Just Two Tablespoons of Ube

One whole bottle of ube flavour went into my latest batch of ube-cheese pan de sal.  Apparently one bottle has approximately two tablespoons of ube flavour.

My previous attempts were mainly ube-coloured pan de sal and I had chanced upon a recipe that used 2 tablespoons of ube flavour which was certainly a lot more than my previous 1 teaspoon of ube flavour.  

I mixed and matched  recipes to come up with my own version, which I think is a fairly decent recipe.  This is our best batch of ube cheese pan de sal so far, but I still have to try the recipe several more times just to be sure.

If I had been paying attention and had cut my cheese properly, I think I would have been able to make  24 pieces.  At the onset I had divided the dough into 20 pieces but I sliced the cheese into 40 cubes.  After making six pieces, I noticed I had a lot more cheese cubes than I had dough pieces.  (Oops!)  Since there are four of us at home, I proceeded to make two more to have eight similar pieces.  Then I started placing two cubes of cheese per dough ball (and snacked on a couple of cheese cubes along the way).  I cut off some dough to form two additional single cheese pieces (which I figured MyGirl would like to share with Pogi Points).  So we ended up with 22 different sized pieces of bread.

 

Ube Cheese Pan de Sal  (makes 24)

1/4 c   warm water

2 1/4 t yeast

2 t       sugar

3-4 c   flour

1 c      warm milk

6 T      sugar

4 T      veg oil

2 T      ube flavour

1 t       salt

           cheddar cheese, divided into 24 cubes

1/2 c    bread crumbs

1. Mix yeast, 2 t sugar and warm water.  Let stand 3-5 minutes until bubbly.
2. In a large bowl, measure out 3 1/2 c flour, sugar and salt.  Make a well and add milk, oil, and ube flavour.
3. Add the yeast mixture and mix well.
4.  Use stand mixer or greased hands to knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 - 10 minutes). The dough will be sticky.  Add the extra flour as needed.   
5. Cover and let rise in oiled bowl until double in size (about an hour).
6. Punch down and divide into two.  Divide each piece into twelve to make 24 pieces in all.
7. Roll each piece into a ball.
8. Flatten dough ball and place a piece of cheese inside.  Fold the sides of the dough over the cheese to enclose.  Seal and reshape into a ball. 
9. Roll dough ball in bread crumbs and place onto lined baking sheet.
10. Arrange dough at least 1/2" apart.  Cover and let rise for 30 minutes to an hour.
11. Preheat oven to 160C (325F) while waiting for dough to rise.
12. Bake pan de sal for 20 minutes or until slightly browned. 

           

From A Distance

It is July now and much as we had hoped things would go back to normal, we have come to realise that for the meantime, this is the  new normal.

Cough or sneeze into your elbow.  Wash your hands regularly.  Use hand sanitiser. Maintain social distancing. 

There are a lot of reminder when you go outside.

If you are lucky enough to have your church open, you will find that there are strict guidelines to be followed.   In our parish, upon entry you have to sanitise your hands, flip the number counter, then sign in before you enter the church.  Then when you enter the church, you will find that every other pew is cordoned off, and in the pews where one is allowed to sit, there are strategically placed signs to encourage you to sit apart.

At the metro station, there are signs everywhere, mostly to remind you to "allow as much distance from others."

In case you are not sure how far you should be from the next person, there are some signs which illustrate what 1.5m looks like.

Sometimes, you will even find a hand sanitation station inside the mall.

There are signs on the floor to indicate where you should be so you are not too close to the store counter.

This is the trail of stickers on the floor on the way to Coles.  Yes, there are times when the lines get this long and people have to 

Lately there have been an increased number of cases in New South Wales, some have been reported in churches. After the priest gave us the blessing at mass, he reminded us, "Please sanitise your hands before you enter the church.  If you see hand sanitiser when you are outside, use it.  If you see hand sanitiser at the bank, use it.  If you see hand sanitiser at the entrance of a store, use it. If you come to a point that you feel you have had too much hand sanitiser, that means you have been out too long.  Go home."

Stay safe, everyone!

Little Star

MacGyver made us some chicken fajitas the other day and everyone was impressed with the dish.  He said he had found a Fajita seasoning packet at Aldi that he wanted to try.   

When I went to Aldi a few days later, I checked out the seasoning packets.  I was about to pick up a packet when I noticed the big difference between the health star rating* of the fajita and taco seasoning (0.5 stars) and the burrito seasoning (1.5 stars).

I flipped over the packet and discovered the secret to the yummy fajita MacGyver had prepared.

Top ingredient : SUGAR!

Clearly not all foods are created equal.    

*Health Star Rating - The Australian Government's initiative that assigns health ratings to packaged food and beverages.  This was established as a preventative measure in slowing or reversing the rate of overweight Australians.