Easy Like Sunday Morning (Avocado Toast)

It’s a Sunday!

And it’s a day of rest, altho I’m sure for some, it’s pretty hectic spending time with family and kids and chores and errands and groceries and …. gosh, I’m feeling tired already.

Feel blessed you have things to do. Feel blessed you have people to do it with.

As for me, I’m taking a break and taking it easy. For lunch/brunch. 

There’ll be some face stuffing later with the tribe.

It’s been a lovely yet stressful week. (How can a mere seven days cause so many mixed feelings?)

Had someone very close to my heart visit for a few short days. It’s always too short. But it was good.

I miss her already.

That’s obviously not the stress part.

A word of advice on texting that most probably already know but we all need reminding, esp folks like me who have diarrhoea of the mouth and thumb/fingers.

Anything you type/text can be misread. It all depends on the other person who’s reading it, what kind of a mood they’re in, whether they’re menopausing/andropausing and possibly a host of past traumatic history they’ve gone thru and one word might just trigger some negative response. 

They could read it as a ‘Grrrr’ or as an ‘Awwww’. 

Sometimes concern can be misread as criticism … how? …. only they know. 

And sometimes, they’re just too damned sensitive. Bah! Humbug!

I have no energy for dramatics.

And then I find out I have no chickpeas …. AARRRGGHHH!!!

*Breath*

*count to ten*

Make do….

1 Avocado, nice and ripe

2 Garlic cloves, nice and chubby

1 can Canellini beans, Chickpeas would’ve been nice

1 handful coriander leaves

Juice of half a lemon

Drizzle of sesame oil

1/4 cup Grapeseed oil, or Olive oil

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Some toasted pine nuts

Plonk them all into a food processor except for the pine nuts (you can add it in but I like some crunch).

Buzzzzzzzzzzz

It’s up to you how smooth you like it

Sprinkle pine nuts.

Use as a dip, a spread on toast or toss with some cooked pasta (just add some grated parmesan for extra flavour)

Easy!

No stress ….. 

Rosemary Ginger Banana Cake

I thought I’d posted my favourite banana cake recipe awhile ago. Can’t seem to find it anywhere. 

But, no biggie. 

Here’s a twist to the basic.

That worked really well …. lightly fragrant with rosemary and ginger. I used crystallised ginger instead of fresh, so as not to have it too pungent and spicy. And a sprig of rosemary on the top and not chopped nor mixed into the batter. It is after all, a banana cake and we don’t want to confuse the main hero of this recipe.

And if you’re a stickler for tradition, just omit the herb and ginger and stick with the same proportions, it’ll still yield a lovely loaf…well, three little loaves if you use the same tins I did. 

Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

1+ 3/4 cups flour, sifted

1+1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp fine salt

3 large eggs

1+1/2 cups soft brown sugar

1 cup mashed bananas (I used pisang emas, also known as monkey bananas)

1/4 cup melted butter

1/2 cup vegetable oil (or any unflavored cooking oil)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

coarsely chopped crystallized ginger

rosemary sprigs

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180C.

Oil and line loaf pans. I used 3 mini loaf pans (6”x3”x2”)

Whisk sifted flour, baking soda and salt together.

In another larger bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, mashed bananas, vanilla extract, melted butter and oil until well mixed.

Add flour and fold evenly into mixture.

Stir in chopped crystallized ginger.

Fill tins.

Place a sprig of rosemary on the top of each loaf.

Bake in preheated oven for 45 mins.

Remove from tins and leave to cool on rack.

*(Remove rosemary sprig before consuming.) 

Egg Muffin

Well, waddaya know! 

This wasn’t that hard to make. So why are they charging so much for it? Hmm ….

Nope. No recipe post this time … but, well, I snuck something in anyway …. look closely …..

This is a no brainer. Something simple with ready ingredients any normal fridge would/should have.

It’s my go-to whenever I don’t crave for anything specific and not particularly hungry for anything fancy. Eggs are my best friend. 

It’s convenient to have a batch of English muffins stashed in the freezer. I like homemade ones … I make them to the size of my appetite. Make some, you won’t regret it.

Split the English muffin. 

Toast the muffin halves. 

Fry an egg (runny yolk of course). 

Plonk onto toasted muffin half. 

Top with crunchy pickles, a dollop of ketchup and whatever else that makes you happy. 

Top with other toasted muffin half.

Munch away!

Burp.

Boring, isn’t it?

Shutting up now ….

Merry Quiet Christmas

Christmas Wreath Bread

Click for recipe

Merry Christmas everyone!

Wishing all you happy people more happy times, to those who have lost their loved ones, wishing you acceptance and closure and happier times ahead. It'll be a mellow Christmas for us who have sad memories but we still need to keep our strength .... so...we EAT!!

Like I told a fellow friend and blogger .... Food is always a good solution. Eat too much and you can't move to do any damage to anything... not enough and you'd be searching and too busy foraging to bother about what's happening around you. 
So my message to close off the end of a relatively non-eventful (thank goodness) year .... EAT.

Easy Dinner Rolls

Oh ….

My ….

Gawdness!!

This must be the easiest and fastest bread recipe I’ve ever tried!

And they turned out super!

Soft and tender crusted rolls. Not the hard crust dinner rolls.

My bread machine decided to die on me. I haven’t been making bread since my tennis elbow injury. 

Tried a “No Knead Bread” recipe. It was ok … no great shakes. 

Tonight I had a hankering for some plain soft buns, slathered with butter. I can wolf down a half dozen easily and then regret it all later when I feel like a hippopotamus that can’t swim. So yum!

Had to make some. 

Used a regular stand mixer this time, using the dough hook attachment. 

This is gonna be a repeat recipe for sure …. many, many repeats…probably with some improvisations later. 

Do not be shocked by the amount of yeast. It doesn’t turn out yeasty. All’s good. Tested, tasted and approved by several tonguebuds ...or maybe they're just being polite? 

(Adapted from kitchenmeetsgirl)

INGREDIENTS

1 cup plus 2 tbs warm water

1/3 cup oil (I used grape seed oil)

2 tbs active dry yeast (I used instant yeast)

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

3 1/2 cups bread flour / high protein flour

2 tbs butter, melted (for brushing)

METHOD

Preheat oven to 400ºF / 200ºC.

In the bowl of the stand mixer, combine warm water, oil, yeast and sugar. Give it a quick stir and leave to rest for 15 mins. You should have a foamy mush by then.

Mix 2 cups of the flour, salt and egg into the yeast mixture using dough hook attachments. 

Add remaining 1 1/2 cups flour 1/2 cup at a time.
Knead until you have a smooth and elastic dough.

Shape dough into 12 balls (I made into smaller ones and got 18).

Place dough balls into a large baking pan, spacing them apart enough for dough to rise until about doubled in size. Alternatively, you can also bake them in muffin pans.

Let rest for 10 mins (I left mine for 15 mins) or until doubled in size.

Bake for 10 mins (I baked for 10 mins, took them out and brushed with some melted butter and baked a further 5 mins) until tops are just golden brown.

Soooo goooood!!

I've used it as a burger bun, loaded with char shu (Chinese bbq meat) and pickled gherkins with a slathering of mustard. It's a little lighter than the usual burger buns. Okay if the filling isn't too heavy. If you're looking for a good burger bun, you can use this. Great buns for anything.

*Note: unused dough can be frozen before proofing stage. Wrap in cling film and freeze. Thaw, shape and allow to rise to double its size and bake as per instruction above.

Chocolate Chips Pumpkin Cake

It’s pumpkin season again. 

I love pumpkins. I used to go crazy thinking of unconventional things to make, cook, bake with pumpkins. 

Crazy moments: 

~ Fried Pumpkin Indian Style

~ Pumpkin Roasted Duck Steamed Kuih

~ Pumpkin Tomato Soup Chicken

~ Pseudo-Chinese Pastry

There must be over a hundred varieties out there. We get a good variety from the local grocers. And to mess about with, I wouldn’t even bother getting expensive imported ones. Our local variety is good enough …. similar to the winter squash, Linus’ pumpkin patch types, the one Cinderella took to the ball and forgot to come back before her curfew and lost her shoe (definitely pretty ill-fitting shoe, I must say, and probably had one too many margaritas … you really have to read between the lines of those fairy tales to get the gist of the saucy substance of what the author is actually trying to say but could not due to childrens’ story books bylaws or whatnots).

Anyway, enjoy this while pumpkin is still in season or just freeze mashed pumpkin and you can have it all year through! 

Oh …. before I go mess about some more ….

For those who do not want to use canned pumpkin puree, you can prepare your own very easily.

Just get rid of the hard skin and seeds. Cut into large chunks and steam them for a few minutes (you can tell when they’re soft. The colour turns a darker orange). 

And, in this recipe, I did not mash the pumpkin too fine (I did call it mash and not puree). It’s good either way. I kinda like the speckled orange look.

(This cake is a combination of recipes. So if anyone feels that this originated from yours, please let me know. I’ll add a link and your cake pic to this). 

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 cup mashed pumpkin
1/2 cup (4oz) butter, melted
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

METHOD

Preheat oven to 170ºC.
Generously butter a 9”X5”X3” loaf pan or three 6”X3”X2” mini loaf pans.
Combine flour, salt, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Mix well.
In a separate mixing bowl, beat eggs.
Add pumpkin, melted butter, and milk. Mix well.
Combine wet ingredients with the dry and mix.

Fold in chocolate chips.
Pour batter into prepared loaf pan/pans. 

Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Remove cake from pan and cool on a wire rack.

A Bread Story

A friend suggested I should just go to bakeries and write about bread, pastries and whatever bakes they sell and the stuff I’ve sampled. Heck … why not … gives me a good enough reason to eat. And I do like bread.

I’m not here to criticize the quality but more so on the variety and the service of the places I visit.

You do realize that good service makes the food taste a whole lot better? Well, it makes a world of a difference to me anyway. Sour faced waiters and cashiers make everything taste ugh. Why they’re in the service industry is beyond me …

Bread Story at the new wing of 1Utama … the usual array of breads, buns and pastries ….

Friend and I picked out a couple of goodies including what I thought was a banana chocolate muffin  …. it was labelled as such. Ordered a couple of drinks to go with and sat down to enjoy our pickings. Stabbed into the muffin and out oozed a gooey mass of blueberry-looking jelly. Hmm …. Banana, chocolate muffin with blueberry goo …. Okaaay. *scratch head* . Stared at it for a couple of stunned seconds and decided to ask the manager what that was suppose to be. She said “blueberry muffin”. Hah!! Labelled wrong. Now the gist of this story is about good PR. Lady manager apologised, walked off and came back with the correct muffin and said it’s on the house. Didn’t even take away the blueberry muffin. Well, it was pretty massacred anyway …

I know that was just a muffin, but in this selfish world today …. sometimes a small kind gesture makes a world of difference to someone’s crappy day.

Go ahead. Have a muffin. Have a great day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mutton Burger with Quince Salsa & Oven Baked Cheese Fries

(Improv Challenge: Potatoes & Cheese)

Be surprised. Be very surprised … that you're actually looking at this thing that I call my dinner. It very nearly didn't happen. This whole production was riddled with one interruption after another. I'd almost given up after the fries decided to go and get itself seriously tanned. (Ignore the bits of black … look beyond that and see beautiful golden, melted, crispy cheese). Fortunately it came together quite nicely in the end or it would have been take-out food you're looking at. In fact, I'd make this again (and again) with extra vigilance on the timer (I'd actually set it but forgot to start it), ignore doorbells, phone calls, surprise visitors and an attention-demanding cat.

I had some mutton mince and decided I wanted to make a burger out of it.

I'd seen a beetroot relish at Zoe's that got me all excited knowing that it'll go perfectly with my burger. Then I realized I had no beetroot (funny, I usually do. I eat beetroot out of a can) … and not even a can anywhere in sight (I wonder why I have 5 cans of corn tho). While digging frantically hoping I'd find a stray one hiding in a dark corner on one of the many shelves, I came across a bottle of quince paste I'd forgotten about (among other things). Aha! Lightbulb! Bwiing!

Now then, there's the Improv Challenge (this month's theme is potatoes and cheese) and I still hadn't figured out what I was going to do until that time (it's been a crazy few weeks and this week isn't letting up any either). Lightbulb #2! Bwiing! Bwiing!

I'd decided to use Zoe's burger bun recipe (with some teeny modifications). I must say, this is THE burger bun! We get the commercially made ones here that look pretty good but crumbles too much, either that or too airy and full of holes, or the gourmet bakeries that charge you more for the buns than an actual burger. This one's perfect … not overly dense, soft but firm and not overly flavored to outshine the patty. Thanks, Zoe!

BURGER BUNS (adapted from Zoe's @ Bake for Happy Kids)

INGREDIENTS

1 cup (250 ml) water

30 g butter, melted

1 egg, slightly beaten

3 1/2 cups bread flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/4 tsp salt

1 tbs active dry yeast

OPTIONAL TOPPINGS

white sesame seeds

black sesame seeds

beaten egg

METHOD

* I used my bread machine to do the kneading for me as usual.

Plonk all ingredients into bread machine bin in the order they're listed.

Use "Dough" setting.

When it's done, punch down with floured fist (they should make a kung fu movie with that title) to deflate the dough, remove from bread machine, knock it around a bit and divide into 8 equal parts. (If you prefer smaller buns, divide into 12 parts).

Form into balls and leave to prove for 45 minutes or until doubled in size on a lined baking tray (I used a Silpat) with enough space in between.

Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds (or not).

Bake in a 180˚C oven for 15 - 18 mins or until tops are lightly browned.

Cool on racks.

(I'd used half the portion of the dough and kept the other half (minus the 2nd rising) in the freezer. Just defrost, shape and leave to rise when needed)

MUTTON BURGER PATTIES

INGREDIENTS

about 200 - 250 g minced mutton

80 - 100 g bacon, chopped

1 tsp fennel seeds

1/2 tsp salt (depending on how salty your bacon is)

2 tbs mayonnaise

2 tbs mild mustard / dijon (your preference, I used good ol' American mustard)

(This was enough for only 2 - 3 large patties. You can always make your patties smaller provided your buns are just as small. I had big buns … and I'm talking bread here.)

*Note: I don't like binders and fillers in my burgers. Feel free to add an egg and breadcrumbs to the mince if you like.

METHOD

Place mince, bacon and fennel seeds into a food processor. Buzz until well combined and finely minced. Remove and place into a mixing bowl together with the rest of the ingredients. Mix well.

Form into tight patties and keep in the refrigerator until you're ready to grill or freeze them if you're not cooking them on the same day.

Grill until cooked through, about 4 - 5 minutes each side.

Leave to rest for a few minutes before assembling.

QUINCE SALSA

INGREDIENTS

1 - 2 tbs quince paste

2 small onions, diced

1 red chilly, seeded and finely chopped

2 - 3 tbs chopped coriander

1 small japanese cucumber, center core removed and diced

juice of 1 lime

METHOD

Toss everything together and leave in the fridge until ready to be used.

OVEN BAKED CHEESE FRIES

(don't let the looks fool you .. they actually taste very good!)

INGREDIENTS

2 large waxy potatoes, cut into french fries sized sticks

cheddar cheese

monterey jack cheese

butter

sweet paprika

cayenne pepper

METHOD

Place potato sticks on a lined baking pan in one layer. Do not overlap.

Grate cheese over potatoes. (It's up to you how much you want it to be).

Sprinkle paprika and cayenne pepper over that … again, it's all about how spicy you like your fries.

Dot butter all over and bake in a 200˚C oven for 10 -12 mins or until cheese has turned nice and golden. Serve immediately.

DISCLAIMER: This is by no means a healthy meal. Consider it an indulgence. Devour at your own risk.

Lemon, Sour Cream Fan Tans

(Improv Challenge: Lemon & Sour Cream)

Otherwise known as New England Buttermilk rolls or Yankee Buttermilk rolls.

Why do they call this a "fan" anyway? Ok, maybe it's because it fans out like a, well …. fan. But I think it looks more like an open book. Maybe I should just rename it, Flippin' Page Rolls! (Notice the yellow pages for props?)

And what's with the "tan" bit in the name? I googled it and found zip. Did a Mrs Tan create this? Or is it because the buns got tanned in the oven? Can somebody please enlighten me before I go nuts.

Anyway, the basic recipe calls for buttermilk (why else would it be called buttermilk rolls? Duh).

I didn't have any buttermilk so I've replaced it with sour cream and added an extra zing with some grated lemon zest to waken some senses at breakfast.

*Note: You can always make your own buttermilk. 1 cup milk to 1 tbs white vinegar. There are various other ways besides using white vinegar but that'll have to be another DIY post.

And when you have a tennis elbow that refuses to get any better, the trusty bread machine comes to the rescue!

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup sour cream + milk to make a total of 200 ml (or 200ml buttermilk)

30 g melted butter

375 g high protein flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

grated zest of a whole lemon

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

2 tsp active dry yeast

20 g melted butter, for brushing

METHOD

Plonk first 8 ingredients into bread machine bin in the order they're listed (unless your bread machine instructions tell you otherwise).

Poke the dough setting.

Go have a nice cuppa coffee and make some nice comments on someone's blog post. You'll find out how time flies when you're doing that.

When the machine yells at you that it's done (the dough should have risen to twice it's size by then), remove dough from the bin, knock it around a bit for yelling at you and let it rest for another 10 mins.

Preheat oven to 200˚C. Butter muffin tin.

Roll out dough to a rectangle of sorts (I could never get it looking like a rectangle … more like a wreck-tangle) of about 20" X 13" X 1/8".

Brush with the extra melted butter.

Using a pizza cutter, cut wreck-tangle into 5 even strips of about 2" - 2 1/2" wide (if you can cut it into 7 strips, even better, that's the traditional number for the roll).

Place the strips in a stack, then cut them crossways into 8 even pieces.

Pinch the bottoms to seal. Place sealed side down into buttered muffin tin.

Leave to prove until doubled in size, about an hour or so.

Before dumping them in the oven, separated the layers a little so that the "pages" open out nicely. But be careful not to deflate the puffiness.

Bake for 20 - 25 mins or until golden.

Cool slightly on rack. Serve warm with lashings of butter!

* This was submitted to the Improv Challenge hosted by Kristen. January's theme is Sour Cream and Lemon.

Grissini

Definition: pencil-sized breadsticks. (I have very large pencils).

More munchy things.

When I'm happy, I munch.

When I'm depressed, I munch.

When I'm bored, I munch.

When I watch tv, I munch.

When I read, I munch.

And I don't think I can stand too many carrot and celery sticks.

I salute those of you who started off this year with all your healthy resolutions. (Notice I said "started"). I won't even bother to make such a resolution since I know I'm going to break it anyway.

Fortunately, I do love my salads and have been having avocado/walnuts/apples salads for quite a number of meals in the last week, mainly inspired by Sissi's post and helped by the fact that the nearby fruit shop was selling avocados cheap.

I shall eat in moderation whatever I feel like eating. If and when I do a diet, I always start craving for something after a while and then go on a binge … that's not good, nope, not at all. The idea is not to start a crave. But if it does happen, I'll just have a bite and stop at that … enough to satisfy the cravebuds. I'm trying.

I'd made these to dip into the Ajvar for the Christmas Eve buffet as an appetizer. And as usual, I tend to make more than needed. I've always made sure to have more food than not enough especially when I'm entertaining. Turned out good for me and mum. I get to have this with just about every dippable (dip-able?) thing in the house … leftover ajvar, peanut butter, spiced chocolate banana jam, soups …. and mum's happy dipping them into her coffee every morning. Munch, munch …

And these were fun to make as well.

Just a basic pizza dough and shape it to however and whatever you like.

I've kept this grissini plain but you can always add chopped olives, grated cheese, sea salt, etc.

As always, I've enlisted the capable blades of my bread machine to do the kneading.

INGREDIENTS

250 ml water

40 ml oil (I used grapeseed)

500 g plain flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp active dry yeast

METHOD

Put all ingredients into bread machine bin in the order they're listed or according to your bread machine instructions.

Use 'dough' setting. (If you're adding chopped olives, add it in during the final few minutes of mixing.)

When cycle is complete (this should also include the first rising), preheat your oven to 180˚C.

Remove dough from bin and knock it around a bit to get the air out.

Roll out to a thinnish rectangle and cut into strips or pinch a dollop of dough and roll it into a long sausage or stretch it out and twist and turn it into whatever shape you like.

(If you're sprinkling salt, brush grissini or spray with a little oil and sprinkle before baking. I've left mine plain to dip into a variety of stuff. Can't imagine mum dipping olive grissinis into coffee. Eck).

Bake for about 25 - 30 mins or until golden brown.

Cool and store in an airtight container.

Munch away!

Christmas Eve Buffet 2011