Spring rolls for a summer-day lunch

On my way back from the grocery shopping trip, I was hungry like a wolf after a full morning of walking. It's tempting to thrust something into the stomach just to fill it up. But I told myself that I must eat well. So I thought about a doable menu for lunch. A quick baked spring roll dish would be great, and a salad, too. But it'll take 20 minutes to get it done. Meanwhile, to quench my thirst, I'd really appreciate something cool and refreshing. What about a minted mixed drink!

So on my last stop of the grocery trip, I picked up a bottom of Perrier. Perrier is a spring water with a distinctive character. I know many people don't like it. I did not either, when I tried it the first time. But my memory on it was strong, and mixed. Today when I thought of mixing a light minted drink, Perrier came to my mind as a great candidate. I like it because, unlike most soda drinks in US, the bubbles come out very gradually and gently. The taste of minerals give the creme de menthe and lemon some substance.


Recipe: Minted Perrier (1 glass)

Ingredients:
- 0.5 fl oz green creme de menthe
- 1-2 tp lemon juice
- about 1 glass Perrier original
- a few ice cubes

Procedure:
Mix creme de menthe and lemon juice in a glass. Add ice. Then add Perrier slowly and fill to the top. Stir and serve.

Imagine sipping a drink like this while preparing lunch! It's in this experiment that I get to understand fully the benefit of an appetizer. The day is hot, and my stomach is really hungry. I could have allowed myself to mindlessly fill up with junk food. But then, with a glass of mixed drink, the anticipation of a nice lunch makes it so much easier to delay gratification. The spring rolls take 10 minutes to prepare and about 5 minutes to bake. The spring roll wrappers I get are really handy. Once defrosted, they are rather dry, and can be kept in tightly wrapped plastic bag for days in the fridge. They also cook really fast.

Recipe: Baked pork spring rolls (for 1)

Ingredients:
- 3-4 oz cooked pork, shredded or pulled apart
- 1-2 tp broad bean paste
- 1-2 tp hoisin sauce
- 1/2 tp dark soy sauce
- 1 TB sesame oil
- 1/4 cup stock or water
- 3 sheets of spring roll wrappers

Procedure:
1. Mix broad bean paste, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil. Add the mixture and the pork to stock/water in a small sauce pan. Heat on hot and allow to boil until the liquid dries off and the pork has absorbed all the flavor.
2. Place 2-3 TB pork in a sheet of wrapper. Roll up and set on parchment paper.
3. Brush the top of each roll with a little water. Bake at 400F in toaster oven for 1-2 minutes. Then reduce heat to 300F and continue baking until top is lightly brown.
4. Serve hot, with bulgogi sauce, if desired.

While the spring rolls are baking, the 5 minutes are just enough for a salad of artichoke hearts, romaine lettuce, tomato and celery, with a sprinkle of caper and walnuts.

Such is a day well lived!

My 66th experiment: lemon zest mint yogurt bread

Every adventure brings forth the excitement of a surprise. But not every surprise is pleasant, at least, not always at the first moment. I have been curious about Bernard Clayton's minted yogurt loaf for a while. So today I try out a small version of it. It comes certainly as a surprise, just not exactly as I hope. It's just not what I imagine. The flavor of lemon zest is much stronger than the taste of yogurt and mint put together. Perhaps I just have to find the right things to eat it with.

Recipe: Lemon zest mint yogurt bread (one loaf about 2/3 size of a medium pan)

Ingredients:
- 2 cup atta flour
- 2 tp active dry yeast
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup homemade 1% fat yogurt
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup water
- 2 TB dry spearmint flakes
- zest of 1 lemon
- 2 tp honey
- 2 tp olive oil
- 1/2 to 3/4 tp salt

Procedure:
1. Proof yeast in 2 TB water.
2. Mix all the ingredients, except water and oil, together in a large bowl. Form a dough. Allow dough to rest a few minutes. Then rub in the oil.
3. Allow dough to rest until double in volume. Punch it down. Then let rise again. Punch it down again.
4. Shape dough into a log and place in pan to proof until the rise is significant. Preheat oven to 350F.
5. Brush the dough surface with water. Bake at 350F for 15 minutes on middle rack, uncovered. When the loaf's top shows sign of dryness, rub the top with ample butter. Then cover loaf pan and return to oven. Resume baking until internal temperature reaches 190F.
6. If crust is soft, allow loaf to cool in oven that is turned off, If crust is hard, then allow it to cool on counter top.

Results:
11:26am, most ingredients:

11:36am, initial mixture of the wet and dry ingredients:

11:40am, intial dough forming:

11:54am, dough formed before oiling, hydration adjusted with about 1/2 cup water to arrive at this elastic shape:

12:10pm, dough oiled:

12:10pm, height of oiled dough:

12:32pm, dough rested 20 minutes:

12:32pm, dough's height after resting 20 minutes:

2:34pm, dough rested 2 hours covered with a plate (when I go away to do my own stuff):

2:43pm, dough punched down and reshaped:

2:44pm, dough allowed to proof in pan:

3:22pm, dough proofed 40 minutes in pan:

3:22pm, dough's height after proofing:

3:23pm, baking at 350F starts:

3:41pm, loaf baked 18 minutes, top becoming dry and lightly yellow, ready for buttering:

3:41pm, loaf's height:

3:43pm, loaf after rubbing generously with butter:

3:44pm, loaf resumed baking at 350F covered:

4:08pm, loaf baked 45 minutes:

4:09pm, loaf's temperature after 45 minutes of baking:

4:09pm, thermometer already coming out clean, though internal temperature is low:

4:21pm, loaf baked 58 minutes:

4:22pm, loaf's final internal temperature when baking stops:

4:24pm, loaf's height:

4:23pm, loaf's bottom:

4:24pm, loaf's side:

4:24pm, loaf's heel:

4:25pm, loaf's corner:

4:24pm, loaf's top:

6:37pm, top of loaf when cooled 2 hours:

6:41pm, loaf yielding 13 slices:

6:42pm, a center-of-loaf slice:

6:42pm, a heel-of-loaf slice:

6:42pm, the crumb and the crust of the loaf:

6:43pm, a bite:

Observations:
1. Well, I use only about half the yogurt recommended in the original recipe. It's because I am not sure how well my digestive system can handle the yogurt. The bread does not have a strong taste of yogurt.
2. The flavor of lemon zest is so strong that it overpowers everything else.
3. When I taste the dough, it feels so plain that I decide it needs some salt. So I add about 1/2 tp salt. Yet the resultant bread remains rather bland. It's moist, but just bland. It may mean that it needs some exciting food to go with.
4. Despite the unexpected flavor, this loaf is actually an excellent experiment on buttering the top of the loaf. I butter the loaf after the first 15 minutes. Then I allow it to bake covered. As a result, the crust has a golden color, and it is also hard enough to stay in shape when cooled. This is a very nice result.
5. The oven spring of this loaf is not strong. The crumb is dense. I think it might have helped to allow the dough more proofing time in pan.