Coffee Geek

I can still remember the first sip of my coffee. It was a cup of freshly ground and brewed coffee. Since then, I fell in love with it. However, the first taste was so good, I then couldn't find any coffee as good as that.

When I was old enough, I started going to Starbucks with friends, leaving MacDonald behind. However, paying that much money, most of the time I prefer MacDonald's coffee to Starbucks'. Because in MacDonald I am only paying what the coffee is worth but not an overpriced crap coffee.

I constantly get disappointed with Cappuccino. It's either too bitter or too cool. It's so obvious that those so-called coffee enthusiasts do not warm the mug up, put too much espresso and the milk is probably not steamed. So I avoid having Cappuccino at coffee places, only have a Mocha or hot chocolate all the time. At least these are sweet; I don’t think there is much can go wrong in them.

NOW, I have started making my own coffee. I am a complete beginner in coffee making but I am getting more and more into it.

The bad thing about this is not only the caffeine but also the money you can spend on it.

I started off buying a cafetiere; then a coffee grinder and on the weekend I bought an espresso pot and got a free milk frother off a food magazine. (The milk frother is PINK!) I haven't really spent that much money on coffee making but you can spend some serious money if you are really fussy about it.

I have got a Bodum made coffee grinder. I bought it just because it was cheap, only £10. Most reviews I have read recommended burr because it gives a more uniform grind of the beans. This is very true. The Bodum one I have got is a blade one, the grind of the beans really is not uniform. But I think this is something I can live with because I am only using a cafetiere.

Having made freshly ground and brewed everyday coffee, I am now up for another challenge: making fresh Cappuccino and Latte. These coffee variations are espresso based. Supposedly espresso can be made by using a cafetiere. However, I wanted to go for a more authentic way. So I bought an espresso pot.

Problem starts here. Without one of those fancy espresso & cappuccino maker, I cannot steam and froth the milk by using pressure. All I can do is to use a milk pan to heat up the milk and use my freebie to froth it. I haven’t tried making it but I hope it will go well or I can just sell them on on ebay. LOL

龍蒿草奶油菠菜雞肉寬扁麵

這個寬扁麵非常容易做，吃起來口感味道都跟餐廳的沒什麼分別。不是賣花讚花香，我吃了一口就禁不住像伙頭智多星裡的味皇一樣大叫「好美味啊！」，幼滑的鮮忌廉加上蒜頭的香味，嗯……！吃嫌了肉醬意粉不妨試做過個！

食譜改寫自BBC food 材料﹕

1. 寬扁麵 225g
2. 雞胸肉...1塊，切厚片(大概1-1.5cm)
3. 菠菜...隨意
4. 蒜頭...2瓣，剁成蓉
5. 鮮忌廉(single cream)...150ml
6. 新鮮龍蒿草葉(tarragon)...切碎，3湯匙

做法﹕

1. 燒開滾水，將寬扁麵放進大滾水內煮 8-10 分鐘
2. 同一時間用中火預熱煎鍋，放少許油，待油熱後放入蒜蓉炒香
3. 蒜蓉炒至輕微轉色便放入雞胸肉片，將肉片兩邊煎封(顏色轉成白色或微黃色)，小心繼續炒拌蒜蓉，不然會燒焦啊！
4. 將鮮忌廉及3湯匙水倒入雞肉及蒜蓉中，將火收慢，用中慢火慢慢煮醬汁
5. 當寬扁麵煮熟後，將菠菜放入煮麵的鍋中，然後立刻一同隔水瀝乾待用。(由於菠菜遇熱即熟，一放進煮麵的熱水中就立刻煮熟)
6. 待醬汁滾熱後，放入適量鹽及胡椒調味，將適量醬汁及所有雞肉倒入已煮熟的麵中，拌勻，即成。

後記﹕

• 醬汁不要一次過全部倒到麵中，醬汁該剛剛足夠包住每一條麵﹔而不是一團麵在一淌醬汁中游泳
• 原食譜中雞肉和醬汁是分開煮的，我不想洗碗的時候洗這麼多，所以將步驟稍作改動，可以用一個鍋就煮好雞肉及醬汁
• 原食譜中沒有炒香蒜蓉這個步驟，但我覺得炒香了的蒜蓉給醬汁一點淡淡的蒜香及味道，醬汁味道更佳
• 在網路上找到很多Tarragon不同的譯名，要買的話還是按英文名字買吧
• 買不到Tarragon，可用歐芹(Parsley)或蒔蘿草 (Dill) 代替，但我個人認為不要將蒔蘿草放進醬汁裡面煮，切碎，上碟後才灑在寬扁麵上會較好 (我沒有試過，只是直覺上的建議)
• 買不到新鮮的，用乾燥的也可以啊
• 圖片中的麵是我自己手打的菠菜寬扁麵，所以是綠色

大學生涯的味道 — 吞拿魚包

最初想要做麵包的原因是在英國沒有多樣式多口味的麵包，在香港不同形狀不同餡料及不同國藉的麵包，應有盡有。記得小時候非常愛原隻雞腿炸麵包，原隻雞腿外面包住炸得香脆的麵包，那時覺得好新奇﹔中學時愛上了咖哩牛肉炸麵包，每一次自己去麵包店買麵包的話這款麵包是必然選擇﹔在香港上大學的時候則愛上吞拿魚包配維他檸檬茶，幾乎要回去上課的早上，都會到飯堂那裡買一個吞拿魚包和檸檬茶。

有日跑到中國舖買了盒維仔檸檬茶，喝著喝著就想起了吞拿魚的味道﹔夠可怕吧，喝檸檬茶會喝出吞拿魚包的味道，哈哈！就因為這樣做起吞拿魚包。

食譜來源﹕為食貓

麵糰材料﹕

1. 高筋麵粉...225克
2. 吉士粉...2湯匙
3. 快速乾酵母...1茶匙
4. 雞蛋...1隻
5. 糖粉...40克
6. 清水...120毫升
7. 牛油或植物牛油...15克 (室溫)

餡料材料﹕

1. 鹽水吞拿魚...1罐
2. 沙律醬...2湯匙

餡料做法﹕

吞拿魚隔水，用叉子搗爛，跟沙律醬拌勻

麵糰做法﹕

1. 高筋麵粉、糖粉及酵母倒入大碗拌勻
2. 中間撥開一個洞，將雞蛋及牛奶倒入，拌勻﹔倒出至板案上放入牛油，搓揉10分鐘左右成為光滑有彈性麵糰
3. 將麵糰放回大碗中，用保鮮紙封好碗口，置溫暖處發酵1小時或至麵糰大小原來的兩倍
4. 將麵糰取出測試是否已完成發酵，用手指沾一些麵粉，插進麵糰中抽出，如指洞沒有收縮那就表示發酵完成﹔否則需繼續進行發酵
5. 進行翻麵﹕用拳頭輕壓麵糰將裡面的空氣擠出
6. 將麵糰從碗中倒出，搓揉2-3分鐘，將麵糰分成6等份
7. 將麵糰滾圓，擀薄然後包入餡料，收口向下放在已抹油的焗盤上
8. 以同樣手法處理剩餘麵糰
   
   
9. 用保鮮紙蓋好，於溫暖處靜置60分鐘或至麵糰原來大小的兩倍
10. 焗爐預熱200C(最少十分鐘)
11. 入爐焗10-15分鐘或至表面轉金黃色
12. 出爐至網架放涼30分鐘，入盒儲存
    
    
    吞拿魚包大特寫﹕看看入面的氣孔組織就知道有多鬆軟，Yum!

 後話﹕

• 可從麵糰材料中留起少許蛋液用作塗包面之用
• 我用的是快速乾酵母(Easy Blend/ Fast Action Dried Yeast)，可直接拌入其他乾材料中﹔如使一般乾酵母(Dried Yeast/Active Dried Yeast)，則需預先和暖牛奶溶合
• 如麵糰過份濕潤的話，可多加一點麵粉，每一次放1湯匙左右﹔同樣地如麵糰太乾的話，可多放一點牛奶，每一次放1/2茶匙左右
• 我自己現在做麵包時，在第一個部驟不會將全部麵粉倒入，會特意留起1-2湯匙﹔因為我覺得麵糰一旦太乾，即使再加入水份要將麵糰揉至有彈性相當困難﹔所以寧願一開始將麵糰弄得濕潤一點，再逐漸揉入留起的麵粉