Elsie_iu's blog

These rolls can’t be simpler to make, yet they certainly don’t skimp on flavour. Unlike most supermarket buns, their texture is similar to a full-size pizza. They’re guaranteed crowd pleasers too.

Artisan Pizza Rolls

Make the poolish. Combine all poolish ingredients and let sit until ready, about 8 hours (29°C).

Roughly combine all dough ingredients except for the add-ins. Bulk ferment for a total of 3 hours. Mix on low for 2 minutes at the 30 and 40 minute mark.

After the bulk, roll the dough into a large rectangle. Spread the tomato sauce over the dough, avoiding the borders. Sprinkle the marjoram and 4/5 of the cheese over the sauce, then roll it up into a log. Cut the dough crosswise into 4 equal pieces. Place the dough pieces onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Press down each piece gently to the desired thickness. Sprinkle the remaining 1/5 cheese over the top. Proof at room temperature for 1 more hour before retarding in the fridge for 8 hours.

Preheat the oven at 250°C/482°F. Remove the dough from the fridge and bake straight at 250°C/482°F for 12-15 minutes until the desired brownness is reached. Let the rolls cool for 15 minutes before serving.

These rolls were intended to be a replicate of the supermarket pizza rolls I bought during my stay in Toronto. Unexpectedly, they turned out way better than I expected. They easily beat the store-bought ones I used to love so much!

They are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, like the rim of a good Neapolitan pizza. The fat from the cheese fried the Marjoram lightly, allowing the herb to release its flavour. Meanwhile, the tomato became caramelized under high heat, and contributed to a hint of sweetness and umami taste. As for the Cheddar, I suppose no word is needed :)

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Eggplant lamb ragu penne

Stir fried sliced pork, garlic scape & wood ear mushrooms with onion egg fried rice

Kipper with rosemary roasted potatoes, and caramelized mushrooms and broccolini

Oyster rice

Stir fried rice cakes, with sweet & sour fish

Mexican-inspired rice with pan-seared chestnut-fed pork chop

Braised fish maw, shitake mushrooms & zucchini, sweet & sour chicken, asparagus & peanut salad with black vinegar, stir fried beef, water spinach & bell peppers, served with broad rice noodles

Fried ribs with a tangy dip, pan-fried mackerel, garlicky eggplant salad, Korean spicy rice cake, Japchae, and gingery Chinese broccoli

Got a very classic but delicious combo. It’s hard to go wrong with corn for it’s at its peak at the moment. What better time to have corn bread than now?

Corn, Tomato & Basil SD with 40% Sprouted Durum

Sift out the bran from dough flour, reserve 30 g for the leaven. Soak the rest, if any, in equal amount of water taken from dough ingredients.

Combine all leaven ingredients and let sit until ready, about 4 hours (29°C).

Roughly combine all dough ingredients except for the corn. Ferment for a total of 3 hours. Mix on low for 2 minutes at the 30 and 40 minute mark. Fold in the corn at the 50 minute-mark. After the bulk, shape the dough then put in into a banneton. Freeze for 1 hour before retarding in the fridge for 10 hours.

Preheat the oven at 250°C/482°F. Score and spritz the dough. Remove the dough from the fridge and bake straight at 250°C/482°F with steam for 20 minutes then without steam for 25 minutes more or until the internal temperature reaches a minimum of 208°F. Let it cool for a minimum of 2 hours before slicing.

This bread is loaded with corn. Some of the corn fell out while I was slicing it… It’s perfect for those with a sweet tooth. The basil added a savoury touch, which I really like. The tomato is undetectable though. I should probably be less stingy with it.

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Dou Ban Jiang braised glass noodles with egg tofu

Preserved duck egg & Chinese sausage garlicky fettuccine

Fried egg topped minced lamb ragu with rice

Sweet and sour rice noodles with shrimps & peppers

Macau-Portuguese-inspired salted cod scrambled egg fries

Wasabi soy seaweed rice cake squares with kipper

Lamb & zucchini dumplings

Chicken makhani, coconut chole, marinated eggs, kipper with red cabbages, mixed veggies, spiced biryani, and naan

“Batzels”

Two herb-y nutty SD this week. One with cheese and one without. Make your choice… Or let’s have both :)

Tarragon Walnut SD with 40% Sprouted Durum

Rosemary Edam Pumpkin Seed SD with 40% Sprouted Emmer

(* For the instruction below, the numbers before and after the slash (/) are for the 1st formula and the 2nd formula respectively)

Sift out the bran from dough flour, reserve 27/30 g for the leaven. Soak the rest, if any, in equal amount of water taken from dough ingredients.

Combine all leaven ingredients and let sit until ready, about 4/4 hours (28/28.5°C).

Roughly combine all dough ingredients except for the nuts, seeds and cheese. For both bread, ferment for a total of 4 hours. Mix on low for 2 minutes at the 30 and 40 minute mark. Fold in the reserved add-ins at the 50 minute-mark. After the bulk, shape the dough then put in into a banneton. Freeze for 1 hour before retarding in the fridge for 10 hours.

Preheat the oven at 250°C/482°F. Score and spritz the dough. Remove the dough from the fridge and bake straight at 250°C/482°F with steam for 20 minutes then without steam for 25 minutes more or until the internal temperature reaches a minimum of 208°F. Let it cool for a minimum of 2 hours before slicing.

Both loaves are quite complex in terms of flavour and texture. The first one is sweeter with the yellow grains and the vanilla aroma of tarragon, while the second has an additional salty note from the cheese. I might enjoy the latter a touch more. After all, it has got cheese.

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Macau Portuguese-inspired salted cod fried rice

 Egg & shiitake mushroom Zhajiang noodles with crispy peanuts

 Minced lamb & pea biryani

 Ancho chili spinach mushroom Edam enchiladas

 Simple fried rice noodles with snap peas, Chinese sausages & marinated eggs

Chicken & mushroom fettuccine in creamy coconut sauce

Spicy lamb & leek gozleme 

It has been quite a while since I last baked with spelt. Spelt and emmer are similar in terms of their characteristic in dough. Working with them is always a pleasant experience for they produce a silky (read: not gluing to your hands like rye…) and extensible dough.

Temperature has been hitting 33°C these days, so it wasn’t at all surprising that the levain (1:5.5:5.5) got aerated within 3.5 hours. I didn’t plan very well so it had to go into the fridge for 3 hours before use.

Blue Emmer & Spelt SD with 30% Sprouted Spelt

Sift out the bran from dough flour, reserve 33 g for the leaven. Soak the rest, if any, in equal amount of water taken from dough ingredients. 

Combine all leaven ingredients and let sit until ready, about 3.5 hours (28.5°C).

Roughly combine all dough ingredients except for the walnuts. Ferment for a total of 3 hours. Mix on low for 2 minutes at the 30 and 40 minute mark. After the bulk, shape the dough then put in into a banneton. As the temperature was high, I put it in the freezer for 1 hour before retarding in the fridge for 10 hours.

Preheat the oven at 250°C/482°F. Score and spritz the dough. Remove the dough from the fridge and bake straight at 250°C/482°F with steam for 20 minutes then without steam for 25 minutes more or until the internal temperature reaches a minimum of 208°F. Let it cool for a minimum of 2 hours before slicing.

This bread was just slightly sour, perhaps because the starter had been recently refreshed. The levain and final dough were only fermented briefly at room temperature as well. With the mild acidity, the maltiness of the bread really comes through. It has a nice sweet aroma that resembles malted drinks like Milo, Ovaltine and Horlicks :)

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Coconut braised pork shank rice noodles

Pan-seared sockeye salmon feta rava bowl

Korean-inspired spicy udon with homemade fishcakes

Chicken makhani with naa-caccia (naan-focaccia hybrid :))

Saucy oyster rice with marinated eggs

Wasabi soy sauce spaghettini with shrimps and red cabbages (so pretty!)

Pressure-cooked beef shank, kimchi stuffed egg roll, cabbage salad in tahini dressing, sticky glazed tiny fish & walnuts, sautéed sliced beef & onions, caramelized zucchini (mega sweet & juicy), and rice noodles

Lemon glazed chicken thighs, crispy beef wrapped asparagus, Mozzarella-topped Spanish chorizo pasta bake, cauliflower & shrimp salad in anchovy dressing, and sautéed cabbages

Lotus leaf (sorry no bamboo leaves) wrapped Zongzi. Skinned mung bean, long-grain glutinous rice, and… marinated beef tendon lol

Happy Dragon Boat Festival!

Aiming for consistent performance while varying the ingredients.

First up, breads:

20% corn, 30% sprouted durum, 50% kamut, 7% olive, 1% dried basil

40% sprouted einkorn, 10% sorghum, 50% blue emmer, 15% hazelnuts, 2% coffee

30% sprouted kamut, 20% amaranth, 50% einkorn, 12% cashew, 1% sun-dried tomatoes, 1% dried tarragon

40% einkorn, 60% durum, 15% cashew, 1% dried parsley 

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Other dishes are coming next:

Pan-fried dumplings (They were made so long ago that I’ve forgotten what the filling was…)

Red curry salmon flat noodles

Squid masala with upma & crispy potato wedges

Feta shrimp fusilli in pea pesto

Cantonese Zha Jiang noodles

Gouda-stuffed potato mochi & roasted capelin

Kung Pao style rice noodles with shrimps

Red cabbage & pork steamed dumplings

Killer pressure cooked taco al pastor…

…made Mexican rice with the “leftover”  

Shrimp paste minced pork eggplant glass noodles

Porcini risotto with caramelized broccolini

Wishing everyone well and good health :)

Admittedly, it doesn't look like much, but there is a story to this.

After baking >10 loaves of cheese bread in a row, I decided to take a break from it and whip up a simple dough instead. This dough contained nothing but water, whole wheat flour and salt. Ok, there were also walnuts but they weren’t part of the “dough”. Although the dough was well developed, I accidentally let it over-proof for quite a bit… Uh oh… Yet thanks to this, I now feel more confident about rescuing over-proofed dough.

100% Whole Wheat Walnut Sourdough

Sift out the bran from dough flour, reserve 30 g for the leaven. Soak the rest, if any, in equal amount of water taken from dough ingredients. 

Combine all leaven ingredients and let sit until ready, about 6 hours (26°C). The leaven was more active than usual when used.

Roughly combine all dough ingredients except for the walnuts. Ferment for a total of 3 hours 50 minutes. Mix on low for 2 minutes at the 30 and 40 minute mark. Fold in the add-ins by a set of lamination at the 50 minute mark.

The dough was quite elastic by the end of mixing. It felt very “white dough-like” when compared with other whole grain dough I have worked with.

After the bulk, shape the dough then put in into a banneton. Retard for 10 hours.

When I took the dough out the next morning, it was ready to crawl out of the basket… It would no doubt collapse under its own weight and turn into an amorphous UFO if I baked it straight. Reluctant to give in, I gently poured the dough out and re-shaped it tightly. It was returned to the banneton and rested for 15 minutes before being baked at 250°C/482°F.

Bake with steam for 20 minutes then without steam for 25 minutes more or until the internal temperature reaches a minimum of 208°F. Leave to cool for 3 hours before slicing.

As anticipated, there was not much oven spring to speak of. That said, the dough managed to retain its shape despite being so over-proofed. The crumb isn’t very open but it could have been much worse. From now on, I would be adopting the same approach (reshape very gently + bake immediately/after a brief rest) for over-proofed dough. Of course, the resulting loaf can never compare with a perfectly proofed one… Yet let’s save the complaints for the moment :)

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Stir-fried homemade alkaline noodles with char siu

Risotto stuffed squid

Pressure-cooked pork shank with shiitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots & carrots

Mexican-inspired fusilli with blackened salmon

Mixed veggies glass noodles with spiced tofu and roasted capelin

Salmon with leek & brussel sprouts, and fried rice

T55 ciabatta

Cheese bread continues…

Edam Cranberry SD with Sprouted White Quinoa & Sorghum

Chevre Sunflower Seed SD with Sprouted Einkorn & Amaranth 

(* For the instruction below, the numbers before and after the slash (/) are for the 1st formula and the 2nd formula respectively)

Sift out the bran from dough flour, reserve 30/37 g for the leaven. Soak the rest, if any, in equal amount of water taken from dough ingredients. 

Combine all leaven ingredients and let sit until ready, about 6/5 hours (25.5/25.5°C). Roughly combine all dough ingredients except for the add-ins. Ferment for a total of 5/4 hours. Mix on low for 2 minutes at the 30 and 40 minute mark. Fold in the add-ins by a set of lamination at the 50 minute mark. After the bulk, shape the dough then put in into a banneton. Retard for 8/10 hours.

Preheat the oven at 250°C/482°F. Score and spritz the dough. Remove the dough from the fridge and bake straight at 250°C/482°F with steam for 20 minutes then without steam for 25 minutes more or until the internal temperature reaches a minimum of 208°F. Let it cool for a minimum of 2 hours before slicing.

In my experience, hard white wheat is much weaker than red wheat. Most other wheat species, such as spelt, einkorn, durum and kumut, give rise to a stronger dough in comparison. This is contrary to popular belief but very true, for me at least.

For some reason, bread with amaranth browns exceptionally well. Read: it burns real fast so watch out! The bread was baked darker than usual because of this :)

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Korean style sautéed seafoods with rice and poached egg

Seasoned basmati rice with pan-grilled shrimps, roasted cauliflowers, crispy chickpeas & feta cubes

Carbonara with pancetta

Sweet potato starch noodle salad in a black vinegar-tahini dressing + tons of seasonings (garlic, cilantro, red onions, fried shallots & Sichuan pepper)

Lamb chili enchiladas

Stir fried squid hand-pulled noodles with Korean chunjang

Gouda-stuffed chestnut-fed pork chop over mushroom rice

White bread (40% wg 60% T55): 13% each sorghum, finger millet & barley:

Quality white flour does make a difference. The aroma is evidently superior. I am convinced!

Yes. It's cheese bread again. You can't have too much of it, can you? :)

Taleggio Hazelnut SD with Einkorn, Red Fife & Sprouted Red Rice

Blue Stilton Sultanas Rosemary SD with Einkorn & Sprouted Kamut 

 
(* For the instruction below, the numbers before and after the slash (/) are for the 1st formula and the 2nd formula respectively) 

Sift out the bran from dough flour, reserve 37/39 g for the leaven. Soak the rest, if any, in equal amount of water taken from dough ingredients. 

Combine all leaven ingredients and let sit until ready, about 4/6 hours (25/24.5°C).

Roughly combine all dough ingredients except for the add-ins. Ferment for a total of 3/2.5 hours. Mix on low for 2 minutes at the 20 and 40 minute mark. Fold in the add-ins by a set of lamination at the 50 minute mark. After the bulk fermentation, shape the dough then put in into a banneton directly. Retard for 10/8 hours.

Preheat the oven at 250°C/482°F. Score and spritz the dough. Remove the dough from the fridge and bake straight at 250°C/482°F with steam for 20 minutes then without steam for 25 minutes more or until the internal temperature reaches a minimum of 208°F. Let it cool for a minimum of 2 hours before slicing.

Both loaves carry a pungent aroma thanks to the strong cheese used. The sweet, coconut-ey einkorn mellows the flavour a bit so that it wouldn’t be overwhelming. I particularly like the burst of sweetness the sultanas provide. It does a nice job balancing the spiciness of Blue Stilton.

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Smoked salmon biryani

Pressure-cooked lamb shank bao bun

Thai-inspired salad with roasted beef & pan-fried homemade mochi

Pan-grilled duck breast skewers with roasted herby potatoes

Japchae

Pressure-cooked tomato braised beef tongue with onion-ey mash

Pan-fried garlic chive lamb dumplings

We have shifted from savory bread to sweet bread this week.

Sprouted Durum & Einkorn Walnut Sourdough

Sprouted Black Quinoa & Blue Emmer Chocolate Sourdough

(* For the instruction below, the numbers before and after the slash (/) are for the 1st formula and the 2nd formula respectively)

Sift out the bran from dough flour, reserve 35/30 g for the leaven. Soak the rest, if any, in equal amount of water taken from dough ingredients. 

Combine all leaven ingredients and let sit until ready, about 6.5/4.5 hours (24.5/25.5°C). Roughly combine all dough ingredients except for the chocolate. Ferment for a total of 3/3.5 hours. Construct 2 rounds of 3 minute Rubaud mixing at the 20 and 40 minute mark. Fold in the reserved add-ins by a set of lamination at the 50 minute mark. After the bulk fermentation, shape the dough then put in into a banneton directly. Freeze it for 1 hour before retarding in the fridge for 8 hours.

Preheat the oven at 250°C/482°F. Score and spritz the dough. Remove the dough from the fridge and bake straight at 250°C/482°F with steam for 20 minutes then without steam for 25 minutes more or until the internal temperature reaches a minimum of 208°F. Let it cool for a minimum of 2 hours before slicing.

Personally, I prefer the walnut bread. It’s sweeter and moister when compared with the chocolate one. That said, switching things up a bit is seldom a bad idea, especially when chocolate is involved :)

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Taleggio tuna stuffed caramelle in rutabaga sauce

Oyakodon

Lamb Kebab with cheese stuffed naan

Porcini risotto with crisped pancetta

Caramelized onion & shiitake mushroom SD pizza

Pan-seared chestnut-fed pork chop with garlicky mashed chopin potatoes and roasted cauliflowers

Oyster rice in seafood broth

Lean but mega juicy lamb meatballs, cooked in a paniyaram pan for a killer crust

Try Taleggio in bread if you’re tired of Brie. Not only does it create little molten cheese pockets for you to bite into, but it also hits you with a pungent aroma. It freezes very well too. A quick reheating is all it takes to restore its creaminess.

Taleggio AOP Marjoram SD with 50% Sprouted Red Wheat

Sift out the bran from dough flour, reserve 33 g for the leaven. Soak the rest, if any, in equal amount of water taken from dough ingredients. 

Combine all leaven ingredients and let sit until ready, about 4.5 hours (24.5°C).

Roughly combine all dough ingredients except for the cheese, walnuts and fennel seeds. Ferment for a total of 4.5 hours. Construct 2 rounds of 3 minute Rubaud mixing at the 20 and 40 minute mark. Fold in the reserved add-ins by a set of lamination at the 50 minute mark. After the bulk fermentation, shape the dough then put in into a banneton directly. Retard in the fridge for 10 hours.

Preheat the oven at 250°C/482°F. Score and spritz the dough. Remove the dough from the fridge and bake straight at 250°C/482°F with steam for 20 minutes then without steam for 25 minutes more or until the internal temperature reaches a minimum of 208°F. Let it cool for a minimum of 2 hours before slicing.

As the temperature climbed, the red wheat berries were slightly over-sprouted. The dough started to show signs of break down by the end of the bulk. The crumb texture thus suffers a bit for it’s not been probably set… It becomes vastly unnoticeable once toasted though :)

Walnut is one of those nuts I don’t care for when eaten on its own. Yet it adds so much to baked goods that I find it irresistible! Moreover, incorporating marjoram and fennel seeds into the dough gives it a floral note and some sweetness respectively. They go quite nicely with the fruity grains and tangy cheese.

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Fermented napa cabbage mixed rice, shio koji lemon ginger chicken, and miso eggplants with scallions

Basil garlic spaghettini with seared scallops, corn, sun-dried tomatoes & sugar snap peas

Handmade noodles with pan-fried tofu, shiitake mushrooms, cabbages, bean sprouts and pickled greens

Smoked kipper biryani

Scallion, shrimp & egg fried rice

Fusilli in tomato sauce with caramelized cauliflowers, homemade chicken cheese sausage & crisped Spanish chorizo

SD pizza with Italian 00 bread flour (Edam, brussel sprouts, an egg, and a generous sprinkle of mace and black pepper)

Pizza takeout, what?

Tandoori chicken, Goan prawn curry, roasted sweet potatoes with cashews, sautéed veggies, and spiced basmati rice