Dumplings – Chicken & mushrooms yummies in a flash.....

Now you too can do it! Dumplings folded the simplest way ever!

Dumplings – Chicken & mushrooms

Ingredients:

Wrappers - gyoza or wanton (store bought or make fresh) – 12 pcs

Fillings:

300g Chicken breast or thigh meat – minced coarsely

5 Fresh mushrooms – cut to 1 cm pieces

1 tsb ginger - grated or chopped finely

A few sprigs of Spring onions - chopped finely

Marinade:

2 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 white pepper

1 tsp chicken/veg stock powder (optional)

2 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp cornflour

Method:

1. Prepare the meat and season with all the ingredients above. Leave for 30 mins at least.

2. Cut the mushrooms and add to meat mixture. Mix well.

3. On floured surface, peel each wrapper out.

4. Spoon mixture onto each wrapper and fold into half. Here, for the square-shaped wrappers, seal the top of the two halves with water and then fold over to make a seam (see video in instagram). Or you could just seal the halves together with water for round-shaped wrappers – how quick is this!

5. Lightly grease a hot pan and pan-fry the dumplings till the bottoms are crusty.

6. Next, fill pan with water to about 1 cm of pan, cover and steam the dumplings on high heat for 5 mins or till cooked.

7. Serve hot with chopped spring onions and chilli oil or a ginger-and-black vinegar sauce.

Sourdough Bagels - bread with a hole in the middle....yum!

These seeded-bagels taste so delicious with all your favourite seeds and even better with butter or cream cheese.

BAGELS (for 10 pieces)

Ingredients:

100g Sourdough surplus

510g WBF

300g water

7g salt

20g milled Flax seeds

100g Sunflower seeds

0.5 tsp baking powder

1 tsb sugar

Toppings: (OPTIONAL)

White & black sesame seeds

Linseeds

Method:

1. Mix the flour, sourdough surplus, water and salt together and knead by hand till you get a smooth dough. [Tip: If dough appears sticky, add more flour, in 10g increments till it’s non-sticky.]

2. Knead for 10 mins till it’s smooth and round off in the bowl. Rest for 30 mins.

3. Divide dough on floured surface into 10 pieces of 90g each and roll into balls.

4. Poke a hole in the centre of each ball and enlarge the hole to about 5cm (2 inch) diameter using your fingers to shape into a ring. (see video on my instagram account).

5. Arrange the pieces on a greased tray, spaced at 2 cm apart to provide for the growth in size (see picture) as they proof for 3-4 hours in a warm place.(Check out video in my Instagram account)

6. When proofing is done, prepare a boiling pot of water, add sugar and baking powder.

7. Carefully lift one uncooked bagel and slowly put into the boiling water till it floats up. Drain with a slotted spoon and cool.

8. Do the same for all the other bagels.

9. Meantime, preheat the oven to 230 deg C.

10. If using toppings, arrange seeds in a bowl and coat each bagels on one side and then place them in a greased tray, seeded side upwards, spaced a little apart to allow for more growth in size.

11. Bake for 20-25 mins till golden brown. ENJOY!

Walnuts & Blueberries Sourdough Loaf - so pretty & delicious!

Sourdough Bread with walnuts & blueberries

Ingredients:

315g White Bread Flour

90 g Whole Wheat bread flour

45g White rye flour (you can use WBF too)

90g Sourdough Starter (1:2:2)

333g Water (74% hydration)

9g salt

Inclusions:

Walnuts – 2-3 handfuls

Blueberries – 25 small ones

Oats - for topping

Method:

1. Autolyse the bread flours by mixing them with water roughly and leave for 2 hours or more in a warm place around 25 deg C e.g. in the oven with the light on during winter.

2. Add in starter when it’s at its peak (i.e. risen more than double) and mix well into the dough by hand for 5 mins. Check by stretching dough that there is no tearing. Rest for 30 mins.

3. Add in the salt and if the dough is not so extensible, add a little water. Round off the dough in the bowl and rest 30 mins.

Stretch & Fold’s

4. Perform 3-4 sets of Stretch and fold (S&F) at intervals of 30-45 mins during the bulk fermentation of between 3-5 hours.

Tip: Wet your hands to prevent sticking each time before doing S&F.

Coil Folds

5. Do 3-4 sets of coil fold (CF) after your S&F’s at intervals of 30-45 mins during the bulk fermentation. If dough is still weak and spreading, do an additional CF.

Tip: Wet your hands & scraper to prevent sticking each time before doing CF.

5. Rest for at least 6 hours till dough becomes billowy and jiggly, it’ll be ready for shaping.

LAMINATION & SHAPING

6. Pour the dough onto a floured surface. Wet your hands to prevent sticking. Stretch the corners of the dough outwards and sprinkle walnuts followed by blueberries on the dough.

7. Do a folding action starting from East-West sides and then roll from the South side up tightly and pinch the seams on both sides of roll. Round it off with your scraper to create tension.

7. Grease your loaf tin on its bottom and sides and lift the dough with your scraper and into the tin.

8. Cover with cloth and put in the fridge overnight for 12-16 hours.

9. After the cold retard, by now, the dough would have risen and looks billowy.

[Tip: Do the ‘Poke’ test on your dough and if it springs back slowly, it is ready to be scored and baked]

10. ‘Bench rest’ - leave the dough outside on the counter for 20 mins.

11. Decorate the loaf with oats and walnuts.

12. Scoring helps the loaf to release the trapped air as it expands. Slash the dough in a straight line across the middle of the loaf lengthwise.

13. Cover the dough with foil and bake in 240C for 25 mins and uncovered for 15-20 mins at 230C.

14. Cool for at least 1 hour before slicing into the bread to prevent a gummy inside. Patience! The bread is still cooking inside when freshly baked.

15. After slicing, enjoy them fresh or freeze them in freezer bags as necessary and enjoy as toasts.