Light Shafts

Internal plastering has begun, and the project is nearing 60% completion.  Skylights have now been put in place to allow sunlight to penetrate from the top of the house - a way mitigate one of the main constraints of an intermediate terrace house, being lack of openings and natural light.

"Floating" staircase is used to further allow natural light to flood the house.

A worker is seen here welding together supporting beams for the trellis on the top floor.

My New Pizza Oven

Since my oven is now packed away in a rented store room at Big Orange, I've bought a new oven for Yan's place a few days ago (my temporary abode until such time our house is ready). I found this commercial pizza oven that's suitable for domestic use from a bakery machinery specialist at Ang Mo Kio Industrial Estate.  It's from french-made Roller Grill. I experimented making yet another topping today - smoked salmon with feta cheese. I used a dough recipe adopted from a pizza-making video on Youtube. Ahhh...the wonders of modern technology! It was a quick and easy recipe, where yeast is added together with all other ingredients in a single step, without the need to separately activate the yeast.  Compared to the basic pizza dough recipes posted earlier, this dough recipe is fuss-free.  I noticed no difference in dough quality using this quick technique. Here's a step-by-step pictorial guide on making pizza topping.

Spread tomato puree on pizza sheet

Sprinkle cheese over the tomato puree

Add smoked salmon slices and feta cheese

Bake in the oven for 8 minutes (at 300 deg C)

Bon Appetit!

Egg Tarts

I've longed for a good egg tart recipe, and had attempted baking chinese-style egg tarts before. However, it didn't turned out well. Today I've decided to give it another try, using a recipe from a friend. Unfortunately, this recipe is similar to the one that I have tried, i.e. heavy crust/cake-like (apologies Zaeda, this is meant as a constructive comment on your sis-in-law's recipe). I am hoping that someone will be kind enough to share with me a recipe for crispy and flaky crusted egg tart, much like those famous Portugese ones. 

Pho Bo

This is one of my all-time favorite food. A former colleague of mine from Vietnam taught me how to cook authentic Pho Bo. The secret to a great bowl of Pho Bo is in the broth. To allow sufficient time for the broth, I brought a combination of beef and pig bones to boil for 4 to 5 hours, added one cube of beef boullion to enhance its flavor (optional), and a small amount of cinnamon sticks, cloves and star aniseeds into the broth. Beef knuckles were added mid-stream (as a more economical substitute for beef tail).  I removed the knuckles from the soup after simmering for about 2 hours, and cut them into thin slices.  I added the uncooked beef steak and the knuckle slices on top of the noodles in a bowl.  I then poured the hot broth over the beef and noodles. Lastly, onions, Thai basil leaves and bean sprouts were then added as condiments.

Relocation

Now

Before

It's a war zone at One Balmoral. Relocation is such a chore, and my patience is running thin! This is the time of the year when I regret all my previous shopping indulgence. I don't even know where to start packing. A bit of this and that, and the place is turned upside down!

Apple Streusel Cake

This is a variation of apple crumbled pie, but only more interesting. Consisting of three layers, the main layer (i.e. apples) is sandwiched between a cake layer at the bottom and hazel nut crumbles at the top. As one bites through the layers, one will experience a series of textures; crunchy at the top, soft in the middle, and firm at the bottom. For someone like Yan who never enjoy dessert, he just could not help digging into the cake.  This recipe is a keeper for the family.

Topping:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

40gm cold unsalted butter (cut into cubes)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup toasted and coarsely chopped hazel nuts

1. Mix flour and cinnamon in a bowl.

2. Cut butter into the mixture with a fork or blender until it resembles coarse crumbs.

3. Stir in brown sugar and hazel nuts. Set aside.

Cake:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

60gm unsalted butter (softened at room temperature)

1/2 cup caster sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup milk

2 large Granny Smith Apples (peeled, cored and thinly sliced)

1. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

2. In another mixer bowl, cream the butter.  Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.

3. Add egg and vanilla extract, and mix until incorporated.

4. Add flour, alternately with milk, and mix on medium speed until combined.

5. Spread the batter onto the bottom of the pan, smoothening the top.

6. Arrangely apple slices evenly over the batter.

7. Sprinkle with the topping.

8. Bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

9. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Pizza Galore

They say practice makes perfect. This is what I have been trying to do - perfecting my pizza making skill. Today I've created four different types of toppings. I used Yan's dough to make 2 pizzas, and made another 2 pizza from a different dough recipe (that requires no oil).  See recipe below.

Thin and Crusty Pizza Dough Recipe (No Oil)

1 1/2 teaspoon dry yeast

1/4 teaspoon sugar

3/4 lukewarm water

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Combine dry yeast, sugar and water.  Let it sit for 10 minutes.

2. Combine flour and salt in a mixer bowl.

3. Pour the water mixture into the flour mixture. Mix on medium speed until smooth

4. Sprinkle the worktop with flour. Knead dough for 2-3 minutes until a firm ball is formed.

5. Let dough sit for 2-3 hours.  Dough is ready when it has risen to twice its size.

6. Rolled the dough into thin sheets.

7. Lightly oil pizza pan before placing pizza sheet on it.

8. Apply tomato puree, followed by cheese and add topping of choice.

9. Bake on the highest rack for about 10-minutes.

Original dough size

Dough doubled in size after 2-3 hours