Cabinet Basics for Newbies at Segale

I received this notice today and thought I would pass it on here. I have known Don Segale since he had a small shop with four employees in San Bruno back in the early '80s. He is one of the most reputable people in the industry and builds a quality cabinet with a catalyzed varnish finish.

If you are in the market for local custom cabinetry, Don is your man.

Peggy

At Segale Bros. we will be trying something new based on an idea from the NKBA meeting a few months back at Standards Of Excellence in San Rafael.

We will be holding our first Consumer seminar.

This seminar is meant for homeowners and end-users with no knowledge of cabinetry. This is not meant as a sales opportunity, but as a tool for people to feel more comfortable with cabinet planning and terminology. As you can all probably agree, most homeowners are clueless when it comes to cabinets, and then get overwhelmed when the education begins. We would like to "soften the blow" by starting off with the fundamentals.

Please help us by passing the word along. If you or anyone has specific questions feel free to contact me directly:

david@segalebros.com / 650-784-5202 mobile

Here is the information:

Segale Bros. Consumer Seminar

Please attend our first Consumer seminar entitled: "CABINET FUNDAMENTALS" on Saturday August 29th from 11:00am to 1:00pm in our showroom in Hayward. The seminar will be an overview of cabinets, including construction types, materials (including "green" options), accessories, case work and cabinet doors.

This seminar would be good for anyone planning to remodel a kitchen or is planning any major cabinetry project.

We will serve light refreshments.

Attendance is open to the general public, but reservations are required.

We are located at 1705 Sabre Street (@ Corsair) near the Hayward airport, Highway 92 and Highway 880.

Please phone 1-800-286-2915 to reserve your place.

Segale Bros. has been in business since 1976, and has been at the forefront of the cabinet industry for decades. We offer custom cabinets, cabinet refacing, closet and garage systems and home offices. We also represent two factory lines of cabinets: Medallion and Columbia.

Please visit www.segalebros.com for more information.

Cheesy Bread Strips

I'm crazy making water roux bread recently as the satisfaction of finest result is great! All the recipes from this book 65C度汤种面包 are quite straight forward. This recipe has no much different from my previous attempts. It's just slightly different in shaping the dough.

I like to buy those cheesy bread strips whenever I pass by a bakery shop, (I've no idea how to name it, sorry! Please correct me if I'm wrong) it's one of my favorite bread. It's great that I can make it myself. Again, this recipe wasn't disappointed me.

Recipe for the 9 buns (approximately 60g for each dough):

195g bread flour / 90g plain flour / 12g milk powder / 30g caster sugar / 6g salt / 6g yeast / 60g beaten eggs / 65g water / 75g water roux / 45g unsalted butter / some pizza cheese or mix of shredded mozzarella cheese, shredded cheddar cheese and Parmesan cheese

Recipe for the water dough "water roux":

Cook 250g water with 50g bread flour at medium low heat, keep stirring until it become thicken and no lumps left. If you've a candy thermometer, measure it until the temperature turn to 65C then turn of the heat. I didn't measure it with thermometer, so I cook it until like a baby porridge. Transfer to a clean bowl and cover with a cling wrap to avoid skin forming. The amount of water dough here would be more than a recipe required, you could store it in a the fridge for 2 days, if the color turn to dark grey, feed the bin :P OK OK don't waste it, use it for making other doughs before it turn to dark grey color OK!

Methods:

1. Put all the buns ingredients for kneading until smooth and elastic and the dough no more sticking at the side of the mixing bowl. Let it proof for 40 minutes in a clean bowl cover with cling wrap.
2. Divide the dough into even size of 9 portions and shape it into smooth ball shape. Let is rest for 10 minutes.
3. Flatten each dough with your hand and roll it out in longish shape. Roll it up to a sausage shape and seal it tightly. Place on a baking tray and let the dough proof for 40 minutes.
4. Egg wash the dough and sprinkle with some cheese and bake at 180C for 15 minutes. Enjoy!

Methi Rava Idly and Sambhar

Idly for breakfast makes work easier, since the breakfast for the entire family is made in a single batch. That's the only factor which pushes me to make idly for breakfast. Two years back, I first tried making rava idly with the MTR instant pack . Followed the instructions on the pack, rava idly turned out well was given a thumbs up by the family. I noted the ingredients on the packet. After 3 attempts, I got the right texture of the idly by making it from scratch. Since then, this recipe is a savior when in need of a quick fix for breakfast. I usually do the seasonings and roasting part the previous day and refrierate the mix. The next day all I have to do is mix in the wet ingredients and proceed with idly making. It saves lot of time.

Methi Rava Idly
(Yields - 16 nos )

Rava/Sooji - 2 cups
Buttermilk - 1 cup
Water - 1 cup
Salt
Cooking soda- 1/4 tspn
Methi leaves - handful
(Grates carrot or fresh corn etc can also be used)



Seasoning

Ghee/oil - 2 tblspn
Mustard seeds - 1 tspn
Chana dal - 1 tblspn
Cashews - 10 nos
Green chilly - 2 nos, finely chopped
Curry leaves - few






Heat oil/ghee in a kadai. Add the seasoning ingredients. Add the methi leaves. When the leaves wilt, add the rava and roast till you can smell the aroma of roasted rava. Cool and add salt,buttermilk and water. I have used buttermilk since it is always available in my home. Beaten curd can also be used instead. The proportion of rava and liquid is 1:1. Whisk to break the lumps. Keep it aside for 10 minutes. Mix in the cooking soda and mix gently. Scoop into greased idly moulds and steam for 7-10 minutes. Serve hot with chutney or sambhar or molagapodi. Adding methi leaves did not impart any bitter taste to the idlis.


Sambhar

Sambhar in Palakkad Iyer lingo is not the instant, quick fix kind. To qualify for sambhar it must have coconut and fresh roasted and ground spices. Sambhar without coconut is looked down upon and is rarely made too. Things have changed now. People have go used to making with instant sambhar powders sans coconut. And coconut if used, is very moderate quanitity. I rarely make sambhar using the sambhar powder. When ever I make coconut less version (podi potta sambhar) , I prefer fresh powder. And i do have the store bought sambhar powder in stock,ironically never used for sambhar making. the veggies used in sambhar is very versatile. Drumstick/ladies finger/ pumpkin/brinjal/raddish/pearl onion are some of the common veggies used. Each veggie on its own gives a distinct flavor and a combination of veggies also works good. Sambhar is a very forgiving recipe and has scope for many variations. I usually follow the age-old method of eye ball measurement while making sambhar. I believe that gives a distinct taste each time its made. Take the following measurement as a guideline and little more or less will not alter the taste much.

Now coming to the recipe I follow,

Radish/Mullangi - 2 nos,sliced into circles

Tuvar dal - 1/2 cup

Tamarind - lemon sized

Turmeric

salt

Coconut - generous 1/2 cup

To roast and grind

Oil - 1 tblspn

Coriander seeds/Malli - 2 tblspn

Red chilly - 4 nos

Chana dal/Kadala paruppu - 1 tspn

Methi seeds/Venthayam/Uluva - 1/2 tspn

Curry leaves - 5 leaves (optional)

Hing powder - few shakes

Seasoning

Oil - 1 tspn

mustard seeds - 1 tspn

Curry leaves for garnish

Pressure cook tuvar dal till soft and mash able. Soak tamarind in warm water for 5 minutes or so. This will help easier extraction of the juice. Keep the vegetable sliced.

Take the tamarind extract in a vessel and a cup of water, salt and turmeric. When the tamarind water starts boiling, add the veggies. Cook till it is fork tender.

In the meantime, roast the the ingredients to be roasted till the dal turns light brown. Remember to add the methi seeds during the last stages of roasting. When cool grind to a smooth paste along with coconut. Add water as required.

Mash the cooked dal and stir into the cooked veggies. Add the ground paste. Check the salt. Adjust the consistency by adding water. Bring to rolling boil stage. Do the seasoning with mustard seeds and add few curry leaves for garnish.

The plate of idly and sambhar is my contribution to EC's WYF -Breakfast event