Alfalfa sprout Salad with Greens and Beets in Balsamic Vinaigrette

Alfalfa belongs to the legume family and is popular as an addition to salad or sandwich. 

Ingredients:

2 cups mesclun mixtures 
1/4  cups roasted beets ( red and orange beets for color) 
1/2  cup alfalfa sprout
1/4 cup pitted olives

Dressing:

2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
1/4  tsp. sugar
6 Tbs olive oil
1/2 minced shallots
salt and pepper to taste                                                        

Preparation:

Wash and refrigerate greens in a colander covered with damp towels until use. Also refrigerate the roasted beets and washed alfalfa sprout. I always like to serve my salad cold.

Mix all dressing ingredients together in a bottle and shake vigorously to make an emulsion. Test by dipping a leaf into the dressing to check the acid and salt balance.

Put  mesclun mixtures, roasted beets, alfalfa sprout and pitted olives in a  cold bowl . Pour vinaigrette over the fresh vegetables and tossed very gently not to bruise the vegetables.

Mound salad mix on a cold plate to add some height. Sprinkle some left over dressing on the plate and serve immediately. You can also sprinkle some crumble goat cheese.

Farro Lagsana

Farro, also known as  Emmer wheat is a type of wheat that was among the first plants to be domesticated in the Middle East. Farro  is mentioned in the Bible, and in the chronicle of Herodotus. In Mesopotamia, it was cultivated by the Assyrians and ancient Egyptians. Farro reached Italy by the 5th century BC, becoming rapidly a staple food for the Etruscans.

Roman soldiers were paid in farro, and it was the symbolic gift of Roman brides to their husbands on their wedding day.
Farro was replaced by other forms of wheat that had higher yields, but it is still grown in mountainous areas of Europe and Asia.

I have used farro in soups, "risotto al farro", salads, sweet porridge before. After reading  La Cucina Italiana Cooking Magazine, I decided to make Farro Lagsana from scratch. I ground my farro into flour and made the pasta. It is worth the trouble. Farro is low in fat and rich in vitamins, proteins, fibers, and starch. 

  

Homemade Muesli served with Honey infused Yogurt

Healthy breakfast with homemade Muesli. 

Muesli served with homemade yogurt infused in lavender honey

                                     

Chap Hor Fun - fried flat rice noodles

This is a Cantonese style rice noodle stir fried in a wok.

Pork Chop with Ancho Chili Rub

Puy Lentil Salad

Zucchini Carrot Cutlets

Vegi Lunch

Stir fried french beans, mung bean curry, stir fried brussel sprouts with carrot and yogurt rice

Kuih Rengas- Fried Mung Bean Patties

Ingredients:

For the mung patties : 

1 cup  green mung beans- soaked overnight

Mung Beans

1/2 dark brown sugar
1/4  cup grated
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
pinch of salt
1 cup of water

                        

Put soaked green mung beans in a pan. Add 1 cup of water and boil until very soft.

Add the sugar  and a pinch of salt and cook until slightly dry.

Take a bit of the mixture and make it into a ball, then flatten it. Set aside.

For the batter :

1/2  cup rice flour
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp alkaline water  or 1/4 baking soda
3/4 cup water
2 pinches of turmeric powder

                                  

Mix the ingredients for the batter well. Make sure there is no lumps.

Heat enough oil in a frying pan.

Dip the flatten mung bean cake, into the batter and fry till golden brown

Sticky Date Pudding

Ingredients:

1 cup  pitted dates, chopped
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup water
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar or brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 1/2 cup  self raising flour

Sauce

1/3 cup  brown sugar
1 1/4 heavy whipping cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 Tbsp  butter

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and grease a 9" square cake tin.

Boil  water and put chopped dates in it. Let it simmer to cook the dates. Once dates are soft add the  baking powder and set it aside.

 Cream together the butter, vanilla and sugar until pale, light and fluffy.

Add the egg and beat well. Now add the flour followed by the dates and combine well.

Spoon into cake tin and bake for 30 minutes until the skewer comes out clean.

Combine  all the ingredients  for the sauce in a saucepan heat it up until sugar is dissolved. Stir  constantly. Remove from the heat.

Prick the warm cake all over with a skewer and pour half the sauce over the cake. Return the cake pan to the oven for 2 minutes.

Cut into square pieces and serve warm with the extra sauce.

Panna Cotta

Panna cotta is an Italian dessert, made from cream and sugar and set with gelatine. It is rich and smooth in texture. It is generally served with fruits or fruit coulis.

Ingredients:

1 1/2  cups heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar
1 packet unflavored gelatin

4 Tbsp water

Directions

Sprinkle the powdered gelatin into 4 Tbsp water and let  it sit for 3 to 5 minutes. Then, when the mixture is heated, the gelatin will dissolve evenly.

Place the cream and sugar in a saucepan and bring it to a simmer. Do not boil cream. Add vanilla extract and the bloomed gelatin. Make sure the gelatin is dissolve completely. Strain the cream and pour cream into ramekins or custard molds

Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled about 3 to 4 hours.

To unmold, place ramekin bottom  in hot water for 20 seconds. Run a sharp knife around the inside of each ramekin  to loosen and carefully flip onto a plate. Serve with raspberry or blueberry coulis, or drizzle each panna cotta with sweet balsamic vinegar. 

OatMeal Breakfast

Oatmeal  cooked in homemade almond milk

Add raisins, red raspberry, blueberries 

Sprinkle with roasted pistachios.

Hibiscus tea served with cookies and fruitcake

Hibiscus tea, an herbal tea drink is popular throughout many parts Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean. It has a tart,cranberry-like flavor and sugar is often added to sweeten the beverage. Ginger or  rum is add to the tea in the Caribbean and it is served cold. Karkady or hibiscus tea is a traditional drink at Egyptian weddings.

Ingredients:

2  cups  water

1/2 cup  dried hibiscus  petals

Sugar to taste

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, combine water and hibiscus petals and bring to a boil.

Simmer over moderate heat for 5 minutes.

Add sugar and stir until dissolved.

Serve hot or cold.

Tiger Shrimp Dry Roasted in Spices

Very simple dry roasted masala shrimp

Ingredients:

4 big Tiger Shrimp
5 shallot, finely  sliced
1" ginger, minced finely
2 green chilies, cut into half
1/2  tsp  red chili powder
1/4 tsp  turmeric
1/2 lemon, squeeze juice
1 Tbsp coriander seeds
 1 Tbsp cumin
1/4 tsp black pepper

Method:

To prepare the shrimp, remove the head and devein the shrimp and leave the shell intact. Butterfly  the back but not all the way through.  

Dry roast the black pepper, coriander seeds and cumin, cool and grind into fine powder.

Marinate the shrimp with 1/2 tsp salt and juice from 1/2 lemon. Set aside for 10 to 15 minutes.

Heat oil in a pan, add sliced onions and a little salt and fry the onion until slightly brown in color. Add the ginger, the ground spice, 1/2 tsp red chili powder, turmeric  and fry by adding   3 to 4 Tbsp water and cook for 4 to 5 minutes. Once oil separates from the spices, add shrimp and mix well so that all spices are blended together, cover and cook for 4 to 6 minutes  on medium flame. Adjust the seasonings.

Garnish with freshly chopped coriander and serve hot. Goes well with rice.

Kway Teow Noodle Soup

We had fresh flat rice noodle soup for lunch today. What better food for a cold, raining weather than noodle soup. It is healthy and simple but extremely flavorful. Home made chicken broth are the best. 

Ingredients for 2 people:

Fresh flat rice noodles, about 1/2 pound (can be purchased from Asian grocery stores)
Chicken breast 1 (boiled and shredded)

Chinese mustard  or  Kale (cut into 2 inch length)
Tofu  1/4 cup - cut into strips
Green onion - minced
Fried shallots for garnish
Chicken broth -  3 cups
Thai bird chili for heat
soy sauce
sesame oil

Method:

Cut the Thai bird chili and pour some soy sauce in it. Set aside.

In a saucepan, heat up chicken stock and let it simmer on low heat.

Place rice noodle into the microwave for one minute. Then pull apart the noodles so they are almost in a single layer. This extra step will help prevent noodles forming into thick slabs. 

Take two soup bowls, add a little soy sauce, a little sesame oil and little of the Thai bird chili soy sauce for heat. 

Boil about 4 cups of  water and blanch your greens and tofu and set aside.

Blanch the noodles in the hot water for a second or two, add them into the bowl of soy sauce, sesame oil. Place some of the blanched greens, tofu and shredded chicken. Sprinkle some fried shallots and minced green onions and pour some of the hot chicken broth on the noodles. Serve immediately.

Chinese New Year Dinner

Chinese New Year, also know as "Spring Festival", is celebrated by Chinese people living all over the globe.  When I lived in Malaysia I grew up with many Chinese schoolmates who invited me to their homes to celebrate Chinese New Year.  My friends' parents often gave me traditional gifts such as "Red Packets" or "Ang Pow", Sticky Glutinous cakes and Tangerines.  These gifts symbolizes good luck for the coming year.  This holiday is celebrated for 15 days. The last day ends with the Lantern Festival or "Chap Goh Mei" in the   Hokkien dialect.

On the Eve of Chinese New Year, families get together to have a great feast.  Food generally includes pigs, ducks, chicken, noodles and sweet delicacies. The family ends the night with a celebration that includes a firecracker show.  Early the next morning, children greet their parents by wishing them a "Kung Chi Fat Choy" or Happy Chinese New Year, and receive gifts of money in red paper envelopes. The Chinese New Year tradition is to forgive all grudges and sincerely wish peace and happiness for everyone.

Food is a very important part of the Chinese culture. Many of the dishes served during Chinese New Year have symbolic meanings.  Chicken, which is traditionally served whole, represents togetherness of the family.  Cookies and candies are for a sweet life. The Chinese words for tangerines, "Jin ju "sounds like the word for luck and are given freely.

The food that is associated with long life in Chinese culture are Noodles.  It  is considered  unlucky to cut the strand because symbolically it is believed to shorten one's life.

The Chinese word for fish, yu, sounds like the word for riches or abundance. Chinese believe that eating fish will help their wishes to come true in the New Year. Traditionally the whole fish is served to from head to tail.

Pal Payasam - Milk Porridge

A heart warming sweet porridge for a raining day. My husband's favorite sago is added in this dish to give a slight thickness to the porridge.

 Ingredient:
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1/4 cup milk
1/4 plus 2 Tbsp sago (soaked in water)
1/4 thin vermicelli noodles
1/4 cup sugar or to taste
2 Tbsp broken cashew
2 Tbsp raisins
1/4 tsp ground cardamon

Method:
Fry the cashews and raisins in a little ghee until golden brown. Keep aside.

Put  a medium pot on a stove. Add  the water and sago. Stir and cook until  sago become translucent. Add the milks and the sugar. Once the porridge comes to a boil, add the vermicelli noodles. Keep on stir so the noodles do not stick together. Once the noodles is cooked, add the raisins and cashews and sprinkle the ground cardamon and serve hot. Very simple,  yet delicious and warm for a cold day.

Mum's Fish Curry

I love grinding my spices whenever I want to make Indian curries. Even though I have an electric grinder,  once in a while I like to cook  the old fashioned way like my mom.  My mom grinds her spices on a flat granite stone with a cylindrical roller. Her fish curry takes a while to prepare but the results are rewarding.  She uses clay pots to cook her numerous curries. Clay pots brings out the spicy and seductive terrene flavors of the masala while  eliminating the unsavory taste from metallic cookware.  Since I do not own an Indian clay pot, I am using my stainless steel cookware to make this Fish Curry.
Fish curry tastes better after allowing it to sit for hours before eating. 

Stir Fried Vermicelli Noodles

Thai Fish Curry

Grilled Chicken Fajitas

Apricot Tart with Almond Cream fillings

Palmiers

Palmiers or Elephant Ears are made from puff pastry. The puff pastry is rolled out, coated with sugar, and then the two sides are rolled up together so that they meet in the middle, making a roll that is then cut into about 1/4" slices and baked.
It is thought to have originated in France around the turn of the 20th century, but appears to a broader geography than just France. In Germany they are known as "Schweineohren" or in English "pig's ears".

Sticky Buns

Sticky buns are a dessert or breakfast pastry that generally consist of rolled pieces of leavened dough—containing brown or cinnamon — which are then compressed together to form a kind of flat loaf corresponding to the size of the baking pan. Before the dough is placed in the pan, the pan is lined with the "sticky" ingredients like melted butter, brown sugar, honey as well as nuts like pecans. After the buns are baked, they are inverted so that the pan lining then becomes a topping.

"The cinnamon bun or "sticky bun" came to Philadelphia with 18th century English and German immigrants. They are made from a cinnamon and sugar flavored yeast dough, with raisins, nuts and caramelized topping. A coffee shop counter lined with sticky buns is still a common sight in the city."
---The Larder Invaded: Reflections on Three Centuries of Philadelphia Food and Drink, Mary Anne Hines, Gordon Marshall & William Woys Weaver [Historical Society of Philadelphia:Philadelphia] 1987 (p. 51)

This is the best sticky bun recipe.

Adapted from Joanne Chang's Flour

Brioche Dough:

2 1/2 cups high-gluten flour
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 oz. yeast
1 Tbsp. salt
1/2 cup ice water
5 eggs
11 oz. butter, softened

Method

In a large bowl of a stand mixer, combine all the ingredients, except the butter, and beat on low with dough hook for 10 minutes. Add the softened butter and knead for another 20 minutes until dough slaps on the side of a bowl. Place in a container and cover well. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours. Shape, cover, and let rise for several hours on a warm radiator or on top of an oven at 200 degrees.

Goo:

1/2 lb. butter
15 oz. brown sugar
5 oz. honey
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup water

Method:

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt together the butter and brown sugar. Remove from heat, let cool, and whisk in the honey, cream, and water. Set aside.

Making the Sticky Buns

On a floured work surface, roll out the brioche dough into a rectangle that is approximately 1/4 inch thick. Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans and sprinkle evenly on the brioche. Roll up the brioche jelly roll-style and slice the roll into buns about 1 inch thick. Spread the Goo (below) on the bottom of a roasting pan and place buns, evenly spaced, in the pan. Cover and allow to rise for 2 to 3 hours in a warm place. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place buns in the oven and bake until golden brown, about 45 minutes (check after 30). Let cool for 10 minutes and then invert onto a serving platter.

Uttapam or Indian Pizza

Unlike dosa, which is crisp and crepe-like, uttapam is a thick savory pancake, with toppings cooked right on the batter. Uttapam is sometimes characterized as an Indian pizza. Uttapam is made from rice and black lentil, The ground batter is fermented overnight and made into uttapam the next day.
Toppings for uttapam generally are tomatoes, onion, chilies and cilantro leaves. It is often eaten with Indian sambar, chicken or lamb curries and chutney.

Empanada de Atun or Tuna Empanada

Empanada is a stuffed pastry baked or fried which is popular in Latin America, Southern Europe and parts of Southeast Asia( Samosas,  Curry Puffs).

The origin of empanadas can be traced to Galicia, Spain, and Portugal. Empanadas in Galicia are traditionally round or turnovers that are cut into pieces to serve.

For the crust :
2 cups  all -purpose flour
¼ cup of  olive oil
4 - 5  Tbsp  of ice water
1 large egg
½ tsp salt

Mix the salt to flour. Beat egg lightly in a bowl, mix water, olive oil and add to the flour and knead until the dough forms a smooth ball. Wrap in cling wrap and allow to rest.

For the Filling:
1 large onion, sliced thinly2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 small red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, and slice thinly
1  5-ounce can of tuna packed in olive oil
1/4 cup green olives, sliced
2  eggs boiled and chopped roughly
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes (blanched, skin and seeds removed)
Spanish paprika, 1/2 tsp
salt and pepper for seasoning
Chile flakes for heat

Method:

Heat a Sauté pan. Put about 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the onion and garlic. Cook until slightly caramelized  but not brown.  Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes until slightly dry. Add roasted red peppers, flaked tuna, olives, chopped eggs, paprika. Season with salt and pepper. Turn off the heat and let mixture cool completely.

Use 17" x 12" x 1" high sheet pan. Oil a parchment paper and place it on the sheet pan.  Divide the dough in two. Roll out each dough ball into 13-inch circle. Transfer the circle on to the sheet pan. Spread the filling out evenly, leaving 1" on the border.

Place the other piece of dough on top. Press the edges  and you can either pleat them or press them with a fork to make a seal. With a sharp knife, cut about 4 slits in the top. Brush the empanada  with olive oil.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes in a 450 degree F oven. or until golden color. Serve slightly warm.