Biscuits: flaky

This recipe from King Arthur Flour uses cold butter for a flaky texture; this is what enticed me: "Using cold butter and working it into the flour until the mixture is unevenly crumbly, on the other hand, will result in higher-rising biscuits that are 'layered' and flaky". There are lots of other good technique tips and suggestions in that article.

Starting to flake inside, easy to split with a fork

360 g   3 C    All-Purpose Flour
        1 tsp  Salt
        1 Tbs  Baking Powder

 85 g   6 Tbs  Butter, cold
230 g   1 C    Milk, cold (more as needed)

Preheat oven to 425F or 400F convection.

Line a baking sheet with parchment.

Whisk together the dry ingredients.

Cut in the Butter with a fork, pastry cutter, or food processor to get an uneven crumbly mixture like breadcrumbs.

Drizzle in the Milk and mix gently and quickly until it becomes cohesive; if it's too dry, add more Milk, but don't knead it or it will become tough.

Turn it out onto a floured counter.

Roll it into a rectangle 2cm / 3/4-inch thick;

fold in thirds like an envelope and repeat the roll.

Cut into 12 squares or rectangles; cutting circles will require re-rolling which will toughen the biscuits.

Place on parchment-lined sheet pan, brush with butter or milk, and bake 15-20 minutes until light brown.

Didn't rise as much as I expected

2021-02-07 Used food processor, didn't get breadcrumb texture, perhaps it's too aggressive. Didn't rise much. Took > 20 minutes with 400F convection. Interior was very slightly gummy. Doh! I used 1 tsp instead of 1 Tbs Baking Powder, 1/3 what I needed! Next time use the correct amount of (fresh) Baking Powder; consider cutting in butter by hand.

Attempt #2 with proper amount of baking powder

2021-02-14 This time I used 3 Tbs baking powder, but they still didn't rise enough, certainly not like the King Arthur photos; Irene said she could taste the levener. What am I doing wrong? The baking powder expired almost a year ago, but it was a can I just opened today, and it's worked for Irene's baking.  This time I also did an extra fold and roll to even the edges; was it overworked? I didn't add the Sugar the original recipe requested, but I don't believe the chemical reaction needs it. Again, I didn't brush with Milk or Butter. And this time too I used the food processor and did not get the "breadcrumb" texture. 

 

Next time: make the dough by hand, cutting in the butter with a pastry cutter. Add the Sugar. Brush with Milk or Butter. Use 425F non-convection. 

Khoresht-e Fesenjan: Lamb or Chicken in Pomegranate Sauce

I've made this with chicken and lamb, and have tweaked the spices, quantities, and procedure slightly. If using lamb, be careful that the rich sauce and spices doesn't overpower the mild flavor of the meat. This is a very rich dish and will feed about 8 with the proportions given.  1.5 hours cooking time

Fesenjan served with basmati tahdig

Adapted from a recipe posted by Emma Fernlund (thanisa@df.lth.se), from Persian Cooking: A Table of Exotic Delights, by Nesta Ramazani 1974, ISBN 0-8139-0962-7.

Serves: 8

2 large     Onions, chopped or sliced 

5 Tbsp     Butter 

2.5 pound   Chicken or Lamb, cut into 1-inch cubes

2 cup     Chicken, Lamb, or Veal Stock

2 1/2 cups  Walnuts, ground: some fine, some corn-kernel size

1 cup       Water

4.5 Tbs     Pomegranate Syrup (substitute sour cranberry juice) 

2-3 Tbsp    Sugar 

2-3 tsp     Salt 

1/2 tsp     Saffron (or turmeric) 

1/4 tsp     Cinnamon (ground from stick instead of pre-ground)

1/4 tsp     Nutmeg 

1/4 tsp     Pepper 

2 Tbsp     Lemon juice

6 pods     Cardamom, ground

3     Cloves, ground

Saute the onions in 2 Tbsp of the butter until golden brown.

Remove from the pan.

Add 3 more Tbsp of butter and saute the chicken/lamb pieces until lightly browned.

Drain fat.

Add the Stock and sauteed onions.

Cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes.

Bone if needed.

While that's cooking...

Grind the Walnuts to a mix of sizes;  the texture too thick if ground uniformly fine. 

Toast the ground walnuts in a saucepan or skillet until aromatic.

Prepare the sauce by stirring the water into the ground walnuts.

Stir in the pomegranate syrup and sugar, and simmer gently over a low heat for 10-15 minutes.

Roughly grind the walnuts

Add the walnut sauce to the cooked, chicken/lamb and onions.

Add the seasonings and the lemon juice.

Cover and simmer gently for another hour.

Adjust the seasonings by adding a little sugar if too sour, or more pomegranate syrup if too sweet.

The chicken/lamb pieces should be coated with a rich, dark, sweet-sour sauce; there should be plenty of thick sauce.

Serve with rice, preferably Tahdig. Couscous also works well, as would unleavened bread.

Basmati rice tahdig

Canelones de Bacalao y Samfaina

Canelones are a traditional dish in Catalunya, imported from Italian canoli. They have myriad different fillings;  a combination of meats seems most common, but I wanted one with bacalao -- the dried salt cod that has an appealing texture and funky aroma when rehydrated.  Many recipes I found had a loose chunky filling that looked floppy and unappealing, others ground the fish into a paste resembling cat food: I wanted texture and structure so the rolls were firm and well-defined. I found this recipe which used a traditional Catalan sauce "Samfaina" that's somewhat like French ratatouille, but more cooked down. It proved to be an excellent vehicle to hold the fish, and provided an attractive bright contrast to the Béchamel sauce and gratin of Manchego cheese.

Three pieces per person is a bit much, it's rich

We used what we had on hand, with hydrated bacalao and dried scallops for the fish, and made some substitutions for a couple of the ingredients in the samfaina, but it shows we don't need to be pedantic to make a great dish.  We also made our own pasta instead of using the pre-made dry pasta sheets they have in Catalunya. This was too much food for the two of us, and could have fed three as it was quite rich.  

Pasta:

  1       Egg

100 g     All Purpose Flour

Fish:

135 g     Rehydrated Bacalao

 25 g     Rehydrated dried Scallops (save the hydration water)

          Olive Oil

          Flour

Samfaina:

          Olive Oil

1 medium  Onion, chopped fine

3 cloves  Garlic, sliced thin

1 C       Tomato, chopped coarse

1 C       Green Pepper, chopped

2 large   Roasted Red Pepper (from a jar)

1 C       Squash flesh

Béchamel:

1 Tbs     Butter

1 1/2 Tbs Flour

1 C       Fish stock and/or fish rehydrating water

1 C       Milk

          Nutmeg

          Manchego Cheese, grated

Whiz the egg in a food processor, add flour and pulse until it combines, first into a coarse sandy texture then into a ball; form by hand if it doesn't come together. Wrap in plastic and let hydrate overnight in the fridge.

Rehydrate the Bacalao, changing the water a couple times to reduce salt; also rehydrate the dried Scallops overnight. The water from the dried Scallops is quite flavorful, and you can save if for the sauce.

Heat the Oil and cook the Onions about 10 minutes until softened; add the Garlic, cook a bit more. Add the other Samfaina ingredients and cook low for at least an hour, but two is better. If it's getting too dry, cover the pot. We want a thick-ish consistency that will bind our fish.

Cut the Pasta dough into two pieces, and roll out each with a pasta maker, reducing down to its finest setting -- #9 on our Marcato Atlas model. Lay it on a dish towel and roll out the other one. You should end up with each sheet being about 20 inches long, by the 6-inch width of the machine. Cut each sheet into 3 pieces.  Cook in boiling salted water until done, but it still retains a little "bite". Let cool and dry on a kitchen towel. The pasta sheets will have expanded significantly, but the width should fit in a lasagna pan. 

 

For the Béchamel, melt Butter in a pan, add the Flour and cook until lightly colored. Add the fish stock or hydrating water, and cook down; it should thicken and reduce. Add the Milk, and cook until it thickens. Grate in a bit of Nutmeg, season with Salt.  Add a bit of the Bechamel to a lasagna pan to prevent the pasta from sticking, or use a bit of oil.

Roughly chop the Bacalao and Scallops, and saute in Olive Oil a few minutes until just cooked. Sprinkle with a bit of Flour and cook out the raw flavor. 

Add the Samfaina, stir to combine, and cook a together a little longer. If Oil starts separating, dust with a bit of Flour and cook a bit to bind it all together. Taste and adjust Salt.

Bacalao and scallops combined with Samfaina

Roughly divide the filling in the pan into six sections, then lay a snake of filling on each pasta sheet, across the 6-inch dimension. Roll each up and put, seam-side down, in the lasagna pan. I separate them a bit (groups of 3) so I will be able to use a spatula and pull out a serving at a time.

Cover (but don't smother) with Bechamel, then top with grated Manchego. 

Broil until the sauce starts bubbling and the cheese browns attractively. Carefully pull out the Canelones and plate; two pieces this size should be enough for each person.

Spaetzle made with a potato ricer

Spätzle is German cross between noodles and dumplings, with an appealing toothsome texture. They're great with Beef Bourguignon, our Jurassic Chicken, Pörkölt, and many German dishes. We use a potato ricer's large holes to get fat, textured strands. 

We based this on a recipe from sports-glutton. The batter was a bit thicker than I expected and quite sticky. It required some force to push it through the large holes of a potato ricer. I was concerned that the strands would stick as they emerged, so I submerged the end in the simmering water as I squeezed the ricer. Our ricer has three disks, we used the largest holes, about 1/4 inch.

2 pax   4 pax  4 pax

140 g   260 g    2 C    All Purpose Flour

2.5 g     5 g    1 tsp  Salt

110 ml  215 ml 3/4 C    Milk

  1       2      2      Eggs

                        Butter

2025-01-12 I converted the recipe to metric and reduced to for 2 person serving;

I also used a food processor with plastic dough blade to mix it on low speed for a few minutes.

In a bowl (or food processor, or stand mixer), whisk Milk and Eggs together.

Add the Flour and Salt.

Stir with a strong spoon or spatula -- or food processor or stand mixer -- until fairly smooth; 

by hand this will take some time and muscle: it will become thick and sticky from gluten development.

It should be thicker than pancake batter; add water if too thick and dough-y, flour if too thin.

Bring a pot of salted water to the boil; when ready too cook, turn it down to a simmer.

With the batter next to the pot, fill a ricer with the batter about 2/3 full;

a thick batter should reluctantly drip through the ricer's widest holes, not flow.

Press down to extrude the batter through the holes into the simmering water;

if you think it's in danger of having the strands stick together, submerge the head in the water a little as you squeeze out the batter. 

Repeat until the batter is used.

Give the pot a gentle stir to make sure nothing's stuck to the bottom.

Adjust the heat maintain the water at a gentle simmer.

When the spätzle floats to the top, give it another 30 seconds or so to finish cooking.

Fish out the strands that have finished into strainer over another bowl to drain.

When it's all cooked, add a bit of butter to the bowl and toss to prevent sticking.

You can hold the cooked, buttered spätzle in a ziptop bag in the fridge for a few days.

Biscuits: 2-ingredients, with self-rising flour

These biscuits use equal measures by weight of cream and self-rising flour. We don't tend to stock self-rising, so we make it by adding some baking powder and salt. These are not flakey layered biscuits but have an even tender crumb that's a little pillowy. I rolled then cut rectangles so I didn't have to re-roll scraps with round biscuits and toughen the resulting dough. This is from Serious Eats, with the baking powder amounts from the comments.

You can cut rectangles or squares, or circles

280 g  9 1/2 ounce  Flour, all-purpose
 14 g    1/2 ounce  Baking Powder
  7 g    1/2 tsp    Salt (weight is better, coarseness varies wildly)
300 g     10 ounce  Heavy Cream

Preheat oven to 425F convection, 450F conventional.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment.

Whisk the dry ingredients.
Drizzle in the Cream.
Stir well to combine roughly.
Scoop out onto floured counter and roll into a rectangle about 12x18-inch;
fold and roll again into a rectangle;
fold and roll again into a 12-inch square.
Cut with a knife, bench scraper or pizza wheel.

Place cut biscuits on parchment-lined cookie sheet.
Brush tops with a bit more cream.
Bake 12-15 minutes until risen and golden brown.

Biscuits, ham, poached egg

"Thaidig": a Thai variation on Persian crunchy rice

We really enjoyed Samin Nosrat's Tahdig, a foolproof way of getting crunchy Persian rice. We wanted to see if we could take it somewhere untraditional, with Thai flavors and asian rice. It worked really well, the flavor combination and the additions to the rice made for a fun and satisfying meal. 

Our first question was whether Jasmine rice would crunchify like Persian Basmati rice; with Samin's yogurt hack, this was a definite "yes".  For the Thai flavor, we started with coconut milk, then added chilis, galangal, and some salmon we had.  This made plenty for four people as a complete dinner.

Crunchy top conceals coconutty rice with salmon and squash

  2 C      Jasmine Rice
  4 Quart  Water
1/3 C      Kosher Salt

  1 C      Coconut Milk
  1 Tbs    Thai Shrimp Paste
  1 piece  Galangal root, thumb-size, sliced thin
  3 whole  Thai Chilis, de-seeded, cut thin

  1 whole  Kaffir Lime leaf, bruised

  3 Tbs    Oil, neutral flavored

  3 Tbs    Butter

  3 Tbs    Yogurt

 10 ounces Wild Salmon, cut into 1-inch bitesized pieces

 10 ounces Butternut Squash, cubed and cooked
  2 Tbs    Thai Fish Sauce
  2 Tbs    Lime Juice

Rinse the Jasmine Rice in cold water in a fine sieve several times.

Bring the Water and Salt to boil, then drain and add the Rice; cook 6-7 minutes until al dente (Jasmine seems to take a bit less time than Basmati, don't overcook). Drain in sieve and run under cold water to stop cooking, then drain again.

While Rice is boiling, heat the Coconut Milk, add and dissolve Shrimp Paste, and add Galangal, Chilis, Kaffir Lime Leaf, and cook to coax out the flavors.

Heat the Oil and Butter until melted and frothy in a 12-inch non-stick skillet. 

Remove 1 1/2 C par-cooked Rice and gently mix with the Yoghurt, then add to hot skillet and line the bottom of the pan.

Gently fold the Salmon, Squash, and Flavored Cocount Milk into the remaining Rice. Add to the base layer of rice in the skillet, trying not to disturb it as it forms a crust; spread evenly, then poke 6 holes to the bottom of the skillet to let moisture escape and the rice to crisp up. Splash the Fish Sauce and Lime Juice over the top.

White base on the bottom, flavored and stuffed rice on top

Cook 20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes to heat evenly.

Check the edges for browning; add a bit of oil around the outside if needed. Cook another 15-20 minutes until the crust is formed and well-browned. 

Edges browned, white foam shows salmon is cooked

Invert a serving platter over the skillet, and with confidence and gusto, invert quickly; the finished dish should easily fall onto the platter. 

Look at that crust! Brown spots are where we punched holes for steam

Serve.

Adjustments

The intensity of the Coconut Milk was just right -- noticeable but not over-powering. The proportion of Salmon and Squash seemed good. We couldn't detect any heat from the Chilis, though they were plenty fierce before cooking, so add more.  The Fish Sauce and Lime Juice were barely noticeable, so bump these up too.

Future directions...

With this under our belt, we're interested in trying even more silly variations, like Gumbo-inspired (roux for flavor, with andouille sausage and okra), middle eastern, etc. Will regular American short-grain rice work? We don't think Italian arborio (risotto) would work as it's designed to get creamy; asian sticky rice might be fun; Spanish bomba rice could but its virtues are probably best expressed as paella.

Do we need the yogurt? Would unflavored coconut milk also provide coherence and browning? Would the butter and oil be enough by themselves?

We'd also like to scale down the recipe for two people. For 1 Cup Rice, my math says an 8-inch pan provides the proportionate area.

Samin Nosrat's Tahdig (Persian-ish crispy rice)

Samin cooked Iranian/Persian basmati rice to develop the crunchy bottom, the coveted "tahdig", on the cooking show Salt Fat Acid Heat. I love that stuff, so was happy to find her adaptation which is so easy. It uses Yogurt to help bind and brown the crunchy layer, and parboiling so you can finish cooking -- and develop the crust -- in a low non-stick skillet instead of deep pot. I've adjusted it a bit for our pans, over-sizing the crusty rice base a little. It makes enough for four, but we found the leftovers heated up OK, but were not quite as fragrant. (David Lebovitz borrows from Samin and several others, but uses less water and salt in the parboiling stage; he mixes yoghurt and butter, and adds saffron which sounds excellent).

We mixed in some small cubes of cooked squash to the second Rice addition and it was a fine complement to the rice. 

Crunchy rice!

  2 C   Basmati Rice
1/3 C   Kosher Salt (depending on saltiness)
1/3 C   Yogurt
  3 Tbs Vegetable Oil
  3 Tbs Butter

Rinse the Rice several times until the water runs clear; easiest to do this in a fine mesh sieve in a bowl.

Bring 4 Qt Water to boil with salt, it seems like too much Salt, but it doesn't cook long and most of the water is discarded. Boil the Rice 6-8 minutes until al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop cooking.

Heat a 12-inch non-stick skillet, add Oil and Butter, and melt; it'll turn frothy.

Remove 1 1/2 C Rice and mix with Yogurt. Add to skillet and flatten to cover the bottom: this will become the crust.

Add the rest of the Rice on top, mounding slightly to the center. (Poke 6 holes through the rice to the bottom of the skillet to allow steam to escape so the rice dries out.

Cook 20 minutes over medium heat, turning a quarter turn ever 5 minutes for even browning.

Check the edges to ensure they're browning, if not, add a bit more oil around the edges. 

Edges starting to brown; we added some cubed squash

Cook on low heat another 15-20 minutes until the rice is done, crunchy on the bottom.

Place a platter over the skillet and bravely invert: the rice should detach easily and form a beautiful display. Serve.

Deconstructed Fruit Cake Ice Cream

We received a Grandma's Gourmet No Sugar Added Fruitcake which was loaded with fruit, but tooth-achingly sweet. We decided to take it apart and make an ice cream from its components. I started with my Saffron Ice Cream, which is a standard custard-style, proportioned to fit in our cheap churn. I reduced the sugar since the cake has a lot, and reduced the egg, because the cake in the cream mixture helped thicken it.

Ice cream tastes like fruit cake, fruit and nuts mixed through

 17 ounces Fruit Cake
1.5 C      Whole Milk
  2 C      Heavy Cream
1/2 C      Sugar (down from 1 C)
  2 whole  Eggs (down from 3)

  2 Tbs    Brandy

Add Milk and Cream to pot; break apart Fruit Cake, trying to keep fruit and nuts intact, and add to the pot.  Warm pot and allow cake to dissolve into cream, stirring gently to separate fruit and nuts.

Strain through coarse strainer.

Separate nuts from fruit, reserving fruit; bake nuts until toasted (it's OK if some of the cream sticks to the nuts).

Whiz the cakey cream in Vitamax blender; add in Sugar and blend; add in Eggs and blend until smooth. 

Heat gently in the pot to 170-175F, stirring frequently so the Eggs start to set but do not overheat and curdle them.

Pour into bowl, cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, pour base into spinning chilled ice cream maker churn; when it starts setting up, add Brandy to loosen a bit, so it doesn't tax the motor too much. If you've got room (and motor), add fruit and nuts; otherwise, stir them in before adding to freezer tray. Churn 20 minutes, it should swell as air is introduced.

Add churned ice cream to one or more flat-ish freezer containers and freeze overnight.

Buttermilk Scalloped Potatoes

I wanted rich Scalloped potatoes without cheese, not a gratin, and wanted the potatoes to "gel" instead of slip-sliding past each other. This uses the brine from the buttermilk marinated chicken. You could use regular Milk, too. This recipe is similar but uses a half the Milk and no Cream. It does take a long time to bake, so plan ahead. 

  1 L      3-4 Cups    Buttermilk marinade from chicken (or Milk)

                       Salt

                       Pepper
    pinch      pinch   Nutmeg

  2 clove    2 clove   Garlic, minced

  1 Kg       2 Pounds  Yukon Gold Potatoes

 30 g        2 Tbs     Butter

200 ml     2/3 C       Heavy Cream (may not be necessary)

Heat the Buttermilk in a pot until simmering, taste for Salt and adjust; add Pepper, Nutmeg, Garlic.

The buttermilk will start separating, but once the potatoes start cooking in it, the starch will bring it together again.

Optionally, peel the Potatoes; don't rinse, the starch will help gel the Milk.

Slice Potatoes 1-2mm thick on a mandolin and add to the hot Buttermilk.

Cook at a gentle simmer about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally,  until slightly tender but not in danger of falling apart.

Butter a casserole or baking dish to prevent sticking; toss any remaining Butter in the pot.

With a slotted spoon, layer the cooked Potatoes casually into the casserole.

Pour over with remaining Buttermilk, then Cream.

Bake 80-90 minutes at 180C/350F; you can probably go higher so it can bake at the same time as the Chicken.

Let sit 10 minutes to "gel".

If you do this in advance of the Chicken, you can reheat after gelling and cooling.

Buttermilk-Marinated Roast Chicken

This comes from Samin Nosrat's Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat (video) -- the chicken roasts up an appealing burnished brown, with moist flesh; it's surprisingly easy to make. You can make Scalloped Potatoes at the same time with the used Buttermilk, but they take longer to bake than the chicken.

Chicken on rack over cast iron pan: save those juices!

3-4 pound Whole Chicken
  2 Tbs   Salt
  4 Cups  Buttermilk

Generously salt the Chicken, inside and out; let sit an hour to absorb.
Put in a large bag and add 4 Cups Buttermilk; seal and fridge overnight.
Drain and save the Buttermilk for Scalloped Potatoes.
Put chicken on a rack, breast-side up, over a pan and let come to room temperature for an hour.

Heat oven to 425F/220C, non-convection.

Point the chicken legs to the corner, bake 20 minutes, reduce heat to 400, bake 10 minutes, point the legs to the other corner, and bake another 30 minutes.

Let sit 15 minutes before carving.

Save the pan juices! Pour out, scraping all the bits, let cool and separate. The fat has good flavor, but OMG, the concentrated juices firm up like precious demi-glace and is super tasty!

Zucchini Carpaccio

A refreshing and rather fancy-looking light appetizer for two. This recipe is unusual in that it provides different textures with the grilled slices versus the raw ones. The quantities here make a light side dish, but can be scaled to 3 Zucchini for a full meal for two people.

1         Zucchini (we used green)
1 tsp     Salt, Kosher

          Lemon Zest from 1/2 Lemon
          Lemon Juice from 1/2 Lemon
2 Tbs     Olive Oil, excellent quality (we once used smoked EVOO)
2 Tbs     Pine Nuts

1 Tbs     Mint leaves, torn

1 Tbs     Basil leaves, torn

6 pieces  Parmesan Cheese, shaved

On a mandolin, slice 3 slices from each side of the Zucchini, about 2mm thick; these will be seared so they need a bit more substance than the rest, and searing will make the skin more interesting. Slice the rest thinner on the mandolin. If you don't have a mandolin, you can cut the thick slices with a knife, and the thin ones with a vegetable peeler.

Using separate bowls or storage containers to simplify assembly, toss the thick and thin zucchini with Salt in bowls, and let sit for 30 minutes or so to draw off excess moisture. Drain then dry on kitchen towels.

In each of the separate bowls, whisk half of the Lemon Juice and Olive Oil, and return the thick and thin Zucchini. Combine gently and let marinate in the fridge for an hour or longer -- overnight is fine.

Pull out the 6 thickest pieces of Zucchini and sear until you've got some appealing black spots and it's heated through.

Meanwhile, toast the Pine Nuts and tear the Mint and Basil into strips.

Arrange the seared Zucchini on plate as a base.
Gently mix the Mint and Basil with the remaining uncooked Zucchini strips to combine.
Top the seared strips with a loose mound of the remaining, seasoned Zucchini.
Garnish with Pine Nuts, Lemon Zest, and shavings of Parmesan.

Fresh Pasta: Dried vs Just-Rolled

We make our own pasta dough and roll it out with a manual pasta roller and cutter; it's  easy enough we can do it on a weekday evening, and good therapy after a busy day. The dough can be made ahead and frozen in dinner portions, then thawed fairly quickly. 

One time we rolled it with a rolling pin, then floured it, rolled it into a loose jelly roll, and cut the noodles with a knife. We happened to let it air dry on the top of a warm fridge for a few hours while we prepped the rest of the meal. This turned out to be some of the best pasta we've made, with an excellent "bite".

Is there a difference between pasta that's been left to dry, versus just rolled and cut before boiling? We tried it out.

We cut the same lump of dough (equal parts AP flour and coarse semolina, and egg) into two pieces. I rolled one out and cut it into Fettuccine, dosed it with flour, and arranged it in a loose nest on a kitchen towel. We let it dry out for about 7 hours. 

We got two pots of salted water boiling, then repeated the rolling and cutting with the second lump. 

We then put both sets of noodles in separate pots, cooked until done, and served. We sauced some of it with pesto from our garden's basil, but left plenty exposed to try "naked".

The air-dried pasta was more toothsome, and seemed a bit more golden (possibly oxidized?); the freshly cut pasta had a softer texture.  They both seemed to taste the same. Interestingly, as the meal progressed, sauced with the pesto, the dried pasta retained it's firm texture, while the just-cut pasta became a bit too soft -- at least in comparison.

Our take-away is that both are good -- we eat the just-cut frequently -- but if you have the time, it's worth air-drying. This also opens opportunities for pre-making pasta before friends come over, and letting it dry until they arrive, then just boil: you don't have to be throwing flour around on your friends as you make last-minute pasta.  

Larb Kai: Thai Chicken Salad

This Thai dish is refreshing, especially on a hot day; we serve it cool to room temperature. The toasted rice is important -- without it there's a big exotic aroma you'll be missing. Have some extra lime juice and fish sauce to adjust the taste when done. Serve over lettuce leaves and rice like Jasmine or sticky rice. Other variations of the spelling use Laab and Gai. 

Serves 2 as a dinner, 4 as an appetizer.

80 ml     Lime Juice

50 ml     Fish Sauce

15 g      Brown Sugar

40 g      Toasted Rice Powder (see below)

 2        Kaffir Lime Leaves, julienned thin

10 g      Galangal, julienned fine

 2        Spring Onions, sliced, including green parts

 6        Thai Red Chilis, sliced

 3 sprigs Mint leaves, chopped

handful   Coriander, chopped

370 g     Chicken breast, chopped fine with a knife

500 ml    Chicken Stock (reuse previous batch of cooking liquid)

Mix Lime Juice,  Fish Sauce, and Sugar to dissolve; set the dressing aside.

To make toasted ("parched") rice, "dry fry" rice (preferably sticky/glutenous) in a skillet until it starts turning an attractive toasty color and releasing a nutty aroma. Grind in spice grinder. You can make extra and save it for the next time. 

Julienne very finely the chewy Kaffir Lime Leaves and fibrous Galangal.

Slice the Chilis and chop the Mint and Coriander.

Slice and chop the Chicken Breast by hand -- it doesn't take more than a few minutes, and a machine turns it to mush. You're looking for a size maybe a bit smaller than a pea, but consistency isn't important.

Cook the Chicken gently in the Chicken Stock; it doesn't take long, since it's so fine -- don't overcook it.

Drain through a sieve and collect the turbocharged stock, save for the next time.

Combine the cooked chicken, liquid dressing, vegetables and toasted rice;

you may want to hold back some of the chilis, depending on your pain tolerance :-)

Stir well, the toasted rice will absorb some of the dressing. 

Adjust flavors with Lime Juice and Fish Sauce.

Arrange Lettuce Leaves on a plate, top with cooked Rice, then mound the Larb Kai.

Eat while the flavors are fresh and zesty.