Month: March 2020

Faster No Knead Bread

On Sunday (03/22/2020), Bà Ngoại/Nội will be making bread, adapting from this recipe on Jenny Can Cook YouTube channel.

You can join Ba Ngoai/Noi online using Zoom.

 

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups (390 gms) all-purpose or bread flour (aerate flour before measuring)
  • 1/4 teaspoon yeast, active dry or instant (1 gm)
  • 1 teaspoon salt (6 gms)
  • 1 1/2 cups hot water, not boiling (354 mL) – I use hot tap water – about 125-130° F
  • (about 2 Tablespoons extra flour for shaping)

Instructions:

  1. Combine flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Stir in water until it’s well combined.
  2. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 3 hours.
  3. After 3 hours dough will become puffy and dotted with bubbles. Transfer it to a well-floured surface and sprinkle dough with a little flour. Using a scraper fold dough over 10-12 times & shape into a rough ball.
  4. Place in a parchment paper-lined bowl (not wax paper) and cover with a towel. Let stand on counter top for about 35 minutes.
  5. Meantime place Dutch oven with lid in a cold oven and preheat to 450° F. My oven takes 35 minutes to reach 450°.
  6. When oven reaches 450° carefully, using oven gloves, lift the parchment paper and dough from the bowl and place gently into the hot pot. (parchment paper goes in the pot too) Cover and bake for 30 minutes.
  7. After 30 minutes, remove lid and parchment paper. Return, uncovered, to oven and bake 10 – 15 more minutes. Let it cool at least 15 minutes before slicing.

Congee with Ground Pork/Chicken

Ingredients:

  1. Ground pork/chicken
  2. green onions
  3. salt, pepper & red pepper flakes
  4. rice

Instructions:

  1. Ground Pork/Chicken, use any cut as lean/fatty as desired.
  2. Season with chopped white sections of green onions, salt, pepper, a sprinkle of red pepper flakes.
  3. Add one or two teaspoons of olive oil if using lean meat.
  4. Taste the seasonings by cooking a coin-size piece in the microwave for about 10 seconds, then adjust the seasonings.
  5. Boil some water, add meat, bring back to boiling point, then scoop out the meat foam.
  6. Add rice – one part of rinsed UNCOOKED rice to 6 parts of water, or 2 parts of COOKED rice to 6 parts of water. This measurement includes water already in pot used to cook the meat.
  7. When rice reached the desired softness, adjust the thickness of the soup.
  8. When adjusting the seasonings at the end, add fish sauce or chicken bouillon/fish sauce, or both
  9. Scoop into bowl and sprinkle with chopped green onions and cilantro. (If you don’t like the taste of raw onions, add them to pot, stir, and remove pot from heat.)

congee.jpg