Soup With Vegetable and Meatballs

This is a simple soup of winter melon and pork meatballs. The author mentioned that she came across this simple meal at the tranquil old lanes of central Chengdu, where a woman was eating her supper of this lovely soup of meatballs and winter melon, with a bowl of rice.

You can use any vegetable you like, such as bean sprouts, choy sum, cabbage or tomatoes. But take note that if the vegetable you choose takes a few minutes to become tender, cook it before you add the meatballs. If it cooks almost instantly, then add them in when the meatballs are just about ready. 

According to the author "If you want to make this into a one-dish meal, like the lady in the old lanes, use your chopsticks to pluck out the meatballs and vegetables and them with your rice, then drink the soup from your empty rice bowl."

We had this soup as  part of a meal with rice, along with some other main dish and a stir-fry veggie.

The recipe can be found here.
(or from Every Grain Of Rice by Fuchsia Dunlop, pg 248)

I'm linking this post with Cookbook Countdown #19 hosted by 

Kitchen Flavours and Emily's Cooking (Makan2) Foray

Rich and Delicious Dinner Rolls

The recipe for these fabulous rolls is from, The Everyday Baker by Abigail Johnson Dodge, a thick (617 pages) lovely book, with tons of recipes, with detailed instructions, tips and techniques. Recipes Chapters are divided as Morning Food, Quick To Make, Cookies, Cakes, Pies and Tarts, Puddings and Custards, Yeast Breads, Pastry, Flatbread and Fruit Desserts. 

I'm a big fan of Abby Dodge and especially love her yeasted bread recipes, and as soon as I saw the name of these rolls, Rich and Delicious Dinner Rolls, I just had to make them.

She has given a few methods of shaping ; round rolls, single-knot rolls, twist rolls, cloverleaf rolls. I've chosen to make them as round pull-apart rolls. The dough is kneaded in the stand mixer, and it was a beautiful smooth, satiny shiny dough. Enriched with butter and eggs, the dough is similar to a brioche dough. 

I've baked the rolls in a 10" square baking pan, instead of the 13 x 9-inch pan as indicated in the recipe. There's four rows of four rolls each, making a total of 16 pull-apart rolls.

Rose beautifully and baked to a lovely golden brown.

So soft with airy texture! 

Wonderful when eaten warm, spread with cold salty butter, and a mug of hot black coffee. And we even ate the rolls, split, sandwiched with onion omelette on a bed of green salad leaves, with our favourite mayo-chilli sauce. A keeper recipe.

Rich and Delicious Dinner Rolls
(The Everyday Baker, Abigail Johnson Dodge)
makes 16 rolls
3-3/4 cups (479gm) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (50gm) granulated sugar
2-1/4 tsp quick-rise (instant) yeast
1-1/2 tsp table salt (I use scant 1/2 tsp, as the butter is salted)
1 cup (240ml) whole milk
8 tbsp (4oz/113gm) unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces (I use salted butter)
4 yolks from large egg
1 whole large egg
1 tbsp water
nonstick cooking spray or neutral oil (safflower, canola, vegetable, or corn), for greasing the dough and bowl

1. Put the flour, sugar, yeast and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk until well blended. Heat the milk until very hot but not boiling. Add the butter and stir until melted. Check the temperature using an instant-read thermometer. For the yeast to activate, the liquid needs to be between 115℉ and 125℉ (45℃ to 52℃). Fit the mixer with the dough hook, turn the mixer on medium-low speed, and pour the warm milk mixture into the flour mixture along with the egg yolks, mixing until the flour is completely incorporated. Increase the speed to medium and beat until the dough is smooth and shiny, 8 to 10 minutes. If the dough climbs up the hook, stop the mixer and scrape the dough into the bowl as necessary. The dough will not pull away completely from the sides and bottom of the bowl, and it will be soft and slightly sticky to the touch.
2. Remove the dough hook, scrape the dough onto the counter, and knead once or twice until it no longer sticks to the counter and passes the windowpane test, about 1 minute. Shape the dough into a ball. Lightly grease the sides of the bowl and put the dough, rounded side up, back in. Cover the bowl with a plate or plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 60 minutes.
3. Lightly grease a 9x13x2-inch (23x33x5cm) baking dish (metal or Pyrex). Scrape the dough onto an unfloured work surface and press down on the dough to deflate it. Using a bench scraper or knife, portion the dough into 16 equal pieces, about 2 oz (57gm) each. To ensure even rolls, use a scale to weigh the portions. Working with one piece at a time and keeping the others covered, arrange the dough toward the back of your flattened palm near the thumb joint. With the edge of your other palm (curved slightly), press gently but firmly on the bottom of the dough, moving your top hand from the front to the back. This will rotate or spin the dough while keeping the top side up, Repeat until it forms a smooth-skinned ball with a sealed bottom. The goal is to stretch the top of the dough from opening up as it expands during baking.
4. Put the ball, round side up, in the prepared baking dish, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and repeat with the remaining dough. (The dough balls can be arranged in four rows of four or just randomly yet evenly placed). Lightly spray the tops of the dough and cover loosely but completely with plastic. Let the dough rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, 25 to 40 minutes.
5. Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 375℉ (190℃/Gas 5). Put the egg and water in a small bowl and mix with a fork until well blended. When the rolls have risen to about 1/2 inch (12mm) above the pan, remove the plastic and brush with the egg wash. Bake until the rolls are puffed and deep golden brown, 17 to 21 minutes. Move the pan to a rack. Serve warm or let cool completely, cover, and stow at room temperature for up to 2 days.

I'm linking this post with Cookbook Countdown #19 hosted by 

Kitchen Flavours and Emily's Cooking (Makan2) Foray

Egg Tartare

It's Potluck week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), and I've made Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Egg Tartare for lunch.

Quick and easy lunch snack to make. I've omitted the dill and have replaced the parsley with cilantro. And added a pinch of paprika instead of Tabasco sauce.

I thought that my Egg Tartare was a little runny, maybe because the yolks are quite runny to begin with. But I am not complaining! 😉 We had the Egg Tartare with some store bought bread, makes a nice, quick lunch, and a full tummy! With a mug of hot black coffee.

Egg Tartare
(River Cottage Everyday, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall)
6 medium eggs, at room temperature
4 spring onions, or 2 small shallots, finely chopped
3-4 gherkins (about 30gm), finely diced
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
1 tablespoon finely chopped dill (optional)
2-3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 dab of Dijon mustard
2-3 dashes of Tabasco sauce (optional)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
slices of wholemeal, sourdough, rye or your favourite bread, to serve

First, boil the eggs. They should be what I call soft-hard-boiled that is, the whites completely set but the yolks just a bit runny in the middle. I achieve this pretty reliably by putting them in a pan of hand-hot water, covering it and bringing it quickly to the boil, then boiling for exactly 4 minutes - 5 if they are extra large. Then I run the eggs under the cold tap and peel them as soon as they are cool enough to handle.
Roughly chop the eggs and mix with the spring onions or shallots, gherkins, capers, parlsey and dill, if using.
In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard and Tabasco, if using, Gently combine this mixture with the eggs and season with salt and pepper. Serve on wholemeal, sourdough or rye bread, as closed or open sandwiches.

I'm linking this post with I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), theme for this week

June IHCC Potluck

and

I'm linking this post with Cookbook Countdown #19 hosted by 

Kitchen Flavours and Emily's Cooking (Makan2) Foray