Wednesday, May 06, 2015

Hard Baked Eggs Test

Have ever come across a cooking technique that is like a science project.   While I was searching for a recipe, I came across Hard Baked Eggs.   I could not believe it.  It made me to ponder a bit.   It kind of make sense and pose the question - "Why Not?"   I read on, and found out that the it is verified by Alton Brown.   "Oh, okay," I said. "Let's try it..."  I couldn't remember all the details so I just did what I think I remembered the recipe says.  Moist paper towel, eggs, and bake in 350'F oven for 20 minutes.  Then, cool under running water in a bowl.  And Voila.  Beautiful eggs - peeled easily.
 
 
 
 The idea was to be able to Peel massive amounts of eggs easily vs boiled eggs.
I must say that this will be my favorite way of cooking eggs.
And afterwards, my son found the article.... And I remembered almost exactly....

by Alton Brown 
Published on March 29, 2013.
Sure you could just boil your eggs for dying or eating, but if you need to do more than one dozen at a time, baking is best.

Position the oven racks in the center of the oven, then arrange the eggs in a mini muffin tin or directly on a thoroughly moist kitchen towel (click play on the video above for more info). Set the oven to 320 degrees F and bake for 30 minutes. When the eggs are done fill a large bowl with ice water and move the eggs into a bowl. Peel the eggs as soon as they are cool enough to handle, then return them to the ice bath to thoroughly chill.

I usually find baked eggs a little harder to peel than steamed (or boiled), but just barely. The fact that shell of the baked eggs gets hotter during cooking than the shell of the steamed eggs may be a factor. Still I prefer the slightly creamier texture of baked eggs to steamed or boil. I imagine its because the dry heat moves into these eggs more slowly than steam heat does.

 Then, I got some home grown green onions from my garden and ate it with my RAMEN.

Matchbook Winery visit

I visited Matchbook Winery a couple of weekends ago to do something different.
Matchbook Winery is located in Zamora, California, west of Sacramento up Highway 5. 
12300 County Road 92B
Zamora, CA 95698
I am not a wine drinker, but I enjoyed the scenery and Pasta Queen luncheon at the site.

On the way back, I notice beautiful hills and happy frolicking horses, especially the white ones.  It seems to know that it is so beautiful, and I am watching it. 
 





Wednesday, April 01, 2015

My Favorite Cinnamon Rolls

If you have not yet tried your skills in making one of this Alton Brown's Overnight Cinnamon Rolls, you are really missing out on it.  I have tried many recipes for the Cinnamon Rolls, yet after many hours of labor to be disappointed.  Those recipes turn out cinnamon rolls that are rather 'hard' after sitting an hour.  I highly recommend Alton Brown's Good Eats 2, The Middle Years, cookbook.  And I enjoy his insights to all the food science behind the ingredients.  One of the modification to the recipe that I do, however, I use sour cream instead of buttermilk.  Based on my experience with Ponchiks, I think the source cream is the key to keep cinnamon rolls pillowy soft after several hours and overnight.  The recipe come close to brioche style and that maybe the contributing factor to the soft tender crumbs it produces.
  
I like to use Ceylon Cinnamon instead also.
Tastes Way Better than the 'you know who's!'  ha, ha....

Gnocchi with Kale and Spinach

My next testing is with Kale powder and processed fresh spinach mixed in Gnocchi ingredients. 
The classic potato gnocchi can be found at:
https://www.yahoo.com/food/how-to-make-potato-gnocchi-111384959639.html

Ingredients for the Gnocchi:
2 Idaho potatoes  << I used 4 Golden Potatoes - boiled and peeled while warm
1 1/2 to 2 cups organic all-purpose flour
3 large organic eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil
6 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs (Choose your favorite: oregano, parsley, basil)
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons toasted bread crumbs
2 tablespoons Organic Kale Powder

Cut peeled potatoes into large chunks that would fit into Ricer.   Process all potatoes.  Combine potatoes with 1-1/2 C flour in a mixing bowl or on a work surface.  Forming a volcano and add one egg at a time and mix until well blended with flour and repeat with the rest of the egg.  Knead.  Rest for 15 minutes. .  The dough is slightly sticky.  Follow the rest of the instruction to portion the kneaded dough.  Roll into 1 inch diam ropes. Then, Cut into 1-inch pieces.  Place on a flour-dusted baking sheet and store in the freezer.  Or cook in a pot of boiling water.   When the Gnocchi float to the surface, cook one more minute.  Strain.
Mix in with sauce.  Heat through for a minute or two in the sauce, then, serve. 
  
 

Kale Power!! Kale Pandan Coconut Chiffon Cake

I found this bag of Organic Kale powder at COSTCO.  It got me curious to see if I can bake Chiffon cake just like with MATCHA tea powder.
This is my first testing with the Kale powder in cake ingredients, and there is a flaw in how I did it.  But if you are looking for the Pandan Coconut Chiffon Cake that I make, it can be found at the following link.
Basic cake ingredients can be found at Polly's Pandan Coconut Chiffon Cake from my blog 
http://rockdavinci.blogspot.com/2013/05/pollys-pandan-coconut-chiffon-cake.html
 For this recipe, I modified the recipe to include 2 Tablespoon of Kale powder pre-shifted with flour 3 to 4 times.   My problem is likely the result of missing egg yolks.  I had a bowl of left over egg whites from 4 eggs from making my favorite Cinnamon Rolls (from Alton Brown's recipe).  I thought adding 3 whole eggs (separated) would work out just the same.  The egg whites beat up beautifully to firm peak. But the cake turned out without much rise.  Caved inwards and up at the bottom of the cake pan.  Luckily the taste was not compromised.  It tastes good, but resulted in dense texture at the bottom.   I should have taken in account for the percentage of extra weight of powder mixed into 160 g of shifted flour.  I noticed this Organic Kale powder is super fine.  It absorbed the liquid in the egg batter quickly.  It probably caused the batter to be heavier than normal.  I should have used the correct egg counts, too.  Since my Chiffon cake recipe does not use baking powder, adding extra 1/2 Cup more sugar to make the meringue might have helped also.  
Here is my photo journal.
 Pandan juice, coconut milk, EVOO, Eggs, water, sugar.
I started to notice the problem during the meringue folding.  
Looks like the Meringue did not have a good support even though it formed a great looking firm peak.  
Not enough rise!!!
Dense looking yet feels light to my surprise.   I sliced the dense looking section off and served the fluffy section.
How is the taste?   Very good!  It has a very good balanced taste.  The bitter Kale taste is not present. 
This Kale Chiffon Cake is worth making again.