Whole Wheat Focaccia with Sweet Berries

I just realized it was my blog anniversary two weeks ago. How time flies!!! It has been 6 years since my first posting on November 2006, 915 posting later and still going strong. I can’t believe that it lasted this long. I thought I would have given up blogging in a year or two. Blogging has been an outlet, a growing and stretching experience, and a lot of fun with some headache along the way. I’ve been blessed to get to know many dear friends, and I miss many who are no longer blogging. Thank you to all my faithful supporters and readers for journeying along with me! Your comments have been encouraging and enlightening and you’ve made blogging immensely more enjoyable for me.

I baked this focaccia using the leftover berries from the Mini Fruit Tartlets with Mascarpone Cheese Filling . Since I run out of flour, I just used the whole wheat flour for the dough. It is not a very good idea as Carlos doesn’t really like it as he said the smell and taste of the whole wheat overwhelms the sweet fruits. As for me I don’t mind having this once a while. Anyway, this isn’t a dessert but more for breakfast or maybe for brunch along side with some other savory spreads.

Sugar Cookies

I like baking with kids especially with my nieces and nephews. I’ve been doing it with them for years when I was in Malaysia. We will usually baked cookies, cupcakes and sometime pizza. I think it is a wonderful way to bond with them and also encourages creativity and gives kids a real sense of accomplishments when they eat what they made. It also created a lasting and loving memories for all of us. I miss them a lot and sometimes I do wish they don’t grow up so fast.

Anyway, I made these cookies with my friend daughter Isabel a few months ago. She helps cutting and decorates the cookies. I think she enjoyed doing it and not to mentioned eating all the cookies. Her mom told me that she refused to share it with her parents ha ha.. These are just simple sugar cookie decorated with some colorful sprinkles and some royal icing.

Kari Udang/Prawn Curry

I bought a box of large prawns from the Filipinos supermarket the other day thinking of using them to cook Sang Har Mee for Diana. On the packet it says 9-10 prawns in it but when I open it I found there were about 18 of them in it. So I decided to use half of it to cook this dish so I can submit it to MFF.

Ingredients:
Adapted from MyRecipe.com

10-12 large prawns
½ fresh pineapple – removed skin and cut into 1” chunks
500 ml coconut milk
2 stalk lemongrass – smash
2 tbsp fish curry powder
Salt to taste

Mini Fruit Tartlets with Mascarpone Cheese Filling

Holiday season is just around the corner and I am sure some of you are planning on what to cook and bake. I just baked some fruit cakes over the weekend and now it is aging in the fridge and I will douse it with a bit of brandy every now and then. I will be giving it away just before Christmas. Hope it will be ready to eat during Christmas.

I am a bit compulsive when come to buying fruits especially when I see nice and plump blackberries or raspberries even though I have no plan to bake anything. Then it will be sitting in the fridge for a few days and then I have to crack my head on what to do with it before it goes bad. So I made some mini tartlets with it. I think these dainty little tartlets are ideal for entertaining; and you can garnish it with any fruits you like. I gave some to my neighbor and she told me that she ate 8 pieces at one go and I told her it is not as bad as they were very tiny ha ha..

Kanji Kedah/Kedah Rice Porridge

I was talking on the phone with my good friend Shereen last week and we were discussing MFF theme for this month and I told her I don’t really know much about food from Kedah or Perlis. She gave me a few suggestions including this rice porridge. Well, since I have all the ingredients in hand I decided to do just that.

Every state in Malaysia will have its version of Rice Porridge also known as Bubur Lambuk. What make this heartwarming dish so popular? It is available during the Ramadan month and it is prepared and distributed to the public for free throughout the whole month of Ramadan in the spirit goodwill. Usually this rice porridge would be cooked at the mosque compound for easy distribution. Cooking this involves a lot of effort and many volunteers will help stirring many big pots of this rice porridge. This rice porridge is very similar to Chinese version except for the addition of coconut milk, lemongrass and fenugreek in it. I actually like it a lot and will definitely cook this again.

Kuih Lepat Liat/Steamed Glutinous Rice Cake in Banana Leaf

When I saw Wendy post this up I knew I have to try it out. I am a sucker for dodol and she said that the texture of this kuih is very similar to it so I gather all my ingredients and made it the same week. Like she said it is sweet, sticky, chewy and coconutty. I made a bit more so I can freeze them up and have it whenever I want to. Half of it I wrapped it with banana leaves and the other half I just steamed it on silicon muffin moulds. I find it is easier doing it that way as the banana leaves here are a bit hard and tough and it tear easily when I tried wrapping it.

 

 

Dulce De Leche and Banana Cream Cheese Cake

I made this cake using all the leftovers ingredients I have in the fridge. I have some leftover dulce de leche left from the Argentinean Bread Pudding and also some cream cheese. Since there are some over-ripe bananas on the kitchen counter I decided to incorporate it into the cake too. While baking the house was filled with the fragrant aroma of banana and DDL. I really miss that smell as I didn’t do any cake baking for over a month. As for the taste of the cake, it turns out really moist, buttery and delicious. It tastes even better the next day.

Lempiang Ikan/Fried Fish Cake

I am missing out quite a bit on the MFF for the past 2 months because of my travelling and being sick so for this month I will tried my best to participate and submit more than one dish. Let’s start off with this fish cake. This fish cake is one of the many dishes from the Northern part of Malaysia. I am not familiar at all with the food for the state Perlis and Kedah but since they so near to Thai I presume there are some Thai influence in their cooking. Like this particular dish it has Kaffir Lime leave in it and as your know Thai love using Kaffir lime in their cooking.

I actually feature a dish called Thai Fish Cake which is very similar to this in 2008 and you can check it out the recipe here . Taste wise I find them pretty similar.

Cabbage and Corn Beef Fried Beehoon

I always have a can of corn beef in my pantry so that I can use it when my craving strikes. I don’t buy them often as it cost around $5.50 a can and I find them way too expensive for can food. The brand I am familiar with is Libby but I notice they sell so many other brands here in Northern CA especially at the Filipino supermarket. I guess Filipinos like corn beef. I will usually make corn beef sambal or cabbage fried rice with it but this time I decided to use half a can to fry some beehoon. It tasted really good actually as the beehoon absorb all the nice flavor of the corn beef. I will definitely make this again.

Fresh Fig Tarts with Pastry Cream and Walnut Crust

I love the taste and smell of figs especially Mission figs. It is earthy and mildly sweet and I can’t resist buying two boxes of it when I saw them at the Asian supermarket. Then I fall sick and it has been sitting in the fridge for 2 weeks and I finally get to do something with it late last week. Thank god they were all still good except for one of it.

I never tasted fresh fig until I came to America over 15 years ago. It was at the New York Union Square farmers market. I bought a box of it out of curiosity and fell in love with it ever since. I will always buy some when it is in season. Normally I will just have it fresh with yogurt with a bit of honey but this time I decided to make some tarts and garnish it with these fresh beauties. It's almost too pretty to eat but we are not letting this creation go to waste, though and we devour them up in no time ;)