Afternoon tea + win some scones!

Eeek. I feel like I've been on an adrenaline rush since the weekend. I am finally sitting down.

Wobbly leg.

Sugared out.

Only myself to blame - I had scheduled to host an afternoon tea chez moi yesterday (Tue) but since I had only gotten off the plane on Monday, I started to get very worried that night as I only had a very rough idea what I was going to make.

Fortunately, there weren't too many disastrous incidents (although at one stage I had melted chocolate streaking down my top to my pants - which forced me to take a timeout and do the laundry) and I tweaked some recipes (which I had bookmarked to make in the past) as I went along and took 'shortcuts', not as in omitting certain steps but using simpler recipes with ingredients that I have ready in my pantry.

And thank goodness that I didn't have to make my own scones too! Baker's Delight sent me some of their new flavoured scones released recently - which are packed full of real chunks of apple, juicy sultanas and cinnamon!

So, I did manage to pull off a simple afternoon tea. Overall, it didn't take too much time to prepare - I started the preparation the night before in between making dinner and watching the Amazing Race, and I started on the savouries an hour before my guests arrived.

Phewww.

Anyways, here it is:

Almost Last Minute Afternoon Tea Viv's way!

{scones} - Courtesy of Baker's Delight

Scones are an essential part of any afternoon tea - with clotted cream and homemade jam of course :) Love love warm scones so I lightly toasted them in the oven just before serving! Delicious! Scroll to the bottom of the post to see details on how to win a voucher from Baker's Delight!

{something chocolatey} - Rich Chocolate Tart

I'm not sure if chocolate could be absent from any (ladies') afternoon tea.

Why I love this chocolate tart:

one. The filling is rich, bittersweet (70% cacao) and sooo smooth.

two. The base is not buttery and sweet, and this whole wheat olive oil tart shell is seriously the easiest AND healthiest one I've come across (they're from Lisa, who I think is the tart queen).

three. It's a helpful and generous tart - it lent its leftover dough to the base of my quiche! Time saver! 

{something nutty} - Raw Blueberry 'Cheese' Cake

Ok, I don't want to be misleading you, but this is not a real cheesecake. It has none of that cream cheese in it - just loads of raw cashew nut blitzed together with a bit of frozen blueberries for the colour! This is a super simple recipe but the cashews require soaking in water for 3 hours (why? read about it here) which I did before anything else.

Oh, and the base took less than 10 minutes to prepare from start to finish!

{something fruity} - Ispahan Agar Agar

This is a cheats way for me to re-live my Paris days with Pierre Herme's Ispahan macarons that I fell for (I bought them again in Japan but it's just not the same...sigh...memories...).

It has a thin layer of pureed raspberry and thicker layer of lychee agar agar. I was going to use the real deal (blend the lychee fruit with the juice) but hey, time's a-ticking so I only used the juice from the lychee can! Canned lychee and frozen raspberries are my helpful friends here.

{something savoury} - Smoked Salmon Avocado and Green Goddess Tea Sandwich

As much as I adore all things sweet, the savoury tier at any afternoon tea is my favourite.

I decided to do a simple avocado and smoked salmon tea sandwich, as well as the more labour intensive Green Goddess tea sandwich which is filled with loads of yummy herbs! They're adapted from Joy's!

I know,  I should've used white bread but you gotta work with what you've got you know? 

{something eggy} - Mushroom and Pea Quiche

This is the simplest quiche! The tart shell is already pre-made (using the choc tart's dough from above) so I just had to thank my lovely freezer for its green pea contribution and also some mushrooms.

See, just put frozen peas and few slices of mushroom (I didn't have the smaller button mushroom) and pour in the eggy/cheesy mixture and bake away!

{something soupy} - Cauliflower and Potato Soup

Ok, I definitely would've run out of time if I had to make a soup but guess what, I'm smart and I stole somebody else's soup (which I found in the fridge) :) Desperate time calls for desperate measure, right?

{tea} - Assorted

Apparently it is rude to offer tea bags in an afternoon/high tea setting. Maybe a British high tea expert lady would frown at me, but at least I get to bring out my special tea box that I won ages ago!

Growing up I've always been told off for my poor table manners and unlady-like behaviours, so I had to read up on some etiquette for my own benefit:

• Always pour the tea into the cup before the milk or sugar (and never add lemon slices when there's milk otherwise you'll get a curdled mess!)
• Gently stir the tea with a spoon - the spoon should not touch the side or the bottom of the cup.
• Spoon stays on the saucer and not in the cup right?
• Hmmm and it's not cool to dunk your scones into the tea.
• Finally, take small sips! :)

What a day!

Great company, delicious treats and warm cuppa tea makes it all worth it at the end. 

I hope you all a wonderful week ahead wherever you are.

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Now, for your chance to win 2 of $10 and 1 of $5 vouchers (so 3 winners in total!) to be used in any Baker's Delight store in Australia.

How to enter:

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post!

The 3 winners will be chosen at random.

This giveaway is only open to Australian residents only. Sorry!

(If you do not have a blogger account, just select 'Name/URL' next to 'Comment as' and remember to leave your e-mail addresss so I can contact you for your mailing address.)

The Baker's Delight giveaway closes on Wednesday 29th June 2011 at 10pm AEST and the winner will be announced on Thursday June 30th 2011.

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Links to recipes below:


Note: For each of the recipes, I have scaled the ingredient measurements accordingly (mostly by half)!

Rich Chocolate Tart

Whole wheat olive oil shell recipe from Tart ju jour.

Chocolate filling from Dulce Delight.

Raw Cashew 'Cheese' Cake 

'Cheese' filling from Roost Blog.

Cake Base:

• Digestive biscuit
• Butter, melted

I didn't use the almond + date as a base from the recipe -  instead I bashed 50g of digestive biscuits with 20g of melted butter in a plastic bag using a rolling pin. Then I push the wet crumbs into the base of a small 15cm round baking pan (using the back of a spoon) and put in the freezer for 5 minutes before I poured the filling inside.

Ispahan Agar Agar

• Agar agar powder
• Frozen or fresh raspberry
• 1 can of lychee

The general rule of thumb for making agar agar is:

..for every 1 cup of liquid, add 1/2 tsp of agar powder. Really. That's all. The rest, taste as you go along.

(note: if the ingredient you're using is more acidic like raspberries you will need to add a little bit more agar powder).

I pureed 3/4 cup of raspberry in a blender and put it through a fine sieve to remove the seeds. 

Then I cooked a small amount of water with agar agar powder, and once it boils I let it cool down slightly before I add in the puree of raspberry. I then transfer this into a square tin to let cool and set.

Meanwhile, add the lychee juice + agar agar powder into a pan and bring to boil. Let it cool slightly before adding to the raspberry layer. Pop a few whole raspberries into the lychee liquid if you like!

Smoked Avocado Tea Sandwich

Recipe from Eating Well.

Green Goddess Tea Sandwich

Recipe from Joy The Baker.

Pea and Mushroom Quiche

Quiche base and filling adapted from Tart ju jour - I used frozen peas and mushroom instead of onions + tomatoes in Lisa's recipe.

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Edamame beans pancake

The weekend is here. Hello!

June is here too.  Hi too, but I just didn't expect you in such a hurry!

How can it be that I haven't accomplished much this year and we're already half way through the year?

Not good.

Especially if I continue to get through my weekends like this.

And by 'this', I mean something along the lines of sleeping in and long lazy breakfast.

Like today.

But in my defense, breakfast shouldn't be hurried.

I've enough of breakfast on the run in my life that I almost think they should be banned.

While recovering from my wisdom teeth extraction a few weeks ago, I've learnt how to eat properly again.

Slowly. Purposefully. With intention. Savouring each bite. Not gulping down. Sitting down (the multi-tasker in me used to eat and run errands at the same time). T.V off. Away from computer or any techie devices. And preferably with good companies (but alone is also do-able too!).

So, edamame beans is a type of green soybean that is normally cooked in salted water and eaten as a side dish in Japanese (and sometimes Chinese) cuisine.

It is also something that we could all do with more off as it's loaded with carbs, protein, dietary fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, folic acid, manganese and vitamin K... Good healthy food to start the weekend ensures a happy and productive weekend (disclaimer: not tried and tested but will report back with my results post-weekend).

This morning, I've chosen to have my edamame beans pureed (with almond milk) and added to my pancake mix. The taste the beans wasn't prominent in the pancake so next time I will definitely use more in my recipe, but it does add a beautiful faint green colour to this breakfast food.

Edamame Beans Pancakes
Inspired by Masa

• 1 cup all-purpose flour + 2 tbsl whole wheat flour
• 
2 tbsp honey or agave nectar

• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 cup cooked edamame beans (you could use up to 3/4 cup)
• 
1 cup almond milk (or regular full cream/skim milk)
• 
1 1/2 tbsp oil
 (I used rice bran oil)
• 1 egg

• sprinkle of salt
• honey (to taste)

1. Put the edamame beans and the milk in a blender and mix until smooth.

2. Whisk together the bean mixture from previous step, oil, honey and egg in a bowl.

3. Combine with the dry ingredients - flour. baking powder, salt.

4. Heat a nonstick pan with few drops of oil and ladle some mixture into hot pan. This recipe will make 3 large/thick pancakes, or 4-5 smaller pancakes.

Don't forget to top with some good quality honey too!

This weekend I'm going to be celebrating Dragon Boat Festival by eating lots of zongzi (sticky rice stuffed with fillings in bamboo leaves!)

And I also have a flight to catch to go back to my other 'home'! 

Sounds like a busy weekend already methinks!

Happy weekend and talk to you soon!

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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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Tuiles aux Amandes (Almond Tuiles)

Random Wednesday....

zero Number of wisdom teeth I have left as of last week. 

one Sensation - painful (especially when you've forgotten to buy the painkillers after the anaesthetic wears off!)

two Words - Thank you! For your lovely comments in the previous post (and sorry that some of them were removed in the recent blogger stuff up that you probably know too well). 

three Mums with blogs which I follow (and meant to have shared in the last Mother's Day post!) I don't have kids myself but I always look forward to reading what these ladies have to share.

Stefanie from Ni Hao Y'all

Adeye from No Greater Joy Mom

Lorraine from With a Grateful Prayer and a Thankful Heart

four Number of sewing and wrench/hammer-like tools I saw my dentist putting into my mouth. Dentists are not in my good books, y'know?

five Years since I visited Paris - I've been daydreaming about it all day today. Not that I particularly have itchy feet for traveling at the moment, but listening to Le Festin from Ratatouille makes me want to fly to there right now. 

six Things that take my breath away. 

- Andrea Bocelli's voice

- Orange sunsets

- Photographs which evoke certain emotions which cannot be put into words

- Undeserved kindness and understanding

- Running (although it's more like panting)

- Pleasant surprises (like a box with a puppy inside *hint hint*. I'm not sure who I'm hinting at sadly!)

seven Number of times I've listened to Le Festin since the beginning of this blog post. You see, I don't get bored very easily. I'm about to click replay now. 

Ok, so you don't need me to tell you that almond is good for you. Lots of vitamin E and good fats for a healthy heart. What's not to love about it? Try and have a fist sized amount of almonds a day but don't over consume them or you might have problem fitting into that pair of pants. Just being frank!

So seriously, go nuts for them!

These almond tuiles were made on a whim on a weeknight. I wanted something without too much flour and butter. Nothing too heavy. Something crispy. Something light. Something to go with a cup of tea. 

And these are the perfect answer.

I would recommend that you make these tuiles thinner than mine (as photographed) so that they'd be even crispier and bake faster. Don't be afraid to break the almond slices into small pieces too with the back of your fork.

Almond Tuiles

Adapted from Pierre Herme

Makes 25-30 (I only made 20 because mine were thicker)

• 70g granulated sugar (I used 50g)
• 40g egg white
• few drops vanilla essence
• 125g almond slices
• 15g melted butter (around 1 tbsp)
• 10g cake flour (around 1tbsp)

1. Combine the sugar, egg white and vanilla essence in a large bowl. Stir with a rubber spatula.

2. Add the almond slices into the bowl and mix gently as to not break the slices.

3. Add the melted butter into the mixture and stir to combine.

4. Leave this mixture at room temperature for 1 hour (remember to cover in plastic wrap!)

5. Sift the flour into the mixture and stir gently to incorporate fully. Leave this at room temperature for 30 minutes. 

6. On parchment paper (or any baking paper), spoon the almond mixture into a circle as thinly as you can, about 6cm in diameter. I made a stencil (6cm diameter) to ensure that the tuile is as round as possible.

7. Bake for 12-15 minutes at 160C.

This is probably the first time in a looong time since I didn't blog on a weekend or start of the week. So I don't have to say hope y'all have or had a good weekend.

But can I just say - I hope you smile today :)

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Happy Mother's Day + Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Today especially, I love all mothers. Any mothers. Your mother and my mother. 

I smiled at mothers in the mall and helped a mother drag her crying/screaming boy out of the bus.

And who doesn't love the word, Mother. The first proper word out of most of our mouths!

So, my mother...my sunshine in the rain, and my oasis in the desert. She exudes unconditional love and infallible encouragement in my life.

And I will forever be unable to write down in words her worth to me. 

Recently, I flipped through old family albums and stumbled upon pictures of Mother's younger days. Days where I didn't exist...days where Dad wasn't even in the picture (don't worry Dad, there weren't any other boys). And I slowly came into a  shocking realisation...she had a life before us! (Thanks to generation ME upbringing).

So, here we go. Things I didn't know about Mother (in all colours and shades).

1. She sported a 70's hairstyle. I only got to see her 90's shoulder pads (eek!) Either way, she was up with fashion (unlike the girls she gave birth to.)

2. She's adventurous. I mean, do people actually do this kinda thing back in the days? She tells me how she had no money for food or piano lessons and here she is parachuting? I need an explanation. 

3. Mother's a gambler good at maths. I suspect she might have been one of those card counters. That'll explain why she can do crazy multiplications/divisions in her head. She denied these statements but I don't know.

4. She's creative and likes to be different. Mother cut out the original collar of her uniform and sewed her handmade collars on. 

5. She loves home renovation. Actually I already know about her artistic side but this confirms she doesn't knows how to paint. At all. Or hold a paintbrush even. But she does know how to make a home, a home. Or how to make that ugly cushion work with the sofa. She adds that kinda magic to anything.

Being someone who can't do any maths in her head and will probably pass out before being pushed out of a plane with a parachute, it looks like I didn't inherited much of Mother's genes. Hmmph, surely my sister was kidding when she said they found me in a garbage can, right? Or what was that story about being left outside the doorstep as a baby?

Heck, it doesn't matter. Because she loves me all the same. And that's why we celebrate Mother's Day.

Anyways, like most mothers, my mother is not someone who appreciates fine dining or expensive presents on special occasions, but she much more appreciates a daily phone call or a note, just to say hi.

So this Mother's Day - I've nothing extravagant prepared. Except some flowers and cookies. Rustic whole wheat cookies. Not dainty or pretty I'm afraid, but healthier (just slightly though, with whole wheat). Practical. Mums'll love that.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Good to the Grains
Makes 16-18 cookies

• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 sticks cold butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 cup dark brown sugar (I halved this and recommend you doing so too)
• 1 cup sugar (I halved this)
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 8 ounces chocolate, chopped into bits (recipe calls for bittersweet, I used semi-sweet, because it was what I had)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment or Silpats.

2. Whisk the whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl in which you can use a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugars. Once they are creamy, add the eggs and vanilla. Beat to combine.

4. Add the dry ingredients in two batches and mix. Finally, add the chopped chocolate and just stir to incorporate.

5. Scoop balls of dough that are approximately 3 tablespoons worth. I used a quarter cup scoop to make it easy. Bake for 16-20 minutes, rotating the pans so that they each spend half the bake time on top and half the time on the bottom.

5. When the baking time is up, remove the cookies from the sheets and let them cool.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mother's in the world. 

Thank you for showing me what unconditional love is.

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Pineapple and Papaya Crumble

Hello Monday, hello May and hello You!

_______ makes me happy.

- Snuggling on the couch watching a movie.

- Reading e-mails from friends.

- Listening to oldie songs (and dancing to it like a dork.)

- Walking on fallen leaves....crunch!

- Finding a heart shaped stone (out of approx. 1 gazillion stones on the path!)

- Discovering a new fruit crumble using my favourite fruits.

Isn't there a phrase, a crumble without ice-cream is like a sky without stars? Or a chow-mein without noodles? Or a nerd without braces? There isn't?

Thankfully the ice-cream to the rescue at the last minute....

There you go. A complete crumble.

You may already now I'm a huge fan of crumbles...they're one of my ultimate comfort foods. And this crumble is second to my all time favourite apple crumble. Yum!

Anyways, I hope you a nice Monday today :)

Pineapple and Papaya Crumble

Adapted from Joy the Baker
I halved the recipe to make 2 small casserole dish.

• 1 papaya, peeled and diced into cubes
• 1 medium diced fresh pineapple
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar (I omitted this)
• 3 teaspoons cornstarch
• sprinkle of ground cinnamon (just because it's autumn).
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• pinch of salt
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
• 1 1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup brown sugar

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177C).

2. Toss diced fruit together in an 8-inch square baking dish (I used 2 small casserole dish). In a small dish, whisk together 3 tablespoons sugar, cornstarch, 1/4 cup of flour, cinnamon and pinch of salt. Toss the mixture with the diced fruit. Set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add the cold butter cubes. Use your fingers to break up the cold butter cubes into the flour mixture. Add the oats and toss together until the butter bits are about the size of the oat flakes.

4. Pour the oat mixture over the prepared fruit. Place in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until juices from the fruit bubble up around the sides of the pan.

5. Remove the crumble from the oven and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving. Crumble is delicious served warm with vanilla ice cream.

6. Crumble can we wrapped and refrigerated for up to 4 days. Reheat in the microwave or wrapped in foil in a low oven.

______ makes you happy today?

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