Sussex Pond Pudding, The Daring Baker Challenge April 2010

The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet.

Sussex pond pudding with Meyer lemon sauce serve with cream, delicious! My Meyer lemon has started to blossom, you can imagine how fragrant the air when you pass this tree.

My curiosity would have been paid off, if I could find the real suet to make the pastry. I was disappointed, but it should not be the end of the world, I can still made the pastry with butter as the substitute. The important thing is, I didn't miss the challenge just because I couldn't find the important ingredient for this traditional British Pudding, suet!.

I made what is called "Sussex Pond Pudding", instead of making it in a big bowl, I chose to make it into individual sizes. I also chose the recipe that require the least amount of time to steam. I found the recipe from Delia, she is like the Martha Stewart of England if you wish (according to my British friend). There is nothing I don't like about the recipe, the ingredients are also very simple, and uses lemon. Anything with lemon always sound good, yes?

So, the most challenging part for me beside finding the suet was to transfer the pastry to fit nicely into my molds, but that was minor I guess. The result was pretty good with a slightly bittersweet taste which I kind of like. You can find the recipe here if you are interested of making it.

Thank you Esther, it was a nice and delicious challenge. And thanks to Lisa and Yvonne who created this wonderful event.

PRETZEL, A simple One

When I woke up on Sunday morning, I got a call from my sister to let me know that she was coming with her friend. I immediately went to my kitchen, with one think in my mind. I wanted to make pretzel. I didn't really have time to browse for the recipe, so I just put everything together in a food processor, and hoped that would work. I made it this way once and worked just fine. To make a pretzel, I will need a chemical solution called "lye", and I am not really comfortable to work with any chemical that come with a lot of warning signs. I also know that to make it at home you can substitute this "lye" with baking soda. Which, I am more comfortable with it.

The result? I must say that I was quite happy with this pretzel. You can hear the crunch noise when you first sink your teeth in it. It was also nicely chewy and very tasty. They said this one was really good. Now, I just need to learn how to knot it better. If you know any blogger that has instruction with the step by step photo, please send me the link. Thank you!!!

Simple Pretzel

~elra~

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp salt
1 cube fresh yeast
1¼ cups to 1½ cups filtered water
4 tbs baking soda

Kosher salt for sprinkling

• Place flour and salt in a food processor, mix them with your finger tips. In a small bowl, crumble the yeast, add about ¼ cup of water and mix well. Pour it into food processor with the rest of the water. Process until the dough comes together, then transfer to floured kitchen counter top, knead with your hand for one minute. Shape into a ball.

• Lightly oiled a large bowl. Place the dough in this bowl, cover with plastic, let rest for about 45 minutes to an hour (I let mine rested for 45 minutes, remember I was in a hurry)

• Divide the dough into 8 portions. Roll each portion into long rope, and shape into pretzel. Place it in a cookie sheet line with parchment paper. Repeat with all the dough, then place the cookie sheet in the refrigerator. Let rest for an hour.

• Preheat oven to 425⁰F.

• Boil some water and baking soda, then lower the heat so that the water is now become simmer. Take out the cookie sheet from refrigerator, dip one pretzel in the simmering water for about 10 to 15 seconds. Using a slotted cooking spoon, take it out and place it back in a cookie sheet. Continue with the rest of the pretzels. Slash each pretzel in random places if you like, sprinkle with a little bit of kosher salt.

• Bake in the middle rack for about 20 minutes, or until the pretzels are completely dark brown. Cool before serving.

Sending my pretzel to share with Susan for her weekly "yeast spotting" event.

Kanafeh/Knāfeh/Künefe/Kunafa (Shredded Phillo With Cheese Filling, Flavored With Rose Syrup, and Top With Pistachios)

There are so many different speling for this sweet confections from Middle East. I first tasted this delicious treat at the Arab village in Jerusalem. I forgot the name of the store, but it said to be best one in Jerusalem. The Kunafe was really sweet, the cheese filling was somewhat a melty, smooth, and almost like a melt fresh mozarella in it. Gosh, it's so hard to describe this, unless if you ever eaten one. Can you believe that this is actually eaten for breakfast? Imagine how sweet life can be if every morning you have breakfast like this, right?

I wanted to make Kanafeh/Knāfeh/Künefe/Kunafa so badly, I consult Arlette and also did some research on the internet. It's funny to found out that none of my Middle Eastern cookbook has this recipe, except one, my Turkish cookbook. But, the recipe wasn't convincing enough, and the directions was a bit confusing. So I decided to do my first trial, using my own imagination, which turned out to be a disaster and unpalatable. Then, the second trial was, I must say I was quite happy with, my family like it, although it was absolutely different taste then the one I've tasted in Israel.

I know there are plenty of variation of Kanafeh/Knāfeh/Künefe/Kunafa depending on which country they are come from. One thing for sure, they all use the same type of pastry which is shredded phyllo dough (Kataifi pastry?). This pastry becoming more and more available here in the US. So, it would not be to challenging to find. Although the type of cheese required for this recipe might not be readily available in your local grocery store, they can be purchase online here. Some of the recipe I found called for Naboulsi cheese, and some using combination of Akkawi and Mozarella. I couldn't really find both cheese in my local grocery store, and I couldn't wait any longer for my second trial, so when I found another recipe using combination of mozarella and ricotta, I right away made it. I'll be making it again using the Naboulsi cheese, and will post the result.

I also like this video on how to make kunafe, it's in Arabic, but there is subtitle in English. In the meantime (while you are busy looking and waiting for that and this cheese), why not make this version?

Recipe adapted from dedemed

1 package shredded phyllo pastry, thaw according to package direction (you will only use half of this)

½ cup milk
3 tbs semolina flour

1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted

1 container (15 ounces) ricotta cheese

2 cups shredded fresh mozarella cheese (about 2 large balls)

2 cups Rose syrup, recipe follows

Update: the mozarella I used was the fresh buffalo mozarella (it's soft), I am not sure how the end result going to be if you are using the regular mozarella which is firmer.

• Preheat oven to 375⁰F. Butter a 11-inch cake tin, set aside.
• Heat the milk until almost to come to a boil, add semolina flour, mix until the mixture is thicken. Mix mozarella and the ricotta in a large bowl, transfer the milk mixture to ricotta-mozarella mixture. Mix well. Set aside.
• Using your hand, crumble the pastry and separate the strands, then mix it with melted butter until evenly distributed. Take half of the pastry, and transfer it into prepared cake tin. Spread out evenly, then press it firmly. Add all of the cheese mixture, distribute it evenly, cover with the rest of the pastry, gently press against the cheese, make sure to cover the cheese completely. Bake in the middle rack for 45 minutes, until the pastry look nicely golden brown. Let the pastry rest for 5 minutes before invert it to a serving plate. Pour the cooled syrup on top, and serve with chopped pistachios if desire.

Rose Syrup:

Boil gently 2 cups of sugar and 1½ cups of water until slightly sirupy. Add 1 tablespoon rose water. Mix, and transfer to a bowl, cool at room temperature.