Don’t want to waste any unconsumed milk in the fridge-make Rasgulla!

Last week, I had a bottle of 3 liter milk sitting in the fridge going to expire in a day time..Not wanting to waste any food, I was thinking what to do with it and how to use this 3 liter up quickly. Since we are not hardcore milk drinkers, I knew we would not be able to finish drinking it all in a day. It’s a regular full cream milk so I couldn’t use it for making brie or camembert as well (for these cheese, I need unhomogenised milk). The only thing I could probably make from it is a cottage cheese of some sort so I looked for an inspiration on the net and ..voila..I came across Rasgulla recipe, a syrupy Indian dessert made from cottage cheese dumplings (Chenna)  cooked in light syrup made of sugar… Heavenly!

My parents used to buy Rasgulla for me as a treat when I was little..Being one of my childhood favorite sweets, it always associates with good memories . But I haven’t had this in a while as I have been trying to stay away from excessive sweet stuff nowadays.

So it was a good opportunity to try making my favorite sweet at home.  I have most ingredients that I need to make it -milk, lemon, vinegar,sugar and rosewater (only thing missing is semolina). Making it at home, I could adjust the sugar level as I like  and also I could use up the expiring milk quickly. Sounds like a good plan, doesn’t it ?!

I’d never tried making it before but to my surprise it was super easy to make.. So now I know what I’ll be making  when we have unconsumed milk in the fridge next time.

Ingredients- Milk, Lemon, White Vinegar (not in the picture), Rose Water and Sugar

Here are the steps-

(1) Bring the milk to boil, stir it occasionally to avoid burning at the bottom, reduce the heat once it is boiled.

 

(2) Once boiled, add in lemon juice. Milk should be immediately curdled. If it doesn’t then  add more lemon juice.

Note: I only had 3 tbps of squeezed lemon juice from half a lemon. It wasn’t enough so I added another 50 ml of white vinegar. Once I added a vinegar, the boiled milk immediately curdled.

(3) Continue to cook it on low heat for another 5 minutes and then turn the heat off.

(4) Strain the curds with cheese cloth/ muslin cloth.

(5) Wash the curds under cold running water. This is to remove any sour taste from lemon juice/vinegar.

(6) Tie up the cheese cloth, squeeze the extra water and hang it for at least half an hour to 45 minutes.

(7) After half hour,  excess water from the cheese should be removed. It should now be nice and fluffy.  Knead the cheese (and add 50 g of semolina to cheese if you have) for 5 to 10 minutes and make it into bite size balls. Ensure the cheese balls are nice and round without any cracks.

Note: The recipe called for  adding semolina to the cheese before kneading but since I didn’t have any semolina, I just had to leave it as a pure cheese (chenna in Indian).

(8) Mix 100 g of sugar (or to your taste) , 3 or 4 drops of rose water  with 1 liter of water and bring it to boil. Add the cheese balls and continue cooking it on medium heat for 15 minutes. Remove the cheese balls from the pot and set them aside. Continue cooking the syrup until it is not too watery.

(9) Add the cheese balls to the syrup and have it chilled in the fridge overnight before serving.

Here we go.. My adventure of making a Rasgulla for the first time. I must say the texture is a bit denser than the store-bought ones as mine didn’t have semolina in it. I’ll surely add semolina when I make this the next time. The taste seems to be ok though.. Bring me back to my childhood. Yumm..

If you do try making it, please let me know how you go.

Chocolate Easter Egg Making

“Got my hands dirty and made my very own chocolate Easter Egg”

I guess I belong to a majority group in the world, the chocolate lovers. I like all sorts of chocolate whether it is white, milk or dark but if I have to pick, I’d choose dark.  Dark chocolate is loaded with good nutrients that can positively affect our health. It is one of the best sources of antioxidants on the planet. Decent dark chocolate like 70% dark and above is in fact good for our health. I seriously think we should change an old saying to ” A piece of dark choc a day keeps the doctor away”.

I used to confuse about the difference between normal compound chocolate and couverture chocolate. It’s only recently that I had a clear idea of the differences between these two and their respective uses.

Couverture chocolate are made from chocolate liquor which is blended with extra cocoa butter, sugar and flavourings. This chocolate must be tempered. Compound chocolate is made from combining cocoa with vegetable fat as a replacement for cocoa butter. Compound chocolate is well suited for tropical climate because it is more heat-resistant, easy to handle, and does not require tempering but I personally think that it has a greasy oily after taste. Couverture tastes a lot nicer and much more refined on the palate compared to the taste of compound chocolate.

It’s always my dream to learn how to make chocolate..

There is this little boutique shop called ADORA selling hand-made chocolates near my workplace and in my personal opinion, it is the best locally produced chocolate in Sydney. ADORA is famous for its broad selection of hand crafted chocolate truffles and other chocolate products. Every time I walk pass the shop, I will stop and get a piece or two. I like most of their flavours but my favourites are Passionfruit Truffle and GIA truffle (Soft hazelnut centre with a milk chocolate wafer). Check out their link http://www.adora.com.au/AdoraChocolates.html

I have been ADORA’s loyal customer for a few years so I got so excited when I received an email from them that they were going to run a day chocolate making master class for Easter. I quickly signed up for it, feared that I’d miss out. I have always been wanting to make chocolate at home successfully and I have tried a few times but didn’t quite get it right so this was a good chance to find out what the secret is.

At the workshop, I was surprised how easy to make our own chocolate. The secret is to get the chocolate liquid mixture temperature right (tempering)  before putting it in the casting mold. The instructor showed us a non-conventional way of tempering the chocolate which was very simple and didn’t involve any fancy equipments. This method is not as showy as tempering the chocolate liquid on a Mable slab but it works! And it doesn’t involve a double boiler to melt the chocolate buttons. In fact, double boiler method is not recommended because moisture from the steam could ruin the chocolate mixture. At the workshop, we just used the microwave method. We put  chocolate buttons in the microwave to melt them. Rule of thumb is for about 500g of chocolate button, we need to put it in the microwave for about 3 ~4 mins. At what temperature to melt the chocolate is not that important because we will adjust the temperature of the mixture in the following step anyway.

Once the chocolate buttons are melted, test the mixture with a cooking thermometer to see what temperature it is at. Then immerse the chocolate mixture bowl in an iced water to cool the liquid down. Do not stir the mixture. Leave it until a thin layer of crust is formed around the edges. It usually happens within a few minutes so we must remember not to leave it too long. Otherwise, the mixture will get too cold and you will have to reheat it. We need to make sure to test it with the cooking thermometer constantly. Once the center of the mixture hits around 34 degrees C (34C for Dark, 32~33C for Milk and 31C for White), remove the bowl from the iced water and stir it rigorously. Test the mixture again and carefully pour it in the casting mould. For hollow center easter egg making, fill the mould with the mixture, ensure to get a nice thick layer coating and then tip the excess liquid out from the mold. Then stick the two halves of the mould together and put it in the fridge for half hour. If you want to be a little bit more creative, use the chocolate liquid to draw some patterns in the mould and let it set before pouring the chocolate mixture. I used white chocolate to draw some spots then I filled up the mould with dark chocolate for a spotty dark chocolate egg. It looks quite cute. After half hour, the chocolate should be ready. Carefully remove the chocolate from the mould by twisting the mould gently. If the chocolate comes out easily from the mould, that means we got the tempering right.

While the eggs were setting, we made some yummy almond nut clusters with the remaining chocolate mixture.

I am glad to have been in the kitchen of my favourite chocolatier and learned their secret techniques of chocolate tempering . Hope I can now replicate the process at home.

It was a fun workshop and I had a great time. Best of all, I got to keep what I made that day!

  

Burmese (Shan) Style Tofu

“Not your usual boring soy tofu”

Though my first two posts were all about European food, I always regard that nothing is more comforting and satisfying to eat than Burmese food. It is something that I grew up with, something that is so familiar and genuine to my taste buds. It satisfies mouth and mind. To me, Burmese food is not just food but a collection of memories. Here, I am generalizing all food from Burma as Burmese food but many famous ethnic and regional style cuisines are also very much part of and highly regarded in Burmese food culture. Ethnic cuisines such as Shan and Mon style dishes are certainly very popular in our household.

Recently, I made a Burmese/Shan style tofu at home and thought I’d share my cooking adventure to promote this humble but wonderful dish which is little known outside Burma. I think this tofu style is quite unique in a sense that it is made from chickpeas or split peas rather than the usual soy bean that we all know. It has a very nutty and creamy taste with a jelly-like, smooth but firm texture in a matte yellowish color. It can be eaten fresh as a salad or deep fried. This is one of my all time favorite light meal and I used to eat it all the time during my childhood days back in Yangon.

The main ingredients are not many but just three: chickpeas (or split peas), salt and water. It is produced in a similar fashion to polenta and quite easy to make. However, make sure you are ready for one big stirring exercise.

We could use raw peas, soak and grind it in a slow juicer or use a grounded pea powder, mix it with water to make a liquid mixture for cooking. Ready-made tofu was quite widely available in Yangon so I had never thought of making it from scratch last time. But in Sydney, I haven’t seen shops selling this style of tofu though (unless you go to a specific Burmese grocery store) so I had no choice but to make it by myself. I decided to really start from scratch so I used raw chickpeas instead of grounded pea powder and I was really happy with the result.

Tofu making method:

Wash and soak 400 g of chickpeas in water overnight. Wash it one more time before putting it through the slow juicer. Add water a little by little when putting the peas through the presser. This will make it easier to extract the liquid. Use roughly about 1 liter of water to 400 g of chickpeas. The liquid is already quite smooth but I sieved it through a muslin cloth to further refine it for a smoother texture. Otherwise, the tofu will be quite grainy. Once done, add some salt (to taste) to the liquid mixture, put it in a clean pot and cook it on a low to medium heat.

It is important that we must NEVER leave the pot once it is heated. We must constantly stir the liquid else it will be burnt and stuck to the bottom of the pot. Burnt tofu tastes awful! It needs to be cooked until it reaches a creamy consistency then turn off the heat. It is then transferred into a tray and allowed to set.

Chickpea Tofu-Burmese Style

Chickpea Tofu-Burmese Style

Chickpea Tofu-Burmese Style

Chickpea Tofu-Burmese Style

Fresh Tofu Salad Recipe:

Once the tofu is set, cut it into small rectangular slices; toss it with cooked peanut oil, soy sauce, vinegar or lime juice or tamarind paste, toasted crushed dried chilli, crushed garlic, crushed roasted peanuts, crisp-fried onions, and coriander. This dish is well balanced in flavors as it is nutty, savory, sour, and spicy. Freshness from coriander further highlights the dish.

Fresh Chickpea Tofu Salad- Gloria’s Style

If you ever try it out, please let me know what you think and I hope you like it as much as I do.

To cheese or not to cheese

“That is never the question”

If you ask me what is the acquired taste that I appreciate most, the answer will have to be “cheese” and in particular all soft cheeses with molds on the rind or throughout. Strange and perhaps weird taste, isn’t it? A decade ago, I also had never thought that one day I would adore food with furry molds on!

Soft cheese, to me, is definitely an acquired taste which I discovered only after I moved to Australia and I owe this to my husband and my former workplace. Once, my husband (then boyfriend) introduced me to this wonderful “Castello” Creamy Blue Cheese and it was just simply gorgeous. He was quite amused that I liked Blue Cheese because not many people like it due to its pungent flavor. But I really liked it. I think I ate the entire semi-round. Since then, Blue Cheese has been my favorite out of all soft cheeses. We have tried different brands and types of Blue Cheese such as Roquefort, Gorgonzola, Blue Stilton and so on but the first Blue Cheese that I had, Castello Creamy Blue Cheese is still my most preferred. Its fragrance and creaminess is just the way I like it.

Second to Blue Cheese, I like white mold cheeses like Brie and Camembert. And I owe this taste of mine to my former work place (a large French banking organization). In the good old days (before the GFC), we had cheese platters for team meetings and cheese & wine tasting was a common accompaniment. I learned to appreciate different kinds of soft cheeses when I was working there.

In my home country, Burma, we didn’t eat much cheese and especially gourmet soft cheeses. I think it has to do with warmer climate there. It might be harder to produce and keep them. In fact, dairy products are not part of our main diet at all. Like most Asian diets, our main food revolves around rice. You might be wondering where we get our calcium though. Yes, we eat lots of fresh water produce such as pickled fish and shrimps, fish sauce, dried and fresh fish, etc and these are the main sources of calcium and other essential minerals for our daily requirement.

Today, I like (super like) soft cheeses. Not only do I like eating it but I also like making it. Last year, I received the coolest ever birthday present from my husband and it was a gift certificate to attend a cheese making workshop!! You can’t imagine how excited I was. The workshop was run by this company called “The Cheese Making Workshop” in Northbridge in Sydney lower North Shore. (http://thecheesemakingworkshop.com.au/).

Tasting the cheeses that previous students made

The Cheese making workshop

It was the whole day workshop and we learned to make six different kinds of soft cheeses (Camembert/Brie, Fetta, Greek Style Yoghurt, Labne, Mascarpone, Ricotta and Quark) but the highlight of the course for me was learning how to make Camembert/Brie. I used to be confused about the difference between Brie and Camembert. They all look and taste the same to me. It was not long ago in this workshop that I found out Brie is creamier than Camembert.

I have tried making a few batches of Brie at home. We had homemade Brie for our Christmas lunch cheese platter and we all enjoyed it.

I still need to work on perfecting the skill because my homemade Brie is not as creamy as I would like it to be, though I added lots of cream. But I am sure I am doing it right and that I produced an edible cheese because I am still here to tell the story.

Cheese making is quite a laborious work but it is worth the while if you are a cheese lover. If you would like to attempt, here is a video that I found on net “How to make a Camembert” (They are not my videos. All credits go to the original uploaders).

But the following photos are from our actual work shop.

Work Stations

Warming the milk

Our instructor showing how much starter culture and white mold spores to put in

Cutting the curds

Draining the curds

Almost complete

After a few days, you can wrap and age the cheese ( these were from the batch that previous students made a week ago, not ours)

If you ever try it out, please let me know your thoughts.

Moules Marinieres

Black Mussels in cream sauce

It has taken me a while to think what to write for my first post because I wanted it to be extra special. The dish worthy of this special honor must be one on my all-time favorites list or that had entirely changed my opinion on certain ingredients, or both. And I believe there is nothing better than “Moules Mariniers” that fits into both categories.

Originated from Belgium (it is considered as the national dish of Belgium according to Wikipedia), “Moules Mariniers et Frites” is a dish of black mussels cooked in creamy white wine sauce and usually goes well with fries or crusty bread (to soak up the tasty sauce!). It is also very popular in France and Italy.

I had my first taste of the dish in 2012 when we were holidaying in Paris. As a “not so keen” seafood person, I would normally order either meat or poultry but on this particular lunch occasion in a tiny little bistro in the Paris Saint Michel district, I decided to try something else. They had a lunch special menu with two choices, one with escargot starter or another with moules mariniers and I chose to go “sea”.

Prior to this adventure, I didn’t have much opinion on mussels as I always thought eating shell fish or crustacean is such a hassle. I prefer something that doesn’t require my hands to be dirty when eating. Mussels (seafood) are not at all common in everyday meals where I came from (Burma) as we take more freshwater produce there. They are popular in Australia but somehow not in our household though. Perhaps we didn’t know how to cook good mussels dish.

Back to the lunch in the French bistro, the dish came with a basket full of sliced baguette and I was quiet impressed with the generous portion of the dish. I was told by the waiter to let the baguette soak in the sauce for a while before eating it and, yes, he knew what he was talking about. I was hooked from the first bite! I kept ordering the same dish in different places throughout the trip. Since then the dish has been on my favorites list and I have recreated it so many times at home.

Moules Marinieres – the dish that started my love for mussels

As a popular dish, it was not hard to find a recipe. The good thing about this dish is that it is rather quick to prepare and cook if we use a pack of “ready to pot” black mussels (you can easily get it in Coles if you are in Australia). I suppose we could use green mussels as well but, in my opinion, black mussels are the best for the dish. Both French and Belgium styles use flat-leaf parsley for garnishing but the Italian style uses basil. The technique and other ingredients are mostly the same. As for me, depending on which herb is readily available, I use parsley and basil interchangeably and I think both are nice.

Here are a few links to the recipe if anyone wants to try out:

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/21409/moules+marinieres

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/moulesmarinierewithc_71787

And here are some photos of my attempt:

Moules Marinieres – Gloria’s style

Moules Marinieres – Gloria’s style

Moules Marinieres – Gloria’s style

Moules Marinieres – Gloria’s style

Moules Marinieres – Gloria’s style

And remember to use a good butter and white wine. I am a believer that if we use good ingredients, we can’t really go wrong. If anyone ever tries out, please let me know what you think.

Thought for food- Food for thought

Good food and I have been and will always be in a good relationship as everyone would. We all like good food, don’t we? As much as a necessity for our physical existence, I always believe that food is one of the main sources that can influence on our mind and mood. Certain food brings back certain memories. Like many people, food to me is not just a simple “need” but an absolute pleasure of life. I adore food.

I am fortunate enough to be in a place where food is abundant and choices are almost limitless. Being in a melting pot cosmopolitan city, Sydney, I am constantly exposed to food from most corners of the world. If we want, we can have a Vietnamese Bánh mì for breakfast, Italian Spaghetti Marinara for lunch and Brazilian B.B.Q for dinner! If we want a little bit more fancy food, we could even try out an Ethiopian or Peruvian food. This is just to name a few exotic choices available here. Sydneysiders are spoiled with numerous choices for food.

I must say my taste palates were not so adventurous prior to coming here to Sydney. At least, they were not that exposed to many varieties of food from different countries across the globe. Back in my hometown- Yangon during my childhood days, the most common and much loved food was local Burmese and ethnic cuisines. Apart from these, food from neighboring countries such as Chinese, Indian and Thai food were also quite popular. But that’s about all. I remember Japanese food was very pricy, not easily available and highly regarded as ‘posh’ food. Western food such as Italian and French were not common at all unless you go to the restaurant in the big hotels. Perhaps we were so endowed with local goodies that we didn’t need to have a curiosity to try out any other. As a result of this, I was quite shy to explore any new food in my early years in Sydney. Overtime, with a small doze of curiosity and a big encouragement from all the “foodies” around me especially my dear husband now, then boyfriend, I had started tasting out all the different food from different places and I am glad I had.

Today, my taste palates’ preference is not limited to food from any particular country or style. I like to explore and experience any new dish whenever I have a chance. And sometimes the adventure doesn’t stop at just tasting; rather I go on recreating the food that I enjoyed. Whenever I come across the dish that I really like, I would be finding a recipe and experimenting, improvising or creating it to taste. Sometimes the attempts were successful, other times not. Regardless, I always had fun and that’s all that matter.

In this blog, I’d like to share some of my food adventures especially recreating part. As I am not a professional chef (or even a skilled cook), the food that I recreate may totally be a flop hence please bear with me. As I mentioned earlier, experimenting is a fun part and I hope you enjoy reading these adventures as much as I enjoy exploring and sharing.

Thank you for reading and looking forward to start sharing.