Once Upon A Wok

Back in my peak baking days, I used to get advice requests from friends looking to get into sourdough. I was tidying the shadowy corners of my hard drive and found this dusty note I wrote in 2015 for such times. I'm uploading it here, in case this is the introduction you are looking for or if I begin a baking frenzy again one day, and lure another unsuspecting soul into the floury cycle of starter, bake, starter, bake, starter, wait does this end, bake, I can't eat all this by myself, starter, but I feel bad wasting starter, bake, starter, bake, I need more friends, starter, bake.... Welcome to the inescapable thought processes of a starter parent.

If that doesn't scare you away- if the thought of the scent of fresh bread filling your kitchen and curling alluringly through your house calls you, if imagining your lovely, playful scoring unfolding before your eyes through the steamy pane of the oven glass is irresistible, then read on....

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Prepare yourself... for an onslaught of links. You probably don't need all of them, but these were the videos I got the most out of.

I followed these instructions when I began my starter from scratch. The general rule of thumb for feeding it is 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup water after you throw away/use half of it. There's a bunch of handy pictures she puts for every step, so you know what you're looking for.

---- http://www.instructables.com/…/Catching-wild-yeast-and-ma…/…

For when you start making bread....

Richard Bertinet is my personal hero of sourdough. His explanations are thorough, his movements quick, and has a bonus accent that makes everything that much more interesting: ---- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOjSp5_YiF0 ---- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXV8mayG3W0

I don't have Bertinet's book ("Dough") for his sourdough recipe, but found it online where someone posted it on their blog: ---- http://adventuresofapastryapprentice.blogspot.com/…/bertine…

("Strong white flour" is the UK term for bread flour. The pretty flour lines you see in the picture of his finished bread are due to a proofing basket. You can easily get them on Amazon, or... just borrow mine! Also, you can easily find spelt at Whole Foods, and you can buy it by weight, which is cheapest since you don't need too much of it.)

For a very thorough explanation on kneading, French style, La cocina de Babette has an excellent video. Make sure you turn on the English subtitles. She talks you through troubleshooting/what her students have had trouble with or forget, which I found immensely helpful. Bertinet doesn't spend as much time going over the fine details of kneading as she does in his videos I've linked.

---- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dUZ0O-Wv0Q

Last but not least, there's the important step of scoring the bread before slipping it into the oven. There's a bunch of videos out there, but I particularly like this video, because it gives you visual comparisons of how scoring impacts the rise of the bread. I don't own a lame for scoring bread, so I've just been using a super sharp knife (same as what I gave Kevin and also what Pierre has, so steal from them!)... or kitchen scissors if I'm in a hurry. <Edit from 2023- I now own a lame- you can buy a pack of thin razor scoring blades that bend (they will last you forever) and then slide them gently onto a thin wooden stirring stick like the one you get at starbucks.>

---- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QdzHuhJ-ls

OH and before I forget, you should get a bread scraper. It is so handy, especially their method of kneading the bread is without flouring the surface, so you need a way to keep your dough from getting everywhere. They're pretty cheap, something like: http://www.amazon.com/Ateco-Large-Plastic-Scraper-Smoother/dp/B004M5KXIS/ref=pd_sim_hg_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=1ZKSYAVQ6ZJ6S0E1W7GJ

That's all my bread nerding for today. Have fun!

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The picture below is from my peak sourdough output days when I holed up with 8 friends in a beach house in 2020. I was free to bake a loaf every morning with so many mouths, which meant extra ways to play with scoring. This was one of my favorite scorings of my rye-regular loaves- the big splits gave color gradient to the crust, and the smaller scores give textured patterns.

The soup that I usually make without pork belly, ironically.

A special recipe for special times with all your special people. Fond memories only. Based on Laotian recipe.

INGREDIENTS (~6-8 large servings)

-2 cans (1 cup total) Mae Sri red curry paste

-4 cans coconut cream (13.5 oz cans. Chao Koh brand ideally, although I’ve rarely seen it in stores the past few years. Coconut milk can also be used instead for “healthier” option)

-5 cups chicken or pork stock (unsalted/straight up stock- have also used broth during desperate times)

-2lb ground pork (70/30 or 75/25, but any protein/fat works. Have used 80/20)

-1/2 cup vegetable oil

-1/4 cup chopped shallots

-1/4 cup chopped garlic

-2 TBSP fish sauce (I usually end up doubling this when using store bought pork stock)

-3 TBSP sugar

-1 TBSP paprika

-1 cup crushed unsalted peanuts

-4 eggs

-Optional: a few chopped keffir lime leaf

-Garnish: fresh cilantro, thai basil leaves, lime (~1 slice squeezed over bowl)

-Vegetables: red cabbage (1 head, usually use half at a time, julienned)

-Either: Dried rice noodles (12-16oz) to serve with soup OR cooked jasmine rice (my personal preference- soaks up the soup beautifully and leftovers are easier). If you use rice noodles, soak 45min - 1 hr in cold water. Right before serving, put soaked noodles in hot water for 5-10 seconds and strain.

Note: Extra bonus points- make your own pork stock by boiling pork bones for an hour with cilantro stems and dashes of fish sauce. 

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

1. In large pot, 1/2 cup oil at medium heat

2. Add cooked garlic and shallots, cook until golden brown

3. Add curry paste, cook at medium heat for 2-3 minutes until bright orange and curry paste starts to coagulate/congeal. (Can turn down heat if seems too hot.)

4. Add ground pork, lower heat to medium. Cook fully, 5-10 minutes to allow flavor to develop

5. Add paprika and sugar, cook a few minutes

6. Add coconut cream and stock (note: shake cans before opening and after pouring, rinse with a little water to ensure none gets left behind)

7. Add fish sauce (I end up adding 4 TBSP when using store bought stock) and julienned lime leaves if using.

8. Raise heat to bring soup to boil, then taste. Add salt to level desired and, if needed, additional fish sauce 

9. Add 1/2 cup of roughly crushed peanuts (reserve rest to sprinkle over portions during assembly). Turn heat down to medium.

10. Whisk eggs in a bowl. Gently stir the soup, and while stirring continuously, pour in eggs in a thin stream. (Soup will be thickened after this step)

11. Bring soup to simmer and cover. It can sit like this until you’re ready to serve. Bring to a boil and serve. 

11. ASSEMBLY: noodles/rice into bowl, add chopped cabbage on top. Pour soup over. Add basil leaves and chopped cilantro on top, and squeeze lime juice on top. I usually create a platter with the toppings, and let people serve themselves for the final assembly steps. 

My favorite chips in the world. If there was only one snack I could eat for the rest of my life, it would be this. 

Ingredients

Olive oil

6 shallots, thinly sliced

3 garlic cloves, minced

6 lemon kaffir leaves- cut into thin ribbons (scissors work best)

4 red thai chilis- cut in slanted slices

1/2 cup coconut sugar (4.25 oz; 1/2 stick, Gula Jawa brand)

3 tablespoon Seasoned Rice Vinegar

1/2 cup sweet soy sauce

6 oz peanuts (Red Skin Spanish peanuts, 1/2 a can)

16 oz kettle cooked potato chips

Pinch of salt

Large tall pot and plastic spatula to minimize breaking chips

Directions

1. Chop the shallots into thin slices

2. Slice the chili peppers while still frozen

3. Mince the garlic

4. Wash and cut the kaffir leaves into thin slices with scissors

5. Heat pan with olive oil

6. Saute the shallots until brown

7. Add garlic and saute

8. Add pinch of salt and red chili peppers (the longer they are in oil, the spicier it will be)

9. Turn heat to medium

10. Add rice vinegar and kaffir leaves, mix.

12. Add coconut sugar, stirring it into the sauce until dissolved. Continue stirring as you add sweet soy sauce.

13. Once sauce is mixed well, add half of the peanuts and half of the chips. Turn over, scooping underneath gently, so sauce begins to cover them. Slowly add more chips as continue to mix gently

14. Spread out the chips on a cookie sheet and let cool. If the chips are piling on top of each other, use another cookie sheet, so as the chips cool, they don’t stick together.

Pros:

-Perfect for summer, cold and refreshing. Eat same day or make in advance for the next day.

-Skip the noodles and just make a salad

-These ingredients show up in many other asian-y recipes, so you won’t find yourself wrinkling your nose and throwing something out several months later

-Perfect family size dish to bring to a potluck or summer BBQ. (Made this along with slow cooked ribs. It was great).

-Plays well with any protein. Egg. Shredded pork. Chicken. Whatever your tastebuds desire.

-I really liked it the first time I made it. #LastMinuteDinnerPartyDishApproved 

Cons:

-None

Sauce Ingredients

Combine and whisk, no blender needed!

⅓ cup rice vinegar

¼ cup olive oil (canola or grape seed work too)

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1.5 to 2 tablespoons honey (You can use sugar or agave syrup, but honey will create the best texture. If you do use the alternate options, start with 1 tablespoon and add more to taste)

1 tablespoon miso paste

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds (the extra effort to toast is WORTH IT)

1" piece ginger, minced very fine

1 large garlic clove, minced very fine

Salad Ingredients

Shred/slice the following into matchstick pieces or thin enough to eat without tiring out your jaw. Mix all together in salad bowl. The below makes enough for a family serving of salad. Use half of the below amounts if you don’t want leftover salad. Or if you want a lot of veggies mixed your noodles. 

Half of a red cabbage

2 stalks of celery

2 stalks of green onion

1 red bell pepper

1 medium sized thick cucumber

1 cup of shredded carrots (or whatever looks right)

Above: Leftover salad. All the colors! 

Noodles: Any kind will suffice. I used cellophane noodles, but I imagine soba noodles would work well also. Use amount appropriate for how many people will be enjoying this. 

How Do:

1. Pour half of the sauce/vinaigrette over salad, toss, and refrigerate. The red cabbage will lend a rosy hue to the liquid, which will in turn color the noodles. Beauteous!

What you get is not what you expect. This unassuming little tin of chipotle peppers in adobe sauce turns out to be so much more.

Tear off the lid and....

Hot sauces cower in their inferior bottles. Unicorns dance. Triple rainbows soar across the land. JK Rowling announces a surprise release of the eighth Harry Potter book. All that and chipotle peppers in a smokey, tangy, and intensely spicy sauce reside in this can. Promise.

As for the slow cooking method, busy people and couch potatoes alike rejoice! You throw things into that slow cooker pot, leave for work or Netflix binging, and know you will come back later to find it cooked perfectly. No fuss. No kitchen fires. Just remember to actually turn the cooker on. Oops.

You can have a beauty like the one pictured below, for a mere $15. 

Ingredients:

Assemble the troops!

4 to 5 pounds beef chuck roast  2 tablespoons olive oil 2 teaspoons kosher or coarse salt (for rubbing into meat) 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar  4 to 6 garlic cloves, minced 4 teaspoons cumin  1 teaspoon oregano  1/4 teaspoon ground cloves  1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon black pepper 1 lime's juice 1 cup homemade or canned chicken broth 4 to 6 chipotle chile peppers in adobe sauce 2 to 3 tablespoons adobe sauce (from can) 2 bay leaves  Salt to taste (for sauce mixture)

Preparation:

1. Learn karate, or some other defense art. The reason for this will become clear later.

2. Preheat crock pot/slow cooker.

3. Trim excess fat off the beef chuck roast, and cut into large 4-inch chunks. The second time I made this, I foolishly thought, “Eehh it’ll be fine, it’s just a little fat”. When I took the lid off after slow cooking, this deep layer of shimmery fat had appeared. It took a while to spoon it out to get at the deliciousness below. Don’t skip the trimming! 

See that fat? Bye Felicia. 

4. Rub the salt into cut roast pieces. In large skillet over medium-high heat, add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Once the oil has been heated up, add the beef roast chunks and brown briefly on all sides. (In the next picture, you can see how the sides are browned, but they are in no way cooked. There is still lots of pink.) Remove from pan and place browned beef in the bottom of the preheated slow cooker. Let rest.

5. Put into blender the vinegar, garlic, cumin, oregano, cloves, cinnamon, pepper, lime juice, chicken broth, chipotle chiles, and adobe sauce. Blend ingredients into a sauce. Add salt to taste. (If you have a cooking buddy, they can do this part while you brown the beef).

Note: Chipotle chiles and adobe sauce are spicy! If you're not a fan of spicy, start slow with 2-3 chipotle chiles and 1 tbsp of abobo sauce, then taste test. Add more to increase the spicy flavor. I like my food spicy, so I add 4-5 peppers and 3 tbsp of the abobo sauce. If your spoon slips and the sauce is too spicy, add more chicken broth or water, 1/4 cup at a time. Keep in mind the spiciness tames as it cooks into the beef- the blender mixture will taste spicier than the finished product. A little too spicy is good.

6. Pour the sauce over the top of the beef chunks and add the two bay leaves. Don’t worry if there are parts sticking out from the sauce. 

GET IN MY BELLY.

7. Cover with lid and cook on high heat for 4 to 5 hours or low heat for 8 to 10 hours. Don’t fall for the amazing smells wafting around your kitchen. Wait the full time. This is where the karate and self discipline you have learned will come into play. At all costs, keep family, friends, and yourself away from the slow cooker. Don’t fall for the puppy eyes, whether canine or human. 

You'll know the beef is done when it's "fall apart" tender. In other words, good luck trying to pick up a chunk by piercing it with your fork.

8. Using two forks, shred the beef and stir together until combined with sauce.

9. Serve with rice, or devour standing up, straight from the slow cooker.

When my family used to live further North, we'd visit the grandparents in Delaware during the holidays. My sister and I would run out to the backyard to play in the snow, or from the kitchen window, watch giant Pileated woodpeckers climbing up and down the tree trunks eating suet. We'd secretly watch Christmas cartoons on the edge of our grandparent's bed upstairs, poised to run to our bedroom as soon as we heard our mother's footstep on the stairs.

Another holiday tradition was my grandmother's kringel: a circular Estonian sweetbread, flavored with saffron and cardamon, studded with raisins and covered in flakes of almond. It's a mixture of slightly sweet and a hint of salt, that has you reaching for another addicting slice. 

The Estonian word for grandmother, Vanaema, literally translates to “old mother”. Truly old fashioned, my Vanaema has always made it by feel, taste, and appearance rather than recipe. This New Year's, I was determined to record her kringe making ways.

With some yeasty lovin' and time, this can be the crowning glory of any table.

Ingredients

2 eggs

3 1/4 cups whole milk (1 cup to activate yeast, 1/4 cup for seeping the saffron, and 2 cups later while mixing)- (Note from 2022 batch: this may actually be 1 cup later while mixing- for a total 2.25 cups whole milk)

1 oz Active dry yeast (typically 4 packets, at 2.25 tsp yeast each)

1 cup Sugar

Zest from a lemon

3 pieces of Cardamon ground (about 1/2 tsp ground)

1.5 sticks of butter (12 tbsp)

A pinch of saffron

3 cups raisins

5 cups flour

1 tsp salt

Pack of pre-sliced almonds

Directions:

Introducing my cabinet super heros. Words cannot express how much I love mason jars. They're incredibly versatile: to drink wine from, to store leftover sauces or syrups, or to hold edible presents. My personal favorite part is that they’re a brainless dishwasher safe! I got these four babies from Target for $4.50 total. We finished eating from them on Christmas Eve, just in time for them to be turned into last-minute-present containers, Cinderella style. I cleaned, filled each with my lavender coconut sugar scrub, tied a ribbon around the mouth, and viola, presents!

POTS DE CREME:

Serves 4-5 depending on container size

1 cup heavy cream 1 cup whole milk 5 large egg yolks 3/4 cup sugar (do a bit less if you like mild sweetness)  Pinch of salt 1/2 vanilla bean, split down the middle, with seeds scraped out and saved 1 cup whipping cream 2 teaspoons sugar

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks, then continue whisking as sugar is added*. Set aside. 

In a large saucepan, heat the cream, scraped vanilla bean, and milk together and bring almost to the boil. Remove from heat, and let cool until hot pot can be touched comfortably

Whisk the cream/milk mixture slowly into the eggs and sugar, being careful not to scramble the eggs.**

Pour the mixture into individual ramekins, glasses or container of choice. Place them into a large saucepan with water. Bring to just short of a simmer, cover saucepan, and let the containers sit about 15-20 minutes. When the mixture jiggles as one (shift the pan slightly to check), they should be done!

Remove containers, cover with lid or plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour.***

For the whipped cream

Heat the cream and Earl Grey Tea in a saucepan until the cream begins to simmer

Remove from the heat and strain out the tea leaves

Let the cream return to room temperature and then cover with plastic wrap, so that it does not develop a film

Place in the refrigerator, and once cool, whip the cream to desired consistency.

Prior to serving, place a dollop on each pot de creme.

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Further tips: 

*By whisking and adding sugar slowly to the yolks, you get a creamier custard. If sugar is added all at once, the yolk will form annoying little lumps as you clean up that milk you spilled. Clumsy. 

**Adding the hot cream/milk liquid to the cold sugar/eggs, requires a technique called tempering. Tempering avoids scrambling the eggs, which happens when a hot liquid shocks an egg. (Think of the wispy egg bits in egg drop soup. Yumm. But not here.). To temper, add a spoonful amount of the hot mixture to the egg-sugar mixture, whisking all the while. Continue with more spoonful amounts until all the cream is mixed in.

***Covering your containers prevents a skin from forming on the top.

About 10-20 minutes before serving, remove containers to let them warm slightly. Sometimes the chill can mask the full flavor. Or, if you're impatient like me, forget that, and just dive in with a spoon.

If you want to make a flavored custard or whipping creme, think tea. Add those additional ingredients when the mixture is hot, so they can steep and their flavor is extracted.

Always cook custards in a water bath. A water bath shields the custard from direct oven heat, moderating the cooking. I skipped the oven part (ahem lazy), but if you're ambitious, set the oven at 325°F maximum. The more gentle the heat, the better. If a knife/toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, the custard is probably overcooked. In that case, remove your containers immediately to an ice water bath to lower the temperature  and stop the cooking.

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If you have any other flavor ideas, I'd love to hear them. So far, I've used early grey custard or lavender whipping cream.

Enjoy,