Dill and Buttermilk Biscuit with Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese

My first attempt of this recipe was almost disastrous. I added only half of the required flour and didn't listen to my gut feeling. It was too late when I saw how the batter had gone flat after 5 minutes in the oven. I literally squatted in front of the oven and watched for the next 15 minutes as it continued to bake. Even Adrian knew something was amiss-ed. It ended looking like a jigsaw puzzle/ world map/ deformed pizza. Nevertheless it smelled really good. Adrian took a small piece of it and proclaimed "WOW!". So I decided to let it be.

It would have been the envy of breakfast club with a pretty looking fried egg. Anyway I'm glad I didn't throw the now-deformed biscuit away. It was really good. The credit must go to the sharp cheddar, which was the best I've bought so far (it came buy-one-free-one, too! Go get it now at Paragon's Gourmet Market.)

I also came to learn a new trick frying egg: wait for the egg white to set and pour in a couple tablespoon of water to the skillet. Cover so the yolk steams and set to your liking.

Anyway my undying spirit swore to make a come back - immediately the next day. You'd think I'd stick to the core of the recipe. Tsk, tsk, tsk. I decided to substitute the flour with 1/2 cup wholemeal, double the amount of baking powder and added an extra splash of cream to the batter.

As it turned out, with the correct shape and form, Adrian proclaimed "It's all good and delicious, but I prefer the messed up one." What do you know? Accidents make geniuses.

With sun-dried tomato scrambled egg.

Ingredients:

(makes 6 bun-sized or 12 cookies-sized)

For the Biscuit

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
• 2 oz coarsely grated extra-sharp Cheddar
  
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• 1 cup buttermilk (1 TB lemon juice + 1 C milk)
  

1. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Add the grated butter and mix until coated in flour.
2. Add the dill and the buttermilk until you get a sticky dough. Line a baking sheet with baking paper and preheat oven to 200C.
3. Spoon 6 mounds (or 12 for cookies-sized) of dough about 2 inches apart onto an ungreased large baking sheet. Brush with melter butter.
4. Bake until puffed and pale golden, 15 to 20 minutes (or less if you make it into cookies-sized).

For the Cream Cheese:

• 1 box cream cheese
  
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• 15 capers
  
• 1 tbs chopped dill
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Mix the cream cheese with the lemon juice, capers and dill, add salt and pepper to taste.

To serve:

1. Slice biscuit into halves.
2. Spread cream cheese over the inside of biscuits.
3. Put rocket salad on top of cream cheese, followed by smoked salmon and fried egg. Top with the other halve of biscuit.
   

Barley Pilaf with Roasted Vegetable and Deep Fried Goat Cheese

This was an adaptation of one of the very first dishes I made when we moved into our current apartment. I made this dish many times in the beginning because it was very good and I wasn't that much of a skilled recipe-hunter then. Looking back, it was courageous of me to cook this pilaf as a novice - the recipe itself requires quite a lengthy preparation and proper planning ahead, to top that, I added roasted vegetables. I have tried this recipe with homemade labneh, cream cheese, and yogurt. This time I put deep fried goat cheese and cooked barley into it to come to this Barley Pilaf.

Want to know what Adrian said? "if there were a restaurant that serves this, I'd be eating there everyday" =) This is a really good recipe. It has a very intricate and complex taste: we like the compliment of lemony caramelized onions with chili-roasted tomatoes. There's also the subtle hint of mint with very bite. Although the deep fried goat cheese was good on itself but it didn't seem to fit in with the rest.

I prefer to make part of the dish in advance; the chili-roasted tomatoes (and optional roasted vegetables) may be served hot or cold over the pilaf. If you are going to make deep fried goat cheese, remember to freeze it before hand. Now, I'm going to try and make the whole thing looks as clear as possible by breaking the steps down into its elementary preparation. Have fun!

Ingredients and Methods:

For the tomatoes:
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
4 TB olive oil
2 TB balsamic vinegar
1 - 1 1/2 tsp harissa*
2 tsp natural cane sugar

(*Instead of using harissa, I used a mix of cumin, coriander, chili flakes and cayenne pepper)
They can either be hot or at room temperature when you add them to the pilaf, so you could do this part in advance.

• Preheat oven to 150C.
  
• Mix together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, harissa, some salt and pepper, and pour this over the tomatoes. Turn them over, making sure they get coated, ending with them cut-side up. Sprinkle the soft brown sugar over the top and put in an oven. Cook for 30 - 35 minutes, until the tomatoes are shrunken and sweet.
  

For the Roasted Vegetables: (optional)
1 red bell pepper, cut into wedges
1/4 large pumpkin, cut into cubes
1/4 C olive oil
2 TB balsamic vinegar
Pinch of sea salt
This, too, can be prepared in advance.

• Preheat oven to 200C.
  
• Toss vegetables with olive oil, vinegar and sea salt.
• Roast until vegetables are tender and cooked through, tossing occasionally.
  
• Remove and cut bell pepper into cubes.
  

For the Pilaf:
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves
1 C cooked barley
10 1/2 oz spinach, leaves only
leaves torn from a small bunch of mint, torn

• Saute chopped onion with a generous pinch of salt. When the onion is soft and translucent add garlic and cook for another couple of minutes. Tip the cooked barley into the pan, toss to coat evenly. Remove from heat.
  
• Immediately stir in chopped spinach leaves and let cooked in the hot barley.
  

For the onions:
2 onions, very finely sliced into ring
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp natural cane sugar
juice of 1/2 small lemon
sea salt and pepper

• Quickly cook the finely sliced onions in very hot oil till golden brown and crispy. For the last minute of cooking time, add the cinnamon and brown sugar. Stir this around and, once the sugar has melted and begun to slightly caramelize, add lemon juice and some salt and pepper.

For the Deep Fried Goat Cheese
Goat cheese, frozen and cut into bite-size
Flour
1 Egg, beaten
Breadcrumbs

• Place the flour, egg and bread crumb in 3 different bowls. Dip the cheese in the flour, then egg and finally the breadcrumbs. Place carefully into the hot skillet. Let cook about 2 minutes until brown on the bottom, carefully flip over & cook the other side another 2 minutes.

FINALLY!!!

Layer the different components in a broad, shallow bowl: tip in the barley + spinach, sprinkle on half the mint, then the tomatoes and roasted vegetables, then the rest of the mint. Now strew the onions on top, followed by goat cheese, and serve.

PHEW~!!

Barley Salad with Honey Dijon Balsamic Vinaigrette

Barley has been used as foods for human and animals since ancient civilization, but also to make alcoholic beverages through malting. I remember reading from somewhere that Greek gladiators were fed barley prior to battle. They were hence also known as "eaters of barley". My wise husband thought that's probably because barley was dirt cheap.

As a type of whole-grain, barley has been shown to help in lowering blood cholesterol level, and stabilize blood glucose level, which may benefit diabetic. As a child growing up, I was always told to drink barley water during hot days. It was conceived as good for sore throat and fever. Apparently it has been used for its medicinal properties since ancient times by many cultures. Koreans for one consume barley tea the way Japanese do with green tea.

I made many changes to the recipe that I found; it just didn't taste right. I'm so glad I'm a more "mature" cook now or I would have been so lost. Firstly, something was missing in its vinaigrette recipe - I decided to add Dijon mustard and seasoned with salt and pepper. Instead of boiling barley with vegetable stock, I boiled it with plain water and seasoned with miso paste. I also substituted feta cheese with homemade labneh.

I'm proud to say that after all the changes, it earned me many "Mmmmm", "Wowww", and a "it feels like the right thing for the tummy" from my (one and only) loyal patron.

Ingredients:
(serves 2 as side dish)
1/4 barley
1 TB miso paste
1 C cherry tomatoes, halved
Homemade Labneh, crumbled
1/4 C Basil leaves, chopped
1/4 C Green onion, chopped

For the vinaigrette:

• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon honey
  
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Soak barley in water for at least 1 hour. Drain.
   
2. Bring barley and 4 cups of water to boil, reduce heat and let cook until barley is tender but still firm to bite; about 30 minutes. Drain and stir in miso paste. Let cool completely.
   
3. Whisk together vinaigrette ingredients and set in refrigerator to chill until ready to use.
4. Mix tomatoes, basil, green onions and labneh into cooked barley. Toss in vinaigrette to coat evenly. Serve slightly chilled or at room temperature.
   

Upside Down Cake

Two summers ago, Adrian and I were in New York visiting his friends. I have very mixed feeling about this world-famous city that I grew up getting to know through movies, news, magazines and papers. I'm not going to get much into that here. However I have to confess how disappointed I was by the quality of foods in New York. Despite the ingredients and freshness they promised, it felt like something was missing in the foods; they taste rather "mechanical".

Of the many meals we had in New York, one that we enjoyed the most was home-cook at Adrian's friend's in Manhattan. This friend of Adrian, Mark, is a self-taught cook with multi-talent: food stylist, private chef, food consultant. I felt so honored to be served by a professional cook at his own abode. Not only were we treated to delicious home-cook dinner but also intellectually stimulating conversation (his partner, Neil, is a Ph. D in Genetic Engineering). Their apartment, by the way, was the most "homely" place I've been in New York; a proper HOME.

So we were indulging in great foods and company. Just when I thought things can't get any better, Mark took out the dessert. A pan of cake. Allow me to rephrase it: cake in a cooking pan. Or shall I say skillet? That was my first gustatory experience with Peach Upside Down Cake. It totally blew my mind and I haven't stopped thinking about it since then.

One of the reasons the Peach Upside Down Cake took me by storm was the caramel - it's my personal reminisce of the Australian Sticky Date Pudding. Unlike Sticky Date Pudding, the tartness of the fruits in Mark's Peach Upside Down Cake was a heavenly contrast to the sinful melt-down of sugar and butter. You'd think it'd take me sooner than this to make the cake but it somehow took me more than 2 years to finally bake it. I have no excuses except to blame it on my just-over-1-year kitchen experience. Anyway I digress.

Pinwheel of mixed fruits.

I found the recipe by the famous American pastry chef - David Lebovitz. I literally used all the fruits that he suggested: apricot (frozen), plum, peach, dried cranberry (pre-soaked in hot water and drained), and pear. It was quite a "panful" of fruit pinwheel, in two layers. I ended up worrying about not having enough batter - it barely covered all the fruits. As I predicted, once baked some of the fruit wedges were popping out of the cake (the Down-side). I wanted to flip it over so desperately to see the bottom layer (the Upside).

The "Down-side"

It helped that we went out for a movie and it took my mind off the cake for a few hours. As soon as I got home, I flipped it. And Gosh! It's pretty!

The "Up-side"

The wedges are best served warm with either whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. The real secret is: a day-old wedge is even better than fresh.

Go here for the recipe.

Berry Yogurt Cake with Chocolate Chips

This recipe is an adaptation from here. It has a very posh French name: Gâteau au Yaourt à la Framboise, a.k.a Raspberry Yogurt Cake.

A basic Yogurt Cake is just a very simple, moist and fluffy cake. It lends itself to a great variations such as the one below. You can add citrus juice, zest, or peel for a delicious lemon or orange cake, you can add chocolate chips or nuts to the batter, you can slice the baked cake in two and spread a layer of jam in the middle, you can frost the cake with a chocolate frosting -- whatever strikes your fancy. I decided to throw in some chocolate chips along with mixed berries just because they have been sitting in the far-reached corner of the fridge for quite some time now.

I'm using the almond meal that came from my Homemade Almond Milk. You can either buy from the store or simply grind some.

• 1 C homemade yogurt
• 1 C natural cane sugar
• 1/4 C virgin coconut oil
• 1 1/2 C unbleached all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1/4 C almond meal
• 3 eggs
• 1 TB baking powder
• 300 g mixed berries (fresh or frozen): strawberry, blueberry, raspberry
  
• 1/2 C unsweetened chocolate chips (optional)
  

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Copiously grease and flour a 9" springform pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine yogurt, oil and sugar with a spatula. Add eggs, one at a time, stirring after each addition.
   
3. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder and almond meal. Add flour mixture to the batter in three or four batches, and stir until just combined. Do not over mix.

4. Pour half the batter into the cake pan. Cover evenly with half of the mixed berries and half of the chocolate chips (if using). Pour the other half of the batter, and arrange the other half of the raspberries on top. Sprinkle with the other half of the chocolate chips (if using).

5. Put into the oven to bake, for 50 to 60 minutes, until the top is springy and a cake tester comes out clean.

6. Let rest on the counter for ten minutes, then run a knife around the cake to loosen it, and turn out on a rack to cool completely.

Brunch Time!

For some time now Nook and I have been talking about getting together and cook. Now that she has finished with her Master's and is free for the weekends, I managed to drag her over to my house on Saturday morning. Unfortunately she is having a recurring back pain that doesn't give her much agility. Hence, the standing behind watching over my shoulder the entire time while I cooked. I got her to do the dish-washing after anyhow.

My other guest, Elaine, is a fellow Malaysian whom I met at Yoga Elements. Lucky for Elaine, she escaped the washing by leaving early. At least she brought me fresh Australian strawberries =)

Here's the brunch menu. Click on the picture or link to view the recipes.

Pomegranate with Maple-spiced Walnut and Honey-Mint Lemon Salad

Strawberry Cheesecake French Toast with Homemade Strawberry Jam

I used homemade Ricotta cheese for this Strawberry Cheesecake French Toast. I can't tell if it 's better than store bought but it's no less superior.

Smoked Salmon Frittata

Mulled Hot Chocolate

Smoked Salmon Frittata

Ingredients:
(serves 6)

• 6 large eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
  
• 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4 pound smoked salmon, torn into pieces
• 1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
• 5 green onion, chopped
• 2 TB fresh dill
  
• 1 TB butter
• Dill sprigs and sour cream to serve (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
   
2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sour cream, salt, and Tabasco sauce. Blend in flour to combine. Stir in salmon pieces, cheese, onion, and dill.
3. In a ovenproof skillet, melt the butter. Pour in egg mixture. Allow the bottom to set and transfer to oven to bake for 20 minutes or until the top browned.
4. Cut into wedges, serve with dill sprigs and sour cream.