Thursday, December 5, 2013

Shix bakes: crabmeat wholewheat rolls

For breakfast today, Mr R and I had these

You can fill the rolls up with anything you want. Since Mr R wanted crab meat I made him eat it with a wholewheat roll. 

Prep time: 1.5 hr
Baking time: 30 min

Ingredients:

Roll
2 cups bread flour
2 cups wholewheat 
1 sachet (11g) yeast
3 tbsp milk (optional)
400ml tepid water
3 tbsp sugar
1tsp salt
50 ml olive oil

Filling
300g crab meat
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp tartar sauce
1 heaped tsp mustard 
1 tsp pepper
Dash of thyme and basil (I use dried)
Salt to taste

Method:

Filling
Steam the crabmeat. Mix everything up and then you're good. 

Rolls
Dissolve the yeast in the bowl of warm water and let it bloom. In a mixing bowl, put the salt, sugar and flour together and mix well. Slowly add in the milk and yeast+water mixture till it forms a dough. You might need slightly more/less water depending on which part of the world you are in. Knead it well and then add the oil. Work it into the dough. If it gets too sticky, add a bit of flour. It should be tacky and easy enough to work with. Let it rise for two hours. Once the dough's approx twice it's original size, separate the dough into 20 balls. Let it rest for 15 mins before filling it up. Once you've filled the rolls with a filling of your choice, let it rest for 1/2 hr before baking. Bake at 160degC and 30min and you're ready to eat!

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Shix cooks: Fried fish soup

Today's rainy day deserves a nice warm soothing meal

Prep time: 1h 10min
Cooking time: 1h 15min 
Warning: prep and cooking times overlap! It only takes a little over an hr to prepare ahahah

Ingredients:
Fried fish
Part 1:
2 pcs White fish fillet cut into bite-sized cubes
2 tsp cornflour
1tsp salt
1 tsp seseme seed oil
1tsp tumeric powder

Part 2:
Oil for frying
2 tbsp cornflour
1 egg
1/4 cup water

Soup
Part 3:
1.5 litres water
1 handful anchovies ground
1 handful soy beans
1 inch ginger bruised
Dash of fish sauce (optional)
Salt to taste 

Optional:
2 tomatoes quartered
2 handfuls leafy greens

Condiment (optional)
Part 4:
1 handful Birdseye chilli 
1/2 cup light soy sauce

To serve:
White rice
Blanched noodles

Method:
1. Mix up part 1 then leave it to marinate in the fridge for an hour. 
2. Put items in part 3 in a pot and leave it to simmer for an hour. 
3. If you like it hot, prepare the chilli condiment by mixing items in part 4 together and leave it to stand for a while. Do not store in a metal container. 
4. Heat up the oil for frying. 
5. Mix up the other ingredients in part 2. Dip the marinated fish into cornflour mixture and fry. 
6. Once the soup has simmered for an hour turn off the flame. 
7. If you want, you can blanch the vegetables in the hot soup. 
8. To serve, put a serving of white rice or rice noodles in a bowl followed by the soup, veges, fish and chilli and it's ready!

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Shix cooks: Baked potato with chili con carne

Last night, I made this: 
Baked potato with chili con carne
Prep time: 10 min
Cooking time 1h30min

Ingredients
4 russet potatoes
3 tbsp olive oil
5 cloves shallots
4 cloves garlic
3 whole red chilli
2tsp cumin
1 capsicum, cubed
300g ground beef
1 can whole tomato
1 can tomato puree
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cayenne pepper powder 
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
2 cups water
Salt to taste
1 can kidney beans, washed and drained. 
4 tbsp grated cheese

Method:
1. Wrap the washed potatoes in foil. Put it in the oven for 1hr at 180degC.
2. Blend the shallot, garlic, chili and cumin into a rough chop. 
3. In a pot, heat up the oil. Throw in the blended stuff and capsicum. Stirfry for abt 15min. 
4. Add in the beef and cook till it browns. 
5. Add in all the tomato, herbs and chili powders.  
6. Add in water and salt to taste. 
7. Simmer for an hour. Be sure to stir once in a while and add in more water if necessary.
8. Sometime in between, potatoes will cook. Take it out to cool slightly. 
9. Mix in beans and let simmer for another 10mins then turn off flame.
10. Dress your potatoes with the chili and cheese then feel free to eat!

Potato alternatives:
- any Indian bread. 
- rice
- tacos

Ps: I made this spicy. Reduce the amt of chili powder to reduce the heat. 

Variation: 

I made the chili more hearty (in my mum's words, "anak banyak" style) by adding chickpeas, mushrooms,carrots and celery and increased the amount of water by 1 cup.

I also made a vegan version, chili sin carne, by omitting the beef and adding on more veges & beans. You can also add more mushrooms to give it more flavour.