Home-made ciabatta

Home-made ciabatta with lemon curd from Christmas from a dear friend

I made some ciabatta this morning based on a recipe by Bakerzin Artisan Bread.

Here's the recipe:

500g bread flour plus extra for dusting

2 tsp salt

2 g instant yeast

1 g bread improver (I omitted this because I suspect this is a form of preservative or additive which I don't prefer to use)

350 ml water

25 g olive oil (I used extra virgin. But of course.)

Method

1. Add flour, salt, yeast and bread improver into mixing bowl, then add about 230 ml of water and start mixing at low speed. Mix for about 3 minutes.

2. Add remaining water and oil gradually, and increase speeed to medium and mix for 10 min. Increase to medium-high speed and mix for another 10 min; and finally, to high speed for 5 min. Mix until the dough is well developed, does not stick to the wall of the bowl and can be stretched without resistance.

3. Place dough in container that has been oiled and floured. Allow dough to rest and double in size, about 1 hour or more. Then turn it out onto a floured top and spread it gently. Fold dough in half from left to right, and top to bottom. Place proofed dough in another container and allow to proof a second time for another hour or so.

4. When dough has doubled in volume, turn it out onto a floured top and flip it over.

5. Gently spread the dough out to form a square about 3cm thick. Careful not to break air pockets when handling.

6. Trim dough sides to neaten, then halve it into 2 rectangular loaves, 20x10cm

7. Lightly flour a baking sheet and bake loaves in a pre-heated oven at 230 degrees Celsius for 18-20 minutes, until the loaves have risen and turned a nice golden brown. Remove and allow to cool on wire rack. 

Have fun, if you dare.

Click here to read What is Ciabatta?

Word of the Week: Ciabatta

Some people pronounce Ciabatta as Sha-ba-ta, some say Cha-ba-ta, still others call it Car-bia-ta. Even amongst the Italians, the pronunciation differs although no one argues on its meaning of "slipper bread". It is a somewhat elongated flat bread made from wheat flour.  Crisp on the outside and moist and chewy (and holy!) on the inside, it is one of the loveliest breads to have with a soup or a lemon curd.

I made some this morning - see my pictures here plus recipe and method.

Hot pan-seared meat on cold salad

Yes, I'm still on a duck roll. Today, I sliced up my pan-seared duck breast and tugged it snugly onto a pile of fresh greens. No carbo meal. I like the hot and cold in my mouth. 

Check my other duck posts:

1. Roasting a whole duck in 4 hours

2. Roasting ducks in Munich

3. Pink-blush duck breast with crispy, crackling top, done home sous-vide style. This is a clear winner and was featured in the Asian Food Channel Official FB Page on 06 February 2012. It is now the most popular post on my blog.

Slow-roasted Duck Legs

Prodded on by the relatively good success I've enjoyed so far with ducks, today, I ventured into duck legs, and again was similarly rewarded with a stunning outcome.

I used a dry mixture of minced garlic, shallots and thyme and left it in the fridge overnight.

Next day, preheat oven to 200 degrees C/400 degrees F. Remove dry mixture and place duck legs in a roasting pan. Add preferred vegetables like carrots or onions. I had some baby potatoes to get rid of so I plonked them in hoping I could call them potato confit, which by the way seems to be a favourite in gourmet magazines.

Cover loosely with aluminium foil and pop it in the oven for 45 minutes. You don't need to oil this baby. It's full of good animal fats in it and you can render more duck fat!

After 45 min, remove foil, drop temperature to 170 degrees C and roast skin side up in the oven for another 45 minutes.

And wahla, this is how it looks at the end - nicely browned crispy skin duck legs with meat shreddable by a fork.

Check my other duck posts:

1. Roasting a whole duck in 4 hours
2. Roasting ducks in Munich
3. Pink-blush duck breast with crispy, crackling top, done home sous-vide style. This is a clear winner and was featured in the Asian Food Channel Official FB Page on 06 February 2012. It is now the most popular post on my blog.

My duck breast featured on Asian Food Channel

I was thrilled to find my blog post on the sous vide duck breast featured on Asian Food Channel's Official Facebook Page yesterday! It garnered almost 400 Likes in half a day before it got lost amongst the other food posts. And I experienced a sudden spike in my viewership yesterday. Not bad for an Extra Virgin Blogger. Well, my duck breast post is now my most popular post, thanks to AFC! 

Click here to read the entire post. Now ducks and I are one!