Strawberry Buckwheat Scones

The past long weekend totally speeded up my week.

How did Thursday arrive so quickly?

I might still be basking in the afterglow of the weekend.

And how can I not when it looked something like this?

So apart from the usual stuff, this week has also been...

...at times, quiet. Which is necessary for my introverted self, otherwise I'd feel so drained out. I read somewhere that introverts may appear calm on the outside, but their inner worlds are always "noisy". True that!

...mildly confusing. An online personality test tells me a suitable career would be: interior decorator/designer, clergy, child care or office manager...hmmm so far from what I do!

...rather organised. I am in process of categorising my food ideas into tiny boards (aka Pinterest). No more stray bookmarks/labels here, there and everywhere!

...filled with the book of Psalms. So good for the soul. And God blesses me with friends who faithfully keep me in their prayers (even across the Pacific Ocean!) ;)

...disciplined and defining. Somewhat. Or maybe just a little bit. :)

I also had a situation in my fridge. Something along the line of buying too much strawberries and not having enough room to store them.

I knew I had to deal with this problem asap so got my thinking/creative hat on straight away!

The first punnet turned into a rustic strawberry galette as a post-dinner treat...so bloody red!

Another punnet got blended with milk and some other goodies. 

Strawberry milk is THE childhood food memory for me. Obviously non-fresh ones with artificial colours and flavours. So good...yet so bad.

Then the last punnet turned into scones! Buckwheat scones, to be precise!

Buckwheat belongs to the 'eat more of' section in my book. It is known to lower cholesterol and has a rich supply of flavonoids and other good stuff. I love the taste of it (although some might find it an acquired taste). If you like the Japanese soba noodle (made of buckwheat of course!) then you'll probably enjoy baking buckwheat flour too. Oh, the flour make for great breakfast pancakes too!

This is definitely a twist on your normal scone recipe. I like the combo of the tartness of the strawberry with the earthiness of the buckwheat flour, as well as sweetness coming from the honey I smothered on the scones! 

So don't forget to drizzle the scones with some honey because mathematically buckwheat + honey = match!

And of course cream too, if you'd like!

Strawberry Buckwheat Scones

Inspired by 'Wa sweet recipe'

• 150g buckwheat flour
• 100g cake flour
• pinch salt
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 75g unsalted butter, cubed
• 120ml milk
• 30g sugar (I used raw sugar)
• 6-8 strawberries, diced

Preheat the oven to 200C.

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flours, salt, sugar and baking powder.

2. Cut butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with your fingertips. (The mixture should look like coarse crumbs).

3. In a measuring cup with the milk, add the strawberries to infuse for a short while. Then, add this mixture to the flour mixture. Stir just until combined. Do not over mix.

4. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough gently a few times and then pat into a 2cm thick round. Using a round cutter (I think I used a 3cm one), cut out as many rounds as you can. Press dough together and cut out remaining rounds with the dough. 

5. Place scones onto prepared baking tray with baking/parchment paper, at least 1cm apart. 

6. Brush the tops of the scones with a little milk. This helps to brown the tops of the scones while baking.

7. Bake for around 13-15 minutes until golden.

Serve hot with honey and/or cream!

One thing I have desired of the LORD, 

That will I seek: 

That I may dwell in the house of the LORD 

All the days of my life, 

To behold the beauty of the LORD, 

And to inquire in His temple. 

For in the time of trouble 

He shall hide me in His pavilion; 

In the secret place of His tabernacle 

He shall hide me; 

He shall set me high upon a rock.

-Psalm 27:4-5

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Oatmeal Pancake with Poached Rhubarbs

I'm grateful today that...

...a big genuine smile can make for a really great day :D

...not being always in control (as much as i'd like to be) humbles and frees us.

...i have a roof over my head and that i can wake up and not have to worry about soooo many things i take for granted. but it saddens me that i can just flick through the channels between devastating news around the world and the silly reality TV shows and feel...normal.

...in quietness and trust i get my my strength.

...no one saw me when i fell flat on my face at the station :P

...that people encourage one another. let's keep it going because we all need that!

...i have access to amazing produce which made up my delicious breakfast.

So one Saturday morning, we visited Sydney's Pyrmont Grower's Market for the morning grind and weekly grocery. Happy times!

I foresee lots of oven baked fries in the upcoming days...with lots of garlic and pepper!

Poppies are such cheerful and whimsical flowers, don't you think?

Despite the busy-ness of the market, my eyes turned to these vibrant dark strands of ruby red rhubarbs and recipes after recipes appeared in my mind about what I'd do with them. If I could, I would buy them all!

I love rhubarbs in crumbles, with cream cheese on tarts, but my favourite way of eating them is poached with a bit of lemon and cinnamon!

So for breakfast today, it's poached rhubarbs (prepared previous day) with oatmeal pancakes and a bit of greek yogurt! (I wanted to make some waffles initially...but then realised that I do not have a waffle maker! D'uh.)

But the good news is, this pancake is delicious - soft and tender as all pancakes should be! If you're an oatmeal lover, then this pancake is for you. Cooked rolled oats combined with some oat flour is used to make up this 'double oated' goodness!

You can prepare the poached rhubarb in advance as I did. They keep well in the fridge for up to a week and you can have them with everything (well almost!). My favourite is with rice puddings!

Don't forget to sweeten up your greek yogurt with some honey too, as you may find the rhubarbs slightly tart!

Oatmeal Pancakes
adapted from Kim Broyce’s Good to the Grain
makes enough for 4

• 1 cup of all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup of oat flour
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon of sea salt
• 3 tablespoons of butter
• about 1 1/4 cup of milk (more if needed to thin out the batter)
• 1 cup of cooked oatmeal (not quick-cook or steel-cut)
• 1 tablespoon of unsulphured molasses
• 2 large eggs

1. Whisk together the flours, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.

2. Melt the butter and allow it to cool slightly before whisking it with the milk, eggs, oatmeal and molasses in a separate bowl.

3. Fold in the milk and oatmeal mixture into the dry ingredients, gently mixing until combined (don’t use a heavy hand if you’re aiming for tender pancakes).

4. If the batter is too thick, thin out with a little bit more milk.

5. Heat about a tablespoon of butter in a heavy cast iron skillet over medium-high heat and ladle 1/4 cupfuls of batter into the skillet once it’s hot (no more than 3 at one time).

6. Once the pancake batter starts to bubble, flip and cook for another minute or two before transferring to a plate.

7. Continue to scoop in 1/4 cupfuls of batter (re-butter the skillet as necessary) until you have used up all of the batter. Adjust the skillet temperature if you feel that the pancakes are burning or not browning evenly.

Poached Rhubarb

• 600g pink rhubarb (~one bunch)
• 200g caster sugar
• 500ml water
• 1 lemon, sliced
• 1 cinnamon stick

1. Trim the tops and ends of the rhubarb and cut diagonally into 3cm lengths. Put the sugar, water, lemon and cinnamon stick into a pan and stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes until the syrup has thickened slightly.

2. Tip in the rhubarb and gently poach for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pieces are just tender but still holding their shape. Transfer the rhubarb with a slotted spoon to a bowl.

3. Boil the syrup until reduced by two thirds to a thick, syrupy sauce. Pour over the rhubarb, leave to cool completely, then chill; the rhubarb will continue to stain the poaching syrup pink with time. This can be kept chilled for up to one week.

Weekend is almost here!

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Tutti-Frutti Crumble

Dear sixteen-years-old-me,

Take your head outta the books once in a while yea? There's so much more you can learn outside the books.

Play more basketball, there's still a chance you could grow taller.

Ten minutes of piano and violin just before the lessons ain't the way to go. You will find that music will stay with you for life and become one of your escapes during the times you're down.

Matching jeans and denim jackets? No!

Slow down, stop worrying - you're doing fine. You can't be everything you want to be...but you'll eventually see the bigger picture in life that's found in your faith in the Lord Jesus. 

You don't hang with the cool kids and you'd rather hang in the library at lunch time. But deep down, you wish you could be less awkward and fit in. Guess what, one day you're actually going to laugh at all this and think, who'd want to 'fit in' when you can be...you? You'll get me one day.

Don't be scared of talking to boys. They might seem like another species right now, but they aren't as scary as you might think and one day they will actually shower instead of pile on the cologne (most of them anyways).

Everytime you want to roll your eyes at your parents? Don't. They might not always be right. But they're probably just scared about raising a teenager and are still learning. So be nice. And one day, you'll come to understand the all sacrifices they made for you to be where you are.

Put more effort in Chinese School (and don't cheat in tests!). You'll find the importance of the language as you grow up and ponder about your culture and identity.

What are you doing to your body? Those potato chips, choc chip cookies, snicker bars and ice-cream every day ain't gonna help you fit into that dress for your cousin's wedding (true but sad story). A fruit crumble would've been a better choice perhaps.

Cherish your friends. Some will stay with you for years to come.

Be grateful everyday. 

And when in doubt, pray.

love,

twentysomething me.

So the other day I made a fruit crumble using all the fruits that I have in my fridge....

Pineapple, apples (I used both Granny Smith and Fuji), cherries and frozen blueberries.

Maybe I'll call it the clean-up-your-fridge crumble.

And I couldn't wait to try the healthier crumble idea from Heidi's cookbook Super Natural Everyday, which uses spelt flour, oats and poppy seeds! I also added in some walnuts just because...nuts are good.

Toss all the fruits together with a little bit of corn starch. Depending how sweet the fruits you are using, I didn't add any additional sugar to the fruit mix and it was sweeeet as already!

A good idea is to make the crumble mixture into patties and freeze them slightly before you break them into different sized pieces!

Bake away until bubbling and golden brown...

Enjoy!

I am just realising now that I didn't add a scoop of ice-cream as usual...I actually forgot. I must've been side-tracked. Because eating the fruit crumble by itself was...so good. It was like having a delicious fruit party in your mouth. And the poppy seed/oat crumble? It's crunchy, it's light and addictive. I will be using this for many more future crumbles in my life.

I have also realised that I have more crumble recipes on this blog than anything else! Five in total! I guess then if there's a type of dessert that describes me, it must be a fruit crumble :D

Tutti-Frutti Crumble
Adapted from Natural Home and Garden
Serves 8 to 10

• 3/4 cup / 3 oz / 85 g spelt flour or whole wheat pastry flour (I used spelt)
• 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 1/2 cup / 1.5 oz / 45 g rolled oats
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (a handful)
• 1/2 cup / 2.5 oz / 70 g natural cane sugar 
• 1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
• 1/3 cup / 2.5 oz / 70 g unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon all-natural cornstarch
• 1/3 cup / 1.5 oz / 45 g natural cane sugar or muscovado sugar (I omitted this because the fruits are already so sweet!)
• 11/2 cups / 6 oz / 170 g blueberries (frozen)
• 1/2 medium sized pineapple, diced
• 2 Granny Smith apple + 1 Fuji apple, diced
• 11/2 cups / 6 oz / 170 g sweet cherries, halved and pitted
• 1/4 cup / 1 oz / 30 g dried currants (omitted)
• 1/4 cup / 60 ml Beaujolais wine  (omitted)

Note: The original recipe calls for strawberries, raspberries and dried currants as well as cherries.

1. Preheat the oven to 375F / 190C with a rack in the middle of the oven. Butter an 8-inch / 20cm square baking dish.

2. To make the crumble, mix together the flour, poppy seeds, oats, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Use a fork to stir in the melted butter. Divide the mixture into three portions and use your hands to form three patties. Place the patties in the bowl and freeze for at least 10 minutes, or until you’re ready to bake.

3. Make the filling by whisking together the cornstarch and sugar in a large bowl. Add the blueberries, apples, pineapple, cherries and toss until evenly coated. Wait 3 minutes, add the Beaujolais, and toss again.

4. Transfer the filling to the prepared baking dish. Remove the topping from the freezer and crumble it over the filling, making sure you have both big and small pieces.

5. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the topping is deeply golden and the fruit juices are vigorously bubbling. Let cool a little before serving, 20 to 30 minutes.

Happy weekend ahead :)

What would you say to your sixteen-years-old self?

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Apple and Tomato Gazpacho

You're probably wondering why I am attempting all these summer-y dishes in the middle of winter - first the Japanese anmitsu with matcha ice-cream and now this gazpacho, the Spanish cold and raw vegetable soup.

Sometimes not everything has to make sense, friends.

All I know is that I am possibly suffering from a bad case of winter blues that only my canine friend here can understand...

Just kidding!

I don't have the winter blues because I get to drink hot chocolate and have hot showers. *thankful* The dog above was only giving me the look because I wouldn't share my hot chocolate.

And the reason I made this gazpacho on a cold and wet day was because that day happened to be the 22nd July - a date marked in my diary to make this soup. Why?

It's time for my second contribution to Stephane Reynaud's 365 challenge (initiated by publisher Murdoch books), of course! (First is here) The aim is for all keen foodies to cook through the cookbook 365 Good Reasons to Sit Down to Eat in one year!

Well, at least this recipe makes total sense to the rest of the world experiencing the summer heat at the moment.

This is not your usual Spanish gazpacho however. Instead of the typical cucumbers, onions, capsicums and garlic used to make a gazpacho, only apples are used here along with tomatoes! Many recipes I've seen also use bread crumbs (or stale bread) into the blended soup, unlike this no-carb one.

Anyhow, to make this soup...

First you'll need the following ingredients! (Plus salt and pepper of course!)

Even though this is a raw soup, you'll still need to slightly boil the tomatoes so that the skins can come off easily. Much fun - this is my favourite step!

And you'll need to cut the apples into both cubes (for blending) and matchsticks (for garnish!)

You could practice your knife skills here too!

Blend the apple cubes and tomatoes together into a puree (I used my bamix) and pour in the cider vinegar and olive oil. Season it up and you're good to go! Not surprisingly everything came together in less than 10 minutes! Speedy!

This is a light tomato soup sweetened by the apples while the spring onions give it a slight punch. The addition of the sour cider vinegar (apparently an age-old home remedy that we could all have more of!) complements the other flavours well while the apple matchsticks add a nice texture! *crunch* 

As much as I enjoyed this refreshing gazpacho (which I had while all rugged up in a heated room in my make-believe-it's-summer state of mind) I couldn't help feel something was missing. Perhaps I would blend in some bread to add more body to the soup next time! 

Or perhaps my body was just craving for something steaming hot and hearty.... 

I think the next time I'll see this soup again would be on the hottest days in summer! :)

Apple and tomato gazpacho

Serves 6

Prep time: 20 minutes

• 6 tomatoes
• 3 granny smith apples
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 bulb spring onion (scallions)
• 100ml cider vinegar
• 100ml olive oil
• salt and pepper

1. Cut a cross in the base of the tomatoes and plunge into boiling water for 30 seconds, then remove the skins.

2. Peel two of the apples, cut them into cubes, then cut the third (unpeeled) into thin matchsticks and combine with the lemon juice.

3. Finely slice the spring onions.

4. Puree the tomatoes with the apple cubes, add the cider vinegar, olive oil and spring onions and season.

5. Serve garnished with the apple matchsticks and drizzle with olive oil.

I hope you smile today :)

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Anmitsu - Japanese dessert

Dear bed,

You're so warm and toasty, and I almost wish you weren't this comfy making it so hard for me to get up in the morning.

Dear rain,
Please can you re-think your forecasted long stay this week?

Dear pizza delivery boy,

Please don't deliver anymore pizzas to my place. *burp*

Dear treadmill,

You make me sweaty and my heart beat faster than anything else. And you challenge me like no-one does. That's why I like you. 

Dear friend,

Thank you for your 'surprise'. Now I can watch Ugly Betty and The Mentalist whenever I want!

Dear poodle in cooking with dog,
Your hair is slightly wonky at times but I admire your patience and self control whilst your owner is cooking.

Dear Australian winter,

Your baldness (on trees) is starting to appeal to me. I also like how I can turn up my heater and eat summertime desserts when you're around too. 

Have you seen the youtube cooking videos: cooking with dog? 

I've been a fan for a while now. Not just because I am fascinated by a sleepy poodle who sits by the stove like a rock, but I adore all the mouth-watering Japanese dishes featured on this channel.

So remember how I was sick a few weeks back? I watched the clip for Fruit Cream Anmitsu then and it immediately took me back to my unforgettable Japan trip (where I had anmitsu every single day) and I wanted to recover from the flu faster than anything else. (Talk about the most effective 'medication'!)

Anmitsu is a popular Japanese dessert made of small cubes of agar agar in a brown sugar syrup. It is also served with sweetened red bean paste, pieces of gyuhi (mochi-like sweets) and a scoop of ice-cream. Oh and decorated with seasonal fruits too. Yummo!

Ok, wanna see how it's made?

First you'll need to make some agar agar. Not flavoured or sweetened. Simple as!

Then dice them up into dainty fine cubes...so translucent that it's almost like they're invisible!

To make the kuromitsu (Japanese sugar syrup) to go with the agar agar, you'll need to melt some dark brown or muscovado sugar with corn syrup.

Pour it onto the agar agar...

To make the gyuhi (which is a type of traditional Japanese mochi), get some glutinous rice flour in either powdered form or granules...

...add a bit water to the rice flour and heat it up and eventually you'll get something like this...

To prevent the glutinous rice flour mixture sticking to everything else, you'll need to dust some potato starch all over!

Then you make some anko - sweet red bean paste (just because red beans and green tea ice-cream are a match made in heaven!) If you don't have time, just buy them canned (sweetened) at your local Asian grocery store. Recipe (or rather, another youtube video with the poodle) for anko can be found here.

Then it's just a matter of slicing up the oranges wedges and strawberries...and adding a scoop of the green tea ice-cream! You might want to use an ice-cream scoop for this. Sadly I don't own one. I wonder why? Definitely not because I eat ice-cream out of the box! How unladylike!

If you generally love Japanese desserts and can never get enough of the red bean and matcha (green tea) combination, I think you might totally adore this...even on a cold winter's day :)

Fruit Cream Anmitsu

From Cooking with Dog

Serves 3

• 4g/0.141 oz Agar Powder
• 500ml Water (2.11 us cup)
• 1 tbsp Mizuame - Thick Starch Syrup (I used light corn syrup)
• 100g Kurozato - Muscovado or Unrefined Brown Sugar (3.53 oz)
• 70ml Water (2.37 fl oz)
• 30g Shiratamako - Glutinous Rice Flour (1.06 oz)
• 50g Sugar (1.76 oz)
• 60ml Water
• Potato Starch
• 3 Strawberries
• 3 Navel Orange wedges
• 3 tbsp Anko - Sweet Red Bean Paste (buy canned or recipe here.)
• 3 scoops of Matcha Ice Cream (I bought mine but you can make it using this recipe)
• 20-30 Boiled Aka Endomame - Red Endo Beans (I omitted this).

The simple instructions for the recipe can be found from the linked videos! :)

Watch them! They're kinda...cute?! 

Might also make you want to get a dog to cook with too!

Have a blessed week ahead :)

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