Beef Tendon

With less than 1 month to go before I travel to Asia, things have been a bit hectic. Cleaning up things, packing stuffs and getting ready for the end of another school year for the kids takes up alot of my 24 hours in a day. Along with that comes allergies and alternative weather of hot and cool can take a chunk of energy and concentration.

Recently I have received a few comments on my posts. As understood, a blog is exclusive to the writer of the blog herself and whether to publish a comment or not, reply or ignore is simply at the blogger's free will. Why do some people think they simply can barge in and takes up other people's blog or web space just for the sake of advertising their own interests? Is this the new trend of cyber bullying? Inserting one's own links disguised in the name of "comments" in the hope of free advertising through other people's blogs is certainly something I don't tolerate. To me, this is outright taking advantage of other people's hardwork blogging and if the intention to advertise is made clear outright to the blogger in accordance to the advertising on blogs etiquette with appropriate terms agreed, perhaps things will just turn out good. Thank goodness Blogger provides me with the Comment Moderation button or else I would have to deal with all these nonsense all the time. What a waste of time! If you don't like it, set up your own blog and put all your comments there. And yes, no matter how many attempts of this sort can be, I adopt that Ignorance is Bliss!

Got some Beef Tendon from the Asian Market yesterday. Usually I eat this part of the cow only in Vietnamese Pho dishes and also sometimes on cold appetizer dishes served at Chinese weddings, together with Jelly fish or Pig's ears. The tendon comes in white tubes, color and texture resembling the raw beef stomach on the outside with a tough gelatinous centre. It is this center part that contains high content of collagen which is believed by the Chinese people to supply protein that strengthens and builds one's bones and joints. Before cooking, they look long and huge but after being in the pot, they shrink alot and the outer layers curl up and tightens. The tendon needs to be cooked for more than 3 hours to soften it for eating or else it can really break your tooth gnawing it, not mentioning a choking hazard as its cooked down gelatinous content makes this a very slippery piece of food in your mouth which just slides down easily down your palate.

I preboiled the tendon for 20 mins to shrink it and clean it thoroughly before simmering it in a combination of soy sauce, 5 spice powder, star anise and dried tangerine peel. A pressure cooker will come in handy for this dish but I cooked it on the stove top for more than 3 hours, with addition of extra water every hour. The amount of dark soya sauce seems alot in the beginning but after 3 hours with additional water, it diluted to the right saltiness. So, the amount has taken into account of this fact and to reduce the soya sauce quantity may not yield a very robust and flavorful dish. I served this dish cold and eaten together with rice.

Recipe

Ingredients

1 to 1.5lb Beef Tendon

5 large Pips of Garlic

4 small Red shallot

1 small knob of ginger (the size of your thumb)

5 slices of Dried Tangerine Peel

2 Star Anise

1/2 tsp Chinese 5 Spice Powder

1/2 cup Dark soy sauce

1 tbsp Chinese Cooking Wine

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

Water

Chopped Scallion for Garnish

Method

1. Peel and slice the shallot, garlic and ginger thinly. Leave aside with the tangerine peel and star anise.

2. Wash the tendon under cold running water. Boil 7 to 8 cups of water in a stock pot large enough to hold the tendon. Once the water is boiling, immerse the tendon (as a whole) into the stock pot and let it simmer for 20 mins on medium heat.

3. Remove from the heat, discard all the water and spoon out the tendon. Rinse the pot and put it back on the stove top. Heat 2 tbsp of cooking oil and drop in the shallot, ginger, garlic and star anise. Fry for a minute. Add in the tendon pieces, 5 spice Powder, cooking wine and stir to coat and mix. Pour in the Dark soy , sugar, salt and drop in the tangerine peel. Cover with lid and simmer for about 10 mins.

4. Add in 3 cups of water and stir the tendon around. Cover with lid and Let it simmer for 1 hour on medium heat.

5. Add in another 3 cups of water and stir. Using a kitchen shear, snip the tendon all over. It will still be too hard to cut the tendon. Snipping randomly ensures the flavor seeps into every part of the tendon. Cover with lid and let it simmer for another 1 hour on medium heat.

6. Add in another 3 cups of water and stir. Snip again with kitchen shears, this time should be softer but still hard to cut. Cover with lid and let it simmer for another 1 hour, making it a total of 3 hours.

7. Try to cut the tendon to see if the texture has softened enough. If there is no resistance when cutting it, cut one piece to try out. The texture should be slightly crunchy but very chewy and tender at the same time. If a more tender texture is desired, add 1 cup of water and continue to cook for another 20 to 30 mins.

8. Lift up the tendon and let it cool down. Slice thinly. Can be eaten hot or refrigerated to serve as cold dish.

Serves: 4 to 5 person as side dish

Rhubarb & Cranberry Whole Wheat Pie

Spring is the season for Rhubarb and strawberry. Similar to celery in shape, Rhubarb is not associated to the green Celery though but considered a vegetable generally but called and referred to as a fruit in America. Its leaves are removed as they are toxic and the  stalks are packaged and sold. This is my first time baking with Rhubarb and I didn't know what to expect except for the fact that it is very tart in taste and more sugar is needed to balance out the tartness for the filling of this pie. I still have a pack of frozen cranberries and thought it would be lovely to bake an all Red pie, both fruits equally tart in taste and served warm with a dollop of whipped cream on the side.

For a different take on the pie crust, I used whole wheat flour and a combination of butter and vegetable shortening to yield a more short and light pie. Using whole wheat flour requires more water to be added to the flour and butter mixture and if you are using the usual All Purpose flour, reduce the water by half. The dough is more tender with the use of vegetable shortening and may be difficult to lift up from the rolling surface onto the pie plate. Any breakage during this process can be easily patched up randomly with loose dough. Unlike tart which needs to look conformed and professionally done on the tart pan, pie is the opposite, where the more rustic and homemade it is, the better it looks! I prefer to use light brown sugar for this pie for the richer flavor and as I wasn't sure how much juice did the Rhubarb yields for the pie after the baking, using brown sugar gives more moisture to the filling. As both Cranberry and Rhubarb are tart, I had to use 1 cup of packed light brown sugar to get the right amount of sweetness for this pie. 

Recipe

Pie crust

475g Whole Wheat Flour

140g Cold Butter

140g Cold vegetable Shortening

1 tbsp Sugar

1/4 tsp Salt

5 to 7 tbsp Cold water

Filling

375g Rhubarb, outer tough skin peeled and cut into small pieces

200g Cranberries

200g packed Light Brown sugar

2 tbsp All Purpose Flour

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

15g cold butter, cut into small pieces

1 tbsp Light Brown sugar

Method

Pie crust

1. Stir the whole wheat flour together with the sugar and salt. Move the content to the food processor.

2. Cut the butter and vegetable shortening into smaller pieces and drop in randomly into the flour.

3. Process with the pulse mode to mix in the butter & vegetable shortening. Do not over mix.

4. Starting with 4 tbsp of the cold water, add into the butter and flour mixture and pulse to mix till the content comes together to a soft dough. If still dry, continue to add 1 tbsp of water till enough. The dough is ready when you can clump it together into a disk. Place in a plastic bag and let it rest in the fridge for 1 hour.

Filling

1. Stir the Rhubarb and cranberries together.

2. Stir in the Brown sugar to mix thoroughly, but do not crush the cranberries.

3. Stir in the cinnamon and all purpose flour.

To Assemble

1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Remove the dough and roll out enough to line a 9 or 10 inch pie pan. Save some for decoration. Alternatively, an 8 inch double crust pie can be made out of this recipe. Line the pie pan.

2. Spoon in the fruit filling and spread out to fill the pie dough. Cut out any extra dough with your cookie cutter. Drop the butter pieces randomly all over the pie filling. Arrange the dough cut outs to decorate your pie. Sprinkle the extra brown sugar all over the filling. Place the pie pan onto another large baking sheet, to catch any filling if baked and bubble over.

3. Bake for 15 mins. Then, reduce the oven temperature to 375F and continue to bake for another 55 to 60 mins.

4. Remove the pie and let it cool for 15 mins before serving. Best served warm.

Serves : 6 to 8 person

Lemon & Coconut Cake

Oh Spring, why art thou so lovely and brutal at the same time? My seasonal allergies have been slowing me down big time! Watery and itchy eyes with a runny nose just makes life miserable. Simply rubbing my nose dry, so to speak! As age catches up, I feel I am  more susceptible to these type of seasonal allergies and any allergens can trigger something in me. Oh how I envy those people who can enjoy the spring air out there without any glitch or sneeze.

Notice that I have done less of cooking and baking compared to last year? Perhaps I have diverted my attention to something else or perhaps my successful weight loss have more or less curbed my appetite for all things fried, sweet and fattening. Not that I totally cut out everything but the urge to overdo with the butter, oil and cheese is just not so overbearing already and I tend to eat with a conscious mind taking notes of the high and low calories of the food. Infact I am shifting my interest from cooking magazines to fashion magazines. Oh how Vain.... but the idea in my head is still the same, only shifting attention from beautiful cakes to lovely dresses.

For a lovely cool spring day (minus the allergies), I thought of coconut and its fragrant nutty aroma. I bought a pack of toasted dried coconut flakes long time ago and only now I figured on what to do with it. Coconut flesh comes mostly in the dried and vacum packed form here, either cut to big flakes or produced into almost powder dessicated form. For this recipe I used the dried strands type which bakes beautifully with the cake batter and lends a crunch to the moist and tangy cake itself. This recipe was reduced to yield a serving for 6 only so that I don't get too much to eat while relishing every bite. I maintain the idea that you can have your cake and eat it too..... only that you don't have to eat too much of anything.

Recipe

Ingredients

60g Softened Butter

115g Low Fat sour cream

130g All Purpose flour

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/8 tsp salt

110g Sugar

1 large Egg

50ml fresh lemon juice

grated zest of 1 lemon

1/2 tsp Vanilla paste

30g toasted coconut shred

30g Brown sugar

Method

1. Grease a small loaf pan & preheat oven to 350F. 

2. Sift the flour together with the baking soda and salt.

3. In Another bowl, beat the butter and sugar till creamy. Add in the egg, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla paste and beat to combine. The mixture will look like a mess and not smooth.

4. Spoon half of the flour into the butter mixture, fold in to combine.

5. Spoon in the sour cream next and stir to mix. Lastly fold in the remaining half of the flour.

6. Spoon batter into the greased pan.

7. Mix the brown sugar together with the coconut shred. Sprinkle onto the surface of the cake batter. Press gently down so the coconut shred stick to the top of the cake batter.

8. Bake for 30 to 35 mins.

9. Let the cake cool inside the pan for 10 mins, remove and cool completely before serving.

Serves: 6

Mango Pudding Tart/Mothers Day

Happy Mother's Day to all Mothers who follows my blog. I am in my 7th year of being one and everyday I learn something new on taking up this very challenging role. Sometimes I whine, nag, frustrated and worn down but all in all, motherhood is pretty much the most satisfying duty and undertaking a woman can go through in her life. To see a little child growing up while being involved as a a parent, friend, mentor, authority and problem solver takes all of a mother's love and concentration. A Mother's love can never be compared nor measured by anything and to be able to give it all out is a celebration of unconditional love everyday. My hope for my kids is that they will always think that I am part of their lives no matter how old they are and will always see me as a fun and loving mother despite my occasional nags.

I had nothing in particular to bake but got some lovely Ataulfo Champagne Mangoes from the grocery store. Oh, I love mangoes so much. Luscious, juicy, sweet and tangy at the same time and so bright in color. Always reminds me of my home in Malaysia where most households have a tree or two, taste good with sugar & soy sauce when raw and decadently delicious when they ripened and fall from the tree.

For this tart, I whipped up a pudding like mango filling and spread it into the pre-baked tart case and decorated it randomly with cut mangoes, strawberries, non pareils and heart wafers. Most mango pudding recipes always requires the pureed mango to go through a sieve to remove the fibrous content but I found that absolutely unnecessary and also very tedious of which I was not willing to waste my time on. Hence, this pudding filling is not smooth but very full with mango taste and I am sure no one will complain as the texture complements the crisp and light buttery tart base. It is like eating mango jam on a cookie.

Recipe

Tart Base (to line an 8 inch size round tart pan)
250g All Purpose Flour
170g Cold Butter, cut into smaller pieces
1/2 tsp salt
5 to 7 tbsp cold water

Mango Pudding Filling
1-1/4 cup Pureed Mango flesh (about 2 large Ataulfo Mangoes)
1/4 cup Sugar
3 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
2 tsp Corn Starch
Strawberries & Extra mango, cut into small cubes for garnish

Method
Tart Base
1. Sift the flour & salt together.
2. Dop in the butter pieces. Use processor to cut OR use your hands to crumble the butter into the flour. Do not overmix, just enough to coat the flour with butter to yield coarse crumbs.
3. Add in the water, starting with 5 tbsp first. Continue to process on pulse mode or gather with hands till the flour & butter comes together to form a soft dough. Continue to add water by 1 tbsp at each time if too dry. Do not overwork the dough.
4. Form the dough into a disk, cover and let it rest in the fridge for 30 mins. Preheat the oven to 375F. Grease the tart pan with butter.
5. Remove the dough from fridge, roll it out to line the tart pan. Tuck in on the sides with extra thickness. Line the tart dough with aluminum foil and baking beans. Bake for 15 mins.
6. Remove from oven, reduce the temperature to 350F and remove the foil and baking beans. Continue to bake for another 10 to 15 mins. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature.

Mango Pudding Filling
1. Dissolve the cornstarch in the heavy cream.
2. Place the eggs & yolk together with the sugar in another bowl. Whisk till the sugar dissolves.
3. Stir the cornstarch into the heavy cream, bring it to a rolling boil on low heat and continue to stir.
4. Pour half of the heavy cream into the eggs in the bowl and continue to whisk so that the eggs do not curdle.
5. Take this mixture and pour it back into the remaining heavy cream in the pot and keep stirring on low heat till it thickens to coat the back of the spoon (like custard). Remove from heat. Continue to stir for another 5 mins, add in the mango puree. Fold to combine.
6. Let the mixture cool to room temperature and spoon into the pre-baked tart case. Smooth out with a large icing spatula.
7. Cover and let the tart rest in the fridge for 2 hours or overnight. Decorate with mango pieces.

Serves: 8 person