Breakfast toast

It was the first time my kind-hearted boss shook his head in disappointment at me in front of everyone. The embarrassment and shame when he said I had forgotten where I came from. I felt all eyes on me, in disbelief, as if I had done something so terrible. I just hoped that they didn't think my parents failed to raise me right. As blood rushed to turn my face red, I wanted to close my eyes and magically disappear from the attention.

So what 'crime' did I commit? Well, one early morning, I groggily responded with a confused "huh?" when asked about how my Mid-Autumn Festival was spent earlier this week. ;) I had forgotten all about it despite seeing all my foodie friends eating/baking mooncakes since last week. Actually, maybe I didn't completely forget but it's just my brain does not function at its normal capacity on days when I do not have breakfast - which was the case for that fateful day.

So I've learnt my lesson and the next morning, I made sure I woke up early for a hearty meal before leaving the house. 

Creamy avocado egg salad. For some fat and protein.

And juicy tomatoes and goat cheese. Anti-oxidant and calcium. (You do know I'm no nutritionist right?)

On toasted spelt sourdough. Carbs for brain function?

Yes please!

Just brush each slice of bread with some olive oil then rub with the cut side of halved garlic. For the tomato toast, crumble a bit of goat cheese evenly on the bread.

Grill them in the oven at around 230C (450F) for a few minutes (until cheese melts).

Mash 2 hard boiled eggs with one large avocado. 

Don't forget a dollop of mayo and whole-grain mustard seeds, and some sprinkling of S&P.

(edit) Oh and a squeeze of half a lemon (or vinegar) too.

Slice up some juicy tomatoes and layer them on on the goat cheese.

Spread generously the avocado egg salad onto the other slice!

Hope you had your breakfast today. :)

A good breakfast can really set you up well for the rest of the day, me thinks!

Thanks to Kate from Cookie and Kate for the delicious goats cheese/tomato toast idea!

Have a lovely rest of the week and bye for now. xoxo.

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Banana Bread + Tofu with Kimchi and Avocado

This is going to be a short  post (of polaroids) today.

Things have been rather repetitive over here.

I guess everything's...just calm. And I like that. 

Same faces, same routine, same dreams.

Being repetitive isn't necessary a bad thing, right?

Take this banana cake for example. It's a recipe I've been making over and over again and comes from Kate (check out her stylish blog too for other recipes.)

What's different about this bread is that it uses all whole wheat flour, and still tastes as good as my usual go-to recipe! Score. The texture is moist and soft and I love sweetening it with honey and the sprinkling of cinnamon on top. Oh, big chunks of bananas is a must in my bread. How about you?

Then there's this tofu with avocado and kimchi dish which has been making multiple appearances on my dinner table.

 

Call it an entree if you like. It's pretty much one of the fastest thing you can whip up as it requires no cooking. Just some chopping and slicing of ingredients that are almost always in my fridge.

I fell hard for kimchi (pickled vegetable, usually napa cabbage) at the tender age of 8 when I first stepped into the home of my Korean neighbour. And it's great to see it named one of the healthiest food in the world by Health magazine too. 

The best thing is if you normally find kimchi a bit too spicy for your liking, the tofu and avocado make it milder to the taste and the texture is a bit of everything in your mouth - crunchy, smooth and velvety soft. They make for a delicious trio.

I'm so addictived to this that sometimes it replaces my cheesy toast or cereals as the new midnight/TV snack.

Oh, and before I go (although it's something on my mind before I began this post)...

I just found out that Green Cilantro was mentioned in Saveur's 50 More Food Blogs You Should Be Reading recently. And all I want (and need) to say is THANK YOU - to those of you who made the effort to vote for this blog. I really appreciate it as I definitely didn't expect anyone to do so and can think of at least 7853 other blogs which should have been mentioned instead.

So thank you thank you thank you. You made this cold day a little bit warmer today and put a smile on this face here :)

Here's a doggy picture and I hope he makes you smile too. He's another four legged friend that I've the pleasure of bumping into these days. Turned out he's a bit of a softie and licker too. Who would've guessed.

Banana Bread
Adapted from AllRecipe

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup mashed bananas
• 1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, plus more to swirl on top
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup hot water

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

2. In a large bowl, beat oil and honey together.

3. Add eggs, and mix well.

4. Stir in bananas and vanilla, then stir in flour, salt and cinnamon.

5. Add baking soda to hot water, stir to mix, and then add to batter.

6. Spread batter into a greased 9×5 inch loaf pan.

7. Sprinkle with cinnamon, and swirl with a toothpick for a pretty marbled effect.

8. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes. Be sure to check that the bread is done baking by inserting a toothpick in the top. It should come out clean.

9. Cool on wire rack for 1/2 hour before slicing.

Tofu with kimchi and avocado
Adapted from Masa

Note: The quantity of the ingredients are rough estimates. It is entirely up to you how much of each of the main ingredients you want to add.

• 1/2 packet silken tofu
• 1/2 cup Korean kimchi
• 1 medium sized avocado
• Some chopped spring onion to sprinkle on top
• 1 tsp white sesame seeds
• ~1tbsp Japanese style soy sauce

1. Slice the tofu into even square/rectangular pieces. Slice the avocado into even wedges as well. 

2. Chop up the kimchi finely. Chop up the spring onion too.

3. Plate up - place alternate pieces of tofu and avocado on a long plate and place the chopped kimchi and spring onion evenly on top.

4. Squirt some soy sauce on the top and don't forge to sprinkle wth some sesame seeds too.

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Homemade Wholemeal Chia Bread

Not many things make me feel more domesticated than...baking bread.

As I took my batch of bread out of the oven, I felt as if I should be wearing a frilly apron.

And suddenly find myself as a housewife in Pleasantville or Stepford.

The novelty of freshly baked bread from your own oven hasn't worn off for this girl-from-a-non-bread-baking-family. Yet.

Strangely, I also feel like I'm going 'backward' in some ways.

But this is what I'll be doing from now on, going forward in time.

Because there is nothing better than fresh bread made with your own hands.

With plenty of love of course - the essential ingredient!

Homemade bread tends to harden up and dry out overnight compared to store bought ones, so I wanted to avoid that as I could hardly finish a whole loaf within a day.

I'm glad I came across the TangZhong method of bread making a while ago. I've read about how this method ensures that the bread stays soft and moist days after it's baked -  just like the bread you find in the Asian bakeries!

So what's this TangZhong method? In short, it's when a natural flour paste (TangZhong) is cooked to 65°C and then added to the rest of your normal bread making ingredients. This paste will ensure that the bread stays soft and 'bouncy'.

Amazing huh?

Ok, let's get baking.

First, you've got to make the TangZhong paste (I used a thermometer to check the temperature)...

Once you're done, add all the ingredients into your bread machine and let it knead away (the recipe below also caters for those without a bread maker, you just got to knead by hand which can be very time consuming!)

I added chia seeds to my dough. These Aztec ancient grains have recently been re-discovered as once of today's superfood. You can hardly see or taste them in the bread because they are so tiny! 

Once the dough has rested for at least an hour, divide the dough into 3 equal portions and let rest for another 15 minutes. 

Now roll each portion into an oval shape and roll from the upper, shorter end down to the bottom...

Flatten the dough with your rolling pin, then roll once again with the seals face down. 

Finally roll it up pretty like this:

Set all three into a baking tin and let rest for around 40 minutes (depending on the weather), until the dough rise once again...

It might be good to practice your patience here :)

Finally, bake for 30-35 minutes and there you have it!

Love. Soft. Fluffy. Cloud-like. Bread. 

Go spread the bread love!

Sometimes I sprinkle unsweetened cocoa powder into my dough and I get this:

Other times, I have it with my homemade jam. Seriously good. 

[For a more detailed photo instruction, please go to Christine's Recipe!]

Wholemeal Chia Bread
Adapted from here

Ingredients of TangZhong (The amount is enough to make two loafs):

• 50gm/ 1/3 cup bread flour
• 250ml/ 1cup water (could be replaced by milk, or 50/50 water and milk)

Ingredients of bread:

• 1½ cups bread flour
• 1 cup wholemeal flour
• 3tbsp+2tsp caster sugar
• 1tsp salt
• 3 tbsp chia seeds
• 1 large egg
• 1tbsp+1tsp milk powder (to increase fragrance, optional)
• ½cup milk
• 120gm tangzhong (use half of the tangzhong you make from above)
• 2 tsp instant yeast
• 3tbsp butter (cut into small pieces, softened at room temperature)

Making TangZhong:

1. Mix flour in water well without any lumps. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring consistently with a wooden spoon, whisk or spatula to prevent burning and sticking while you cook along the way.

2. The mixture becomes thicker and thicker. Once you notice some “lines” appear in the mixture for every stir you make with the spoon. It’s done. You get the tangzhong. (Some people might like to use a thermometer to check the temperature. After a few trials, I found this simple method works every time.) Remove from heat.

3. Transfer into a clean bowl. Cover with a cling wrap sticking onto the surface of tangzhong to prevent from drying up. Let cool. Chill in fridge for several hours. (I chill it overnight.) Then the tangzhong is ready to be used. (Note: When you are ready to use the tangzhong, just measure out the amount you need and let it rest in room temperature for a while before adding into other ingredients. The tangzhong can be stored up to a few days as long as it doesn't turn grey. If so, you need to discard and cook some more.)

Making bread:

1. Combine all dry ingredients: flours, salt, sugar , chia seeds and instant yeast in a bowl. Make a well in the center. Whisk and combine all wet ingredients: milk, egg and tangzhong, then add into the well of the dry ingredients. Knead until you get a dough shape and gluten has developed, then knead in the butter. Mind you, it’d be quite messy at this stage (That's why I used a bread maker). Keep kneading until the dough is smooth, not sticky and elastic. To test if the dough is ready, you might stretch the dough. If it forms a thin “membrane”, it’s done. The time of kneading all depends on how hard and fast you knead. (Note: I use bread maker to do this hardest part and messy job for me. I added the wet ingredients into my bread maker first, then followed by the dry ingredients. The yeast is the last to add.)

2. Knead the dough into a ball shape. Place in a greased bowl and cover with a wet towel or cling wrap. Let it proof till it's doubled in size, about 40 minutes (Note: the time will vary and depends on the weather. The best temperature for proofing is 28C. I still used my bread maker in this stage. And my bread maker has a heater.)

3. Transfer to a clean floured surface. Deflate and divide the dough into four equal portions. Knead into ball shapes. Cover with cling wrap, let rest for 15 minutes.

4. Roll out each portion of the dough with a rolling pin into an oval shape. Sprinkle bacon and cheese evenly as much as you like. Roll from the upper, shorter end down to the bottom (as picture shown). Flatten the dough with your rolling pin. Then roll once again. The seals face down.

5. Arrange the rolled-up dough in a greased or non-stick loaf tin (as picture shown). Leave it for the 2nd round of proofing, about 40 minutes, or until the dough rises up to 3/4 of the height of the tin inside.

6. Brush whisked egg on surface. Bake in a pre-heated 180C (356F) oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and tin. Transfer onto a wire rack and let cool completely. Slice to serve or place in an airtight plastic bag or container once it's thoroughly cooled.

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On another note, remember my pizza post a few weeks ago? I'm pretty stoked it was featured in Gourmet LIVE last week. Check it out along with other great pizza recipes!

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Banana Mango Cake

I am going to be trite here and say something you have heard a million times recently:

I can't believe it's almost Christmas! And I can't believe another year has gone by!

What an eventful revolution around the sun it has been - so many changes, laughter, tears, joy, personal growth (which I wish there were more of!) and blessings. Another year of God's faithfulness.

What have I been up to apart from humming Disney songs (thanks to all those people who changed their facebook profile to Disney characters!) and eating buttered corns?

Well, I've signed up for this website which requires me to fill in my personal information like what I do in my spare time and what my daily routine is like. I wrote about which type of people I am compatible and can get along with. Things I can't stand in a person. You get the picture. I am trying to be 'matched' and connected with the people in this city.

I mean to me, this seems like the last resort. Especially if you are a bit desperate and just can't find 'the one'?  So, today I met up with a potential 'match' after work. I went over to the that person's place actually. 

Whoa, you're thinking...aren't you moving a little bit too fast Viv?!

Friends, I don't know what you're thinking, but I am looking for a flatmate/roommate of course! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to lead you on. To think that this is some juicy post. But I just couldn't stop chuckling to myself when I was filling out the flatmate finder form. This is just a bit funny to me.

But yes, I am moving. Again. It's hard. It's tiring. It's oh-very-exciting. The house I saw tonight wasn't the one unfortunately. It was nice and warm. But it needs to work on its hygiene a little bit to be considered a contender. 

Let's hope the next few ones I see will be good! I'm dreaming about a light filled kitchen with some mango trees in the backyard.

Just because, I love mangoes. 

When life don't give you enough bananas, you can just use mangoes. Truly.

I was having a dilemma when I was making my usual banana cake weeks ago, only to find at the last minute that one banana was missing!  Calm down. Quick, think of your feet! What do I have. Mangoes! Now, where have I heard about mango bread before? Thanks Deb! I remember she said that mango bread is the Hawaiian's answer to our banana bread!

I used my usual banana bread recipe and just substituted a banana for 1 small mango. I also added in some nutmeg and cinnamon.

The verdict? This is like eating the most fragrant piece of cake ever. When I took a bite, I was thinking, 'This tastes sooo pretty'. Weird I know. But the mango and nutmeg add much 'perfume' to this banana bread that I can just imagine having this with a cup tea with my future potential flatmates in our mango-tree filled backyard.

Banana Mango Cake
Inspired by How to be a Domestic Goddess

• 175g plain flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 50g unsalted butter, melted
• 50ml grapeseed oil (or similar neutral cooking oil)
• 1/4 cup yoghurt (I used greek yoghurt)
• 150g sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3 small, very ripe bananas (about 300g weighed without skin), mashed
• 1 medium sized mango (Updated 8/12/2010: it's Mango not Banana - sorry for the typo!)
• (optional) a handful of chopped pecans (just because I found them in the pantry)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 170ºC/gas mark 3 and get started on the rest.

2. Put the flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt in a medium-sized bowl and, using your hands or a wooden spoon, combine well.

3. In a large bowl, mix the melted butter, grapeseed oil, yoghurt and sugar and beat until blended. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the mashed bananas and mangoes (cut into small cubes)

4. Then, with your wooden spoon, stir in the pecans (optional) and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture, a third at a time, stirring well after each bit.

5. Scrape into the loaf tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 1-1 1/4 hours. When it's ready, an inserted toothpick or fine skewer should come out cleanish.

6. Leave in the tin on a rack to cool, and eat thickly or thinly sliced, as you prefer.

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Curry Seafood Bruschetta

Remember the time when I used up half a French baguette from Baker's Delight and stuffed it with prawn and cream cheese (and ate it all by myself because I had no one to share it with?)

I thought it's about time that I post about the other half...it's fearful symmetry! (A terribly poetic usage, I know.)

And also to remind you that there are only a few days left for the Baker's Delight challenge - a chance for you to win a voucher to sample some of their new artisan range - just leave a comment on that post for your chance to win! :D 

Seafood curry is a first for me. And it made my kitchen smell crazy delicious that I'm pretty sure the neighbours were standing outside my door sniffing through the cracks. Scary (imaginary) neighbours.  The baguette is toasted to perfect crunchiness and the rich seafood and melting cheese that goes on top of it makes it the perfect snack anytime during the day.

Curry Seafood Bruschetta

• 1/2 French baguette
• 80-100g mixed seafood (fresh or frozen - I used fresh from the local seafood shop)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil 
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 3 tbsp milk
• 2 tbsp cream
• salt and pepper to taste
• 50g cheese (I used mozarella)
• handful of herbs (like parsley)

Preheat oven to 200C.

1. Put a pan over medium heat and once hot, add the olive oil and garlic. Stir until fragrant and slightly golden. 

2. Defrost the mixed seafood if necessary and add to the pan along with the herbs.

3. Once cooked/heated up, add the curry powder and stir around the pan until combined.

4. Add the milk and cream - let it cook for a few minutes and add the salt and pepper. 

5. Slice the baguette into around 2cm thick slices. Using a small knife, make a cut (lightly) around the centre of the slice and press down on it to create a cavity (to hold more toppings!).

6. Put the seafood mixture into the cavity of the baguette and put the cheese on top of each.

7. Back at 200C until the cheese melts (roughly 5-10 minutes - keep an eye out to make sure that sides of the baguette doesn't burn.)

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Chocolate and Apple French Toast

Ok, this isn't how it was supposed to happen this morning.

I'm usually pretty good with breakfast.  I have my heart healthy oatmeal or quinoa and a whole lot of fruit on a normal day. And if you have been reading my blog, you'd know that I do try to post healthy recipes and enjoy taking out 'bad' ingredients in my meals and substituting them with more wholesome alternatives.

But maybe today just wasn't a normal day.

You see, I woke up craving for chocolate. And some jazz. A strange morning indeed.



Then a block of chocolate with raisons and pistachio from Koko Black was just sitting on top of my dressers.

It was meant to be sent to a friend in Sydney last week but unfortunately I left it near my window and the sun melted the chocolate and turned it slightly wonky shaped.

That can only mean one thing. I need to buy another block of chocolate...and eat the wonky one myself.

So I turned it into a french toast along with apples. 

Oh my...I'm not sure if this was a good idea afterall.

Because I don't know if I can ever go back to my oatmeal. 

As if french toasts aren't tempting enough, the addition of the melting chocolate goo and the crunch of the apples makes eating this so finger-licking good. I think bananas or strawberries would work well here too.

Chocolate and Apple French Toast

Inspired by Masa

Serves 4

• 8 slices of toast (I used multi-grain)
• 1 Fuji apple (don't use granny smith)
• 2 blocks of chocolate
• Handful of Almond slices

Flour Batter

• 1 tbsp of flour
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp melted butter

Milk Batter

• 1 egg
• 200ml milk
• 1 tbsp sugar (I used brown sugar)

1. Mix all the ingredients from the Flour Batter section of the ingredients together in a small bowl.

2. Peel and slice the apple thinly and place evenly on the toast. 

3. Break a block of chocolate in half, and place it on top of the apples on the toast.

4. Use a spoon to carefully ladle the flour batter onto the side of the toast before placing another slice of toast on top of it. Place a plate on top of the 2 slices to ensure they stick together.

5. Mix the ingredients from the Milk/Egg Batter together in a large bowl and dip the 2 'glued' slices of toast into the batter on both sides. Make sure you don't dip it for too long otherwise the toasts will be soggy.



6. Turn the gas on low heat, add some butter as once it's melted add the sliced almonds and gently stir around the pan.

7. Place the batter-dipped sandwich onto the pan directly on top of the almonds and leave it there until it is golden brown on the bottom side. Flip the sandwich over and again wait until it is golden brown. Remember the gas/stove is to be set on low, you don't want the crust to be burnt and the chocolate not melting inside.

8. Once out of the pan, place on a board and cut it in half!

Oh, and it might be a good idea to sprinkle some icing sugar (powder sugar) on the toast. I didn't have them in my pantry.

But yeah, you know the rest.

Go make yourself some tea or coffee and sit back. Watch the rain outside (raining on Melbourne Cup weekend!) and and turn on some sweet vocal jazz ;)

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Chocolate-Banana Marble Bread

I'd put banana bread in the same category as my childhood friends - it's been in my life for as long as I can remember (and also the first thing I've baked in my life), and we've been through a lot together.

Good days, bad days, un-inspired days...the day when I resigned from my first full-time job (last week)...well, what else but banana bread!

Maybe what I love is the practicality of it. Like an all-purpose baked good that you can use in all situations. I mean, it really is the answer to some of life's toughest situations...like when you are:

a) so late for work and don't have time to make breakfast

b) incredibly stuck at work and the only thing left to do is to bribe colleagues with baked goods

c) in need to make your house smell truly domesticated...(there is a reason why banana bread is in Nigella's How to be a domestic goddess)

d) required to bake something at the last minute for people which says I-need-to-impress-but-I-don't-want-you-to-know-so-I-made-this-to-feign-indifference (don't under-estimate the power of the humble banana bread!)

Today, I introduce to you a fancier banana bread with a twist (of chocolate).

This is the first time I've used this recipe and the process is definitely more lengthy than my usual one (which I will post up another day!)

Chocolate-Banana Marble Bread
Adapted from The Art and Soul of Baking

Note: The recipe calls for cake flour instead of the usual all purpose flour. You can make your own cake flour: for every cup of cake-flour required by the recipe, take a cup of all purpose flour - remove 2 tablespoons of it and replace it with 2 tbsp of cornflour. Then sift 5-6 times.

• 2 large or 3 medium very ripe bananas, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup (2 ounces) buttermilk, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups (7 ounces) sifted cake flour (see note above)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) unsifted unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder
• 3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounce) boiling water, plus more if needed
• 1 1/2 sticks (six ounces) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup (7 ounces) sugar
• 2 large eggs at room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and position an oven rack in the center. Lightly coat the loaf pan with melted butter or high-heat canola-oil spray and line it with a piece of parchment paper that extends 1 inch beyond the long edge of both sides of the pan. Peel the bananas and place them in the bowl of the food processor.

Process to a smooth puree, or mash them in a bowl using a fork. Measure 1 cup of the puree and transfer it to a medium bowl, discarding the rest of the puree or saving it for another use. Add the buttermilk and vanilla and whisk just until blended. Set aside.

Use a fine-mesh strainer to sift the cake flour, baking soda, and baking powder together into a medium bowl. Whisk to blend well. Set aside. Place the cocoa powder in the small bowl. Pour the boiling water over the coca and stir until it forms a smooth paste — it should run thickly off the spoon. If it is too thick, add another tablespoon of boiling water and stir again. Set aside.

Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of the stand mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until the butter is very light, almost white in color, 4 to 5 minutes. Scrape down the bowl with a spatula. Turn the mixer to medium speed and add the eggs, 1 tablespoon at a time, completely blending in each addition before adding the next. About halfway through the eggs, turn off the mixer and scrape down the bowl with the spatula, then continue adding the rest of the eggs. Scrape down the bowl and finish blending the batter by hand.

Transfer half of the batter to the second medium bowl. Add the cocoa paste and, using the rubber spatula, gently but thoroughly blend it into the batter.

Drop alternating spoonfuls of dark and light batters into the prepared pan, but marbleize by using a spoon to gently turn the batter over in 3 places down the length of the pan.

Bake the banana bread for 55 to 65 minutes, until firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Transfer to a rack to cool completely. When cool, remove from the pan, peel off the parchment paper, and cut slices by sawing gently with a serrated knife.

While this banana bread is quite good (very soft and refined), I don't really think it is all that necessary to spend so much time on a banana bread (unless you do have the time!). Normally making banana bread is a one bowl task for me, but with this recipe be prepared to do a little bit more washing up ;)

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