Favorite Friday Recipe: Mini tiered cakes

Super adorable and easy to make.  Just use your favorite cake and frosting!

Favorite Friday Recipe: Butter Cake

This is probably one of the most ambitious cakes I've ever attempted to bake (there was a whole separating egg whites and whipping them into peaks part).  It was delicious but I think next time I might just go with a Sara Lee frozen pound cake :)  Recipe here.

Favorite Friday Recipe: Tofu salad with peanut dressing

I'm been busy trying out recipes from My Kitchen Snippets, one of my new favorite food blogs.  This tofu salad is perfect on a hot summer day--lots of crisp veggies and the peanut sauce has a real kick to it if you add in the sambal chilli sauce.  I happened to come across it at our local asian food store and was so excited because it's such a familiar flavor--it's used in a lot of Singaporean dishes.

Tofu Salad with Peanut Sauce

Ingredients:

• 2 pcs of firm tofu
• 1 cup of jicama - julienned
• 1 cup of cucumber - julienned
• 1 cup of carrot - julienned
• 1 cup of beansprouts

Peanut sauce:

• 3 tbsp of crunchy peanut butter
• 2 tbsp of sambal Oelek (more or less--I suggest less--whew!)
• 1 clove of garlic - chopped
• 2 tbsp of lemon juice or vinegar
• 3/4 cup of water (more or less)
• 2 tbsp of sugar (more or less--always more in my case)

Directions:

• Lightly fry the tofu until heated through
• Wear your fingers to a nub trying to cut jicama, cucumber and carrots into little matchstick pieces
• In a small saucepan, heat the peanut sauce ingredients and allow to boil and thicken
• Assemble veggies, tofu and put as much sauce as you want on top, sprinkle with extra crushed peanuts for good measure
• Enjoy!

Favorite Friday Recipe: BBQ Pork Puffs (Char Siew) using Paratha bread

We had some left over BBQ pork from the local Chinese restaurant and I used it as filling for some pastry puffs.  Normally I would use puff pastry but read about using frozen paratha (a type of Indian flatbread) and it was so much easier and super delicious.  I can't wait to make cuffy puffs with this type of pastry now!

Favorite Friday Recipe: Peanut Pancake (Apam Balik)

This was one of my favorite treats growing up in Singapore.  It's basically a chewy pancake filled with crushed peanuts and sugar.  Fillings also include sweet red bean paste, coconut, or kaya jam.  I stumbled upon some great Singaporean/Malaysian food blogs lately and they have triggered my longing for foods from home.  I was so excited that this was relatively simple to make! 

Peanut Pancake (Apam Balik)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup All Purpose flour
• 1 tsp Baking powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 3 tbsp Sugar
• 1 Large egg
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 cup soy milk/milk
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract 
• Filling (which can be crushed peanuts mixed with sugar, jam, or Nutella in BK's case)

 Directions:

• Whisk dry ingredients and then add in egg, milk and vanilla
• Let the batter sit and bubble for a bit while you heat your nonstick pan up to medium
• Pour a thin layer of batter in the pan and let it cook/bubble
• Add your filling when batter is all the way cooked
• Flip into a semi-circle, cut and serve warm!

Favorite Friday Recipe: Mango and Sticky Rice

Finally found a relatively simple way to make sticky rice!  I used a cup of glutinous rice (soaked for a few hours) and then put it in my microwavable rice cooker with two cups of Silk coconut milk (lighter than the kind in a can) and a dash of salt.  Then I used canned coconut milk (heavier) and mixed it over low heat with some sugar.  The rice was a bit mushier than if I had steamed it using the traditional method but put enough coconut cream on it and you can barely tell :)  Cut up some mango on the side and you've got yourself a delicious dessert!

Favorite Friday Recipe: Peasant bread

This is a super easy and very tasty bread--it took about 2 hours from start to finish which is really quick for fresh bread.  The recipe and lots of tips can be found here.  I especially love the idea of baking them in pyrex bowls so you get these round loaves of bread.  We've had it this week with marinated tomatoes, as grilled cheese and prosciutto sandwiches and will use the last of it for french toast this weekend!

Peasant bread

Ingredients:

• 4 cups (1 lb. 2 oz) all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 cups lukewarm water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons active-dry yeast
• room temperature butter, about 2 tablespoons

Directions:

• Whisk the flour and the salt in a bowl
• In a small bowl or measuring cup, dissolve the sugar into the lukewarm water. Sprinkle the yeast over top and let stand for about 10 to 15 minutes or until the mixture is foamy 
• Then add the yeast/water mix to flour and begin to mix the dough.  It will be pretty wet
• Cover bowl with a tea towel and set aside in a warm spot to rise for at least an hour
• Grease two oven-safe bowls or loaf pans with about a tablespoon of butter each
• Using two forks, punch down your dough, scraping it from the sides of the bowl which will loosen the dough entirely from the sides of the bowl
• Take your two forks and divide the dough into two equal portions, then scoop up each half and place into your greased bowls/pans
• Let the dough rise for about 30 minutes while you preheat oven to 425 degrees
• Bake for 10 minutes then reduce the heat to 375 degrees and bake for 22 to 25 minutes longer 
• Once golden brown, remove from oven and turn the loaves onto cooling racks. If you’ve greased the bowls well, the loaves should fall right out onto the cooling racks. If you're like me, it'll take a knife, fork, and finally a spoon to get these little suckers to budge :)
• ENJOY!

Favorite Friday Recipe: Yumm sauce

This recipe is for my friend Suz who is currently on a great northwest adventure!  The northwest is at the top of the list for a visit soon and when we do, we'll be sure to visit a Cafe Yumm, most famous for their yumm sauce. It's a bit difficult to describe--sort of a creamy, tangy sauce with a hint of curry that goes well in rice bowls, on wraps, drizzled on salads or used to dip your veggies.  Here I assembled a bowl of brown rice, tomatoes, avocadoes, olives and grilled chicken topped with homemade yumm sauce.

Yumm Sauce adapted from this recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup almond meal
• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 cup cooked garbanzo beans
• 1/4 cup cooked soybeans or 1/3 cup tofu
• 1-2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried cilantro

Directions:

• Blend all of the above
• Use generously on your favorite foods!

Favorite Friday Recipe: Curry Puffs

So in Singapore we have these delicious pastries called "curry puffs"--which is really quite self-explanatory--they are little puffs of pastry filled with curry.  Well imagine my surprise when I  learned from my good friend A that they are actually called samosas!  Granted, the Singaporean versions are still a little different in terms of the dough and especially the surprise slice of hard boiled egg in them (my favorite!).  I had some leftover curry this week and decided to mash up the potatoes, boil some eggs and bake them all in puff pastry (easy way out).  They were sooooo delicious and reminded me of great memories of buying these from Old Chang Kee and eating them as an after school snack with my dad. 

Favorite Friday Recipe: Cauliflower soup

This delicious soup comes via the Pioneer Woman.  I love cauliflower and this soup was perfect for one of our surprisingly chilly April evenings.   I cut out a lot of the butter and dairy from the original recipe and added more vegetables, but if you're looking for a good time, the original recipe is here.

Cauliflower soup (with slight modifications)

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 whole Onion, Finely Diced
• Half a bag of baby carrots, Finely Diced
• 3 stalks Celery, Finely Diced
• 1 whole Cauliflower Head (roughly Chopped)
• 2 Tablespoons Fresh Parsley, Chopped
• 2 quarts Low-sodium Chicken Broth Or Stock
• 4 Tablespoons All-purpose Flour
• 1.5-2 cups 2% Milk
• 2 teaspoons To 4 Teaspoons Salt, To Taste
• 1/2 cup (heaping) Sour Cream, Room Temperature (optional)

Directions:

• In a large soup pot or dutch oven, melt 2 tablespoons butter 
• Add the onion and cook for a few minutes, or until it starts to turn brown
• Add the carrots and celery and cook an additional couple of minutes
• Add cauliflower and parsley and stir to combine
• Cover and cook over very low heat for 15 minutes
• After 15 minutes, pour in chicken stock or broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer
• In a medium saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons butter 
•  Mix the flour with the milk and whisk to combine
• Add flour-milk mixture slowly to the butter, whisking constantly
• Add mixture to the simmering soup
• Allow to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes
• Check seasoning and add more salt or pepper if necessary
• Just before serving, place the sour cream in bottom of bowls and stir into soup (this is optional--it tasted great with or without it) 
• Serve immediately.

Favorite Friday Recipe: Furikake chex mix

I have finally come out of my accidental blogging hiatus to bring you this awesome snack mix recipe.  Please note that this is for seaweed lovers only.  Furikake is a mix of seaweed and sesame seeds and can be found at most Asian grocery stores.  It is delicious when eaten with rice and even more so with crispy cereal pieces!  I never got why BK loves chex mix until I tried this mix.  Of course, I'm a huge seaweed fan so that's probably the difference!


Furikake Chex Mix: adapted from this recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/8 cup butter
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 8 cups cereal/pretzels/etc
• 1/2 bottle furikake seasoning

Directions:

• Melt butter and brown sugar in a saucepan and then add the oil, corn syrup, and soy sauce.  Stir on medium heat until it bubbles and forms a syrup-like texture
• Measure out 8 cups of cereal (I love Crispix and Honeycomb) or other add ins like pretzels, nuts, bugles in a large bowl
• Pour the syrup and mix immediately into the cereal
• Sprinkle furikake and mix more
• Bake at 200F for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes
• Try not to eat your weight in Furikake chex mix

Favorite Recipe: Salted oatmeal cookies

The recipe for these delicious cookies are over at the Tess dress blog where I'm guest blogging today!

Favorite Friday Recipe: Marinated tomatoes

A great way to use up the last of this year's fresh tomatoes.  These are delicious with fresh bread to soak up all the goodness!

Marinated Tomatoes

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons Sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 3 whole Green Onions, Sliced
• 1/3 cup Chopped Parsley
• 10 whole Basil Leaves (chiffonade)
• 1 clove Garlic, Minced Finely
• 1 pound Tomatoes, cut 

Directions:

•  Combine all ingredients except tomatoes and whisk
•  Add tomatoes
• Allow to marinate for at least 3 to 4 hours, several hours if possible 
• Serve with fresh hot crusty bread!

Favorite Friday Recipe: Ham and corn salad

We're hopefully headed into our last 100 degree weather day but meanwhile, we're keeping cool and taking advantage of summer produce to make simple and easy salads for dinner.  This is a particular favorite b/c we cut the corn fresh from the cob and also, did I mention croutons?  Yum.

Favorite Friday Recipe: Snickerdoodle cookies

These are super delicious, surprisingly even better the next day!  Recipe from smittenkitchen

Snickerdoodles (or "hey I like a good sugar cookie, and oh it's even better with cinnamon on it!")

Ingredients:

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
•  2 teaspoons cream of tartar
•  1 teaspoon baking soda
•  1/4 teaspoon salt
•  16 tablespoons (2 stick or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
•  1 3/4 cups sugar, plus more if needed
•  2 tablespoons ground cinnamon, plus more if needed
•  2 large eggs

Directions:

•  Preheat the oven to 400°
• Sift together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt
• In a mixer, beat butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes
• Add eggs
• Add dry ingredients
• Chill the dough for an hour
• Use small scooper to form balls of dough
• Roll in cinnamon sugar mixture (I used demerara sugar and it was AWESOME)
• Bake about 10 min (centers should be set)
• Let cool on pan, the on wire rack
• Enjoy!

Favorite Friday Recipe: mini ham, egg and cheese quinoa cups

Our first time eating quinoa and I can't imagine a better introduction than this recipe!  A nice healthy breakfast packed with lots of flavor and I love how portable they are as well.  It's a really versatile recipe as you can switch out different meats, vegetables and seasonings.  Bacon?  Is that you calling me?

Mini ham, egg and cheese quinoa cups

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked quinoa (about 3/4 cup uncooked)
• 3 eggs
• 1 shredded zucchini
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped ham
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 2 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese
• 2 green sliced onions
• salt & pepper

Directions:

• Combine all ingredients and mix well
• Spray mini muffin tins with olive oil 
• Spoon mixture in (you can fill them in all the way as these won't rise)
• Bake for 15-20 min (I broiled them for about 2-3 min at the end)
• Let cool a little before removing from tin and stuffing them in your mouth
• Delicious!

Favorite Friday Recipe: Blueberry Cobbler

My favorite cobbler recipe from the amazing Pioneer Woman--it is so delicious and easy to change up with different fruit--I've tried blackberry and blueberry and will try peaches next!

Fruit cobbler

Ingredients:

• 1 cup self rising flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 1 stick melted butter
• 2 cups fruit (frozen or fresh)
• 1/4 cup demerara sugar

Directions:

• Mix dry ingredients
• Whisk in milk and melted butter
• Butter baking dish (an 8x8 will do nicely if you don't have a round pan)
• Pour in batter
• Place fruit on top
• Sprinkle with demerara (or regular) sugar
• Bake at 350F for about 45 min
• Serve with whipped cream!

Favorite Friday Recipe: Strawberry cake

This delicious dessert recipe came to me via a fashionism friend--it's from Martha Stewart so you know it's got to be good!  The cake batter is easy to make and it's a great way to use up all the fruit that you have in the house.  BK is usually one to savor and eat his food slowly and he ate his piece of strawberry cake in record time--it gets a thumbs up from him!

Strawberry Cake

Ingredients:

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pie plate
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved

 Directions:

•  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10-inch pie plate. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together into a medium bowl.
•  Put butter and 1 cup sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low; mix in egg, milk, and vanilla.
• Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture. Transfer batter to buttered pie plate. Arrange strawberries on top of batter, cut sides down and as close together as possible. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over berries. (I used Demetra sugar for that extra crunch)
• Bake cake 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake until cake is golden brown and firm to the touch, about 1 hour. Let cool in pie plate on a wire rack. Cut into wedges. Cake can be stored at room temperature, loosely covered, up to 2 days.

Favorite Friday Recipe: Chicken Satay and Thai Noodles

Chicken satay is a really popular dish in Singapore and I can't believe it's taken me so long to make my own!  We used this handy mix to marinate the meat, then threaded it onto skewers to be put over the hot grill for just a few minutes.  It is so delicious and really close to what you'd get in Singapore.

The Thai noodles were cobbled together using soba noodles, red peppers, and edamame and garnished with spring onions and cashews.  I didn't love the base (sesame oil, rice wine vinegar) so will be seeking out another recipe and will share a success soon I hope!

Have a great weekend!

Favorite Friday Recipe: Breakfast Apple Granola Crisp

This delicious recipe originates from Smitten Kitchen and I just made a few tweaks.  We had it as a healthier option for dessert--full of fruit with a nice crunch from the granola.  B had it plain while I smothered mine in White Mountain yogurt--the tartness of the yogurt balanced out the apples and granola perfectly.

 Breakfast (or dessert!) Apple Granola Crisp


Ingredients:

• 3 apples, cut into approx. 1/2 inch chunks (I used fuji) 
• 1 tbs lemon juice (optional) 
•  1 tbs demerara sugar or brown sugar 
• 1 tbs cornstarch
•  3/4 tsp cinnamon
• dash of salt
• 3 tbs butter (will try coconut oil next time!) 
•  2 tbs light honey 
• 1/4 cup flour (white or whole wheat works) 
•  1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
•  1/4 cup sliced almonds or other chopped nuts 
•  1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
•  1/4 - 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375F
• Place apples in the bottom of 8x8 pan and sprinkle lemon juice, sugar, corn starch, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt and mix together
• In a pan, melt the butter. Stir in honey and then the remainder of the ingredients (flour, oats, almonds, shredded coconut, and cinnamon)
• Pour the oat mixture over apples and spread evenly
• For an extra crunch, I sprinkled more demerara  sugar (from our Barbados trip!) on top
• Cook uncovered on the middle rack until it gets golden brown on top (about 20-25 minutes)
• Cover with foil and continue to cook for another 15-20 minutes
• Serve as is or with your favorite yogurt, ice cream or whipped cream
• Cover and store in refrigerator (if there's any left!)