Granola Bar Variations!

Chewy Trail Mix:

• Rolled whole grain mix (hard red wheat, oats, rye, triticale, barley)
• Rosted salted almonds
• Brown Rice syrup, evaporated cane juice syrup, honey, molasses
• Soy protein isolate, whey protein isolate
• Oat fiber
• Evaporated cane juice crystals, 
• Soy grits, corn flour
• Chicory root fiber
• Raisins, dried cranberries
• Sunflower seeds
• Evaporated cane juice syrup
• Vegetable glycerin, canola oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil
• Corn flour, rice starch, buckwheat flour, 
• Sesame flour, peanut flour
• Sea salt, soy lecithin

Chocolate Bar:

• Grain mix (wheat, oats, rye, triticale, barley)
• Soy protein crisps (soy flour, Tapioca starch, soy fiber
• Brown Rice syrup, evaporated cane juice syrup, honey, molasses, invert cane syrup
• Roasted almonds
• Chocolate chips, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, vanilla bean, soy lecithin
• Acacia gum
• Chia seeds
• skim milk, rosemary extract
• Xanthan gum

Oven Fried Sweet Potatoes.

Sweet potatoes have a lot of fiber, high potassium and vitamin A. Bake them to bring out the natural sweetness with pinch of cayenne for a fiery bite.

Ingredients:

• One sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into thin wedges or slices
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Pinch of salt and pepper to taste
• Fresh thyme leaves, optional

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425F.
2. Mix the sweet potatoes with oil, cayenne, thyme, salt and pepper.
3. Place sweet potato wedges or sliced on a baking sheet in single layer evenly. Bake for 40 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are tender inside and slightly brown on the outside.

Note:

• You can also saute the sliced sweet potatoes on medium-low heat till golden brown on the outside and tender on the inside.

My Guacamole!

To me, guacamole is at its best with a few fresh ingredients that are in season. The basic essentials are garlic, jalapeno, lemon or lime and avocado. You can adjust and add more on top of that.

Ingredients (yield 2 cups): 

• 2 ripe avocados, pitted and diced
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup minced red onion
• 1 tablespoons minced jalapeno
• juice of one lemon or lime
• pinch of cayenne
• kosher salt to taste
• Chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Smash the garlic against the cutting board with the side of a knife and remove the skin. Add a pinch of salt to the garlic and mince finely. Use the side of the knife to grind the paste finer into a paste, using the salt to act as an abrasive. (or use a pestle and mortar for the job). 
2. Transfer the paste to a bowl and add the onion, jalapeno, and avocado. Mash up the avocado but remain slightly chunky.
3. Stir in the lemon juice and cilantro. Season with salt and cayenne to taste.

Notes:

• Add freshly diced tomatoes or red bell peppers.
• Use it as filling to make Devil's Eggs.
• Use it with baked wonton wraps for appetizers.
• Use it for Bruschettas.
• Use it in quesadillas, wraps and sandwiches.

My Classic Pesto Sauce.

Store-bought pesto sauce can never taste as good as a homemade batch and it only takes 3 minutes to make it if you have a food processor.

Use it on pastas, sandwiches, or in soups and salad dressings.

Add enough oil so there is a thin layer of oil float on top of the sauce to keep it fresh and green, before you retire them to the refrigerator. The oil will keep the basil from oxidizing and darkening.

Ingredients: 

• 3 cups fresh basil leaves, coarsely torn
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoons pin nuts or walnuts
• salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Put everything except the oil in a food processor and pulse until the basil is chopped.
2. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until all is incorporated to a pasty consistency.
3. Enjoy.

Homemade Butter! No Kidding!

You wonder who would bother to make their own butter. Well, it tastes better if you ask me. Also it is annoying to buy the whole block if all you need is just a little to go with your homemade white muffin or homemade whole-grain muffin. Or maybe you want to see if I am kidding you.

By the way, if you make your own Crème fraiche, you will have that heavy cream sitting around. Here is another way to use it besides whipping it up with sugar.

Ingredients:

• Very cold heavy cream (about 36-40% butterfat)
• A small, clean and sterilized jar

Directions:

1. Pour the cold heavy cream into the sterilized jar to about half way full.
2. Shake it like a mad man for 20 minutes. This can be done very quickly in a food processor as well.
3. The milk fat will solidify into a lump and separate from the whey.
4. Drain out the whey and keep the butter frozen or refrigerated. 

Notes:

• It is much easier and faster to do this in a food processor but, hey, this special recipe is for our uncluttered, simple life members.
• By the way, you can do this trick to impress someone, I hope.
• You can add herbs and spices into the heavy cream and shake out a flavored butter. 
• You can keep the leftover whey for baking recipes that call for buttermilk.

My Whole-Grain English Muffins - Still No-knead.

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup rye flour
• ¼ cup whole-wheat flour
• ¼ cup spelt flour
• ½ cup plain yogurt
• ½ cup warm milk
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ½ tablespoon honey
• 2 teaspoons/7 grams/0.25 oz active dry yeast (1 packet)
• 1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon/4 grams baking soda
•  Coarse cornmeal

Directions:

1. Dissolve yeast and ½ teaspoon sugar in 1/3 cup warm water (100°F - 110°F) and wait for 15 minutes to proof the yeast. It should become bubbly.
2. Melt 2 tablespoons butte. Add in yogurt, milk, honey, salt and the yeast mixture.
3. Add flours and baking soda to wet ingredients in step#2, and mix until well combined. Cover the bowl and let it rest in a warm spot for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until doubled in size. 
4. Preheat oven to 350°F degrees. Lightly dust a lined baking sheet with cornmeal. 
5. Place a large skillet over medium heat and melt 1 tablespoon butter. 
6. Using a large ice cream scoop or 1/2 cup measuring cup, 
7. Drop about 1/2 cup batter into skillet to form round muffins about 4 inches in diameter. Cover with lid and cook 3 to 5 minutes on each side until golden brown. The second side may take shorter time, about 2 to 4 minutes.
8. Transfer muffins on prepared baking sheet and bake at 375°F degrees for 6 to 7 minutes.
9. Split the muffins with a fork and toast to serve.

Notes:

• More about muffin making!
• This is a very wet dough just as the other recipe. The consistency is more like a batter. Use a spoon or an ice cream scoop to drop the batter in hot pan. 
• Texture of this recipe will be more like a buttermilk biscuit.

A Modern English Muffin -- Easier, Faster, Simpler, No-knead and No-oven!

Hey, there, when you are tired of the sandwich bread, why not try my version of homemade English Muffin. The good thing about homemade is that you know and you control what's in it for you.

Remember, good flavor in food takes time and it is certainly very true in bread-making. Luckily, when I say it takes time, I don't mean that you have to hang over it with lots of attention. Just be patient and let the nature take its course to work its miracle. This recipe is basically mix, wait, shape and pan-fry, so it's perfect for busy people with one-pot! However, it is a difficult wet dough with high water to flour ratio to challenge your dough making IQ.

In order to develop the right texture and taste, you need a two-step sponge-dough bread-making process. I'll explain more about this another time, if you are interested.

Ingredients (yield 4 servings):

For sponge or starter (step.1):

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour or spelt flour
• 1/2 cup warm water or milk (about 110°F)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of active dry yeast or 1 1/4 teaspoons of instant yeast (about half a package of yeast) 
• 1/8 teaspoon sugar, optional

For the rest of dough (step.2):

• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg white
• 1 1/2 cups bread flour (or Italian 00 flour or French T55 flour)
• 1/4 cup warm water or milk (about 110°F)
• 1/8 teaspoon baking powder, optional
• 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil for cooking or use clarified butter (Homemade clarified butter and why)

Directions: 

Sponge

1. To make a sponge in step #1, dissolve the yeast, sugar in 1/4 cup of warm water and wait 15-20 minutes to see if it bubbles. This is to proof and test the yeast so we know it is activated and alive. 
2. Add 1/2 cup of flour, another 1/4 cup of water to the bubbly yeast water and stir with a spatula to make a thick, pudding-like mixture.
3. You can proceed to the rest of the steps. However, for better flavor and texture, cover the bowl and let the sponge sit on the counter for 2 hours at room temperature.  
4. Mix the rest of the dough ingredients into the bubbly sponge mixture. Mix it into a sticky ball.
5. Cover and put it at a draft-free, warm spot (ideally 70°F-80°F) for about 2 hours to double in size. It should be very bubbly after 2 hours. Use a rubber spatula to scrape everything down. It is an extremely sticky and wet dough. 
6. Put the dough in a greased plastic bag and knead it for 1 to 2 minutes to shape it into a ball. Transfer the dough to a greased cutting board and cut it into 4-6 portions with a greased knife or bench scraper.

7. Roll each portion with your palm in circular motions and form each portion into a seamless ball of dough. Curl the fingers to keep the dough under your palm like holding a computer mouse, and keep rolling the greased dough between the thumb and the other fingers, while moving your hand in circles, until the dough is smooth and seamless. 
8. Line a baking sheet and sprinkle coarse cornmeal generously.
9. Press the dough gently to flatten it and place each dough on the lined baking sheet. Coat each dough evenly with the cornmeal. 
10. Cover with a towel and let it rise 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours to double in size. This is the second proof and also final proof after shaping. 
11. Heat up oil in heavy bottom pan on medium heat and carefully transfer the dough to the pan without deflating it too much. Cook each side for about 6 to 8 minutes until golden brown and cooked through. (Or cook 5 minutes on each side and finish by baking them in 350°F preheated oven for 6 to 7 minutes.)

12. Let them cool completely on a cooling rack before slicing them open. 
13. Tear it open with a fork, toast it and enjoy your homemade, airy, bubbly muffins. 

Note: 

About Yeast:

One package of yeast is 0.25 ounce (7 grams) and is about 2 1/4 teaspoon.
Yeast is happiest at around 75°F to 80°F.
To activate the yeast, use 110°F warm water. It should feel like lukewarm bath water to the touch. If it is too cold, the yeast won't wake up. If it is too hot, the yeast will be killed. Dip your finger in the water and the finger should feel comfortable in it for as long as you please. If it feels hot to you, it is too hot for the yeast to survive.
If you use instant yeast, use 1 1/4 tsp instant yeast to replace 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast. The conversion ratio between active dry yeast vs instant dry yeast is around 4:3 to 5:4. That is, reduce the amount of instant yeast by 20% to 25% to replace active dry yeast and you can expect the dough to rise at about the same rate.
If you don't use the yeasts very often, keep them in air-tight bags or containers in the freezer. They can last for years (about one year for instant yeast).
The common types of yeast you can buy in most grocery stores are active dry yeast and instant yeast. Bread machine yeast is the same as instant yeast. Rapid Rise or Quick Rise yeast is instant yeast milled finer with additional enzymes to make the dough rise faster.
Active dry yeast is a living organism that is dried at higher temperature, which kills more of the exterior yeast cells and creates a thicker out layer for water to get through. It is dormant with a larger granular consistency and it requires an initial activation in warm water (about 110°F), whereas instant yeast is dried at more gentle temperatures and milled finer so it can be added directly to the dry ingredient and become activated as soon as it's in contact with liquid.
The upside of having a thick skin? Active dry yeast has the longest shelf life. They can last for years in sealed container in the freezer.

About Proofing Dough:

The longer you allow a bread dough to rise, the more flavor and chewy texture (because of gluten) the bread can develop. 
The warmer it is, the quicker the dough will rise.
In general the more yeast you use, the quicker it will rise. However, if you put too much yeast, the dough could rise too fast.
If you are rising and developing the dough slowly, say, from overnight up to days, you need to reduce the amount of yeast and keep it cool in the refrigerator. There is a peak time when the dough rise to a point where it has to be baked. If it passes the point, the bread will become too dry (too much CO2), have a heavy yeasty off-flavor (like a bad beer due to too much alcohol) and can even taste sour in a bad way (no, not like sourdough). In the worst case scenario, the bread simply collapses during baking because the over-stretched bubbles break down the gluten in the bread that can't support them. 

About Texture:

• I use bread/strong flour with high protein content to yield the structure and texture I like. If you cannot find bread/strong flour, feel free to use all-purpose (AP) flour. The whole wheat flour or spelt flour is there to add a touch of nutty flavor. If you like, replace up to half amount of flour with whole wheat flour. 
• Bread flour is 高筋麵粉 in Chinese, 強力粉 in Japanese.
• The dough has a high ratio of water to flour in order to have big bubbles or holes in the crumb (the inside of a bread). It is supposed to be tacky and sticky so don't be annoyed and keep adding flour. Keep a small bowl of oil when you handle the soft ball of dough. 
• You can also flour your hand and the working surface when working the dough but people tend to end up adding too much flour and ruin the ratio, yielding a tough dough and a bread crumb that is way too dense. Do the most mixing with spatula and shape at the last stage for 1 to 2 minutes.
• The texture should be light, with big bubbles all across while with a toothy bite, just like pizza crusts.

Minestrone Soup!

When you have leftover vegetables in the refrigerator, the best way to get rid of them is to make a soup. Make sure you cut up the vegetables that can be easily scooped up with the spoon so you don't have to reach for your fork.

You can boil the tomato lightly, peel and seed to make a tomato concasse if you are serving this for guests and you want the presentation to look more appealing without the tomato skins and seeds floating around. Certainly you can use canned diced tomato to save time.

Ingredients (yield 2 - 3 servings):

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large tomato, sliced
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped
• 1 zucchini, diced
• 1 cup cut Swiss chard, (or thinly sliced)
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/2 cup diced carrots
• 1/2 cup button mushroom, diced
• 1/2 cup cooked beans
• 1/4 cup green beans, cut into inch-long pieces
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup chopped basil
• 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper to taste
• 2 cups of water or stock
• parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Heat a pan and add olive oil. Add onions, carrots and saute for 3 minutes until they browns. Add garlic to saute for 1 minute. Add the mushroom and cook for 1 minute.
2. Add tomato and cook for 2 minutes until they soften. Add zucchini and water or stock. Bring to boil on high.
3. Add half of chopped parsley, half of basil, and Swiss chard.
4. Next you will add cooked beans. You don't add them at the beginning because they are already tender and you want them to remain a little crunchy. Adding them too soon will overcook them and make them mushy. 
5. When it boils again, turn the heat off and add salt, pepper to taste.
6. Serve with parmesan cheese, the rest of chopped parsley and basil.

Note: 

• I often add cooked pasta, brown rice or cooked beans to make it into a meal. Add these before you add the cooked green beans.
• You can also serve it with toasted rustic bread or baguette slices. 
• Feel free to throw in celery, corns, potato or peas. 

Fried Onion Two Ways!

Since I posted the Homemade Fried Shallots recipe, it's only natural that I should give you the fried onion counterpart version.

You can get store-bought Fried Onions, under the brand "French's Crispy Fried Onion" by Durkee, which was acquired by French's (a food manufacturer that also sells mustard, ketchup, a line of mayonnaise and Worcestershire sauce).

Remember, the "Fried Onions" (or sometimes "Fried Red Onions") that you found in Asian markets are not fried onions. They are fried shallots.

These are supposed to be fried until crispy and used as topping garnish (or garniture to be exact) and not the same as the onion rings as in an appetizer or side dish.

Ingredients (yield 5 cups):

• 2 large onions, sliced into thin rings
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup Panko bread crumbs
• 1-2 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste

Only for option #1, oven fried:

• Olive oil cooking spray

Only for option #2, deep fried:

• 2 cups milk
• more oil (for frying)
• salt

Directions 
Option #1 (oven-fried):

Preheat oven to 450F.

1. Preheat the oven to 425F.
2. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and grease with cooking spray. Set aside.
3. Sprinkle salt, flour and Panko bread crumbs on the onions and toss to coat evenly.
4. Place the onion slices on the lined baking sheet in one single layer and spray with cooking oil generously.
5. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown. Take them out half-way through to flip and turn to the other side.
6. Remove from oven and let them sit for 5 minutes, or until ready to use.

Option #2 (deep-fried):

1. Firstly, soak onion slices in milk for 5 minutes. Drain
2. Sprinkle salt, flour and Panko bread crumbs on the onions and toss to coat evenly.
3. Heat up the oil on medium heat and add the sliced onions. Stir to keep them separate and fry evenly. 
4. Turn the heat to medium-low and fry them until they turn pinkish and then golden brown.
5. Remove the onions from oil and drain. Spread them on paper towel to further remove the excess oil. Season with more salt if desired.
6. Let them sit 5 - 10 minutes to dry up and become crispy.
7. Store them in an air tight container. They should be used in a few days.