15 LichField Road556835 Singapore
Hi there ! So if you follow me, you probably know that I work in a tiny artisanal super yummy bakery in Singapore (Microbakery&Kitchen) owned by a Singaporean friend. Being French I was born with bread, raised with baguettes and pain de campagne, and developed over the years a strong tastebud for sourdough loaves. At Micro the team bakes the best sourdough in the whole Singapore I believe, and each time I part time there I end up increasing too strongly my Gluten intake 🙂 So normally at home I tend not to bake too much bread, especially as I don’t bake sourdough (not enough time commitment for that unfortunately) and tend to avoid yeast. But once in a while I am tempted to make my own bread, probably some kind of maternal manifestation of my love for my family (yes my kids and buddy are Bread lovers !). I had made a few previous attempts at no knead breads but they were not so successful (crust to soft, or dough not airy enough…) so when I found out about the Sullivan Street bakery no Knead Bread recipe on NY Times cooking website I was again tempted to give it another trial !
Made a few adjustments to the original recipe, twisting the flour and adding some seeds/ nuts. If you are stuck at home at the moment and are in the mood for baking, go for it, you won’t need to go out to buy bread tomorrow morning 🙂 confinement recipe validated ! and you will enjoy really good tartines for brekkie with your family. This recipe is really easy and you can make it with your kids ! Just need to plan resting time of min 14 hours (ideally around 16 🙂
As always, don’t hesitate to contact me if you make this recipe and have any question or feed back. ENJOY !
INGREDIENTS
3 cups flour : 1,5 cups spelt + 1,5 cup wholewheat* (can substitute with GF flour but bread density will be different, I have tried with Bob’s redmill 1 to 1 successfully )
1,5 cup water at 25 deg C
1 medium carrot grated (for extra fibers 🙂
1/2 cup seeds or nuts (choose whatever you like, I like hazelnuts or walnuts and pumpkin seeds also work very well 🙂
2 tbsp chia seeds
Optional 1/4 cup dried apricots / raisins / cranberries and if you choose them optional spices (0,5 tsp cinnamon or 0,25 tsp cardamon)
1,5 tsp sea salt
3/4 tsp dry instant yeast
INSTRUCTIONS
The day before (afternoon if you are planning to bake next morning), whisk all dry ingredients together i a large bowl, and add the water gradually. Stir well to combine everything well.
Cover the bowl tightly and leave it to rest on your countertop at room temperature.
16 hours later minimum:
Preheat your oven at 230 deg Celsius Fan forced.
Put your pan in the oven to preheat as well. You need to use a pan that has a lid and can go in the oven. Ideally a Staub / Le Creuset / Dutch oven kind of pan. It will help getting a nice crust and moist interior.
After 30 min preheating, scrape your bread dough out of the bowl. It should have well risen and be airy. it will be sticky so use some more flour to work on your dough and shape it in a ball form. You might need quite a fairly amount of flour depending on the flour you used. It’s normal ! Add flour and shape your dough until it gets the shape of a ball and is not sticky any more.
Transfer your dough on a baking paper sheet, scar it, and top with a little nuts/seeds if you want to.
Take out your Pan out of the oven, transfer the dough with the baking paper into it, drop some water on your lid (using a spray bottle works well 🙂 and close immediately the lid, then put back your pan in the oven for 35 min.
After 35 min, open the oven, remove the lid and let the bread crust get a nice colour for approx 10/15 min (check regularly).
Once you have a nice bread loaf with a nice golden or slightly darker crust (depending on your taste), take it out and leave on a grid to rest and cool down for min 1 hour before slicing (otherwise it will get mushy).
Enjoy immediately, or keep in a bread bag for a few days, or slice and freeze to eat on demand if you leave in SG 🙂
Carrots are often thought of as the ultimate health food, right ? Like me, you probably heard a million times your parents say “Carrots will help you see in the dark” or “carrots will give you a nice skin” when you were a kids 🙂
Purple, red, yellow, white, orange…. whatever the variety, they are all rich in antioxydants and in vitamin A (good for your view). Also they can be found all year round and are so versatile to accommodate different bakes and meals! I always have lots of them in my fridge.
So today it’s a soup I cooked with orange ones (you can swap for purple if you want a fancy colored soup :). Adding some nuts and yogurt makes it a protein and healthy fat rich dish. If you are vegan opt for plant yogurt otherwise go for greek one, which creaminess completes so well this spiced soup.
Super easy recipe below. Have fun cooking and eating it 🙂
INGREDIENTS (for 4 bowls)
- 1 kg chopped carrots
- 400 ml low sodium vegetable stock
- 400 to 700 ml water (according to desired consistency)
- 300 grs chopped yellow onions
- 1 crushed garlic clove
- 25 grs grated fresh ginger
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp chili flakes (omit if eating with your kids or adjust to spiced level you like)
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- Roasted spiced cashews: 50 grs cashews / 1/16 cup coconut sugar / 1tbsp coconut oil / 1 tsp garam masala /1/4 tsp salt / 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- To serve top each bowl with 1 heaped tbsp greek or coconut yogurt, chopped cilantro, sliced red onions and some of the roasted spiced cashews
DIRECTIONS
- Heat oil in a large pan (medium / low fire). Add the onions and cook until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and stir for a few min, then add all spices and stir for 1/2 min until fragrant.
- Add the salt, the carrots, the stock and bring to a boil. Top with the water and let it simmer, covered for 25 min (Check after 15 min if need to top up with water).
- In the meantime, mix the cashews with the oil, sugar and spices in a bowl to fully coat them, and then put in preheated oven (160°C) to roast for up to 20/25 min (should be golden but not overly brown :). this can be done of course ahead and you can also prepare a bigger batch to use as toppings for salads, other soups, or even as snacks …
- Once the veggies are cooked, blend the soup and add some more water if you need until you reach proper consistency.
- To serve, pour soup in bowls, top with yogurt, red onions slices, cilantro and roughly chopped roasted spiced cashews.
- Eat with some pita bread,GF wrap, or some grains and leafy greens to have a complete meal.
I first discovered dumplings when we were living in Australia and I was travelling to Hong Kong regularly for work.
Of course I had eaten some “Chinese raviolis vapeurs” in France before… But oh my god, nothing slightly comparable ! From the skin to the filling, dumplings can be so versatile and flavorful. Of course, I always go for the vegetarian options when I eat dumplings in restaurants or hawker centers in Singapore, and the choice is more limited. So sometimes I prefer to make them at home, especially when I want to have more consistent ones, like those tofu veggie ones, which are super balanced and nourishing.
I am sharing below the recipe of the filling, but for the dough, I must confess I haven’t found the proper recipe yet. So just buy some good quality wraps like these wholewheat I found, or wait until I crack the recipe 🙂
Instructions (serves 4)
- 3 tbsp coconut oil (or olive oil)
- 1,5 cups finely shredded cabbage
- 0,5 cups grated carrots
- 1 block (200 grs firm tofu), drained
- 1/2 cup shredded cilantro
- 1/2 cup shredded chives
- 1 chopped white onion
- 1 big tbsp minced ginger
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp shaoxing rice wine (substitutes can be mirin, then omit the sugar, or dry sherry)
- 1 tsp sugar
- 3/4 tsp salt
- A good pinch of pepper
Instructions
- Heat up your wok or large pan, and add the coconut oil, then add the onions and cook until translucent. Add the garlic and ginger and cook stirring well for 1 more min.
- Add the cabbage, carrots and crumbled tofu and cook until veggies are tender (5 min stir fry approx).
- Take it away from the fire. Add the herbs, and all the other ingredients, stir well to mix everything all together and let it cool down
- Once it has cooled down, you can start assembling your dumplings. Take a wrapper, wet one half, pour a heaped tbsp of filling (or more depending on the size of your wrapper), and pinch the sides to close your dumpling.
- Then finish cooking, but heating up a pan with 1 tbsp of oil. Put some dumplings (ensuring they don’t touch) and let them fry for 2 min (until the bottom is crusty). Pour 1/4 cup water and cover with a lid and let cook until all water has been absorbed (approx 8/10 min)
- Remove the lid, let them for 1 more min in the pan, and eat with some spice sesame oil (recipe in dressings)
- Enjoy
Nb: if you don’t plan to eat all your dumplings, freeze the raw dumplings and when you feel like having some, follow the same process as with fresh ones to reheat and cook them.
Rain on the menu again 🙂
A good excuse to cook a comforting curry !
It is amazing how versatile veggies can be. Trust me if you try this recipe which features many ingredients I have already combined in other curry recipes I have shared, you will get something very different from the previous ones !
Also, by changing the sides you eat it with, you can make it healthier (green leaves, salad option), comforting (naan, flat breads, ..), richer in fibers or protein (red or brown rice, quinoa, frekkeh..).
Who said vegan food was dull ??? !!
Try the recipe by following the link below and share your thoughts with me 🙂
I have enjoyed so much French and mediterranean food while on Holidays.. I had almost forgotten I how much I love Asian food.
An today we were all craving for a curry type of dish. I didn’t have much fresh veggies in my fridge so I did this easy dahl recipe that requires really basic staples you will surely have in your cupboards.
If you want to invite the sun on your table and enjoy a comforting easy to make hearty healthy curry, give it a try.
Recipe in the link below.