KUIH SAGO / SAGO CAKE GLUTEN FREE

Most South East Asian cakes or kuih as we call it are bite sized dessert or snack,   mostly made with rice flour, glutinous rice flour, sago, tapioca flour or mung bean flour. They are usually steamed than baked or fried.

Kuih Sago is a traditional Asian dessert that was chewy in texture, made of pearl sago. I chose a different method to prepare  instead of steaming it. My cooking style requires constant stirring until the sago turns translucent  after adding them  to the sugar syrup. After cooking it was leave to cool until set. When completely cool, they are sliced and rolled in grated coconut.

Most desserts made with coconut will turn rancid  really  fast so it must be consumed on the same day other wise stored them in a refrigerator.  A jar with resealable lid works perfect to keep shredded coconut fresh and handy  in a fridge.

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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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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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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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.

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.

FRUITY JELLO

My son has been asking  jelly for quite some time now. I prefer to make my own instead of buying simply to avoid a ton of sugar, artificial flavors and coloring from those ready made ones.

Prepare this Fruity Jello before bed or while you are making dinner for a fast and filling breakfast the next day.  Using mixture of dried fruit. rolled oat and dragon fruit, this jelly is refreshingly fabulous.

You can use this recipe to make just about any kind of jelly. Which fruit to use is totally up to you, feel free to create your own combo of dried fruit and fresh fruit that suits your taste  also make use of unique mold that your kid would love.

*DATE OATMEAL BARS*

Date Oatmeal Bars are a wonderful treat anytime of the day.  Sweet and soft dates are sandwiched between not so buttery oat and flour mixture. They are easy to make, everyone will love them.

Since most of us eat way too much sugar in our diet, I try to use less sugar and more nutritious ingredients such as fruits, nuts and oat. My date bar recipe has these characteristics.  It  is a very nice alternative to have an easy  breakfast or snack instead of going into a fast food restaurant.

This dessert encourages us to prepare a simple meals from basic ingredients instead of expensive and less nutritious processed foods .I have tweaked the recipe as per my preference by omitting sugar in the filling and reduced the amount of butter used.  Really surprised to see that these bars were a great hit with my family.

I hope you will get to try these bars and enjoy them over and over again,

*DRY FRUIT SCONES*

Dry Fruit Scones are far from plain, they are lightly sweetened,  thick but soft and delicious.  Made with plain flour, butter, milk  with baking powder as a leavening agent, it is pretty quick to prepare.

Had dry fruit mix in my pantry so I  incorporated them in this recipe. These tender, buttery scones are nicely moist. It is almost the same method as preparing the pie crust. You can add pretty much anything to this basic recipe. Savory, sweet, fruity or rich, you name it, it would probably work in scones.

The key to a perfect scone is to make sure you don't overwork the dough, otherwise the result will be a hard doughy scone. They're good enough to eat on their own!

OATMEAL BANANA CAKE

A cake  for oatmeal lovers. This Oatmeal Banana Cake is super simple to prepare. It is slightly different from others you might have came across because my method requires no soaking of the oat.

With this cake I was able to avoid other desserts that had more sugar and  this cake requires no frosting too. I have sprinkled it with black sesame seeds but this is optional

By adding oat in your diet may help contribute to:

Reducing the risk of diabetes
Lowering cholesterol levels as part of healthy diet
Reducing risk of cardiovascular disease
Stabilizing blood sugar

BANANA OAT CHOCOLATE SMOOTHIE

Banana Oat Chocolate Smoothies is fabulous when you want something sweet and chocolaty but very healthy too. A homemade smoothies is a great breakfast or as afternoon snack. It is full of vitamins and nutrients.

They are fast and easy to prepare. Smoothies are endlessly versatile and much cheaper than store bought, letting you use whatever fruit is in season or on offer.

I had used banana, oat and chocolate milk this time but if you're ellergic to milk, substitute it with fruit juice or non dairy milk.

Try this filling and guilt free treat to start the day!

BACK OF THE BAG OATMEAL ROLLS

I'm so inspired to bake my own bread after seeing those fluffy and wonderful bread on the net.

You know, how much I love rolled oat in baking. So decided to give these  Back of the Bag Oatmeal Rolls  a try. The dough is enough to make 16  moist, nutty flavored rolls or one delicious loaf of bread.

The honey in the dough adds a nice richness but you don;t actually taste it. As you can see, they turned  out awesome. My boy gobbled 3 of Back of the Bag Oatmeal Rolls  as soon as they were out of the oven.

SEMOLINA AND OATMEAL PANCAKE

When your everyday oatmeal breakfast becomes boring, mix it up with these  pancake!  You'll certainly love this savory pancake, packed with the nutrition of a bowl of oat  and semolina

Made with semolina and rolled oat, flavored with chopped onion, cilantro and sliced green/red chili, these pancake are easy to make, scrumptious to eat and a little healthier twist to a standard breakfast recipe.

SOFT BUTTER ROLLS

This roll is light and fluffy tasted so good  warm from the oven with butter spread on top.

It's  just a basic rolls but you can create a lot more from it.  The dough can also be shaped in many other ways, so use your imagination . These make awesome cinnamon rolls, crescent rolls,  filled buns or stuffed bread  too.

This is my all time favorite rolls.  These Soft Butter Rolls  make a perfect soft roll always!

EGG FREE FRENCH TOAST

Made this  Egg Free French Toast  for our breakfast today using pandan (screw pine leaves) flavored bread, which was perfect.

My family was super impressed, can't really tell that it was eggless. We loved it! I served them with brown sugar and banana slices. Actually the syrup was a left over from my Monkey Bread from scratch , diluted with few spoons of milk.

For other variation, you can add besan (chickpea flour) instead of cornflour and seasoned with ground black pepper and chopped cilantro for a savory  version.

To obtain a nice golden color, use low medium heat when frying the Egg Free French Toast.  If you are allergic to dairy product,  replace it with almond or soy milk instead.

ROLLED OAT SLICE

This healthy slice is such a hit in my household that I end up making it often.  Made with a minimum amount of fat and  low in sugar, this is definitely a healthier choice for breakfast or after school snack.

Obviously, they're so versatile, change up the raisin, use other dried fruit instead or add seeds of your choice also  use coconut oil  instead of melted butter. If don't drink regular milk, there are a lot of non dairy alternatives to choose from. You can buy milk made from  almond, rice or soy.

Full of natural goodness of oat without no artificial color or flavor and they are super easy to prepare.

BUTTERHORN ROLLS

This is not an ordinary throw together and bake recipe but the outcome is so much better than any regular yeast rolls. It requires some rolling,  shaping and brushing with butter before  allowing  it to  rise for an hour and half.

Though many are intimidated by making yeast dough, you will find this one soft and so easy to handle. I enjoy the work of kneading my dough by hand but  a  bread machine or  stand mixer will work just fine.

Buttery and delicious, these are perfect for upcoming holidays and special occasions.

As you can see from the photo, they are a bit smaller but you will get enough to feed a small family.

BUTTERHORN ROLLS
Yield   :  16 rolls

2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon instant yeast
3/4 cup warm milk
1/4 cup melted butter
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
Extra butter for brushing

METHOD

Place flour and yeast in a mixing bowl.

Combine water, milk, sugar and salt in a separate bowl, stir well.

Now add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients, forms into soft dough using a mixer or by hand.

Transfer dough onto floured surface and knead by hand until smooth for 10 minutes.

Place dough onto greased bowl and covered bowl, let rise until double for 1.5 hours.

Punch dough down. Divide into 2 equal portions.  Roll out each portion 10 in circle. Brush with butter,  cut into 8 triangles. Roll up dough starting from the wide end.

Repeat rolling and cutting for the balance of the dough. Place dough  point side down onto baking sheet spacing evenly.

Cover rolls with clean kitchen towel, let sit for 45 minutes. Towards the end of rising time, preheat oven @ 180 C.

Bake rolls until golden for 15 minutes. Transfer onto rack to cool.

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LACHA PARATHA

A layered flat bread made with wheat flour. Made as per normal paratha dough, this bread requires an additional step to obtain its layering effect.

After it has been rolled out flat and thin, a small amount of oil to be applied on the surface before pleating it as you did for a fan.

This is my first attempt making them, its seems so easy and it involves a right technique and practice to get it right.

This recipe was great, my family enjoyed it very much, this will be a regular menu in our home!

BRAIDED TUNA BREAD

I bake yeast bread quite often because my family loves them.    My boy specially requested this Braided Tuna Bread for his breakfast.

It is a great bread to bring to potlucks or family gatherings.  Filled with tuna, you can also choose other stuffing of your choice.

If you have a bread machine, the process is even easier because the machine kneads the bread for you. But if don't have a BM, no worries! Good old fashioned kneading with your hand is perfect (it's a good workout).

Using a sweet dough,  this Braided Tuna Bread turned out soft and  buttery, however frozen bread dough may also be conveniently substituted by time pressed readers.