nut and seed bread

I've been looking for a bread recipe to use up some nuts and seeds in our supply. I came across this bread that's loaded with a combination of nuts and seeds and I was happy with the result (as shown below).

This is a bread that will make any nut lover happy :-)

Black and white sesame seeds and sunflower seeds 

were sprinkled on top before baking. 

Coconut flour may be used by those on a gluten-free diet. 

All-purpose flour will also work. 

I was surprised that it wasn't crumbly as I thought it would be. The texture was ideal for toasting as well. Very good for breakfast or any time of the day snacks.

Happy baking :-)

NUT AND SEED BREAD
(This is the basic recipe below. Other nuts and seeds may be substituted.)

1/4 cup whole almonds
1/4 cup whole hazelnuts
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup flax seeds
3 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 cup hazelnut meal
2 tablespoons coconut flour (or all purpose flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup almond milk (or other milk)
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
3 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1 tablespoon honey

Line an 8" x 4" loaf pan with parchment paper or grease with nonstick spray. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350F.

Process nuts until finely ground then add salt and baking soda. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Combine milk, oil, eggs, honey and vinegar. Pour into nut and seed mixture and stir until blended. Let the mixture rest for 5 minutes. Pour into prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle with more seeds on top. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until done.

our 2017 New Year celebration

The idea of fondue for our New Year's eve celebration was welcomed with much enthusiasm by my husband :-) as it has been awhile since we brought out the fondue pot. It usually goes to the back of the cabinet and stays there unseen for months until another special occasion such as this comes along. We're happy to welcome 2017 with a classic fondue dinner!

WISHING YOU ALL A HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

can't do without this traditional fruit centerpiece 

This small retro appliance - the fondue pot - is something I've never even heard of growing up in Manila. It was only much later through recipe books and magazines that I read and learned about Swiss fondue. In Manila, we often use cheese but it wasn't anything fancy. We like our quick-melt cheese for pasta and the big red ball of imported edam cheese that's also popular during the holiday season. It's funny but I only knew about cheese with holes from watching cartoons when I was a kid :-)

Our table setting (shown above) with three kinds of protein - beef tenderloin, salmon and chicken breast, cut into cubes and chilled until ready to eat. I made three kinds of dipping sauces. We also had some French bread cubes, assorted vegetables and fruits to dip into the melted cheese.

fondue forks

Fondue at home can be labor intensive but everything may be prepared in advance and chilled in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Timing though can be challenging at serving time but it's always enjoyable, fun and a delicious treat!

bread cubes, roasted and fresh vegetables

Cheese fondue (shown above) with the classic fondue cheese Emmentaler.

dipping sauces

electric fondue pot with simmering broth

fruits and chocolates for the dessert fondue

butterscotch dessert fondue

our Fil-Am Christmas food

I will always think about Christmas and New Year every time I make and serve these Filipino holiday favorites (shown below) just because they usually make an appearance during the holiday season in the Philippines.

sliced morcon and embutido made good snacks
for Christmas Day - served with a simple
green salad, manchego and brie 

The morcon (beef rolls filled with chorizo, sausage, pickles, hard boiled eggs and carrots) was requested by my husband this year. It was a bit complicated to make but may always be made ahead and kept refrigerated or frozen. Same with the embutido (steamed ground pork with vegetables and other ingredients) which may also be pan-fried before serving. Filipino-Spanish fusion is evident in both of these specialties as with many of our other Filipino holiday dishes.

apple pie before and after baking 

The American side of our Christmas food is shown above :-) Even back in the Philippines, I would bake two apple pies for Christmas using apples imported from China. The China apples were abundant during the holiday season and were not as pricey as US apples. I guess apple pie has always been my personal Christmas tradition :-) I was inspired to do the lattice top by King Arthur Flour's Apple Pie Bakealong Challenge. The step-by-step procedure was easy to follow.

🍏🍎 PEACE ON EARTH...MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL 🎄🎅

fresh salad wraps

Fresh salad wraps to brighten your lunch days :-) These may be filled with a combination of favorite vegetables and are good with or without meat.

Spiralized vegetables like zucchini and carrots are so popular now and they are great for these wraps. Instead of flour tortillas, I prefer these Vietnamese or Thai wrappers. To rehydrate, simply spray the sheets with a little water.

Have a nice day 😊 

giving thanks for 2016

pretty tree along a quiet street

Thanksgiving holiday this year was another memorable long weekend with great company and good traditional food. We give thanks for the blessings of family and our special time with them. We always look forward to staying with my mother-in-law and enjoying her cooking. The turkey breast she baked this year turned out moist and very flavorful. The holiday table will not be complete without the best turkey dressing and other family favorites that she makes every year.

traditional food that we look forward to every year

Aside from the usual challah bread and dinner rolls, I also brought a sweet potato round challah version for my mother-in-law. The mashed sweet potato in the mix enriched the bread and gave it a deeper yellow color of the season. Leftovers were made into French toast the next morning :-)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

stripe matcha Japanese cheesecake

I still love checking out youtube for baking and cooking videos. I've found that aside from closely following the recipe and procedure, the instructional videos are very helpful as well. Youtube has really brought many opportunities for home cooks to learn more about cooking and baking techniques. This is just one of the many interesting recipes I've found on youtube from Epipastry channel. The procedure for making this cake is complicated enough that it would've been difficult to make the cake if not for the video. Need to improve the stripes though by evenly dividing the batter. I was careless and ended up with more green matcha batter :-)

This was a small 7" cake so I tried baking it in a basic toaster oven. The uneven heating caused the excessive browning of top of the cake. A piece of foil tented over the top could have easily solved the problem.

enjoying a slice of the cake with my
new favorite tea cup :-)

Just check out the link above for the full recipe and video tutorial :-) It must be the right balance of slight bitter flavor of matcha green tea powder that makes it so popular in desserts now. I have found so many dessert ideas online using matcha.

plates of lunch for everyday

It's fun to get a little creative to make everyday lunch plates more appealing without going too fancy. Most of the time, I just make sandwiches served with a few extras to add color and variety.

homemade sesame seed roll, deviled eggs and green olives

a little twist to the classic ham and cheese sandwich :-)
dipped in beaten egg then pan-fried in a little butter

bento box ham and egg sandwich,
fruits, black olives and cucumber slices for
a well-balanced meal

bento box clubhouse sandwiches, Fuji apple and green olives

omelets are quick and tasty to make
served with whole wheat bread and cucumber slices

two kinds of cheese, fried egg, toasted bread, ham,
salami, fried egg and shimeiji mushrooms

clubhouse sandwich with crispy bacon, ham, egg and
cheese, avocado, tomato and cucumber slices

Sandwiches and salads are ideal to have for a quick lunch break. They can also be made ahead and kept refrigerated in to-go lunch containers or zip lock bags. There are so many ideas for sides to make them more colorful and flavorful. At home, they can be made light and healthier with the addition of all kinds fresh ingredients, dips and dressings.

wholesome 10-grain bread

Perfect for sandwiches and simple breakfast toasts, it was surprising that this whole grain bread did not turn out heavy at all. The crumb texture was light and springy with a very good whole grain flavor. The recipe suggested 7-grain hot cereal mix but I used Bob's Red Mill's 10-grain mix which I already have. Either one is good to use. I used a bread machine to knead the dough but it can be done by hand or with an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook as well.

The dough wasn't too sticky so it was fast and easy to shape them into logs (shown above). The dough was divided into equal parts (I like to weigh them using a kitchen scale to get equal portions) then rolled tightly into logs. Brush the tops with beaten eggs. Sprinkle oats evenly on a cutting board then dip or roll the logs on the oats for an even coating.

Cover them with plastic wrap or clean kitchen towel. A good tip I found was to use new and clean shower caps. They're the right size and fit most bowls and pans plus the elastic band works great. Set them in a warm place until they rise to about 1" above the rim of the pans. They rise very well for about an hour.

Freshly baked loaves of bread are shown above and below. I made a previous batch sprinkled with just plain water but the oats adhered to the tops of the bread brushed with beaten eggs better.

For the recipe...

classic Vietnamese favorites at home

Split yellow mung beans in the light batter made these Vietnamese crepes or banh xeo quite unique. Traditionally filled with shrimp, other meat like chicken and pork may be substituted. I also used sauteed ground pork cooked with coconut milk. As with many Vietnamese specialties, these crepes were served with beansprouts and fresh herbs like Thai basil and cilantro.

Vietnamese crepe assembly

To complete our Vietnamese meal, I also tried to cook Vietnamese pho for the first time at home. I didn't feel the need to cook it at home before because we used to go to a very good Vietnamese pho restaurant but lately we haven't been there much. I do miss and crave the taste of this popular Vietnamese soup.

A platter of herbs, lime, jalapenos, beansprouts and mushrooms to complete a bowl of pho (shown above). The mushrooms are not traditional but it was a nice addition.

I got 3 pounds of beef marrow soup bones at our local grocery to make the pho. I also got some lean round beef cut for the thinly sliced rare beef that was also essential to complete a bowl of pho. Fresh ginger and a whole onion are usually charred on a hot grill or roasted in the oven. Spices such as star anise, cinnamon sticks and whole cloves were also added to the water. I used the Instant Pot pressure cooker for the broth. I later learned that the broth was best made a day ahead and refrigerated to intensify the flavors. The extra fat was skimmed off the surface before reheating. It was a bit time consuming to make but the result was a full-flavored soup broth.

The most important part of pho is the broth. It's just not right without the classic combination of flavors. Before serving time, simmer the broth. Soak the rice noodles in warm water for a few minutes to soften them. Pour boiling water over the noodles or place in a colander and dip in boiling water for a few minutes until fully cooked. Drain well. To serve, place the cooked noodles in a serving bowl, arrange a few slices of very thinly sliced beef on top then ladle the hot broth into the bowl. Top with beansprouts and lots of fresh herbs. Serve with lime and sliced jalapenos.

This particular recipe for Pressure Cooker Pho from The New York Times was my guide for the ingredients and process to make the pho.

earthy shimeji mushrooms from the Asian market

frozen raspberry cake

Frozen fruit cakes, popularly known as "raw cheesecakes" sparked my curiosity from the time I saw them at Maka by Mana, a restaurant in Maui that became our favorite when we there. Unfortunately I didn't really get a chance to try them there. However, seeing them on some vegan food websites actually brought back my interest in them. Cashews (labeled "raw" at the store) were soaked for a few hours or overnight then processed with some of the water they soaked in.

a slice of raspberry frozen cake

date-walnut crust and processed cashew filling

For me, the crust was the highlight of this frozen cake. It was easy to press the sticky mixture of ground walnuts and dates into the bottom of a 7" springform pan. A food processor works best for this task. The soft dates (medjool dates were recommended but I just used Sunsweet brand pitted dates).

Fresh or frozen raspberries may be used for the cake mixture. If using frozen berries, they should be thawed out first before using. The pureed cashews and fruit were combined together then poured into the prepared crust. Freeze for a few hours until set. I was happy with how this refreshing and fruity summer dessert turned out :-)

tropical papaya version shown above

I used this Raw Raspberry Dreamcake recipe from My New Roots as my inspiration to create my version. I replaced the almonds with walnuts in the crust.

vegetarian fresh lumpia

Aside from Filipino adobo, there are other traditional dishes and snacks that deserve a prominent place in Philippine cuisine. Lumpia is one of them. Unlike the crispy deep-fried lumpia that most people know and love, this type of lumpia is a more of a vegetable dish. Yes, there's a fresh lumpia version and this is the actual filling that goes inside it. I hope this will not be confusing to those who are more familiar with the crispy type of lumpia.

This vegetable lumpia filling may also be served wrapped in fresh lumpia wrappers similar to a savory crepe. I like it both ways but the fresh wrappers are hard to find and I've never been successful making them. Served minus the wrappers, this dish is called "lumpiang hubad" or "naked lumpia" much like the term "naked burrito" when served in a bowl without the tortilla wrap.

This was my version of a vegetarian lumpia (shown above) which had tofu. Cut a block of tofu into 1/2" thick slices. On a tray or plastic cutting board, arrange the tofu slices side by side on a clean towel or sheets of paper towels. Cover with more paper towels and place a cutting board on top. This process will get rid of excess water and prevent splattering when frying the tofu. Dice the tofu and pan-fry in a small amount of oil until lightly browned.

Pork, chicken or shrimp may be added but it's also traditional to add small dried shrimps (called hibe - pronounced as hee-beh) for a more distinct flavor. Rehydrate the hibe in hot water before using. The slight orange color was from annatto seeds  or achuete.

For the recipe, please refer to my 2010 post for Lumpiang Sariwa.