Fresh Strawberry Crepe

I love crepe but I've never made them before. I would usually get a dessert crepe or a savory one if I see it on the menu. With a pint of fresh strawberry in the fridge, I decided to look up a crepe recipe online and make some for breakfast. I went with a basic crepe recipe I found on all recipes.com and added some strawberry jam, fresh strawberries and kept it simple. 

The crepe recipe was very easy and turn out pretty good. I had a little hard time trying to mix the batter, so maybe next time I'll blend all the ingredients in a blender. I used a crepe pan I had gotten as a X'mas present and it gave me perfectly cooked crepes. The combination of strawberry jam and fresh strawberries were just perfect; light, simple and not overly sweet. Here's the recipe for Fresh Stawberry Crepe, with the basic crepe recipe adapted from all recipes.com

FRESH STRAWBERRY CREPE RECIPE
*Makes 6-8 crepes

Ingredients

• 1 Cup All Purpose Flour
• 2 Large Eggs, Lightly Beaten
• 1/2 Cup Milk
• 1/2 Cup Water
• 1/4 Tsp Salt
• 2 Tbsp Melted Butter
• Oil for cooking crepe
• 2 Tsp Sugar
• 10-12 Fresh Strawberries, Quartered 
• Strawberry Jam

Method
In a large mixing bowl, which together the loud and the eggs. Gradually add in the milk and water, stirring to combine. Add the salt and butter and beat until smooth. Sieve the mixture to remove lumps and set aside.

In another bowl, add sugar to the strawberries and let the berries macerate. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour about 1/4 - 1/3 cup of batter for each crepe. Tilt the pan in a circular motion so that the batter coasts the surface evenly.

Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes, until the bottle is light brown. Loosen with a spatula. Turn and cook the other side for a couple seconds.

Spread a thin layer of strawberry jam onto the crepes, and fold them into quarters. Arrange them onto the plates and top with the fresh strawberries. Enjoy immediately!

Simply June 

Baked Eggs & Roti Canai = Pretty Awesome Combination!

I was in the mood for baked eggs a couple days ago after I saw a recipe from a cookbook I bought from Williams Sonoma. I made a couple changes to the recipe including adding more eggs coz I used a pretty huge ramekin. Those extra eggs was probably one of the mistake of the day, as it took longer to bake. I got impatient (mistake number 2) and hungry (since Hubby's simple 3 eggs sunny side up was already done), and decided to pull the eggs out of the oven. The eggs were quite uncooked overall, so I decided to stick them in the microwave (mistake number 3). I forgot how long I stuck it in for (probably a couple seconds), but it was a couple second too long for the fragile eggs. My baked eggs were very over done. I was anticipating luscious runny yolks, and was left staring at overly done yolks and a extremely messy looking ramekin. The baked eggs were still good..... but it was not what I had anticipated good. I ate it all up anyway as I liked the different elements I pulled together.

With this runny yolk craving that I've been having, I decided to make bake eggs again. Learning from the mistakes I made a few days ago, I scaled down a little by using 2 eggs instead of one, waited patiently and let the oven work it's magic. This time, I got delicious runny eggs and absolute satisfaction. The baked eggs was delicious! As I don't have bread at home, I decided to reheat a frozen roti canai/roti prata and dip my "roti" into the runny yolk, catching pieces of spinach and sausages in between dips. Mmmm..... this combination is pretty awesome!!! I paired my lunch with a Vietnamese Ice Coffee and for a couple seconds, it felt like I was transported to somewhere exotic and not my living room. You could certainly pair with with some toast, baguettes or whatever bread you have!

Here's the recipe for baked eggs, adapted from Georgeann Brennan's Brunch cookbook with my changes.

FRENCH BAKED EGGS WITH SPINACH AND SAUSAGE RECIPE
*Serves 2

Ingredients

• 4 Large Eggs
• 1 Fresh Bratwurst (or fresh sausage of choice), casing removed
• 2 Cups Fresh (Young) Spinach Leaves, Packed
• 2 Tsp Heavy Cream
• 1 Tsp Oil
• 1-1/2 Tsp Butter
• Ground Black Pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 2 (4 oz) ramekins with butter. Prepare a ice bath; bowl of cold water with ice. Boil a pot of water and once the water starts to boil, add spinach leaves. Blanch the leaves for about 1 minute and quickly remove and place into the ice bath for about 1 minute. Remove blanched spinach leaves from ice bath, squeeze the spinach firmly to remove water. Coarsely chop the spinach and divide the chop spinach into the 2 ramekins. Spread the chop spinach evenly. 

Heat 1 Tsp of oil in the frying pan over medium heat. Add the fresh bratwurst and cook it while breaking it into pieces. Continue to cook the bratwurst until they are slightly brown. Remove cooked bratwurst and evenly divide them into the ramekins over the chopped spinach. 

Break 2 eggs into each ramekin and drizzle with 1 tsp of heavy cream each. Place ramekins onto a baking sheet and bake the eggs for about 15-17 minutes or until the egg whites are firm and the egg yolks are still runny. Remove the ramekins from the oven, crack some black pepper onto the eggs and serve immediately with your favorite toast.

Enjoy!

Simply June 

Salmon & Spinach Quiche

Quiche for my French themed dinner! It was easier than expected especially when I use store bought crust. Here’s an easy recipe for either breakfast, lunch or dinner (like what I did!)! I did not fuss with the crust for my version of quiche and just used a store bought pie crust for it. I thought it turned out pretty well. The quiche although has cream and eggs was kinda light.

SALMON & SPINACH QUICHE RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 1 Pillsbury Pie Crust, Defrosted
• 6-7 Oz Smoked Salmon, Chopped
• 1 – 10 oz Packaged Frozen Spinach, Defrosted and Drained
• 3/4 Cup Cream
• 4 Large Eggs
• 1/2 Medium Onion, Chopped
• 2 Cloves Garlic
• 1 Tbsp Butter
• Salt & Pepper

Method:

Preheat oven to 350F. Melt butter in a pan, add garlic and onion. Sauté until garlic is lightly brown and set aside. In a medium bowl, beat eggs and cream. Add chopped smoked salmon, spinach (with all juice squeezed out), onion mixture. Season with salt and pepper and set aside. Line a 9 inch tart pan with the pie crust, trimming excess crust. Lightly pierce the crust with a fork, then pour in egg mixture.

Bake quiche for 30-40 minutes or until the center is set. Serve either warm or even at room temperature! Enjoy!

Psst…Mom..you gotta try this recipe! =)

Excuse My French…….

My French themed (inspired might be more accurate) dinner…that is! It had been quite a whiel since I last had my usual suspects over for a home cooked meal. After Chris’ Italian themed dinner 1-2 weeks ago, I knew it had to be our turn to have people over. The main reason is to motivate us to clean up the house; big time! The second reason; for some good old company. The third; I really miss spending time in the kitchen after being in the workforce again!

I wasn’t in the mood to cook something random and French seem like a cuisine that would impose some kind of challenge to me! Plus, I really want to make some quiche. I actually did not finalize the menu until about 4 Horus before I started making dinner.  Usually I have the menu pretty much nailed down the day before. It was hard this time when it was a specific theme and I wanted something that does not cost an arm and a leg. Here’s what I did beside trying to set the table as fine dining looking as possible with my limited dinnerware set.

1) Cheese Platter with brie; a soft cow’s milk French cheese, whipped cream cheese with garlic and herbs, rosemary cracker, French baguette and grapes. That was like an appetizer as we drank some nicely chilled Sauvignon Blanc.

2) Lobster Bisque (Bottom Left) – Made a huge pot of creamy lobster bisque; a popular New England Soup. Lobster was in season @ $4.99 per lb. We can afford some! =) Bisque is a smooth creamy French soup with a crustacean broth as a base. The husband thought the soup could be thicker. My other guests liked  as it wasn’t too starchy and was light. I enjoyed it as well but agreed with the husband. Instead of using cognac like in many recipe, I used the cheapest wine Walmart has. $3 per bottle if you want to know how much I paid for it! =)

3) Creamy Seafood in Puff Pastry (Bottom Right) – Scallops, Tiger Prawns and Mussels were sautéed and cooked in a béchamel sauce with a splash of (Walmart) wine. Chopped chives were also stirred in before platting. I baked some puff pastry, made pockets and “stuffed” the creamy seafood into them. The result, a fine looking dish. Don’t you think? I thought it looked very fancy, and yet it wasn’t too hard to prepare. Best of all, my guests and my husband loved this!

4) Salmon & Spinach Quiche (Bottom Left) – I for some reason have been wanting to make this for quite a while. It was shut down my the husband and a friend when I offered to make quiche for dinner and both the boys wanted KFC!! I was finally able to make it for my French themed dinner. I did not mess with the crust and use pie crust instead and baked it in a tart pan. Smoked salmon and frozen spinach was the 2 key ingredients in this dish. I really liked this. It felt really healthy with all the spinach and we had plenty for lunch the next day! =)

5) Strawberry Clafouti (Bottom Right) – Clafouti is a baked French dessert with cherries and has a texture like flan. I had wanted to make a Chocolate soufflé, and realized that was a lot of work and chances of the soufflé failing was rather big! Strawberry clafouti has a last minute idea and I used a Julia Child’s recipe! The clafouti honestly looked kinda ugly when it came out of the oven. With the help of powdered sugar, fresh strawberry and mint leaves, I disguised the look and made it look fancy! =) The guests enjoyed this dessert and I was pleasantly surprised it tasted better than it looks. Next time, I will try it with other fruits instead. Maybe those will turn out better looking!

5) Ratatouille (Not pictured and no, not the movie!) – Chris made and brought this over along a bottle of yummy rosé. He layered tomatoes, eggplants, zucchini, bell pepper and cheese and baked it. Awesomely delicious! =)

That’s it for my French themed dinner. Did I mention we played French music and finished about 4 bottles of French (or French grape) wine? =) I can’t wait for the next themed dinner @ Seyda and Rob’s. The theme is English! This will be interesting! I can’t wait!! Any ideas what English food should I make?

Kuih Ketayap

I don’t know what “Kuih Ketayap” means. All I know is “Kuih” means cake or some times associated with cookies. For convenience sake, we could just call this Malaysian Crepe with coconut filling. This is another one of Malaysia’s variety to cakes/desserts and can be eaten at any time of the day. You can get this crepe (already assembled) from “kuih” vendors at any time of the day. And it’s a norm for one to eat “dessert” for breakfast. In fact, in Malaysia (and some other Asian countries) we eat even eat rice, noodles, etc for breakfast.

Anyway, back to the the green Malaysian crepe. The main difference in this crepe batter compared to the Western kind is perhaps the coconut milk (an essential in many Malaysian desserts) and the green coloring which is either the natural juice extracted from the pandan leaves or in my case artificial pandan paste which gives the batter a bright green hue (and a slight pandan flavoring).

The kuih is rather easy to make. The harder part is probably cooking the crepe and ensuring that it does not stick to the pan or tear. I use frozen grated coconut in this recipe and a combination of gula melaka (palm sugar) and brown sugar for the syrup part. I was running low on the gula melaka hence I decided to combined 2 different kinds of sugar. If you have plenty of gula melaka to spare, by all means feel free to use it. If you’re unable to find gula melaka, brown sugar is perfectly fine. Here’s the recipe.

KUIH KETAYAP RECIPE

Ingredients:

Part A (Coconut Filling):

• 3 Oz Gula Melaka
• 3 Oz Brown Sugar
• 2 Tbsp Water
• 6 Oz Frozen Grated Coconut, Thawed
• 2-3 Pandan Leaves
• 1 Tbsp Corn Flour + 2 Tbsp Water

Part B (Crepe):

• 2/3 Cup Flour
• 1-2/3 Cup Coconut Milk
• 1 Tsp Oil
• 2 Tsp Sugar
• Pinch of Salt
• 4 Tbsp Water
• 1 Large Egg, Beaten
• Pandan Paste
• Oil (For cooking crepe)

Method:

In a pot, heat gula melaka, brown sugar, water and pandan leaves over medium high heat. Once sugar has melted, stir in grated coconut. Let coconut cook for about 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly. Then, mix 1 tbsp of corn flour with 2 tbsp of water and stir that into the coconut mixture. Cook for another 5 minutes then remove coconut mixture from heat. Let it cool.

In a bowl, add flour, sugar, salt and make a well. Slowly pour in coconut milk, oil, egg and water into the “well” and whisk mixture until you get a smooth batter. Add green coloring according to your preference. Note that the color will turn slightly darker as the crepe cooks. Sieve mixture and set aside.

Lightly oil (with a brush perhaps) a 10” pan and pre-heat it over medium heat. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter onto pan and quickly swirl batter around pan to get a nice thin and even layer. Cook the crepe until edges are slightly brown. The center of the crepe should be cooked by then. Gently loosen the crepe from the pan, using a silicone spatula. Quickly and gently transfer or flip crepe onto a plate. Continue until you use up all batter.

To assemble the “kuih”, place about 2-3 tbsp of the coconut mixture on a piece of crepe. About 1”-1.5” away from the edges. Take the edge closest to you and cover over the coconut mixture. Tuck in the two sides, and continue rolling forward making as tight roll of a roll as possible but gently. The crepe is very fragile!

Serve this at room temperature for breakfast or afternoon tea! This makes about 9-10 pieces of Kuih.

Yao Char Kwai

My brother and Qi had been wanting me to attempt Yao Char Kwai (You Tiao in Mandarin) since Christmas. Or was it Thanksgiving? They have tried it before and did not have a successful result and wanted me to try making it. I’ve been delaying…delaying..delaying and finally decided to give it a try last week.

Yao Char Kwai /You Tiao/Chinese Cruller is basically fried dough commonly eaten during breakfast in the Chinese Community. There are several ways to eat this delightful fried dough; with soybean milk, with congee, with Malaysian black coffee, with Kaya (Coconut Egg Jam) or just plain. It’s all personal preference and sometimes differ from region to region.

In Malaysia, Yao Char Kwai is always freshly available from the street vendors. Here in the US, we can get frozen ones (which are not the greatest) and also fresh ones from Dim Sum places or some Asian grocery stores.

My Yao Char Kwai attempt was a success! The dough expanded, was crisp on the outside, holey, chewy and soft in the inside. I was quite nervous when I started mixing the dough together and trying to get the right dough texture. The next few hours of punching, folding, and resting the dough was antagonizing especially since it was my first time making it. I did not know what to expect and what would be the right texture. I was just keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best. After a few hours, the dough became softer and nicer to touch. I decided to let the dough rest overnight per the suggestion of the recipe. It worked out like a charm. The dough was soft, and it stretched when i pulled the dough before dropping it into the hot oil. And best of all it EXPANDED!! And I managed to get the Yao Char Kwai to be uniform in size.

Here’s the recipe from one of my favorite food blog; Lily’s Wai Sek Hong.

YAO CHAR KWAI RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 3 Cups Bread Flour
• 7 – 10 Oz Water
• 1 Tsp Ammonia Bicarbonate
• 1 Tsp Baking Soda
• 1 Tsp Alum
• 1-1/4 Tsp Salt

Method:

Mix the ammonia bicarbonate, baking soda, alum and salt with 7 ozs water until dissolve. Add in to the flour and using the end of a wooden spoon, stir in a circular motion until a dough is form – dough should be sticky, if not, add in more water – dough must stick to fingers.

Cover with cling wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, punch down the edge and all over dough with your knuckles for at least 8 punches, then take the dough from the side of bowl, lift it as high as it can go and fold in the middle - 4 folds will do . Let is rest for 15 – 20 minutes. Repeat the punching , folding and resting for 3 – 4 times more.

Next, oil your fingers and dough, lift it up and overturn it, oil the top so that it will not dry. Wrap tightly with cling wrap, and leave in the fridge for 1 hour. After 1 hour, remove from bowl, divide into 2 portions and fold in to make a long smooth elastic dough. Wrap it back with greased cling wrap. Then put in a Ziploc bag and leave in the fridge for 3 – 4 hours. Leaving in the fridge, well wrapped, overnight is better – the dough is easier to handle and the result is lighter.

Heat a large wok with oil half full. After 3 – 4 hrs or overnight, lightly flour the pastry board. Spread dough into a flat long 2 inch wide and 1/4 inch thick. Use a rolling pin to aid the spreading. Cut into ½ inch strips. Check oil temperature, it must be more than 350 F to begin frying.

Using a bamboo skewer, dip in water and dap very little in the middle of a strip of dough. Top with another strip and using a dry bamboo skewer or a chopstick, press down horizontally in the middle of the two strips to adhere. Pull and stretch (until it resist) the pressed strips until as long as possible, and put the stretched strip in the hot oil. When the dough floats to the top, use a pair of chopsticks and turn the dough. Keep on turning until it has finished expanding. Fry until slightly brown. Remove from oil and drain excess oil. Repeat with the rest of the strips until all are done.

June’s Comments: When you mix the Ammonia Bicarbonate, Alum and Baking Soda with water, be sure not to sniff the mixture…you don’t want the strong intrusive smell of Ammonia up your nostril!

I only made half the portion and ended up with over 20 pcs of 3” Yao Char Kwai. I wasn’t sure how much the dough will expand, hence I decided to make mini ones. I did not use a whole load of oil to fry the dough. I filled up my frying pan with slightly less than 1 inch of oil and was still able to fry the Yao Chat Kwai without any trouble. I rest the freshly fried Yao Char Kwai on a cake rack for the excess oil to drain. I like that the Yao Char Kwai was not as oily as the store bought ones!

It was a great Saturday morning breakfast for Hubby and I. We ate our Yao Char Kwai with some Malaysian Black Coffee and also some homemade Kaya. Yums!!!

Pulut Tekan

Qi, my brother’s gf said she misses the Malaysian Kuih eaten with Kaya, which now I found out is called Pulut Tekan. Kuih basically means cake in the Malay language can be both sweet and savory. Thanks to Lily’s blog, I was able to find the recipe there. It was a simple recipe especially since I already have the Kaya (Coconut Egg Jam) part made a few days earlier!

“Pulut” means Glutinous Rice in the Malay language while “Tekan” means press. So, this Malaysia kuih loosely translates to Pressed Glutinous Rice and is often served with Kaya. The kuih has a blue white marble effect where by the blue coloring is actually natural. The natural blue coloring comes from a flower call Clitoria (Bunga Telang) but since I can’t get hold of it, I ended up using blue food coloring!

So, here’s Lily’s recipe. Her original one be found HERE.

PULUT TEKAN RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 500 gm Glutinous Rice
• 350 Ml Coconut Milk
• 1 Tbsp Sugar
• 1 Tsp Salt
• 2-3 Pandan Leaves, Knotted (Optional)
• 1/2 Tsp Dried Bunga Telang -(Reconstitute with 1/4 cup of boiling water) **
• 1 Large Piece of Banana Leaf

**Blue food coloring works fine too.

Method:

Wash and soak glutinous rice for 4 hours. Drain rice. Mix first 4 ingredients together and place them along with the Pandan leaves into a steaming tray and steam on high heat until rice is cooked. This should take about 45 minutes. Discard Pandan leaves. Remove 1/3 of the cooked glutinous rice into a mixing bowl, add a little of the bunga telang extract and mix well to obtain a blue glutinous rice.

Add in the remaining 2/3 cooked glutinous rice and mix lightly to obtain a marble effect.Using a piece of banana leave, press glutinous rice into a 7 inch square cake pan which has been lined with banana leaves. Cut a piece of 7 inch square thick cardboard and cover it with heavy duty aluminum foil. Use this as a lid and press it down on top of the pressed glutinous rice. Use something heavy (i use a 6 inch saucepan filled with water) on top to weigh down cake until cool and firm.

Serve the glutinous rice with some homemade Kaya; recipe HERE.

June’s Comments: Since I was not able to get my hands on the naturally blue color flower, I used some Wilton Blue coloring to get the blue hue. Slowly add the artificial coloring especially when you use the paste kind. A little goes a long way since the colors are more intense. If you prefer not to use artificial food coloring, you could just leave the cooked rice to be naturally off white or use other natural food coloring as substitute. Blue is just more original/traditional.

I pressed my rice into a 7 inch round removable bottom pan. It was definitely easier to remove the cooked glutinous rice after. I used my hands and a bottom of the glass to press the rice down and get a smooth top layer. The texture came out just fine!

Kaya (Coconut Egg Jam)

Kaya (Coconut Egg Jam) is almost a staple condiment in Malaysian breakfast or cakes/snacks. Kaya to Malaysians is like jam to the westerners. We spread Kaya on toasts, waffles and local cakes. You could also find Roti Canai /Roti Pratha with Kaya filling. It’s simply delicious!

Kaya/Coconut Egg Jam is made from 3 key ingredients; coconut milk, sugar and eggs! Pandan leaves are used most of the time to enhance the flavors. It is tedious to cook this jam, but it’s surely worth the work and the anticipation! Plus, you get a little work out using those arms to stir the jam till it’s cooked and thicken to the right consistency! The cooking of Kaya is like cooking custard since you’re actually slow cooking eggs until they are cooked and have thicken.

There are many versions and recipes to make Kaya. Some uses more eggs, some more sugar, some different sugar and some different cooking method. Some Kaya has a thicker or thinner consistency, some smoother or coarser consistency, some darker or lighter in color, and some colored naturally or artificially.The result of the Kaya is most likely the same = DELICIOUS!!

Here’s how I made mine…..

KAYA (COCONUT EGG JAM RECIPE)

Ingredients:

• 6 Large Eggs
• 1 Lb Granulated Sugar
• 1 Can Coconut Milk (about 13.5 Fl Oz)
• 4-5 Pandan Leaves, Knotted
• 1-2 Drop Pandan Paste (*Optional)

Method:

Whisk (hand whisk) eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl until sugar has dissolved. Once sugar has dissolved, add coconut milk. Then, pour coconut milk and egg mixture through a sieve into a mixing bowl. I use a Pyrex glass mixing bowl. Make sure the bowl will sit nicely on top of a pot which would be used to boil water and cook the mixture.

Bring a pot of water to boil and reduce to about medium heat. Place the mixing bowl with the coconut egg mixture on top and place knotted pandan leaves into the mixture. Slowly cook mixture and stirring constantly until mixture thickens. Mixture will start to thicken after 30-40 minutes. If you like to add pandan paste to the kaya, you can do so at this point. Continue stirring and cooking mixture for another hour until it reaches a thicker consistency.

Remove the bowl from the pot and let cool. The kaya will thicken a little more as it continues to cool down. Store kaya in a clean container and refrigerate it. This recipe will give you about 2.5-3 cups of yummy in your tummy home made kaya.

Serve Kaya with toasts, waffles, pancakes and also Pulut Tekan (recipe to follow); a Malaysian kuih.

June’s Comments: If you have a double boiler…USE IT! That’s the perfect pot to cook Kaya. I did not have a double boiler hence I resorted to a make shift double boiler; pot and (a glass) bowl. You could also cook the Kaya directly in a pot on a stove. However, you will need very low heat to cook the Kaya and stir ever so constantly or risk having a lumpy or burnt Kaya. That’s why, I highly recommend you cooking the Kaya over a pot of boiling water!

I did not stand in front of my stove the whole time to stir the kaya. I did walk away for 5 minutes or so, returning to stir it for another few minutes, etc. The Kaya still turned out well! Don’t multitask until you forget to stir the kaya though!!

Cinnamon Rolls

After having some yummy Cinnamon Rolls at Strouds during my Kansas City trip, I was yearning to have some here at home! Hubby’s cousin said that their complimentary cinnamon rolls (on top of their award winning pan fried chicken) were to-die-for. Indeed it was!!

So of I go Googling for recipes for an easy Cinnamon Roll recipe. Bread and such is something I stay away from baking coz my last few encounter with yeast wasn’t that successful! Yeast is like my kryptonite, I fear it! I fear the result it will give my baked goods! And usually, my baked goods turned out not as soft as it’s supposed to be. Hence, I tend to stay away from yeast whenever I can!! I stick to recipes using baking powder and baking soda instead!

I found the recipe on Food Network; one of my favorite online source for recipes. The Cinnamon Roll recipe is by Paula Deen and have a 5/5 star review from an average of 200 reviewers.

Even though my cinnamon rolls weren’t super soft, it was still delicious. The rolls did not poof up like it’s supposed to per the instructions. Don’t get me wrong, it still poofed, just not quite double its size during the first and second round of letting the dough rest and rise. I blame it on me and my surroundings perhaps. I’m pretty sure I use the right yeast (and still active one) this time. So, the first fault maybe due to the warm water added to the yeast. It maybe the warm water was not warm enough or too warm. Secondly, it was a rather cold day. Hence, cold kitchen = cold baking condition? Therefore the colder temperature maybe have resulted in the slower proofing/rising of the dough. If I have waited more than the suggested time, perhaps the dough would have risen more! =)

I’m sharing the recipe here since the recipe did after all receive pretty good reviews. And there’s a super high chance of user error that my cinnamon rolls weren’t super soft and fluffy. Well, at the very least, it wasn’t hard as rock!! 

CINNAMON ROLLS RECIPE

Ingredients:

Part A (Dough):

• 1/4 Oz Package Yeast
• 1/2 Cup Warm Water
• 1/2 Cup Scalded Milk
• 1/4 Cup Sugar
• 1/3 Cup Butter, Melted
• 1 Tsp Salt
• 1 Large Egg
• 3-1/2 to 4 Cups All-Purpose Flour

Part B (Filling):

• 1/2 Cup Butter, plus more for pan
• 3/4 Cup Sugar, plus more for pan
• 2 Tbsp Ground Cinnamon
• 3/4 Cup Raisins, Walnuts, or Pecans, (*Optional)

Part C (Glaze):

• 4 Tbsp Butter
• 2 Cups Powdered Sugar
• 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
• 3 - 6 Tbsp Hot Water

Method:

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside. In a large bowl mix milk, sugar, melted butter, salt and egg. Add 2 cups of flour and mix until smooth. Add yeast mixture. Mix in remaining flour until dough is easy to handle. Knead dough on lightly floured surface for 5 to 10 minutes. Place in well-greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size, usually 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

When doubled in size, punch down dough. Roll out on a floured surface into a 15 by 9-inch rectangle. Spread melted butter all over dough. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over buttered dough. Sprinkle with walnuts, pecans, or raisins if desired. Beginning at the 15-inch side, role up dough and pinch edge together to seal. Cut into 12 to 15 slices. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Coat the bottom of baking pan with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Place cinnamon roll slices close together in the pan and let rise until dough is doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake for about 30 minutes or until nicely browned.

Meanwhile, mix butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Add hot water 1 tablespoon at a time until the glaze reaches desired consistency. Spread over slightly cooled rolls.

June’s Comments : As much as I love cinnamon rolls, I’m not a big fan of the sugary white sticky glaze. Therefore, I skipped the whole glazing thing. The rolls was ok soft….but yummy. It was harder the next day, but it wasn’t something a few minutes in the microwave can’t do to soften it!!!

Banana Bread

Seyda invited us over for dinner over the weekend and she whipped out a fantastic meal for 5. Dinner started with appetizers, soup, entree, salad and also dessert! We took a shot of Limoncello each right before dinner and had bottles of wine to accompany our meal. Upside down banana cake/bread was for dessert. It was so yummy, I was craving for it later that night…….. And so, I decided to make some banana bread since I have some ripe bananas laying around.

My brother and his gf, Qi asked me…Banana Cake or Bread? I did not know why except that it’s more commonly called Banana Bread than Banana Cake. Perhaps it’s because the texture is more dense than a cake? And maybe coz it’s usually baked in a loaf pan? Do you know why?

This banana bread recipe is adapted from the Food Network and is by M.S. Milliken & S. Feniger. Their original recipe can be found HERE. Reviews for this recipe overall were pretty good so I decided to try out the recipe with a slight personal touch; I added vanilla extract just because I love the vanilla flavor and also nuts to the recipe. Despite my fear that the cinnamon might be over-powering, it wasn’t that strong. The cake was dense, moist and yummy! =)

 

BANANA BREAD RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
• 4 Oz Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
• 2 Large Eggs
• 3 Ripe Bananas
• 1 Tbsp Milk
• 1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1 Tsp Baking Powder
• 1 Tsp Baking Soda
• 1 Tsp Salt
• 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract (*Optional)
• 1/3 Cup Chopped Walnuts/Pecans (*Optional)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Butter a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the banana mixture and vanilla extract to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears. Stir in chopped walnuts or pecans if desired.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from pan, invert onto rack and cool completely before slicing.

June’s Comments: Feel free to leave the vanilla extract and nuts out as they were not in the original recipe. I thought the nuts gave the bread a nice texture! =) You could probably add up to 1/2 Cup of nuts but I thought 1/3 is just right.

Peachy Peach Jam

With my last four peaches, I decided to reattempt making Peach Jam. This time, I made sure that I reduced the sugar and also added some lemon juice. The result….. I LOVE IT!!!! The texture came up more rustic looking and not as sticky or thick compared to my first attempt. It’s easier to spread and I thought the Peach flavor (and a burst or lemon) came thru more here. Most importantly, it’s not overly sweet! Just perfect for my preference!

 PEACHY PEACH JAM RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 Lb Peaches (About 4 medium peaches)
• 6 Oz Sugar
• 4 Tsp Lemon Juice

Method:

Bring water to a boil. Put peaches in the boiling water for about one minute. Take them out with a slotted spoon and place them in cold water. Peel and cut peaches  into 1” x 1/2” chunks. Discard peach pits. This gave me about 2 cups of peaches.  Put peaches into a large (wide-open) heavy bottom pot and add the sugar. Heat mixture over high heat for 15 minutes. Lower heat to medium and continue to boil mixture. Stir frequently as mixture is getting thicker and you want to avoid a burnt jam! Cook for another 20-25 minutes. Place and store jam in air tight container. This recipe yields you about 1 cup of jam and would probably keep for a week. Please note: If you’re making larger quantities, look into proper canning instructions to avoid your jam from going bad!

Stuffed French Toast

I love having French Toast for breakfast; heck I love French Toast so much….I wouldn’t mind having it for lunch or dinner! =) Usually I would just go for regular French Toast without any filling and all. This time, I decided to “stuff” it with some Strawberry Jam (I Love Smucker’s Low Sugar Strawberry Preserve). This sweet version of the stuffed French Toast turned out great. I’m now thinking to try out a savory version..maybe with some cream cheese and smoked salmon? =)

STUFFED FRENCH TOAST RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 4 Pcs (Thick Cut) Bread
• 1 Large Egg
• 1/2 Tsp Vanilla Essence
• 2 Tbsp Milk
• 1 Tbsp Granulated Sugar
• Dash Of Cinnamon (**Optional)
• Jam / Spread of Your Choice
• 1 Tbsp Butter
• Powdered Sugar (**Optional)

Method:

Spread your choice of Jam / Filling on on side of the bread. May I suggest strawberry jam or chocolate hazelnut spread; Nutella? Then sandwich 2 pieces of bread together; jam/spread side in.

In a shallow bowl, whisk together egg, milk, granulated sugar, vanilla and cinnamon until well combined. Heat pan /griddle and melt butter. Quickly dip both sides of a sandwich in the egg mixture (make sure all surfaces are coated, but be careful not to over coat /over soak it) and carefully transfer onto the pan. Cook until both sides are browned. Cut them into halves, diagonally and dust some powdered sugar before serving. Before you devour it, you could drizzle some maple syrup over the French Toast. I ate mine as is; the sweetness was perfect for me. =)

Simple, Yet Satisfying

After our Dog Park activity the past Sunday, hubby and I pondered what should we have for breakfast or brunch. We did not want Mickey D’s breakfast, nor diner food like Denny’s. We thought of having simple instant noodles, but we needed to shop for some…

We stopped by an Asian store on the way home to restock out noodles supply and found oven fresh breads (from a Chinatown Bakery) displayed near the entrance. That was just perfect! I picked out a few fresh warm bread and continued my grocery shopping.

At home, I whipped out my coffee maker, grinded some coffee beans and brewed a pot of coffee for hubby and I. In between sips of freshly brewed coffee, we bit into fresh warm breads with red bean and taro fillings…. Yums!! No need to go all the way to Chinatown to get them Chinese Breads/Buns! Yay!

I went to the grocery store yesterday, hoping to score some Chinese Buns for my trip today only to find out from the store keeper that they only bring in Chinese Buns on the weekends..=(

Roti Canai Hot Dog Rolls

The past Monday was a day of trying out recipes posted by 3 different fellow bloggers…. It started out with making Roti Canai Hot Dog and before I know it, came San Bei Ji (3 Cups Chicken) and Tomato & Egg Stir Fry. The recipe try outs were somewhat quite successful, even though for my San Bei Ji, I lacked 2 some what vital greens; scallions and fresh basil. =P

My friend, Charlene posted this delicious Roti Canai Hot Dog Roll on her blog and after reading her posting, I was left catching my drool! It looks so yummy, seems to easy to make and since I have the ingredients… I made some to snack on! Charlene’s posting (and blog) is definitely better than mine, as she included step by step pictures of making this yummy snack and other delicious creations. As for me, I just take pictures of the finish product…=P

In this recipe, frozen Roti Canai is used and this can be found at most Asian grocery stores. The roti canai when baked gives an almost similar texture to puff pastry, but in my opinion a little less flaky. Never the less this snack is still yummy, great for breakfast (if you have time to spare), perfect as appetizers (just cut it up into smaller pieces) or as a just-because-I-feel-like-snacking thing.

Charlene and I used “Chinatown” brand frozen roti canais. She used a spring onion flavored one, while I used a plain one. Refer to Charlene’s posting for more information, explanation and step by step pictures. =) 

MALAYSIAN (ROTI CANAI) HOT DOG ROLLS RECIPE

Ingredients:

• Frozen Roti Canai
• Hot Dogs, Thawed
• 1 Egg
• Sesame Seeds (**Optional)

Method:

Preheat oven @ 350 F. Leave frozen roti canais at room temperature to thaw until it’s a little flexible. This should take about 10-15 minutes. Do not thaw it for too long as the roti canai dough will be sticky and hard to work with. 

Slightly grease a baking pan or lined it with parchment paper and set it aside. Crack egg in a bowl and beat it with a fork or chopsticks. This will be the glaze for the rolls.

Once the roti has been thawed, lightly brush with egg mixture, place a hot dog at the edge of the roti canai and roll it tightly. One hot dog per roti canai. Repeat until you think you made enough. =)

Place assembled rolls, seam side down on baking dish leaving at least 1” space between each “dogs” to puff up! Make 3-4 slits on the top of each assembled hot dogs, then brush them with the egg wash glaze. Sprinkle top with some sesame seeds if you like for some extra texture. Place them in the oven to bake for about 45 minutes. Enjoy them while warm! =)

 

June’s Notes: I got impatient hungry as I was making these to snack on…so I up-ed the oven temperature to 375 F and baked the hot dogs for about 20 minutes. It wasn’t a smart move, as you can see my hot dogs had some what an ugly burst/split. I added sesame seeds on the top and I love the taste and texture of those toasted seeds.

Use any regular size hot dogs of choice for this recipe. If you are vegetarian, look out for those vegetarian (soy?) dogs!!

Churros..Churros…

I love Churros and it reminds me of donuts coz of the sugar dusting/coating on the outside, but better! This sugary fried dough originates from Spain and can be found here in the US. Here’s a little more info on Churros extracted from Wikipedia :
“Churros, sometimes referred to as a Spanish doughnut, are fried-dough pastry-based snacks, sometimes made from potato dough, that originated in Spain. They are also popular in Latin America, France, Portugal, the United States, and Spanish-speaking Caribbean islands. The snack gets its name from its shape, which resembles the horns of the Churro breed of sheep reared in the Spanish grasslands of Castilla.There are two types of churros in Spain. One is thin (and usually knotted) and the other, especially popular in Madrid, is long and thick (porra). They both are normally eaten for breakfast dipped in hot chocolate.
Churros are typically fried until they become crunchy, and then are sprinkled with sugar. The surface of a churro is ridged due to having been piped from a churrera, a syringe with a star-shaped nozzle. Churros are generally prisms in shape, and may be straight, curled or spirally twisted.
Like pretzels, churros are often sold by street sellers, who often will fry them freshly on the street stand and sell them hot. In Spain, Mexico and Argentina, they are available in cafes for breakfast, although they may be eaten throughout the day as a snack. Specialized churrerías can be found in the form of a shop or a trailer during the holiday period. In Colombia they can be found in the streets but they are thin and shaped like a ring.
The dough is prepared similarly to Choux paste; water, butter and flour are heated and stirred into a firm ball, and then eggs are beaten into the hot paste.”
The best Churros I had was at a market called Maxwell Street Market in Chicago. If my memory serves me well, this market operates only on Sundays from 7-8 am till about 3pm. This information might be incorrect coz it’s been years since I went to the market and I know they have shifted location or something. The churros are sold from a white van, freshly made with your choice of filling; strawberry or vanilla.  Hubby and I always go for strawberry filling and the churros were simply delectable. I’ve never had better Churros since, maybe coz it was made fresh…. My recent Churros purchase from Costco were quite a disappointment so I resort to attempt a batch of Churros on my own.
The verdict of the Churros I made…….was just okay…=(. It wasn’t as good as the one from Maxwell Street Market, but I thought it was better than the one I had in Costco recently. There’s a slight citrusy flavor to the Churros I made which made it taste a tad better than Costco’s.
Here’s the recipe for those of you who’s interested in making this sweet treats. This easy recipe is from Bon Appétit’s test kitchen taken from their May 2009 publication. Photo below is by Lisa Hubbard borrowed from Bob Appétit. 


CINNAMON-DUSTED MINI CHURROS
Ingredients:

• 2 Large Eggs
• 1 Large Egg Yolk
• 1 Cup plus 6 Tbsp Sugar
• 2-1/2 Tbsp Orange Juice
• 1 Tbsp Orange Zest, Finely Grated
• 1-1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
• 2-3/4 Tsp Ground Cinnamon, Divided
• 1-1/2 Cup Self Rising Flour
• Oil

Method:
Whisk eggs, egg yolk, 6 tablespoons sugar, orange juice, orange peel, vanilla, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in large bowl. Let stand 5 minutes, then stir in flour. Mix 1 cup sugar and 2 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon in medium bowl.
Pour enough oil into heavy large saucepan to reach depth of 1 inch. Attach deep-fry thermometer to side of pan and heat oil to 355°F to 360°F over medium-high heat. Spoon batter into pastry bag fitted with 3/8-inch (medium) star tip. Working in batches, pipe several 3- to 4-inch-long ribbons of batter into hot oil. Fry until golden brown, turning occasionally and adjusting heat to maintain temperature, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain.
Working in batches, add warm churros to bowl of cinnamon sugar and toss to coat.
June’s Notes: I did not have Orange zest, and used Lemon zest instead. It worked well. My churros were more like super mini Churros,, as they varied from 1-2 inches. And halfway through piping my Churros into the pan, my makeshift piping bag (Zip Lock bag) burst leaving my star tip point in the hot oil. =P. I continued squeezing the batter into the oil, minus the star pattern. My churros did not look as appetizing as the picture shown above….but it still taste yummy when eaten almost immediately. Should have made some hot chocolate to go with it! I might need to find another Churro’s recipe to try…..Somebody, please send me some Churros from Maxwell Street Market in Chicago….Strawberry Filling please!!
 

Hello March!

We welcomed March with a lazy day enjoying our Sunday at our own slow-mo pace!. I served His Majesty (my husband) and I breakfast in bed this morning! How lucky,eh! I made some French Toast, Scrambled Eggs, Kielbasa Sausages and Coffee and brought it up to the room for both of us. I love making French Toasts from thick cut bread, such as Texas Toast and will also cut my own Italian Bread or French Loaf (like today) to make this toast! After cramming up with breakfast, we just lazed on the bed being “bed potatoes?”, watching movies and basketball game….. We never really left the bedroom! LOL! Well, the weather was supposed to be frightful with a snow storm coming our way! So, it was SAFER to stay in! Haha The snow storm got “postponed” till later (NOW), and we might see up to 1 foot of snow by sunrise! Schools have announced closures due to the possible bad commute in the morning! We finally dragged ourselves out of the house for some Japanese dinner (food was mediocre), stopped by Borders to look at some books on dogs and accompanied His Majesty to the tennis courts! Got home, watched more movies / TV shows in the bedroom… That’s when His Majesty gave me the sympathetic “I’m Hungry” face..=P.. I made him supper in bed this time. Just a simple instant noodle with a poached egg! Twice in a day, he had the luxury of eating in the comfort of his bed!! Isn’t he LUCKY? Or should I say, “Am I nice or what?”. Husband dearest, will I be getting  a little blue box or a trip to Europe  kiss from you for treating you like a KING today? **wink**Haha!

From Pancakes To Dorayaki

          

It’s just an easy transition! The ingredients to make a Dorayaki cake are almost the same as one to make a pancake, except Dorayaki cake batter usually requires more sugar and eggs. So, you could actually switch the recipe a little by adding a little more sugar and adding another egg or two to make it a Dorayaki cake batter. Then sandwich the pancakes with some Anko (red bean paste)!

According to Wikipedia, “ Dorayaki is a type of Japanese confection which consists of two small pancake-like patties made from kasutera wrapped around a filling of sweet red bean paste.It originally only had one layer, and the current shape was invented in 1914 by the Ueno Usagiya.

In Japanese, dora means "gong", and this is probably the origin of the name of the sweet. Legend has it that the first Dorayaki were made when a samurai named Benkei forgot his gong (dora) upon leaving a farmer’s home where he was hiding and the farmer subsequently used the gong to fry the pancakes, thus the name Dorayaki.”

For my version of Dorayaki,I just added about 2 tablespoon of sugar to my Whole Wheat Pancake batter, a simple and quick switcheroo. Thus, making it a Whole Wheat Dorayaki? I poured the “improved” batter into 3 inch discs and cook them like how I would, a pancake! Then I sandwiched about 2 tbsp of store bought Anko (sweetened red bean paste) between 2 Dorayaki cakes! Voila – Whole Wheat Dorayaki! The recipe yielded me 6 Dorayakis! =)If you do not fancy or have a hard time finding sweetened red bean paste, you could make the Anko paste yourself or think outside the box and use different fillings. Peanut butter, Jam, Hazelnut Chocolate, Coconut Jam (Kaya)…so many possibilities to make it personal! It’s yummilicious and easy to eat on the go for either breakfast, snack or dessert! Make some up, wrap them individually and leave it in the fridge for your hungry household! Here are some of my Dorayakis, each wrapped with wax paper and bounded by a decorative paper band to make it look pretty! They will be breakfast food or snacks for husband and I the next few days!

Whole Wheat Pancake Recipe

I found a bag of whole wheat flour tucked away in my pantry and decided to make some semi-healthy pancakes for brunch. I found this Whole Wheat Pancake recipe from www.makehealthymeals.com, and decided to use it with one substitution! Buttermilk for milk, since I have some fat free buttermilk in my fridge! The pancakes came out light, moist, fluffy and had a slight nutty flavor to it. Here’s the recipe with my tiny substitution!

Some quick facts on whole wheat flour:

• High in fiber
• Good source of Vitamin B, Vitamin E, and Magnesium.
• Contain antioxidants not found in fruits or vegetables.
• Read more facts on the benefits of Whole Wheat HERE.

WHOLE WHEAT (BUTTERMILK) PANCAKE RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup fat free buttermilk (original recipe asks for milk)
• 2 tablespoons oil
• additional oil for frying

Method:

Oil a frying pan. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in one bowl. In another bowl, scramble the egg, then add the milk and the 2 tablespoons of oil. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together, well enough to eliminate dry spots but no more.

Heat the frying pan to medium temperature. Pour a pancake. The pancake will bubble. When the bubbling settles down and the edges are slightly dry, flip the pancake. When the pancake looks done, remove it and start another one.

You should get about 10-12 pieces of 3” pancakes! Serve pancakes with your favorite condiments; whipped butter, maple syrup, chocolate syrup or fruit sauce!

June’s Notes: I mixed all the ingredients in one bowl (to avoid having to wash another extra bowl!). Started with the dry ingredients then added all the wet ingredients and mixed it well. I left the pancake batter aside for 30-40 minutes before I started making them. The pancakes still turned out light and fluffy! I served my pancakes with some homemade Strawberry Sauce using a bag frozen strawberries and half a bottle of mix fruit preserve from a local farm! Ended up with lots of extra sauce for my next batch of pancakes or whatever I come up with next! Good luck!

One (Almost) Perfect Brunch!

I invited Seyda over for brunch with husband and I on Saturday and made a variety of food to serve. I would say it was ALMOST perfect….. unfortunately I did not have Champagne to make it a Champagne Brunch, that would just be oh-so-fabulous and “Ritzy”??!

Here’s my brunch spread, served with freshly brewed coffee and orange juice. I browned some store bought frozen Maple Turkey Links and Hash Brown Patties. I also made some Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes from scratch! And the highlight for brunch was Salmon Eggs Benedict, also made from scratch! Here’s a close up of my Whole Wheat Pancakes with homemade Strawberry Sauce! Seyda loved the taste of the wheat in this moist pancake! The recipe is a keeper and I will definitely share this recipe soon!And my Salmon Eggs Benedict, a refreshing twist from the regular Egg Benedict that usually contain bacon or ham! The recipe was from a Williams-Sonoma Brunch Cookbook! The method described to make the Hollandaise in the Williams-Sonoma book looked kinda of confusing, so I ended up using Tyler Florence’s recipe to make the sauce. Even with this simpler steps, my first batch of Hollandaise sauce was a failure…..the heat was too high, and I ended up “scrambling” the egg mixture. It took a combined effort between Seyda and I to perfect the Hollandaise sauce! Well, won’t you agree that if only I have a bottle of bubbly Champagne…the morning brunch would have been perfect……. to kick off the rest of my Saturday! Seyda and I are determined to repeat another brunch affair, this time we’ll be sure to have some bubbly ready to serve it as is, or to make some Mimosas or Bellinis!..Yum..