Me and Homemade Bread

The one food that I rarely attempt to make is bread.  Why should I when I can find freshly baked bread all over town??

Besides, my first bread baking experience destroyed my confidence in bread making.  I remembered my first attempt was after watching this bread baking show.  The baker made it looked so easy.  He demonstrated how: add this and that, knead, roll, make little round balls, connect them, let them rise, bake and voila, you have a teddy bear shape bread.  Tie a bow around the bread-bear neck and you can parade it around.  Easy, I thought.  So I followed all the steps - even connected the balls - and I ended up with a bear-shape rock!!!  Ugh!  NEVER AGAIN.  I was 18 or so years old then.  Many many moons ago...

Fast forward to few years later...department stores started selling bread machines in the late 90s.  I got one from Macy's.  I told my family that we were going to have homemade bread from now on. They laughed their heads off, but we were very curious how that little bread machine worked.

I followed the instruction precisely.  The machine was amazing. I just had to measure and add the ingredients in order and hit the start button.  The first bread that I ever made - with the machine - was a basic white bread.  And the first loaf was a success!  Oh My God!  I thought I did it!  Then, the second loaf was a flap.  It didn't even rise.  What a let down.

It's hit-or-miss.  To make life easy, I switched to bread mix for a while.  Yes, it was big time cheating but it guaranteed perfect bread every time.  Just pour the content from the box into the bread machine and add water.  I couldn't go wrong.  The bread would come out great but I get no satisfaction. Too boring. I then put away the bread machine.  I use it few times a year and that is it.

A Break through.  Couple of years ago, I saw this WORLD'S BEST cinnamon roll recipe that was designed for bread machine and I just had to give it a try.  The machine made the dough and I did the rolling and the baking.  The cinnamon roll was a big success.  The second one was still a success and the third too.  Wow!  I rebuilt my confidence and reconnected with my bread machine.  It was put back to work doing all the kneading and I have been baking different breads but with an asterisk: *Machine kneads dough. 

But wait!  I had another break through last week.  I actually made bread (OK, buns)  from scratch!  Look mom, no bread machine!!   I actually handled the yeast!!  I haven't done that since I made that bear-shape hard as rock bread so long ago.  I was worry that I would kill the yeast but my first old-fashion pull apart buns looked very lovely.  Wow... Is this for real now?  Am I finally on the road to true homemade breads?  Well, there is only one way to find out.

So, I think the bread machine is going back to storage again.

Dust in the Wind

The blue house few doors down across the street is a quiet house. A guy named Tony lives alone. I don't speak to him much but he and Dad chit-chat when they see each other outside.

In the past few days, I saw his garage opened and strangers going in and out taking things out.  I thought Tony decided to move after all these years.

Dad went over to check out. We were shocked to learn that Tony passed away in May.  We couldn't believe it!  According to Tony's brother-in-law, Tony found he had advanced stage cancer last September and it was too late for any treatment.

Unbelievable!  I usually saw Tony coming back from the gym when I left the house in the morning.  We would wave to each other.  So routine. So expected. When was the last time we waved to each other?  How could he just be gone like this?  We didn't even say good-bye. 

Tony's sister and brother-in-law came to clean out his stuff.  They got a big dumpster and just threw all his stuff in.  Bookcases, furniture, clothing and plants.  Everything.  They are going to put the house up for sale.

Just like that. All memories and belongings mean nothing when a person is gone. Whatever Tony had treasured and collected no longer has any value and is disposable.  No attachment.

The dumpster was filled to the top and was hauled away yesterday.  The house is now even more quiet than before.  All gone. There is no trace of Tony and the life he used to have.

Gone.  Just like dust on the wind.  Sad. RIP, Tony.

Under the Spell of Kitchen God

So last week I got a nice 4-day weekend thanks to the Independence Day falling on a Thursday.   Ahhh... a nice long weekend.  What do I do.... what do I do...

Well, I cooked up a storm like I was under a spell.  Did the Kitchen God point at me while I slept?

Thursday

I started with making the most coveted dish: 台南肉燥 (braised pork belly) in the morning.  Dicing pork belly was the hardest part but someone had to do it (me).  This dish took a whole day to make but it was well worth the effort at the end.  The aroma, the taste, the presentation, the satisfaction of achievement.  Hey, all hard work forgotten.

台南肉燥

Friday

I prepared the duck legs to make confit.  Got 6 duck legs from Golden Gate Meat Company on Wednesday.  I'm getting gutsy.  I started with 2, then 4 and now I'm doing dinner size of 6!  I rubbed those legs with herbs and spices and let them rest in the fridge.  I'll come back to them on Sunday.

I moved on to baking two loaves of milk bread and making two daikon cakes (because the recipes were enough to make two each).  While at it, I also braised a beef tenderloin (五香牛腱)for Robert.  Yap, all on my little stove/oven at the same time.  I gave myself points for multi-tasking.

The milk breads came out super wonderful.  I bow to the bread god who created this recipe!  The secret is a roux (mixture of flour and milk/water) that is to be made and chilled 24 hours in advance. It's then incorporated with the bread dough.  It somehow makes the bread soft and moist.  I haven't figured out why but heck, the formula has been proven and I'm not going to ask questions.  Just follow the recipe!

Making daikon cake is tricky and the outcome is a little bit unpredictable.  The size of the daikon will affect the ratio of water to rice flour mixture.  Too much liquid, it will be mushy; too little, it will be chewy.  I never know what I'm going to get.  I was lucky this time.

For Friday dinner, mom taught me how to make an easy Tainan sticky rice dish (米糕) using the braised pork belly as the topping.  Soak long grain sweet rice (not short grain) first then cook like regular rice.  Pile the pork belly sauce on top, sprinkle dried shredded fish for an authentic Tainan taste.  Check out the photo...  isn't the color just gorgeous?  I can improve the texture of the sweet rice though.  I think it came out too soft and sticky.  I probably soaked it for too long.  Note to self: soak just 30 minutes next time.

Saturday

I took a little break spending some quality time with my doggies.  I was tempted to make some doggy cookies but I got lazy.  Oh, I did make a banana bread for Carli in the morning.

Sunday

I was back cooking. I made Vietnamese pho broth!!!  Yes, I did!!  This was my second attempt.  Learning from past mistakes, I used more spices and less water this time.  The broth came out beautifully after 3 hours of simmering.  I prepared the traditional pho condiments: bean sprouts, chili pepper slices, fresh basil, cilantro and lemon (sorry I forgot it's supposed to be lime).  It did taste like the real thing.  Oh My Kitchen God, did I really make pho???

Back to the duck leg confit.  Confit is another one of those food that takes love and tender care.  I brought the chilled legs back to room temperature then deep fried them in 200 (F) degree extra virgin olive oil for 90 minutes.  This meant someone (me) had to stand by the stove checking the oil temperature and moving those legs around.  After frying, the legs were stored in the oil and back in the fridge.  They will be ready for consumption after 7 days.

Duck Confit

So, folks, what do think of my 4-day weekend?  All the food was devoured by Sunday night (except the duck confit).

The Kitchen God gave me a good challenge and I think I met it.  OK, I didn't make any new dishes but it was a good practice to make them perfect.  I would do again.

Bon appetit!