"Healthy" Cake

Banana-oatmeal-oat bran-yogurt cake.  Lightly sweetened with raw honey.

I may have to bake more of this and freeze them, and have them for breakfast (or for the occasional snack time).

Congee and pot sticker dumplings

Warm congee on a chilly day.  Here, this congee is accompanied with homemade veggie pot stickers and sauteed cabbage and carrots.  I actually enjoyed making pot stickers, and it might be something that I'll play around with on a rainy day.

So some additional add-ins that I used and you may also like in your congee too: sesame oil, scallions, fried tofu puffs, hot sauce, parsley, thousand year old eggs, quail eggs, chicken eggs (yolk only), etc.

I used the Shanghai Style dumpling wrapper, because it's the right thickness and the right texture too.  They're crispy and chewy at the same time.

Spicy Scallion Corn Waffles!

These corn waffles are definitely my favorite so far from all the waffles that I've made.  They actually got more crispy as they cooled down from the heat.  I was going to add some mexican cheese to the batter too, but I didn't have any and was too lazy to run to the store.  Ahh, well.  They still taste very good!  The scallions work well with the cornmeal batter and bits of jalapeno and sambal oelek sauce.  

The batter I used was a mix-n-match of things I have on hand.  Only one jalapeno!  So I used some sambal for more heat.

Challah French Toast Waffles

What to do when you really want a waffles for brunch, but also really want to make french toast, because you have Challah bread? Well, if there are lots of people around, I'd make both (to eat both) because I'm a little piggy. But since it's just my sister and I, I made challah french toast in a waffle machine. It turned out really good too!


I gave the french toast extra flavor by adding the zest of an orange and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. For the sauce, there wasn't any maple syrup in the house (not a fan of it much anyway) so I made some dulce de leche to drizzle on top. You can buy it in a jar, or just slowly cook it on the stove. It is very simple.

The orange zest added a taste of freshness to the french toast. I think I made a bit too much dulce de leche though. There is still too much left in the fridge currently, and I may need to turn that into dulce de leche cupcakes... ^_^

Soaked challah, with flecks of orange zest, ready for waffling!

The challah bread I used was simply a knotted challah bread bun from TJ's. I split it in half, so that each piece is about 1/2 inch think. It's the right thinkness to make french toast waffles.

This is just a technique post, so I don't think there's a need for a recipe. You can flavor the french toast anyway you want. With chili flakes, stuffed with cheese, encrusted with herbs, cinnamon-banana, different bread, etc. Limitless. I know I'll be having fun with the waffle machine.

P.S. Thanks again Kiwi, for the waffle machine. :)

Whole Wheat Raisin Bread

Soft (100%) whole wheat bread with extra plumpy raisins.

This bread had lots of flavor from the whole wheat flour, honey and raisins that I didn't even eat it with any jam or other spread. The crust of this bread stayed crispy even after a few hours.

Loved this bread for breakfast.

Too Cheesy??

The Spicy 'Chi Heart Pizza- Kimchi Pizza!

Heart shaped is kinda cheesy, but I liked it! I've read a lot on the internet, and apparently, a great combination is pepperoni and kimchi on pizza. Pork goes with everything! :-(

Instead of kimchi alone, I put some crispy veggie ham and sauteed onions to give the pizza more flavor. The sauce is mixture of several different HOT hot sauces and some tomato sauce. However, thinking it over the next day, I thought it might be good to have some pickles on it. Weird, but it needs a sour or salty taste to go along with the spiciness. And some more herbs too. A kimchi pizza do over is in order, I guess!

Breakfast Egg Pizza

Second pizza that night- runny eggs, red bell peppers, chile flakes, corn, cheese, and green onions.

This is my favorite out of the two! Maybe it could use some more eggs. Maybe the kimchi pizza could have used an egg or two, too.^o^

Congee..!

With thousand year old eggs.

I like to fry up some scallions and ginger too, to mix into the congee. Add some soy sauce/fish sauce, sesame oil, and chili flakes. yummee!

Some people like congee loose and liquidy, but I prefer to have it thick and creamy (from the rice starches). One of my favorite things to eat on a cold day.

If you eat meat, you can saute some minced pork with garlic and add it into the congee. That would make it heartier.

Spicy Scrambled Eggs w/ Roti

Recently, I came across a blog that mentioned a recipe by Nigella Lawson. It was a recipe about spicy scrambled eggs with fried corn tortilla strips.

I thought that is a great idea to get some textural contrast and bring something new to scrambled eggs or an omelette. You can make it more of a meal with some beans or something too. Well, I like the idea, but would never have tortillas on hand around the house.

What I do happened to have, is some homemade spicy spinach roti. Rotis... tortillas... they're kind of similar. After frying up some strips of roti (until they're crunchy), simply add them into some eggs, onions, and chilies.

And these are some good eggs! I had them with whole wheat sourdough toasts, but you can make a sandwich of any kind. Maybe wrap them up in some roti- and have a fried roti in eggs, in a roti wrap? Mmm hehe ^-^

Taiyaki!

Wiki: Taiyaki

For these taiyakis, I made them with adzuki bean and mochi filling.

Blueberries are also great, or my niece's favorite on anything- NUTELLA!

The nutella just oozes out when you bite into the cake.
..................................
Taiyaki batter:

- 1 1/2 cups water (or milk)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbs sugar
- 1 egg
- 6 oz, or about 1 cup adzuki bean filling
- spray oil to coat pan

1. Prepare adzuki bean filling, or buy from the store. Soak beans overnight, and cook it the next day with enough liquid that the beans will cook until very soft. Drain out excess liquid, if necessary. Then stir in some sugar (to taste) into the beans and mash them. You can do this 1 or 2 days before.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda+baking powder and salt together. Mix well.

3. In another bowl, beat up an egg with sugar, then add in water/milk.

4. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until combined and still clumpy. Don't over-mix.

5. Spray taiyaki pan with oil, heat it on both sides.

6. Pour some batter into the mold, add some adzuki bean filling, and then pour some more batter on top to cover it. Close the pan and flip it over. Cook until golden brown. Repeat making the fishies!

[Steps 2-4, you can substitute with buying pre-mixed pancake batter. Just add eggs and milk according to instructions.]

Sourdough pancakes, anyone?

I prefer blueberry pancakes... hehe