Thursday, April 28, 2016

Vegetable Medallions (Ikea inspired) Karl’s Grönsakskaka


Vegetable Medallions

Ingredients

3 medium potatoes, peeled and finely diced into 5mm cubes (yields 2 cups)
3 tbsp butter
1/2 cup chopped brown onions
3 tbsp chopped green onions/scallions
1 cup broccoli florets, roughly chopped
1 tsp chopped thyme/parsley
1/8 tsp onion powder (optional)
1/8 tsp garlic powder (optional)
1/2 tsp salt
Black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup grated cheese (Swiss or Tasty/Cheddar), plus extra for sprinkling
1/2 cup cream
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Extra butter for greasing

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease 12 x 1/3 cup (80ml) muffin pans with butter.

Heat up the butter in a large pan and add the brown onions, green onions, potatoes and broccoli. Sautee for 3-4 minutes on medium heat. Add thyme/parsley, onion and garlic powder, salt and pepper. Mix well and fry for 1 minute. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and add cheese, cream and eggs. Mix well.

Spoon the mixture into the muffin pan and level the top. Sprinkle with extra grated cheese if desired. Bake in oven for 30 minutes until golden brown. Remove and cool completely in the tin. Use a thin bladed plastic knife and gently remove the "medallions" from the pan. Serve as a side dish or just as a snack on its own. Enjoy!

Tip: Refrigerate any leftovers for a few hours until firm. Then, take them out and pan-fry them in a little oil on both sides until browned and crisp.

Recipe from here.


Second Version Recipe


INGREDIENTS

2 Tbs. butter
½ medium yellow onion, finely diced (about 1 cup)
1 small leek, halved lengthwise and sliced finely (about 1 cup)
¼ tsp. Kosher salt
2 large Russet potatoes (2½-3 cups)
1 small broccoli crown, do not chop (about 1 cup)
2 eggs
¼ cup crème fraiche
¼ cup half and half cream
2 cloves garlic, crushed to a paste
½ tsp. black pepper
⅓ lb. Emmental or Jarlsberg cheese, grated
1 cup Parmesan, finely grated

DIRECTIONS

1. Melt the butter in a medium pan over medium high heat and sauté the onions and leeks with the salt until just starting to pick up some color. Set them aside to cool.
2. Peel and cut the potatoes into large chunks, boil until just cooked through, about 12-15 minutes.
3. Trim the dry end of the broccoli stem and put it uncut into the pot of boiling potatoes, stem down.
4. After about six minutes, remove the broccoli from the pot, cut off the florets and return the thick stem to the pot to finish cooking.
Tip: Put the florets in a pot of cold water to stop them from cooking further.
Note: At six minutes the top florets of the broccoli should be just cooked through, any longer and they would overcook. They can even be a bit under cooked, because they will be baked again.
5. Remove the broccoli stem and set it aside to cool with the florets.
6. Drain the potatoes, return them to the pot, and set them aside to cool.
7. Chop the broccoli finely.
Tip: Slice through the dark green tops about every ¼ inch until you have only the floret stem remaining. Chop the remaining stems into a ¼ inch dice.
Note: Do not mash the delicate tips. You want vegetables bits, not a vegetables paste.
8. Put the eggs in a medium bowl and lightly whisk them.
9. Add the crème fraiche, cream, and garlic and whisk them together with the eggs.
10. Mix in the onions and leek mixture and the chopped broccoli.
11. Stir in the Emmental and half a cup of the Parmesan.
Tip: By mixing everything, before adding it to the potatoes, you get a thorough blending of the ingredients and avoid over-working the potatoes and turning them to “glue.”
12. Use a metal whisk to mash the potatoes.
Tip: Push down on each chunk of potato with the point of the whisk to break them up. You want about half of the potatoes completely mashed, but you also want plenty of ⅜-½ inch chunks of potato remaining.
Note: Do not use a standard potato masher, this would break the potatoes down too much. You want enough mashed potato to hold everything together, but you still want the texture of chunky potatoes. Smashed, not mashed, potatoes.
13. Preheat the oven to 425º F (220º C).
14. Pam a standard muffin pan, and put ⅓ of a cup of the mixture into each cup.
Tip: Use a spoon to push the mix into the cup so that there are no air pockets. The mix should come up to about an eighth of an inch from the lip of the cups. I had enough mix to fill 16 muffin cups full.
Note: If you do not have a muffin pan, you can put scoops of the mixture directly on a baking sheet. If the mix is too thin to hold its shape, stir in a quarter cup of bread crumbs to firm it up.
15. Sprinkle one teaspoon of Parmesan on top of each cup.
Tip: Use your fingers to spread the cheese over the top and tamp it down into the mixture.
16. Bake for 20 minutes.
17. Remove the muffin pan from the oven and let the medallions cool slightly.
18. Run a shape knife around the edges of each cup to loosen the medallions.
19. Turn the pan over on a clean surface and give it a strong rap to free the medallions from the pan.
Tip: This recipe makes a lot of Grönsakskaka, fortunately they freeze very well. If you are planning to freeze some for later consumption, now would be the time to put them on an uncovered tray in the freezer. After they have completely frozen, about one hour, place them in a plastic bag for storage.
Note: To reheat the frozen Grönsakskaka, microwave them for one minute and then put them, cheese side down, on a baking sheet in a 425º F (220º C) oven for ten minutes.
20. Place the  medallions, cheese side down, on a Pam-ed baking sheet.
21. Continue baking the medallions for another ten minutes, until the tops are brown and crispy.
22. Serve warm as a side dish.
Tip: They also make a good addition to a breakfast plate.
Note: Two Grönsakskaka make one serving of potato and one serving of vegetables.


Variation: Grönsakskaka would also make a great hors d’oeuvre. use a mini-muffin pan and bake them for 10 minutes in the pan and an additional 8 minutes upside down on a baking sheet.

Recipe from here

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Or Kuih (Yam Cake) Recipe

Recipe picture click here.
Ingredients:
For the kuih:
1½ bowls yam, diced into 1-2cm cubes
1 bowl rice flour
2 tablespoons wheat starch*
2 bowls water
½ – ¾ bowl dried shrimps (heh bee) – I used ¾ bowl because I cannot express how much I love an abundance of it in or kuih
5 shallots, finely chopped
1 teaspoon five spice powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon white pepper
For the topping:
deep fried shallots (I buy mine ready fried from Chinatown)
spring onions, sliced finely
red chillies, sliced finely
dried shrimps (heh bee), chopped finely and fried (optional – you can just put more heh bee in the actual cake)
Method:
1. Heat a pan over medium high heat, and fry the onions and dried shrimps until they become aromatic. This should take about 3-5 minutes.
2. Add the cubed yam to the pan, and fry it with the onion and dried shrimp mixture until it browns.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the rice flour, wheat starch and water, and stir until it forms a smooth paste. Take care to ensure there are no lumps in the mixture.
4. Add the flour mixture into the pan slowly, and stir until everything forms a thick paste.
5. Add the salt, pepper and five spice powder, and mix well.
6. Pour the mixture into a heatproof bowl/plate and steam over high heat for 45 minutes, or until cooked.
7. To serve, sprinkle with deep fried shallots, chopped spring onions, sliced chillies and chopped dried shrimp. Some chilli sauce on the side is also highly recommended.
* The wheat starch helps to make the or kuih softer in texture. If you can’t find this, you can substitute it with an equal quantity of corn starch.

Read more at here.

Chicken Curry

This curry chicken recipe also looks nice. Click here for recipe.



Green Beans Omelette


Green beans omelette, so delicious, see recipe here.



French Toast Sticks Recipe

This is a recipe from addapinch.com love this recipe, looks so yummy. 




Prep TIME
COOK TIME
TOTAL TIME
 
French toast sticks make a family favorite breakfast. Ready in minutes, this simple recipe for homemade French toast sticks also make a wonderful make-ahead treat!
Author: 
Serves: 4-6
INGREDIENTS
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup milk, half and half, coconut milk, or almond milk
  • pinch salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 8 slices sandwich bread or thick-sliced Texas toast
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • butter
  • Maple syrup
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Whisk together eggs, milk, salt, vanilla, and cinnamon in a flat-bottomed pie plate or baking dish. Cut bread into thirds and place a few at a time into the egg mixture and flip to make sure both sides of bread are well-coated.
  2. Add granulated sugar to a shallow plate. Remove dipped French toast sticks from the wet batter and place in the plate of granulated sugar and lightly coat both sides of the sticks.
  3. Melt butter in a large skillet or on a griddle.
  4. Place bread sticks in skillet or on griddle and cook until golden browned on each side and crisp, about 3-5 minutes.
  5. Serve immediately or keep warm in oven until ready to serve, but no longer than about 30 minutes.
  6. To freeze for later use, place cooked French toast sticks on a baking sheet pan and freeze until firm, about 30 - 45 minutes. Transfer to a freezer-safe airtight container or freezer-safe zip top bag and store in the freezer. When ready to reheat, preheat oven to 425º F, remove the number of French toast sticks desired from the freezer and place onto a rimmed baking sheet pan in the oven and bake for about 12-15 minutes, until heated throughout.
  7. Serve with Maple Syrup.

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Vegan Joomuk-bap Recipe



Joomuk-bap

Recipe (serves 3-4)

Ingredients:
5 cups cooked brown rice
1/8 cup soaked shitake mushrooms (diced)
1 large carrot (diced)
1 large bunch broccoli florets (diced)
other leftover veggies (optional, diced)
flaxseed (or other vegetable) oil
1 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp lemon juice
salt and black pepper
1/2 to 1 Tbsp sugar (to taste)
1 Tbsp black sesame seeds (regular sesame seeds if you don’t have black sesame)
2 sheets roasted nori/kim (crumbled)
2 Tbsp sesame oil
flax seeds (optional, for garnish)

Directions:
1. Dice the mushrooms, broccoli, carrot and other left over veggies (like perrilla leaves).
2. Start stir frying the diced veggies with flaxseed/vegetable oil.
3. Add soy sauce, salt and black pepper and stir until veggies are cooked.
4. In a larger bowl, add brown rice, some salt, lemon juice, and sugar and mix well with hand.
5. Add the stir fried veggies and black sesame seeds to the rice bowl and mix well.
6. Add the crumbled nori/kim with sesame oil and mix well. Taste and add salt if needed.
7. Shape into small rice balls/bites (I find it easier to make the rice ball shape with those disposable plastic gloves you get at Asian grocery stores for like a dollar, although I try my best not to use them. Such a waste and not good for the environment. If you can, try putting some sesame oil on your hand first and then try shaping them, that could work better than just using your hand without the oil, as the rice can stick).
8. Sprinkle some flax seeds over them if you’d like. Serve with miso soup (or a light doengjang guk - korean soybean paste soup) and some kimchi or Korean radish pickles!




Dice the veggies and stir fry until cooked!



Add the stir fried veggies into the brown rice bowl.



Mix all the ingredients well, and then add nori/kim crumbles and then mix again.



These are black sesame seeds! They are used for a fancy traditional porridge and all sorts of other dishes in Korea -considered even better quality than the yummy and nutritious regular sesame seeds. Sesame seeds have tons of calcium in them!



Shape them into little rice balls!



Yummmy….



Don’t forget to serve with Miso soup and some radish pickles!

Recipe from here.

Korean Style Potato Salad

I like this recipe from aeriskitchen.com



Main Ingredients
3 Russet Potatoes (1 lb)
1 Cup Apple
½ Cup Canned Sweet Corn
2 Eggs

Seasoning Ingredients
½ Cup Mayonnaise
1-2 Tbsp Korean Drinking Yogurt or Lemon/Lime Soda
½ Tbsp Sugar
¼ Generous tsp Salt

Directions




Obtain 1 lb of russet potatoes or any other type of potato that you like. Peel the skin and remove the bad parts.




Fill about ⅓ of a large pot with water and put a metal steamer in it. Place 3 peeled potatoes on the steamer. Personally, I think that steamed potatoes make the best potato salad. However, you can also boil the potatoes in water.




Once the water starts to boil, steam the potatoes for about 30 minutes on high. Make sure it is covered.




Boil 2 eggs. You can check my tips for boiling eggs from my other recipes.




About 30 minutes later, poke a potato with a fork to see if it is done cooking. If the fork goes through smoothly, it is done.




When the potatoes are still hot, chop the potatoes into chunks. It does not have to be fine pieces in this step.




Quickly mix the potatoes with ½ Tbsp of sugar and ¼ generous tsp of salt in a mixing bowl when the potatoes are still hot or warm. This step helps flavor the potatoes.




Mash the potatoes with a folk. I like my potato salad chunky, so I do not mash them much. If you like a smoother salad, you can mash them more.




Cut 1 cup worth of sweet apples into the size of the corn kernels. For better color, I picked an apple with red skin and did not peel it. Fuji or Red Delicious apples can be a good choice.




Peel the hard boiled eggs and separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. Cut the egg whites into the same sized pieces as the apple. Save the egg yolks for garnishing later.




Obtain ½ cup worth of canned sweet corn.




Add the apple, egg whites, sweet corn, and ½ cup of mayonnaise into the mashed potatoes. Mix everything well.




Taste it and adjust the sweetness or saltiness to your tastes. My secret ingredient is about 1-2 Tbsp of Korean drinking yogurt. Alternatively, you can use sweetened condensed milk or a lemon flavored soft drink such as 7UP or Sierra Mist.




Put some of the potato salad in a serving bowl or plate and garnish the top with some of the egg yolk. To do so, rub (grate) the hard-boiled egg yolk you saved earlier gently with a strainer.