Pandan Chiffon Cake 2 (Healthier Version)

 

Pandan chiffon cake was my childhood favorite cake.  I remembered I always asked my mom to buy it at the bakery shop for us to have as breakfast.  It was great being a kid without having to worry about counting calories and just consumed however much we liked.  I seriously would not have known what went into making a cake, a bread, or a dish without me being a cook and a baker myself.  Once I learned that, I have to be careful at what to cook for my family and how much portion to consume in a day, you know to watch my diet and not over eating certain food that is high in saturated fat.

This recipe is adapted from my Pandan Chiffon Cake recipe but because I want to make it healthier with less saturated fat content, I omitted the coconut milk and used 1% milk instead.  I also changed the all-purpose flour to cake flour, just for experiment.  Glad to say it turned out well, still fragrant with Pandan smell and not much difference from the Pandan chiffon cake made with coconut milk.

I didn't do a nice job at dismounting my chiffon cake from the tube pan, this really takes patient and skill.  LOL!

Ingredients:

(A)

1 3/4 cup cake flour, sifted

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup sugar

(B)

1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil

6 egg yolks

3/4 cup milk (I used 1 %)

1 tsp. pandan paste

(C)

6 egg whites

1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

3/4 cup sugar

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350'F (175'C).

2. Combine (A) in a bowl. Whisk to blend. Add (B). Beat with an electric mixer until smooth.

3. Beat (C) with a clean beaters until moist peaks formed. Gradually add 3/4 cup sugar, beating until stiff and shiny peaks are formed. Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the egg yolks mixture, fold to mix until blended and proceed with the rest of the egg whites. Fold gently but thoroughly. Turn batter into ungreased 10" tube pan.

4. Bake for 55 mins in the center of the oven or til a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Invert cake and cool completely in pan. When cool, loosen the edges with a thin plastic knife and invert pan to remove cake.

The above is the picture of the Pandan paste that I used, usually selling for 99 cent at the Asian grocery store.  This is the brand and paste that I recommend to produce a fragrant cake, essence and powder form are not recommended.  

Toast Camembert Bagel

I received this sample of Normandie Ile de France Camembert recently.  I was one of the lucky fews who got to sample the product before it hit the shelf and release to the general public.  Its' flavor is more intense than Brie and I instantly noticed it when I first opened the box.  I could actually smelled it.  Ile de France Camembert is crafted in Normandy, from local Rbst (hormone) free pasteurized cow milk.  The herds spend most of their time outside, grazing in the fields of Normandy, known for its temperate climate and rich soil.  It has the mushrooms and nutty undertones and known for its' creaminess.

This was my first time sample a Camembert and frankly I had no idea how people eat this besides serving as a cheese platter.  So I went to the Ile de France Website and look through the recipes.  But I was too eager to try it and I had some bagel at home, so I just cut two slices and toast it in the toaster oven.  Got to say, even though it didn't smell too good, it tasted not bad at all.  Very creamy and melted beautifully.  Even my little Edda who said yuck at the smell couldn't stop eating it.  Two days later, I tried it in my cheesy shell pasta dish and my two girls walloped it up.  They really loved it. 

Two slices of Camembert on my mini blueberry bagel.

The end product!  Loved how the cheese melted, yummy!  Would go great with a English muffin with bacon and fried egg as well.

Salmon with DOM

I  have been cooking a lot of salmon recently, guess you have been noticing it too.  Salmon is rich in omega 3 fatty acid and thus a brain booster.  Supposed to be good for your brain.  So, I came out with this recipe with what I had in my refrigerator at that time.  The soup of this dish was really fragrant with the smell of DOM, so good drizzle with rice.  It made a good one dish meal too!

Ingredients:

2 pieces of salmon fillets, cut into pieces (marinated with rice wine, salt, white pepper)

2-3 stalks of celery, cut

1 small carrot, cut

1 cup of wood ear fungus, soften

1 Tbsp. of goji berries

1 small pieces of ginger, julienne

3 gloves of garlic, minced 

Salt to taste

White pepper to taste

1 tsp. chicken stock granules

Water to suit

1 Tbsp. Benedictine DOM

Oil for cooking

Cornstarch thickener:  1 Tbsp. cornstarch + 2 Tbsp. water, mix well.

Method:

1.  Heat up your wok, when heated add in a little oil.  When the oil is hot, add in the ginger and garlic.  Stir-fry until aromatic, add in celery, carrot and stir fry well.  Add in wood ear fungus and mix well.

2.  Add in water to cover.  When boiling, add in the marinated salmon pieces.  Let the stock cooked the salmon, don't stir it too much.  Season with chicken stock granules, salt and pepper.  Lastly, add in the goji berries.

3.  When the fish is cooked,  add in the Benedictine DOM and cornstarch thickener.  Stir until thicken and turn off the heat and serve hot.

Cheesy Shell Pasta

I am not sure how to name this pasta dish because I created it on a whim just for Ruth!  Ruth is hosting Presto Pasta Night this week and I wanted to be a part of it.  :-)  I called it Cheesy Shell Pasta because it had cheese in it.  LOL!  I have some Camembert cheese in my fridge and milk, so why not give it a try.  You can certainly make it more creamy and cheesy by using heavy cream instead of milk and sprinkle with more cheeses on top and bake in the oven for 5 minutes before serving.  Whatever you like right?

I just used what I have in the refrigerator and pantry to create this delicious pasta dish.  My Edda said it tasted like Chicken Alfredo.  Hehehe...  This was our lunch and Evy's lunchbox for tomorrow.

I'm sharing this noodle with Presto Pasta Nights, an event created by Ruth from Once Upon a Feast.  This week host is Ruth herself! Check out her delicious round up on Oct, 1st!

Ingredients:

2 cups of medium shell pasta, cooked as directed, drain and set aside

Zest of one lemon

2 cloves of garlic, minced

3/4 cup of frozen mixed vegetable

1/2 cup of imitation lobster meat/ crab meat/ shrimps

1/2 cup of milk

1/2 of Ile de France Normandie Camembert cheese (110g), cut into pieces (or any cheese you have)

Dashes of Italian herbs seasoning

Salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

1 tsp. sugar

Parmesan cheese, extra and optional

Method:

1.  Heat the saute pan.  When heated, add in some olive oil, then garlic and lemon zest.  Saute quickly, then add in the mixed vegetable and imitation lobster meat.  Stir well.

2.  Add in the milk and cheese.  Stir until the cheese is melted.  Add in the cooked pasta, stir well.

3.  Season with dashes of Italian herbs seasoning, salt, black pepper and sugar.

4.  Serve hot with extra topping of Parmesan cheese.

Chinese Cooling Teas

 

I was having a bad sore throat and cold two weeks ago.  I might get it because of the heaty mooncakes I had been eating or the fried food my hubby brought back, I had no idea.  So, I went to the Asian market here in search of my cooling teas to cool my body and be rid of this cold and cough.  This is not a paid post, I just took this picture to share with my girlfriend here who could not read Mandarin.  I remembered she asked me once on what to buy last year when she was sick.  So, I took this picture since I am having these at home now and show her so that she would know what to buy next time.  Each bag has 16 packets and in each packet is a granules form of ingredient in which you just mix it with hot water to dissolve, almost instantly.  It doesn't taste very pleasant at first, but once you got used to it, you should be fine.  I am loving this teas now.  One is heat-resolving granules and the other one is 24 flavors herbal cooling tea.  Great for traveling too!

Herdez Salsa Macaroni with Shrimps

My girls didn't want to eat the porridge so I made this pasta dish for them.  It just so happen that I had a bottle of salsa in the pantry that I needed to use.  So, I created this easy macaroni and shrimps pasta with it.  None of them complaint that it was spicy so I guess it was not spicy to them, as it only listed as mild.  However, my picky eater Evy won't eat the tomatoes.  She is a strange little girl, as she will eat the blended pasta tomato sauce but not if she can see the tomato.  So, she only ate the macaroni and shrimps and picked out all the tomatoes and set it aside on her plate.

It is really hard as tomato is good for her.  I think she got influence by her daddy as he would not eat tomatoes too.  Because of this, I don't buy tomatoes.  Guess I will have to cook more spaghetti with tomato based pasta sauce as this is the only time she would eat it with no complaint. 

I'm sharing this noodle with Presto Pasta Nights, an event created by Ruth from Once Upon a Feast.  This week host is Valli of More Than Burnt Toast. Check out her delicious round up on Sept, 24th!

Ingredients:

2 cups of dried macaroni, cooked at directed, drain and set aside

8 extra large shrimps, smashed with your knife and minced

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 bottle of Herdez salsa casera mild (16oz)

2 Tbsp. Ketchup

2 tsp. sugar

Dashes of Italian seasoning herbs

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) for cooking

Method:

1.  Heat up a skillet, add EVOO.  Then, add minced shrimps and garlic, fry until shrimps are cooked.

2.  Add in Herdez salsa, stir well.  Add the ketchup, Italian seasonings and sugar.  Mix well.  Lastly, add in the cooked macaroni, stir well to mix.  Serve hot!

3.  You can serve with Parmesan cheese too.

Happy Mid-Autumn/ Lantern Festival!

 

Chinese around the world celebrated Mid-Autumn Festival on the 15th day of the 8 months on their lunar calender.  This day falls differently on the Western calender and this year 2010, it falls on September 22nd, Wednesday.  This day is a day of family reunion and family gathering around to enjoy a delicious spread of food and mooncakes.  Chinese believe that on this day, the moon is the roundest and brightest which signify completeness and abundance.  So, after a delicious meal, the adult would sit outside to enjoy the full moon while sipping tea and eating mooncake.  Whereas, the children would happily holding a lantern and join with the neighborhood kids to parade around the street.  We only had paper lantern back in the old days but now the plastic lantern has become popular as it is safer.  I remembered I used to make my own paper lantern at school as an art project, but with a paper lantern, one has to be careful as the candle would burn your lantern if you are not.  I bought two plastic lanterns for my girls to play, even though the plastic ones are safe, with lights, music and can even spin, it is still lacking compared to the beautiful paper lantern.

Have a happy and fun Mid-Autumn Festival and enjoy this day with your family members with a feast and mooncakes!!