Skinny Prawns and Avocado Pizza

I like pizzas with a thin, crispy crust. Pizzas are one of the things I really like to make at home. I wish The Husband like pizzas a lot more so I can keep making lots of it at home.

Thin crust pizza usually requires preparation in advance. Supposedly, the dough will be really good if you let it raise slowly in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Too bad, I only read about this a few hours before dinner time.

This pizza recipe doesn't call for slow rising of the dough so it is perfect for a last minute pizza. I like this recipe because it is pretty simple and the addition of corn meal gives it a nice texture. If I have to do this again though, I have a feeling that baking it for about 5 mins before heaping up with all the ingredients would result in a more crackly pizza.

Ingredients
2 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup water
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 tsp yellow cornmeal or wholemeal flour

What I did
1. Mix all the ingredients together except for the dry yeast and water
2. Make a little well in the centre of the flour mixture
3. Add in the yeast and water
4. Knead until smooth
5. Let rise until dough doubles in size (about 1 hour)
6. Spread whatever ingredients you like on top of the dough. I added some red pesto sauce for the base, mini portebello mushrooms, prawns, avocado and some mixed mozzarella and cheddar cheese

For another easy to make pizza dough - see here.

Simple walnut raisin bread

This is another simple bread recipe I really like. You can actually add what you like to it. But a handful of walnuts and raisins work really well.

I like to add like slightly less yeast to my bread but I've got to learn to proof my bread properly. I have been lazy and have leaving them in my kitchen which is air-conditioned... so even after 2 hours of proofing, they don't seem to be getting anywhere. I'd have to move them to somewhere more humid to get those lovely air pockets and a softer texture..

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients
225g flour (I used a mixture of wholemeal - 100g and bread flour - 125g)
4g to 6g instant yeast
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp olive oil
125ml water
50g chopped walnuts (optional)
50g raisins or dried cranberries or sun-dried tomatoes (optional)

What I did
1. Mix everything together except the walnuts and raisins
2. Knead into a smooth dough
3. Add the walnuts and raisins and knead into dough
4. Cover and proof for 45 mins to 2 hours (depending on your room conditions and amount of yeast)
5. Shape into a long oval shape and place on silpat, or lightly oiled baking tray
6. Proof until double in size - 45 mins to 2 hours
7. Bake at 200 deg C for 25 mins
8. Take out, let cool on a rack

This bread makes a very good open sandwich. It also goes well with a thick soup, like corn soup or mushroom soup.

The forgotten herb - Kencur

The kencur plant growing at A's place - look at the flower!

I had lots of problems remembering the name of this herb. A gave one of these to me during our first cooking class - the otah making class. I was tasked to grow it well and propagate it so that I can distribute some to my fellow classmates.

Kencur, also called Kaempferia galanga or sand ginger is a member of the ginger family. It is sometimes also called the Lesser galanga, although that is supposedly not correct. Some sources state that lesser galanga should refer to Alpinia officinarum, a cousin of kencur.

Kencur is widely used in Indonesian cooking, especially in Balinese cuisine. It used to be very much used in Peranakan cooking but nowadays, it is not so commonly available in the markets and hence used.That is why A grows it in her home - she can't find any in the markets!

The root is strongly aromatic and has medicinal property. Both the root and the leaves of kencur can be used in cooking.

During the otah making class, we some added finely sliced some kencur leaves into the otah mixture. Apparently, it can also be used as a flavouring for stir-fried dishes.

My favourite part about this plant, is that it seemed to be able to grow and propagate itself under my care. So far, I've had no luck with any kind of edibles. They grow, flourish somewhat and then die off.

I'm looking to this plant to break that trend.

Look, it is growing pretty well, isn't it? I am growing it in partial shade and it has been shooting out new leaves regularly.

*fingers crossed*

This plant has grown from a little plantlet to this.. 

I need to find a bigger pot for it soon!