Home Made Pizza March 21, 2010

So, I adapted my recipe from Jamie Oliver’s website, but I had to halve the recipe as there was only 2 of us for dinner. Still, this produced 4 medium sized pizzas.

For 4 medium pizzas:

• 400g Tipo ‘OO’ flour. (I found this flour at Culina in Dempsey Hill, Singapore)
• 100g semolina flour
• 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1/2 tablespoon caster sugar
• 7g dried yeast
• 350 ml lukewarm water

1. In a jug, mix yeast, sugar and olive oil into the water and leave for a few minutes. (You know the yeast is still active if you see bubbles forming after a few minutes).
2. Sieve flours and salt onto clean work surface and make a well in the middle. Pour mixture into well. Using a large fork, bring the flour in by swirling it into the liquid.  When it all comes together, work the rest of the flour in with your clean flour-dusted hands until you form a smooth, springy dough. Alternatively, you could through it all into the mixing bowl of your trusty Kitchenaid, put on the dough hook and let it do the work.
3. Place ball of dough into large flour-dusted bowl and dust some flour on top of it. Cover with damp cloth and place in warm room for about 1 hr, or until dough has doubled in size.  (To create a warm place, you can put a mug of water in the microwave and turn on HIGH for 2 minutes. Place mug in the corner of microwave and put your bowl of dough in.)
4. Remove dough onto a flour-dusted surface and knead it around to punch air out. At this stage, you can use it immediately or keep it wrapped in clingfilm, in fridge/freezer, until ready to use.
5. Divide dough into 4 equal portions, roll out and top with whatever you like!
6. Bake in oven at 250 degrees celcius for 15 – 20 mins, or until topping is cooked.

anchovies, onion and cheese

salami, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, red peppers, cheese

Buffalo mozzarella, bacon, spinach and cheese

I did have a little trouble with my attempt. My yeast was AS DEAD AS A DODO. I was trying to figure out why it didn’t rise after 1 hr. I added more yeast and waited some more. NOTHING happened.  I then took out the yeast, added sugar and water into a small jug and waited to see what happened. Zzzz. NOTHING. This was when I realized the yeast was truly dead.  (I didn’t wait for the bubbles/frothing to appear when I was making the actual dough you see.)

I went ahead and made the pizzas anyway and they turned out fine. Tasted a little yeast-y, but the texture was still pretty good.  Had the yeast been active… the pizzas would have been to die for.

But, do try out this recipe anyway.  It is still very much worth the trouble, despite my half-successful attempt. I finished 3 pizzas, can’t be all that bad.

My Hot Red Kitchen Kitten.. *Purrr* June 7, 2008

God Bless the Great Singapore Sale.

D. got us this KitchenAid yesterday and boy is it sexy!

Despite the severe toothache I am suffering, I dragged myself up early this morning to have the very first go.
I now have the perfect french loaf to feed on for the rest of the weekend.

The baking frenzy has begun!

Home-made Bread Loaf January 28, 2008

Having been home for the last few months, I decided to attempt the frightful world of breadmaking.  Like others, I’ve often had the fear of baking bread.  Even when I use to own a breadmaker, the bread came out quite hard, and extremely doughy.  Here’s a brilliant recipe for making your own loaf at home.   Especially if you like the soft Japanese loaf bread, light and fluffy.

Ingredients:

• 250 grams of bread flour
• 140 mls of milk (low fat is ok)
• 50 grams of unsalted butter
• 25 grams of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 tablespoon of instant yeast

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients together and knead til doughy and smooth.
2. Proof dough in a mixing bowl for 1 hour. Cover bowl in cling film.
3. By this time, the dough should have doubled in size. Punch out the air and divide the dough into 3 balls. Place the 3 dough balls back in the mixing bowl and cover with cling film. Proof for another 30 mins.
4. Grease a pullman tin (loaf tin with cover. Available at specialised baking stores).
5. Take one ball of dough and roll out with a rolling pin. Roll up tightly (swiss-roll style) and repeat for other 2 balls of dough.
6. Place the 3 pieces of dough in the pullman loaf tin and proof for another 30 mins. In the meantime, pre-heat oven to 180 degrees celcius.
7. Bake for 30 mins. Remove tin cover to let bread top brown for another five mins.
8. Remove from loaf tin and let it cool before cutting.

VOILA!

Not that hard eh! After this successful attempt, I’ve gained more confidence in baking bread. Will update with new bread recipes and pictures too.

In Search of the Perfect Round Table Part II October 24, 2007

The hunt for the perfect round table is taking much longer then expected.
Having trawled the furniture shops in Dempsey Hill and Park Mall, we are close to having our ideal round table custom-made.

In our travels around Singapore, we came across a few tables that came close.

Magis Design: Deja-vu Table
Designer: Naoto Fukasawa
Collection: Deja-vu Family

Magis is the brand that has given a novel twist to domestic design, building its identity on incorporating leading edge technology into mass production.

Now, I must confess, this actually isn’t a ROUND table. More like a square, with round edges. But it is so pretty. Problem is, it is kinda bit small for our place. Plus.. it’s kinda pricey for a teeny table. We’re talking about two grand for a piece of wood on aluminium legs.

The next on our list is this little beauty!

And it is from v.hive
I’m kinda surprised that for SG$399, this table is pretty damn sturdy. Much sturdier than the Magis Deja-vu table. This three-legged table is about 6 feet in diameter, sits a snug 8 pax, and has a glass centre. I’ve heard a few horror stories about cheap furniture shops and their display pieces, but this one seems immaculate.

I’m planning to meet up with a friend who works on customised furniture and see how much she will charge for a solid dining table. I’m not expecting $399, but it would probably be better value if I do choose to spend $2k on a table.

In Search of the Perfect Round Table Part I September 20, 2007

With a bit of time on hand, I, the aspiring domestic goddess shall begin my hunt for the perfect round table. I don’t even know where to begin.

The perfect round table is 4 feet in diameter, eclectic in style and made of wood. Since I’ve moved in with my partner, we’ve have done so much entertaining but never got round to getting a suitable dining table. Most of our parties sit themselves in the balcony where the BBQ stove is. Only smaller and more intimate parties require sitting down at the dining table, which happens to be long and rectangular in shape and sits only 6 pax. This makes communal dining a real pain.

It is hard to find big round tables in SG. Most apartments in Singapore are designed to be small and cramp, and the lack of space hardly permits the need for one.

I’ve always had a round table in my family home, and I just love it. We used to have the ones, which you could pull out the hidden extensions to create an oblong table. It is a pity they don’t make tables like these anymore.

I’m contemplating popping off to Great World City later this arvo. GWC has quite a few furniture shops to browse around in, and IWANNAGOHOME has taken over the space where BarangBarang used to be. I’m very curious about IWANNAGOHOME. I’ve seen its publicity materials outdoors and I’ve visited their website, but all of their promotion vehicles seem to say NOTHING. I might as well pop in for a peek.

Barang Barang is no longer at GWC, which is a pain. They usually have some good stuff, though sometimes severely overpriced.

There are several teak furniture shops frequented by expats around Colonial-style areas, such as Dempsey Road, Gilman Village, Portsdown Road. These will probably be my last resort.

Will return with updates on my quest for the perfect round table.

Over and out.