Jam and Rolls

You know why I love Borders? Because every once in awhile they do something great...like give out 40% off one full-price book vouchers. And as long as you keep printing them, you keep getting them. HOW WONDERFUL!

But seeing that I had bought 2 books 2 weeks ago, I only had reason to buy one-really. And with the looming shift to the new house approaching, I really didn't want to pack an extra book. Trust me, if you had this much stuff, you'd understand too. =) So I bought Nick Malgieri's Perfect Light Desserts and ohboy ohboy am I excited!!! I felt like something jam filled. So duh, Jam Swissroll? I used the swissroll recipe from the book, but made it gluten free by using 1 cup rice flour + 1 tbsp cornstarch as a substitute. Worked like a charm though the rolling bit was a little tough. Yummy nonetheless! A little too sugary for me, so I might cut down on the sugar in the sponge. However this time I just made a tangy sour lemon icing (juice of 1/2 lemon + 3 tbsp icing sugar) to cut the sweetness. And just because it's pretty, I HAD to sprinkle that icing sugar on top. WHOOPEE! =) I would really love to type the recipe here but I'm killing myself thinking about a deadline. So off I go... sorry guys! =)

All toasty inside

I love bread. I love bread with sugar and a generous sprinkling of raw sugar crystals. I love bread with jams boasting giant sized fruit pieces. I love bread with nutella and peanut butter together. I love bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I love bread smothered with baked beans and a sunny side up, with the yolk still runny. YUP! I love all of it. ALL OF IT.

But then I became gluten free (mostly) and bye-bye bread. No more bread basket, no more buns filled with custard, no more no more no more.

BUT THEN! A whole plethora of creative people became gluten free too. So they solved this major problem. and HELLO BREAD!!!

I tried out this recipe from recipezaar, apparently it was taken from Roben Ryberg. Somehow it didn't work out for me. I didn't have the potato starch so I substituted it with sweet rice flour and tapioca starch. My mixture looked like pancake batter, goopy. So I figured why not, and I added a whole other bunch of things like cornmeal (polenta) and besan flour. Mix mix mix. Then I forgot the xantham gum. And I was kinda in a i really don't care kinda mood so I shoved it into the oven to bake and WHOAAAA it rose and rose. haha, it was pretty funny. Like the batter was creeping out of the muffin holes and kissing each other. heh. They stopped short of the edge of the pan and that's all I ask for, really.

And it was yummy. Oh boy oh boy oh boy. YUMMY. =) I had them fresh yesterday with tuna and avocado. But as with all/most gluten free baked stuff, they taste better warmed up the day. So I cut one into half, toasted it and had it with my fig & vanilla jam on one half. And tuna on the other. I think I might've had one bite with both jam and tuna but you didn't need to know that. =)

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp honey
2 eggs
1 packet dry yeast
1/2 cup water
1/4 c sweet rice flour
1/4c tapioca flour
1 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp baking powder
dash of salt
3/4 tsp apple cider vinegar (any will do)
1/4 cup besan flour
1/4 cup cornmeal (polenta)

1) Preheat oven to 175 degrees fanforced
2) Mix all ingredients together.
3) Pour into well-oiled muffin tin (1/2 full) and bake for 10 minutes, check if cooked, if not bake further. Sorry I wasn't paying too close attention to the time. =)

They look kinda like crumpets once you slice them open. yummers.

Bad Day

You know those days, you wake up and you instantly know you're just not quite ready to meet the world. Yeah, kinda like today. Looking for apartments to rent is killing my brain and everytime I make that phone call to enquire, I'm pretty sure the property's already been leased or it's a 12 month lease only (just when I needed 6). So what do you do? You thank god that at least the muffins turned out right. And you fool yourself by saying that they're packed chock full of fibre and other good stuff. And that they're actually not too bad. So now I can admit, I've had 8 of these things since 12noon.

I know. Don't judge me, I've had a bad day. Ending with a mighty headache.

Morning Glory Muffins (makes 13-15) adapted from here
(Gluten Free and Vegan)
Whisk Together:
1 tub (reg. serving) vanilla soy yoghurt
2 tbsp soy milk
2 tbsp flaxseed meal mixed in 1/4 cup water
1/2 cup veg oil
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp maple syrup
1/3 cup sugar

Add In:
3/4 quinoa flour
1/4 cup almond meal
1 generous tbsp rice flour
1/2 cup corn flour
1/2 cup potato starch
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon

Finally, Mix In:
1 cup grated carrot
1 1/3 cup grated courgette
1/4 cup dessicated coconut
1/4 cup sun dried muscatels/raisins
1/4 cup crushed pecans/walnuts

Stir until well blended and spoon into muffin tins. Bake for 15 minutes then check for doneness. I can't remember how long mine took so check at 15 mins and estimate from there. Frost after they have cooled.

To Frost, Mix:
1/4 cup vanilla soy yoghurt
1 tbsp honey

Bad day = lazy = no photos. Sorry guys. But trust me on this, I love these muffins. I'm off to get my eighth.

(Almost) Raw Chocolate Tartlet

I've been been fascinated with the different types of diets people adopt. There's the vegetarian diet, vegan diet and now, the raw diet. It's not something new and it basically revolves around the idea that food heated above 116 degrees Fahrenheit destroys the beneficial enzymes present in our food. The diet is vegan but brought to the next level. I know I'd probably never be able to live on raw food (despite it's yumminess) because I really do love my grandma's cooking, none of which, are raw. But nonetheless, it doesn't stop me from trying recipes from the wondrous pool of raw recipes out there. I was rummaging through Heidi's 101cookbooks and decided to use her raw peaches and cream pie recipe, with a slight change.

I followed the pie crust recipe but had trouble with it turning as wet as I would've liked it to so I added 1.5 tbsp of water just to help reach the desired consistency. I left half of the nuts out of the food processor, while processing the rest with the water, then I added the rest in and just mixed it with a spoon so it wouldn't be too wet and still remain chunky.

For the filling, I decided I really needed a chocolate hit and my peaches weren't in the best condition so I did this:

In a food processor, place 1 cup cashews (soaked in water for 30 mins and drained), 1.5 tbsp honey, pinch of cinnamon, pinch of salt, 2.5 tbsp cocoa powder, juice of 1/4 lemon. Process for 2-3 mins. Add 1 teaspoonful of water and process again, continuing the adding of water until you get a paste like, spreadable consistency. My tartlet is ALMOST raw because I added choc soy milk instead. Use chocolate spread to fill tartlet shell/s.

And because I'm a greedy giant, I placed my tartlet in the freezer for 10 minutes before transferring it to the fridge. It held VERY well, much better than some of my gluten free tarts and was incredibly yummy although I would use a milder tasting honey or maybe maple syrup instead. I halved the recipe and got 2 bountiful tartlets. It serves about 4. =)

Diners, Pancakes & Lisa Loeb

Now she sits in a booth in a diner,
Waiting for someone to take her order,
Waiting for someone to come and sit down.
She rubs the smudge off the photograph, puts it back into her purse.
The grey sky was romatic cause he was holding her hand,
He was her man.

I'm so bummed, I typed out this gorgeously long entry only to foolishly delete it. FUMBLING FINGERS! And, word from the street is that my boyfriend is out having dinner so he can't rush here in time to have icecream with me (it's NOT dairy-free but I promise I'll be ok). It is better to always have your own cuppa icecream but in this case, it's just too big a task for me to do and my tummy will agree (so will the thighs and hips and...) SO ANYWAY, let's talk about something good.

Apart from the new job (hiphipHIPHOORAY!), I made pancakes for breakfast this morning. Somehow, when I spend my last few thoughts before i go to bed thinking really hard about something (in this case, PANCAKES), I wake up craving it. AND I MUST HAVE IT! So I did. =)

I used GlutenFree Girl's recipe for Blueberry-Polenta Pancakes but I didn't have any blueberries so mine shall just be called Polenta Pancakes. They were yummy but I didn't realize that they would actually border on the salty side. Not that I minded it much since I was having a savoury treat craving and the awesome maple syrup & fresh cherries balanced it out. But for those who'd prefer a sweeter pancake, just follow her instructions and use 2 tbsp of sugar (I only used 1 tsp). Also, I was unsure whether the gluten free flour called for in the recipe was for a mix or just any flour so, I made up a quick mix. =)

Also, because pancakes remind me of diners and jukeboxes, waitresses in pink striped uniforms and plump chefs with greasy sausages, I thought of the song Falling In Love by Lisa Loeb, that's where the lyrics from the top of the entry came from (fear not, I am not heartbroken) sooo I think I'll enter this entry into Eat to the Beat! hosted by Elly Says Opa!. All entries have to feature a dish that is inspired by a song/artiste/album. So here's my contribution. Pancakes & Diners

Polenta Pancakes
2 tbsp rice flour
1 tbsp potato starch flour
1 tbsp cornflour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp xantham gum
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp flax meal
2 eggs, whisked
1 cup soy milk + 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar to sour, let sit for 10 minutes
1 tbsp veg oil

1) Mix all dry ingredients together
2) Whisk soured milk & oil into eggs
3) Add dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix to just combine
4) Oil a skillet and drop batter by 1/3 cupfuls, cook until bubbles appear on the surface or until desired brown-ness
5) Serve with real maple syrup and whatever else that floats your boat (ICECREAM!!!)

like, OH WOW!

HELLO! I have finally returned. I have a thousand excuses as to why I've been missing but I think I'll pick the best few I could come up with.
1) I've been busy travelling to Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai
2) I've been too busy eating and since my mouth works so fast, the food gets devoured before I can take photos of them
3) I have been quite lazy.

Yeah, I think I'll settle for that. Laziness, the disease many of us suffer from. Fortunately though, the other wonderful bloggers have no such illness so the rest of us are lucky, because we'll always have something yummy to read about. =)

But I am back. And i will blog often, or at least make a big effort to. =) So how has everyone been? Today I officially baked the first sweet treat since my return to Melbourne. Gluten free sugar cookies. I got the original recipe from here but I had no shortening or baking powder or gluten free flour mix. And i was too lazy to pre-mix the flour blend so I changed the recipe almost entirely. and I'm glad to report that this is probably the first gluten free sugar cookie that I actually like. I used expeller pressed coconut oil and normal veg oil to substitute the shortening. Replaced sugar with half icing sugar and half raw vanilla sugar (for crunch and coz I had no other sugar). I also added 1/2 tsp of xantham gum and 1 tsp lemon juice for added 'flair'.

I don't know how it'll settle tomorrow since alot of cookies are so promising when they first step out of the oven but then loses all their sparkle after sitting around for abit. I used my new cookie cutter that I got from the Harvest Picnic at Hanging Rock yesterday. It was really eye opening, bought some gluten free plum pudding (since Easter is coming) and this amazingamazingamazing peach and vanilla chutney thing. Ohgosh it's absolutely stunning, with notes of apple and thick luscious syrup just dripping off the edges of the chunks of peach.

Here's Spot trying to get friendly with the cookie! Spot fits snugly in the middle of my palm, so you can pretty much imagine how darn big the cookie is. I realized we didn't have a container big enough for the cookie so I had to snap it in two before packing it away. Least I got a photo of it.

Needin' some Puddin'

I could re-tell the story for the...tenth time, about the horrible start of the day but it's allright. I think the previous nine times sufficed. 'Nuff with the whining, on with the pudding.

I'm a religious reader of Delicious. I read it every month without fail and will proudly announce that it is the best food magazine I've come across. *YAY!*. This month just made their status skyrocket when they rocked up to the newsagent's shelves with a gluten-free special (and the awesome Shaun wrote me a note just in case I missed it). So I flip through it every other morning over breakfast, dog-earring the pages holding recipes I just have to try. I usually don't end up trying them because when I have a craving I forget...forget to look through my stash of mags. Luckily this time I remembered! CHOCOLATE SELF-SAUCING PUDDING. Exactly what a girl needs when shes down with somesort of sickness, feeling slightly ghostly and neck high in assignments. oh and plus, she doesn't know what to dress up as for Halloween.

Pirate, anyone?

Chocolate Self-saucing Pudding by Sue Shepard from October 2007 Delicious Magazine
(This is the half the recipe) serves, 3-4

45g fine rice flour (from Asian Grocers)
1.5 tbsp soy flour
1.5 tbsp g.f.cornflour
1/2 tsp bicarb soda
1 tsp g.f. baking powder
1/2 tsp xantham gum (optional)
70g caster sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder

1) Triple sift the ingredients in a bowl

95ml soy milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp olive oil

1) Mix all together in a bowl and pour into the flour mixture
2) Pour mixture into a 3 cup capacity baking dish
3) If it is too shallow it might overflow

215 ml hot water
70g brown sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder

1) Mix altogether
2)Pour over the chocolate cake mixture, do not mix!
3)Bake at 180 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a crisp spongy top develops (I baked mine until the fudge sauce started bubbling over the edge of the pan...think I overfilled)

Sometimes you just need butter

Sorry for the previous terribly sad post. I promise I'm all sparkly again. Dedicating one day a week at least to baking sometimes I want to eat, I've decided that this week's should be the cashew recipe that I saw on CookieMadness a while back. It's been on my mind for awhile-I mean anything that combines sweet and salty is a winner by me. It's sad how there isn't sweet popcorn here in Melbourne. The people here are definitely missing out, there's nothing better than ordering a bucket of popcorn and having it half sweet and half salty. The best part is rummaging through the layer of sweet to get to a salty popcorn cluster which gets you started on that sweet sugar trip all over again. CAN YOU SAY YUMMY? Too bad, they know not of such pleasures in life. =)

BACK TO COOKIE...
It was from the Betty Crocker round up and while I don't have photos to show because mine are so unfortunately UGLY, you can head over here to take a look. I halved the recipe and made it gluten free and omitted a whole lot of things because I'm such a freak when it comes to 'fat'. I suck the fun out of cookie eating don't I? I wish Anna would send some over so I could try it in all it's glorious yumminess. I like my version, don't really miss the chocolate or the pretzels I left out to make it G.F. I'm not sure but I think I shouldn't have added the baking soda, or maybe halved the already-halved amount because it became too light for me. It is definitely also due to the gluten free flour used. Sometimes I miss normal baking. And I didn't use butter either in an attempt to cut out diary. OHWELLS. here's my version.

1.5 cups raw/dry roasted cashews
2 tbsp white sugar
1 tbsp egg white
2 tsp salt
>The method is all on Anna's blog.

1 cup white rice flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1/4 potato starch
2 tbsp almond meal
1 tsp baking soda (I might try 1/2 tsp)
1/2 tsp xanthan gum

>Sift all together, set aside

4 tbsp expeller pressed virgin coconut oil, softened
4 tbsp natural peanut butter
3/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1.5 eggs

75g dark chocolate, chopped

>Cream the coconut oil, peanut butter and sugar together, until veryvery well combined
>Add in the eggs and vanilla
>Mix in the dry ingredients with a very sturdy spoon, drop by rounded tbsp on a cookie sheet. This part is VERY tricky, because the batter is VERY STICKY. But it puffs up well, and doesn't spread much.

stickydate weird pudding

Today's the sort of day that you want to stay indoors- no going out for lunch, no going to get some groceries and definitely no going to the Melbourne Show. Luckily I've already done that on Monday so there, no dreadful 'i-wasted-a-good-day' feeling. =)

I spent the better part of yesterday tossing ideas in my head. I had a baking itch and since I haven't baked for a week or more (I was in Sydney on a girls trip!), I felt slightly guilty I had been neglecting the oven. So was it going to be coconut macaroons or stickydate pudding (more like a cake if you ask me) and I went with the stickydate, just because I had been wanting to bake it for a while now and if you ask me, I much like baking things that take a wee bit more effort. Makes you feel all sorts of happy and contented, none of that 'whip it up in 10 minutes' for me. Besides, my theory is that if you wanna bake, do it properly. So i used this gluten free recipe from Women's Day and was hoping for the best. I was attracted to it because it used such a wide variety of flours and I really wanted to try out the soy flour I had gotten awhile back.

So after I got back from dinner (INDIAN!), I decided to do the first bit which was to cook the dates and water for 5 minutes then add the bicarb soda and let sit for 20. After i did that, I went to get DVDs (Tuesday night special at videoezy) and came home to do the rest. It looked good in the mixing bowl, looked good rising in the oven but taste wise, it was really off.

I might blame it on the fact that I used Melrose instead of butter (I'm trying to be dairy free) or that I added cinnamon instead of nutmeg. Whatever it was, the texture was good, soft and sticky and today it remained moist even though I just left it sitting on the counter top. I don't know about this one...I suppose a large part of the problem MIGHT be that I didn't make the butterscotch toffee sauce to drench it in but hey, shouldn't a cake taste good on it's on without the added fancy schmancies? =( BUGGER. Now I feel like my baking itch hasn't been well satisfied. Oh well, I've got a few more days til school starts so til then, I'll think of something new to bake. =)

Amaretti

Finally I got round to bake Amaretti and I had no problem deciding on using Cream Puff's treasured recipe because it looked so promising and seriously, no one can say no to a family secret recipe. Her recipe is designed to yield 50-70 cookies and rightly so since they are absolutely delicious morsels of delight but seeing that I'm about the only one who's gonna be eating them, I cut the recipe in 4 and ended up with 25! =) I suppose I made them a little smaller than intended.

Here's the recipe in 1/4
170g ground almonds
1/2 cup granulated sugar (I used raw sugar)
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 egg
1 tsp almond extract
raw whole almonds
extra 1/2 cup raw sugar

1) Mix ground almonds, cocoa and sugar together
2) Add in egg and almond extract, mix well
3) My mixture looked a little crumbly but held together when I rolled them into little balls
4) Roll the balls in the 1/2 cup of extra sugar
4) Line them up on parchment paper and press an almond into each cookie
5) Bake at the bottom rack of the oven at 180 degrees celcius for 10 minutes, then move to middle rack and bake for further 5 minutes. Let cool and serve! =)

me, myself and saturday

I realized that when you start working more often, you really and I mean REALLY treasure the free time you get off work. I don't remember a Saturday afternoon where I haven't had to go to work or at the very least, haven't had to think about work. And honestly, I like it very much. Lucky me it was sunny this morning so I woke up all bright and cheery, ready to go to the market. The market is good when it's sunny, actually the market is good whenever. As long as I don't have to rush around. It was good today, Fred came along and carried half the groceries I bought which means I could buy more. simple maths.

The past few days has seen me struggle with being good, avoiding the Haighs chocolate coated scorched almonds. I failed, gave in and ate 3. Just THREE. And I knew for sure that the next time the bout of chocolate want hits me, it'd be worse. So i decided to bake me something better, a chocolate tart of sorts. I don't know how it turned out because I didn't have much expectations. I just needed something that tasted like chocolate. I couldn't find a pie crust recipe to follow, so I made up my own. It turned out odd. Not in a bad terrible inedible way, just, maybe I should've blind baked it first. It's edible nonetheless, definitely would be good to improve upon, we've all got to start somewhere anyway.

It's not the most appetizing photo but it was the best I could get since I just really wanted to sink my teeth in. The crust is odd (like I said) so I won't be posting the recipe I used. Just use your favourite pie crust. The filling was taken from here, and maybe I should've baked it for a longer time (I left it baking for 45 minutes in a water bath) but it set up quite nicely, mousse-like and all. stable yet not hard. =) I'd say it's definitely good for a chocolate fix and most importantly, the guilt factor hardly creeped in at all!

And for my first entry for Presto Pasta Night, I decided that this little baby oughta do the trick!

Gluten-free Pasta with Avocado and Mushrooms

2 serves gluten-free pasta, cooked as per instructions on the box
5 big white button mushrooms (or however much you like, really)
3 big shiitake mushrooms (just 'coz they were on sale)
1/2 brown onion, sliced thinly
1 large clove garlic, bashed and diced
1.5 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
salt, pepper
1 avocado, diced and slightly bashed

1) heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a pan, add in garlic and onion and saute
2) when onion softens and browns, add in mushrooms and a splash of water and salt, cook until tender
3) Add in balsamic vinegar and pepper and continue cooking until desired softness
4) Place pasta in a bowl, top with avocado and pour the hot mushrooms on top, serve!=)

Just in time

I was lucky yesterday to get some blueberries for $2.95 a punnet at Coles and while the Driscolis strawberries next to it looked absolutely stunning, all big, red and juicy, I much preferred the cheaper alternative: blueberries. And, I really really NEEDED to bake some blueberry muffins, it was a craving and went hand in hand with this month's Sugar High Friday-sweetsweet cravings.

Blueberry muffins have always struck me as quite American. Don't know why, don't know how I got that notion but the American kids on TV always had blueberry muffins for breakfast or for tea and their moms always seemed to have a fresh bucket of blueberries on hand, ready to whip up those gorgeous little gems. So I asked my mom when I was a kid, to get the Betty Crocker blueberry muffin mix and I was hooked. Then I outgrew Betty Crocker, the kick wasn't there and moved onto making my own blueberry muffins from scratch and they were amongst my first baking successes, then I had Candida and then I grew up and decided that copious amounts of sour cream and oil in my muffin mix just didn't cut it. Then I fell back in love when I made them healthier for me meaning: gluten-free and dairy-free.

Now, I'm happy. =)

Vic's Gluten-free, dairy-free Blueberry Muffins (makes 12)
(A)
1 cup rice flour (use the finest grind you can find, I get mine from Asian supermarkets)
1/3 amaranth flour (If unavailable, use rice flour instead)
2/3 cup potato flour
2 tsp baking powder (gluten-free)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp xantham gum

*Sift all together

(B)
1/3 cup safflower/canola/sunflower oil
1/2 cup raw sugar
2 eggs
1 cup vanilla flavoured soy yoghurt
250g blueberries
2 tbsp soy/rice milk
3 tbsp raspberry jam, warmed

*Whisk eggs in a bowl until fluffy, slowly add in sugar and oil and whisk madly until fluffy
*Add (A) into egg mixture alternately with soy yoghurt and milk
*Fold blueberries and raspberry jam through and spoon into prepared muffin tin
*Bake at 170 degrees celcius for 18-20 minutes or until skewer inserted comes out clean.

Gluten free and lovin' it!

Hey guys, just thought I'd give you guys a heads up and let you know that I am attempting to cook more 'proper' food. Like you know, the main meals and that kinda stuff and I'll be blogging about those adventures too. I still believe that dessert is the whole point of the meal (DUH!) so don't worry, the sweets will keep on coming. =)


Trying to be gluten-free has increased my curiosity in other food and other alternatives so here's what I had for lunch today.


Warm Quinoa (keen-wah) for lunch

1/4 cup quinoa
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup soy milk*
1/4 large packham pear, diced
1/2 tbsp linseed meal
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp raw sugar
2 tbsp granola/muesli (optional)
fruits of choice (I used strawberries)**

1) Mix all ingredients except for the last two in a small saucepan and simmer for 15 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. To check that quinoa is cooked, the quinoa grain should be transparent with a tiny white center. Remove from heat

2) Add in 3 tbsp soy milk and stir in granolo/muesli if using and fruit.

*I use the sugar-free asian type of soy milk because it's made from water and milled soya beans whereas the kind that is sold by vitasoy and all has weird ingredients like safflower oil and malt extract.

**I want to try adding bananas, blueberries, mangoes and coconut. =) Should be yummy. Omit the muesli if you are gluten intolerant

DINNER! I was itching to get home from work to try these little babies out! Again, taken from my trusty Stoneage Fusion by Lisa Elks and adapted to what I had on hand...

Broccoli, Purple Sweet Potato and Carrot fritters (makes 4)

1 cup finely chopped broccoli, lightly steamed
1/3 cup grated carrot, heated in the microwave for 50 seconds on high
1/2 cup mashed purple sweet potato (ordinary is fine but not as sweet)
2 big tbsp rice flour
2 big tbsp buckwheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1/2 cup soy milk
2 tbsp chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste

1) Mix flours and baking powder together, add in egg and milk and whisk to combine
2) Add in mashed sweet potato and mix well, add in broccoli, carrot, parsley, salt and pepper
3) Heat a skillet sprayed with olive oil spray and place 2 1/2 heaping tablespoonfuls for eat fritter, fry until browned then turn over and cook further. Serve with vinaigrette*

*Mix 2 tsp olive oil, 1 tsp balsamic vinegar, dash of salt and juice of half a lime.

Walnut Chocolate Roughs

I'm awful when it comes to resisting chocolate, it almost makes me feel incomplete without it really. But I know I'll feel terribly awful if I did eat dairy much worse, chocolate, so I decided to make Walnut Chocolates but substitute the chocolate with this amazing dark gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate. Lo n' Behold, the chocolates didn't work out. Here's why...

I was supposed to roll teaspoonfuls of a walnut paste (made from processing 100g walnuts, 1/2 cup icing sugar and 2 tsp egg whites) into balls and then dip them into the dark chocolate but the walnut paste mixture seemed too dry and kept falling apart when I tried rolling it over and over again. But I had already melted the chocolate and I couldn't waste a perfectly fragrant walnut mixture so I dumped all of the walnut paste mixture, 3/4 cups of wholegrain rolled oats and 1/3 cups sweetened shredded coconut into the chocolate and mixed them all together, dropped them by rounded tablespoonfuls on a baking sheet and let it sit til it set. YUMMMYYY...

Walnut Chocolate Roughs

1 portion walnut paste (recipe below)*
3/4 cup wholegrain rolled oats
1/3 cup sweetened shredded coconut (I use McKenzies)
100g dark soy chocolate
chopped apricots, pawpaw, orange peel, crushed almonds**

1) Mix all together and drop by rounded 1/2 tablespoonfuls onto a baking sheet and place in fridge to set.

*Walnut Paste:
100g walnuts
1/3 cup icing sugar
3 tsp egg whites

1) Process walnuts until finely ground
2) Add in icing sugar and egg whites and process until a moist paste like mixture forms, chill in the fridge for 15 minutes

**These ingredients are optional, they're just additions I thought I might add if I had them on hand...I'm especiall inclined towards the orange peel. =) JAFFAS!

Have fun guys!

Good food makes me happy...

So far my liver detox has been going good, well I claim it's a liver detox but I'm not really following any hard and fast rules. What I've been doing is avoiding all red meat (which is easy), avoiding things I'm allergic to (wheat, dairy, gluten) and trying to not eat when I'm really not hungry. So far I'm going...pretty well. Stocked up my fridge with fruits (CUSTARD APPLES and HONEYDEW!) and soy milk and soy icecream. I'm a happy girl!

My sister has this 'Stoneage Fusion' recipe book/file by Lisa Elks and it's been my diary for the past few weeks- I absolutely adoreADOREadore it. Everything in there sounds delicious and superdooper healthy, with tons of helpful substitutions and zillions of low-fat, low-allergy recipes that a girl like me needs! Which is very encouraging as well since i loveLOVE food and cooking. =) So, I've made her banana muffins a while back and this time I decided to try something NEW! the best thing about her collection of recipes is that all the ingredients are very easily available in ANY health food store.=) Here's an adaptation to her 'Beautiful Rice and Amaranth Muffins'

1 cup rice flour
1 cup amaranth flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp xantham gum (or guar gum)
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup oil
1 tsp bicarb soda
4 tbsp soy milk
1 large jar of baby food 'pear and banana' or 'pears' (Heinz has it)
1 cup stewed pears*
1 banana, mashed
2 tbsp honey
2 tsp raw sugar

1)Whisk eggs, honey, sugar and oil together until light and fluffy
2)Add in baby food, stewed pears and mashed banana
3)In another bowl, mix the dry ingredients (rice flour, amaranth flour, baking powder and xantham gum)
4)Combine bicarb soda and soy milk together, set aside
5)Add 1/2 or dry ingredients into oil mixture, followed by soy milk and finish with the remaining dry ingredients
6)Spoon into muffin tin and bake at 200 degrees celcius (fanforced: 190) for 10 minutes then lower to 180 (fanforced: 170) for an extra 15-18 minutes.

*Stewed pears:
-You can use pear halves in natural, unsweetened syrup instead
-to make your own: Dice one large peeled packham pear and place in a pot of simmering water with a little lemon juice and cinnamon. Cook until soft and tender. Drain and use as directed.

Apologies for the lack of photos but they aren't the most photogenic muffins, they keep well and taste awesome when warmed. =)

Liver Detox

My previous post has emphasized on the point that I am now way past my orginal weight and health because I've been gorging myself on wheat (I am wheat-intolerent) and dairy (I am slightly lactose intolerent) and all other things that are going to clog up my arteries. So, while my mom is now reading up on heaps of material about Magnesium and its health benefits, I have started on my new 'phase'. Okay, phase makes it sounds bad, I was meaning to say 'interest'. THE LIVER! I've decided to do a detox to ease the stress I am feeling due to the recent binge and I really do want to feel 'cleaner' hahahahhaa, so yes! I'm trying to do a semi liver detox, a full blown on is too straining and I underestimate my determination to follow through. So I'll start on a smaller hill and see how it goes. =)

Mommy left for home today, so now I'm all alone. Never imagined I'd feel THIS homesick since I've been looking forward to all the stuff I can accomplish this holiday but nonetheless, spent the entire day crying and wishing my mom was still here. I'd drag her on a walk right about now then binge on soy icecream after. But walking along just didn't feel nice today so I did something else that makes me feel happy- being in the kitchen!

Whipped up a luscious thick smoothie for dinner and watched snippets of Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy and BB07. I feel slightly better now, and sleeepy. Here's a rough idea of how the smoothie went! Try it out when you need something luxurious feeling but not too evil on your health.

Tofu Smoothie (serves you, and you only: don't share!)
1/4 pack of silken tofu
6-8 strawberries
1 1/2 bananas*
1/2 apple juice*

1) Mix all in a blender and BLENDDD!
2) Sit in front of the teevee, accompany smoothie with a large handful of dry roasted, unsalted cashews. =)

* I used 1 fresh banana and 1/2 frozen so I didn't add ice, you might want to add crushed ice
* I only had this apple, lemon & lime juice in my fridge, so try it with whatever juice you want to, and you may add more juice if it's too thick coz I didn't really measure the juice.

If at first you don't succeed...

So remember the whole hoo-haa about my bread baking disasters? Well, I told you i'd give it another shot and I did, turned out better, meaning: edible. Was a little tough, but like I said, edible and it provided a little more encouragement. I won't be posting the recipe up because I made it taste yucky but feel free to look for 'soft white dinner rolls' by Nigella Lawson in her cookbook or june 2005's Delicious.

On a brighter note, I've finished my essays! Well, it's not perfect but by finish I mean, the bulk of it is done, what's left is the editing and referencing and all the bits and pieces which I'm losing concentration with... So today I took a day off, baked to my heart's content and shopped til I dropped. =) And I'm all good, albeit sleeeeeeepy.

Here's what I baked today...



Bloomin' Banana Muffins, they're for Daphne's birthday. I'm gonna top them with a swirl of chocolate ganache.



Gluten-free, dairy-free banana muffins, not as bloomin' beautiful but OMG I cannot have enough of them. I've had two...I'm working on reducing the oil although it's reasonably little already and TERRIBLY DELICIOUS. TRUST ME. (i know, gluten-free, dairy-free has the worst connotations sometimes...) BEST THING! there are no funny ingredients!

Ingredients:
1 cup rice flour
1/4 cup almond meal
3 mashed bananas (I used 3 medium ones)
3 tbsp rice/soy milk
1 tsp glutenfree baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 oil (I'd use a little less)
dash of cinnamon
2 eggs

1) Whisk eggs and oil together, add in mashed bananas, honey, sugar, cinnamon and almond meal
2) Place the baking soda and rice/soy milk together and let stand for 5 minutes
3) Mix the baking powder and rice flour together and add into banana mixture, alternating with milk (i started and ended with the flour)
4) Pour into prepared muffin cups
5) Bake at 175 degree celcius for 12-15 minutes or until skewer inserted comes out clean (careful not to overbake)
6) ENJOY! =) Betcha can't stop at oneeeee!

Gula Melaka Steamed Sponge, not as light as the really awesome ones I've had but heres the recipe, pretty good but I'll definitely work on it. I was a little crushed actually...maybe it's my fault for steaming at such high heat...do you think it'll make a difference in texture? Suggestions? It was too dense.

Sorry guys, I know the photos aren't drool worthy, but today I was more concerned with scoffing myself silly with food. You understand right? =) and HIPHIP HOORAY, SCHOOL'S OUT (almost)!!!!!!

catch the easter disease

It might be Easter, or it might just be one of my moments, but today chocolate was highly wanted on my menu. So i shuttled between Safeway and BigW, not being able to make my mind up. It's all about the concept of wasting your preciousprecious calories on food that's worth it. So I stared at Lindt chocolates, Mars bars, Twix, picked up a Boost double bar pack and put it back, Heaven bar, Kinder Bueno, Baci, godknowshowmanyothers and finalllllyyyy picked this one up.



Realizing that this was one that I had been eyeing a while back, and it fit my criteria of being a not-too-big block, dark chocolate, 'healthy' and QUALITY chocolate, I decided to get it. Poor Fred waited for me while my mind flitted about the choices. Do you ever realize that sometimes you know what the 'thing' you want is and it just annoys you when you don't find it? heh, LUCKILY I found IT today. (oh, and I got these new ferrero chocolates-disappointing)

The chocolate bar was absolutely yummy. Very un-diary-free like, very smooth, very intense, not bitter and just all round, a really good chocolate bar. I'm happy!=) I'm sure there are other way to describe the chocolate bar, but it really is unnecessary. I mean, if you want me to compare it, it tastes of a slightly stronger soy taste than ordinary dark chocolate, but just as smooth, I think the cocoa percentage is 50%. On the other hand, comparing it to soy chocolate, definitely alot better in terms of satisfying those INSANE WHACKO chocolate cravings, probably also because it's dark chocolate, but it leaves you feeling like you've had REAL good 'ol chocolate so therefore I say, GO FOR IT! =)

OOOOOH.Easter bunny's got me happy.