Salt-Kissed Buttermilk Cake

Salt-kissed. What a name. Perfect for our Second First-Kissed Anniversary, I thought. It's super easy and fuss free. I reduced the volume to 1/4 to fit a heart-shaped mould. I should have reduced it to just 1/2 so I could fill the Teddy bear-mould, too.
For some reason they don't sell buttermilk here (although I vaguely remember seeing it once at Central Chitlom). If you can't find it either, mix 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and top it up to one cup with milk. Let it sit for at least 10 minutes.
I like the crunchiness that came from the whole wheat flour. I would add more strawberries (or other berries) next time and not skim on the sugar topping.

Ingredients:

· 2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

· 1 tablespoon baking powder

· 1/2 cup brown sugar

· 1/2 teaspoon salt

· 2 eggs

· 1 cup buttermilk

· 1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled a bit

· zest of 2 lemons

· 1 cup of raspberries (strawberries, in my case.)

· 3 tablespoons large grain sugar

· 1 teaspoon large grain salt (Sea salt works well here.)

Preheat oven to 400. Grease and flour (or line bottom with parchment paper) one 11″ tart pan. (I used a heart-shaped mould)

Combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl. In a separate smaller bowl whisk eggs and buttermilk, then melted butter and zest. Pour the buttermilk mixture over the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Don’t overmix.

Spoon batter into prepared pan, pushing out to edges. Drop berries across the top. (I squished them in a bit too.) Sprinkle with large grain sugar and then salt. Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes until cake is set and slightly golden.

Cauliflower and Quinoa Sushi Roll

This was the recipe that inspired me to cook Japanese. It's the quinoa, really. Quinoa is not only high in amino acids and nutritious but also tastety. I love the subtly nutty flavor of this seeds (NOT a grain). Cooked quinoa is creamy, fluffy and crunchy all at the same time. I once saw red quinoa in a health store in Kuala Lumpur. I should have bought it then. The only type they have here is yellow. According to my Encyclopedia of Healing Foods, quinoa has all the essential amino acids - excellent protein choice for vegan.

I found the recipe uses way too much boiling water for the amount of quinoa it requires. I should have just followed the cooking instruction on the package. Instead of using smoked salmon, I thought I'd try smoked snow fish for a change. I bought a small tin of wasabi powder and somehow figured my way of understanding the Japanese instruction based on the few Chinese characters on the label. It's actually better than most Japanese restaurants.

Makes 4 large rolls

Ingredients

• 250g Cauliflower Florets
  
• 75g Quinoa
  
• 225ml Boiling Salted Water
• 15ml Agave Nectar
• 15ml Rice Wine Vinegar
• 60ml Water
• 2 Tbsp Rice Mirin
• 4 Sheets of Nori
• 6 Spears of Asparagus, cooked
• 120g Smoked Salmon

To serve: pickled ginger, soy sauce and wasabi paste

To make the filling

· Blitz the cauliflower in a food processor until it forms small grains, resembling cooked couscous. (I was lazy to wash the blender and hence used only knife)

· Tip the quinoa into a pan containing the boiling water and cook on a moderate heat for 10 minutes.

· Meanwhile, mix together the agave nectar, rice wine vinegar and water.

· Add the cauliflower and vinegar mixture to the quinoa.

· Continue to cook until the cauliflower is just tender and the quinoa is cooked, adding a little more water if the mixture looks too dry.

· Add the rice mirin and mix well.

· Cover and remove from the heat.

· Leave to cool - the cauliflower and quinoa mixture can be made in advance and left in the fridge until needed.

To assemble the sushi

· Place a nori sheet shiny side down on a sushi rolling mat. You want the shorter side facing you.

· Spread a quarter of the filling onto the half of the nori sheet nearest to you, leaving about 1cm gap from the edge.

· Lay strips of smoked salmon horizontally across the centre of the filling.

· Lay a single row of asparagus horizontally on top of the salmon.

· Moisten the far edge of the nori sheet with a little water.

· Using the sushi mat and your fingers carefully roll the nori sheet up and over the filling.

· Roll up as tight as possible.

· Repeat with the other 3 rolls.

To serve

· Wet a sharp serrated knife and cut each roll into 6-8 portions.

· Serve with Japanese pickled ginger, soy sauce and wasabi paste.

Osaka-style Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki is commonly known to be Japanese-style pizza. This recipe makes Osaka-style okonomiyaki with lots of toppings. Instead of using all-purpose flour, I used whole wheat. This may explain the browner than usual color of my okonomiyaki. I found there were too much eggs and had to strain off the excess. I also replaced green onions with leeks. Instead of using pork or beef as the recipe calls for, I added scallops.

Kew Pie mayonnaise has to be one of the best. I once tried to make it and it was absolutely disastrous. I never thought of making mayonnaise again since then. I wish they would translate the many different Kew Pie on the shelf, not just to Thai but to English, or maybe Chinese or Malay....some form that I can comprehend.... I ended up picking one that was sold at the most number of bottles than others. They must have figured higher demand requires higher supply?
I like to watch bonito flakes. They seem so alive, moving in a worm-like motion. I used to think they were live anyway.

Ingredients:

• 2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cup dashi soup stock or water
• 4-6 eggs
• 1 - 1 1/4 lb cabbage
• chopped scallops
  
• 6 tbsps chopped green onion
• 2/3 cup tenkasu (tempura flakes)

• For toppings:
• Ao-nori (green seaweed)
• Okonomiyaki sauce (or tonkatsu sauce)
• Japanese Mayonnaise (Kew Pie)
• Katsuobushi (bonito flakes)
  

1. Put dashi soup stock in a bowl. Mix the flour in the soup stock. Rest the batter for an hour in the refrigerator.
   
2. Chop cabbage finely. Take about 1/2 cup of the batter (to make one sheet of okonimiyaki) in another bowl. Mix chopped cabbage (about 1/4 cup), chopped green onion (about 1 tbsp), and tempura flakes (about 2 tbsps) in the batter. Make a hole in the middle of the batter and add an egg in the hole. Stir the batter.
   
3. Heat pan and oil slightly. Pour the batter over the pan and make a round. Cook 5-7 minutes and place scallops on top of the okonomiyaki. Flip the okonomiyaki and cook for 5-7 more minutes.
   
4. Flip the okonomiyaki again and spread okonomiyaki (tonkatsu) sauce and mayonnaise on top. Sprinkle aonori over the sauce. Sprinkle with katsuobushi.
   

Japanese Egg Custard - Chawan Mushi

I always like chawan mushi. Unfortunately they almost always come with pork or chicken. And because they are usually pre-mixed in advance, it makes it "impossible" to serve without meat. But now that I know the inside-out of chawan mushi, I could probably tell the waiter to inform the cook to simply pick out the meat before it's put to steamed.

I found the recipe from New York Times. True-hearted Japanese may jump and call foul but believe me this Japanese recipe by the American called Mark Bittman does work. I got a "the best chawan mushi" from Adrian. The original recipe uses watercress of which I omitted. I also added stir-fry shiitake mushroom with garlic. I found myself having little guilty pleasure with the garlic - as though I had found a secret staved away in a treasure trove.

Ingredients

(makes 2)

• 2 sea scallops, quartered
  
• 1 tablespoon of chopped shallot
  
• Salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup shiitake mushroom (caps only), sliced
  
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
  
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  
• 3/4 cups dashi soup
  
• 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
  

1. Bring a pot of water to boil. Divide scallops and shallots among 2 ramekins. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Beat eggs lightly, and combine with dashi soup, and soy sauce.
2. Sautee mushroom and garlic. Stir into eggs mixture.
3. Put ramekins in flameproof baking pan or skillet, and fill with egg mixture. Add boiling water to pan to about halfway up sides of ramekins, and turn heat to high. When water returns to boil, turn heat to low and cover pan tightly.
4. Simmer 15 minutes, then check. Custards are done when set and no longer watery but still quite jiggly. Remove ramekins from water immediately. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Japanese for Second First-Kiss Anniversary

So I named the first time we kissed. I have a mixed feeling: 1. it's been two years. 2. it feels longer than two years. Both in good sense. It feels as though we should have known each other longer than two years. And at the same time, given the events and circumstances surrounding us, it's incredible that 2 years have quietly gone by without much warning.
Same time last year, I marked our First First-Kiss Anniversary with a handmade card. On one page it's a camel posing in front of a temple. It symbolizes the location and witness to our very first kiss: in front of Golden Temple in Yunnan, China, next to a camel. You can tell I made the card because I screwed up the lamination.

True to the spirit of "handmade" and "original", I decided to mark our Second First-Kiss Anniversary with a skill I had yet to develop 365 days ago - COOKING. Not very creative? But I'm making a huge step by going JAPANESE!!! To show how serious I am about the idea, I bought a few Japanese dining wares, too.
What an experience shopping for Japanese ingredients. For example, there's Nori that I needed for sushi roll, not to be confused with Ao-Nori that's to be sprinkled on the Okonomiyaki. And there's also dashi that come with different packaging, forms, shapes, brands and flavours. What about Katsuoboshi and Katsuo? I also owe it to the Japanese housewife who kindly motioned me for Tonkatsu sauce as I was desperately looking for Okonomiyaki sauce.

I learned a very important lesson this afternoon as I was attending to the cauliflower - ALWAYS wash your vegetables. There was a worm on one of the florets. I got freaked out at first and relieved after - I knew people at Fuji didn't lie and sell me non-organic cauliflower. The worm can testify to the non-usage of insecticide.

And so to display my love for the man whom I co-habit with, I made for him Chawan Mushi, Cauliflower and Quinoa Sushi Roll, Osaka-style Okonomiyaki and a non-Japanese inspired Salt-Kissed Buttermilk Cake. In return, he got for me a wristlet that is ABSOLUTELY me and his happy face.

It's definitely on top of my personal best

I was going to make this dinner for our special day tomorrow. But I changed my mind and made it today instead - I have a bigger ambition for tomorrow night. I knew it would be good just by imagining the taste. Indeed. It's so good that I'm kind of regretted of not having to keep it for tomorrow night. After all, tomorrow's dinner is a whole new territory I have been shying from.
Anyway, back to tonight's dinner. I had a Herbed Goat Cheese with Mushroom Relish as appetizer, a Broccoli Salad and Almond Crusted Salmon Fillet with Lemon Leek Cream Sauce as main.
They are all very good recipes to be fair. However, the salmon fillet was so good that it stole the limelight from the other two.

Herbed Goat Cheese with Mushroom Relish

I like how the flan looked when I tipped it over. The mushroom relish with sun dried tomatoes also acted as visual aid to the presentation. I would add more goat cheese next time just for personal preference.

Ingredients:
(make 6 muffin-sized flans)
4 ounces goat cheese
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons chopped herbs (I used parsley and basil)

4 ounces baby bella mushrooms (I used shiitake), chopped
1 1/2 tablespoon butter
3 - 4 sun dried tomatoes , chopped
salt and pepper
3 tablespoons chopped parsley

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Lightly oil muffin tray (I used ramekin).
2. In a bowl, mix together cheese, ricotta, eggs and herbs.
3. Spoon cheese mixture into tray and bake for 25 minutes until puffy and golden brown. Let cool.
4. Sautee mushrooms till fragrant. Add sundried tomatoes and parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Tip flan out from the tray/ ramekin. Spoon mushroom relish over cooled flan.

Broccoli Salad
I feel sorry for this dish. It really is one of the best broccoli salads. It's a shame that it faded into the background over the overwhelmingly good Salmon Fillet. It actually has a pretty insane name - One of the Best Salad in the World Ever! Instead of using sugar, I substituted with Agave nectar. I roasted the raw cashew nuts that I had but I suspect salted cashew nuts (as called by the recipe) were the real deal in this recipe.


Almond Crusted Salmon Fillet with Lemon Leek Cream Sauce

Because I seldom eat fish, and also because I am skeptical of most cooked fish at restaurants, when I cook fish, it's got to be special. I thought this recipe sounded good when I read it. That's an underestimation - not only does it sound good but look and taste GOOD! The almond crust was crispy and it just went perfect with the lemony leek cream sauce. "This is insanely good" to quote from Adrian. Not convinced? How about "It makes me want to kneel down, pause and savor the taste". More testimonial? "Definitely one of the best dishes I have had". Enough said.

Ingredients:
2 Large salmon fillets
1 Cup slivered almonds
1/8 cup bread crumbs
2 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoon butter
juice of 1/2 a lemon
salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons butter
1 large leek, root and green top removed, slice the remaining part thinly
juice of 1 lemon
1 cup cream
salt and pepper to taste

1. Melt butter over medium low heat. Add leek and let cook for 15 minutes. Stirring occasionally.
2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200C.
3. Place fillets on a baking sheet with the skin side down. Season salmon with salt and pepper. Drizzle juice of 1/2 a lemon over the fillets and let sit.
4. In a food processor, blend together almonds, breadcrumbs, garlic cloves and butter.
5. Spread almond mixture over fillets, pressing firmly to adhere.
6. Place the baking sheet on the top second rack of oven. Let broil for about 12 - 15 minutes until browned.
7. Once the leeks are softened and cooked through, add juice of 1 lemon followed by cream. Stir over low heat. The cream will thicken and reduce in half.
8. When the salmons are cooked, pull them out from the oven, gently lift to plate.
9. Top salmon with lemon leek cream sauce. Serve immediately.
   

The easiest food blog

Pee Wee recently turned me on to this amazing website called Taste Spotting. I fell in love with it the instant I saw the many tantalizing food pictures! What a great website; it's a collection of recipes from food blogs all over the world. How convenient!

One of the pictures that caught my eyes was this savory baked zucchini cupcake. It has a rather intriguing name - That Zucchini. It uses thick zucchini coins as cupcake base, mounded with spinach-raisin-almond mix. It took a while to take a liking of its complexity. It's an interesting dish that would do wonder for entertainment. The only thing I would change is to chop up the raisins. You got to really make sure there is raisin in every bite; it could be rather bland without the raisins. If you have time, read also the story the writer wrote on the history of the recipe and how the name That Zucchini came about.

If you knew me, you would have known that I am not a rice person. My lab partner in university used to comment that I was the most non-asian Asian person he knew. The first question (almost) everyone would ask is "what about bread/ noodle/ pasta?" Well, I love bread. Not a big fan of noodle nor pasta. Too starchy for my liking. "So it's the starch?" No. Because I love potatoes.

When Adrian came back from Prague, the very first thing I wanted to do was to cook. I knew he must have missed my cooking. And so I immediately put that into action the next morning with a Roasted Garlic Potatoes in Thyme and Butter. You will never go wrong with garlic. And with a hint of lemon juice, this herb roasted potatoes were a hit when paired with Smoked Salmon Frittata.

My father used to make this baked potato boat that I really liked. The picture of the Pesto Baked Potatoes reminded me of those days when my father would take out the convection oven and make a whole bunch of baked potato stuffed with luncheon meats (yeap, those were the carnivorous days). The potatoes didn't look anything like those in the recipe. But heck! They taste real good. I added some uncalled-for blue cheese to the stuffing as I remembered a double-cheese potato that I once made. My version of the Baked Pesto Double Cheese Potato got an instant YES from Adrian. He even remarked how I changed his taste for potatoes. Now, that's a real testimonial.

I also tried two of the sweet dishes: a French Toast and a Brownies. Although the French Toast was actually savory.
It's called the Savory Parmesan French Toast. Adrian had a hard time figuring the French Toast out - he kept waiting to taste "French Toast". If you know what I mean. He even added maple syrup to it. To be fair, it was good. I guess it would help not to get caught up with the name. What about changing it to something like.....Savory Parmesan Toast......not very creative, am I?


There also the brownies made of two of the best things in the world: Nutella and peanut butter. I gave some to my Korean friend, Sandra, who accompanied me to watch a German opera at the Thailand Cultural Center. She reported the next morning that the brownies were a success with her kids. Good! There was a pigeon stranded at our porch after a storm. Adrian fed it with some brownies and it wouldn't stop eating. Even birds can't resist the goodness of Nutella and Peanut Butter. The brownies were moist and soft. My only complaint is it didn't do justice to the hazelnut-ty taste of Nutella.