Cantaloupe and Sago in Coconut Milk

Ingredients:

1/2 cantaloupe
1/2 cup sago (soak for half an hour)
2 cups water added to half cup thick coconut milk
2 tablespoon sugar (or according to taste)
pinch of salt

Directions:

Put the soaked sago into a pot of water (about 4 cups) and boil until the sago turns trasnparents. Under a cold running tap, pour the sago into a fine mesh sieve and use your fingers to swirl the sago around a few minutes. Pour the sago in a bowl and set aside.

In a pot, add the coconut milk, water, salt and sugar. Under low heat, bring to a boil. Turn off the flame when you see at least 2 bubbles. (Do not boil the coconut milk too long because it will curdle and not look smooth.) Add the sago and stir a bit. Leave it to cool before refrigerating.

Put a few spoonful of the cantaloupe mixture into a dessert bowl, spoon the coconut milk with the sago over the fruit and serve cold.

Honey Walnut Banana Bread

Ingredients:

3 ripe/over ripe bananas, mashed up
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar ( you may use less sugar, the cake was a bit too sweet for my taste)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs (room temperature)
1/4 baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup of flour
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large mixing bowl, add the mashed bananas, butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, eggs, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon powder and salt.

Mix all the ingredients together, till it's all combined. Don't worry if there's a few banana lumps here and there.

Add the flour and mix it together. You can just hand mix it.

Add 3/4 cup of chopped walnut and fold in with a spatula or wooden spoon. Don't over beat the batter after adding the flour, to keep this bread moist and crumbly.

Pour the batter into a loaf tin and sprinkle the left over nuts over the top.

Bake at 350 F for 40-45 minutes. Check with a tooth pick to see if the bread is done. If the toothpick comes out clean after poking it through the center of the cake, it's done.

Teriyaki Chicken

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, cut in half
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 soy sauce
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoon white wine

Directions:

1. Rinse chicken halves, and pat dry with paper towels. Place chicken cut side down in a baking dish.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine sugar, soy sauce, grated ginger and garlic. Mix well, and pour mixture over chicken. Cover and refrigerated for at least 3 hours.

3. Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C).

4. Bake chicken uncovered in the preheated oven for i hour, basting frequently. Test for doneness, making sure there is no pink left in the meat. Let cool slightly, then cut into smaller pieces to serve.

Recipe by allrecipes.com

Tapioca Steamed Layered Cake ( "Banh da lon" in Vietnamese)

Ingredients:

2 cups tapioca starch
1/2 cup rice flour
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 can coconut milk (13 oz) + 1/2 cup water
1 cup cooked yellow split mung beans (soaked for 1 hour & steam until cooked, 30 minutes)


Directions:


Boil the 1/2 cup water and add the sugar until dissolved. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the rice flour and tapioca starch.

Add the coconut + water mixture to the flour mixture. Stir.

Add the water/sugar syrup to the mixture.

Divide the mixture into 2 parts.

Yellow layer - add the mung beans and mixture to a food processor. Blend until smooth. Sift the mixture to remove the lumps. Add yellow food color.

Green layer - add food color and mix.

Place a metal container in a steam pot. Add one layer of green. When solid, add yellow layer. Continue until all layers are finished.

Once cool, cut the tapioca cake. When it's warm, it is really sticky and get more firm once cooled.

Recipe by: Annie Vang

Cheddar Zucchini Drop Biscuits

Ingredients:

3/4 cup zucchini, shredded
1 1/2 teaspoon salt (divided into 1 tsp and 1/2 tsp)
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cold and diced
1 cup buttermilk
freshly grated black pepper (optional)

Directions:

Place the shredded zucchini in a small colander, add the 1/2 tsp of salt, and allow to drain for about thirty minutes. You can add a small weight on top of the zucchini to help drain out as much of the water as possible.

Postion an oven rack in the middle of the oven, and preheat to 450 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon liners.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the chilled butter, and using either your hands or a pastry blender, incorporate the butter into the flour mixture until crumbs the size of small peas form.

Add the buttermilk, zucchini, and cheddar cheese into the batter, mixing until just combined and the batter is moistened. Drop the batter onto the prepared baking sheets by the tablespoonful, and space them evenly apart (they won't spread during baking). Sprinkle a little black pepper onto the tops of the biscuits if desired.

Bake the biscuits until the tops are golden brown, about 10-12 minutes. Allow the biscuits to cool slightly, and serve warm.

Cranberry Pistachio Shortbreads

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups (300 g) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) (226 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup (135 g) granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup (130 g) dried cranberries, coarsely chopped

Direction:

In a large bowl whisk the flour with the salt.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter until smooth (about 1 - 2 minutes). Add the sugar and beat until smooth and creamy (about 3 minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract. Gently stir in the flour mixture just until incorporated. Fold in the chopped pistachios and dried cranberries. (Make sure that the nuts and cranberries are evenly distributed throughout the dough.)

Divide the dough in half. Place each half of dough on the center of a 14 inch (35 cm) length of parchment or wax paper. Smooth and shape the dough into an evenly shaped rectangle that is about 10 inches (25 cm) long and 2 inches (5 cm) wide. Then thoroughly wrap the shaped logs in the parchment or wax paper, twists the ends of the paper to seal the logs, and place in the refrigerator o chill for at leas two hours, or up to three days. (The logs can also be frozen for about two months. If freezing, it is best to defrost the logs in the refrigerator overnight before slicing and baking.)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degree C) with the rack in the center of he oven. Line two baking sheet with parchment paper.

Using a thin bladed knife, slice the logs into 1/4 to 1/2 inches (.5 o 1 cm) thick cookies. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches (5 cm) apart. Bake for about 15 - 20 minutes, or until the cookies are just beginning to brown around the edges. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.


Recipe by: Joy of Baking

Raspberry Sponge Cake

Sponge Cake:

4 large eggs
1 large (35 g) sifted cake flour
3 tablespoons (30 g) cornstarch (corn flour)
1/2 cup (100 g) plus 1 tablespoon (15 g) granulated white sugar (divide)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar (optional)

Raspberry Whipped Cream:

1 cup (240 ml) heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 - 2 tablespoon (15-30 g) granulated white sugar
1/3 (80 ml) raspberry jam or 1/2 cup (120 ml) lightly sweetened raspberry sauce or strawberry sauce

For Sponge Cake: Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) and place oven rack in the center of the oven. Butter, or spray with a nonstick vegetable spray, a 17x12 inch (43x30 cm) baking pan, line it with parchment paper, and then butter and flour the paper (or spray with a nonstick vegetable/flour spray).

While the eggs are still cold separate two of the eggs, placing the yolks in one bowl and the whites in another bowl. To the yolks, add the additional yolk, and the two remaining eggs. Cover bowls with plastic wrap and allow the eggs to come to room temperature (about 30 minutes). Meanwhile, in a small bowl whisk the flour with the cornstarch.

Place the egg yolks and whole eggs, along with 1/2 cup (100 grams) of the sugar, in your electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on high speed for five minutes, or until thick, pale yellow, and fluffy. (When you slowly raise the beaters the batter will fall back into the bowl in slow ribbons.) Then beat in the vanilla extract. Sift half the flour mixture over the beaten egg mixture and fold in gently with a rubber spatula, just until the flour is incorporated. Sift the remaining flour mixture into the batter and fold in.

In a clean bowl, with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue beating until soft peaks form. Sprinkle in the remaining one tablespoon sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Gently fold a little of the white into the batter to lighten it, and then add the rest of the whites. Pour the batter into prepared pan, spreading evenly with an offset spatula or spoon. Bake for about 6-8 minutes or until golden brown and when lightly pressed, springs back. Immediately upon removing the cake from the oven sprinkle with confectioners sugar and then invert the cake onto a clean dish towel. Remove the parchment paper, sprinkle with confectioners sugar, and roll up the sponge, with the towel. Place on a wire rack to cool.

For Raspberry Whipped Cream: Place your mixing bowl and whisk attachment in the freezer for 15 minutes. Then place the whipping cream, vanilla extract, and sugar into the bowl and beat until soft peaks form. Add the jam and beat just until stiff peaks form.

To Assemble: Unroll the sponge, spread with the cream and reroll. Cover and chill n the refrigerator for a few hours. Just before serving, dust with confectioners sugar.

Recipe by: Joy of Baking