Cheat sheet

I keep a list of handy measurements and ratios in the front of my kitchen notebook, a cheat sheet of sorts, I probably know them all by heart but it is a handy reference to keep. So I thought I'd start keeping them online, I'll add to this as things pop up, and there will be a link at the top of the page next to the recipe index. I'll also try to put an example recipe link to each item.


Bread (recipe)
1,000 g flour
600 g Water
10 g Salt
10 g Yeast

No more than 5% fat if adding.

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Quiche custard (recipe)
2 eggs per 250ml of milk

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Roux (recipe)
1 part flour
≥1 part fat

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Pasta dough (recipe)
(by weight)
3 parts flour
2 parts egg

Roughly 2 eggs per 180–200g

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Semolina pasta dough (cavatelli, orecchiette etc) (recipe)
1 part flour
1 part semolina flour
1 part salted water*

* 5% salt by weight, for example 170 g water and 10 g salt, 180 g flour, 180g semolina.

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Hand pulled noodle dough (recipe)
5 parts flour
3 parts water
1 % salt

Form dough, rest 15 minutes; knead 15 minutes (roll into log, fold in half repeat); rest 60 minutes; Shape cut, oil.

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Alkaline noodle dough (ramen) (recipe)
2 parts flour
1 part water
2% Baked soda (baking soda cooked at 120ºC for an hour)

Knead 5 min; rest 20 min; knead 5 min; wrap and refrigerate 1 hour; run through pasta machine.

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Rough puff pastry (recipe)
1 part flour
1 part butter
0.5% salt
Milk to bind

Blitz half the flour with butter; add remaining flour and salt; add splash of milk, for dough ball; wrap and refrigerate; roll, fold into thirds and repeat 3–4 times, placing in fridge to cool down now and then.

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Hot fat pastry (recipe)
5 parts flour
2 parts water
2 parts fat (lard or dripping)
0.5% salt

Heat water gently with fat in it; mix with dry, form dough ball; wrap and let rest 60 minutes; roll and fold in thirds, repeat until smooth.

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Short pastry (recipe)
2 parts flour
1 part butter
0.5% salt
water

Pasta for one

Home alone for dinner tonight, and I felt like cooking, but not overdoing it as I usually do. There was an amazing pasta dish (cacio e pepe, pasta with black pepper and pecorino) on the latest episode of Anthony Bourdain's The Layover, and it put the idea of making pasta in my head.


With Ratio by Michael Ruhlman in hand, I set about making the pasta dough. The ratio for pasta dough is 3 parts flour to 2 parts egg (by weight). I weighed my egg (60 grams) and poured 90 grams of flour into a bowl. Make a well in the centre of the flour and start working in the egg. When a dough forms tip it on to the bench. Kneed until smooth and no longer sticky (5-10 minutes).


Let it rest for 30 minutes (or a minimum of 10).


I used a hand cranked pasta machine to roll the dough out into a sheet and then passed through the cutter. Cook the pasta in boiling salted water for about 2-3 minutes


While I didn't prepare cacio e pepe, I did still keep it simple. Minced black olive, black pepper, parsley, garlic confit and a little extra olive oil. Toss through the cooked pasta with a little of the cooking water, and serve.


A great little tool for mincing leafy green herbs.

Quick red pickle

As I mentioned in the bone marrow post, I served it with some pickled red onions and promised the recipe. Well here it is finally.


Slice up enough red onions to fill the jar you're going to use.


Sterilise your jar and then stuff the onion in to it.

I use the ratio of 3 cups of vinegar (I prefer cider) to 1 cup of sugar for the pickling liquid. So in a pot put enough vinegar to fill the rest of the jar up (and appropriate amount of sugar) with some spices. Bring to the boil and let it simmer for a couple of minutes.

The spices are really up to you, but I like to use some classics like Bay leaf, cinnamon, chilli flakes, cloves, all spice, star anise, mustard seeds, ginger and cumin.


For this batch I chose chilli flakes, cloves, mustard seeds, coriander and bay leaf .


Fill the Jar up with the liquid, tip it over and tap the top to release any air bubbles.


Let it cool down to room temperature and then refrigerate for at least 12 hours before eating. It will store for about a month.

Hollandaise

Woke up with a bit of fuzz in my head and in serious need of a cure. I had some ham in the fridge that needed to be used and I hadn't pulled out the truffle oil in a while so I ended up making some truffle hollandaise with poached eggs and ham.

Just got Michael Ruhlman's Ratio in the post a couple of days ago, it's really well written and easy to read. I used the ratio from the book of 5 parts fat, 1 part egg yolk and 1 part liquid for the sauce.

Whisk the egg yolk, lemon juice and a few drops of truffle oil until light. Slowly whisk in melted butter until emulsified, and then place over a pot of steaming water and whisk until thickened.

[Edit 27/02/2012]
The method I currently use to make this sauce is slightly different, a little easier and a bit more fool proof.

1. Melt and clarify some unsalted butter, leave it in the pot, but off the heat.
2. In a bowl place egg yolks, and squeeze in lemon juice, whisk until the yolks have become pale in colour and increased in volume (about 2-3 times).
3. Heat up the clarified butter until very warm.
4. While whisking the yolk mixture pour in the butter in a slow steady stream.
5. When all the butter has been incorporated, continue whisking until you reach the desired consistency.
6. Taste and season.