waste free kitchen – MONO and CO

Waste-Free Kitchen : DIY Lemonade

Thirst quencher can be something as easy as turning on the tap here in Singapore. I am really thankful for that. But sometimes, I need something more delicious than plain water, it also has to be simple to make. I read about how lemonade can be made in a blender, just throw in the entire fruit, skin and all. As I don’t get organic lemons, I made it with just the pulp after removing the bitter pith. I also prefer to use my immersion blender since there is no hard skins involved, plus I always choose to wash and dry just one stick than a huge blender jar.

Here’s how I make my version of blender lemonade:

Waste-Free Kitchen : DIY Lemonade

I used 2 lemons, enough to make about 4 glasses of lemonade.

Quarter the fruits and remove the skin, pith and seeds. Place the pulp in a large cup or a glass flask and top with ice water. Do not add too much water, in case it gets too diluted. You can always top up with more ice water later if it is too sour to your liking.

Waste-Free Kitchen : DIY Lemonade

Instead of topping up with water, I added honey. In a separate cup, prepare the honey syrup by dissolving your favorite honey in water. I added 2 tablespoons of honey. Again, you can adjust to taste after combining the 2 liquids together. Stir well, and serve chilled with more ice cubes. Taken best on a hot afternoon.

Enjoy!

Waste-Free Kitchen : DIY Lemonade

*The skin, pith, and seeds are frozen with the rest of my vegetable scraps that I sent off to a composting site when the container gets filled up. If you buy organic lemons, you can blend the skin with the flesh after scrubbing the surface clean.

Waste-Free Kitchen : DIY Lemonade

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Okara Bread Loaf // Mono+Co

This recipe follows up nicely with a previous post on reducing food waste in my tiny kitchen because of this ingredient : okara.

Okara Bread Loaf // Mono+Co

This creamy paste is the by product of homemade soy milk; leftover after extracting the milk out of blended soy beans. Since they are still full of protein, calcium and fiber, the best waste free kitchen solution is to mix them in bread recipes or cook them into meat-free meatballs. I’ll show you the bread method first.

OKARA BREAD LOAF

190g bread flour
20g top flour
120g fresh okara **
1 tablespoon raw sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1 egg (60g)
60g water **
40g cold butter, cubed

** A note on fresh homemade okara, I can never seem to squeeze them completely dry when making soy milk. Since I have found other ways use it in our food, I have chosen to go easy on myself; no need to squeeze till the last drop of milk comes out. Since this will affect the amount of liquid in okara, the amount of water added to the recipe will be adjusted accordingly, pour just enough to make all the ingredients come together as a ball is a good indication. Same caution with liquid addition applies if you use store bought dehydrated okara.

In a mixing bowl, add bread flour, top flour, sugar, salt, and yeast, and mix briefly with a hand whisk. Add fresh okara, egg and water (**see note above) and knead on lowest speed (KA 1) till all ingredients come together to form a dough. Let this dough rest for 15 minutes before adding cubed cold butter one by one, till no traces of butter can be seen.

Continue kneading alternating between KA speed 1 and 2, till the dough reach window pane stage, it will turn extremely pliable.

Turn off the mixer, and let the dough rise for 1 hour, covered with a clean towel. I have started using a huge pot lid instead since it fits my KA mixer, so that I have one less towel to wash at the end of the day. Evolution takes place in my kitchen everyday.

This dough did not rise as much as my other recipes, but a straightforward “ripe” test is all it takes to see if the dough is ready for the next step. Simply stick a floured finger deep into the dough, usually in the middle, and when the indentation remains after taking out the finger, it is ready for punch down.

Okara Bread Loaf // Mono+Co

Deflate the dough and transfer it to a clean work top. Flatten the dough to push out any gas trapped inside, rolling pin will be helpful here when the dough is not too sticky. Shape dough and place in a baking tin, seam side downwards. Let it proof for another hour, covered and placed at a draft free place. Remember that I don’t cover my dough with towel anymore? Another form of evolution has taken place : I leave the uncovered tin inside my oven with the oven door closed. Some bakers proof their bread inside the oven with the lights turned on. My oven doesn’t have this mode, maybe it took a little longer time than if the lights were turn on to increase the oven interior temperature slightly, but at least the bread still rise beautifully.

After an hour, check if the dough has risen to reach almost to the brim. Bake at 170C for 30 minutes. After baking, remove bread from the tin immediately and leave on rack to cool completely before slicing or serving.

Okara Bread Loaf // Mono+Co

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