Albertitto's kitchen

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on January 02, 2005

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Buttercup squash and celery root soup, garnished with toasted fennel seeds

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Whole wheat sandwich bread (Pullman loaf)

Perhaps it is related to my mild OCD, but there is something extremely satisfying for me to make perfectly square sandwich bread. I bought these loaf pans -- usually called Pullman Loaf pans -- from Amazon but have been too lazy to calculate the exact dough size and recipe for it until this weekend. It makes a nice 4"x4"x13" loaf. I have been baking bread off and on for the last year or so. So far the use of water roux starter (Tang-Zhong, 湯種) is by far the best way to make pillow-like soft bread that stay soft for days while using only a small amount of butter. This is a method very popular in Japan and Taiwan, and probably pacific Asia in general. It probably has something to do with the fact that very few traditional Western recipes feature doughs made with hot water, while many traditional Chinese recipes called for the use of hot water in dough making. (Actually the only Western recipe I can think of is Pate a Choux) The hot water gelatinizes the starch molecules i

Tea Amai & Bake House

The Cornell "ChemE Jury" group had a reunion again since John was in town. Too bad Joe is missing again this time. We first had brunch at Cafe Cluny in the West Village . The food was good, but the portion was a bit small. We continued our conversation at yet another tea place in the vicinity of East Village, Tea Amai & Bake House . The place is tiny with about only 6 tables. The back room has more of an "atmosphere" with low lighting, and little foot traffic. We had to sit in the front and endured the cold draft whenever someone walked in and out of the place. It's not really a tea house because it's pretty much a self-service place (order and take your own stuff to your table or to-go), although one can order pots of tea. The pastries are all asian influenced and are quite delectable -- they were all deliberately sweetened very lightly. We tried an assortment of cookies, a matcha chocolate cake, and their signature green tea cupcake. Overall a nice pla

Plum-Wine Marinated Tomatoes

This is a dish that I see in every blog post on famous sushi bars in Taiwan. It is usually served as an appetizer (using cherry or grape tomatoes) or as a dessert (using large tomatoes). The tomatoes are peeled and marinated for several days in a plum-infused wine syrup. I served it as a palate cleansing course at my summer party. I turned the marinade into a granita, and served the tomatoes on top of that. This is best when the tomatoes are at the peak production time during the summer. Recipe: Plum-Wine Marinated Tomatoes (酒釀番茄, 漬番茄) 2 pints cherry tomatoes 6 Chinese preserved plums (話梅) 1 cup water 6-8 Tbsp of sugar (can be less if you prefer) 1 whole clove 1 Tbsp whole black peppercorn 1 cup of white wine or Rose (although some people use Cabernet) Iced water bath 1. Lightly score the tomatoes at the bottom end with a paring knife. Take care to cut into the flesh as little as possible. The idea is just to pierce the skin about 1/2" long. 2. Blanch the tomatoes in small batche

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