Tuesday, 20 October 2015

Yakitori (Japanese Chicken Skewers)





A tasty snack or a light meal. 



Preparation time 45 minutes (including marinating time)
Serves 4





Ingredients:



Yakitori Ingedients


Marinade: 

  • 1/4 cup sake
  • 1/4 cup mirin
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar

Chicken:

  • 500g skinless thigh fillets

Spring onion:

  • 4 large white part only

Skewers:

  • 8 x 15cm bamboo skewers

Equipment:

  • Medium or large zip lock bag
  • Small saucepan
  • Barbecue, chargrill pan, charcoal grill


Instructions:



1. Soak skewers in water for around half an hour. This prevents the wood burning during cooking.




2. Mix mirin, soy sauce, sake, and sugar into a small sauce pan and cook for  around 8 minutes or until the marinade reduces by a third and becomes thick and glossy. Allow to cool.

3. Reserve 1/3  cup for basting during cooking and another 1/3 cup of marinate to be used as a dipping sauce when served.

4. Cut chicken thighs into 2.5cm (1 inch) cubes as best you can and place into zip lock back. It is better for the chicken slices to be on the smaller side and that they are consistent in size. This really helps with cooking.

5. Add marinade to chick in bag and massage the marinade into the chicken until all the chicken is coated.

6. Place chicken in fridge for 30 minutes.

7. Remove the greens from the spring onions (shallots) and cut remaining into 2.5cm lengths or the same size at the chicken pieces.

8. Thread the chicken and the spring onion onto the skewers. alternate 3 pieces of chicken (approx) with each piece of onion.




9. Heat you BBQ,  grill pan or charcoal grill to a medium high heat.

10. Cook skewers for approximately 8 minutes turning frequently and add baste frequently with reserved marinade.


11. Check that chicken is properly cooked by cutting into one of the larger pieces of chicken.  The outside of the chicken should be slightly charred and caramelised.

12. Coat one last time with marinade and serve with dipping sauce.



Thursday, 24 September 2015

Temperatures for yeast in breadmaking





From: Science of Cooking

300° F–400° F (150° C–205° C) 
Surface temperature of a browning crust.

200° F (100° C) 
Interior temperature of a loaf of just-baked bread.

130° F–140° F (55° C–60° C) 
Yeast cells die (thermal death point).

120° F–130° F (49° C–55° C) 
Water temperature for activating yeast designed to be mixed with the dry ingredients in a recipe.

105° F–115° F (41° C–46° C) 
Temperature of water for dry yeast reconstituted with water and sugar.

100° F (38° C) 
or lower When yeast is mixed with water at too low a temperature, an amino acid called glutathione leaks from the cell walls, making doughs sticky and hard to handle.

95° F (35° C)
 
Temperature for liquids used to dissolve compressed yeasts.

80° F–90° F (27° C–32° C) 
Optimum temperature range for yeast to grow and reproduce at dough fermentation stage.

70° F–80° F (21° C–27°C) 
Recommended water temperature for bread machines.

40° F (4° C) 
Recommended refrigerator temperature. Used directly from the fridge, yeast is too cold to work properly.

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