Fermented Rice Crepe

Fermented rice crepe, also known as dosai, dosa, dhosa or even dosay, originates from India. It is often served fillled with masala or tumeric spiced potatoes. The addition of lentil or chickpea flours imparts crispness to the rice crepe.

Successful rice crepes rely on aeration by overnight fermentation, or a shortcut using bicarbonate soda and yoghurt. When fermented, the batter looks spongy and smells slightly acrid. The technique to cook rice crepe requires that the crepe batter be sprinkled or drizzled with oil or water when half cooked to aid the release from the cooking surface. Without this step, the crepe will stick and hardens with disastrous results. A non-stick or oiled cast iron skillet works best.

To make lacey crepe, scrape off half cooked batter before sprinkling with oil or water.




Recipe

150 g long grain rice
500 mL hot water
50 g white urid (lentil) or chickpea flour
1/2 teaspoon fenegreek, ground
1/2 teaspoon salt

Soak rice in hot water for 30 minutes.

Blend in an electric blender until the rice looks like granulated sugar.

Add the remaining ingredients and blend to porridge consistency.

Cover and ferment at 30 degrees Celsius. Try using a car parked in the sun, or an oven overnight after preheating to 180 degrees Celsius and turning off. Allow 6-8 hours for fermentation until the batter doubles in bulk.

Grease a cast iron skillet. Heat on 30% power (low to medium). When hot enough, water droplets will bounce.

Pour in some batter. With the base of a ladle, quickly distribute outwards using a circular motion.

When bubbles appear and start setting, sprinkle oil or water to aid release of the crepe.

To make paper thin crepe, scrape off the soft half cooked batter.

Cook until the edge starts to brown, around 1/2 to 1 minutes.

Add fillings like potato masala at this point.

Release the crepe by sliding a non-stick spatula underneath. Fold to desired shape. Unfilled crepe can be flipped over and brown.

Serve immediately with coconut cream and tomato salsa.


Potato Masala

2 potatoes, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon oil
2 onions, diced
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 spring curry leaves, optional
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder or 3 dried chillies, crushed
1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 peas
2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Cook the potatoes and carrots with 2 tablespoons water in the microwave for 5 minutes.

Saute the onions. Add the spices and cook until aromatic. Add the rest of the ingredients and saute.

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Lunch Special: Lemon Myrtle Wheat Berry Risotto

Plump al dente wheat berries in a creamy lemon myrtle and chicken risotto, served with a sprinkle of freshly cracked black pepper, parmesan and finely chiffonade lemon myrtle. A superb bush tucker dish accented by the aroma of lemon. The simplicity turns the dish into fine dining experience.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4-5 cups chicken stock
400 g terigu (soft white wheat berries), cooked to instructions
4 fresh lemon myrtle leaves
2 teaspoon finely chiffonade lemon myrtle
1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
cracked pepper

Saute the onions in olive oil until yellow. Add the stock. Add the cooked wheat berries and simmer gently for 30 minute until most of the stock is absorbed and the risotto looks creamy. Add lemon myrtle leaves in the last 5 minutes of cooking. Remove the lemon myrtle leaves. Place risotto into 4 serving dishes. Sprinkle with parmesan, chiffonade lemon myrtle and freshly cracked pepper. Serve immediately.

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Gluten Free Almond Quick Bread

General purpose gluten-free flour:
1/2 rice flour
1/4 maize starch
1/4 potato starch

Fortified gluten free flour:
1/4 nut/bean/pea/lentil flour
3/4 general purpose gluten-free flour

Improved gluten free flour:
10 g soy flour for each 100 g gluten-free flour (general or fortified)
10 g milk powder for each 150 g gluten-free flour (general or fortified)
10 g lecithin for each 500 g gluten-free flour (general or fortified)

Egg substitute:
1 egg = 1 tablespoon lecithin minus 1 tablespoon fat from recipe, plus 2 tablespoon liquid
1 egg = 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal plus 2 tablespoon hot water
1 egg = 1/4 cup beancurd
1 egg = 3/4 cup soy yoghurt less some water and fat
1 egg = 1 tablespoon to 1/4 cup fruit sauce or puree
1 egg = 1 1/2 teaspoon Egg Replacer by Ener-G plus 2 tablespoons water
1 egg white = 1 1/2 teaspoon Egg Replacer by Ener-G plus 2 tablespoons water
1 egg yolk = 1 1/2 teaspoon Egg Replacer by Ener-G plus 1 tablespoons water

Gluten replaced flour for pizza, bread, scones, muffins, pasta:
20 g Orgran "Gluten Free Gluten" (GFG) for each 100 g gluten-free flour (general or fortified)
1 teaspoon xanthan gum = 30 g "Gluten Free Gluten" (GFG)



Ingredients listed on Orgran "Gluten Free Gluten": Superfine rice flour, pea extract, maize starch, potato starch, vegetable derived gums & cellulose: guar gum, methylcellulose, carboxymethylcellulose, monoglycerides from vegetable.


Recipe:

Adapted from Buckwheat Bread at taste.com.au

2/3 c rice flour (80 g)
1/3 c maize starch (40 g)
1/3 c pototo starch (40 g)
1/4 c Orgran "Gluten Free Gluten" (30 g)
1/2 c almond meal (50 g)
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 egg whites (80 g)
1 cup milk
2 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoon lecithin (improves keeping quality, reduces oil and replaces egg yolk)
1 tablespoon macadamia/walnut oil
poppy seeds for decoration, optional

Method:

Sift the flours. Combine with almond meal, baking powder and salt.

Whisk the egg whites.

Whisk the remaining ingredients, except for poppy seeds, until the mixture emulsifies.

Fold all ingredients together until combined.

Place in a loaf tin. Sprinkle with poppy seeds.

Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 1 hour.



Notes: The bread is very dense and heavy, and in part due to insufficient egg. The beautiful aromas produced during cooking did not transpire to the finished product. Overall, this bread tastes awful. Commercial Gluten Free Low GI bread made with almond is available from Country Life Bakery.

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Homemade XO Chilli Sauce For Instant Noodles

The number of restaurant patrons who come here searching for 2-minute noodles leave disappointed, that is up until now. It is a long standing believe that no high class electronic restaurant serves such a dish. After visiting Rockpool, over the internet, Noodle Cook discovers that 3 hat chef, Neil Perry enjoys XO chilli sauce with egg noodles and lobster. The XO chilli sauce in question is the one used by fine-dining Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong.

What's so special about this XO chilli sauce? It is made with exotic dried scallops, a very expensive delicacy. It takes around 3 hours to prepare: according to Chef Neil Perry's recipe, the dried scallops need 2 hours soaking, 10 minutes steaming followed by 45 minutes cooking in seasoned oil.



To cook 2-minute noodles in 3 hours means lunch is really an early dinner! Since Noodle Cook is the 2-minute expert, here is the cheat recipe. You won't see the golden scallop strands in the sauce, but lunch will be on in an hour!

Ingredients:
3 dried scallops, milled in spice grinder
5 garlic cloves
2 dried chillies, deseeded, crushed
1 tablespoon Kashmiri chilli powder
50 g ginger
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
150 mL Camellia Tea oil

Method:
1. Emulsify all the ingredients with a stick blender
2. Simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour

When cooked, the sauce turns dark brownish red while the solids develop transparency. The oil which floats to the top during cooking looks an attractive orange-red. The garlic cooks to a mush and the ginger loses the raw bite. The sauce is made less pungent by omitting dried shrimps, a typical ingredient in XO sauces.



To cook instant noodles, boil noodles in water for 2 minutes. Drain and discard the water. If eating the noodles with soup, make some stock. A simple stock using dried baby anchovies and carrots works well. DO NOT use the MSG loaded seasoning that comes with many brands of instant noodles. Instead enjoy the intense natural "umami" that dried scallops impart by adding a dollop of homemade XO chilli sauce from the recipe above.

Oh, where is the lobster? Um, with a bit of imagination, those fish balls could well be made from lobster .....

So there you are, instant noodles transformed to fine dining standards with XO chilli sauce (and lobster). Bon appetit!

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Paper Chef 37 All In One Terrine

Paper Chef 37: Liver, cheese, oregano, chestnut
Everything goes into a terrine, and there you have Paper Chef 37. Where's the challenge??

... still to come pate pastries. Sadly the challenge was abandoned due to the bush fires in Victoria. The liver pate recipe is given below.

Finnish Liver Pate
Adapted from The Worldwide Gourmet

500 g ox liver
salt, water
2 tablespoons dry sherry
1 cup (100 g) dried light rye bread crumbs
300 mL whipping cream or substitute with milk and cream cheese
100 mL milk
4 tablespoons (60 g) water chestnut flour
2 onions, chopped
2 tablespoon butter
2 eggs

Seasonings:
2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon ground ginger, optional
1 teaspoon marjoram or substitute oregano, optional

1. Cut the liver in 5 cm cubes. Remove membranes and tubes. Soak in lightly salted water for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Drain and rinse well. Pat dry. Marinade in dry sherry for 30 minutes. Keep chill until ready to use.

2. Soak the bread crumbs in cream.

3. Whisk the milk and water chestnut flour until well blended. Strain into the soaked bread crumbs and mix well.

4. Saute the onion in butter until soft. Cool. Puree. Add to the bread crumbs mixture.

5. Puree the liver. Add seasoning.

6. Using a stick blender, blend the liver with the bread crumbs mixture.

7. Blend in the eggs.

8. Transfer the mixture to a terrine lined with baking paper. Place a cartouche over the terrine and then cover with foil.

9. Place the terrine in hot water bath in an oven preheated at 180 degrees Celsius. Reduce temperature and bake at 110 degrees Celsius for 2.5 hours. Cool.

10. Chill until required. Serve with lingonberry jam, such as "Lingonsylt" jelly from IKEA.

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Chilling Secrets

A successful self saucing ravioli starts with great tasting stocks and sauces. To enable the soup (or sauce) to hold inside the ravioli, the filling must be well chilled with the accompanying sauce stablized with gelatinous stock or gelatin. The principle behind the soup in the ravioli is the same as for Shanghai soup dumplings, xiao long bao.

The ORIGINAL recipe presented below is for a ravioli with a buttery French style sauce with a hint of Japanese ginger, lemon and green onion. The lemon myrtle is used in place of yuzu (native Japanese citrus) zest. Lemon myrtle is an Australian bush herb which you can obtain fresh by mail order from Tumbeela. In Perth, Zanthorrea Nursery stocks plants which grow well in pots. This recipe is a beautiful "fusion" dish which relies on sauces that take time to perfect. There should not be any overpowering garlic from the stock.

Lemon Myrtle Scented Self Saucing Ravioli

Wrappers
Dumpling skins, from oriental stores or make your own, or use homemade pasta sheets
Fresh herbs for decorating such as coriander, parsley, basil or oregano

Filling
1 chicken breast
1/4 cup julienned soaked black cloud ear fungus
1/4 cup enoki mushroom
1/4 cup julienned spring onion
1 tablespoon chiffonade fresh lemon myrtle leaves (finely slivered with leaf spine removed)
1/2 cup chicken veloute, chilled (recipe follows)
1/2 strong gelatinous chicken stock or white glace, chilled (recipe presented previously)
salt and pepper to taste

Poaching stock
chicken stock
shallot slices
ginger slices
garlic and fried shallot olive oil infusions, optional
salt to taste
handful of fresh lemon myrtle sprigs (or substitute with strips of lemon zest)

Accompanying Dressings
Peppercorn sauce or pepper jus flavoured with mountain pepperleaf and green onion
Olive oil infusions
Lemon myrtle white wine vinaigrette

Suggested side vegetables
Blanched asparagus, spring onion or beans

Garnish
Mustard sprouts
Spring onions
Shallots, thinly slices



To make the dish:

1. Moisten 2 dumpling skins with a damp tea towel. Place herb in a decorative pattern on one skin before covering with the second skin. Roll the assembled skins on a pasta machine (or with rolling pin) until single thickness again. Trim to shape with a pastry cutter. Cover with a dry tea towel and refrigerate until needed. If using fresh pasta sheets, check out Chef Chopper Dave's version with cheese, pear and duck glace.

2. Bring the stock for poaching to boil, then add the shallot and ginger. Season with salt and olive oil infusions of choice. Simmer for 5 minutes until aromatic. Add the lemon myrtle sprigs. Dip the chicken breast in the poaching liquid briefly and remove. Bring the liquid back to boil. Drop in the chicken breast and cover. Remove the pot from heat immediately. Let the chicken sit in the pot for 10 minutes. Remove the chicken and chill in the freezer immediately for a juicy tender texture. Do not worry if the the chicken is slightly under cook.

3. When the chicken is well chilled, dice or shred and add to the remaining filling ingredients. The veloute and gelatinous chicken stock must be stiff enough to cut with a knife. The ratio of veloute to chicken stock can be adjusted to allow for a more soupy or saucy dish depending on whether the dish is for starter or main course. Chill for 30 minutes until needed.

4. To assemble the ravioli, place tablespoons of chilled filling in rounded mounts in the centre of a wrapper. Moisten the edges and cover with another wrapper, carefully pressing out all the air. Keep refrigerated. May be stored frozen.

5. Bring the poaching liquid to boil. Carefully lower a ravioli into the pot using a skimmer. Boil for about 5 minutes until the ravioli starts floating off the skimmer. Cook until the sauce is heated through by which time, the ravioli skin will puff slightly with an air pouch showing. Remove to a warm plate.

6. To serve as a main course, arrange 3 ravioli in a stack like pancakes, or a single layer around a plate. Tuck side vegetables under the ravioli. Drizzle with dressing of choice around the plate. For a soup course, place one ravioli in each soup dish. Spoon in enough poaching liquid without immersing the ravioli. Drizzle dressing of choice over the ravioli. Garnish as desired.

Chicken Veloute (pronounced veh-loo-TAY)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon plain flour
1 cup strong gelatinous chicken stock made with pork rind as a booster
1 teaspoon gelatin, optional
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Cook the flour in butter without browning until a roux (thickened paste) forms.
2. Bring chicken stock to the boil.
3. Add the gelatin.
4. Add the boiling stock to the roux while rapidly beating with a wooden spoon or whisk.
5. Simmer for 15 minutes for the flour to cook through for a smooth glossy sauce.
6. Adjust seasoning.

Note if the sauce is lumpy or grainy just add a bit more stock and simmer longer, or strain the sauce.

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Masterchef Dishes

Excitement mounts when the promised email, with audition details, arrives. There is a chance to cook for the judges on the next day after passing the first day with a prepared plated dish. Therefore, two dishes need to be decided upon before the audition.

Browsing through the electronic restaurant,  three easy dishes stood out as potentials: beef carpaccio, self saucing ravioli, and sausage chains with quail egg locket.

Meatballs do not sound very classy, however when plated up, the dish looks appealing enough for fine dining instead of a day to day family meal. Frugal turkey mince becomes "Chain with heart of gold".

John remains adamant that only Noodle Cook's dumplings taste good and everything else just LOOKS good. Regardless of which dish goes to audition, Noodle Cook plans ahead by making a good chicken stock. After the fiasco with the stove, the crockpot seems the best appliance to use.

Back to the shops again. The IGA butcher declares no chicken bones due to the hot summer. Not deterred, Noodle Cook grabs 2 marked down whole chicken. With instructions from Jamie's Kitchen, Noodle Cook practices cutting the chicken for saute, or French style boning. Problem solved, the carcass bones go into the crockpot.

Chicken Stock

1 slice of pork hock

2 chicken carcass

2 teaspoons fennel seeds

1 teaspoon peppercorn

1 knob ginger

1 onion

6 garlic cloves

2 carrots

1. Simmer overnight on low. 

2. Defat.

3. Strain the stock.

4. Reduce 50%.

5. Store in the refrigerator or freezer until ready to use.

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Masterchef Progress Fires Up

Everything that can go wrong happens sooner than one can brag on a blog when the stove decides to take John's side. The demi glace emulsifies while Noodle Cook watches in horror. The stove's thermostat jams on high, no doubt the result of John's "fix" to the lose oven door during the previous week. It looks like simmering for 24 hours out of question, not to mention COOKING the audition dish on a stove that no longer works. But nothing stops a determined electronic Masterchef with Olympics size vision, not even when dishes suffer the dreaded "fusion curse", a hangover from Noodle Cook's fusion style cooking. Driving 35 km to another kitchen makes no difference, not much at all, when you think about being closer to some of the better, cheaper produce in town.


Noodle Cook rushes out for more marrow bones, onion, parsnip, celery....

Noodle: Well, these are the produce that will give me my 2 minute of national TV fame on Masterchef cooking programme.

Sue at IGA: Really?

Noodle: There are a lot of talented chefs out there. I am just a home cook.

Sue at IGA: Good Luck.

Noodle: Thank you!

Whew! Hopefully Sue fails to notice the marked down goodies from the reject trolley during the conversation. A Masterchef in the making has to start somewhere, and a humble beginning is just as a good place to start as any.

Veal Glace
2.5 kg mini marrow bones
1 parsnip
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
2 onions
4 tablespoon olive oil
1 t peppercorns
2 L boiling water
1 tablespoon whole Australian bush tomatoes

1. Roast the marrow bones at 200 degrees celsius for 1 hour until golden brown. Discard the oil.
2. Cut the vegetables into 5 cm pieces. Place in a large stock pot and caramelize vegetables in the olive oil.
3. Add the roasted bones, peppercorn and water.
4. Simmer, at 1 bubble per second, overnight or around 24 hours.
5. Defat and then strain the stock.
6. Reduce the stock until thick and syrupy.
7. Add the bush tomatoes in the last 30 minutes of cooking to impart a caramelized sun dried tomato taste.
8. Retrieve the bush tomatoes for future use, such as on a cheese board or in a salad.
9. Refrigerate or freeze the demi glace until required.

There is no brown roux thickener, wine or European herbs in this version of demi glace so as to make it versatile for a range of dishes including oriental. Appropriate wine, herbs and spices are added at the time of making the sauces or soup. This sauce base is particularly suitable for adding a savoury character to fruit based gastrique, such as in oriental-style sweet and sour dishes.

Noodle Cook, being the 2-minute expert, uses baby food thickener as the instant fix to runny sauces.

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Easy Glutinous Rice Bowl

Ever thought of reproducing that fancy glutinous rice dish wrapped in lotus leaf that you eat at "yum cha"? Here's the cheat method for 4 small cappuccino cup serves:

1 cup glutinous rice (the white opaque chalky rice also known as "sweet rice")
1/2 cup boiling water
2 tablespoon stock
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 teaspoon soy sauce
2 teaspoon olive oil
1 Chinese sausage, sliced
1 cup chopped vegetables (or chicken and shiitake)

Rinse the rice to remove some starch. Soak for 2 hours until translucent. Drain in a sieve.

Put the rice in a souffle dish. Pour the boiling water to the level of the rice. Place a dish over to cover. Microwave on 30% power for 15 minutes.

While the rice is cooking, render the fat from the sausage using the olive oil. Add the vegetable and saute for 2 minutes.

When the rice is done, stir in the stock, sesame oil and soy sauce. Next stir in the cooked sausage and vegetables.

Put the mixture in cappuccino cups while still hot. Turn the cup over a sauce. Leave the cup on to keep the meal warm. Microwave for 2 minutes if necessary to heat the meal. Remove the cup at the table just before serving.

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Christmas 2007

This beautiful ham terrine for Christmas was the end result of "bring a pork dish with a green theme". Around 12 hours went into making the aspic out of ham bones, leek, onion, garlic, celery, carrot, capsicum and peppercorns. The meat came from lean desalted pickled pork. Chilling took another 12 hours. Mashed minted peas, the green "stuff", gave the terrine the lime green. Unfortunately, the kids hated the green. Anyone for pea and ham soup from the leftovers?

For a 10 cm by 20 cm terrine, allow the following:

2 ham hocks or leg ham bones
1.5 kg pickled pork, fat removed and soaked in cold water for 4 hours
2 tablespoons peppercorn
2 celery sticks
2 carrots
1 onions
2 garlic
1 capsicum
1 leek
300 g frozen minted peas

Blanch the pork in boiling water for 5 minutes. Rinse well in cold water.

Place all ingredients, except the peas, in a large pot with enough water to cover. Bring to boil and simmer for 3 hours until the meat pulls apart easily.Carefully remove the ingredients. Discard the spent vegetables.

Remove fat and grizzle from the meat. Break the meat into 2-3 cm chunks.

Skim the fat off the stock. Strain the stock and then reduce to 1 cup. Test for setting strength on a cold saucer.

Cook the peas in half a cup of reduced stock. Drain. Save the stock for future use. Mash the peas with about 1 tablespoon of the stock. Mix the peas with the meat.

To assemble, line a loaf tin with plastic wrap. Put in the meat with the mashed peas. Pour in half a cup of reduced stock. Cover the terrine with baking paper. Weigh down the terrine with another. Chill for 12 hours.

To serve, make a cherry balsamic sauce with 100g fresh cherries, 2 tablespoon sugar, 2 tablespoon leftover reduced stock, 4 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, and 2 tablespoon red wine vinegar. If like, thicken with 2 teaspoon corn starch.

... so it was, Christmas 2007.

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Baked Field Mushroom

John's baked field mushroom tasted so good, that there is no picture to show off! The recipe will be lost if it doesn't get recorded somewhere. So here it is:

For each person, allow 1 large 10 cm field mushroom. Remove the stalk. Break an egg into the mushroom cap. Sprinkle with herbs. Add shredded smoked salmon. Top with mature cheddar. Grill at 250 degrees Celsius in an "Easycook" oven for 20 minutes. Serve with a garden salad of baby cos leaves and tomatoes dressed with olive oil and capers.

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