Raising Our Kids in America...: May 2009

It's been a month since my neighbor, John, passed on. And I just want to take this opportunity to thank those of you, whether you left me a comment, called me, or just dropped by and read about how wonderful he was, and how much he meant to our family on my previous post. A BIG THANK YOU to all of you. It meant a lot to me, to know that we all still TAKE time out to CARE for others.

John's funeral service was on May 7, a week after he took his last breath. It is still difficult to believe that he is gone, that we will no longer be able to see him. It's not something that is easy to do...I can't imagine what and how Retha must be going through. Even for me, the fact that when I look out the window now, he's not there in his garage fixing his dental equipments; or when his son or daughter-in-law, unlocks his car with the keyless entry remote, the sound that goes "churp-churp" reminds me of John...cos' that's what I have been hearing all the years, and knowing it was John!

We're all moving on with our daily lives. Retha has gone back to her routine, though I know it won't be the same for her...there will be some "new" routine for her from now on...but she's trying her best. She's going back to her aerobic class and oil painting class, so that's good. I have also gone back to my routine, and getting busier than ever with our big trip back to Malaysia closing on. We all know that John would want us to move on and be happy...like he had told me the day the kids and I visited him at his home --- that he is in PEACE with what was coming, and don't be sad.

So, once again, THANKS to all of you who cared. Your kind words and thoughts are greatly appreciated.

S'more with a sprinkle of Pistachio

It's the time of the month we all have been waiting for!! Ta-ta-da.... This month's challenge is APPLE STRUDEL --- no to be confuse by streusel (sounds kinda alike)

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

I have to say that because of what I was going through the day before the challenge was announced, I almost forgot about checking in! When I finally did remembered later in the day of the announcement, I was glad that I had something to distract me. I have never had a apple strudel so, I didnt' know what to expect. However, after reading the post in the private forum for the members of the Darling Bakers, I felt intimidated once again. This is definitely NOT something I would try on my own will!! I mean, are u kidding me? This is something where you have to STRETCH the dough out AS THIN AS YOU CAN, TO READ A LOVE LETTER (or newspaper or whatever you want to read) THROUGH IT??? I may look "petite", I may have small hands, but being "gentle" IS one of my weakness!!!! I was so sure I am gonna TEAR the damn dough, even though we've been advised by Linda and Courtney that "a few small holes in the dough is not a problem, as the dough will be rolled" HA-HA!!!

So, I put off thinking about the dough...I'll deal with it later. Let's think of the fillings!!! Hmmm....the possibilities you can have to stuff in to the strudel dough, will stuff you crazy. I was thinking about what I wanna stuff in it all day...while driving (not a very good idea...any distraction while driving isn't good, I admit, but don't worry, I didn't get myself into any trouble), while cooking, walking down the bus stop...I couldn't stop thinking even when I went to bed. Had a bad headache after that! :P So, you'd think that, since I KNOW what the challenge was for the month, that I would start my challenge EARLY. NOPE...I did not...well, I did have really good excuses. Although it was exciting to imagine all the possibilities, I wasn't quite in the mood to do anything...I needed time to grief....then I needed time for my other commitments...then so on and so forth! In conclusion, I did not do my challenge until 2 days ago!!! THAT'S so typical of ME!

The dough

The dough is R-E-S-T-I-N-G...do not disturb! ;) I wished I could do the same! :P

Anyway, enough said. So, two days ago, when I started with the dough, I was nervous! The recipe is simple, and really easy, no problem. But when it came to the stretching...that made my hands shake. I did my best, carefully, and slowly stretching the dough from a rather small ball of dough into this giant stretch of super thin dough, with only minimal holes!!! Yiipppeeee!!! =D The feel of the dough is really soft and stretchy. It was SO easy to stretch the dough, and I REALLY mean it, IT WAS EASY --- it just LOOKS difficult, that's all!! ;) On the other hand, maybe I SHOULD say "oh boy, it was SO difficult to stretch this dough" --- so that I can "impress" friends and family!! (ha-ha) ;)

Roll it, roll it, roll it...

Stretch it...

And stretch it... no love letter here, and no love notes...just my favorite pastry mat! ;)

So, for my 1st trial, I had a mascarpone cream cheese with cherries and a thin layer of almond paste and a sprinkle orange zest as filling. We were puting the monkeys in bed while it was baking in the oven. When I came down to peek into the oven....YIKKKEESS!!! The mascarpone had LEAKED out!!! *sigh* I don't know if mascarpone cheese was too soft for a sturdel or I didn't add enough egg and/or other stuff to thicken it, like in a cheesecake. I had used one pound of mascarpone and 1 large egg in the fillings. The leak of the mascarpone was good for my friend, Diana, as I have forgotten that she DOES NOT like cream cheese --- and I had made her come over to try it! ;P Anyhow, it still tasted YUMMY. ;)

The next strudel I made was inspired by a combination of a snack and a flat bread sold in street stalls back home in Malaysia --- roti tissue and Apam Balik (also known as Ban Jian Kuih). I figured that if this strudel can be stretched to THIS thin, it'd be like Roti tissue, and the fact that I LOVE Apam Balik, why not combine these two together?! I tried it over the stove instead of baking it. NOPE, it didn't turn out as well as I had imagine. I also did not put enough sugar in it. Thank God, I made only ONE piece to try out. BUT I do think that you can use the filling from Apam Balik, which is toasted chopped peanuts, sugar, a bit a salt, sweet creamy corn, and toasted coconut flakes (optional --- which I opt out), and roll it up. Maybe next time I'll try again ;)

Nd (Lee) suggested folding it like an envelope

The following strudel is also inspired by another snack sold in the street stalls back home --- Curry Puffs (I wonder what is the difference between a curry puff and a samosa besides their shape?! :P) I've been craving for curry puff for a while now, but the samosas that are sold in the stores here are expensive! So, why not wrap it up in the strudel dough?! ;) I used my mom's curry paste and cooked curry chicken for dinner. I made a lot more than I needed for the night and scooped out a big bowl with as little gravy as I could for this. We had it for breakfast this morning. I tell ya, when you miss home, and especially if you've been craving for your hometown food, you'd know how I feel when I took my first bite this morning! Ahhhhh.....

And last but not least, this morning, after dropping Lucas in school, I came home making another version of the strudel. This time, it's S'mores! Mmm...mmmm...do I need to say more??? The kids even got to make their own when they go back home from school! They had so much fun stretching the dough. When it comes to eating it, it was a MESS but it was really priceless seeing how happy they were...especially since they made them. =D

S'more-del (?!)

So, this is where you can get the full recipe. I will include below the recipe for the dough and the notes/tips from Linda and Courtney.

Strudel dough
from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

1 1/3 cups (200 g) unbleached flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons (105 ml) water, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

1. Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.

Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the
mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.

2. Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.
Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).

3. It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.

Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.

4. The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it's about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time. Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.

Tips
- Ingredients are cheap so we would recommend making a double batch of the dough, that way you can practice the pulling and stretching of the dough with the first batch and if it doesn't come out like it should you can use the second batch to give it another try;

- The tablecloth can be cotton or polyester;

- Before pulling and stretching the dough, remove your jewelry from hands and wrists, and wear short-sleeves;

- To make it easier to pull the dough, you can use your hip to secure the dough against the edge of the table;

- Few small holes in the dough is not a problem as the dough will be rolled, making (most of) the holes invisible.

Both Courtney and I did a trial run on making the strudel. Below are our notes:

Courtney's notes
- She couldn't get it to stretch to 2 feet by 3 feet, it turned out more like 2 feet by 2 feet. But the dough was tissue thin nevertheless;

- She got some serious holes, but after rolling it wasn't noticeable;

- She used a large cheese cloth which helped manipulate and stretch the dough more than a heavier cloth would have.

Linda's notes
- I made the dough by hand, just mixed the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon. Kneaded it for about 5 min like you would bread dough. This worked as well. Haven't tried using a stand mixer so I don't know how it compares.

- Instead of cider vinegar I used red wine vinegar;

- I used bread flour;

- Picking up the dough to let it stretch didn't work well for me, holes appeared pretty much instantly. Instead I stretched the dough while it was lying on the tablecloth by putting my hands underneath and stretching it out further and further.

And these are my notes ---

Don't be afraid to try making the strudel! It is easier than you think, or wanna believe. ;)
If you have one of these Roul' Pat Pastry Mat, it works just as well --- actually worked better for me, because when I first used parchment as suggested by another member, it did not work for me. The parchment moved about, same as the cheese cloth, but I did not try it on a table cloth though. However, you'll have to be careful with the size of your dough, and which way to stretch it on the mat.
If you don't have a wet filling, it is not necessary to sprinkle breadcrumb, instead, you can use sugar, nuts, seeds, whatever that you desire and goes with your filling.
You can mix the dough, let it rest, then store it lightly oiled and tightly wrap with cling wrap, and store in the fridge to be used the next day. Just bring it to room temperature before stretching. I initially wanted to try freezing stretched dough, cut into pieces --- sort like the Phyllo dough you get from the freezer aisle, cos' I thought it'd take SO MUCH time to prepare, if I wanted to serve it on the same day. Obviously I was wrong...it's only the resting time that takes a while, which you can use to prepare the filling too.
Any scrap dough cannot be RE-stretch.
Uneaten strudel can be store in the fridge, wrapped up. I reheat mine in the toaster oven and it is still crispy. However, the bottom part of the mascarpone-cherry strudel was a bit soggy.
Split the dough in half for easier handling. Plus that way you COULD use some metal spatula or cake/brownie serving knife on each end to transfer the baked strudel onto a cooling rack to help maintain the crispy bottom crust--- but of course, use your own judgment on how solid your strudel feels before transferring.