Green Cilantro

Korean BBQ Wings - Flavor Forecast 2012

2012-02-01T20:28:00.000+11:00

I have discovered this week:

*I'm slowly losing my resistance - it’s about time for me to get a smartphone…like one where you can actually whatsapp people the photos you've taken throughout the day or navigate yourself out of being lost in the city.

*Purple is so not in at the moment. I have struggled like never before to find a purple bridesmaid dress!

*The last thing I want to do after a long day at work is to come home and sit in front of the computer…I feel terrible about the emails to be sent and comments to be replied...

*The very first frangipani flower appeared on our balcony...aloha!

*It’s now February…no more excuses for putting things off just because “it’s still the beginning of the year.”

*I am supposedly chronically allergic to peanut butter and milk (according to a recent blood test). I wonder if I’d puff up if I have a peanut butter milkshake!

*This flavour combo – Korean Pepper paste with Sesame, Asian pear and Garlic is kinda amazing on my palate.

Remember the McCormick Flavor Forecast I posted a few weeks back, where I told you how I really wanted to try this flavour combo?

It's garlicky, peppery, slightly hot, sweet...and juicy (from the pear!)

Totally Tuesday night kinda food as you repeatedly wonder why it's not even half way through the week yet. It sure feels like a Friday to me!

Just mix together the Korean pepper sauce, garlic, ginger, honey, soy sauce, and a bit of sesame oil into a bowl.

Toss the wings/drumsticks into the marinade and refrigerate for 30 minutes (the longer the better!)

(I'm feeling uneasy putting photos up of uncooked chicken as this is mostly a flour-butter-eggs-sugar kinda blog...)

Bake (then grill, which I didn't) and enjoy!

I can see why people love this flavour combo! The juicy sweetness from the pear along with the garlicky Korean pepper sauce causes some serious finger licking actions until you find yourself with an empty plate in front of you on a feels-like-a-Friday Tuesday night!

Hurry up weekend. Come already!

"Korean BBQ meets Buffalo wings. These succulent finger foods are served with crunchy Asian pear to create a unique flavor adventure."

Korean BBQ Wings

Flavor Forecast

Makes 12 appetizer servings.

1/2 cup (125 mL) Korean pepper paste (Gochujang)
1/2 cup (125 mL) soy sauce
1/4 cup (60 mL or 85 grams) honey
2 tablespoons (30 mL or 20 grams) minced garlic
2 tablespoons (30 mL) sesame oil
1 teaspoon (5 mL or 2 grams) McCormick® Ground Ginger
4 pounds (2 kilograms) chicken wing pieces (I used both drumsticks and wings)
1 Asian pear
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon (15 mL or 7 grams) McCormick® Sesame Seed

1. Mix hot pepper paste, soy sauce, honey, garlic, sesame oil and ginger in medium bowl until well blended. Place chicken in large resealable plastic bag or glass dish. Add 1/2 cup (120 mL) of the marinade; toss to coat well. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Reserve remaining marinade.

2. Remove chicken from marinade. Discard any remaining marinade. Place chicken on shallow foil-lined large baking pan. Bake in preheated 375°F (190°C, Gas Mark 5) oven 30 minutes, turning chicken halfway through cooking.

3. Meanwhile, quarter and core the Asian pear. Cut each quarter into 3 pieces. Place pear slices in large bowl. Add cooked chicken and 1/2 of the reserved marinade; toss to coat well.

4. Grill chicken and pear slices over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until grill marks appear, turning occasionally. Toss chicken and pear slices with remaining reserved marinade in large bowl. Sprinkle with green onions and sesame seed.

Test Kitchen Tips:

Gochujang or Korean pepper paste is made from chile powder, glutinous rice powder, fermented soybeans and salt. It is used to flavor stews, soups and marinades, and as a condiment at the table. It is available in Asian markets and online specialty stores.

Chicken wings may be grilled without prebaking. Grill marinated chicken over medium-high heat 15 to 18 minutes until cooked through, turning frequently. Grill pear slices as directed, brushing with 2 tablespoons of the reserved marinade. Continue as directed.

Cranberry and Pistachio Biscotti

2012-01-25T23:28:00.000+11:00

The first few weeks at a new work place is always awkward.

If you've never felt this way then you are probably less socially awkward than I am. Any tips appreciated!

I am terrible at chit-chats especially in the elevator or other confined spaces (e.g. bathroom). I never know what to say after that nice-to-meet-you handshake (I'm proud of my firm-not-sloppy handshake but not the subsequent awkwardness that follows). And I am embarrassed to admit that many colleagues are still addressed as "...hey!", where the "..." refers to the moment of silence where I frantically try to recall their names.

But besides these rather gawky experiences, I have every reason to feel thankful...for the job, the colleagues, for the opportunities to learn, to grow and to break (myself, hopefully not things/computers/people), to be of influence (however big or small!) and to able to support myself financially. And obviously for the people who support and pray for me!

On a different note, I made this rather exotic yet comforting Blueberry-Cardamom Mexican Atole (pictured above!) from McCormick's Flavor Forecast on Chinese New Year's Eve (we really lack tradition in my family). Atole is a warm sweet masa drink from Mexico traditionally served at breakfast - why haven't I discovered you earlier?

Aaaaannnd, yesterday these deliciously crunchy (and festively looking!) biscottis were made in a rush after work and just before dinner and the summer sunset. They were accompanied by a mug of Mother's rather strange but healthy concoction of red bean, mung bean and barley drink...not coffee!

I did mention we're not a traditional bunch, right?

Cranberry and Pistachio Biscotti
Donna Hay Magazine Dec 2012
Makes 80

2 cups plain flour, sifted
1 1/2 tsp baking powder sifted
3/4 cup caster sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp finely grated orange rind
1 cup sweetened, dried cranberries
1 cup shelled unsalted pistachios

1. Preheat oven to 160deg. Place flour, baking powder and sugar into a bowl and mis to combine.

2. Add eggs, vanilla, orange rind (I used Lemon), cranberries and pistachios and mix until you form a dough

3. Turn the dough out onto a table and with some flour, knead until smooth.

4. Form into two logs and flatten slightly.Bake in oven on two lined baking trays for 30-35 minutes or until firmcool completely.

5. When cooled use a serated knife to cut thin slices and place them back on baking trays. bake for a further 8-10 minutes until crisp. cool on trays.

Easy Butter Toffee Sauce & McCormick's Flavor Forecast 2012!

2012-01-15T23:02:00.000+11:00

Hello new year and hello you!

I've missed you...and my laptop (I've been without it for almost 2 months!)

I won't start the first post of the year with my New Year's goals...or resolutions as I did last year. (Definitely ~~not~~ because they are yet accomplished...)

Thinking back, Twenty Eleven (2011) saw me learning that edamame tastes pretty good in almost anything and that papaya and pineapples together can actually make your taste buds sing. So many food combinations tried and tested over that year...and shared/loved/made over and over again!

Makes me look forward to all the new flavour combos you and I will discover this year.

I think the team of experts from Flavor Forecast 2012 might know a bit more about all the trendy and inspiring flavours of 2012 than I as they have been engaged in a year-long process of identifying culinary trends!

I am writing this post in partnership with McCormick's Spice as they launch Flavor Forecast 2012. Here on this space, you know (if you've been visiting long enough) I don't normally promote commercial products - this is simply a space where I share with you what goes on in that corner of my heart and apartment where food of all sorts come out.

But as an user of the McCormick spices on a daily basis and being genuinely interested in this launch - I'd love to share with you the new flavour combos they've come up with. Coz, sharing is caring (just what my sister said to me today when I refused to lend her my cute top...)

So what is Flavor Forecast, you ask? (#You type flavor, I type flavour...)

It's essentially a forecast of the future of flavour! Or, an annual report compiled by McCormicks chefs and trend trackers that tells us what is new and trendy in the food scene this year globally!

So on their site, they've put together this great guide of flavour trends of 2012 and recipes for those flavour combinations to try. I hope you do check them out if interested. The Butter Toffee sauce I've made is from the site as well. I've been spooning on it tonight while watching TV :) It's even better than a tub of ice-cream (together would be unbeatable uh huh!)

I've attached a few of the flavour combos I find most interesting below:

Check out recipes using:

Ginger with Coconut here

Red Tea with Cinnamon & Plum here

This is definitely the flavour combo I'm most keen to try myself!!!

Korean Pepper Paste with Sesame, Asian Pear & Garlic recipes here

Check out recipes using:

Vanilla with Butter here (the Easy Butter Toffee Sauce is from here :)

Blueberry with Cardamom & Corn Masa here

For the rest of the flavour combinations of 2012, go to Flavor Forecast!

These five (5) really pretty photos above are courtesy of their website too.

Easy Butter Toffee Sauce
Recipe from here

"This toffee sauce is a snap to prepare. It elevates ice cream and sweet treats like brownies and cakes with rich, buttery flavor"

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) (125 mL or 112 grams) butter
1/2 cup (125 mL or 100 grams) sugar
1/2 cup (125 mL) heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon (3 mL) McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract

1. Place butter and sugar in medium saucepan on medium heat. Cook and stir until mixture turns a deep amber color.

2. Carefully stir in cream and vanilla. (Mixture will be bubbly.) Whisking constantly, cook until sauce thickens and coats back of spoon.

Makes 1 cup or 8 (2-tablespoon) servings.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Anyways, it's great to be BACK in the blogging world and speaking to you about food once again!

New friends - nice to meet you and please make yourself at home :)

Old friends - thanks so much for returning and discovering with me.

Happy new week ahead...

P.S I start a new job tomorrow - hope to return with positive news ;)

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

2011-12-09T00:23:00.001+11:00

It's time.

Well for a handful of things...

For one, it's time for me to be trite...and say once again, "I can't believe it's almost Christmas!" Such over-used phrase...but hey, who can help it when displays of nativity scenes and the signature red Starbucks cups are walking the streets. And the can't-help-but-hum-along music of Christmas is playing everywhere - from the grocery stores to radio stations.

What I look forward to this season are the annual reminders it gives. It's time to be thankful for all the blessings given us during the year (which are so often taken for granted), to write (and hopefully receive) Christmas cards with messages of hope and joy, and to reflect back on the year.

These familiar reminders are also reminders of things essential:

It's time to be reminded of God's love and grace. Let's not forget the real message of Christmas: Because He loves us, God has come to redeem us—to bring life and to expel the darkness of our hearts and from our world. He sent His son Jesus, our Savior, into our world, who felt our pain and became acquainted with our sorrows, suffered and died for our sins.

It is also time for the last post of the year! Since my last post, I've arrived in Taiwan where I will be spending the time with people I love as well as people I've yet to meet but hope to learn to love. Over the next few weeks, I will be kitchen-less and most likely computer-less as I head down south of the country to the rural areas on a mission trip.

So...as this is the final post of 2011, I just want to say thank you for being a part of my life over the years. Thank you for subscribing and leaving me all kinds of comments and/or emails. There are no better ways to encourage me than what you've done.

I hope you have a lovely festive season ahead and that your Christmas this year is much more than the routine trimming of the tree, stringing up the lights, buying gifts and wrapping of the presents. I hope it's also filled with all things wonderful like love, hope, joy and peace regardless of what your circumstances are like.

Hey, and can I say it's about time I make an old fashioned Pineapple Upside-Down Cake. I'd never tasted one before until now. It's one of those things (along with Tarte Tartin) I wanted to make for the longest time but was waiting for the right time (mainly, when fresh pineapples are available!)

This is another recipe from Flour which I'd really enjoy both in the making and eating process :) It is with such anticipation when out from the oven comes this plain, unimpressive cake on the surface and you just pray that the flip side will be more pleasing to the eyes.

So you hold your breathe as you carefully flip...

It's a sigh of relief when you see the glistening fruit all in their rightful places and deliciously cooked.

So can I claim that this is my favourite pineapple upside-down cake when it's the only one I've had?

The rich and buttery cake topped with sweet juicy caramelised pineapples will have you reaching for more slices than your mind would allow. Just let go...the heart wants what the heart wants ;)

I was worried that the cake would be too sweet so I didn't use all the caramelised juices of the pineapple. For that reason, the bottom cake layer wasn't as soaked through with the caramelised juices but to me, it was sweet enough!

Pineapple Upside-down Cake

From Joanne Chang's Flour

1 pineapple
1¾ cups (350 grams) sugar
½ cup (120 grams) water
6 tbs (¾ stick/86 grams) softened unsalted butter, plus ½ cup (1 stick/114 grams), melted and cooled
1 cup (140 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp kosher salt
2 eggs, at room temperature
3 egg yolks, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Using a serrated knife, peel, halve, and core the pineapple, then cut into ¾-inch-thick slices. Cut the slices in half.

2. Put ¾cup (150 grams) of the sugar in the bottom of a medium saucepan. Addthe water and gently swirl the pan to moisten the sugar; if necessary,poke your fingers around the bottom of the pan to make sure all of thesugar is moistened with water. Place the pan over high heat and leaveit undisturbed until the contents come to a rolling boil. Thencontinue to boil rapidly without moving the pan until the sugar syrupstarts to caramelize. This will take 3 to 4 minutes: the sugar syrupwill boil furiously; then as it thickens, it will boil more languidly;and then you will see some of the syrup start to color and darkenaround the edge of the pan.

3. When you see color in the pan,gently swirl the pan in a circular motion so the sugar caramelizesevenly, and then keep swirling gently until the caramel is a mediumgolden brown. Turn down the heat to low and whisk in the 6 tablespoonsbutter; be careful, as the caramel may sputter and steam. Carefullyadd the pineapple and stir until it is coated with the caramel. Don'tworry if some of the caramel hardens; it will reliquefy as it continuesto cook. Turn up the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Thenturn down the heat to medium-low and simmer for 8 to 12 minutes, oruntil the pineapple turns golden brown. The pineapple will releasejuice and liquefy the caramel. Using a fork, transfer the pineapple toa plate. Continue to boil the remaining liquid on medium-high heat for2 to 3 minutes, or until thick and syrupy.

4. Position a rack in the center of the oven, and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter a 9-inch round cake pan.

5. Add all of the pineapple andthe caramel syrup to the prepared pan, arranging the pineapple inconcentric circles and covering as much of the bottom of the pan aspossible. Cut the pineapple quarters into smaller pieces to fill inany gaps, and double layer the pineapple if there is extra.

6. In a medium bowl, sift togetherthe flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, whisk togetherthe eggs and egg yolks until blended, then slowly whisk in theremaining 1 cup (200 grams) sugar, the vanilla, and the ½cup melted butter. Using a rubber spatula, fold the flour mixture intothe egg mixture until well combined.

7. Pour the batter evenly over thepineapple in the cake pan. Tap the pan gently on a countertop to getrid of any air bubbles in the batter and to make sure the batter fillsin any crevices in the pineapple and settles into the bottom of the pan.

8. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, oruntil the top is golden brown and springs back when pressed in themiddle with a fingertip. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for about30 minutes, or until cool enough to handle.

9. Place a serving plate upsidedown on top of the cake pan, then holding the pan and the plate tightlytogether, carefully invert them. Lift off the cake pan. If some ofthe pineapple sticks to the pan, remove it and replace it in its placeon top of the cake. Let the cake cool for at least another 30 minutes,then serve warm or at room temperature.

The cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
- Habakkuk 3:18

I hope to see you next year :)

Pumpkin and Feta Muffins

2011-11-21T22:23:00.001+11:00

Whoa, this has been a foreign place to me lately! (And I didn't mean for it to be like that, really!)

Just need to cozy it up with a bit of sunshine in the form of...

Pumpkins. Feta. Spinach. Parmesan. Mustard seeds. Sunflower kernels.

You still with me? I hope so.

So as we quickly approach the year end, life continues to (in short)...

* be busy and filled with decisions to make.

* teach me things like understanding and patience (and how to kill mosquitoes in the middle of the night).

* test me and my heart.

* display beauty in many shapes and forms (and also in the intangible!)

As much as I adore anything sweet (as this blog testifies), if I have a choice between a sweet or a savoury muffin, I'd pick the latter without a thought.

And usually they (i.e. multiple savoury muffins) can completely replace a meal for me...but only if they are filled with loads of flavoursome ingredients like these Pumpkin and Feta muffins.

After I enjoyed a few of these colourful muffins (hmmmm sweet sweet pumpkins, salty feta, crunchy seeds warm from the oven...need I go on?), it suddenly occurred to me that apart from the bit of olive oil to roast the pumpkins in, I don't recall using a bit of butter or oil in the whole process at all.

I panicked slightly. Either I read the recipe wrong. Or I have amnesia.

So I checked the recipe again. Phew - I can read and memory still a-ok!

Happy that I discovered these delicious oil-free muffins.

And thank you for visiting today. Make some muffins, grab a cup of tea and share some of your life and heart with me, won't you?

Pumpkin and Feta Muffins
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks
Makes 12 muffins

1 tablespoon unsalted butter (I omitted this as I used non stick muffin pan).
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups / 9 oz / 255g cubed pumpkin or butternut squash, 1/2-inch cubes
salt and pepper to taste
1 large handful of baby spinach, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped parsley or cilantro (I omitted this)
3 tablespoons sunflower seeds kernels
3/4 cup / 1 oz / 30g freshly grated Parmesan
100g / 3.5 oz / 1/2 cup cubed feta
2 teaspoons whole-grain mustard
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup / 180 ml milk (I used around 2 extra tbsp on top of this)
2 cups flour (I used 1 1/2 cup AP flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour)
4 teaspoons aluminum free baking powder
1 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 405F / 200C, with rack in the top third. Use the butter to grease a 12-hole muffin pan and set aside.

2. Sprinkle the olive oil and some salt and pepper over the squash. Toss well and turn onto a baking sheet or roasting pan. Arrange in a single layer and bake for 15 - 25 minutes or until cooked through entirely. Set aside to cool.

3. Transfer two-thirds of the squash to a large mixing bowl along with the spinach, parsley, sunflower seeds, Parmesan, two-thirds of the feta, and all of the mustard. Gently fold together. In a separate bowl beat the eggs and milk together and add to the squash mix. Sift the flour and baking powder onto the squash mix, top with the salt and a generous dose of freshly ground black pepper and fold together just until the batter comes together, be careful not to over mix.

4. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan, filling each hole 3/4 full, top each muffin with a bit of the remaining squash and feta (see photo up above). Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the tops and sides of the muffins are golden, and the muffins have set up completely. Let cool for a couple minutes then turn out onto a cooling rack. I like these muffins cooled a bit, served just warmer than room temperature.

People cry out under a load of oppression; they plead for relief from the arm of the powerful.

But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night,

- Job 35:9-10

Homemade Almond Milk + Black Sesame Cookies

2011-10-30T22:51:00.000+11:00

I realised I haven't been updating as often as I used to or would like to! But I want to say if you've been following - thank you for continuing to visit this little space here and your encouraging words. Or just coming as a silent visitor! :)

Life has been kinda pulling me in all directions lately. And so I've just been...waiting. On different things.

And talking about waiting, while I was tapping my fingers for these black sesame cookies to bake, I picked up my lately neglected camera and took some random shots around the home. I learnt that for me it is difficult to develop an eye to view things so familiar and mundane and capture them through a different lens in a way I've not seen before. A different perspective. I think that's what continues to challenge me and requires me to really stretch my not-so-dominant right brain (aka creative side).

Thanks Julz!

A while ago, I noticed my supermarket starting to stock up on various milk alternatives - like oat milk and almond milk. There definitely has been different 'milk' trends over the years!

I grew up detesting milk (the traditional cow's milk, that is) yet was forced to drink it as my parents told me it's full of calcium to help me grow taller (it's probably safe to conclude that milk did nothing to my height.) Then later on, there was this debate on why the cow's milk is designed for...uhhh only cows, and not us humans, and how it can actually promote cancer.

Then the health conscious (particularly those living in the western society) started making the switch to drinking soy milk. Before I knew it, articles after articles were published to discuss how soy milk can lead to infertility and all that kinda bad stuff.

How confusing does this all get? Do these information affect you at all? As for me, not really. I still continue to drink my milk and soy (can't quite imagine a dairy-free or soy-free lifestyle!)...but in moderation like all good things I suppose.

Almond milk, on the other hand, just doesn't seem to have any bad reports (hmmm yet?!) It's full of vitamins and antioxidants, low in fat and calories (compared to normal milk). And contains no cholesterol! Perhaps the only downside that I know of is the cost! At over $5 a litre over here, I can see that not many can afford to make the switch.

And so I learnt recently you can make it at home for a fraction of the cost and it really doesn't require much effort or time too. Just soak raw almonds over night in water, and then blitz it together with water and sieve! Voilaaaa, you've just made fresh almond milk!

Homemade almond milk is soo creamy and very delicious with my morning porridge.

It makes for the best afternoon tea treat with these buttery, crunchy black sesame cookies too!

They say milk and cookies make a great pair. They are just meant to be and belong together.

I'd say the same applies for almond milk too :)

Anyways, I hope you have a joyous week ahead! God's mercies are new every morning...even on Monday mornings ;)

Almond Milk

Raw almonds
Water
Honey (optional)
A blender cheese cloth or a sieve

Note: Use almond and water in the ratio 1:4 (I went with 1:3 which was more creamy. You can dilute it later if you wish).

1. Soak the almonds overnight in water.

2. The next day, drain the almonds. Add the almonds and (fresh) water (in the ratio of 3:1 or 4:1 water to almonds), to a blender.

3. Blend well. Add a touch of honey to sweeten (if you wish. I didn't as I found almond naturally sweet already on their own).

4. Strain through either a sieve or cheese cloth.

I've yet to figure out what to do with the left over almond bits...any ideas?

Black Sesame Cookie

Makes 20 6cm cookies

65g unsalted butter, room temperature
40g sugar (I used raw)
pinch salt
1/4 egg (~15g), room temperature
1 tsp milk, room temperature
1/4 tsp baking soda
125g cake flour, sifted
20g black sesame, toasted

1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter until smooth. Gradually add in the sugar.

2. Mix the egg, milk and baking powder together in a bowl. Add mixture slowly to the cream/sugar in previous step while continuing to mix in a stand mixer (or hand held mixer).

3. Add the sifted flour and salt into the stand mixer and mix until just combined, then add in the black sesame seeds. Let the dough mix for another few seconds.

4. With a spatula, combine the black sesame seeds well into the dough. Roll out the dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper with a rolling pin until the dough is around 3mm thick.

5. Transfer to a flat cookie sheet and refrigerate for around 2 hours.

6. Preheat the oven to 170C.

7. Use your favourite cookie cutters, cut out as many cookies as you can and transfer to a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Remember to pierce the cookies once or twice with a fork before you bake!

8. Bake for around 12-14 minutes. Check your oven and take out if already slightly browned.

Red Bean (Adzuki) Quinoa Muffins

2011-10-20T23:31:00.001+11:00

Sometimes I wonder how I've developed a sense of entitlement in various aspects of my life. For example, I think if I work really hard, I deserve rewards or things to go my way. As an educated worker, the privileges which may come with the role seem to overtime turn into something I feel entitled to.

This past Sunday morning, I was brushing my teeth when the lights suddenly turned off and my window-less bathroom turned semi pitch black. As it turned out, there was a power outage in the entire building which caused more inconvenience than I had imagined. Apart from worrying that the food in the fridge may go off, I could not get out of the building as the elevator did not work and the main entrance was stuck (not to mention the cars in the garage too!)

At the end I decided to climb down the fire escape stairs (all 17 levels!) and made my way to the station. Even though I managed to get out in one piece, I was feeling flustered and late for church. Truth be told, I was annoyed that something like this would happen at my side of town at the most inopportune time, causing me delays. Perhaps because I am a middle-class Australian, at the core of me I feel entitled to never have the power go out on me, to always have enough food and running water and to always have things work out my expected way.

And then I was humbled when the Lord reminded me that a great number of people in the more disadvantaged side of the world do see the lack of power as their everyday norm. No doubt to have access to any source of power, their heart would be overflowed with thanksgiving.

I do think it can be a 'danger' to have too much of a good thing, be it money, time or other resources. It builds up a false sense of entitlement. So I hope to be always alert enough to notice the things I do take for granted...and be deeply thankful.

Now, as I power-climbed down those flights of stairs, I'm thankful that I had these energy giving muffins on one hand as breakfast. ;)

I made these quinoa red-bean muffins the day before. This is one of my favourite healthy muffin recipes however I normally use mashed bananas instead of the mashed red beans!

Like many desserts on this blog, these muffins don't look pretty or dainty or fine. They are what they are - healthful and wholesome. No doubt delicious too (think soft and moist!)

There was a time in my life I thought the world of desserts/sweets consists of only red beans and mung beans! Those were the days growing up in Taiwan where it was common to have sweetened red bean soup as an after dinner treat rather than ice-cream and cakes and tarts. (Those came into my life much much later!)

Do you know that red beans make for delicious breakfast too? I like to add them to my morning porridge from time to time...yum!

(You can find more red bean recipes here.)

The flavour of the quinoa flour is quite strong and gives these muffins a delicious nutty taste. Of course, you can adjust the amount of the flour and replace with AP flour if that suits you.

And the same goes with the red beans, if you're not particular keen (please don't fall into this category!) just substitute with fruits and berries...and chocolate. I'm also thinking mashed edamame beans...and salted caramel. Perhaps not together!

Red Bean Quinoa Muffins
Adapted from here
Makes 12 (I halved the recipe)

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose-flour
1 cup of quinoa flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp white chia seeds
1 rounded teaspoon of baking soda
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup of sunflower oil (or other neutral cooking oil)
2 eggs
1 1/3 cups of mashed cooked red beans

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Place muffin cups in the muffin tin.
3. In a medium bowl combine the flours, chia seeds, sugar, baking soda.

4. In another bowl whisk the milk, oil and eggs.

5. Pour the milk mix into the dry mix. Add the red beans paste.
6. Stir just until the it's blended. Don't over mix, a lumpy batter will make the best muffins.
7. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups.
8. Place in the oven rack for 20 minutes at 400°F.

Thanks for visiting with me today.

I know I've been kinda slack on updating this space lately.

Been busy but still got to take some time off to smell the roses! ;)

And now...I can almost smell the weekend. Can you?

See you soon!

Strawberry Buckwheat Scones

2011-10-06T22:09:00.000+11:00

The past long weekend totally speeded up my week.

How did Thursday arrive so quickly?

I might still be basking in the afterglow of the weekend.

And how can I not when it looked something like this?

So apart from the usual stuff, this week has also been...

...at times, quiet. Which is necessary for my introverted self, otherwise I'd feel so drained out. I read somewhere that introverts may appear calm on the outside, but their inner worlds are always "noisy". True that!

...mildly confusing. An online personality test tells me a suitable career would be: interior decorator/designer, clergy, child care or office manager...hmmm so far from what I do!

...rather organised. I am in process of categorising my food ideas into tiny boards (aka Pinterest). No more stray bookmarks/labels here, there and everywhere!

...filled with the book of Psalms. So good for the soul. And God blesses me with friends who faithfully keep me in their prayers (even across the Pacific Ocean!) ;)

...disciplined and defining. Somewhat. Or maybe just a little bit. :)

I also had a situation in my fridge. Something along the line of buying too much strawberries and not having enough room to store them.

I knew I had to deal with this problem asap so got my thinking/creative hat on straight away!

The first punnet turned into a rustic strawberry galette as a post-dinner treat...so bloody red!

Another punnet got blended with milk and some other goodies.

Strawberry milk is THE childhood food memory for me. Obviously non-fresh ones with artificial colours and flavours. So good...yet so bad.

Then the last punnet turned into scones! Buckwheat scones, to be precise!

Buckwheat belongs to the 'eat more of' section in my book. It is known to lower cholesterol and has a rich supply of flavonoids and other good stuff. I love the taste of it (although some might find it an acquired taste). If you like the Japanese soba noodle (made of buckwheat of course!) then you'll probably enjoy baking buckwheat flour too. Oh, the flour make for great breakfast pancakes too!

This is definitely a twist on your normal scone recipe. I like the combo of the tartness of the strawberry with the earthiness of the buckwheat flour, as well as sweetness coming from the honey I smothered on the scones!

So don't forget to drizzle the scones with some honey because mathematically buckwheat + honey = match!

And of course cream too, if you'd like!

Strawberry Buckwheat Scones

Inspired by 'Wa sweet recipe'

150g buckwheat flour
100g cake flour
pinch salt
1.5 tsp baking powder
75g unsalted butter, cubed
120ml milk
30g sugar (I used raw sugar)
6-8 strawberries, diced

Preheat the oven to 200C.

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flours, salt, sugar and baking powder.

2. Cut butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with your fingertips. (The mixture should look like coarse crumbs).

3. In a measuring cup with the milk, add the strawberries to infuse for a short while. Then, add this mixture to the flour mixture. Stir just until combined. Do not over mix.

4. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough gently a few times and then pat into a 2cm thick round. Using a round cutter (I think I used a 3cm one), cut out as many rounds as you can. Press dough together and cut out remaining rounds with the dough.

5. Place scones onto prepared baking tray with baking/parchment paper, at least 1cm apart.

6. Brush the tops of the scones with a little milk. This helps to brown the tops of the scones while baking.

7. Bake for around 13-15 minutes until golden.

Serve hot with honey and/or cream!

One thing I have desired of the LORD,

That will I seek:

That I may dwell in the house of the LORD

All the days of my life,

To behold the beauty of the LORD,

And to inquire in His temple.

For in the time of trouble

He shall hide me in His pavilion;

In the secret place of His tabernacle

He shall hide me;

He shall set me high upon a rock.

-Psalm 27:4-5

Natural food bar and colours.

2011-09-27T23:54:00.000+10:00

Hello Spring,

You have a way of creeping up on me rather quietly.

Then one day, as I was busy going about my business, I smelled you and saw you in all shades of colour.

And wondered why I hadn't noticed the signs - longer daylight hours and neglected scarves and jackets.

So I think it's about time to bid farewell to the slippy, drippy, nippy winter and make room for some showery, flowery and bowery times ahead (yes I remember my nursery rhymes).

I'm looking forward to days of ice-cream after dinner, unsightly tan marks, pizza parties, hiking trips and possibly some pollen allergies.

Thanks for coming on schedule year after year and please make yourself at home!

-V

Below are some of my recent Spring snapshots in 'rainbow'!

{red}

Spring is like a doting mother dressing her babies with red flowers.

{orange}

Drive into the orange sunset (in a convertible with flowy scarf and immaculate hair. Maybe only just the flowy scarf part.)

{yellow}

Banananana...they still cost an arm over here! But of course that didn't stop Mae and I from a banana bake-off!

{green}

Another delicious breakfast food = green zucchini fritters. And some sour cream.

{blue}

True Blue! Did I tell you how pretty my city is?

{indigo}

The stigma of this flower is indigo, right? I often get indigo confused with purple or navy (because they never taught me this colour in kindergarden, so totally excusable!)

{purple}

This purple lavender greets me every morning as I rub my fingers against its leaves for the lingering smell.

I need to declare my love for this natural food bar (almost like those museli/nut bars you find in the supermarket but is less processed = much healthier for you.)

Being one of the few Asian kids growing up my area in NZ, Mother used to pack muesli bars in my lunch box when I wanted to fit in with the rest of the kids, as eating things like sheets of seaweed didn't exactly fly off with the others in primary school.

I really think I would've preferred this yummy homemade version.

This power energy bar is made of few simple ingredients: dates, almond, cocoa, walnut, and salt. I sometimes use nuts like cashew or pinenut, and add a bit of peanut butter too! The best thing about these is that you can try a gazillion flavour combinations with different ingredients and they are just sooo quick and cheap to make.

I will be packing these energy bars to accompany me for the Spring hiking trips - I think they will make me more popular than in my primary school days. ;)

Chocolate PB Almond Dates Bars
Adapted from Delightful Delicacies

1 cup whole almonds and/or walnuts (or mix of nuts as you prefer)
2 tablespoons cocoa (unsweetened, optional)
1 cup dried dates (whole)
2 tablespoons natural unsalted peanut butter (optional, but I find it binds the bars together better)
pinch salt

Chop the almonds in a food processor until you have a mix of chunk sizes. Add cocoa and pulse once. Add dates, salt and peanut butter and pulse until well combined.

Line a loaf pan with wax or parchment paper, press fruit and nut mixture into the pan and press down firmly. Remove from the pan, cut into bars, and wrap individually in plastic wrap or wax paper, tie with string.

Store in airtight container inside the refrigerator or freezer.

Makes 8 bars

Breakfast toast

2011-09-14T23:48:00.000+10:00

It was the first time my kind-hearted boss shook his head in disappointment at me in front of everyone. The embarrassment and shame when he said I had forgotten where I came from. I felt all eyes on me, in disbelief, as if I had done something so terrible. I just hoped that they didn't think my parents failed to raise me right. As blood rushed to turn my face red, I wanted to close my eyes and magically disappear from the attention.

So what 'crime' did I commit? Well, one early morning, I groggily responded with a confused "huh?" when asked about how my Mid-Autumn Festival was spent earlier this week. ;) I had forgotten all about it despite seeing all my foodie friends eating/baking mooncakes since last week. Actually, maybe I didn't completely forget but it's just my brain does not function at its normal capacity on days when I do not have breakfast - which was the case for that fateful day.

So I've learnt my lesson and the next morning, I made sure I woke up early for a hearty meal before leaving the house.

Creamy avocado egg salad. For some fat and protein.

And juicy tomatoes and goat cheese. Anti-oxidant and calcium. (You do know I'm no nutritionist right?)

On toasted spelt sourdough. Carbs for brain function?

Yes please!

Just brush each slice of bread with some olive oil then rub with the cut side of halved garlic. For the tomato toast, crumble a bit of goat cheese evenly on the bread.

Grill them in the oven at around 230C (450F) for a few minutes (until cheese melts).

Mash 2 hard boiled eggs with one large avocado.

Don't forget a dollop of mayo and whole-grain mustard seeds, and some sprinkling of S&P.

(edit) Oh and a squeeze of half a lemon (or vinegar) too.

Slice up some juicy tomatoes and layer them on on the goat cheese.

Spread generously the avocado egg salad onto the other slice!

Hope you had your breakfast today. :)

A good breakfast can really set you up well for the rest of the day, me thinks!

Thanks to Kate from Cookie and Kate for the delicious goats cheese/tomato toast idea!

Have a lovely rest of the week and bye for now. xoxo.

Flour's Classic Carrot Cake

2011-09-08T21:45:00.001+10:00

One of the many reasons I try to take my camera everywhere with me is because it makes me look for opportunities to capture some of the hidden beauty in the world that is sometimes overlooked as the mundane and ordinary. I think sometimes we don't expect to see beauty in the unexpected places. But isn't it usually there that we often see it shining through the most?

There are times however where those unanticipated beauty cannot be captured by the camera. They might be in words overheard on the train, gestures seen in the elevator, or feelings expressed over a cup of hot chocolate. But I'm not too good with capturing those kind of moments with words.

I took the following photos recently...they are not what you might call beautiful or great shots by any stretch but the stories and moments associated with them are.

Carrot cakes are my replacement banana cakes in the days when bananas are still over ten dollars per kilo. Like banana cakes, they are non-fussy and non-pretentious. You eat them for what they are and not because how they look.

I recently bought Joanne Chang's Flour cookbook which proved to be a lot of fun reading especially the stories associated with each of the recipes. But to be honest I wasn't thrilled initially when I flipped it through as it was loaded with recipes that I don't normally like to make...well just treats which require a lot of ingredients that I try to minimize in my diet (which rules out most of the delicious baked goodies I know!) But after trying a few recipes here and there with everything turning out delicious, I realised that maybe I just needed to learn portion control. Or give away the cake as soon as I take a slice. (Which didn't happen this this case unfortunately....)

This carrot cake is the best I've made (yes, even compared Sydney's own Bourke Street Bakery version I made last year). It is everything I want a carrot cake to be: loads of shredded carrots for that moist crumbly texture, just the right portion of spices, juicy sweet raisin and crunchy walnuts. I don't normally frost my carrot cakes but this time I followed through the recipe and just decreased the icing sugar amount by a little bit. And instead of a thick layer of frosting in the middle layer of the cake, I just had a thin-ish layer of it - which was just the right amount for me!

Classic Carrot Cake

Adapted from Flour by Joanne Chang

Makes one 8-inch, 2-layer cake

Or 12 cupcakes

For the carrot cake:

2 eggs
1 cup (220 grams) packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup (150 grams) canola oil
3 tablespoons nonfat buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (160 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cups (260 grams) tightly packed shredded carrots
1/2 cup (80 grams) raisins
1/2 cup (50 grams) walnuts, toasted and chopped

For the cream cheese frosting:

12 ounces (340 grams) cream cheese, left at room temperature for 4 hours
1/2 cup (1 stick/114 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 2/3 cups (230 grams) confectioners' sugar

For the carrot cake:

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven, and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour an 8-inch cake pan (or line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners).

2. Using a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment (or a handheld mixer), beat together the eggs and brown sugar on medium-high speed for 3–4 minutes, or until the mixture is light and thick. (This step will take 8–10 minutes if using a handheld mixer.) In a small bowl or pitcher, whisk together the oil, buttermilk, and vanilla. On low speed, slowly pour the oil mixture into the egg-sugar mixture. This should take about 30 seconds.

3. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger. Using a rubber spatula, fold the flour mixture into the egg-sugar mixture. When most of the flour mixture has been incorporated, add the carrots, raisins, and walnuts and continue to fold until the batter is homogenous. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan (or divide evenly among the prepared muffin cups).

4. Bake the cake flour for about 1 hour and 20 minutes (or the cupcakes for about 50 minutes), or until the top is golden brown and springs back when pressed in the middle with a fingertip. Let cool completley in the pan on a wire rack.

For the cream cheese frosting:

5. While the cake is baking, put the cream cheese in the stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and beat on medium speed for about 1 minute, or until smooth. If you have forgotten to take the cream cheese out of the refrigerator 4 hours in advance, you can softren it in a microwave on medium power for 30 seconds. Add the butter and continue to beat for another 1 minute. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and add the confectioners' sugar. Beat for 1 more minute, or until well mixed. You should have about 3 1/2 cups.

6. Cover the frosting and refrigerate for 2–3 hours before using to allow it firm up enough to pipe and spread. (The frosting can be made up to 5 days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.)

7. Remove the cake from the pan and split it into two layers. Place the bottom layer, cut-side up, on a cake plate. Spoon about half of the frosting onto the layer and, using an offset spatula, spread it evenly to the edges. Place the top layer, cut-side down, on top and press down to adhere. Spoon on about 1 cup of the frosting and spread it over the top and down the sides of the cake. This is the crumb coat which will keep any loose crumbs from migrating to the surface of the finished cake. Spoon the remaining frosting on top of the cake, and spread it evenly across the top and down the sides.

(If you have baked cupcakes, remove them from the muffin tin. Fit a pastry bag with a 1/2-inch star tip and fill the bag with the frosting, then pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes. Or, spread the frosting on the cupcakes with an icing spatula.

8. The cake (or cupcakes) can be stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. It is best served a littel cooler than room temperature, so remove it from the refrigerator about 2 hours before serving.

...and provide for those who grieve in Zion —

to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,

the oil of joy instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.

-Isaiah 61:3

Green Tea (Matcha) Chiffon Cake

2011-09-02T23:29:00.000+10:00

I'm kind of going through a transition phase of my life. Did you know that?!

It's a good place to be at to wrestle with the unknown and the uncertain. At the same time it brings to the surface a lot of my deeper desires and dreams, and has challenged me in my faith to believe what God can do with this ordinary life of mine!

I find that one of the challenging task these days is answering questions about how it feels to be in this position and about what I have planned for the next phase, not because I didn't know what I want or want to share, but because it is almost too frightening to express them for the fear of not being fully understood or supported.

(Pssst, Spring's here by the way!)

Actually, that's not completely true. I think I am still trying to fully believe in the voices in my mind and heart myself. And I am trying to resist living in the confines of what I can control or accomplish on my own, letting my own fear/inadequacies take over, and questioning what I know is real and true. I can't get anywhere being in those states!

So far, it has been a humbling, restful yet purposeful experience. And I'm thankful that I have a bit of time to pursue my hobbies, contemplate whether to re-learn driving (I may be the only fully-licensed person who can't drive), spending time catching up with people, meeting new people, and trying a lot of new recipes (resulting in the stacks of cakes in my fridge at the moment - feel free to claim them :P)

None of what I said so far has anything to do with this chiffon cake recipe I know. I just felt like sharing and filtering a bit of my thoughts of late on this little space here that I've been neglecting over the week! :)

For some reasons, I had always thought chiffon cake is an Asian inspired dessert but found out recently that it was actually invented in the US back in the 20's! A good chiffon is incredibly light (due to absence of butter like angel food cakes) and is rather foamy and has a fluffy texture which is achieved by beating egg whites until stiff and folding them into the cake batter!

Apart from being light, a chiffon cake should be springy too. And has the ability to make you have one slice after another and before you know it you've eaten half the cake!

Sometimes the simplest treats are the best on a day filled with cherry blossoms.

Green Tea Chiffon Cake

Adapted from Simply Hanushi

Makes an 18-cm tube cake

Ingredients

3 egg yolks
40 g castor sugar
100 g cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp good quality Green Tea powder
50 ml vegetable oil
75 ml water
3 egg whites
40 g castor sugar

1. Sift cake flour, baking powder and salt together, set aside.

2. Place egg yolks in a mixing bowl, add sugar in 3 separate additions and with a manual whisk, whisk till the mixture becomes sticky and turns pale.

3. Drizzle in the oil, whisking at the same time till the mixture is well combined. Repeat the same with the water.

4. Add in the flour mixture and whisk until flour mixture is fully incorporated into the batter.

5. Add in the tea powder and mix well.

6. In a clean, dry mixing bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer until mixture becomes frothy and foamy. Gradually beat in the sugar and beat on high speed until stiff peaks form.

7. Add the beaten egg white into the egg yolk batter in 3 separate additions, each time folding gently with a spatula until just blended.

8. Pour batter into an ungreased 18-cm tube pan. Tap the pan lightly on a table top to get rid of any trapped air bubbles in the batter.

9. Bake in a preheated oven at 170°C for 45 – 50 minutes or until the cake surface turns golden brown, and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

10. Remove from the oven and invert the pan immediately. Let it cool completely before unmold.

Notes- I sifted the Green Tea powder together with the flour mixture.

Thanks for visiting this little space of my heart today! :)

Oatmeal Pancake with Poached Rhubarbs

2011-08-25T23:18:00.002+10:00

I'm grateful today that...

...a big genuine smile can make for a really great day :D

...not being always in control (as much as i'd like to be) humbles and frees us.

...i have a roof over my head and that i can wake up and not have to worry about soooo many things i take for granted. but it saddens me that i can just flick through the channels between devastating news around the world and the silly reality TV shows and feel...normal.

...in quietness and trust i get my my strength.

...no one saw me when i fell flat on my face at the station :P

...that people encourage one another. let's keep it going because we all need that!

...i have access to amazing produce which made up my delicious breakfast.

So one Saturday morning, we visited Sydney's Pyrmont Grower's Market for the morning grind and weekly grocery. Happy times!

I foresee lots of oven baked fries in the upcoming days...with lots of garlic and pepper!

Poppies are such cheerful and whimsical flowers, don't you think?

Despite the busy-ness of the market, my eyes turned to these vibrant dark strands of ruby red rhubarbs and recipes after recipes appeared in my mind about what I'd do with them. If I could, I would buy them all!

I love rhubarbs in crumbles, with cream cheese on tarts, but my favourite way of eating them is poached with a bit of lemon and cinnamon!

So for breakfast today, it's poached rhubarbs (prepared previous day) with oatmeal pancakes and a bit of greek yogurt! (I wanted to make some waffles initially...but then realised that I do not have a waffle maker! D'uh.)

But the good news is, this pancake is delicious - soft and tender as all pancakes should be! If you're an oatmeal lover, then this pancake is for you. Cooked rolled oats combined with some oat flour is used to make up this 'double oated' goodness!

You can prepare the poached rhubarb in advance as I did. They keep well in the fridge for up to a week and you can have them with everything (well almost!). My favourite is with rice puddings!

Don't forget to sweeten up your greek yogurt with some honey too, as you may find the rhubarbs slightly tart!

Oatmeal Pancakes
adapted from Kim Broyce’s Good to the Grain
makes enough for 4

1 cup of all-purpose flour
3/4 cup of oat flour
2 tablespoons of sugar
2 teaspoons of baking powder
3/4 teaspoon of sea salt
3 tablespoons of butter
about 1 1/4 cup of milk (more if needed to thin out the batter)
1 cup of cooked oatmeal (not quick-cook or steel-cut)
1 tablespoon of unsulphured molasses
2 large eggs

1. Whisk together the flours, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.

2. Melt the butter and allow it to cool slightly before whisking it with the milk, eggs, oatmeal and molasses in a separate bowl.

3. Fold in the milk and oatmeal mixture into the dry ingredients, gently mixing until combined (don’t use a heavy hand if you’re aiming for tender pancakes).

4. If the batter is too thick, thin out with a little bit more milk.

5. Heat about a tablespoon of butter in a heavy cast iron skillet over medium-high heat and ladle 1/4 cupfuls of batter into the skillet once it’s hot (no more than 3 at one time).

6. Once the pancake batter starts to bubble, flip and cook for another minute or two before transferring to a plate.

7. Continue to scoop in 1/4 cupfuls of batter (re-butter the skillet as necessary) until you have used up all of the batter. Adjust the skillet temperature if you feel that the pancakes are burning or not browning evenly.

Poached Rhubarb

600g pink rhubarb (~one bunch)
200g caster sugar
500ml water
1 lemon, sliced
1 cinnamon stick

1. Trim the tops and ends of the rhubarb and cut diagonally into 3cm lengths. Put the sugar, water, lemon and cinnamon stick into a pan and stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes until the syrup has thickened slightly.

2. Tip in the rhubarb and gently poach for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pieces are just tender but still holding their shape. Transfer the rhubarb with a slotted spoon to a bowl.

3. Boil the syrup until reduced by two thirds to a thick, syrupy sauce. Pour over the rhubarb, leave to cool completely, then chill; the rhubarb will continue to stain the poaching syrup pink with time. This can be kept chilled for up to one week.

Weekend is almost here!

Tutti-Frutti Crumble

2011-08-18T23:44:00.000+10:00

Dear sixteen-years-old-me,

Take your head outta the books once in a while yea? There's so much more you can learn outside the books.

Play more basketball, there's still a chance you could grow taller.

Ten minutes of piano and violin just before the lessons ain't the way to go. You will find that music will stay with you for life and become one of your escapes during the times you're down.

Matching jeans and denim jackets? No!

Slow down, stop worrying - you're doing fine. You can't be everything you want to be...but you'll eventually see the bigger picture in life that's found in your faith in the Lord Jesus.

You don't hang with the cool kids and you'd rather hang in the library at lunch time. But deep down, you wish you could be less awkward and fit in. Guess what, one day you're actually going to laugh at all this and think, who'd want to 'fit in' when you can be...you? You'll get me one day.

Don't be scared of talking to boys. They might seem like another species right now, but they aren't as scary as you might think and one day they will actually shower instead of pile on the cologne (most of them anyways).

Everytime you want to roll your eyes at your parents? Don't. They might not always be right. But they're probably just scared about raising a teenager and are still learning. So be nice. And one day, you'll come to understand the all sacrifices they made for you to be where you are.

Put more effort in Chinese School (and don't cheat in tests!). You'll find the importance of the language as you grow up and ponder about your culture and identity.

What are you doing to your body? Those potato chips, choc chip cookies, snicker bars and ice-cream every day ain't gonna help you fit into that dress for your cousin's wedding (true but sad story). A fruit crumble would've been a better choice perhaps.

Cherish your friends. Some will stay with you for years to come.

Be grateful everyday.

And when in doubt, pray.

love,

twentysomething me.

So the other day I made a fruit crumble using all the fruits that I have in my fridge....

Pineapple, apples (I used both Granny Smith and Fuji), cherries and frozen blueberries.

Maybe I'll call it the clean-up-your-fridge crumble.

And I couldn't wait to try the healthier crumble idea from Heidi's cookbook Super Natural Everyday, which uses spelt flour, oats and poppy seeds! I also added in some walnuts just because...nuts are good.

Toss all the fruits together with a little bit of corn starch. Depending how sweet the fruits you are using, I didn't add any additional sugar to the fruit mix and it was sweeeet as already!

A good idea is to make the crumble mixture into patties and freeze them slightly before you break them into different sized pieces!

Bake away until bubbling and golden brown...

Enjoy!

I am just realising now that I didn't add a scoop of ice-cream as usual...I actually forgot. I must've been side-tracked. Because eating the fruit crumble by itself was...so good. It was like having a delicious fruit party in your mouth. And the poppy seed/oat crumble? It's crunchy, it's light and addictive. I will be using this for many more future crumbles in my life.

I have also realised that I have more crumble recipes on this blog than anything else! Five in total! I guess then if there's a type of dessert that describes me, it must be a fruit crumble :D

Tutti-Frutti Crumble
Adapted from Natural Home and Garden
Serves 8 to 10

3/4 cup / 3 oz / 85 g spelt flour or whole wheat pastry flour (I used spelt)
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
1/2 cup / 1.5 oz / 45 g rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (a handful)
1/2 cup / 2.5 oz / 70 g natural cane sugar
1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
1/3 cup / 2.5 oz / 70 g unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon all-natural cornstarch
1/3 cup / 1.5 oz / 45 g natural cane sugar or muscovado sugar (I omitted this because the fruits are already so sweet!)
11/2 cups / 6 oz / 170 g blueberries (frozen)
1/2 medium sized pineapple, diced
2 Granny Smith apple + 1 Fuji apple, diced
11/2 cups / 6 oz / 170 g sweet cherries, halved and pitted
1/4 cup / 1 oz / 30 g dried currants (omitted)
1/4 cup / 60 ml Beaujolais wine (omitted)

Note: The original recipe calls for strawberries, raspberries and dried currants as well as cherries.

1. Preheat the oven to 375F / 190C with a rack in the middle of the oven. Butter an 8-inch / 20cm square baking dish.

2. To make the crumble, mix together the flour, poppy seeds, oats, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Use a fork to stir in the melted butter. Divide the mixture into three portions and use your hands to form three patties. Place the patties in the bowl and freeze for at least 10 minutes, or until you’re ready to bake.

3. Make the filling by whisking together the cornstarch and sugar in a large bowl. Add the blueberries, apples, pineapple, cherries and toss until evenly coated. Wait 3 minutes, add the Beaujolais, and toss again.

4. Transfer the filling to the prepared baking dish. Remove the topping from the freezer and crumble it over the filling, making sure you have both big and small pieces.

5. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the topping is deeply golden and the fruit juices are vigorously bubbling. Let cool a little before serving, 20 to 30 minutes.

Happy weekend ahead :)

What would you say to your sixteen-years-old self?

Curry Sweet Potato Fries

2011-08-14T21:22:00.000+10:00

Remember my two little visitors from last week?

Here's some snapshots from our second encounter when I was on my way to the park...

There they were, hovering over a piece of bread and eating again. Completely unaware of the danger lurking around (not me!)

As the unfriendly intruder came to view and approached them, the couple looked up and were completely shaken by size of their enemy!

Errrr c'mon honey, let's get outta here before he chews us into pieces! *runs*

I imagined the magpie was gleefully thinking, mine mine mine, as he sprinted over to his dinner!

Bullies are totally uncool, right?

Well, what happened next...to this day, I still don't understand.

Before my eyes, the couple bravely yet cautiously walked back to the bread and the magpie, seeing their return, took off without any fuss.

You know what I think?

They must've put a dumbing spell on the magpie. Or not. I know from previous experiences that magpies still adore carbs despite being meat lovers. Guess this will remain a mystery to me...unless someone knows anything about these strange behaviours!

So perhaps the moral of the story is this: Size does not matter. You can beat the Goliath in your life!

Bye bye Mr. Magpie!

He was pretty much in a trance-like state as he made an exit from the scene.

Happy at last with their dinner.

Or so you think...

Apparently the lady wasn't impressed. She suspected that the boy cared more about the food than her so she left.

And I don't think he even noticed!

Me gonna rip this piece 'o bread like a man!

Grrrrr....

Hang on, something doesn't seem right?

Ok, let me think...

Is someone missing? I'm pretty sure I didn't leave the nest alone this morning...

*looks around*

Oooops! Honeyyyy...where are you?

By the way, while I'm in no way claiming to be a mind-reader of these creatures with wings, I will however claim that these curry sweet potato fries I've been making will mostly likely have you hooked!

They have graced my dinner table at least a dozen times as there seems to be an overflowing supply of sweet potatoes in the fridge lately. And this is now one of our favourite ways to indulge this vitamin-A rich food in my home. Crunchy, spicy, sweet...yum!

Oh and learn from that silly lorikeet - don't forget to enjoy your food with your loved ones this week!

Baked Curry Sweet Potato Fries

Adapted from Joy the Baker

Makes 1 potatoes worth of fries.

1 plump sweet potato/yam/orange-fleshed potato, peeled
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large egg white (I omitted this and used another tbsp of olive oil)
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F.

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

3. Peel sweet potato and slice off the top and bottom points of the potato. With potato positioned north to south, use a large knife to slice potato into 1/3-inch potato planks. Stack planks in two piles, and slice, north to south, into 1/3-inch sticks.

4. Place potato sticks onto prepared baking sheet and toss with olive oil. Set aside.

5. In a medium bowl, whisk egg white until foamy and frothy (if using egg whites). Add curry powder, cumin, turmeric, and crushed red pepper flakes and whisk to incorporate. Pour the egg white mixture over the potato sticks and gentle toss to coat the potatoes.

6. Place in the oven and bake to desired doneness and crispiness, my fries took about 40 minutes. While the fries bake, stir together yogurt, cumin, olive oil and salt. Place in a small serving dish.

7. Remove fries from the oven and serve immediately.

Have a lovely week ahead!

Coffee Crème Caramel

2011-08-03T00:16:00.002+10:00

While making this coffee crème caramel in my kitchen one afternoon, I overheard some screechy conversation and realised that I had some visitors out on the balcony.

They were pretty loud. And I gathered they might've been having a bit of a disagreement out there.

Maybe I could ameliorate this awkward situation by offering them some food? Afterall, I've been told that good food sometimes has the effect of lessening the severity of arguments! (And I'm guessing bad food would have the opposite effect.)

So what do birds eat? Seeds right?

I immediately went to the health food section of my pantry and brought some chia seeds out. Surely they will love this superfood as much as I do!

Ugh not really. They just looked at me as if I was sprinkling invisible food onto the ground. What are you, crazy? We want real food, they seem to be saying to me.

Okay, then how about my favourite snack - dried dates?

Yay, think we've got a winner here!

After these visitors filled themselves up, they flew away amicably as if they had no recollection of their previous tiff!

(They also showed me their appreciation by coming in to the apartment and leaving some poop on my carpet as I found out later on....)

Little did I know that I'd later run into this couple again days later...

This time, it was another nail-biting story which will have you at the edge of your seat. Ok, not really. But I can't wait to share about it in my next post because this post is getting a little bit too long and I'd like to talk about the delicious crème caramel now.

But here is a preview:

Who's going to win that piece of bread and who is going home hungry? Oh, the suspense!

Hint: Think David and Goliath!

Anyways, so I made this coffee crème caramel because:

1. I love eating it and it's been years since I last made it.

2. I was recently given a bag of freshly ground coffee which I have no use of (being a Nespresso person). So, why not cook with it? (You might be seeing a lot of caffeinated recipes coming up!)

3. I wanted to try steaming crème caramels (instead of baking them) because I know steaming is faster (well, you save the time pre-heating the oven + an extra 10 minutes cooking time!)

The result is a silky smooth crème caramel with a slightly bitter caramel sauce! Perfecto!

I couldn't wait until it chills in the fridge and ate them while they're still slightly warm and velvety soft! So addictive and delicious! Despite it was already late in the afternoon and the smallest amount of caffeine keeps me up all night, I 'uncontrollably' gobbled down more servings than I really should in one go.

Yes, totally worth it!

I hope you'll give this recipe a go. Chances are, you have all the ingredients right now in your kitchen.

And best of all, you don't even need an oven for this!

Coffee Crème Caramel
Inspired by Cooking with Dog
Makes 4

You will need 4 pudding moulds/ramekins.

Unsalted Butter (to rub the sides of your ramekins)
4 tbsp Caster sugar
1 tbsp Water
1½~2 tbsp Hot water
2 Eggs
200ml Milk
50ml strong espresso coffee
3 tbsp Caster sugar

1. Place water in a heavy saucepan. Add 4 tbsp sugar, pouring into the centre of the water so it doesn't touch the edges. Cook over a medium heat for around 5-7 minutes. Do not stir. The caramel will slowly colour from blonde to brunette, to a dark, rich colour. Take off the heat immediately and add the 1-2 tbsp of hot water into the caramel (I added the water using a long ladle to prevent being burned by the sizzling hot caramel! Be careful here as it's extremely hot and bubbly!)

Pour into each of the 4 ramekins/pudding moulds.

2. Whisk eggs gently in a large bowl until mixture is slightly frothy. (We don't want too much froth here.)

3. Put milk and coffee into a saucepan and add the 3tbsp of sugar and cook over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir into egg mixture (do not over mix).

4. Pour this mixture through a sieve into a jug to pour into each of the 4 ramekins/moulds.

5. Cover the ramekins with aluminium foil. Place them in a large flat pan (I used a 29cm fry pan) with a piece of folded towel/cloth at the bottom (to prevent overheating the moulds). Fill half way up the sides of the ramekins with boiling water and cook for 18-20 minutes with the lid covering the pan. Cook on low heat (small boils - we don't want rapid boil as the custard will be overcooked and eggy!)

6. Check to see if the custard has set and then rest for ~15 mins before putting into the fridge to chill. Run a knife around the edges of the ramekins before turning out onto a dish.

Bible verse of the day...

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

-Philippians 4:8

Have a blessed week ahead! :)

Apple and Tomato Gazpacho

2011-07-26T23:44:00.001+10:00

You're probably wondering why I am attempting all these summer-y dishes in the middle of winter - first the Japanese anmitsu with matcha ice-cream and now this gazpacho, the Spanish cold and raw vegetable soup.

Sometimes not everything has to make sense, friends.

All I know is that I am possibly suffering from a bad case of winter blues that only my canine friend here can understand...

Just kidding!

I don't have the winter blues because I get to drink hot chocolate and have hot showers. *thankful* The dog above was only giving me the look because I wouldn't share my hot chocolate.

And the reason I made this gazpacho on a cold and wet day was because that day happened to be the 22nd July - a date marked in my diary to make this soup. Why?

It's time for my second contribution to Stephane Reynaud's 365 challenge (initiated by publisher Murdoch books), of course! (First is here) The aim is for all keen foodies to cook through the cookbook 365 Good Reasons to Sit Down to Eat in one year!

Well, at least this recipe makes total sense to the rest of the world experiencing the summer heat at the moment.

This is not your usual Spanish gazpacho however. Instead of the typical cucumbers, onions, capsicums and garlic used to make a gazpacho, only apples are used here along with tomatoes! Many recipes I've seen also use bread crumbs (or stale bread) into the blended soup, unlike this no-carb one.

Anyhow, to make this soup...

First you'll need the following ingredients! (Plus salt and pepper of course!)

Even though this is a raw soup, you'll still need to slightly boil the tomatoes so that the skins can come off easily. Much fun - this is my favourite step!

And you'll need to cut the apples into both cubes (for blending) and matchsticks (for garnish!)

You could practice your knife skills here too!

Blend the apple cubes and tomatoes together into a puree (I used my bamix) and pour in the cider vinegar and olive oil. Season it up and you're good to go! Not surprisingly everything came together in less than 10 minutes! Speedy!

This is a light tomato soup sweetened by the apples while the spring onions give it a slight punch. The addition of the sour cider vinegar (apparently an age-old home remedy that we could all have more of!) complements the other flavours well while the apple matchsticks add a nice texture! *crunch*

As much as I enjoyed this refreshing gazpacho (which I had while all rugged up in a heated room in my make-believe-it's-summer state of mind) I couldn't help feel something was missing. Perhaps I would blend in some bread to add more body to the soup next time!

Or perhaps my body was just craving for something steaming hot and hearty....

I think the next time I'll see this soup again would be on the hottest days in summer! :)

Apple and tomato gazpacho

Serves 6

Prep time: 20 minutes

6 tomatoes
3 granny smith apples
juice of 1 lemon
2 bulb spring onion (scallions)
100ml cider vinegar
100ml olive oil
salt and pepper

1. Cut a cross in the base of the tomatoes and plunge into boiling water for 30 seconds, then remove the skins.

2. Peel two of the apples, cut them into cubes, then cut the third (unpeeled) into thin matchsticks and combine with the lemon juice.

3. Finely slice the spring onions.

4. Puree the tomatoes with the apple cubes, add the cider vinegar, olive oil and spring onions and season.

5. Serve garnished with the apple matchsticks and drizzle with olive oil.

I hope you smile today :)

Anmitsu - Japanese dessert

2011-07-21T00:09:00.000+10:00

Dear bed,

You're so warm and toasty, and I almost wish you weren't this comfy making it so hard for me to get up in the morning.

Dear rain,
Please can you re-think your forecasted long stay this week?

Dear pizza delivery boy,

Please don't deliver anymore pizzas to my place. *burp*

Dear treadmill,

You make me sweaty and my heart beat faster than anything else. And you challenge me like no-one does. That's why I like you.

Dear friend,

Thank you for your 'surprise'. Now I can watch Ugly Betty and The Mentalist whenever I want!

Dear poodle in cooking with dog,
Your hair is slightly wonky at times but I admire your patience and self control whilst your owner is cooking.

Dear Australian winter,

Your baldness (on trees) is starting to appeal to me. I also like how I can turn up my heater and eat summertime desserts when you're around too.

Have you seen the youtube cooking videos: cooking with dog?

I've been a fan for a while now. Not just because I am fascinated by a sleepy poodle who sits by the stove like a rock, but I adore all the mouth-watering Japanese dishes featured on this channel.

So remember how I was sick a few weeks back? I watched the clip for Fruit Cream Anmitsu then and it immediately took me back to my unforgettable Japan trip (where I had anmitsu every single day) and I wanted to recover from the flu faster than anything else. (Talk about the most effective 'medication'!)

Anmitsu is a popular Japanese dessert made of small cubes of agar agar in a brown sugar syrup. It is also served with sweetened red bean paste, pieces of gyuhi (mochi-like sweets) and a scoop of ice-cream. Oh and decorated with seasonal fruits too. Yummo!

Ok, wanna see how it's made?

First you'll need to make some agar agar. Not flavoured or sweetened. Simple as!

Then dice them up into dainty fine cubes...so translucent that it's almost like they're invisible!

To make the kuromitsu (Japanese sugar syrup) to go with the agar agar, you'll need to melt some dark brown or muscovado sugar with corn syrup.

Pour it onto the agar agar...

To make the gyuhi (which is a type of traditional Japanese mochi), get some glutinous rice flour in either powdered form or granules...

...add a bit water to the rice flour and heat it up and eventually you'll get something like this...

To prevent the glutinous rice flour mixture sticking to everything else, you'll need to dust some potato starch all over!

Then you make some anko - sweet red bean paste (just because red beans and green tea ice-cream are a match made in heaven!) If you don't have time, just buy them canned (sweetened) at your local Asian grocery store. Recipe (or rather, another youtube video with the poodle) for anko can be found here.

Then it's just a matter of slicing up the oranges wedges and strawberries...and adding a scoop of the green tea ice-cream! You might want to use an ice-cream scoop for this. Sadly I don't own one. I wonder why? Definitely not because I eat ice-cream out of the box! How unladylike!

If you generally love Japanese desserts and can never get enough of the red bean and matcha (green tea) combination, I think you might totally adore this...even on a cold winter's day :)

Fruit Cream Anmitsu

From Cooking with Dog

Serves 3

4g/0.141 oz Agar Powder
500ml Water (2.11 us cup)
1 tbsp Mizuame - Thick Starch Syrup (I used light corn syrup)
100g Kurozato - Muscovado or Unrefined Brown Sugar (3.53 oz)
70ml Water (2.37 fl oz)
30g Shiratamako - Glutinous Rice Flour (1.06 oz)
50g Sugar (1.76 oz)
60ml Water
Potato Starch
3 Strawberries
3 Navel Orange wedges
3 tbsp Anko - Sweet Red Bean Paste (buy canned or recipe here.)
3 scoops of Matcha Ice Cream (I bought mine but you can make it using this recipe)
20-30 Boiled Aka Endomame - Red Endo Beans (I omitted this).

The simple instructions for the recipe can be found from the linked videos! :)

Watch them! They're kinda...cute?!

Might also make you want to get a dog to cook with too!

Have a blessed week ahead :)

Heidi's Oat Cakes

2011-07-12T22:40:00.001+10:00

Dear sweet old elegant lady at the park,

I'm glad our paths crossed today.

You were on your afternoon stroll when you saw me taking photos of flowers (roses, specifically), because that's what I do when I need to clear my head.

You must've been intrigued as you walked over and struck up a conversation with me. Am I a high school student, you asked. I didn't know whether to take that as a compliment or as a sign to consider a wardrobe makeover. For the sake of my wallet, I picked the former.

You adore roses, you said. Especially ones so dark, rich and deep in colour, because they have the best smelling perfume in the world. You walked over to a naked patch of the garden where only 1 red rose still stands, the rest all stems and thorns - a consequence of this unforgiving winter. This is undoubtedly the best patch during blooming seasons and you said you could never walk past without dipping your nose into them all. Your eyes twinkled then!

Store bought roses are just not the same, they lack in real rose scents. I nodded in agreement.

So it turned out we have a few things in common. Well, for one, we are both terrible gardeners but we love strolling in the park to appreciate the hard work of other gardeners!

Then you told me to wait. What for?

Wait until the summertime when everything will be back to normal again. The richly perfumed flowers will fill the entire garden and it'll be so fragrant that just one sniff is like drowning in a glass of red wine, in your own words.

(I will remember to check there are no insects/bees hiding inside the roses before I smell - thanks for the heads up.)

It seems a long way away, summer, doesn't it? Especially on days when we're bundled up from head to toes and still feeling like popsicles. But experiences from previous years comfort us - it'll come before we know it.

So I told you that I will wait with happy anticipation.

I don't know if our paths will cross again. If they do, I will definitely bring you a tray of these flaxseed oat cakes one day. I just have a strong feeling that you'd totally dig this wonderfully fragrant and healthy (bonus!) treat as I have!

Thanks for being part of my life today.

Yours sincerely,

The 'high-schooler' with the camera.

This recipe is from Heidi's new cookbook Super Natural Everyday (I've doggy-eared so many pages!). These oat cakes are on the dense/heavy side, really moist and filled with chunky bits of walnuts and deliciously scented by the coconut oil and maple syrup. They are filling too, in a good way of course :) These will be making many many more appearances in my kitchen for sure, and I hope yours too.

Oat Cakes (oats, flax seeds, walnuts)
From Super Natural Everyday via 5 Second Rule

Makes 12 oat cakes

3 cups / 10.5 oz / 300 g rolled oats
2 cups / 8 oz / 225 g spelt flour or whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
2 teaspoons fine-grain sea salt
1/4 cup / 1.5 oz / 45 g flax seeds
3/4 cup / 3 oz / 85 g chopped walnuts, lightly toasted
1/3 cup / 2.5 oz / 70 g extra-virgin coconut oil
1/3 cup / 3 oz / 85 g unsalted butter
3/4 cup / 180 ml maple syrup
1/2 cup / 2.5 oz / 70 g natural cane sugar (I omitted this as the maple syrup is already really sweet)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F / 160°C with a rack in the top third of the oven. Butter a standard 12-cup muffin pan.

2. Combine the oats, flour, baking powder, salt, flax seeds, and walnuts in a large mixing bowl.

3. In a medium saucepan over low heat, combine the coconut oil, butter, maple syrup, and sugar and slowly melt together. Stir just until the butter melts and sugar has dissolved, but don’t let the mixture get too hot. You don’t want it to cook the eggs on contact in the next step.

4. Pour the coconut oil mixture over the oat mixture. Stir a bit with a fork, add the eggs, and stir again until everything comes together into a wet dough. Spoon the dough into the muffin cups, nearly filling them.

5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the edges of each oatcake are deeply golden. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool for a couple minutes. Then, run a knife around the edges of the cakes and tip them out onto a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*

I've finally gotten around to numbering each of the eligible entries for the Baker's Delight Challenge!

(Terribly late I know!)

The 3 winners are:

2 fit and fun gals

Anh

Will email you all soon :)

~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hope you smile today and come across nice people in your path too this week!

Coriander (Cilantro) Meatballs

2011-07-07T21:22:00.000+10:00

Before anything else, I just want to say this was the reason why I gave up eating lamb for a long period in my life:

We were on a family trip in Rotorua (New Zealand!) at some sheep farm and there happened to be a bottle feeding session for the lambs.

The moment my lamb latched on to the milk bottle, my maternal instinct (can you be too young to have these instincts?) kicked in and I wanted to take ~~Mary~~ it home and look after the lamb for the rest of its life. After I was told that this was not a possibility, I swore that I'd never eat lamb ever again right there and then as my parents dragged me out of the farm.

Well today...this may sound terrible after that story but I now eat lamb (that's another story...) I especially love lamb cutlets! Hmmmm. But I'd never cooked it at home...until now.

What made me take this umm 'brave' step forward?

A few months ago I became involved in the Stephane Reynaud's 365 challenge initiated by publisher Murdoch books. The aim of the challenge is invite all keen cooks to help them cook through the book: 365 Good Reasons to Sit Down to Eat (one recipe for each day of the year!)

(On a side note, I got to say I quite like this cookbook. There are photos for every single recipe - yes all 365 of them, and I have cooked through several other recipes in there which turned out great.)

For my involvement I picked to cook Coriander (Cilantro) Meatballs - just because it would be nice to finally feature the ingredient my blog is named after in this space!

Hey look, say hi to green cilantro everyone:

However it only occurred to me as I setting out the ingredients for this dish that these meatballs are actually made of leftover leg of lamb! And I had thought they were ordinary meatballs! Since in my home we hardly ever have lamb of any sorts leftover so I got to roast a leg of lamb for the first time in my life too :)

After the leg is roasted, the rest is super simple - just blitzing together the lamb leg, a bunch of coriander, eschalots, chives, bread (I didn't have white sandwich bread so I had to use seeded wholemeal), cream, eggs, and some cumin. And you're pretty much set.

Oh and after you roll the mixture into balls with your palms, you then need to greet your guests with unwashed hands (as instructed in the recipe by cheeky Stéphane!)

The sauce around the meatballs is a simple combination of tomatoes (I used canned), capsicums and white wine.

Couldn't resist eating one...

The verdict? These meatballs are so tender and as you bite into it the flavours of the coriander and cumin comes through beautifully complimented (but not overpowered) by the simple tomato sauce. It is a bit like a warm and comforting hug on a cold (and sick) day.

I can't wait to try more of Stéphane's recipes - I find that they're easy to follow and whip up, and so tasty too! You'll be seeing more of them in this space, that's for sure!

Coriander Meatballs
Serves 6 (I halved the recipe)

3 French shallots (eschalots)
1 bunch of coriander (cilantro!)
500g (1lb 2oz) left over roast lamb leg
200mL (7fl oz) pouring (whipping) cream
100g (3 1/2 oz) soft white sandwich bread (I used seeded wholewheat)
1 tbsl cumin
2 eggs
1/2 bunch of chives, snipped
salt and pepper
1 red capsicum (pepper)
1 green capsicum (pepper)
2 tomatoes (I used 1 canned diced tomatoes)
250mL (9 fl oz/1cup) white wine

1. Preheat the oven to 160C (315 F)

2. Peel and slice the shallots.

3. Pick the coriander leaves. Process the leftover lamb with the cream, bread, coriander and cumin. Add the eggs, shallots and chives, then season.

4. Make meatballs (by rubbing dry hands with flour, take a tbsp of mixture and roll it between the palms of your hands), place them into a gratin dish.

5. Dice the capsicums and tomatoes, place them around the meatballs, add the wine.

6. Bake for 30 minutes.

And in case you're wondering, I still find lambs very cute and wouldn't mind having one as a pet.

I hope you have a blessed day :)

Black Rice with Edamame Beans

2011-07-01T12:32:00.000+10:00

In the past 48 hours I...

...went through a whole packet of lemsip and strepsils.

...probably looked like a crazy lady with dirty hair sticking out in every directions, 2 pairs of socks (at least they were matching!), and layers of baggy clothes that somehow stretch bigger year after year. Oh and a red nose + a box of tissue tucked under my arms where ever I went.

...wondered when I would feel like a functional and useful human being again.

...browsed through every top 20s of each genre on iTune in bed.

...captured the amazing colours of the sky outside my window.

...received 2 cards from 2 special friends - both have sent me birthday cards every year without fail since we were 9 - definitely brightened up this bedridden girl's day!

...tried to entertain myself at home:

...was sad to have to have to drop out of lunch (at Quay!) - something I've looked forward to for so long.

...hoped that somebody would cook something delicious for me and feed it to me in bed while I watch a movie but realised that's not going to happen ;)

...discovered the only vegetable supply I have at home is in the frozen form.

At times of sickness, it's only appropriate to load your body up with something nourishing...like, black rice! And yes, my frozen vege supply - edamame beans.

So have you tried cooking black rice before?

Things I found out:

- It stains (lucky I had my baggy sick clothes on)! Once cooked, it turns into a dark burgundy colour. Prettty!

- It hold its shape well after cooked and is pleasantly chewy.

- It's packed with nutrition - low in sugar, high in fibre and plant compounds.

- It's is also known as 'forbidden rice' because originally in China, only the nobles were allowed to eat it! I'm glad I'm a woman of today.

- Apparently, "just a spoonful of black rice bran contains more health promoting anthocyanin antioxidants than are found in a spoonful of blueberries, but with less sugar, and more fibre and vitamin E antioxidants." Source here.

Anyways, I decided to cook the black rice with loads of onions and garlic in chicken stock, topped generously with those healthful edamame beans. I've made this a few times in the past (the photos are from my previous attempts) and I love how a simple bowl like this never fails to make me feel good afterwards.

While I'm still a sick mess (and quite a sight too) at the moment, but I have a feeling the next 48 hours might just turn for the better :)

Black Rice with Edamame Beans

1 cup black rice
~2 cups homemade chicken stock (or you can use water or vegetable stock)
1 large onion, finely diced
6 cloves garlic, whole (if you don't like garlic, don't add it!)
1-2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup edamame beans

1. Rinse the rice.

2. Heat a bit of of oil in a pan and cook the garlic and onion until almost translucent.

3. Add the rinsed rice and cook for around 1 minute.

4. Add the chicken stock as well as the soy sauce and bring to boil.

5. At this stage, I transfer the rice into my rice cooker and let it cook. But you can also reduce heat to a simmer and cover - cook for 30 minutes.

6. Finally, take the beans out of the defrosted pods and add generously over a bed of flavoursome black rice!

I wish you a lovely weekend ahead :)

Stay warm (or cool if you're on the other hemisphere).

It is half way through the week and I...

2011-06-22T10:29:00.000+10:00

...have been cooking with whatever left overs I have in my fridge. It's clean-up fridge week!

...realised I need to stop borrowing books from the library when I have a bookshelf full of untouched books. Oh, and found out I owe the library something like $17 in late fees. How'd that happen? (and I'm sorry if you've been trying to borrow what I had out.)

...am finally taking 1 step forward! For the longest time I've been stuck at the 2 steps back stage! Praise God!

...don't know if you'd believe me, but I woke up in the middle of the night and figured out what EVOO stands for. For the longest time I thought it was some branded salad dressing that people use in the U.S. Or that it was something like POM juice. (Are we still friends?) I guess I never really gave it much thought. Then at ~3am Tuesday, I opened my eyes in the dark with the thoughts: 'EVOO...Extra Virgin Olive Oil? Noooooo.' *pinches self and questions sanity*. This confirms that my brain is overactive and works while I'm asleep. Hmmm, I just wish it thinks about something more meaningful and useful!

Anyways, there's not really a recipe today.

But I want to share with you what I had for lunch yesterday using the leftovers, because sandwiches are kind of pretty to photograph.

Here goes:

1. Mix chopped chives with cream cheese. Spread over a piece of bread.

2. Resist eating the sandwich as it is.

3. Convince yourself that mint has a place in this meal too. Don't over-wash them as I did!

4. Slice half an avocado and place on top!

5. Generously place the smoked salmon over the sandwich. I'm sure chicken would be yummy too.

6. Place another slice of bread on top to finish up.

7. Slice and enjoy the quickest lunch.

I'm off to make a salad now, with some EVOO of course ;)

I feel like we're finally on the same page now. Me and you.

Oatmeal Raisin Spelt Cookies

2011-06-16T17:40:00.003+10:00

I love watching the sunset. But the truth is I don't make the effort to see very many of it each year.

My last trip to Taiwan (my hometown) me and some friends made a trip to a scenic spot just to say farewell to the sun.

The sunset was incredible. And all around me I could spot people gasping with delight at the sight of the slowly descending sun or people posing for the cameras with the sunset as the backdrop, or couples embracing in silence as they soak in the beauty of it all. Fascinated. Content. Seems like the worries and the grudges of daily life suddenly disappeared for everyone.

And so I wonder what it is about nature which has the power to mesmerize us over and over again? The ever changing colour of the sky, the lofty mountains, the incredible sunrise and sunset....I mean, surely we've seen a number of these in our lifetimes? It's nothing new to be honest - but how does it inexplicably melt the hardest of hearts and calms the most unsettled soul?

As I'm getting older (another birthday this month! Eeek.), it's not hard to notice that my sense of wonder declines. Only the 'new' can amaze me - the latest gadget and what the next superfood is. Tomorrow the new becomes old and yesterday's wonder is not so wonderful anymore. It's all temporary, no?

I'd like to think that I understand a little bit more about life, about people and about God as I mature but sometimes (and often) pride tricks me into thinking that I've seen it all or done it all. That I don't need to go back to the basics or 're-learn' some of the forgotten lessons or be reminded about the familiar Scriptures that I thought I understood.

Afterall, I have a looong list of things to do and who has the time to walk the same walk and what's the point of looking at something I've seen already?

But every once in a while, just like on this recent trip, I do take my time to gaze at God's amazing creation and my hard heart melts, my weariness disappears...and I am humbled by the beauty and wonder of it all, once again.

And in a sort of similar way like the sunset (okay, maybe not quite comparable), there are some of my favourite basic foods that I simply forgot about in the busy-ness of trying all other new and exciting recipes and food combinations.

One of them is my all time favourite oatmeal cookies (yes, they beat choc chip cookies for me!)

This is back to the basics for me. I remember making them growing up. This was the only way I'd have oat back then (how things have changed - now I have oatmeal every morning!)

I'm also beginning to find spelt flour extremely versatile and use it to replace the All Purpose flour completely in many of my bakings.

What is different about this recipe is that the oats are first toasted lightly in the oven so as to deepen the oaty flavour. Hmmmm, delicious. Next time I want to try another recipe soon using oat flour instead of spelt flour. Imagine that, oat + oat flour = oat-ness overload.

I was in a hurry to leave the house after baking these cookies so had to pack them up (in style) as my train ride snack (then took a photo of it, obviously hehe):

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

From Whole Grains Everyday Everyway

3 cups old rashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups spelt flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
12 tablespoon (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup rasins

Makes 2 1/2 dozen 3-inch cookies

Viv's note: I halved the recipe so only made 1 tray.

1. Place one rack in the top third and another in the bottom third, and preheat the oven to 400F (200C). Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. Spread the oats out on a large rimmed baking sheet. Bake on the bottom rack for 3 minutes, stir and continue baking until lightly toasted, 1 to 2 more minutes. Set aside to cool. (you can omit this step - but baking the oats deepens the 'oaty' flavour)

3. Reduce the oven temperature to 350F (177C)

4. In a large bowl combine the spelt flour, cinnamon, baking soda, powder and salt. Stir until blended.

5. In a food processor fitted with steel blade, or with an electric mixer, process the brown and white sugars and butter until smooth and fluffy. Add 1 egg and process for about 20 seconds. Add the second egg and vanilla extract and process until the mixture is smooth, about 20 secs more. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir until the flour is absorbed. Blend in the toasted oats and the raisins until the oats are all coated with the dough.

6. Drop heaping tablespoonful of the dough onto the parchment lined baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between the cookies for spreading. Use the back of the spoon or your fingers to gently flatten the cookies roughly into rounds about 1/2-inch thick.

7. Bake on the upper rack until the tops and bottoms are nicely browned and the tops spring back to a very gentle touch, 8 to 10 minutes. Rotate the cookies every 3 mins for even browning. Slide the parchment paper onto a cooling rack. Repeat with the remaining batter, relining the cookie sheet with a clean parchment paper and making sure to let the sheet cool between batches.

Store in an airtight container in a cool place for up to 10 days.

I hope your week has been nice so far.

Oh, and I finally updated my About me page too. I will be working to complete the other tabs soon.

I hope!

Toodles for now :)

Afternoon tea + win some scones!

2011-06-08T00:30:00.001+10:00

Eeek. I feel like I've been on an adrenaline rush since the weekend. I am finally sitting down.

Wobbly leg.

Sugared out.

Only myself to blame - I had scheduled to host an afternoon tea chez moi yesterday (Tue) but since I had only gotten off the plane on Monday, I started to get very worried that night as I only had a very rough idea what I was going to make.

Fortunately, there weren't too many disastrous incidents (although at one stage I had melted chocolate streaking down my top to my pants - which forced me to take a timeout and do the laundry) and I tweaked some recipes (which I had bookmarked to make in the past) as I went along and took 'shortcuts', not as in omitting certain steps but using simpler recipes with ingredients that I have ready in my pantry.

And thank goodness that I didn't have to make my own scones too! Baker's Delight sent me some of their new flavoured scones released recently - which are packed full of real chunks of apple, juicy sultanas and cinnamon!

So, I did manage to pull off a simple afternoon tea. Overall, it didn't take too much time to prepare - I started the preparation the night before in between making dinner and watching the Amazing Race, and I started on the savouries an hour before my guests arrived.

Phewww.

Anyways, here it is:

Almost Last Minute Afternoon Tea Viv's way!

{scones} - Courtesy of Baker's Delight

Scones are an essential part of any afternoon tea - with clotted cream and homemade jam of course :) Love love warm scones so I lightly toasted them in the oven just before serving! Delicious! Scroll to the bottom of the post to see details on how to win a voucher from Baker's Delight!

{something chocolatey} - Rich Chocolate Tart

I'm not sure if chocolate could be absent from any (ladies') afternoon tea.

Why I love this chocolate tart:

one. The filling is rich, bittersweet (70% cacao) and sooo smooth.

two. The base is not buttery and sweet, and this whole wheat olive oil tart shell is seriously the easiest AND healthiest one I've come across (they're from Lisa, who I think is the tart queen).

three. It's a helpful and generous tart - it lent its leftover dough to the base of my quiche! Time saver!

{something nutty} - Raw Blueberry 'Cheese' Cake

Ok, I don't want to be misleading you, but this is not a real cheesecake. It has none of that cream cheese in it - just loads of raw cashew nut blitzed together with a bit of frozen blueberries for the colour! This is a super simple recipe but the cashews require soaking in water for 3 hours (why? read about it here) which I did before anything else.

Oh, and the base took less than 10 minutes to prepare from start to finish!

{something fruity} - Ispahan Agar Agar

This is a cheats way for me to re-live my Paris days with Pierre Herme's Ispahan macarons that I fell for (I bought them again in Japan but it's just not the same...sigh...memories...).

It has a thin layer of pureed raspberry and thicker layer of lychee agar agar. I was going to use the real deal (blend the lychee fruit with the juice) but hey, time's a-ticking so I only used the juice from the lychee can! Canned lychee and frozen raspberries are my helpful friends here.

{something savoury} - Smoked Salmon Avocado and Green Goddess Tea Sandwich

As much as I adore all things sweet, the savoury tier at any afternoon tea is my favourite.

I decided to do a simple avocado and smoked salmon tea sandwich, as well as the more labour intensive Green Goddess tea sandwich which is filled with loads of yummy herbs! They're adapted from Joy's!

I know, I should've used white bread but you gotta work with what you've got you know?

{something eggy} - Mushroom and Pea Quiche

This is the simplest quiche! The tart shell is already pre-made (using the choc tart's dough from above) so I just had to thank my lovely freezer for its green pea contribution and also some mushrooms.

See, just put frozen peas and few slices of mushroom (I didn't have the smaller button mushroom) and pour in the eggy/cheesy mixture and bake away!

{something soupy} - Cauliflower and Potato Soup

Ok, I definitely would've run out of time if I had to make a soup but guess what, I'm smart and I stole somebody else's soup (which I found in the fridge) :) Desperate time calls for desperate measure, right?

{tea} - Assorted

Apparently it is rude to offer tea bags in an afternoon/high tea setting. Maybe a British high tea expert lady would frown at me, but at least I get to bring out my special tea box that I won ages ago!

Growing up I've always been told off for my poor table manners and unlady-like behaviours, so I had to read up on some etiquette for my own benefit:

Always pour the tea into the cup before the milk or sugar (and never add lemon slices when there's milk otherwise you'll get a curdled mess!)
Gently stir the tea with a spoon - the spoon should not touch the side or the bottom of the cup.
Spoon stays on the saucer and not in the cup right?
Hmmm and it's not cool to dunk your scones into the tea.
Finally, take small sips! :)

What a day!

Great company, delicious treats and warm cuppa tea makes it all worth it at the end.

I hope you all a wonderful week ahead wherever you are.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Now, for your chance to win 2 of $10 and 1 of $5 vouchers (so 3 winners in total!) to be used in any Baker's Delight store in Australia.

How to enter:

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post!

The 3 winners will be chosen at random.

This giveaway is only open to Australian residents only. Sorry!

(If you do not have a blogger account, just select 'Name/URL' next to 'Comment as' and remember to leave your e-mail addresss so I can contact you for your mailing address.)

The Baker's Delight giveaway closes on Wednesday 29th June 2011 at 10pm AEST and the winner will be announced on Thursday June 30th 2011.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Links to recipes below:

Note: For each of the recipes, I have scaled the ingredient measurements accordingly (mostly by half)!

Rich Chocolate Tart

Whole wheat olive oil shell recipe from Tart ju jour.

Chocolate filling from Dulce Delight.

Raw Cashew 'Cheese' Cake

'Cheese' filling from Roost Blog.

Cake Base:

Digestive biscuit
Butter, melted

I didn't use the almond + date as a base from the recipe - instead I bashed 50g of digestive biscuits with 20g of melted butter in a plastic bag using a rolling pin. Then I push the wet crumbs into the base of a small 15cm round baking pan (using the back of a spoon) and put in the freezer for 5 minutes before I poured the filling inside.

Ispahan Agar Agar

Agar agar powder
Frozen or fresh raspberry
1 can of lychee

The general rule of thumb for making agar agar is:

..for every 1 cup of liquid, add 1/2 tsp of agar powder. Really. That's all. The rest, taste as you go along.

(note: if the ingredient you're using is more acidic like raspberries you will need to add a little bit more agar powder).

I pureed 3/4 cup of raspberry in a blender and put it through a fine sieve to remove the seeds.

Then I cooked a small amount of water with agar agar powder, and once it boils I let it cool down slightly before I add in the puree of raspberry. I then transfer this into a square tin to let cool and set.

Meanwhile, add the lychee juice + agar agar powder into a pan and bring to boil. Let it cool slightly before adding to the raspberry layer. Pop a few whole raspberries into the lychee liquid if you like!

Smoked Avocado Tea Sandwich

Recipe from Eating Well.

Green Goddess Tea Sandwich

Recipe from Joy The Baker.

Pea and Mushroom Quiche

Quiche base and filling adapted from Tart ju jour - I used frozen peas and mushroom instead of onions + tomatoes in Lisa's recipe.

Edamame beans pancake

2011-06-04T15:42:00.001+10:00

The weekend is here. Hello!

June is here too. Hi too, but I just didn't expect you in such a hurry!

How can it be that I haven't accomplished much this year and we're already half way through the year?

Not good.

Especially if I continue to get through my weekends like this.

And by 'this', I mean something along the lines of sleeping in and long lazy breakfast.

Like today.

But in my defense, breakfast shouldn't be hurried.

I've enough of breakfast on the run in my life that I almost think they should be banned.

While recovering from my wisdom teeth extraction a few weeks ago, I've learnt how to eat properly again.

Slowly. Purposefully. With intention. Savouring each bite. Not gulping down. Sitting down (the multi-tasker in me used to eat and run errands at the same time). T.V off. Away from computer or any techie devices. And preferably with good companies (but alone is also do-able too!).

So, edamame beans is a type of green soybean that is normally cooked in salted water and eaten as a side dish in Japanese (and sometimes Chinese) cuisine.

It is also something that we could all do with more off as it's loaded with carbs, protein, dietary fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, folic acid, manganese and vitamin K... Good healthy food to start the weekend ensures a happy and productive weekend (disclaimer: not tried and tested but will report back with my results post-weekend).

This morning, I've chosen to have my edamame beans pureed (with almond milk) and added to my pancake mix. The taste the beans wasn't prominent in the pancake so next time I will definitely use more in my recipe, but it does add a beautiful faint green colour to this breakfast food.

Edamame Beans Pancakes
Inspired by Masa

1 cup all-purpose flour + 2 tbsl whole wheat flour
 2 tbsp honey or agave nectar 
2 1/2 tsp baking powder 
1/2 cup cooked edamame beans (you could use up to 3/4 cup)
 1 cup almond milk (or regular full cream/skim milk)
 1 1/2 tbsp oil  (I used rice bran oil)
1 egg 
sprinkle of salt
honey (to taste)

1. Put the edamame beans and the milk in a blender and mix until smooth.

2. Whisk together the bean mixture from previous step, oil, honey and egg in a bowl.

3. Combine with the dry ingredients - flour. baking powder, salt.

4. Heat a nonstick pan with few drops of oil and ladle some mixture into hot pan. This recipe will make 3 large/thick pancakes, or 4-5 smaller pancakes.

Don't forget to top with some good quality honey too!

This weekend I'm going to be celebrating Dragon Boat Festival by eating lots of zongzi (sticky rice stuffed with fillings in bamboo leaves!)

And I also have a flight to catch to go back to my other 'home'!

Sounds like a busy weekend already methinks!

Happy weekend and talk to you soon!

Banana Bread + Tofu with Kimchi and Avocado

2011-05-25T11:52:00.002+10:00

This is going to be a short post (of polaroids) today.

Things have been rather repetitive over here.

I guess everything's...just calm. And I like that.

Same faces, same routine, same dreams.

Being repetitive isn't necessary a bad thing, right?

Take this banana cake for example. It's a recipe I've been making over and over again and comes from Kate (check out her stylish blog too for other recipes.)

What's different about this bread is that it uses all whole wheat flour, and still tastes as good as my usual go-to recipe! Score. The texture is moist and soft and I love sweetening it with honey and the sprinkling of cinnamon on top. Oh, big chunks of bananas is a must in my bread. How about you?

Then there's this tofu with avocado and kimchi dish which has been making multiple appearances on my dinner table.

Call it an entree if you like. It's pretty much one of the fastest thing you can whip up as it requires no cooking. Just some chopping and slicing of ingredients that are almost always in my fridge.

I fell hard for kimchi (pickled vegetable, usually napa cabbage) at the tender age of 8 when I first stepped into the home of my Korean neighbour. And it's great to see it named one of the healthiest food in the world by Health magazine too.

The best thing is if you normally find kimchi a bit too spicy for your liking, the tofu and avocado make it milder to the taste and the texture is a bit of everything in your mouth - crunchy, smooth and velvety soft. They make for a delicious trio.

I'm so addictived to this that sometimes it replaces my cheesy toast or cereals as the new midnight/TV snack.

Oh, and before I go (although it's something on my mind before I began this post)...

I just found out that Green Cilantro was mentioned in Saveur's 50 More Food Blogs You Should Be Reading recently. And all I want (and need) to say is THANK YOU - to those of you who made the effort to vote for this blog. I really appreciate it as I definitely didn't expect anyone to do so and can think of at least 7853 other blogs which should have been mentioned instead.

So thank you thank you thank you. You made this cold day a little bit warmer today and put a smile on this face here :)

Here's a doggy picture and I hope he makes you smile too. He's another four legged friend that I've the pleasure of bumping into these days. Turned out he's a bit of a softie and licker too. Who would've guessed.

Banana Bread
Adapted from AllRecipe

1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup mashed bananas
1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, plus more to swirl on top
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup hot water

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

2. In a large bowl, beat oil and honey together.

3. Add eggs, and mix well.

4. Stir in bananas and vanilla, then stir in flour, salt and cinnamon.

5. Add baking soda to hot water, stir to mix, and then add to batter.

6. Spread batter into a greased 9×5 inch loaf pan.

7. Sprinkle with cinnamon, and swirl with a toothpick for a pretty marbled effect.

8. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes. Be sure to check that the bread is done baking by inserting a toothpick in the top. It should come out clean.

9. Cool on wire rack for 1/2 hour before slicing.

Tofu with kimchi and avocado
Adapted from Masa

Note: The quantity of the ingredients are rough estimates. It is entirely up to you how much of each of the main ingredients you want to add.

1/2 packet silken tofu
1/2 cup Korean kimchi
1 medium sized avocado
Some chopped spring onion to sprinkle on top
1 tsp white sesame seeds
~1tbsp Japanese style soy sauce

1. Slice the tofu into even square/rectangular pieces. Slice the avocado into even wedges as well.

2. Chop up the kimchi finely. Chop up the spring onion too.

3. Plate up - place alternate pieces of tofu and avocado on a long plate and place the chopped kimchi and spring onion evenly on top.

4. Squirt some soy sauce on the top and don't forge to sprinkle wth some sesame seeds too.

Tuiles aux Amandes (Almond Tuiles)

2011-05-18T23:24:00.000+10:00

Random Wednesday....

zero Number of wisdom teeth I have left as of last week.

one Sensation - painful (especially when you've forgotten to buy the painkillers after the anaesthetic wears off!)

two Words - Thank you! For your lovely comments in the previous post (and sorry that some of them were removed in the recent blogger stuff up that you probably know too well).

three Mums with blogs which I follow (and meant to have shared in the last Mother's Day post!) I don't have kids myself but I always look forward to reading what these ladies have to share.

Stefanie from Ni Hao Y'all

Adeye from No Greater Joy Mom

Lorraine from With a Grateful Prayer and a Thankful Heart

four Number of sewing and wrench/hammer-like tools I saw my dentist putting into my mouth. Dentists are not in my good books, y'know?

five Years since I visited Paris - I've been daydreaming about it all day today. Not that I particularly have itchy feet for traveling at the moment, but listening to Le Festin from Ratatouille makes me want to fly to there right now.

six Things that take my breath away.

- Andrea Bocelli's voice

- Orange sunsets

- Photographs which evoke certain emotions which cannot be put into words

- Undeserved kindness and understanding

- Running (although it's more like panting)

- Pleasant surprises (like a box with a puppy inside *hint hint*. I'm not sure who I'm hinting at sadly!)

seven Number of times I've listened to Le Festin since the beginning of this blog post. You see, I don't get bored very easily. I'm about to click replay now.

Ok, so you don't need me to tell you that almond is good for you. Lots of vitamin E and good fats for a healthy heart. What's not to love about it? Try and have a fist sized amount of almonds a day but don't over consume them or you might have problem fitting into that pair of pants. Just being frank!

So seriously, go nuts for them!

These almond tuiles were made on a whim on a weeknight. I wanted something without too much flour and butter. Nothing too heavy. Something crispy. Something light. Something to go with a cup of tea.

And these are the perfect answer.

I would recommend that you make these tuiles thinner than mine (as photographed) so that they'd be even crispier and bake faster. Don't be afraid to break the almond slices into small pieces too with the back of your fork.

Almond Tuiles

Adapted from Pierre Herme

Makes 25-30 (I only made 20 because mine were thicker)

70g granulated sugar (I used 50g)
40g egg white
few drops vanilla essence
125g almond slices
15g melted butter (around 1 tbsp)
10g cake flour (around 1tbsp)

1. Combine the sugar, egg white and vanilla essence in a large bowl. Stir with a rubber spatula.

2. Add the almond slices into the bowl and mix gently as to not break the slices.

3. Add the melted butter into the mixture and stir to combine.

4. Leave this mixture at room temperature for 1 hour (remember to cover in plastic wrap!)

5. Sift the flour into the mixture and stir gently to incorporate fully. Leave this at room temperature for 30 minutes.

6. On parchment paper (or any baking paper), spoon the almond mixture into a circle as thinly as you can, about 6cm in diameter. I made a stencil (6cm diameter) to ensure that the tuile is as round as possible.

7. Bake for 12-15 minutes at 160C.

This is probably the first time in a looong time since I didn't blog on a weekend or start of the week. So I don't have to say hope y'all have or had a good weekend.

But can I just say - I hope you smile today :)

Happy Mother's Day + Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-05-08T01:22:00.002+10:00

Today especially, I love all mothers. Any mothers. Your mother and my mother.

I smiled at mothers in the mall and helped a mother drag her crying/screaming boy out of the bus.

And who doesn't love the word, Mother. The first proper word out of most of our mouths!

So, my mother...my sunshine in the rain, and my oasis in the desert. She exudes unconditional love and infallible encouragement in my life.

And I will forever be unable to write down in words her worth to me.

Recently, I flipped through old family albums and stumbled upon pictures of Mother's younger days. Days where I didn't exist...days where Dad wasn't even in the picture (don't worry Dad, there weren't any other boys). And I slowly came into a shocking realisation...she had a life before us! (Thanks to generation ME upbringing).

So, here we go. Things I didn't know about Mother (in all colours and shades).

1. She sported a 70's hairstyle. I only got to see her 90's shoulder pads (eek!) Either way, she was up with fashion (unlike the girls she gave birth to.)

2. She's adventurous. I mean, do people actually do this kinda thing back in the days? She tells me how she had no money for food or piano lessons and here she is parachuting? I need an explanation.

3. Mother's ~~a gambler~~ good at maths. I suspect she might have been one of those card counters. That'll explain why she can do crazy multiplications/divisions in her head. She denied these statements but I don't know.

4. She's creative and likes to be different. Mother cut out the original collar of her uniform and sewed her handmade collars on.

5. She loves home renovation. Actually I already know about her artistic side but this confirms she doesn't knows how to paint. At all. Or hold a paintbrush even. But she does know how to make a home, a home. Or how to make that ugly cushion work with the sofa. She adds that kinda magic to anything.

Being someone who can't do any maths in her head and will probably pass out before being pushed out of a plane with a parachute, it looks like I didn't inherited much of Mother's genes. Hmmph, surely my sister was kidding when she said they found me in a garbage can, right? Or what was that story about being left outside the doorstep as a baby?

Heck, it doesn't matter. Because she loves me all the same. And that's why we celebrate Mother's Day.

Anyways, like most mothers, my mother is not someone who appreciates fine dining or expensive presents on special occasions, but she much more appreciates a daily phone call or a note, just to say hi.

So this Mother's Day - I've nothing extravagant prepared. Except some flowers and cookies. Rustic whole wheat cookies. Not dainty or pretty I'm afraid, but healthier (just slightly though, with whole wheat). Practical. Mums'll love that.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Good to the Grains
Makes 16-18 cookies

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 sticks cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup dark brown sugar (I halved this and recommend you doing so too)
1 cup sugar (I halved this)
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
8 ounces chocolate, chopped into bits (recipe calls for bittersweet, I used semi-sweet, because it was what I had)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment or Silpats.

2. Whisk the whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl in which you can use a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugars. Once they are creamy, add the eggs and vanilla. Beat to combine.

4. Add the dry ingredients in two batches and mix. Finally, add the chopped chocolate and just stir to incorporate.

5. Scoop balls of dough that are approximately 3 tablespoons worth. I used a quarter cup scoop to make it easy. Bake for 16-20 minutes, rotating the pans so that they each spend half the bake time on top and half the time on the bottom.

5. When the baking time is up, remove the cookies from the sheets and let them cool.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mother's in the world.

Thank you for showing me what unconditional love is.

Pineapple and Papaya Crumble

2011-05-02T12:25:00.000+10:00

Hello Monday, hello May and hello You!

_______ makes me happy.

- Snuggling on the couch watching a movie.

- Reading e-mails from friends.

- Listening to oldie songs (and dancing to it like a dork.)

- Walking on fallen leaves....crunch!

- Finding a heart shaped stone (out of approx. 1 gazillion stones on the path!)

- Discovering a new fruit crumble using my favourite fruits.

Isn't there a phrase, a crumble without ice-cream is like a sky without stars? Or a chow-mein without noodles? Or a nerd without braces? There isn't?

Thankfully the ice-cream to the rescue at the last minute....

There you go. A complete crumble.

You may already now I'm a huge fan of crumbles...they're one of my ultimate comfort foods. And this crumble is second to my all time favourite apple crumble. Yum!

Anyways, I hope you a nice Monday today :)

Pineapple and Papaya Crumble

Adapted from Joy the Baker
I halved the recipe to make 2 small casserole dish.

1 papaya, peeled and diced into cubes
1 medium diced fresh pineapple
3 tablespoons granulated sugar (I omitted this)
3 teaspoons cornstarch
sprinkle of ground cinnamon (just because it's autumn).
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
1 1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup brown sugar

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177C).

2. Toss diced fruit together in an 8-inch square baking dish (I used 2 small casserole dish). In a small dish, whisk together 3 tablespoons sugar, cornstarch, 1/4 cup of flour, cinnamon and pinch of salt. Toss the mixture with the diced fruit. Set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add the cold butter cubes. Use your fingers to break up the cold butter cubes into the flour mixture. Add the oats and toss together until the butter bits are about the size of the oat flakes.

4. Pour the oat mixture over the prepared fruit. Place in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until juices from the fruit bubble up around the sides of the pan.

5. Remove the crumble from the oven and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving. Crumble is delicious served warm with vanilla ice cream.

6. Crumble can we wrapped and refrigerated for up to 4 days. Reheat in the microwave or wrapped in foil in a low oven.

______ makes you happy today?

Happy Easter & Japanese Cheesecake

2011-04-26T11:57:00.000+10:00

I had a good Easter break (but is now sad to see it almost over...)

I met up with some old friends, I made a somewhat strange fruit crumble (next post!), and took advantage of the awesome exchange rate and bought myself some books from the U.S (any recommendations for a good book/cookbook?) But most importantly, I reflected on the reason why we celebrate Easter.

I made this favourite Japanese cheesecake a while ago...but I didn't think to post it since out of the dozen times I've made this cheesecake, this was the first time it had a crack right in the middle...a deep, visible imperfection. However despite this fault, I kept these photos as they reminded me of my own imperfections. Some are deep too, painful to look at or to acknowledge!

I thought I'd post this today, during Easter, because it is during this time that we rejoice and celebrate!

We celebrate that in all our imperfections, God still sent His son Jesus, who in His perfect nature suffered and died for our sins. He paid the full penalty for us and conquered sin and death once and for all through His resurrection. And now He reigns! Total joy and freedom and hope!

And so how comforting it is to know that grace finds beauty in the ugly....

Recipe for this fluffy, super light and delicious Japanese cheesecake is here. The only difference is that I used a loaf tin for this instead of a normal cake pan.

You'll love it if you are a fan of lighter, springy cakes. I also love this version because it calls for less eggs than most recipes for Japanese cheesecakes! Beware though, it is likely that you'll have the whole loaf to yourself in one sitting!

Anyways, hope all of you had a lovely Easter break!

Black Sesame Brownies

2011-04-20T17:46:00.001+10:00

Obsession: Black sesame.

Confession #1: Not a big fan of chocolate (except dark bitter ones).

Confession #2: Craves comfort food on cooler days. Please come back soon summer.

Confession #3: Get emotional when watching home renovation T.V shows as if I'm the owners of the house. I'm just kidding...hmmm really.

Conclusion: Black sesame brownie seems like a pretty swell idea.

Not convinced?

Here is why I like black sesame...

- Keeps my hair black and shiny (although I may be too young to be graying)

- Are full of healthy goodness - calcium and magnesium amongst others.

- Will likely to never go out of fashion (little black dress, black cats, black Fridays)

- Tastes good...have you tried black sesame ice-cream?

And...how about black sesame paste?

You can get these thick puree of roasted black sesame seed in a jar from good Asian/Japanese stores (I bought mine on my last trip to Japan - it seems smoother). I usually use it as a spread on my toast in the morning when I need a break from peanut butter.

Check out the comparisons...are you a crunchy or smooth type of person?

Anyways, this brownie is moist, slightly buttery and dense (but more cake-y than fudge-y). The sesame flavour is incredibly strong and having a slice or two is likely to make you fall in love with black sesame (if you don't already). Instead of salt in most chocolate brownie recipes to heighten the flavour, this recipe calls for soy sauce instead. Surprise much? This is definitely a very much Asian inspired type of brownie :)

You're of course welcome to use your favourite brownie recipe too but just substitute the chocolate for the sesame paste!

Black Sesame Brownies

Inspired from an old Japanese cookbook

Makes a square tin (or loaf tin)

80g unsalted butter (room temperature)
40g sugar (I used 25g - check whether your sesame paste is already sweetened or not)
2 egg yolks
40g black sesame paste
1/4 tsp soy sauce
1 egg white
10g caster sugar
50g flour (All purpose)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp black sesame (to sprinkle on top)

1. In a bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixer on low, until it lightens in colour and texture then add the sugar (40g) and carefully combine.

2. Add in the yolk one by one, making sure to fully blend into the mixture before each addition.

3. Add the black sesame paste and soy sauce into the mixture.

4. In a clean bowl, beat the egg white with the remaining sugar (10g) with a hand mixer until the egg white is fluffy and does not fall when you tip the bowl upside down.

5. Combine and sift the flour with the baking powder. Add half the meringue/whipped egg white into the black sesame mixture as well as half the flour mixture. Use a rubber spatula to fold and combine.

6. Further beat the meringue until stiff and finer in texture, then add into the black sesame mixture along with the remaining flour and baking powder. Fold and combine.

7. Add the mixture into a brownie tin, and sprinkle the black sesame seeds on the batter. Bake for 15 minutes at 150C.

8. After it cools down a bit, slice and serve!

Somehow I failed to notice that my previous post was the 100th (HUNDREDTH!) post - which makes this the 101th post!

Yay! Glad I started this blog and glad that it's still here!

Thanks for coming to visit...definitely wouldn't have been the same without you! So thanks again - wish I could share this brownie with you too :D

A little bit of sunshine - Pineapple & Papaya Juice

2011-04-14T23:34:00.000+10:00

Thank you sun, for coming through the window today. You were missed.

Thank you pants, for being so forgiving after 2 nights of peking duck and crème brûlée.

Thank you butter, for making my kitchen smell so damn good.

Thank you legs, for not forgetting how to ride a bike and making me look sporty.

Thank you glasses, for allowing me to spot the bug on my mint. Now I know who's the owner of those black specks of poop on the leaves.

Thank you hand sanitizer, for killing (or claiming to kill) 99.9% of the germs.

Thank you fruit pickers/fruit deliverers/fruit sellers for making sure my pineapple and papaya were in a good state when I bought them.

This wonderfully healthy juice has just three ingredients (or four, I like to add chia seeds into everything and trick my family into eating them).

Papayas have the strangest seeds. Apparently edible too.

Freshly cut pineapples are the best (such a privilege to have non-canned pineapples!)

The mint is essential. Don't worry - the bug didn't get to all the leaves :)

Then you just whizz them together in a blender. It's like a bit of sunshine.

Voila, you're done!

Plain papaya or pineapple juice by themselves would've been well, just plain and boring. But together, they taste great and is a great way to kick-start any day that needs a bit of sunshine. Like everyday.

Pineapple & Papaya Juice
Adapted from Martha Stewart
Serves 2

5 sprigs fresh mint
1 pineapple, peeled and cut into pieces
1 medium papaya, peeled and seeded
1 tbsp chia seeds (optional)

1. Press all ingredients through a juice extractor into a measuring cup.

2. Stir to combine before serving.

Happy Friday and weekend ahead ya'll!

I am hoping to be eating apple crumbles and snugging in bed to watch movies. But I really should go out and be more active like riding my bike and climbing some stairs.

We'll see.

What are you doing this weekend?