Perfect Scones June 23, 2011

Fluffy Scones

Scones

• 250g self raising flour
• a good pinch of salt
• 50g butter, chilled and diced
• 50g caster sugar
• 1 medium egg
• 100ml buttermilk (I didn’t have buttermilk, so I mixed 100ml of milk with ½ tsp of white vinegar and let it sit for 5 mins)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 220C or 200C fan-forced.
2. Sift flour, salt and sugar into a mixing bowl. Add diced butter and rub in with fingers. For a lighter texture, lift fingers above rim of the bowl to incorporate as much air as possible. Mixture should resemble fine crumbs at this stage.
3. Beat egg with buttermilk in a small jug. Pour into flour mixture and stir using a round bladed knife to combine into soft dough. If there are dry crumbs at the bottom of the bowl, work in more liquid.
4. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead gently for couple of seconds, just to bring together. Do not overwork dough as it affect how the scones rise in the oven. The more you work it, the more air you lose.
5. Flour hands and pat dough to 3cm thick and cut out using 6cm round cutter. Press trimmings together and cut more rounds.
6. Set the rounds slightly apart on a greased baking tray and bake for 10-12 mins until a golden brown. Transfer to wire rack and leave to cool slightly.

Home-made Beancurd June 3, 2011

I first came across this recipe in Flavours magazine a few years ago and have always wanted to try it out.  Before I could, work and baby consumed my life.  And now that I have some time on my hand, I decided to give this a go.  This recipe is part of an entire tofu feature on Flavours magazine – how soy milk is made, with recipes for various tofu dishes.

The recipe in the magazine calls for 1.5 litres of fresh soy milk, but I cut it down to 1 litre.  Also, it would be great if you had a soy milk machine to make your own soy milk.  I contemplated making my own, but just couldn’t be bothered.  I got my fresh soy milk from the wet market, without any sweetener of course.

This tofu is not as flavoursome as the ones that they serve at “sze char” stalls, as I suspect they add seasoning (i.e MSG/stock powder) into the mixture.  You can add seasoning if you plan to serve the tofu on its own with a side of dip.  But you are making up a gravy, just give it a little more seasoning than you normally would, so that the tofu absorbs all that lovely flavour.

Home-made Tofu

Ingredients

• 1 litre fresh soy milk
• 10 fresh eggs
• 100g spinach leaves, shredded

Method

1. Beat eggs in a large bowl. Add soy milk and mix well.
2. Pour mixture, through a sieve, into another large bowl, to remove any air bubbles.
3. Line 2 x 8″ square baking trays.
4. Pour mixture into baking trays and steam for 30 mins, or until set. (To tell if it is done, there should not be any excess liquid on the top).
5. Remove from steamer and set aside to cool.