TOP 10 POST OF 2013

 First of all,  a big  thank you  to all my visitors and followers tor your continued support without which I  can't go this far. I can't tell you how inspiring it is when I receive comments from readers who have tried my recipe and love it.

I just can't believe that my Eggless Marble Banana Cake was a favorite for two consecutive years. Despite being the easiest and no fuss recipe, it has attracted some of my readers to try it out.

Another recipe that was most tried and get positive feedback   was Spiral Apple Bread.  This recipe along with others who have tried it became  HBG  cover page after I posted it on their Facebook.


Below is the list that make up my Top 10 Post of 2013. Click on the title of each post to see the recipe.

BREAD UPMA

Upma is a simple yet comforting dish originated from South India.  Now I want to make use of my leftover bread slice. The perfect way to clear those is making  this  Bread Upma.

For this recipe, the cubed bread is  fried along with various seasonings and vegetables are often added during the cooking process, according to your preference.

Since Bread Upma is fully spiced, you don't any gravy at all.  The flavor has a depth character and distinction. This quick meal is best served during breakfast or brunch.

BREAD UPMA
Serves :  3-4

6-8 slices bread cut into small
1 big onion chopped
2 green/red chili sliced thinly
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seed
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 large tomato diced
1/2 cup thinly sliced carrot
2 tablespoon chopped cilantro
2 tablespoon oil
salt to taste

METHOD

Heat the oil, when heated add in  mustard seed. When they pop, add the cumin seed, onion and green chili.

When onion turns  translucent add the tomato, carrot and salt. Cook until tomato turns soft.

Now add the chili powder, turmeric and cilantro, stir well.

Mix in bread pieces and stir until bread is fully coated with spices.

Remove and serve. Garnish with cilanto.

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CHOCOLATE SESAME COOKIES

Create perfect cookies to grace your holiday table with this recipe. You can experiment with fruits, nuts, seeds for unique cookies flavors.

Am sharing with you my Chocolate Sesame Cookies that use sesame seeds in the dough  also as a topping.   Sesame seeds add extra nuttiness and compliment the cookies perfectly.

You can get around 35-40 cookies if  you roll them  into  1/2 in ball.  Use vegan margarine if you prefer to make them dairy free and suitable for vegans.

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MY GUEST POST @ SIMPLY SWEET HOME

Hi friends.

Today is my first  ever guest post at Jerri of Simply Sweet Home.

Are you looking for cookies recipe to grace your holiday table?  I am sharing  this   Chocolate Sesame

Cookies recipe. These are buttery,  loaded with  sesame seeds and so addictive.

For details and recipe,  head over to   Simply Sweet Home   also check out Jerri's wonderful recipes/.

Thanks  Jerri for this opportunity, sending you my heartfelt wishes for a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year. May you have a great time!


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STIR FRIED PASTA

Once a while we love to eat pasta especially a stir fried ones. We will devour any kind of  pasta  that is long and spicy. While we do have a typical pasta sometimes I mix things up with pasta from different countries. I make sure they have more fiber and other nutrients.

You can always use less chili paste for a  milder version.  Anyway, we like ours to be super spicy, in fact I had used bird's eye chili for this recipe.

This meal is delicious and ready in minutes.  Feel free to substitute any type of meat or vegetables to this dish or skip the meat altogether.

HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN CALZONE

If you ask me what would be my favorite and easy to go meal, it  always be  calzone.  For those of you unfamiliar with calzone, they  are  actually stuffed pizza.

While you can certainly make your own dough, most people I know want something a little easier. The easiest solution was to use frozen pizza dough or  refrigerated biscuit dough that comes in a tube.

Using   my best pizza dough   recipe and stuffed with chicken, bell pepper, onion, tomato and spices, these turned out soft and chewy at the same time. These freeze well  so it is a great idea to make a large batch for another night.

Although this recipe calls for chicken,  you can  stuff with a variety of fillings.  For vegetarian, you can substitute chicken with more veggies with cheese.

APPLE OATMEAL CAKE

My family loves  dessert.

Am on a look out for a much healthier version of dessert  but still comforting and delightful. This moist,  not too sweet  Apple Oatmeal Cake which is satisfying falls into that category. Everybody enjoyed this treat and nobody even thought that it might be on healthier side.  Not only it is lighter but also quick to put together

Made with rolled oat, buttermilk and apple that contains no egg at all. Have it for breakfast or as a nutritious snack. This  Apple Oatmeal Cake  is delicious on its own.

MY DISHFOLIO INTERVIEW

Recently, I had an interview with  dishfolio.com where I shared my all time  favorite recipe and who was  my foodie hero.

Here is the screen shot of the interview:

                                                                   DATE TART

You can read the rest of the interview by clicking the following link:
http://www.dishfolio.com/blog/2013/oct/food-blogger-interview-nora-m-of-treat-and-trick

                                                          HEALTHY BREAKFAST BARS

Thanks for stopping by and have a fantastic week everyone!

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HODDEOK (KOREAN PANCAKE)

Hoddeok is a Korean hawker's delight. Made with yeast dough and stuffed with sweet filling,  almost the same as other bread with yeast that requires rising.

After stuffing is done, it is flatten and lightly fried in oil on heated cast iron pan. When it turned brown, flip over and flatten the dough using your spatula. Care should be taken when pressing the dough, otherwise it will burst out.

Normally it was stuffed with brown sugar and nuts but this time I had used peanut butter and jelly as its stuffing.

The contrasting flavor from the plain dough and the sweet filling makes this Hoddeok  a great snack!

HODDEOK (KOREAN PANCAKE)
Yield :   8 pancake

2 cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoon sugar
1 tsp instant yeast
3/4 cup warm water
1/2 tsp salt
2 tablespoon oil

FILLING
8 tablespoon peanut butter
8 tablespoon jelly of your choice

DIRECTION

Place flour in a mixing bowl.

Combine warm water,  sugar and yeast.

Pour the yeast mixture onto the flour, sprinkle the salt. Combine until it forms into soft dough.

Place the dough into greased and covered bowl. Let rise for  1 hour or until double in size.

Divide dough into  8 balls, add flour if it is too sticky.  Place  the filling ingredients in a small bowl.

Flatten each ball, place a tablespoonful of filling, seal the edges and shape into a ball again.

Heat little oil in a cast iron pan, place 2 balls on the hot pan, seams side down and fry then flip after the bottom is slightly browned,  flatten the ball using the spatula.  Cook until  golden brown. Complete the rest of the dough.

Serve hot.

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CORNFLAKES COOKIES

Cornflakes Cookies are a favorite during festive times and they are my all time favorite biscuit. Crunchy on the outside and chewy in the center - they're addictive.

This buttery cookies were quite tasty and the crunchy crushed cornflakes added a great texture.

As usual, most of my cookies are super simple and easy. No extra trouble or special thing to use. It actually gives you a nice break to prep the rest of the ingredients.

They are delicious on its own but if you;re adventurous enough, feel free to add other mix ins such as coconut, sultanas, glace cherries or even chocolate chips.

Do you have your favorite Cornflakes Cookies recipe? Please share on the comment section, I love to try it.

MINI PUMPKIN TARTS

This satisfying Pumpkin Mini Pie is the perfect size to snack on by itself or enjoy as an elegant finish to any meal.

I love making pie dough from scratch. It's really not that hard. This  crust was easy to handle and tastes good too. You can use canned pumpkin if you like the traditional thick texture and sweetness but I like  using fresh cooked pumpkin. It is not overly sweet and much lighter. You can freeze cooked pumpkin for many months so you can still make this pie whenever you want.

MACARONI PAYASAM

This South Indian dessert is always served during festivals and special occasions. Macaroni Payasam was delicately flavored with cardamom and nuts. A great dessert for anytime of the year that anyone can cook at home.

Made with macaroni, sauteed in ghee and milk,  it can be customized to your palate by adding more or less  sugar.  Using stove top, the delicious payasam will be ready in a matter of minutes  by simmering the macaroni in a pot of milk.

The flavor of this dessert improves with time, dilute it with a little warm milk before serving since it thickens as it sits. I'm using a seashell shaped macaroni but it is great with other type of pasta too.

MACARONI PAYASAM
Yield     :   8 servings

1 cup macaroni  (seashell shaped)
1 tablespoon ghee
1 liter milk
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon chopped almond/cashew

METHOD

Heat the ghee in a deep pot, add in the nuts, fry until light brown.  Transfer nuts onto a plate.

Using the same pot, fry the macaroni for 1 minute.

Add the milk, simmer until the macaroni turns aldente, stirring in between.

Now add the sugar, stir well.

Add in ground cardamom and fried nuts, stir well.

Serve hot or cold.

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EGGLESS PEACH CAKE

It's time for a treat that won't make you feel guilty, lightly sweetened, this dessert looks as good as it looks.

I'm using canned peaches but if you can get hold of the fresh ones, it would be much better. Make sure you drained the peaches pretty well before adding it to the batter.  If any of you want to switch out the peach slices for some other fruit, this cake would work with pears, plums and apricots.

An incredibly moist and light cake baked  without  egg. Everyone who has eaten it, loves it!

ROTI JOHN (ASIAN FRENCH TOAST)

My son is craving for something simple yet fulfilling meal called Roti John.  This is an Asian style savory french toast. It is made with bread topped with a mixture of onion, red chili, garlic, minced meat or chicken and eggs are added as a binding agent. Season well with black pepper and salt. This goes straight to your kitchen for pan frying until golden brown. I used canned sardine this time.

Making Roti John is simple. I do not have to make the dough, just need to use bread as the base preferably baguette or hot dog bun. Now if you do not have baguette at home, you can use your normal bread, it will do just fine. Highly recommended to use wholemeal bread for a healthier choice.

Normally they are eaten with chili sauce but my son loves to eat them on its own. It is so fast and satisfying!

BANANA PANCAKE W/BROWN SUGAR SYRUP

This  pancake recipe is so easy, just add any fruit that you have at home in the freezer. Banana  is what I have right now so have made use some of them for making this pancake - tastes delicious with brown sugar syrup.

A simple  brown sugar syrup that  I can make while mixing the pancake batter is really easy and it's fast, so much better than bottled pancake syrup.

Everyone has a recipe for pancakes and some of them enjoy it as a special breakfast. Obviously there is a need out here for a good pancake recipe. You can use it for a savory filling too but by far my favorite filling is a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkle of sugar.

You can also make your pancake using seasonal ingredients and enjoy the flavors of each month throughout the year.

BANANA PANCAKE W/BROWN SUGAR SYRUP
Yield     :      5 pancake

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup regular/ almond milk
1/4 tsp salt
2 banana mashed
1 tsp sugar
1 tablespoon oil
1/4 tsp baking soda

SYRUP
1/4 cup  brown sugar
less than 1/4 cup  water

METHOD

Sift flour and baking soda into mixing bowl. Add in sugar, salt, banana and oil.

Gradually add milk, stir until well incorporated. Let rest for 20 minutes.

For the syrup, place brown sugar and water in a saucepan. Bring to a full rolling boil, let it boil for 1 minute. Turn of heat and allow to cool.

Heat a non stick pan/griddle over medium heat. Lightly coat with oil, when heated, spoon 1/4 cup batter onto the pan.

When bubbles appear on top, flip and cook the other side until golden brown.

Complete the rest of the batter.

At the time of serving, drizzle with brown sugar syrup.

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MEE TOMATO / NOODLES IN TOMATO GRAVY

Mee Tomato  is my son favorite noodle. I cook this quite often whenever we want a change  in our regular diet. Mee or noodles are made of plain flour or rice flour and they come in various shape and sizes. I don't have wheat noodles so I have to improvise by using thick rice noodle instead.

It is eaten with a spicy,  sour and slightly sweet gravy. If you can't take the heat, reduce the chili paste used.

Traditionally bean sprout is a must for noodle,  since  my son  doesn't like it,   have used peas instead. In fact mustard greens  and  napa  cabbage  are perfect addition to this noodle. It is a complete meal in a bowl!

APAM PISANG BAKAR (YEASTED BANANA CAKE)

Banana is quite a common fruit available in most kitchen. It is my habit to turn those ripened banana into a delicious, quick week day dessert.

This recipe yields a moist Yeasted Banana Cake that will make those banana cake haters into big fans.

It combines the sweetness of ripe mashed banana with yeast minus the butter or fat. This  traditional cake is also suited to be steamed.  Like anything baked  with yeast, this requires about an hour to rise.


APAM PISANG BAKAR (YEASTED BANANA CAKE)
Serves  :    8

1+1/4 C  all purpose flour
1 C  mashed banana
1/2 C  castor sugar
3/4 C + 1 TB  warm evaporated milk
1/2 tsp salt
1+1/2 tsp instant yeast

METHOD

Grease 8 in deep cake pan. Whisk together milk, yeast and sugar in a small bowl.

In a mixing bowl, put in flour, banana and salt. Stir well.

Now add the milk mixture to the flour, stir to combine.

Pour mixture into greased  pan and let sit for 1 hour. Towards the end of rising time, preheat oven @  170C.

Bake for 40-45  minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Let sit in the pan for 10 minutes, transfer onto rack to cool.

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HOMEMADE APPLE ROLLS

We are having Homemade Apple Rolls for warm breakfast food in our home. I like to make them from scratch.

As with yeast, for this Homemade Apple Roll, you will need to plan ahead but it's so worth it. The apple filling can be well prepared a day before and keep refrigerated. It is cooked using microwave but could be done on stove top by combining all the filling ingredients, let cook for 10 minutes with  constant stirring. Leave to cool completely before use.

Unlike regular rolls, these rolls are baked as a log then equally slice after baking.

This dough works up beautifully, it is easy to do and they are so good.

SUJI COOKIES

This is the cookies I used to buy from Indian tea stall stored in a glass jar but much bigger in size. Suji Cookies is  pleasantly buttery and  slightly crunchy  biscuit.

Made of clarified  butter (ghee), flour and baking soda, it is quite simple to prepare. The only time needed is rolling them into tiny balls.

If you want softer cookies shorten your baking time and they will remain white even after baking. Feel free to  roll them to your desired size but place them  1 in apart since they will expand a little while baking.

TUNA PIZZA CUPS

These Tuna Pizza Cups are made with my favorite pizza dough. It is stuffed with spicy tuna. They'll spin your idea of just how easy these little snacks are to make at home. They turned out beautifully.

This recipe is a keeper, you can vary the filling according to your choice either sweet or savory and make these amazing cups for your family.  You can easily adopt each individual cup to your preference. Some with veggies, some without or some with cheese and some without. 

For vegetarian, replace the tuna with sauteed vegetables such as spinach, mushrooms, tofu etc.

These clever little bites  are easy when you begin with  this pizza cups recipe baked in a 
muffin tin.

CHOCOLATE PUDDING

This is  a real simple chocolate pudding to be enjoyed as a dessert or just to satisfy the cravings of all you chocoholics out there.

Make sure the baking  dish is deep enough to avoid spilling and easy stirring.  For deliciously dark, low fat and indulgent dessert, this irresistible  chocolate pudding fits the bill perfectly.

If desired, serve each pudding with a dollop of whipped cream or sliced fruit on top.  Hope you'll enjoy, as much as we do!

CHOCOLATE PUDDING
Servings     :      4

3  tablespoon  cornstarch
1/2  cup sugar
2  tablespoon  cocoa powder
2  cup  milk
1  tablespoon butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

METHOD

Combine corn starch, cocoa powder, milk  and salt in a bowl. .

Strain the mixture into a  deep 1.5 litre saucepan..

Add in the sugar, stir to combine.

Heat the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly  until pudding comes to a full boil, reduce heat, continue whisking until thick for 2-3 minutes more.

Remove from heat,  stir in butter and vanilla extract.  Pour into individual serving dish.  Let cool at room temperature.

Cover surface of each serving with plastic wrap. Chill in a refrigerator till serving time.

Serve each pudding with a dollop of whipped cream or sliced fruit  on top if desired.



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SOFT GINGER COOKIES

These simple cookies are  incredible, whipped up from pantry ingredients.  When you first bite into them, you feel the warmth from ginger  and  a hint of  sweetness from  honey with slightly chewy texture.

 For topping I had used granulated sugar but you can also sprinkle with silvered almond or white chocolate Awesome scent when they are baking. Especially fabulous with coffee or hot cocoa.

Most of ginger cookies recipes call for molasses but this was not available in my kitchen, therefore  had used  honey instead.

These cookies  do really  stay soft.  Soft Ginger Cookies are rolled in sugar before baking,  great  for the lunchbox  or for gatherings.

MY TIPS

Slightly flatten the cookies,  it will spread a little as you bake.

Place them 1 in apart on baking sheet, to give room for them to expand.