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 ….. 

Penang Style Indian Mee Goreng (Fried Noodles)

You gotta do what you gotta do.

Especially when you’re desperate.

I’ve been having a craving for the Penang style Indian Mee Goreng for the longest time. Actually, come to think of it, I’m forever craving this. It’s a life long, constant crave. 

It’s addictive.

There’s a ton of carbs in here … but who cares. Malaysian food is all about carbs anyway. 

And I don’t get this anywhere in the big city, nothing that can compare to the ones on the island.

And when you’ve had one too many bad ones, you kinda give up and get all hot and bothered and then decide to just make it yourself.

I must say it isn’t bad at all …. can’t get up to par to the island masters but it’s as close as I can get without the sweet potato spiced gravy or the chilly squid curry/sambal that is such a secret to each individual stall. It’s enough to satisfy my crave …. for now.

INGREDIENTS

Oil for frying

5 large garlic cloves (chopped)

4 tbs chilli paste

500g yellow noodles (blanched and drained)

2 pieces firm tofu (fried and cut into cubes)

1 large waxy potato (boiled, peeled and diced)

1 tomato (diced)

dough  and shrimp fritters (I got these from the rojak man), cut into bite sized pieces

2 large handfuls beansprouts

1/2 cup coarsely ground peanuts (optional)

Sliced chinese lettuce for garnish

Sliced green chillies for garnish

Sugar and salt to taste

Lime or calamansi

Sauce: mix together

3 tbs soy sauce

3 tbs thick dark caramel soy 

3 tbs thick tamarind juice

1 tbs white vinegar

3 tbs tomato ketchup

METHOD

Heat a deep pan or wok with a few tbs of cooking oil. Fry chopped garlic and chilly paste.

Add cut potatoes and tomatoes.

Stir in drained noodles and sauce mix.

Stir until noodles are slightly dry. Then add in the tofu, fritters and bean sprouts. 

Turn off heat. You don’t want to overcook the beansprouts. 

Stir in ground peanuts or just sprinkle over the top when you wanna eat. 

Garnish with sliced lettuce and sliced green chillies.

Eat with a squeeze of lime and get transported to the lovely Pearl of the Orient. 

I’m so satisfied right now …. burp …. squeeze me.

Overnight Oats

Some folks just don’t like eating oats. I’ve been told it’s boring.

Well …. YOU are boring. 

Oats are so boring you can actually make it very interesting. 

Growing up, mum used to dump an egg, milk and honey in my oats, cook it to a custardy yumminess and serve it to a delighted me. Don’t go eeww … custard IS made with eggs.

Just last week, a visiting good friend was talking about overnight oats. That triggered a childhood craving for oats …. but with a new and modern, healthy twist … no cooking and raw.

You know, it saves a ton of time in the morning. Just prepare it the night before and it’ll be nice and ready when you’re rushing for time the next morning. 

It’s yummy and keeps you energised til lunch …. sometimes I still don’t feel hungry at lunchtime and just have a light snack. How good is that? And that’s even after a tough 2-hour tennis game. Of coz that also depends on how much of the oats you consume.

This is my portion …

(I use a 200 ml jam jar)

3 - 4 heaped tbs rolled oats

1 tsp chia seeds (this makes it gooey. I love gooey oats …. oats are meant to be gooey. You can omit this if you don’t want it gooey. It’ll be a little coarser. I’m not a horse. I don’t like coarse and gritty down my throat)

1 tsp honey

1 good pinch of cinnamon

milk (filled to about 3 quarters of the jar)

Stir everything together and then add the fruits. You can also add the fruits just before eating.

diced peaches

blueberries

Put the lid on and leave in the refrigerator overnight. 

Yeah … overnight …. why do you think it’s called OVERNIGHT oats?

Tons of options:

Almond / soy milk

Yogurt (dilute a little)

Nuts

Other spices

Chocolate chips / syrup

Cocoa powder

Coffee

Raisins

Bananas

Your fav fruit

Whatevers ……

DO NOT be boring

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.

Lemon Polenta Cake with Pine Nuts

Found me some gorgeous lemons!

Not aesthetically beautiful …..  but fragrant, lemony, sunshiny, wakey wakey kind of gorgeous!

You must understand my euphoria. The lemons we get here are usually pretty boring …. small, round little things that don’t have that lovely fresh tingly lemony fragrance. Honestly, if I’d never had the chance to taste and smell a better one, I wouldn’t have raved about this lot. 

Naturally the smaller, boring ones are cheaper but eh? what’s the point of getting lemons that don’t smell like lemons? You get that tart taste … we have local limes that are better substitutes. 

And so I bought a bagful… uh … make that 2 bagfuls. 

Forget about making stuff with them, I’m happy just scratching at the skin and sniffing at them. Ooohhh heavenly!

After much scratching and sniffing (great way to disinfect and have super clean and nice smelling nails), I remembered a cake I’d had that made such a great impression on my tastebuds I promised myself I’d make one if I ever got my hands on really good lemons. 

This was it. 

And I’m happy that it’s relatively easy to make. 

This has no flour in it, for the gluten intolerant. But unfortunately, there’s nuts, for folks who are allergic to them. And a ton of butter, for the fat intolerant. Indulge, for the ones who can’t say no to desserts.

Polenta / maize meal / corn meal gives it a grainy, rubble-like texture which works well with the lemon syrup drizzle as it doesn’t go all limp and soggy.

Should you attempt this, go for the good lemons. It’s worth it. Indulge.

(adapted from Nigella’s)

INGREDIENTS

CAKE

200 g butter, softened

200 g caster sugar

200 g ground almonds

100 g fine polenta 

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3 eggs

zest of 2 lemons (save juice for syrup)

pine nuts

SYRUP

juice of 2 lemons

125 g icing sugar

METHOD

(Nigella uses a 9” springform pan, Base lined, sides greased and baked for 40 mins).

I used mini loaf pans 2” x 4”, bases lined and sides greased. Use a long strip to line the base so that you have a little overhang … to lift out your cake when it’s cooled.

Preheat oven to 180ºC.

Beat butter and sugar til fluffy and pale.

In a separate bowl, mix together the ground almonds, polenta and baking powder, and beat some of this into the whipped butter, followed by 1 egg, then alternate dry ingredients and eggs, beating all the while.

Beat in the lemon zest and spoon into pans. Sprinkle with pine nuts.

Bake for about 20 - 25 mins or until the tops are golden.

Remove from oven but leave in pan to cool.

Meanwhile, make the syrup by boiling together the lemon juice and icing sugar. Once the icing sugar has dissolved, you’re done.

Prick the top of the cake all over with a cake tester and drizzle the warm syrup over. 

(I drizzled about 2 tsps per little loaf. You can always use more but I didn’t want it to be too soggy or drizzle on just before serving).

Leave to cool before removing from pans.

(Use a spatula to loosen the sides a little when removing from pans)

Serve with extra drizzle, lemon curd and/or an extra sprinkling of toasted pine nuts. 

Indulge.

Guest Post : Three Cookies

That's the name of my guest, Three Cookies, not a recipe for 3 measly cookies.
This guest post came at the most appropriate time, never mind that it took Mr T (yes, that's right, that's Mister T to you) 20 months to come up with it. The fact that he actually remembered and made the effort .... I'm happy.

Some of you already know what a crappy few months it's been for me and on top of everything crappy, the car crash I was involved in last Saturday, depriving me of my favorite form of exercise, tennis. And when I'm faced with boredom and lack of exercise, I cook or bake. But, whiplash and a sprained shoulder doesn't make that much fun either. So, yeah, thank you Mr T, your timing is spot-on!

I'M PISSED!!!! So angry with the blinking idiot who drove into my face with no braking space and caused me to t-bone him ... and in the middle of a thunderstorm even! I'm grateful to be writing this here, griping and ranting about it (no episodes of my life flashing before my eyes) but the inconvenience of having no car to go anywhere or do anything. And our public transport is crap! Blinking Imbecilic Idiot!! (Sorry, I'm pissed, remember?) How I wish I had been driving a hummer. That would have been a, "Whoops, what's that? Oh, it's just a bump in the road, drive on."

Right, sorry, Mr T, thank you for allowing me rant.
I'm gonna calm down now and enjoy this. 
Now, as I was saying (before I went on a t-bone tangent) ...

Mr T (first name: "Three", Last name: "Cookies") has 2 very interesting blogs. (How one keeps track and have enough posts for 2 blogs, I know not. I'm already struggling with one). He's been AWOL for awhile now. What he's been up to is for him to know and us to find out. But he's back now and raring to get going again. 
"Three Cookies" is one very unusual blog with 3-part posts of updates on what's cooking/baking, what's the favorite pic of the day and what's the latest in the food world, good/bad.
"Easily Good Eats" is all about his tried and tested recipes ... all easy and good.
Go on over and you'll know what I'm talking about.


And here's Mr T himself.


“Whoo! My first time doing a guest post!” (quote from Pings Pickings) 

Opportunity knocks at every mans (and womans?) door. So when this guest post opportunity came knocking on my door I knew I had to grab it with both hands. Doing a guest post is an honor and great fun, though there is a constant worry. High standards need to be maintained, that’s not easy, and doing a post for Ping means the recipe, writing style and photography has to be top notch. I probably fell short in all areas but Ping kindly compromised her standards and accepted my efforts. Thank you! 

This recipe took me 20 months to make, but its not a slow cook recipe. Sometimes when you see an interesting recipe it gets stuck in your head and if you don’t make it soon it gets on your ‘to make’ recipes list. Over time the list gets bigger, recipes get ignored, forgotten or made after a long time. I first saw the recipe on Eats Well with Others site about 20 months ago and I knew I had to make it.  I never realized it would take 20 months though.

20 months later when I got around to attempting the recipe there was no jam at home. Instead there was mango chutney. According to the laws of ingredient substitution, chutney should work instead of jam. Chutney is effectively jam with spices, and spices and peanuts do go well together. 

The spiciness, saltiness and sweetness, combined with the crunchiness and biscuity (cookiey!) texture was like fireworks in the mouth. 

The bar was excellent but I have one small reservation. I love peanut butter and jam (or jelly!) combination. If I was in the mood of eating peanut butter and jam I would prefer it on toast rather than in bar form. The toast version is unadulterated, you get mainly the peanut butter and jam flavor. In the bar it gets mixed up with flour, sugar, butter and egg, the peanut butter and jam play more of a supporting role. Just a personal preference, don’t let this discourage you. The peanut butter mango chutney bar is still very delicious and if it was offered to me I would grab it without second thoughts.

The recipe is adopted from epicurious. The main changes I made was replacing chutney with jelly and halving the amount. Halving was necessary because mango chutney has a stronger flavor compared with jelly, it can be overpowering.


PEANUT BUTTER CHUTNEY BAR

INGREDIENTS

1½ cups flour
½ teaspoon baking powder 
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup smooth peanut butter (I used coconut peanut butter)
¾ cup sugar 
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature (I used coconut oil)
1 large egg (I used chicken egg)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/8 cup (about 90 ml) mango chutney (original recipe suggests ¾ cup of jelly)
2/3 cup coarsely chopped salted roasted peanuts


DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 350°F/175°C. Line 8 x 8 x 2 inch baking pan with aluminum foil. Coat foil with nonstick spray. 
2. Mix flour, baking powder and salt
3. In a separate bowl beat peanut butter, sugar, and butter with an electric mixer until smooth. Add egg and vanilla, beat on low speed until smooth. 
4. Add flour mixture to the egg mixture and beat on low speed just to blend
5. Transfer half of the dough to the baking pan. Place remaining dough in the freezer for 10 minutes. 
6. Spread the dough evenly on the baking pan. Spread chutney over the dough. 
7. Remove the dough from the freezer. Break into grape-size pieces and scatter over chutney layer. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts. 
8. Bake bars until golden brown and delicious, about 30 – 35 minutes. Cool completely before cutting. 

Thank you again Mr T for this wonderful usage of the mango chutney other than my using it as a condiment or an accompaniment for the scallops. 

Easy 2 Potato Salad

On a less dramatic note ... (see previous post)


My diet have recently been kicked out the window BUT I'm totally ok with it. Was off for a weekend of food and relaxation .... mainly food. That episode might get turned into a "Just for Reads" post soon.
But for now ....


It looks like I have a "Quickie" series going here.


Quick doesn't have to be boring, even if it's just using the fewest ingredients.
In fact, some of my quickie meals turn out to be quite the favorite at home, with friends and even on Foodbuzz  (now known as DailyBuzz), to the point of getting Top 9!
I am so thrilled and encouraged by it, knowing that I don't have to slog over a hot stove for hours, have fancy gadgets or have a fancy camera with fancy lighting to turn out a dish that looks and tastes good. Fancy that!


We had a pretty heavy and late lunch today and just didn't feel up to another heavy meal for dinner. But we still needed to eat something otherwise it's gonna be a rather unhealthy midnight, raid-the-fridge type moment.


I wouldn't call this a proper meal. It makes a great side dish. We just love potatoes around here. And I had a bunch of sweet potatoes and chats lying around. Also, I'd had this salad at one of our regular hangouts and I thought it was such a lovely salad to have even on its own. So, I'm doing a copycat here. Shhh ... I'm trying to save my arm and my leg, if you know what I mean.




INGREDIENTS


Sweet potatoes / yams, peeled and cut into chunks
Chat potatoes or any waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
a little oil (I used grapeseed)
a good amount of finely chopped parsley (I used the curly leafed ones)
toasted pine nuts
salt to taste




METHOD


Preheat oven to 200C.
Toss the potato chunks evenly to coat with the oil. (Just a light coat will do, definitely not dripping).
Place potatoes on a parchment lined baking tray and roast for about 30 - 40 mins, depending  on the size of your chunks. (When it's nice and lightly browned, it's done, or just poke a fork through a piece to check).
Remove from tray and toss with salt, chopped parsley and toasted pine nuts.


So simple. So tasty. So satisfying!
And to think they charged me both my limbs for that at the eaterie. Huh. 

Food for the Gods

The last time I had this must have been close to 20 years ago. I wasn't into baking then and kept buying it from this shop until I'd finally moved away and forgot all about it. Yes, there were the occasional cravings, but when you can't get it, and can't bake it .... go get distracted and do something else :D

Then I recently chanced upon Pinay Cooking Corner's blog and recipe for this and BWwwiiinggg!! all those years of cravings came rushing back at me (like when my cat ambushes me when he's playing at "attack the human/two-legged-mouse") and hit me like a ton of ... er, cat.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is a lovely recipe and exactly as how I imagined it had tasted all those years ago. It was a while before I could get started on this since dates were seasonal and fortunately for me, mum inlaw found some at the rear of her fridge space ...... a packet of semi-hard pebbly dates, bought and stored and forgotten from last year's Eid season. I wasn't too impressed with them at first, but she insisted they were fine and will be as good as new once I steamed them for 10 minutes. And what do you know!? She was right! Never knock the experience and wisdom of Seniors .... and the hoardings.

I haven't been able to find out why they've named it such (Food for the Gods), probably because it's ultra rich and ultra sweet, which is why I'll need to reduce the sugar for the next batch.

And for those who turn up their noses at dates, (I'm guilty of that, believe it or not) you really have to try this. I believe this is the only thing with dates that I'd eat. Oh wait, I do eat dates but only when they're fresh and yellow or pink and still on their stalks but not when they've over-ripened and turned a dark brown hue and the sugars have gone all winey and overly sweet. That's when this cake comes in ... Yummers!

INGREDIENTS

1 1/4 cups sifted all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

8 oz butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar (reduce if you want it less sweet)

3 eggs

1 tbs molasses

1 tbs honey

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup chopped pecans (I omitted this and used 1 cup walnuts instead)

1 cup pitted dates, chopped coarsely

METHOD

Preheat oven to 170˚C. Lightly grease or line a 9" X 13" pan.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Take 1/4 a cup from this and dredge the dates.

Cream butter and sugar.

Add vanilla and the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add molasses and honey and beat until evenly combined.

Stir in flour mixture.

Fold in dates and nuts.

Pour into prepared pan and bake 20 mins or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Serve as is or wrap individually with colored cellophane (that's how it's traditionally presented).

* Not for the diet conscious. :D