Healthier Blueberry Muffins

(12 standard muffins)


I decided to experiment a bit with my muffin recipe. I replaced some of the flour with whole wheat flour and ground flaxseed. It seems flaxseed is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, as well as protein and fibre. It's also rich in lignan, which has antioxidant properties. What's not to love?

I replaced the sugar with a lesser amount of agave nectar. The bottle mentioned it's 25% sweeter than sugar, as well as having a low glycemic index which prevents spikes in blood sugar.

Lastly, I replaced the butter with olive oil, and reduced that amount by using some applesauce. These muffins turned out a lot better than I thought possible; I will most likely make them again.

1 cup unbleached flour
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup unsweetened applesauce*
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups fresh blueberries, about 1 pint

*These are not overly sweet muffins, and I like them that way. If you prefer something sweeter, then you could use sweetened applesauce instead.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Line a standard 12 cup muffin tin with papers, or grease and flour. Set aside.

Mix the flours, flaxseed, salt and baking powder in a bowl.

Combine the agave nectar, oil, applesauce, eggs and vanilla extract in a large measuring cup, mix well with a fork and pour over the flour mixture, add the blueberries and stir until just combined.

Divide equally between the muffin tins; the batter will come almost to the top of each.

Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until done.

Green Goddess Salad Dressing

(1 cup)

This salad dressing is very quick and easy to make. I love it over sliced tomatoes.

1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
4-6 anchovy fillets
small handful of fresh parsley
1 green onion, cut up
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp capers
freshly ground black pepper

Place everything into the bowl of a food processor, and process until smooth.

Spoon over salad or cut up vegetables.

How to make EASY corn tortillas

Buenos dias amigos!

After writing yesterday about hard shells and real tortillas, I thought I should start looking for a video that would show you how to make them really easy.... So I went to youtube and found this video, watched it and liked it a lot because it really shows how easy making tortillas is.

There are just a few things I would like to explain first though:

1. Be careful when pressing the tortilla in the tortilla press, if you press too hard then you will only get a super-thin tortilla, so thin that it will be impossible to remove from the press or too hard to handle and transfer to the hot pan to cook. You will find what's best for you after the first 1 or 2 tortillas you attempt to make.

2. The lady in the video used a griddle to cook the tortillas, I use a "comal" which is like a Mexican griddle type of thing, is just a flat iron pan, it does not have to be non stick... tortillas will not stick to the "comal".

3. You will notice that she uses a plastic bag in the tortilla press (you will see what I am talking about once you watch the video) that step is REALLY IMPORTANT and can't be skipped, if you don't use it you will only have pieces of dough stuck to your tortilla press instead of a beautiful tortilla.

4. Homemade tortillas like these, have to be used right away, they are not good when stored, same thing with the dough, you just make the dough for the tortillas you will eat and eat the tortillas you made, once you have practice making tortillas you will find that is very easy and it doesn't take you long.

5. Homemade tortillas are great to go with your Mexican food or to make your very own tacos, but they are not good to make entomatadas, flautas, enchiladas, etc.... When I share recipes for those dishes I will specify that you cannot use your homemade tortillas. And that is because the thickness is really different from those store bought tortillas or the ones you can get in a "Tortilleria", the consistency and flexibility is different and they are not great to be fried, these tortillas have to be eaten right off the "comal".

So, here is the video I found on how to make tortillas with MASECA.

If you have any questions please let me know!



Provecho!

Paloma.

I too believe in 1 Malaysia.

This blog of mine will probably never display my personal ideals or perspective on local politics. *laugh*

But then again.... this post is about the faith I have in 1 Malaysia and our Prime Minister on his birthday last weekend. From initially having 2 weddings to maneuver; I eventually landed myself into a 6-cake situation all due about the same time. Needless to say; there wasn't much sleep or eating going on that weekend for Su. haha

Cake requests for the Prime Minister's office and private residence came from left and right. All of them on short notice and I could only make promises I was confident to keep. It was a hectic weekend for the elves and I; my family was helping enthusiastically as well. We did them with pride and we gave each cake all the effort we could afford. This was pretty exciting! It's my first time creating 4 cakes for the same person! haha

Datuk Najib Tun Razak; our PM believes very much in the 1 Malaysia campaign; which many of his supporters have requested the cake to be it's logo and cakes which represented the 1 Malaysia idea. I personally love the idea of 1 Malaysia :)

1Malaysia strongly to emphasizes national unity, ethnic tolerance. The 2010 values of 1Malaysia as articulated by Najib Razak are perseverance, a culture of excellence, acceptance, loyalty, education, humility, integrity, and meritocracy.^[2]

I have just naively wrote a short note to our PM. I do wonder if he'll ever read it personally.

hehe.. I was about to forward it to him via the public voice website for 1 Malaysia.. but *shrug* it would be funny if he ever did respond.

Dear Mr Prime Minister; YAB Dato' Sri Haji Mohd. Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak

Happy Belated Birthday to you! I hope you had a pleasant celebration with your family and friends last weekend.

I’m sure you are very busy and have an extremely tight schedule so here’s a brief Hello from me. My name is Su; I’ve just recently returned to Malaysia from my studies and travel abroad and have begun a small business selling designer cakes and desserts in several shopping malls about town. I run Delectable by Su; and bake fancy couture cakes for weddings, birthday and the sort.

In the short time that I’ve been back; I’ve come to realize and appreciate the true beauty of our country; the people and its diversity. Just like the many Malaysians who stand behind your projection of 1 Malaysia; I strongly believe it’s ability to cultivate a wonderful country to call home in years to come. I want to take this opportunity to share with you the photos of the cakes that I’ve been commissioned to create for you by those who trust and love you dearly as well bid you a grateful “thank you” for the work and commitment you’ve selflessly put into bringing 1 Malaysia to life for us.

I understand this note to you is pretty informal and by no means I intend for it to be disrespectful, but here’s a big birthday *hug and appreciative smiles from all of us at Delectable. I sincerely hope your host of dedicated staff and beloved family enjoyed the cakes we were very honoured to have had the opportunity to make for you this year.

Thank you Sir!

xoxo;

Su + the Delectable Elves

Whilst delivering the cakes in the morning; dad and I had a joke in the car..

It was pretty early in the morning.. and we were to drive the cake to his private residence where deliveries were made to the kitchen. I said to dad;

It would be major cool if I bumped into Mr.PM perched over the breakfast table with his morning coffee, toast in hand, striped pyjamas and his newspaper. He'd look up and I'd wish him a big wholesome; HappY BIRTHDAY!! haha imagine him putting his toast down.. smiling and holding up a peace sign responding with a "YO!"

Hahahaha that'd be so awesome; and completely just a fantasy. LOL

... he wasn't there :( no breakfast table and no sight of Mr Prime Minister. *giggle*



maybe NEXT YEAR!??!! I wonder if he wears striped pyjamas... :P haha

Ginger Milk Curd

I have heard of this Ginger Milk Curd but did not have a chance to taste it until i managed to buy a ready mixed in the asian store here.  It was so easy to make, like making a cup of 3 in 1 coffee and i like the texture and taste very much.  In fact i love anything that has ginger.  Ginger has been my savior when digestion is concerned.  It has helped to rid of the huge bubble of gas build-up which has caused me alot of pain.  I decided to make this curd from scratch and after going through many recipes and know how from the net,  went ahead to make one bowl for myself.  At first, i doubted that it will set, how can just ginger juice and milk set? but it did.  The crucial part in this recipe is to have the milk in the correct temperature - 176f  - 165 f. This recipe is only for 1 small bowl, double or triple if you have to.

Ingredients:

150 ml whole milk
1 tbsp ginger juice
1 tsp sugar/sugar substitute


Method:

Grate ginger with a microplane grater and squeeze the juice through a strainer.  Measure 1 tbsp and leave in a small bowl.

Measure 150 ml of whole milk and add in 1 tsp of sugar or sugar substitute.

Microwave on high for 1 1/2 - 2 minutes to obtain the temperature of 176f - 186f.  Cooking time differs as microwave oven differs in wattage - know your microwave wattage.

Stir the ginger juice, then pour the hot milk into the ginger juice and allow it to set.  Curd should set in 10 minutes.  A spoon rested on top of curd will not sink, then you know that the curd has set.

ENJOY

Serves

Alexander's 5th Birthday = R2D2 Cake

Today is Alexander's 5th Birthday - Happy Birthday Buddy!!!  We had a birthday party for him on Saturday and i don't know if the guests had fun, i did and the important thing was, Alexander had the most fun.  With this posting, i would like to thank all the guests for their presence and presents and hope you all enjoyed yourself.  Thank you too to all your food contributions which made the party a success.  This year's theme, Alexander chose 'The Star Wars'  and i made him this R2D2 cake  - he sure was grinning happily at his cake - look at that smile, it melted my heart.

Ingredients:

Chocolate Cake:

3 1/2 cup bleached all-purpose cake
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
6 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cup oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups milk
2 recipes of Buttercream

 Method:

Grease and line the base of 2 - 9 inch by 13 inch cake pan.

Preheat oven to 350f.

Sieve flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Put sugar and eggs in the food processor and pulse till sugar has dissolved.

With food processor, add in the oil in a steady stream.

Stop the food processor and add in the sieved flour, pulse until well combined. Scrape the sides if you must.

With the food processor on, add in the milk and process until cake batter is well combined.

Pour into the 2 prepared cake pans  in equal portions and bake for 15 minutes at 350f, then reduce oven heat to 325f and bake further for 20 - 25 minutes.  Check for doneness.

Leave to cool before icing with buttercream

 Serves

Sarawak Serikaya Cake

This cake is so rich and moist, no wonder the recipe is so closely guarded.  I was able to make this cake for my dear friends, nellie and juliana's birthday, due to the generousity of Florence, who gave me the 'Gula Hitam'.  Thank you, Florence, my friends really loved this cake.  You should see the expression in their faces at the first bite, with eyes close, savouring the richness of this cake and on opening their eyes, expressed - umm, this is delicious, can i have another piece.?  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Nellie and Juliana.

Ingredients:

Method:

Follow The Secretive Cake and replace the Queen's Browning Sauce with the Original Gula Hitam from Sarawak.

Using a stencil, sprinkle 'snow powder' on top of cake.

Serves

Fire .... Fighters!

Hola amigos! Today I am going to tell you about a way of getting rid of the heat from that salsa you love or from that hot pepper you ate.... How many times have you tried to fight the heat in your mouth with water or soda or a cold drink? I am sure it's been many times! and I hope you already learned that drinking something doesn't help, on the contrary it spreads that horrible sensation even more.... Have you ever tried spilling some water over hot oil? it just makes it go "crazy"... There are certain "fires" that cannot be extinguished with water, and the heat from a hot pepper is one of those cases, hot peppers have seeds and veins, and they contain oils which cause the heat and that is why it is so hard to get rid of it.

But, do not worry... The solution is really simple:  SALT, just grab a pinch of salt and eat it, try to dissolve it in your tongue and swallow it, that is by far the most effective way to "break" those oils.

Don't take me wrong, I love FIRE in my food, but CONTROLLED fire, I don't like being in pain. Eating should be an enjoyable experience, I love the flavor of a good chili pepper but I don't enjoy feeling like my whole mouth is burning.

If you want to mostly "AVOID" the fire from your peppers, make sure you remove not only the seeds but the veins too (do this using latex gloves) and start eating a small amount and add more to taste as desired. You will notice that your tolerance for heat will increase the more often you try fiery foods!

 Picture above: My poor gringo added too much salsa to his taco.

Provecho!

Paloma.

Beef and Spinach Ravioli

(about 6-8 servings)



I have a tendency to do similar things in little spurts. I'll read several books of the same genre back to back, or watch several films, or visit several plant nurseries that happen to specialise in something in particular. The same applies to cooking. My pasta machine is still out on the counter and I'm still thinking of ravioli. I got up early this morning and made double this recipe; most of which will be frozen.

The very first time I ever made ravioli, I made a beef and spinach filling similar to this.  I started adding mortadella or prosciutto in recent years, which seems to work well.

dough
2 1/4 cup unbleached flour
1 cup semolina flour
1 tbsp beet powder, optional (I'm just adding this for colour)
1 tsp salt
4 large eggs
2 tbsp olive oil
1-3 tbsp water, if needed

Place the flours, beet powder and salt into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a dough blade. Pulse a few times to combine. Add the eggs and oil; pulse a few more times. The mixture should look like moist bread crumbs that easily form into a ball if you pinch a few together. If the mixture seems too dry, then add the water a tablespoon at a time until the consistency is right.

For ravioli I like it when the crumbs are on the verge of forming a ball. The mixture is dry enough that it's not necessary to dust everything with flour, yet there's a slight tackiness present.

Gather up the dough and knead a few times. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let rest while you make the filling.

filling
2 tsp butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 lb lean ground beef
2-3 slices of mortadella, diced or 2 oz prosciutto, chopped
1 10 oz pkg of frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry and finely chopped
2/3 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 egg
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and fry for about a minute. Add the onion and cook stirring until the onion becomes translucent. Add the beef and continue to cook, breaking up the meat as you stir until the meat begins to brown. Add the spinach and continue to cook and stir until the mixture appears dry. This takes about 10-15 minutes.

Place the meat and onion mixture into a large bowl and add the mortadella or prosciutto, ricotta and parmesan cheese, egg, salt and pepper. Stir to combine everything well. Set aside.

To assemble and serve
olive oil or butter
grated Parmesan cheese

Remove enough dough to roll out 2 rectangles of dough to about 1/8" thickness to fit the ravioli mold, if you are using one. I do this with a pasta machine, but a rolling pin works well too. Place one sheet of dough on a ravioli mold and press with the top to make indentations. Fill the indentations with the meat mixture.

Brush a bit of water all around the edges of the squares. Place the 2nd pasta sheet on top. Roll with rolling pin until the ravioli are cut out.

Continue until all the dough and filling is used up.              *The photos above are from my mushroom ravioli.

At this point you can place the ravioli in a single layer on a cookie sheet and freeze them for about 10 minutes and then bag them for further freezing.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil and cook the ravioli in batches. They should float up to the top and be done in about 2-3 minutes.

Drain the ravioli and toss in a bit of olive oil or butter. Sprinkle with cheese

Tostadas de Pollo

Hola amigos! I just want to give a quick update from my very Mexican Kitchen.... which is even more Mexican now that my mom and grandma' are here spending some days with us!

I haven't cooked anything! but I am still eating real Mexican food! From tostadas to a potato/carrot soup, it's been great! So I thought I should share a "Chicken Tostadas" recipe with all of you...

There are different ways to make chicken tostadas, these are the ones we had last week:

Ingredients:
(for 4-6 people)
- Corn Tostadas (12)
- 1/2 a can of Refried Pinto Beans (these brands are easy to find in USA and they are very good: "La Preferida", "Goya" "Adelita" "La Costena" "La Sierra"
- Cooked and shredded chicken (you can use leg quarters or chicken breast, or even mix the two) approx. 2 pounds. (just boil your chicken with enough water, salt, 1/2 white onion and 3 whole cloves of garlic, once it is cooked, let it cool a little so you can handle it and shred it)
- 3 red tomatoes (chopped or thinly sliced)
- chopped (in stripes I would say, julianne) lettuce (about 1/2 a lettuce, or more)
- 1/2 big white onion (chopped)
- 4 oz. queso fresco (Mexican fresh cheese, it's not too hard to find) (crumbled, you can easily crumble it with your fingers)
- 1 thinly sliced avocado (1 big avocado or 2 small ones)
- Mexican style sour cream (if you can not find Mexican style sour cream just use more queso fresco)
- Salsa verde (optional)
- Salt to taste

Directions:

- Spread a thin layer of the refried beans on all of your tostadas
- Add the shredded chicken (equally on all the tostadas)
- add the rest of the vegetables (lettuce first, then avocado, onions, tomatoes)
- Add the crumbled queso fresco and then each person can add the sour cream and salsa.
- Add a pinch of salt to each tostada on top and voila! You are set to go to have a wonderful Mexican meal!

Today we will be having "POLLO CON MOLE" for lunch... I will share the recipe with all of you soon! So, stay connected!

Provecho

Paloma.

Moist Yellow Cupcakes with Browned Butter Frosting

(12 standard cupcakes)

I have been experimenting a bit with my cupcake recipe to try to get it closer to the cupcakes which are sold at Whole Foods. I like their cupcakes because they seem very moist to me, but I suspect that has a lot to do with the amount of oil in them. My first batch turned out closer to theirs, but I wanted to try them with less oil.

I made a few more adjustments to my recipe the second time around; a bit less oil than the previous batch, more sugar (yikes), a mixture of flours, and I liked the results. The cupcakes do seem moister to me, and they aren't as oily as those at Whole Foods - however, they also don't keep for a week and are best eaten within a day or two.

What I found interesting with this experiment, was the change in texture, (it seemed moister) when I melted and browned the butter first, rather than beating it with sugar until fluffy.

Not too long ago I was grocery shopping with a friend who managed to get the last banana cake with browned butter frosting. She told me later the frosting was "divine", so I've had browned butter frosting on the brain since then. I made some for these cupcakes.

cupcake batter
1 cup unsalted butter, (half of this amount will be used in the frosting)
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1 cup cake flour
1/2 cup unbleached flour

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a standard 12 muffin tin with baking papers.

Melt the butter in a saucepan and cook until lightly browned. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Pour 1/2 cup butter into a bowl, reserving the other half for the frosting. Add the canola oil, sugar and buttermilk, then whisk them until well combined.  Whisk in one egg at a time.

Whisk in the vanilla extract, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk in the flours until they are well combined.

Spoon/pour the batter, dividing equally among the 12 lined baking cups. Bake for about 13-16 minutes or until done. Be careful not to over-bake them; I began to watch them closely after 13 minutes.

Remove from the oven and cool.

frosting
1/2 cup browned butter, (the reserved amount from earlier)
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 - 2 1/2 cups icing sugar

Beat the butter, sour cream, vanilla extract and 2 cups icing sugar, together in a bowl. Keep adding more icing sugar until the frosting has the right consistency. Decorate the cooled cupcakes.

Pennywort/Pegaga Drink - The Secret Fountain of Youth

"A hundred, oh Mothers, are your natures and a thousand are your growths. May you of a hundred powers make whole what has been hurt. Where the herbs are gathered together like a thing is an assembly there the doctor is called a sage, who destroys evil, and averts diseases.” - Hymn to the Plants, Rig Veda X, 97

Mother Nature has so perfectly planned her pharmacy so that it is is within everyone’s access.  It is there to nourish and supply us with abundant energy, as well as nurture us when we have some illness, we need only to become aware of its use for us

Pegaga is a polymorphous, creeping plant, rooting at nodes, with sometimes significant tap root, cylindrical and glabrous stems. Other names of pegaga including Centella asiatica (L.), Hydrocotyle asiatica, gotu kola, Indian pennywort (English), Mandukaparni (India), pegaga (Malaysia), and Ping Da Wan (崩大碗), Di Qien Cao (地錢草), Zhi Xue Cao(积雪草), 雷公根, 蚶殼草, 地堂草, 銅錢草, or 落得打, rau ma (vietnamese)

Read about it's medical benefits from factOdiz bite-sized knowledge

Ingredients


2 handfuls pennywort, with stems pinched off
200ml boiling water
180g sugar or honey to taste







Method:

If using sugar, make a simple syrup by dissolving the sugar in the boiling water the allow to cool completely.

Add all the ingredients to a blender along with 5 or 6 ice cubes and water(as concentrated as you'd like), blend at high speed.

Then using a fine-mesh colander, strain out the leafy sludge. Taste and add syrup/honey or water if necessary.

Serve poured over ice.

Store the remainder in the fridge.

Enjoy!

Entomatadas!

Hola amigos! A new week has started and for me it's started in a very special way! My mom and grandma' from Mexico are visiting for 3 weeks! isn't that wonderful? My house feels like Mexico, my hubby has been great, trying to speak some Spanish with us! He is just so thrilled he gets to eat even more Mexican food! especially since lately I haven't been cooking as much... By the way, did I tell you the embarrassment I went through the other day? My neighbor (Tracy) came to help hubby move a big file cabinet out so we could get a room ready for my mom and grandma' .... He's been great following my blog and promoting it on his FB profile... So, he came, probably expecting the "aromas, colors and flavors" I have been speaking about here, and he found me eating Mac n' Cheese and Mashed potatoes for dinner... and they weren't even real mashed potatoes (or mac n' cheese) it was all from a box and fake cheese.... Well, I have the excuse of the pregnancy! don't I? Anyway... I felt so bad that the next day that I was craving "entomatadas" I decided I would make them NO MATTER WHAT! No more excuses!

And this is what I made:

Of course I had to make rice too! I wish I would've gone far enough to make refried beans too (or at least I wish I had a can of good refried beans) but I didn't, but I must say they were AMAZING! I enjoyed them so much! And I was really happy I made them, next time I will have my neighbors over for some entomatadas so they see that I truly cook Mexican stuff too!

Would you like the recipe for these? I bet you do! You have to make them! I could write the recipe here, but I don't need to, my friend Leslie Limon has a great Authentic recipe to make entomatadas here: La Cocina de Leslie

I know you will love them! Let me know how they turned out for you!

Provecho!

Paloma.

Chicken Rouladen with Browned Butter and Capers

(about 6-8 servings)

When the week is almost over, I usually look through my refrigerator to see if there's anything I need to use up before it expires. I had some prosciutto, a small amount of sun-dried tomato pesto and goat cheese; all needed to get eaten within the next few days.

I felt like chicken this weekend, so I came up with these rouladen. They turned out rather well.

4 skinless and boneless chicken breasts
1/2 cup soft goat cheese
3 tbsp sun-dried tomato pesto
1/2 clove garlic, finely minced
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
4 slices prosciutto, cut in half
1/4 red onion, sliced thinly

4 tbsp butter
1 cup dry white wine
2 small plum tomatoes, chopped
freshly squeezed lemon juice, to taste
about 2 tbsp capers


Carefully slice each breast through the centre lengthwise, and gently pound them as thin as you can without tearing them.

Mix together the goat cheese, pesto and garlic and divide evenly between the 8 chicken cutlets; (about 1 generous tablespoon for each). Spread over half of one side of each piece.

Sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper over the cheese, top with a piece of prosciutto, and a bit of onion.

Roll up each roulade and tie with kitchen string or secure with wooden toothpicks.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a skillet and fry the rouladen until browned on all sides. Lower the heat, pour in the wine and cover the skillet with a lid. Simmer gently for about 25 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.

Remove the rouladen and set aside. Pour off the remaining liquid and reserve.

Heat the rest of the butter (3 tbsp) and cook, scraping in the browned pan bits, until the butter gets a nutty brown colour. Carefully add the tomato, the reserved liquid, a bit of lemon juice and the capers. Cook stirring for about a minute, then return the rouladen to the skillet. Cook an additional 2 minutes or until the rouladen are heated through.

Serve.