Still No Flour

Why am I starting with that? Well, I just read about someone with an appropriate name who wrote a whole big thing about how no on deserves to bake bread but her. It was…something. Really makes me want to bake bread, just to spite her holier-than-thou attitude. I did an olive loaf last week, but I used All Purpose Flour instead of bread flour and it came out a bit bland. We’ll see if there is any bread flour on my next grocery store trip.

Anyways, the cookbook I worked from the these past few week is “Artichoke: Recipes & Stories from Singapore’s Most Rebellious Kitchen“, by Bjorn Shen. This is probably my most favorite collection of recipes I own. Stuff that you wouldn’t think works, totally works. Odd ingredients are used and everything I have ever made from this book comes out freaking delicious. I got it when my Mom and I went to the restaurant in Singapore. It happened to be very close to where we were staying, so we kind of stumbled across it. The place was packed and we were told to come back in an hour, so we did and it was amazing. Fun decor, cool vibe, and awesome food. Clearly a very popular place in a city with great food. Like really good food. I would say the best food city I have ever been to.

But I digress. The bought the book at the restaurant and the Chef Shen signed it for me, which was cool. The food is described as “Funky Middle Eastern”, which is pretty much how I would describe it. Some interesting ingredients are used such as hotdogs, spam, and popcorn. I haven’t seen spam used since I lived in Hawaii. Spam fried rice is oddly good, though.

From this book I made: Meatball in Spiced Tomato Sauce and Labneh; Baklava French Toast with Poached Apricots, Pistachios, and Rose Yoghurt; Open Sandwich of Hummus, Dukka, and Fried Egg; Smoked Oyster Taramasalata (which I tossed with charred broccoli); Shakshouka, Smoked Salmon Pancakes with Bourbon Sour Cream, Wasabi Pea Dukka and Honey; Forgotten Grain Salad; Turkish-Style Eggplant with Tomato Smoothie and Tahini Yoghurt; Crispy Chicken Over Hummus; Mushrooms Fried In Smen; Tzatziki of Local Greens with Roasted Sesame Seeds; Singapore ‘Makes & Cheese’; and Baklava. I’ve also made the Wasabi Pea and Caramelized White Chocolate Cookies in the past, but not this time. Those are delicious, by the way.

The book its self is pretty easy to follow. Other than the prep work, the actual cooking really doesn’t take much time, which is refreshing. In fact, these recipes are pretty easy. Nothing is really that complicated and he describes the process clearly. Some of the ingredients are not possible to come by, at least where I’m from. I still can’t find Silver Needle Noodles, but you can make them yourself. On the other hand, some of the ingredients are actually a bit easier to come by in my region. I do live in a mushroomy state. Chanterelles a-plenty! A lot of the recipes are pretty open to substitutions, something I think a lot of books could use. There are also some fun stories and comments that anyone who has ever worked in food service would understand. There are also menu options for different types of gatherings. I plan on doing the “Patriotic Dinner Party” for the 4th of July. I’ve made the Baklava French Toast several times for my Mom, including this Mother’s Day. I usually pair it with something savory and it comes out great.

I really hope to go back to Singapore someday. Hell, I just want to go outside of the city limits someday, or just be able to sit at the bar and have a drink. I also miss movies, but fingers crossed for the revival of the drive-in. This crazy time is making me loopy.