Brioche is just bread with eggs in it

...and a little butter, too.



We went out for lunch last week, and ordered a couple of fabulous salads which we enjoyed a great deal.  Unfortunately, the man at the table next to us had a burger, on a toasted brioche bun, with fries that smelled amazing.
When I asked Jason what he wanted for dinner the next day, it was no surprise that he requested burgers.  With brioche.

 

You know the bread ratio by now.  5  parts flour, three parts liquid.  Well, here we just substitute some of our "liquid" ratio with eggs.
For a 2-cup flour recipe, I add one egg plus an extra yolk (freeze the whites and then defrost to add to an omelette later if you don't need them straight away), and reduce the water or milk accordingly.  I also add about 50g of softened butter.





The resulting dough is soft, airy, and a dream to knead.  After the dough rises you can see large, long air pockets (rather than th esmaller bubbles you normally see).

 

The finished bread is rich, slightly yellow in colour, and toasts to a beautiful golden colour (I didn't toast this as it was just so fresh!)

 

Load up with your favourite fillings (hummus, chicken thighs, bacon, avocado...)



 

Hot Cross Buns are really just bread

Once you know the basic bread ratio, you can play around with it.  I've waited until we are suitably close to Easter to share this one with you.
Yes, I'm one of those people who complains when Easter eggs and Hot Cross buns roll onto supermarket shelves immediately after Christmas - which immediately follows Halloween.  I think that some things are special because we wait all year for them, so eating Hot Cross buns in January is cheating.  And besides, they're better suited to the cooler Autumn weather!



To make six buns, use 2-cups of flour and the bread ratio (follow the link above for bread 101), and add 2 teaspoons of brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and half a teaspoon each of mixed spice and nutmeg.  Then throw in a couple of handfuls of raisins, and other dried fruit.  I abhor peel, which is one of the reasons I make my own buns - but add that too if you must.

I like my rolls to join together just a little bit, so I place them 1-2cm apart.  Any closer and you'll get more of a loaf (which easily tears into portions), much like many store-bought buns, but you'll need to increase the cooking time.



After the second rising,  pipe crosses onto your buns - you just need a simple paste of flour and water (mix to piping consistency - a couple of tablespoons of cold water to a quarter of a cup of flour).



Place immediately into a hot oven (180C for 10-12 minutes)



Finish with butter and jam


.. and it is important that you consume these immediately.  While they are still hot.  So that the butter melts, and runs down your chin.

Introducing: Tadpole

Just like Joey from Friends, Alphamatrix now has her own show!  My sister has been fantastic over the past year and a half, posting when I've been too busy with work and the drama of moving countries, and keeping Bored Goldfish up and running.  
I'm now ready to pick up the reins again, and want to make a few changes to the focus of the site - so we discussed some time ago having Alphamatrix start her own "sister" site.  We jokingly nicknamed it Tadpole - and the name has stuck!
Please add onetadpole.wordpress.com/ to your bookmark list or RSS feed reader!


I've been thinking for some time about the direction I want this blog to take.  I know I have been pretty slack at posting over the past two years - this is largely due to my moving countries and taking on a job which demands a lot more of my time, but also because I'd lost a bit of my early enthusiasm and direction.  So, expect to see a few changes on the site.  I'm switching to a dynamic layout to make photos more of a feature, and will try to work in "themes" more - like the bread posts I've made in recent weeks.  I'd like to keep meeting any requests you have, so leave comments and I'll work my way through them.
I'll also be doing a bit of a "clean out", removing some of my early posts with grainy photos (I'll aim to re-shoot these in the near future) - and removing Alphamatrix's posts as these have moved across to "One Tadpole". 

Thanks for sticking with me over the past two and a half years :) 

Panna Cotta

I dont make dessert often enough.  With the last of the fresh summer berries available now, I vow to make panna cotta more often!





Recipes vary widely - some use cream only, or add varying portions of milk for a lighter finish.  I've seen yoghurt used in place of some or all of the cream, too.  I recommend you find the mix that is right for you (I've settled at about one third milk).





To make six serves, you will need one litre of liquid (cream/milk/yoghurt) to 3 tsp of gelatine powder (follow the packet instructions to reconstitute), plus a teaspoon of vanilla extract (or a whole vanilla pod, scraped) and 110g of fine sugar (again, you can play around with this - I've substituted brown sugar for a "caramel" panna cotta in the past).





Add the cream, milk, sugar, and vanilla to a saucepan, and stir on medium heat until just boiling.
Add gelatine, stirring until dissolved.
Pour into moulds, and refrigerate until set (about 4 hours).  
Run a sharp knife around the edge if required to get the mould to separate (or just eat straight from the pot!)  Serve with fresh fruit.






I also recommend finishing with a campari jelly, as in this Donna Hay recipe - yum!
 

Why you should be cooking duck at home

Jason came home from a work dinner recently, at a restaurant which he described unremarkable.  While reading the menu, and trying to choose the lesser of the evils on offer, a colleague tried to help: "I try to choose something I couldn't get at home - so I'm having the duck".  Jason's response?  "Oh - my wife cooked that a couple of nights ago."

Do not be scared of duck!  It's damned easy, and it is delicious!




The main challenge I hade before moving to Melbourne was getting my hands on it.  After years of begging anyone I knew with a gun to get me one - and offering to pluck it myself if required - I finally came across a reliable source of wild duck (thanks, Pinky!)  These days most markets and supermarkets offer whole cleaned duck (you just roast it, like a chicken.  I'll show you soon) - or breast fillets. 

To pan-fry duck breast fillets, you need to know three things:
1. prick the skin all over first
2. most of the cooking time, the skin side should be facing the heat
3. save the fat!


There, now you know.


Prick the skin deeply enough to puncture the fat.  This helps it to drain out during cooking and leaves you with a beautiful, crispy skin.




In a hot frypan (turn to highest setting, and allow to preheat), quickly sear the meat side, then turn over so the skin meets the pan.



In the first couple of minutes, the shape of the breast will change - it gets shorter and fatter.  This is normal.



See the golden fat draining off?  You want to save it in a heat-proof container (I use a pyrex glass jug, or a coffee cup) - pour it out of the pan very carefully (it will burn you badly if you touch it), and let it cool to room temperature.  Once cool, transfer to an ice cube tray, freeze, and use later to make amazing roast potatoes.  I'm going to have to show you that, too - soon.



I turn occasionally, but make sure that about 80% of the total cooking time is skin-side down.  Total cooking time is 5-10 minutes, I usually just wait until the skin feels right (it should be crispy, not chewy).  Duck should be served medium (pink in the middle, but not "raw").  Glaze with oyster sauce if desired.


NOTE: If your duck breasts are skinned, this is probably healthier but you will miss out on the skin and the roast potato opportunity.  Just pan-fry on a high setting, for about 2 mins each side.  Expect skinless breasts to be a little on the dry side (they don't have that beautiful fat basting them while cooking!) and serve with a jus or sauce.

Rigatoni with Surprise Meatballs

This one is a quick and easy weeknight dinner.



My meatball recipe varies every time I make it, depending on what is in the fridge.  There is typically more vegetable in each ball than meat (a long-standing joke in our household) - almost always a finely diced onion, and usually a grated carrot and/or zucchini too.  Various flavourings (garlic, spices, tomato paste) and often porridge instead of breadcrumbs (I'll share that one with you - trust me, it's great!).  Today though,l I'm keeping it simple:
250g pork mince, a small diced onion, a clove of garlic (chopped), a couple of handfuls of breadcrumbs, an egg, and salt & pepper.
And then, the surprise...



I've "diced" mozzarella sticks (Bega "Stringers", designed for the school lunchbox crowd), and will sneak a piece into the middle of each meatball.



Form the meatball, then simply press the mozzarella into the centre, and pinch closed.  Make sure you can't see the cheese - it should be completely enclosed to prevent "leakage" during cooking.

I've made small meatballs here, too cook in the frypan.  I make bigger ones when baking.


A couple of minutes on medium heat in the frypan, then simmer for 10 minutes in the sauce of your choice (it's a weeknight, so this is Leggos stir-through, straight from the jar, with some cherry tomatoes for a bit of kick.)



Yum.

Bread 102: Hamburgers

I made these hamburger buns to share with friends at an Australia Day BBQ (a beautiful afternoon with a vege garden, grass to lie on, clouds to watch, and sunshine.)  We filled them with salad and homegrown tomatoes, and homemade patties.  And beetroot.  It might have been Australia Day, but we are still kiwis!!!



Basically, the same rules apply.  A ratio of 5:3 (flour:water) but with a few tricks to make the buns soft and moist:  add butter and sugar, and switch water for low-fat milk.  To make 8 buns, that meant:
600g flour
360g milk
113g butter (melted)
75g sugar*


I melted the butter and warmed the milk - this helped the yeast to kick in quickly, and I couldn't help thinking how nice it would be to knead warm dough in winter!  Must remember this trick.
Finish with an egg wash - and, of course, sesame seeds!


*a word of warning - the American recipes I based this on used (typically) three times this quantity of sugar!  If your tastebuds are based on any other continent, you will want to cut the sugar right back when using American bread recipes.  But don't skip it completely, it acts as a humectant which means it helps the bread retain water and contributes to the softness of these rolls.