Waldorf Salad

Some time last year, a few friends and I decided to have a potluck party.  We picked the date and day as per the convenience of everyone and held the party at one of my friend's new condo.  Each of us picked a dish we wanted to bring.  One of them ordered the Popiah and Kueh Pie Tee DIY set from Fortune Food (S) Pte Ltd.  We had so much fun wrapping the popiah and filling those pie tee shells.

My friends had also requested for me to bring Potato Salad.  They sure love my version of potato salad.

I had also wanted to try something new and fruity.  I saw this Waldorf Salad from Simply Recipes and tweaked the recipe to what I have in my kitchen.

Ingredients

2 red apples, cored and chopped
1 cup seedless grapes, halved
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt to taste

Method

In a medium bowl, mix the yogurt, lemon and salt.
Then mix in apples, grapes as well as walnuts.
Chill the salad in the refridgerator until ready to serve.

Curry Prawn and Mango Wrap

I guess mango is in season.  You will spot mango in abundance in the supermarkets and wet markets.  Do you love mango?  I do!  From having it raw in mango salad or ripe, sliced or in desserts.  So versatile, these mangoes!

So how do I relish this yummy health booster this time round?  I used it to make this super duper simple savoury curry prawn wrap.  It is just Amazing!

Ingredients (Serves 4)

16 medium prawns (i used frozen)
1 tbsp curry powder
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp olive oil
4 spinach wrap (you can use plain or wholemeal)
2 mangoes, cut and cubed
mesclun salad
dallops of cottage cheese

Method

Thaw and wash the frozen prawns.
Marinate prawns with curry powder and salt for about 30 minutes.
Heat olive oil in a non stick pan and pan fry prawns until cooked and set aside.
To prepare wrap, place mesclud salad on wrap, followed by cubed mangoes, prawns and drop dallops of cottage cheese.
Fold the edges of the wrap towards the centre and secure.
Serve immediately.

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

I have always wanted to try quinoa.  I wonder what it tastes like.  A lot of clean eaters actually include quinoa in their diet.  Quinoa is considered a superfood and it's gluten free.  It's also a good source of protein iron as well as fibre.

It took me a while to get round to trying quinoa.  I finally bought a pack of the organic quinoa and decided to make them today.  I browsed through the world wide web and this recipe from Skinny Taste caught my eye.

If you are planning to cook something light or trying to eat clean, you may want to try this recipe.

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1 large red onion, diced
1/4 cup kalamata olives, diced
1 japanese cucumber, peeled and diced
12 cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 tbsp brine from the bottled olives
juice from half a lemon
salt and pepper, to taste

Method

Using a fine sieve, rinse the quinoa to remove the saponins.
Fill the 2 cups of water in a pot and add the quinoa and bring to a boil.
Once the water boils, reduce heat to low and cook the quinoa covered for about 15 minutes.
Removed from heat and fluff the quinoa.  Transfer it to a mixing bowl and let it cool
Once cool, add the chopped onion, olives, cucumber and tomatoes and mix well.
Then drizzle in the lemon juice and brine as well as season with salt and pepper and toss well.

Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Note - You may crumble feta cheese if you have.  I guess it will make a whole lot of difference to the taste of this salad.  

Pandan Muffins

If you have not already known, I love muffins.  I love baking them too.  They are really quick to make.  Two bowls are what you need - one for wet and and one for dry ingredients.  Mix them together, spoon them in muffin liners or tin and you're good to send them into the oven.

Do you love the aroma of pandan leaves?  I love walking at the garden near my office because I enjoy getting hit with the wafting aroma of pandan leaves. Pandan leaves are hugely used in Southeast Asia cuisine as a flavouring.  And that's what i used this time to make my Pandan Muffins.  For this recipe I did not blend the real pandan leaves to get the extract but instead I used the store bought pandan paste.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups self raising flour
1/2 cup caster sugar
a pinch of salt
200gm coconut milk
1/2 cup canola oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 tbsp pandan paste

Method

Preheat oven to 175C.
Lay 12 paper liners in muffin tin.
A - In a large bowl, mix together, flour, sugar and salt.
B - In another bowl, combine coconut milk, oil, eggs and pandan paste.
Incorporate B into A and using a spatula, fold in the flour till just moistened.
Spoon mixture into the muffin tins and then bake for about 25 - 30 mins or until a pick/skewer inserted comes out clean.
Stand muffins for about 5 mins before turning out to cool on a wire tray.

Note - You may if you wish to blend 5 - 7 pandan leaves together with the coconut milk to get that fresh green pandan extract.  Be sure to strain the mixture before using it.

Kiwi Muffins

I have some kiwi fruit sitting in my fridge for almost a week!  Gotta consume them before it gets too soft and squashy.  Kiwi fruit is highly nutritious and a good source of vitamin C, potassium and fibre.  Kiwi (if you have yet to try) are both tangy and sweet. Oh, did you know that kiwi fruit skin is edible?  Ermm, but with the hairy outer skin, I don't think I'd dare try!

So back to the kiwi in the fridge, I still have a few more after consuming a couple and thought why not use them to make some muffins.   Using the Buttermilk Blueberry with White Chocolate Muffins as the base recipe, I substituted the blueberry for kiwi fruit, omitted the chocolate and made Kiwi Muffins.  These muffins were moist with a slight tangy taste.

Ingredients

2 cups self raising flour
1/2 cup caster sugar
a pinch of salt
2 kiwi, chopped
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg, lightly beaten

Method

Preheat oven to 175C.
Lay 12 paper liners in muffin tin.
A - In a large bowl, mix together, flour, salt, sugar and kiwi.
B - In another bowl, combine buttermilk, oil and egg.
Incorporate B into A and using a spatula, fold in the flour till just moistened.
Spoon mixture into the muffin tins and then bake for about 25 - 30 mins or until a pick/skewer inserted comes out clean.
Stand muffins for about 5 mins before turning out to cool on a wire tray.

Cranberry Upside Down Muffins

I wanted to make Pandan Marble Cake so bad.  Nevermind that my hand mixer is with mum.  I'll make do with a wooden spoon or hand whisk, or so I thought.  But with just two eggs left in the fridge, I had to forget about making pandan marble cake.  I checked my pantry and there's just slightly less than half a cup of sugar left. What else can I make? Then I saw a can of cranberry sauce that I had bought a couple of months back.  I remembered some time ago, I had wanted to try this recipe from Joyofbaking.com.  I checked the recipe again and was elated that I have all the ingredients required.  An egg was all that the recipe called for and nevermind that I only have slightly less than half a cup of sugar left in my kitchen.  I was sure the cranberry sauce would make up for the lack of sugar.

So I made this Cranberry Upside Down Muffins and was glad it turned out just fine. Just a note of caution, do be patient when handling these babies.  They need to cool for a while before you invert them out else the cranberry will not stick to the cake.  I am speaking from experience!  I took the pan out of the oven and started inverting one and was disappointed when the sauce did not stick to the cake.  It left me wondering for a moment where had I gone wrong.

Feeling a little disappointed, I left the muffins alone and attended to my little girl who was busy with her schoolwork, then returned to the muffins once I was done with her.  I inverted each one, and to my delight, the sauce sits nicely on top of the fluffy cake.  So the moral of the story - Be patient and let the cakes cool before inverting them :)

Ingredients

2 cups self raising flour
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
4 tbsp canola oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup cranberry sauce

Method

Preheat oven to 175C.
A - In a large bowl, whisk together, flour, sugar and salt
B - In another bowl, whisk together milk, egg, oil and vanilla extract.
Using a spatula, fold B into A together till just moistened.
Evenly divide the cranberry sauce among the 24 mini muffin cups of a mini muffin pan.
Evenly spoon muffin batter over the cranberry sauce.
Place the mini muffin pan in the oven.
Bake for about 15 - 20 mins or until a pick/skewer inserted comes out clean.
Stand muffins for about 5 mins before inverting them on a cooling rack so the cranberry topping is faced up.

Rainbow Cupcakes

I have seen way too many people putting up pictures of rainbow cakes that they make or sell online.  The cakes look so pretty and how not to love the bold colours!

One of those nights when I couldn't sleep, I actually watched videos after videos on how to make this cake.  It looks rather tedious to make but somehow I kept hearing these Rainbow Cupcakes calling out my name.  I had to do it!  I just had to do it!

While bold colours make the cakes look fun and vibrant, pastel makes the cupcakes look cute and pretty!  Now, won't you agree?

Ingredients

1 box White cake mix
1 1/4 cup water
3 egg whites
1/3 cup vegetable oil
liquid food colorings

Method

Preheat oven to 175C.
Lay 12 paper liners in muffin tin.
In a large bowl, whisk together cake mix, egg whites and vegetable oil till well combined (or as directed on box).
Divide batter into 6 small bowls.
Add about a drop or two food coloring to each bowl to make red, green, purple, pink, yellow and blue.  Ensure that you stir well.
Starting with the red batter, add a level tablespoon to each of the 12 paper liners.
Repeat with all the remaining colours - green, purple, pink, yellow and blue.
Do not spread the layers of colour as it will cause the colours to combine.
Just let it spread out on their own.
Bake the cake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Cool cupcakes on a wire rack.

Video: Tiramisu

Watch my video for pictorial instructions to make Tiramisu!