Saturday, August 27, 2011

20 Minutes preparation for an awesome soup for noodles

When I get home from a long day, and it is cold I always think about making a soup.  Soup in the olden days used to take the whole day and a little bit more to make, these days we have boxed Stock! what a great gift to the busy family.

After a long day you really just want to relax so this will take about 20 minutes of your time of course depending how fast you are at chopping. 45 minutes on the stove.

Flavour goals
If you taste stock on its own you will have a relatively sharp unbalanced flavour what we are trying to achieve is a whole of mouth flavour which is normally explained as the depth of flavour.  The best way to balance the sharp taste is to add fresh vegetables, salt and soy sauce.  The flavour balancing items are the salt and the soy sauce so do not add to much because you can always add this at the end.  If the flavour is still too much like the stock add a little more soy sauce tablespoon by tablespoon until your taste buds feel satisfied.

Utensils
One big pot that has a cover
Another pot for noodles
A Chopping board
A knife
A ladle
A noodle drainer


Soup ingredients
1 Liter Soup stock
Water
1 bunch of Coriander
1 Carrot
1 small Onion
3 Cloves garlic
1 Stick of Celery (not bunch just 1 stick of a bunch)
half a Zucchini
1 Chilli
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
White Miso (or miso dashi) (if you can get them the effect is an increase in the depth of flavour)


150-200g Mince of some sort (Pork, chicken or beef)
Oyster sauce
Sesame oil
Soy sauce
Sugar


Noodles:
You can use pasta, egg noodles, udon noodles, dried packet noodles, rice vermicelli etc.. etc..

Preparation:
1) Wash coriander and wash and peel the carrots, celery and zucchini.
2) Cube the carrots, celery and zucchini into small cubes about 1 cm x 1 cm roughly the same size.
3) Chop the stalks off the coriander bunches and chop them to small pieces, leave the leaves for garnish later.
4) Dice onions, garlic and chilli into small pieces
5) Boil some water (in a kettle or the noodle pot)
6) Heat pot and put some olive oil in it (medium high fire for about 2-3 minutes)

7) Marinade your meat (200g of meat about 2-3 tablespoons of oyster sauce, soy sauce and sesame oil.  1 table spoon of sugar.  A few cracks of pepper).
8) Mix thoroughly.
9) Start boiling some water in the other pot (this will be used for cooking the noodles so fill the pot to about half).

Cooking time:
1) Pour the diced onions, garlic, chilli into the pot with the hot olive oil, it should start sizzling immediately.
2) When the fragrance is released, meaning you can smell the lovely smell from the pot.  Cook it off for another 2 minutes so they start to brown, if they are browning too quickly your fire is too hot.
3) Add in the marinated mince meat into the pot and cook it till they brown 6-7 minutes.
4) Add in your vegetables and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
5) Pour in the stock. Add the coriander stalks now.
6) Add 2 cups of boiling water (approximately 500 mLs)
7) 3 pinch of salt and a few cracks of pepper and 2 tablespoon of soy sauce.
8) If you have miso (3 teaspoon) or miso dashi (2 teaspoon) add now
8) Turn up the fire until the soup boils then lower to medium low to simmer cover the pot.  This will now sit on the stove while you clean up the kids etc it will take about 20 - 30 minutes for the flavour to mature. Taste and adjust as required.
9) If you are using pasta (50g of dried pasta per person?) put them in the pot of boiling water now.  Other noodles you can start about 10 minutes into the simmering.

Serving:
1) Get out 3 big bowls add about a handful of noodles to the bottom of the bowl, don't be tempted to add too much because noodles expand in your tummy and the saying goes "generous eyes but a small stomach".
2) Using the ladle make sure you stir the soup before you scoop, you do not want to miss out on all the goodies on the bottom of that pot. Garnish and serve.
3) Eat and slurp and stuff and be happy.

This will feed about 2.25 Roy so that means about 3.5 normal humans

Questions:
1) Can I eat this just as a soup? Yes

2) What happens if it is too salty? Add more stock or water, sometimes if you eat the soup with the noodles the saltiness disappears so try it with a mouthful of noodles and check the flavour before diluting.

3) What if I don't like coriander?  Wash and then boil the whole bunch in the soup so the flavour is integrated with the soup.  If you are going to make this soup you gotta have some coriander, if you don't like it .. tough! nah kidding but if you leave it out you are missing a big part of the flavour. 

4) Can we add other stuff to the soup for instance mushrooms, yesterdays dinner, meat loaf, and or sweet and sour pork? If you only said mushrooms I would say yes go for your life the last 3 really depends on how adventurous your taste buds are.  If you can make it with sweet and sour pork please let me know your recipe! :-D

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Business plans (Part 2)

Financial situation

No joking matter, if you are starting a business give yourself time to be successful.  Overnight successes do occur but they are few and far between.  Often you will have absolutely no income for the first 12 to 24 months.  Be prepared.

Here is something I have learned from doing my small business, do not spend any money unless:

1) It has a positive impact on sales

2) Reduces cost

3) Is necessary to produce your product

This is the three question I will ask before I spend any money on anything.

Plan for your cash flow, I am not sure what is the standard for other industries however in the food industry it is End of Month + 30 days.  This means that if you sell something in January you won't see a dime until early March (that is if they pay on time).  So as a small business that pays in 7 days or 14 days you have a big gap to when you pay to when you are paid.  Do not be complacent in this area as it will hurt massively when there are large orders placed (imagine a large order making you go broke can't happen right? well it can).

Some articles that tell you to limit your credit terms etc to 30 days are all inaccurate.  A recent article indicated that average payment takes about 53 business days.  If you plan for 60 days and ask at 45 days you might average out, but don't dream too much.  Large companies will pay you when they do, if you are overly aggressive it may backfire; You must remember that you are dealing with a staff of the big company and not the business owner.

General things aside the details you want, when you start you want to work out your costs as much as you can so you need to see these sections in your spread sheet:
1) Fixed costs
2) Utilities
3) Cost of goods sold
4) Cash flow
5) Once off spending

If you haven't gotten married yet, here is your chance grab an accountant and say your vows.
1) Fixed costs?

Fixed costs are things like rentals and leasing costs etc...  They always happen and they cost the same and you cannot avoid them.

2) Utilities?
Your electricity, phone, gas, recycling bin etc etc..

3) Cost of goods sold?
The cost of buying goods to make your product.

4) Cash flow (taking into account payment terms)?
Money in your bank.  If you have no orders for the next 2 months and you get hit with one big order what happens to all your cash?

5) Once off spending?
Things you only buy once.

Once you have sat down to work out your costs you have a much better chance at working out how much to sell your product and how many of your product you have to sell.

If anything you need to put a lot of effort into for your business it is the financial side.  Take the time to do it properly, don't risk the venture because of guesstimates.

Marketing and selling your goods

Just because you think your product / goods is great does not mean that consumers feel the same.  It is a big effort to get people to get familiar enough to buy your product.  There are many many ways to do this and there are thick books on this subject I have summarized it into 5 main steps:

1) Market research - not just the product; include the name of the product; the feel of the product and the whole image of the product.  So you need to explore what consumers think about your product.

2) Differentiate your product, if you make a meat pie why should people buy your product rather than another brand?  Constantly build on the image that you have decided to move on; Tag lines that are easy to remember really helps you here.

3) What price can your product sell for?  also consider what price you have to sell it to make a profit. You can ask for any price you like, however you might not get any sales if your price does not match the expectations.

4) Finding your market - your aim is to convince consumers that your product is worthy to be purchased for the price that you ask for.  Look for your market or make it easy for your market to find you.

5) Set an objective calculable goal based on a dollar amount, and set a time limit.  For example (this is not a real figure by the way) I will push brand Jumplings for the next 8 months at the end of the 8 months the sales figure will be $40,000 / month.  After establishing this work out if you can achieve it (time wise or production wise) if you cannot find out what you need to do to achieve it.

Conclusion
In the 4 page business plan here are the important pages:

1) Establish your industry and establish your role.

2) Decide why you are in business, lay out your principles as an employer and a person be sure to stay true to them.

3) Spend days doing a spreadsheet that will tell you your costs and your break even point or marry an accountant.

4) Find your market and find out how to find a market, investigate the best way to sell your product.

Wishing all of you that are working on a business success and hopefully I have given enough information for you to activate your business and engage your customers. 

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Business plans

Business plans

NOTE: The business plan I am suggesting in this article is for your business it is a working document that you can change without feeling a sense of loss (time spent and research done).  If you are approaching a bank or investors to raise capital you will have to work on a traditional business plan which is more detailed and verbose.  If you have to do a traditional business plan please consider the assumptions you make and how that might effect the overall direction of your business in the future.
 
I hate them.  Why do I have to spend hours and hours writing a business plan that would detail everything about my business only to have to change it all again when things change in my business?

Somethings in life no matter how much you hate it you just have to do it.  Being a lazy relatively relaxed person I didn't want to go through every single detail of a traditional business plan so I came up with a 4 page business plan, and if it goes over 4 pages into 5 pages nobody is going to minus marks.

A business plan as everyone will tell you is an organic document, it grows with the business.  An organic plan that grows with the business should not be overly constrained.  What I found useful about a business plan is the high level direction of the business, markets, cost of running and the point where the business makes money.

My example is going to be relatively short here but it is here to give you the guidance so you can do your own.


High level direction of the business

Lots of big words for a relatively small man (not kidding 165cm - 168cm with shoes :D ).  This just means decide where you want to go with the business before you start it.  When I first started Jackies Cooking all I was certain of was that I want to do food manufacturing.  I started off with curry puffs and eventually settled on gyoza or Jumplings as our main manufacturing product.

As a business sometimes you may have to change and adapt to survive, if I had not changed from curry puffs to gyoza I would certainly have been closed a long time ago.

For me the test was, is there a market? and can I achieve economies of scale (another big phrase); economies of scale means that the more you produce one product the cheaper it should get to make that product.  I could not achieve the economies of scale with curry puffs due to the high labor component.  We made the best (mums recipe) but people did not need the best so I was wasting effort on something that was fantastic but could not fetch the price for the effort.

Gyoza on the other hand, was much less labor intensive and there were (expensive) machines that could assist in production.  Almost everyone that comes to the shop to see our machine thinks that it looks so easy, do not underestimate the effort you have to put into getting a machine working.  It took us 3 months just to get the dough correct and another 3 months to get it to a point where I was proud of it.

So work on the premise that the product you produce should have a market and the price to match the effort, do not tie yourself into a product unless you are sure about the price and the market.  If you have detailed your product and the direction in a traditional business plan, I urge you to reconsider and make it a little more flexible.  Sometimes you have to change your business to suit the market.  Understandably you would not change a restaurant into a swimming pool so keep your change to a relatively narrow corridor keeping in mind what you envisage is your dream business.

State the reasons you want to get into business and have your principles sorted


You know the I want to be more flexible, I want to be my own boss, I want to have more decision making role, I want to have more control of my financial future etc.

Personally I went into business because I just enjoy the challenge of it.  I would like to bring a product into commercialization and have a business that earns me income even when I am not there.  Well guess what? It is easier said than done.

A few things to consider the thought although noble it is hard to let go of something that you have worked on for so long and so hard, this is where your principles come in.

What do you mean principles?   I started Jackies Cooking with the intention to sell it.  The whole operation should work even when I am not there and the business model simple enough so that a new owner can walk in take over and start making money.  A business that can be managed fetches a higher price.  So if I have a product where the recipes can be premixed and the product can be mass manufactured I should be on a winner right? not exactly I have to be able to sell enough to be able to keep the machine running everyday of the week.  Selling Gyoza to Australians that is my marketing story (another day).

Back to principles, every staff that comes to work with me in my kitchen should be an extension of me and should be able to do what I do.  I go through an orientation with them of what I expect of my staff.  I take a direct and pro active approach to managing and it is never confrontational but always straight forward.  I have learned from my past that confrontation only serves to alienate your employees.  So I have taken a mentor approach where everything we do is never perfect but we can always do better to make it better.

In the talk I tell them these things:
1) What does it mean when they work here for me as an employer.
2) I am their customer because I am paying them for a service, so always treat your customers with dignity and respect.  In addition you must also know that you are as important as your customer.  Bullying, yelling, etc should not be tolerated.
3) I have an Aristole quotation about anger you can read it here -

“Anyone can become angry - that is easy, but to be angry with the right person at the right time, and for the right purpose and in the right way - that is not within everyone's power and that is not easy.” Aristotle

 

If you intend to run a business that generates you income when you are not there you will have to invest a lot of time in your employee training.  So take the time to work on how you intend to work with staff and what expectations you have.  Put effort into working with your staff, go through your business and decide which areas you can let go and let go quickly. 


Part 2 coming soon...




Lemon lime and bitters

Lemon Lime and Bitters
Ingredients
  • Lemonade (Ice Cold)
  • Lime Cordial
  • Angostura aromatic bitters
  • Ice
Cooking utensils
Glass and a stirrer


Instructions
  • Put ice into a glass
  • Pour in the lemonade making sure you tip the glass as you pour it in (this reduces the amount of bubble foam on top of the lemonade) 200 to 230 mls
  • Add 30 mls of lime cordial to the lemonade
  • Sprinkle 4-7 drops (depending how much bitters taste you enjoy)
  • Stir and serve
Questions
  • How can we make this drink more classy? Use a straw and umbrellas are always popular.
  • When can we drink this? Anytime.
  • Will we get drunk? If you drink enough with a lot of bitters or if you are Roy you only need one drink with 2 drops of bitters.
  • How long will one bottle of bitters last? A long time.
  • What if it tastes bad? I guess that means you don't like lemon lime and bitters try a different drink.

Chilli Mussels

My Chilli Muscles (hehe)!

Cooking is not an exact science, the best way to see if it tastes good is to TASTE IT.

Ingredients
  • 5 Cloves of Garlic
  • Bunch of Coriander
  • 2 Shallots 
  • 1-2 Onions (I like the taste of cooked soft onions)
  • 3-4 Tomatoes
  • 1 can of tomato paste (250-300g s I think)
  • Lemon
  • 1-5 Chilli (depending on your hotness, I am obviously very hot :-) )
  • 350 - 500ml Soup Stock
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • 1 to 1.2 Kg Mussels
Cooking utensils
A large wok with a cover or a deep pan with a cover or a pot with a cover
Wooden spoon

Preperation (10-20 minutes)
  • Chop the garlic to small pieces
  • Slice the Shallots and onions
  • Chop the tomatoes roughly
  • Chop the stem of the coriander to small pieces (Keep the leaves for the garnish) 
  • Chop the chilli into small pieces (Always chop the chilli last)
  • Wash and de-beard the Mussels (generally comes de-bearded and cleaned but check anyway) - if you have to de-beard the mussels start on the sauce first.
  • To de-beard the mussels just pull the beard along the opening until it comes off.

Making the sauce (Actual working on the sauce is about 10 minutes and the waiting should be about 25 minutes - 45 minutes depending how much you want to reduce)
  • Add some oil (2-3 tablespoon) to a pot on high heat
  • Put in the chilli, garlic, shallots and onions into the hot pot
  • When the fragrance is released (when you can smell the garlic, shallots, onions and chilli) allow it to cook for another 2-3 minutes stir the mixture so it does not burn
  • Add some salt 2 - 3 pinches and pepper to the mixture and stir (don't add too much now you can always add later)
  • Pour in the soup stock into the mixture 
  • Add in the coriander stems now
  • Allow the soup to heat up
  • When the soup starts to boil, carefully add in the chopped tomatoes and the can of tomato paste
  • Reduce the heat to low and make sure the mixture is stirred often
  • Cover when on low heat
  • The sauce should be a little bit runny so it should not be too thick if it is too thick add some soup stock, if it is too runny (I like it with a bit of broth) you can reduce further on higher fire.
Combining the Mussels with the sauce (7-10 minutes)
  • Slowly add in the mussels (careful not to splash it on yourself) I normally turn it up to medium flame so I get a little bit of bubbles on the surface of the sauce/broth
  • The more sauce/broth you have the better 
  • Close the cover and stir on occasion
  • Make sure all the mussels have opened this might take about 7-10 minutes in the pot
  • Do not eat unopened mussels
Serving
  • Put the yummy mussels in a deep bowl and mix in the coriander leaves that we had earlier and squeeze half the lemon on the top
  • Pan fry some sour dough bread covered in olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper
  • Dip bread and eat smile broadly feel happy wash it down with a lemon lime and bitters (next recipe)
 This will serve 2 Roy :-/ which would mean 3-4 normal humans.

Questions and answers:

1) What if it doesn't taste good? Come to my house I will do it for you or pay me to come to your house to do it for you (I am kidding don't call me I won't know why it won't taste good).  Alternatively keep trying until you get it right then call me over to eat it.
2) What taste are we looking for? Firstly if you are hot like me, the chilli should stand out, then the coriander, onions and garlic would be the next taste bud stop.  The mussels are there however flavour-wise the mussels should be incorporated into the sauce/broth.
3) Mussels are not opening! well cook'em longer turn up the fire or go out and buy fresh ones.