Sunday, October 26, 2008

Jean's Special Muesli




This recipe of home making muesli exists 20 years ago when The Corbridges lived in a farm house in Wales. It was because the current muesli on the market –Alpen had so many sugar contents on it so Gordon decided to investigate ingredients of muesli, then Jean worked it out how to cook it.

Muesli is always consumed for breakfast served with generous milk as we do with cereal. Sometimes Gordon made with prunes cooked with brown sugar to give natural sweetener.

Most of the ingredients quite easy to find in UK. You can go to Julian Barretts or any Organic Food that sells dried fruits, seeds and flakes. The three are basic which some being toast first, while the other just need to chopped in small pieces.


Ingredients

Seeds
250 gr Sunflower seeds
125 gr Pumpkin seeds

Nuts (non salted)
250 gr Hazel nuts
250 gr Brazil nuts
250 gr Cashew nuts
100 gr Walnuts
200 gr Baby Pine nuts

80 gr of Dried Skimmed Milk Powder

Flakes
1.5kg Flakes (usually portion as barley 25%, wheat% and oats 50%)
500 gr Malted barn flake
500 gr Wheat germs

Fruits
250 gr Raisin
250 gr Apricots
60 gr Apple
100 gr Cranberries (sweetened)
Cut in small pieces, then set aside. Don’t put any dried fruit that too moist such as dates.

Tools
big plastic container for mixing
several flat tray for toasting
mash potatoes to crush nuts
your hands



Directions :


Toasting
  1. Put wheat germs (the only flakes that need to toast) on the flat tray and toast first. Set the oven at medium heat 175C and toast for about 20minutes or so.
  2. Crush Malted barn flakes into reasonable size then put into mixer plastic box with the rest of flakes.
  3. Sprinkle with dried skimmed milk powder
  4. Lay the hazel nuts and brazil nuts at the same flat tray to toast. Put in the oven 5 minutes after the wheat germs
  5. Take another tray and lay the cashew nuts along with walnuts. These two tends to cook quickly, so always put last.
  6. Another tray for sunflowers and pumpkins seeds. Their likely just about light cooking.
  7. If all done just set aside to leave it cold, and for nuts it need to crush into small piece.

Mixing
1. All the flakes will be mix first with dried milk powder
2. Then pour the chopped dried fruits (apple and apricots), the rest fruit just as it was
3. After that all seeds and crushed nuts
4. Mix with your hands until well distributed.
5. Let it cool, put the tea cloves to cover before put in air tight storage

Pictures
Top left : barn flakes
Top right : Flakes (barley, wheat and oats)
Bottom left : Dried apricots
Bottom middle : Hazel Nuts and Brazil Nuts
Bottom Right : Sunflower and Pumpkins Seeds

Monday, October 13, 2008

Fresh Mango Bread : jadi inget Lima Sekawan

Beginilah klo menimbun buah di kulkas. Baru ketauan kalau ada sebiji mangga yang masak banget. Penyok-penyok sedikit. Tapi baunya wangi sekali, sayang kalau dibuang. Lantas inget ada resep di buku Dorie dengan mangga.

Namanya bread atau roti tetapi sebenarnya lebih mirip loaves bread, yakni kue yang kaya akan raisin (kismis) dan beraorma wangi (biasanya kayu manis atau jahe) tapi bentuknya seperti roti tawar. Karena super duper manis maka biasanya dimakan dengan teh manis atau ngopi. Inget kan Lima Sekawan kalo saat minum teh? Ginger loaves nyums…pas banget sebagai penghangat awal musim gugur ini.

Resep-nya Dorie saya rubah sedikit, yakni menambahkan jahe segar dan mengurangi gula. Plus ditambah irisan jeruk nipis didobelin untuk nambah aroma sedikit. Mangga yang masak adalah kunci utama karena ternyata memberikan kandungan air yang cukup untuk membuat adonan jadi mudah dicampur.

Catatan untuk cara memanggang adalah menggunakan loyang cookies yang berinsulasi. Ini agar ngga membuat bagian bawah cepet gosong. Cara ngedapetinnya? kayaknya gampang dicari karena punya saya ternyata Made In Indonesia. Agak sedikit tebal, sekitar 1 cm. Tandanya di bagian bawah ada semacam lapisan lagi yang berongga. Klo ngga ada, pake dua lembar loyang ditangkupkan.


Fresh Mango Bread (Roti dari Mangga Segar)

Adaptasi Baking: From My Home to Yours By Dorie Greenspan, hal. 45


Bahan :

3 butir telor ukuran besar (klas AA)
3/4 cup minyak tak beraroma seperti Canola atau Bunga matahari
2 1/2 cups tepung terigu all purposes
1 cup gula putih (diabaikan)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp jahe bubuk
1 tsp kayu manis bubuk
1/4 tsp garam
1/2 cup gula halus warna coklat muda
2 cups buah mangga potong kecil2 (dari 1 bh ukuran besar)
3/4 cup kismis warna coklat muda (golden raisin)
Irisan kulit 1 jeruk lime (atau lemon)
2 tsp potongan kecil jahe segar

Persiapan :
  • Tempatkan rak di tengah, preheat dalam suhu 350F
  • Beri mentega pada cetakan ukuran 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch bentuk loaf (seperti roti tawar), beri tepung dan ketuk2 untuk mengeluarkan sisa tepung
  • Tempatkan cetakan adonan diatas loyang yang berinsulasi atau dua buah lembar loyang biasa yang saling ditangkupkan. Ini untuk mencegah bagian bawah agar ngga gosong.

1. Aduk telur dengan minyak hingga tercampur

2. Dalam wadah yang besar, masukkan tepung, gula, baking soda, baking powder dan spices (kayu manis & jahe bubuk) dan garam. Masukkan gula coklat dengan sembari digesek tangan agar tidak ada gumpalan. Aduk semua hingga hingga merata.

3. Masukkan bahan cair ke dalam bahan kering, campur dengan pengaduk kayu atau spatula hingga menjadi satu. Hasilnya akan seperti adonan roti ketimbang adonan batter (jadi lebih kering dan menggumpal). Adonan ini tidak mudah tercampur, tapi aduk terus hingga terlihat semua bagian kering rata. Jangan terlalu khawatir karena kondisi ini akan berbeda begitu buah mangga dicampurkan.

4. Masukkan irisan mangga, kismis dan irisan kulit jeruk dan jahe. Perhatikan adonan jadi lebih berair dan mudah diaduk.

5. Masukkan adonan dalam cetakan, rapikan bagian atas dengan spatula.

6. Panggang selama 1.5jam atau hingga warnanya menjadi kecoklatan dan dicek kematangan dengan memasukkan ujung pisau di tengah. Jika pisau bersih maka roti telah matang. Pada 30 menit terakhir, tutup bagian atas adonan dengan aluminium foil agar tidak terlalu gosong/coklat.

7. Angkat cetakan, taruh di rak pendingin selama 5 menit, kemudian dikeluarkan dari cetakan. Biarkan dingin dalam suhu ruang.

Penyimpanan : bungkus dengan plastik, rasanya makin sip setelah sehari karena aroma makin terkonsentrasi. Bisa bertahan 4 hari dalam suhu ruang.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Classic Greek Lamb Moussaka with Eggplant


After pop in at Full Circle Farm -an organic community garden in Sunnyvale, I bought three large eggplant. We've been talking about making Lamb Moussaka as a memento many years ago. I never been in Greek, but Mr C did. He said, missed Greek food so much.

Moussaka traditionally cooked with minced lamb. If you got nice shoulder lamb, that should be fine. We bought from Whole Foods which came with staggering price. It's really nice meat, as my farmer's boy said (yes..Mr C grow up in Wales and milking cow before going to school). A good lamb minced should be reddish, with good fat quantity and not having strong smell goaty.

This recipe adapted from Greek Food About.com and also from Times Online.

We replaced all spices with garam masala. Also added more herbs such fresh rosemary and purple basil. I got good yield of yellow tomatoes which is really sweet and juicy. No sour at all. We cut eggplants without the skin off as Mr C love the textur. We fried with olive and vegetable oil. It will dry quickly as eggplant absorb olive oil, all you do just a tablespoon for each batch.

The best cheese to Moussaka is permesan type which is hardy and not really oily. It also hold the shape very well. In the end Moussaka is just like lassagna but much more fragrances with depth of herbs and spices.




Preparation 30 minutes
Cooking 45 minutes
Serving 6 generous size



Ingredients

3 large eggplants
sea salt
olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped (we’ve used 3 little red onions)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1.5 pounds of ground lamb
8 medium fresh (yellow) tomatoes, peel the skin and cut in cubes
1 small can tomatoes paste
4 whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and 1 stick (break off around 1 inch long)
1/8 teaspoon of ground garam masala (or all spices)
ground ginger
3 bay leaves
sprig of fresh rosemary, few leaves fresh purple basil chopped
100 gr grated permesan type cheese (parmigiano reggiano)
1 cup of breadcrumbs
1/2 cup of dry red wine (options)
freshly ground pepper

Ingredients Béchamel

5 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
2.5 cups hot whole milk (mixed with cream put in microwave about 5 minutes until hot but not boiling)
100 gr permesan chese grated
1/2 cup cream
salt
pepper
grated nutmeg
2 egg yolks


1. Preparing eggplants.
Wash the eggplants and trim off stems. cut the eggplant lengthwise into 1/2-inch slices. Put the slices in a large bowl or on a tray, sprinkle liberally with salt and let them sit for 30 minutes. Rinse well, drain, and pat dry. Brush slices lightly on both sides with olive oil and dry fry on the pan until little bit brown and soft. Set aside. Added salted into eggplant is to reduce bitterness and absorb natural liquids.

2. Prepare Meat Sauce
Preheat the frying pan or skillet over low heat. When the pan is hot, add 2 tablespoons of oil and increase the heat to medium low. Sauté the onions with a wooden spoon until they are translucent, add the meat and continue to sauté until lightly browned. Add chopped tomatoes, 1/2 the breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, garlic, cinnamon, bay leaves, garam masala, wine, and tomato paste and mix well. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until all the liquid has been absorbed, about 45 minutes to an hour. If there is still liquid in the pan, continue to simmer uncovered until the mixture is as dry as possible. When dry, remove the bay leaves and cinnamon stick (if used), and set aside uncovered until ready to use.
Note : we used quick dry methods which put the meat and saute on high stove. About 10 minutes until most of liquid dried up. This is significant as more liquid tend to not hold the shape very well when bake moussaka.

3. Make 3 cups of basic béchamel
It's made with evaporated milk and contains cheese, and is just one variation of this popular sauce used with meats and vegetables. It isn't hard to make, and doesn't take long, but it has to be stirred the entire time.

Preparation:
In a saucepan, melt the butter on low heat. As soon as it melts, add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until there are no lumps, and increase the heat to medium-low. Add the milk slowly, stirring constantly with a whisk, and continue stirring until the sauce begins to thicken - creamy without being too thick. Remove from the heat and stir in salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir in the egg yolks and return to the heat, whisking briskly until well blended. Remove from heat and set aside until ready to use.

4. Add Bechamel Sauce & Cheese Topping
Lightly oil the baking pan and sprinkle the bottom with the remaining breadcrumbs. Place a layer of eggplant slices on the breadcrumbs and spread the meat mixture evenly on top. Cover with the remaining eggplant slices, and carefully pour the béchamel sauce evenly over the top.
Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 30 minutes, then sprinkle the cheese over the top, and continue to cook for another 15 to 30 minutes, until golden brown.

5. Serving Mousakka
Remove the moussaka from the oven and allow to cool for 20-30 minutes. Moussaka is eaten warm, not hot, and can also be eaten cool.


Notes:
  • Moussaka can be prepared up to the béchamel and refrigerated overnight. The next day, add the sauce and cook.
  • It can also be completely cooked and cooled, then frozen. Defrost and and reheat in a 350° (175-180°C) oven.

Serving suggestions:
Moussaka is traditionally served in very large pieces and it is a heavy dish. Serve with a green salad, crusty bread, and a dry red wine. If anyone has room for dessert, a fruit sorbet or cheese with fruit is a light way to end on a sweet note.