My weekends (and weekdays) of late have commenced with food preparation that often transcend into the early afternoon hours. Saturday morning following a frenzy of grocery shopping was no exception.
I proceeded to compile two bowls containing 390 g of chopped banana. One had melted butter poured over the bananas; the other had bananas placed directly into just-melted butter. Let it be known the latter, more convenient method encouraged emulsion, while the other separation.
Due to the lack of banana-y-ness of this batch of fruit, both loaves emerged a bit lacking in terms of potency. Despite bearing near-identical visuals to my regular yield, the outcome was undeniably similar to a loaf cake studded with turbinado.
The hope had been to achieve flakier layers by using a bench scraper to cut the butter into the flour and assemble the dough on a flat surface rather than in a bowl. Admittedly, I ought to have reviewed the video in advance of the activity, but too frequently do I dive in first and resort to intuition.
The specified 1/2 cup of water remained consistent with SK's, however my dough exhibited signs of dampness and gluten formation, likely from over-mixing.
My sole gripe was the rigidity of the crimped edges; they were thicker than the bottom and far too stiff to sever with a fork.
Acknowledging my carelessness, I declared a need to revisit pie dough while adhering to Claire's method. The water would be added before transferring the dough to a flat surface, and larger chunks of butter could be left as is. Storage of the pie should take place at room temperature, for transferring to the fridge too soon caused apple-y juices to be absorbed into the mash, rendering utter loss of structure.
An open box of Glico Mild had caught my attention earlier in the week during the meal contemplation phase. But alas, I had neither carrots nor potatoes to realize the composition.
The unplanned trip to Asia Food Mart had enabled procurement of produce, including the aforementioned elements. It wasn't until 36 hours later, however, that I returned to my basket to find flimsy, withering carrots with grey speckles. Half of the batch was discarded.
Albeit slightly runny and containing too great a proportion of potatoes to meat, the dish was delicious, especially when served over freshly cooked, short-grain rice.
My attempt at reinventing budget drumsticks led me to the classic Cantonese dish of Swiss Chicken Wings. Most recipes commenced with a braise of common Chinese household ingredients:
- Ginger
- Scallion
- Dark soy sauce
- Light soy sauce
- Yellow rock sugar
- Star anise
- Cinnamon sticks
- Bay leaf
- Shallot
The directions involved bringing the ingredients to a simmer and creating a braise. Separately, the chicken would be blanched for the removal of impurities, placed in an ice bath to prevent overcooking, then returned to the braise. Lastly, the chicken would then be removed from the pot and the sauce thickened to a dark, flavourful syrup.
Things did not continue as planned, however. Bruising along the handle of the drumsticks caused rust-coloured blobs to disperse throughout. Even after equipping myself with my trusty tri-layered mesh ladle, the braise did not revert to its original clarity. Furthermore, the drumsticks neither adopted its glorious hue, nor did the braise condense to a viscous syrup. My blunder likely lay in the addition of too much water.
I would collapse onto the floor of my home office for a brief moment before mustering the strength to sit upright, then proceed to conduct cleaning.
- Choy Sum and Gai Lan quality was mediocre, though very clean and easy to wash
- Produce quality was absolutely appalling: from a fibrous, watery mound of imported Chinese grapefruit to a Spanish Sugar Apple that moulded from within to bendy carrots, there wasn't a single item deserving of praise
- Meat quality was passable; biggest advantage is the availability of pre-portioned packets priced identical to the butcher counter blocks