Banana Bread (could have been gluten-free but wasn't)

Banana Bread

We went hiking in Hong Kong over the CNY holidays and left whatever food we couldn't clear out before leaving to their own fates. Among the stuff were 2 bananas that turned black on the outside, but remained surprisingly firm and white on the inside. I am no expert in bananas so I can't dissertate about why these bananas were not rotting on the inside, nor could I tell you if the race and cultivation methods had anything to do with that, but ripe bananas certainly do tend to reveal a primitive desire in me to cook or bake them.

I have baked a number of banana cakes and brownies in my life, and I am always ready to try something new. In recent times I've been reading quite a bit about the use of alternative grains in cooking and baking, and I've seen with my own eyes how ladies who couldn't eat gluten tend to be really skinny. Unfortunately I love my wheat and know that it would be torture to resist the pasta, fresh loaves and cakes, so I have been toying with the idea of reducing processed wheat flour with small amounts of alternative "healthier" flours. On this day, I found almond meal, organic chickpea (besan) and wheat flours in my pantry, so I used them. I've run out of wholemeal wheat flour, and would have loved to use it too if I had any on hand.

With this Year of the Goat, we started our 5th year as expats in Shanghai. This would be our longest expatriation ever in one country, and while we welcome it as the children are attending good international schools, the Hub still has lots to accomplish in his current position and I enjoy being chauffeur-driven, there are moments when I feel tired of living in this expat bubble and wished I could be somewhere where I could plant a few trees, choose my own tiles for the bathroom, build my own kitchen and meet more people who lead "normal" lives. As I do my morning walks, I often spend time renovating my own place in my head, and they come in all sizes, from tiny to moderately big though never too big as I still do not think I'll want to hire full-time domestic help.

If you have been an expat for as long as I have been, and in so many different places, you would have met all sorts of people. There are people with whom you could enjoy existentialist, metaphysical and/or XXX discussions and debates, but with most people, you will have to keep relations at the how are you and I love you levels. When I first arrived in Paris to study politics at Sciences Po, I often wondered what's with the French and their love for talk shows where they discussed and debated everything to death; then I spent a few months in Rochester, NY, where I noticed that most people looked at life in black and white, where you had to constantly put yourself in one camp or another. That horrified me, for I couldn't understand why a land of liberty could produce so many people with such limited views, and with such an overpowering sense of good versus evil when the gun is so freely wielded by people both "good" and "bad". Just as I had romantic fantasies about Arab oil sheikhs that dispersed at my first contacts with a few North Africans, I dropped my American Dream and returned to Europe, to the Brits with their sense of humour, the French for their lack of, the Germans for being there to make sure that everybody toes the line, the Italians for being such a mess but for making the best pasta and ceramics...the list goes on for the Continent is as big and diverse as it is old.

Here in Shanghai, with such a very big expat population, you amplify the contacts you have with people from all over the world. And you have what I didn't have in the other expat communities I lived in: Charity Galas and loads of charity-related events. China, I guess, has both the world's second largest number of billionaires as well as gigantic pockets of people who need help. Help that they seem not to be getting from their billionaires, nor from their government that taxes people like us 50% of our income at its source. So it's more or less left to the many warm-hearted locals, expats and international schools here to carry out year-round fundraising, combine that with the IB requiring their students to do charity as part of their learning and Diploma, and you will be doing charity in one way or another here, both directly and indirectly.

Recently, a friend reacted to a Wechat discussion a group of mums from the school were having about charity overdose. She posted a few thoughts on Facebook about how people who travelled a few times a year complained about donating 10 rmb here and there (e.g. during charity drives at school); that some mums complained about being solicited to help out at school while others did their part without complaining. As I have mentioned earlier, it's a friend that I like and respect, so I resisted the temptation to point out in her FB posting that what she wrote couldn't logically hold much water as there was too much hyperbole in it. How could people who could afford to travel a few times a year not want to pay 10 rmb to help out a few poor Chinese kids? Surely the issue runs deeper than that and if a few hundred, even thousand rmb a year could help save your soul and your conscience who wouldn't go for it willingly? Unfortunately, if you take it at such a minimised angle, it made those who dared to complain about charity drive attrition, or how our kids only look upon charity as taking money from mummy to give to the school, look really bad. Still, as I've always said to those who would listen, only you yourself know what you think and have done, so no problem there. Least you think I'm speaking behind her back, I will bring this up with her face to face another time.

Speaking of travel, most expats I know do travel a lot, some more comfortably than others. There are expats whose companies (usually American) offer them generous travel allowances that may pay for business class air tickets, hotel accommodation and even car rentals, there are expats whose companies only offer an annual ticket home (and if you are like us it's only for economy class) and there are others who get nothing. So 4/5 times when we travel, it's out of our own pocket, it's a choice we make that usually requires sacrifices on our part e.g. the Young Adult has nothing saved towards his college education. But even when I was earning peanuts as a young graduate I've always managed to save enough to travel each year, so it doesn't matter if I couldn't afford luxury travel, I'm happy just to continue seeing the world and experience life beyond the usual with whatever means we have at hand. And if 10rmb here and there could make me feel better about this indulgence, it wouldn't be too much to give away. If only things are so simple...

Helping out at school is another expat-related issue. Back in those days when my kids went to public schools in France, the only people you ever get to see if you should go to school were a few grandparents and nannies at the school gate (usually closed during school hours). Most mothers worked and the schools only asked you to turn up if there was an issue with your child. When our children first attended an international school in Italy, I had my first PTA contact and ended up spending almost 4 years in the school itself. Certes, I made great friends among the other mothers who helped out and I entered into some friction with the School Principal because of my big mouth (but since then we understand and respect each other, don't we?), but I literally lived with the school and the other expats. Arriving in Shanghai, I saw that the situation was similar, though as the schools are bigger and the population bigger too, you wouldn't get the same sense of community as you would back in Modena. I decided that discretion would be the better part of valour and kept a low profile most of the time, helping out whenever I could or felt like it, and most of the time I would turn up to help without having put my name down for it - so that nobody would remember me if they were looking for "volunteers" later on!

Besides helping out in the classrooms, parents are often required to help out in charity-related events often driven by the school, its Student Council and/or its PTA, from baking goodies for sale to organising the charity galas etc. I have given much thought in the past few years to this, but came up with no obvious resolution about my personal involvement at this moment. When I was a teenager, I spent 6 years of my life as a volunteer with the elderly in a neighbourhood social service centre. We were hands-on charity workers and had to come out with time and effort beyond time for studies or work. We had a camaraderie with our fellow volunteers and a connection with the senior citizens we worked for that money wouldn't be able to buy. It's like studying about humanitarian effort at University and learning about how just providing funds could do more harm than good. At the same time, without funds, charity effort on the ground cannot be sustained. So it's a combination of different effort at different levels; you have to admire and thank those people who, by hook or by crook, raise the funds to feed your charity labour and the fund raisers are glad that there is a good reason for them to give money for.

In Shanghai, many expat mums leave behind their jobs (at least temporarily especially for the first timers) in their own countries and arrive in an environment like the school which, I suspect, gave them a sense of belonging and purpose. I'm sure they sincerely feel compassion for the Chinese children, orphans etc they are helping to raise funds for, but looking from the angle of a former volunteer, it's relatively glamorous work attending meetings (and from what I heard, a lot of politicking and egos flying around most of the time in them), baking cupcakes, charming shops to donate prizes...But it's important to have someone do it and we should be grateful that they did what they did because they didn't have to in the first place. Then other expats could find a nice dress to wear to a gala, make a few bids in the silent auctions and send more money to a few charitable organisations. Everyone has a place in this karma-generating enterprise and we can only hope that those who really need the money and help get the majority of all of that.

Do I sound negative or positive or do you really need to figure it all so very clearly? What happened to the Banana Bread? I blog this recipe for my Bulgarian friend ES (still living in Modena) who asked for it and hope that she will like it.

Banana Bread :

1½ cup all purpose wheat flour (could replace ½ cup with wholemeal)
½ cup organic chickpea flour
½ cup almond meal
1 tsp baking soda
¾ tsp salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 ripe bananas mashed
½ cup brown sugar (can also be ginger-spiced) 
½ cup olive oil (preferably light-flavoured)
1½ tsp pure vanilla extract
½ cup water
½ cup walnuts or pecan nuts chopped and optional

20x10x10 cm loaf tin oiled and floured

The method : 

Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C.

Mix dry ingredients (e.g. flours, baking soda, salt and cinnamon) together in a large bowl.

In another large bowl mash the bananas and combine with the sugar, olive oil and vanilla to a smooth consistency.

Slowly mix in the dry ingredients adding the water as you go along.

Stir in the chopped nuts if you are using them.

Pour into the loaf tin and bake for an hour.

With maple syrup

This loaf is best eaten warm, but I enjoy heating it up slice after slice a day or 2 later and eating it with maple syrup or nutella.  

Cheddar Cheese Scones

Cheddar cheese scones

Baby Girl had a friend over for a play date this afternoon and I have a fridge to clear out before we leave for France in a few days. The girl is from Israel though from what I've understood from her mum they are not Orthodox Jews. Still, I made sure that what I baked was vegetarian and contained no lard.

The kitchen smelled wonderful when the Cheddar Cheese Scones were being baked. A little Indian girl from next door dropped by (she's a fan of Baby Girl) with her Chinese Ayi and the latter asked if I was cooking dinner because the house smelled delicious.

The scones disappeared almost as soon as they were out of the oven. MIL said one had to battle to have one's share. It was a good way to finish up leftover vintage cheddar and fresh rosemary. It also provided me with a good reason to use my ajwain seeds.

Meanwhile the Teenager is away at school this evening for a charity High School Lock-in. He will be back at midnight and will have to be picked up by our driver. I feel bad about making the guy work this late, but I have no means of getting to the school bus drop-off points at that time of the night. Our back gate (nearest to the nearest drop-off point) is closed after 9pm and in any case it would be dangerous to be walking out there in the night. Taking a taxi may not be any safer. I miss my Phedra on days like this.

One consolation is that our driver lives near the boy's school and would welcome the extra income from working over time.

I would have baked these scones for his lock-in if they could be stored over night. Unfortunately scones are best eaten fresh out of the oven, as I've discovered at my English friend JW's yummy coffee mornings.

Cheddar Cheese Scones :

200g self-raising flour

1 tsp double-action baking powder

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

50g salted or non-salted butter (cubed)

80g sharp cheddar cheese (grated)

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper

a few sprigs of fresh rosemary

2 tsp ajwain seeds

3-5 tbsp cold milk

Pre-heat oven to 400°F (my current oven uses °F and I am trying to get used to it).

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together into the bowl of your mixer.

Add the butter, cheese, black pepper, cayenne pepper, ajwain seeds, rosemary leaves and milk.

Pulse till everything comes together and you get a rough, yellowish dough.

Knead the dough till you feel that you can work with it. I did not bother to roll it out with a rolling pin, I just used my palm. It should be at least 1cm thick, and more than 2cm if you want the high ones.

Using a biscuit cutter cut out the scones and place them on a paper-lined baking dish.

Bake in the hot oven for about 15 minutes.

Eat them fresh out of the oven. Good for breakfast, afternoon tea or even as aperitifs. For non-halal scones, fried bacon bits could be added to the dough before baking, and those who love cheese could also add grated cheese on top just before putting it into the oven. And they can be eaten on their own or stuffed.

Bruschetta and Tomato Tart

Tomato Tart

I have not read Amy Tan (e.g. "Joy Luck Club") for a number of years and decided all of a sudden to check her out again. Ordered two of her latest books ("Saving Fish from Drowning" and "The Opposite of Fate") one of which is an autobiography of sorts.

I am drawn to her writings because I am "western-educated" like the writer, but we also grew up in Chinese families with mothers who were superstitious and who often felt it necessary to warn us against all the dangers that could befall us if we do or do not do certain things; Mothers who believed in the supernatural and the afterlife; who believed in fate and yet had faith that we (the children) were destined for greater things.

As I was reading Tan, I shudder over her account of the Ouija board that she would use so often to help her mum obtain answers to certain dilemmas in life. To those who have not heard stories about the ouija from their mums, it would just be another board game from the Parker Brothers, but I still remember what mine had told me of the spirits who had been summoned and who wouldn't leave in peace. I am reasonably logical and I believe that everything in life could have a scientific explanation, but I also feel that there is room for the unexplained, my upbringing having planted more than the seed of doubt (in the absolute nature of the former).

Do you believe in premonitions and the afterlife? Tan's story about how her friend Pete dreamt of his own death before it happened was eerie, but unlike Hub who had been brought up to not believe in spirits and in the supernatural and who would without any doubt dismiss it as utter rubbish, I, not for the first time in my life, spent some time wondering about the mysteries of life and how one's belief is so shaped by one's upbringing. I also wonder why we see or at least feel spirits so easily where I came from, but wouldn't even think of it where I'm living in now. The only ghost in these parts as we know is the Holy Ghost.

Hub thinks that seeing is believing, but isn't it also true that if you don't believe you may not see?

Anyway that's what I've been up to lately, finding yet another excuse to not fold the mountain of clothes that I've washed and dried in the past 2 weeks. I read, I muse, I cook and I eat.

I've been having a love affair with something I usually refuse to eat i.e. raw tomatoes. I pick out tomatoes in my salad, I hate tomato ketchup and will only eat tomatoes in the form of home-made tomato sauce. But I love Bruschetta. And after our recent weekend in the Piedmont, I especially love my bruschetta when it's made with freshly baked foccacia.

Once I got started with the olive oil, garlic and herb-marinated tomatoes, I decided to marry them with my beloved puff pastry and so we had Tomato Tart for tea yesterday. Yum yum...

The Tomato Dip/Filling :

500g of ripe cherry tomatoes (halved or quartered according to their size)

good-quality extra virgin olive oil (enough to cover the tomatoes)

2 large garlic cloves (bashed)

fresh rosemary and basil leaves

a pinch of ground black pepper

salt to taste (only just before serving*)

freshly-baked foccacia

Put everything together in a bowl (except the salt - or it'll drain the juice out of the tomatoes) and marinate for a few hours before serving. Cover with clingwrap. Sprinkle in the salt just before serving. Goes really well with freshly toasted country bread or freshly-baked foccacia. I used Buitoni's ready-made foccacia dough and improved it with salt, olive oil and rosemary before baking it in a very hot oven for 10-12 minutes. My guests at my last class lunch seemed to love it.

For the tomato tart, heat the oven to 180°C and bake the puff pastry (bords rolled inwards and dough pricked all over with a fork) for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and spread the tomato filling (minus the juice) on it. Return to the oven for another 10 minutes. Serve hot.

Short-cut Lachha Paratha

Short-cut Lachha Paratha

We all know how frustrating it is not to have easy access to a decent Roti Prata/Canai (Paratha) when we are living overseas. The Teenager is particularly fond of this fried Indian bread and often asks me why I wouldn't make him any.

He has been home sick this week. Bronchitis and ear infection. In his first week of school. My poor baby.

Actually he's really happy to be missing school as you can jolly well imagine.

I honestly couldn't be bothered to start kneading, oiling and flipping dough to make paratha like the Indian mamaks in Singapore. The amount of oil/ghee required to make this operation a success puts me off. Especially the thought of the oil on my hands. But if you want a crispy and flaky paratha you will have to live with it.

I have been thinking about this for a day or two this week. Then it occurred to me that the paratha is similar to the puff pastry in that it is supposed to be light and have layers. What if I use store-bought puff pastry (readily available here), work it like a paratha and fry it?

With this I was able to serve a few pieces of crispy and flaky Short-cut Lachha Paratha with Chicken Curry to my eldest son for lunch yesterday. He was very happy, of course, and I am delighted to have discovered an easy way to make roti prata.

Short-cut Lachha Paratha :

1 roll of fresh Puff Pastry

Vegetable Oil or Ghee

Flour

Cut the puff pastry into squares or rounds. Brush the surface with a bit of oil.

Fold it like a Chinese or Spanish paper fan.

Turn it so that it folds into a coil-like dough. Oil the surface again and set it aside while you make more of them.

Gently flour a working surface and place one dough on it. Sprinkle a bit of flour on it and roll it out into a flat disc. You may see rings on the disc that will give you the layers. Brush a little more oil on the surface and set aside. Do the same to the rest of the dough.

Heat some oil in a crepe or frying pan and fry each disc on both sides till crispy.

If you wish, stack the parathas one on top of the other and gently crush them in 2-3 movements (open your hands sideways and then bring them towards the middle) with your palms so as to bring out the layers.

Serve with a curry or with sugar as a dessert. I also love stuffed parathas. And if you can find whole-wheat puff pastry, it'll even be quite healthy!

Cinnamon French Toasts with Melted Gouda and Grilled Mushrooms (and a Morbid Dream)

Cinnamon French Toast with Melted Gouda and Grilled Mushrooms

It was 6 in the evening (yesterday) and I had a sudden craving for French Toast. With Cheese. Why not with Mushrooms too? I should be off washing the mountain of dirty bedsheets, prepare MIL's bedroom, file our French taxes or tidy up after the kids - but I made Cinnamon French Toasts with Melted Gouda and Grilled Mushrooms instead. And just before dinner too.

Sweet (I always use sweetened condensed milk when making my French toasts) and savory go really well together and the melted cheese contrasted nicely with the firmness of the grilled mushrooms. If I were counting calories I would surely have burst the day's quota, but since I have no head for numbers anyway ignorance was bliss.

Tomorrow I have planned a vegetarian lunch for a few friends. Not that I'm suddenly into vegetables, but 2 of them are strict vegetarians and I thought that it would be easier this way. But one couldn't come because she had guests visiting, and the other cancelled last minute. I am now tempted to change my menu, but it wouldn't be easy since the fridge's stuffed to the brim - with vegetables, what else. I had visions of going to the neighbouring chicken farm and stealing a chicken or 2 - but that place really stinks and I wouldn't know how to murder a chicken.

I was debating as to whether I should share with you my recent morbid dream nightmare, since it really wasn't appetising, but this blog is more for me to remember my own life than anything else so I will note it down.

I dreamt that I had come into possession of a beautiful coffin. And in it there were 2 corpses. I have no idea who they were or whether they were men or women, but they were definitely human. I brought them to a special place where there was a special stove that could cook the corpses in their coffin. It took a long time to cook them. But whether they were grilled, steamed, broiled, sautéed or boiled I have no idea.

Then when the cooking was done, I suddenly realised that I hadn't chopped them up before cooking them - and decided there and then to abandon the coffin with the cooked corpses. The rest I couldn't quite remember now.

Now, wasn't that a truly horrible dream? How could one interpret such a nightmare? Probably had to do with those 2 uncles who were recently admitted to hospital...

Borlenghi

Borlenghi

The Borlenghi is a crepe made of flour, water and salt that is served in the mountains surrounding Modena and Vignola. I fell in love with it the first time I ate it at the Christmas market in Castelvetro and having a craving for it today, decided to make my own.

They usually fill it with lard, rosemary, garlic and parmesan cheese. I have replaced the lard with olive oil. The fresh rosemary came from my own garden. The result was yummy, though my borlenghi was not as crispy as the ones they usually sell. I will have to keep working on it and pay more attention the next time I see a vendor prepare his.

I do not have the big heavy pan they usually use to make the borlenghi nor bricks to heat up and cook it on (like in the past), so my little crepe pan will have to do.

It is a little tricky getting the right consistency for the batter so it was trial and error. Basically it has to be quite watery, but capable of being cooked into a crepe without sticking to the pan.

Otherwise it's very simple, just flour, salt, and water. Approximately 1 cup flour to less than 2 cups water. Mix together and let the batter sit for at least 30 minutes. The crepe pan has to be oiled and hot.

The fragrant filling

The Filling :

Olive Oil or Pork Lard

1 Garlic clove (minced)

1 sprig of fresh Rosemary (chopped)

Grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix the oil, garlic and rosemary in a bowl and microwave it for 30-40 seconds. It should become fragrant.

When the crepe is cooked, put it on a plate and spread a bit of the garlic and rosemary filling on it. Sprinkle grated parmesan, salt and pepper over it, fold the borlenghi and it's ready!

Whole Wheat Paratha

Whole Wheat Parathas

These Whole Wheat Parathas are easy to make and quite delicious. Mine didn't turn soft or soggy hours after they were cooked and we were able to have the remaining few parathas for dinner again. It's like making Chapatis, only you have to fold and oil and roll out the dough again before frying the bread.

Time flies, the children will have a short break again at the end of the week (and we'll be off to Alghero for a few days). And then almost all the ECAs will come to an end and I'll be able to take a break from the constant ferrying. Though I have no doubt that they would be replaced by more playdates. MIL will also be here which reminds me that I had better start looking into a few excursions to bring her on.

Whole Wheat Parathas :

200g Whole wheat flour

1/2 Tsp Salt

about 100ml Warm water

1 Tsp Ghee or vegetable oil

Mix the flour, salt, water and oil and knead into a dough.

Knead for a few minutes on a lightly floured board and leave to rest for 30 minutes.

Knead the dough again and pinch out golf-ball-sized balls to be rolled out into flat and thin circles or squares (whatever you can manage).

Fold each circle or square into half (you get a crescent or rectangle). Lightly oil the surface and fold it again into half (you get a triangle or a small square). Oil it and set it aside as you finish doing the same to the rest of the dough.

Lightly flour the surface and roll out each triangle or square back into a thin, larger circle or square.

Lightly oil a non-stick frying pan and fry each paratha on both sides till crispy.

With Cauliflower Gratin and Egg and Potato Curry

Grilled Chicken and Beef Fajitas

Grilled Chicken and Beef Fajitas

I've already blogged about my Fajitas so I'll just post this evening's Grilled Chicken and Beef Fajitas in photos.

Small plate for grilling, big plate to be used raw
Marinating the meat

Hub and the Teenager will be playing golf the whole of tomorrow and may eventually join a competition on Sunday to try to get a handicap. The weather has been bad thus far for late Spring so when it starts to look good I'm not about to deprive them of a few hours of golf under the sun.

Family playing croquet in the garden after dinner

I'll need to move my butt and start getting more serious about the game myself. Just signed my golf membership form today so I'm committed for the rest of the year.

The Humble Egg Sandwich

Egg Sandwich

My little sister taught me how to make this Egg Sandwich light years ago. I was living in Paris then and she had just finished a year volunteering with children in Japan. She came out to visit me before going back to the rat race in Singapore.

I was still doing my postgrad in those days and was also struggling with a baby (aka the Teenager) and a part-time job in an Irish-owned language institute. My boss was having a reception one evening for more than 30 friends at his place and I wanted to secure my new-found position (PA) by being very personal and very much of assistance :-). So I offered to cook for the reception. Though I couldn't really cook then.

But my little sister was there and she took charge of most of the preparations. I couldn't remember what we prepared that evening - but I would not forget these simple but delicious Egg Sandwiches. I am very fond of them and the Babies love them too.

After stuffing myself all morning with chocolate-coated corn flakes, I told myself that I had better make something healthier for lunch. Woke up really early this morning so as to send the Teenager to the train station for his trip to Verona and have whiled my morning away reading a blog kept by an English girl who had turned to social escorting (question mark over whether she actually slept with her clients but at £300/h she must have) to pay for her Doctorate.

It was fascinating and I found myself wondering why I hadn't thought to do that myself when I was doing my thesis. Probably because I didn't have those legs and boobs, didn't know how to dress, couldn't make intelligent conversation in high-class settings, wouldn't be able to hide my distaste for men who hire social escorts, am not blond, but came fresh out of a particularly conservative family. It was bad enough I had that baby out of wedlock, imagine how my dad would die a few times over if I were to add "social escort" to my list of sins. Hub probably wouldn't have minded though, a working girl is a girl who works after all. Yeah...

The sandwich is very easy to make, just sandwich bread nicely buttered and filled with an egg filling made of mashed hard-boiled eggs, crème fraîche, salt and pepper. Occasionally I would also add a few bacon rashers, but figured that after a morning of sweet corn flakes I should keep things simple.

Hub's new TaylorMade driver and Cleveland Tour Action 588 Sand Wedge (lastminute addition) arrived today from the UK. That was fast considering that the order was finalised just 3 days ago. I hope that he's going to like it. Yesterday he came back from his golf test in good spirits, seeming to think that he had a good chance of passing the test. If he did, he would finally be on his way to getting his first handicap.

Today's Bread : Wholewheat

Wholewheat Bread
Fresh out of the oven (and ugly as usual)
Ready for final proofing

Just mixed

Easy Rye Bread

Rye Bread

CH invited a few mums to her house for coffee one morning and she served us this lovely bread that she made herself. I saw her taking the (wet) dough out of the fridge and just dumping bits onto an oven tray to be baked into nice crusty buns. What happened to the kneading and proofing?

I haven't worked that method out yet and decided to stick to what I already know. Bought rye bread flour from Lidl and made a loaf of rye bread today.

Ugly loaf

With good ole live yeast, warm water, salt, the rye bread flour and a few hours of leavening and a little proofing. Bread wasn't pretty since I didn't even bother to knead or shape it, was sliced badly, but it didn't taste bad. The Teenager ate half the loaf in a few minutes. I need to work on my bread as MIL will be here for a month and she needs to eat bread everyday.

I've had a busy morning. First to school to make a short presentation on my experience as a volunteer with the elderly (for 5 years when I was still in Singapore) for Action Week, followed by a quick trip to P's to pick up the (best) chicken curry that she kindly and specially cooked for Baby Boy (but of course the rest of us will be eating it too). After which I joined 11 other women for an Italian-speaking lunch at Ca' del Rio in Casinalbo. It was tiring trying to speak Italian for 2 hours and now I'm having a headache and my tongue's all rolled up.

P's Chicken Curry

Finally, I picked up Armand's classmate LM for a playdate and have just finished making them a picnic (the English girl wanted a Marmite and Ham Toast which made my day since I love Marmite myself!). It's a warm day and they are all jumping in the trampoline.

Sometime this week, CT will finally reveal his famous Pork Ribs recipe in our very first Cookery Club lesson. Yes, I've just started a Cookery Club with a few members and he has offered to inaugurate the club by being the first to start. Love the guy, but not really sure now that it's a good idea since he would be a hard act to follow and we would all feel inferior when it's our turn to do the lessons.

Mantou (Chinese Steamed Buns)

Mantou

The kids are very fond of Mantou (Chinese Steamed Buns). I usually use a fast and easy recipe to make them, but decided lately to combine it with a more traditional method to see how it would turn out. It turned out to be just as painless, only with a longer resting time, and the buns were lighter, softer and tastier. Since then I prefer to use the second method.

Mantou :

150g Sugar

300ml lukewarm Water

30g fresh Yeast

650g strong white Flour

1 Tsp double-acting Baking powder

1/2 Tsp Bicarbonate of soda

1 Tsp Salt

2 Tbsp Corn oil

Dissolve the sugar in the water and add the yeast. Set aside for 10-15 minutes till the yeast turns frothy.

Just after combining the dry and wet ingredients

Sift the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix in the salt. Gradually pour in the yeast mixture and the corn oil. I mixed with the kneading needles of my hand mixer. Then used my hands to combine it into a firm dough.

After 10 minutes' kneading

Knead the dough for at least 10 minutes and then leave it to rest for about 1.5 hours, with a damp cloth over the bowl. It should normally double its volume by then.

After 1.5 hours' rest

Knead it again and let it rise for another 30 minutes.

Before being steamed (this one has not been rolled into a tube 1st)

Knead the dough again till it's smooth and then roll it into 2-3 long rolls. Roll each roll out till it's flat and then fold/roll it into a tube. Slice into a few pieces and steam them (spaced sufficiently apart from one another as they will usually triple in size) over rapidly-boiling water for 10-15 minutes. If necessary, line the buns with greaseproof paper before steaming them.

These buns are best eaten hot. The kids like to eat them plain, but I sometimes like to stuff them with sweet or braised pork, or stir-fried chilli prawns. This time we ate them with a Marmite Roast Chicken.

Cinnamon Rolls (from home-made bread)

Cinnamon Bread Rolls

For some reason I've always cheated when it comes to making Cinnamon Rolls. But since I now know a very easy way to make bread and bearing in mind that the best way to remember something we've just learnt is to practise, I have decided to make my own Cinnamon Bread Rolls from scratch.

Every time I think of putting to practise something I have just learnt, I couldn't help thinking of that day a few years go when I first learnt the German sentence for "Keep the change" : "Stimmt So!"

That evening, we had dinner in an Indian restaurant and all throughout the meal I was really impatient for the bill to come so that I may practise my new vocabulary on the waiter. He arrived with the bill, I glanced quickly at it and dropped a note on the tray. "Stimmt So!" I almost shouted. On seeing the guy's big smile, I suddenly realised that the change in question was really very generous for the meal we just had. But you see, I've forgotten almost everything in German except that.

My rolls were rustic. Hand kneaded, hand rolled and flattened etc. Not very good looking, but I live in a country house and lead a country life, nothing needs to be fine and beautiful here.

Problem with Modenese comune bread though is that it doesn't keep very well.