Drum Roll Please..... Challenge #2

Balsamic Vinegar Pearls DONE!

Here's my step by step. I actually failed 3 times before I succeeded.

I put the olive oil in the fridge for 3 hours at first. After 3 failures, I decided to follow another set of directions from another video and put it in the freezer for 30 minutes. I forgot about it and left it in there for an hour. LOL

Remember the weird agar-agar? Read this post for more on agar-agar. I ended up using a coffee bean grinder and made them into about 4 oz. of agar flakes! I was so proud of myself :-)

 Now I heat 1 cup of balsamic vinegar at medium and whisk in 1 tbsp of agar flakes. I heat this mixture till it lightly boils. Then, I let it cool down till it is around room temperature.

 

 

As you can probably tell, these 3 pictures above are the failed attempts. This is what I figured out. As I put in more and more pearls, the temperature of the oil quickly ascends. And as the olive oil warms up, my agar pearls disintegrates! So the 4th and last attempt, I dropped the pearls slower and intermittently put the oil back in the freezer for a minute. And here it is!!!! Beautiful!!! When you put these pearls in your mouth, the agar  quickly melts on your tongue and gives you a potent dosage of balsamic vinegar. YUM!!!

Dried Anchovy

I KNOW what y'all are thinking!!! "What IS THAT?" "NAsty!" "Ewwww" hahaha Tell me I am right. I'm looking for a cooking syringe so I can make those balsamic pearls. And in the mean time, I have to keep my kitchen busy with experiments!

I got a pack from an Asian market this weekend because I have eaten them a long time ago in Hong Kong. Growing up, our maids from the Philippines always let us taste their meals, and this is one of the dishes i really liked. Then when I was in Malaysia, my Chinese Malay friends made something similar for me at my farewell feast. So I got curious and decided to satisfy my craving. 

It was purely an experiment but it turned out really yummy, and yes, people, FISHY! LOL I washed half the pack in water, put it in the pan with a little oil and a dash of salt. Now, here's the fun part, I remembered it tasted sour, so I experimented with fresh lime juices. I also put a bit of garlic and ginger in it and served it cool.  My little 3 year old had a problem with the fishy eyeballs at first, but quickly got used to them haha... My husband and kids LOVED this dish! Don't you want some? ;-) You know you wanna try this. 

Balsamic Pearls - Challenge #2

How did your sourdough starter come out? I was so glad to have made it. My family loved the bread and the pizza! So how about another challenge for October? I promise this challenge is shorter and less time consuming.

We are making Balsamic Vinegar Pearls! Watch this video! It's different than the first one I had found and posted but it actually gives us more details about it.

I went to an Asian market to find agar-agar. I had originally thought it was a type of sugar because in the video I saw, it was from a packet, like sweet n' low. LOL But agar is a red algae! It is a vegetarian thickening agent, compared to gelatin, which is from animal sources. Read on it here in this article.

Here are the varieties of agar-agar I saw. I was very surprised because 1. of their different colors and 2. they looked like bars of plastic!

Anyway, you know what I chose! I am a health nut! I got the one without the dye. In this challenge, I only need a tablespoon I think... so... I am not sure what I am going to do yet, but I will find out!

I will be back to post what I did and how I did on this challenge!

Breakfast WHAT?

Breakfast COOKIE!

A friend posted this online. No sugar, No gluten, No dairy!! 

Ingredients

1.5 cups of oats 

2-3 super ripened bananas

1 cup of unsweetened applesauce

a handful of craisins

and a sprinkle of cinnamon

Directions:

Just throw everything together, mix it up pretty well, throw it on a baking sheet at 350F for about 35 minutes

I am SO making this next month. This will be our challenge for November!!!

Sourdough Bread and Pizza Dough

 This is what my sourdough looked like. Bubbly and happy. I took out 2 cups of it and put it in another jar, added a cup of flour and water in it and repeated the starter process so I can keep making sourdough foods.

 We took out 3 cups of starter and mixed in whole wheat flour, salt and water. After a while, it turns doughy and that's when I started to knead it.

After a LONG time, it looked and felt perfect so I put it in a clean bowl and let it rise. Tomorrow I divide and bake. :) SO HAPPY!!!

This is a sourdough pizza recipe my friend, Becky sent me. We took the remaining cup and a half starter, put olive oil, and salt, mixed and kneaded and rolled out... VOILA, in the oven at 400F for however long it takes to bake but not burn, probably 30 minutes? I'll let you know. It IS midnight, so I am going to put it in the fridge and use it tomorrow.

Haha have you figured out that I do not follow recipes very well yet?

Anyway, CAN'T wait to make Balsamic Vinegar Pearls for October's challenge!!! 

 SEQUEL:

My sourdough got huge in the morning!!! So I just kneaded it and divided it into three pans and baked bread!

My Pizza from lunch :) It was awesome.