with its lid. it should take about 15-18 minutes of steaming to get them done.
9. lightly brush with sesame oil and serve to soak up sauce from a nice hot pot or anything for that matter.
10. these can be filled as well , traditionally with chinese twice cooked pork/ char siew pork or with chicken or a nice veggie filling. its really upto you what you want to put inside.
11. share with friends and enjoy steaming hot, not so good to let them get cold .

this is the one served with ouzi or the arabic styled roasted lamb.its really aromatic and flavourful.

you will need

1. lamb mince- 200 gms
2. onion chopped- 1 no / 150 gms
3. garlic- 2-3 cloves chopped
4. bayleaf-1 no
5. baharat powder- 1/2 teaspoon ( you can make this one at home and use for shawarma etc, needs cinnamon, cloves, some green cardamom  and some pepper, quite strong on the cloves)
6. cinnamon powder as well again -1//4 tsp
7. black pepper powder-1/4 tsp
8. Gum arabic/ gundar/ gond- 1/2 tsp- pounded with some rock salt to a fine powder
9. Basmati rice- 250 gms soaked in cold water and washed well.
10. Saffron strands- 8-10
11. oil+Butter mix-25 ml

Process

• heat oil and add onions and garlic, lightly brown and then add the mince, which has to be really well browned and caramelised.
• then add the spice powders and stir fry even more. add bayleaf and the rice and continue to stir fry till the rice is well coated with the mince and the oil . that will make the rice grains quite separate and nice when the mix has cooked.add in the gum arabic powder.
• Add in enough hot stock or water (you can add some chicken stock powder to cheat) to cover the rice and a little more still.
• Top with the saffron which you must have soaked in a little water.(what you dint know that?.Then get out of here).
• cover with a lid for about 15 minutes on a low heat .
• Serve with roasted lamb as an accompaniment.you can top the rice with almonds, cashew, pistachio ..

this recipe has been influenced quite a bit by the quintessential indian frozen ice cream kulfi and uses the worlds most expensive spice saffron for flavoring and coloring.

Saffron if you dint know comes form the crocusplant, and is the stigma  of the purple flower which grows on the plant. because its so tiny and delicate it has to be handpicked and since you only get 3 per flower, so pushed the prices ridiculously high. but nothing compares to the aroma and color that you can get from using really good saffron. you get some very good saffrom from iran, the worlds largest producer and the best quality saffron to look for is called sargol, which is the all red part of the stigma, with maximum color and aroma.

anyway after all that info, lets get down to business.

creme anglaise/ english custard

250 ml milk or half milk and half cream like we did

4 egg yolks

120 gm sugar

7-8 strands of saffron / more is not good, can get bitter and too much toxic(really).

100 gms of crushed pistachio nuts lightly toasted

combine the egg yolks with the sugar. warm the milk and add it to the egg and sugar mix. mix in well, but dont whisk it too much, otherwise it gets to foamy and then its difficult to see whether it has been cooked to the right degree.strain to get rid of any shell fragments and get a smoother texture.

put on a very very very low heat. if in doubt, then use a double boiler. cook till the mixture starts to thicken .at this stage you could add in the saffron just as it is or lightly toasted(10seconds in the microwave). take it off the fire, when it has thickened enought o coat the back of spoon with. cool down and either churn in the ice cream machine or put in the freezer and take out every half hour or so and give it a good whisking then . when its half set add int he pistachio and freeze. use with abandon !!!

for the pastry shell we will use a 1-2-3 dough really that simple

1. 100 gms sugar
2. 200 gms butter
3. 300 gms flour

rub the butter and sugar with the flour till the butter mix is blended in with the flour. its called rubbing in , and helps to achieve the short crumbly texture that we want for a tart/pie or cookie dough. add in 1 egg and combine lightly to just form a dough. rest in the chiller for 30 minutes.

part 2

make a strawberry compote / jam with fresh, frozen strawberries and sugar about 500g berries and 200 sugar till really thick. belnd it all together and cook over a low heat. thats to get a really concentrated flavor. if you are short of time then get a really good jam with high concentrate of fruits

1. eggs-2 whole
2. sugar- 50 gms
3. white wine 50 ml

cook over a double boiler whisking till really light and frothy and thick . the white wine will add lots of flavor, plus volume. then add in 10 gms of gelatine powder, which you will have soaked in about 10 ml of cold water beforehand(i hadnt mentioned it earlier, but now i have).oh also nuke the gelatine in the microwave for aboout 10 seconds and mix it in the egg mix.

Add in about 150 gms of the strawberry compote /jam.

now whip about 200 ml of cream till thick and light , soft peaks . no sugar in this , because our strawberry already has some so do the eggs.  by the time the cream is whipped , the egg mix will have cooled down sufficiently to fold it in. voila here is the strawberry mousse mix.

oh and we go back to our 123 dough. roll it out and line a sprigform pie/tart mold with it. there is enough for that and with the scraps you can make easy cookies.

bake at 175 C /350 F for about 20 minutes . dock the pastry so that it does not rise. cool down.  melt some white chocolate and brush the inside of the tart/pie shell with the melted white chocolate. this will prevent it from going too soggy when the mousse mix goes in.

pour in the mousse mix in the pie/tart shell. and chill for about an hour .

slice and decorate with plenty of strawberries. for the final piece of work you can glaze it with some strawberry jam thined down with orange juice and melted  in the microwave. brush it over the sliced strawberry topping and we are ready to rock after 2 good hrs of some work , but hey, this is not fast food . this is slow and decadent.

• Feijoas- 500 gms- you will need to scoop out the flesh from inside them.
• sugar-50 gms

first part- scoop out the pulp from the feijoas-for the people not from nz, its similar to a guava and the aroma s incredible. then cook these on low heat with the sugar till really nice and soft and pulpy.blend to a puree. it will have crunchy bits from the seeds in it. dont strain these out.these add to the nice crunchy texture in the middle of some creamy goodness

next do the same thing with red/pink guavas but strain the seeds out cos they are a whole lot bigger.

NOW

• 2 eggs whole
• 50 gms grain sugar+30-40 depending on how sweet your feijoa mix was.
• 10 gm gelatine soaked in abt 20 ml of water
• 250 ml cream.

Method

1. whisk the eggs and 50 gm sugar over a double boiler until really frothy and thick and light. melt the gelatine in a microwave (10 seconds max and add it in)
2. taste your feijoa puree to see how sweet it is.should be fairly sweet but not cloyingly so.add into your egg mix.
3. whisk the cream and keep chilled.
4. when the feijoa , egg mix is cooled down , fold in the whipped cream, set in glass bowls or wine glasses or whatever you want it in really.when thats done put in a little bit of the guava inside and swirl it around using a wooden skewer.
5. set in the chiller and enjoy with some brown brother orange flora and muscat or if you feeling rich some sweet sauternes.CHILLED.

heres a really nice crab cake recipe , but you have to be using real crab meat.Doesnt matter if its frozen , but not that awful stuff called crab sticks they have about 1% crabmeat and flavour and is cheap and nasty.

• crabmeat- 250 gms / canned or frozen claw meat( lump is nice but thats for eating in salads and stuff for cooking claw meat is more economic and makes more sense to use.
• mayonnaise- 25 gms +50 gms  the 1st bit gets mixed in and the remainders for the dipping sauce
• breadcrumbs- 100 gms
• egg- 1 nos
• salt and pepper – to taste
• chopped red onion- 50 gms
• garlic- 2cloves chopped
• parsley- small sprig
• thyme
• oil to shallow fry
• chipotle chillies- 1/4 of dry chilli/can use the canned ones too.

method

1. heat about 10 gms of oil and lightly saute the onion garlic thyme and crabmeat.cool down
2. add mayonnaise, egg, bread , seasoning and shape into 30 gm flat round cakes
3. heat oil and shallow fry on both sides till crisp
4. for the sauce, whizz chipotle chillies with mayonnaise add some lime juice and zest.

1. Dark chocolate buttons  285 gms
2. sugar  270 gms
3. flour  45 gms
4. cocoa 85 gms
5. butter  185 gms
6. eggs    3 nos
7. Raspberry frozen  100 gms
8. white chocolate buttons 100 gms
9. vanilla essence 2 ml

Method

• melt the dark chocolate and butter.
• whisk eggs and sugar till thick and creamy.
• mix well the flour and cocoa powder, if lumpy then sieve together.
• Add vanilla essence , and the melted chocolate and butter mix to the eggs.
• slowly fold in the flour /cocoa mixture.
• line one half chafing pan insert with greaseproof paper, and pour the mix over it.then top with the raspberries and the white chocolate.Had forgotten to put this bit in, thanks Rakhi for reminding me.:)
• bake at 175 C for 25-30 minutes. the center shouldn’t be too dry just soft cos we want them to be gooey like proper brownies should
• Cool down well, and cut into desired size for use.
• Makes about 1 small tray of brownie

Made this after tweaking a recipe which i had gotten from Jayshree Visht-Gussain, who had very kindly made it for Ashwinis birthday. I replaced her canola oil with a mix of pomace and extra virgin olive oil, and added in some 70% dark ghana chocolate. Having given all the spiel , lets get down to it.

Makes  one  9″ cake enough for about 8 people

1. olive oil- 250 ml i used half pomace and half extra virgin
2. sugar grain- 200 gms
3. eggs- 2 nos
4. flour- 225 gms
5. Baking powder- 10 gms
6. cocoa powder- 25 gms
7. Dark chocolate-100 gms
8. milk-100 ml

Method

• Melt the dark chocolate and milk together in the microwave – about 45 seconds or as long as it takes really without burning the chocolate. shouldnt take too much longer though
• Warm the olive oil slightly and add in the sugar, and whisk well , with the slight residual heat should help to melt it.
• Add in the eggs one at a time ,and it will get a mayonnaise like consistency
• Add in the melted chocolate +milk mixture
• mix in lightly a combination of the flour, cocoa, and baking powder , which (obviously) you would have mixed together before being the baking pro that you are.
• pour into greased / or sprayed with non stick spray cake tin and bake at 180C for 25-30 minutes. I used a springform tin and after 20 minuted covered the top to prevent it form colouring too much.

1. minced chicken/beef-300 gms
2. chicken stock – 50 ml
3. coriander – 2-3 sprigs
4. kaffir lime -2 leaves cut into fine julienne
5. red onion/shallot- 1 large/150 gms
6. freh mint – 4-5 sprigs
7. toasted rice-10 gms
8. red chilli dry-1-2 can increase if you want it hotter
9. lime juice- from2 limes/lemon could be used but has completely different flavour
10. fish sauce- to taste
11. cabbage leave- from a quarter cabbage approximately 200 gms
12. cucumber- 150 gms sliced

method

• heat the chicken stock and add the minced meat and cook lightly. it  should be juicy and moist and not coloured. the essence of most thai salads is the balance to achieve in crunchy, juicy and oozing with flavour from various fresh herbs and flavourings
• combine roasted rice and dry chillies and pound or blend to a coarse powder.
• add sliced onions,chopped coriander, lime, lime leaves,fish sauce to the cooked mince.
• just before serving add in the mixture of the rice.
• serve with wedges of cabbage and slices of cucumber to spoon up the tangy mince. the salad should be swerved just slightly warm, not cooled down.

• salmon fillets boneless skin on- 4 nos approximatley 150 gms each
• fresh herbs mixed- parsley, thyme, very little rosemary
• extra virgin olive oil- 15 ml
• fresh breadcrumbs- 50 gms
• salt and pepper.
• zest of lemon- 1

Season the fish with salt and pepper.combine the rest of ingredients to make a kind of sloppy paste which you will smear thickly on top of the salmon skin skin side. preheat the oven to 225 C keeping it on grill mode . pop in the salmon  and roast for about 7-8 minutes (until the crust starts to get nice and brown). turn off the oven and hold for 10 minutes. that way the crust is formed and then the rest of the salmon will cook slowly in the oven and will be still juicy and moist.

serve with a side salad and some nice and crusty baguette!!