Almond Butter

In recent times, I've been coming across posts from various food blogs on how to make your very own homemade almond butter. If I had not stumbled upon these recipes, honestly, I would have never thought it would be possible to make almond butter from scratch, or any kind of nut butter for the fact.

Many food blogger who have attempted making almond butter more than often suggest various flavourings, such as cinnamon, chocolate, or honey could be added to the nut butter to enhance its taste. I thought I would have to add some salt and perhaps some honey to achieve a nicer tasting almond butter. But boy was I wrong! This beauty was so good on its own and it didn't need any flavour enhancers, not even salt, making this an extremely healthy recipe, albeit in moderation. Trust me, its that good, even I was a little surprised with the amazing end result.

In order to make your very own almond butter, you would need almonds, of course, and a durable food processor or grinder. Fret not if you have a not so sturdy food processor or grinder, you could still attempt making this butter but the process might take you a little longer than usual.

I only used 200g of almonds since it was my first time making it and I was rather skeptical on whether it would turn out well and if it didn't I didn't want it to end up being a royal flop!

Start of by roasting the almonds. You could very well use raw almond instead of roasting it, but I would strongly suggest roasting it since it lends a very deep flavour to the almond butter. In a baking tray covered with foil, lay the almonds in a single layer. Roast the almond for 10 minutes in the oven. 

Once done, remove the roasted almonds from the oven and let it cool for a bit. 

Place the almonds in the food processor or grinder and grind away.

This is how it looks after 1 minute of grinding.

After 3 minutes.

After a full five minutes. I was surprised that it took me only 5 minutes to reach this consistency, since most blogger mentioned that it would take around 10 minutes to reach this consistency.

Place the butter in an airtight container and place it in the fridge for up to 6 weeks. 

You may consume the almond butter with toast or cracker, but the best way which works for me is by dipping sliced apples into the butter and eating them.

ALMOND BUTTER

+PRINT RECIPE HERE

INGREDIENTS:

200g almonds, roasted

METHOD:

1) Preheat the oven at 150 degree celsius.
2) Place the raw almonds in a single layer on a baking try lined with foil.
3) Roast the almonds in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, stirring a couple of times in between.
4) Once done, remove the roasted almonds from the oven and let it cool for a bit.
5) Place the almonds in the food processor or grinder and start grinding.
6) Stop grinding every 1 minutes and scrape down the sides and continue grinding for another minute and repeat the same till the almond butter comes together.
7) Once the almond butter comes together, place the contents in an airtight container and refrigerate for 4-6 weeks.
* If you are adding and additional flavourings, like sugar, salt, honey, or cinnamon, the shelf life of the butter may be reduced to 1 to 2 weeks in the refrigerator. 

Healthy Rasam

Rasam is sort of an Indian soup, made with tonnes of spices. Generally, it is quite a healthy side dish and it is really good for cold and digestion. But I'm going one step ahead and calling this recipe healthy rasam because not even a drop of oil was used in this recipe.

Start by peeling and roughly crushing a few small onions using a mortar & pestle. Once crushed,remove it and keep aside.

Repeat the same as above for the garlic. Remove and keep aside.

Lastly, add in all the required spices and give a good pounding.

In a large bowl,place about 1/4 cup of tamarind. To that, add some water and start rubbing the tamarind using your fingers to extract the juice. Once the juice of the tamarind has been extracted, strain the excess pulp and seeds.

To the strained tamarind juice add the crushed onion, garlic, spices, crushed tomato, curry leaves, turmeric and salt give a good mix.

Heat a pan and add the mustard. Once the mustard is lightly toasted transfer the whole mixture to the pan. Bring the rasam to a boil. 

Once it has started boiling, just let it boil for about 30 seconds and immediately remove from heat. Be sure not to over boil the rasam.

HEALTHY RASAM

+PRINT RECIPE HERE

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup tamarind

4 cloves garlic, crushed

4 small onions, crushed

1 tomato, crushed

1 sprig curry leaves

1/4 tsp turmeric

2 1/4 cups water

Salt to taste

1/4 tsp mustard

Spices:

1 tsp fennel
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp black peppercorn

METHOD:

1) Peel and lightly crush the small onions and garlic using a mortar and pestle. Remove the crushed onions and garlic and keep aside.

2) Add in all the spices in the mortar and pestle and roughly crush the spices.

3) Smash a tomato using your finger and keep aside.

4) In a bowl, place the tamarind and to that add 2 1/4 of water and start rubbing the tamarind using the tip of your fingers to extract the juice.

5) Strain the excess tamarind pulp and seeds.

6) To the strained tamarind juice, add the crushed onion, garlic, spices, tomato, curry leaves, turmeric and salt to taste and give it a good mix.

7) Heat a pan and add the mustard. Once the mustard has toasted lightly, transfer the whole mixture to the pan. 

8) Bring the rasam to a boil. 

9) Once it has started boiling, just let it boil for about 30 seconds and immediately remove from heat.

NOTE:

1) The spices used in this recipe has been washed, dried and dry roasted before use. If you have obtained your spices from the supermarket or the sundry, you need not wash them. Just dry roast them till fragrant before using it.

2) Be sure not to over boil the rasam.

* This recipes serves 4

Homemade Chicken Patties

Whenever I make burgers at home, I make these chicken patties instead of using frozen burger patties. One thing, by making your own chicken patties you end up having a much flavourful and juicy burger. However, these chicken patties are not only good for burgers, you can slice them up and add it to your sandwiches, wraps or salad.

Making these chicken patties is extremely simple and not a daunting process at all. Just start by mixing all the ingredients in a large bowl.

Once the ingredients are well incorporated, divide the mixture into four for large patties. If you want smaller patties, divide the mixture accordingly.

Next, shape the mixture into patties. Place the patties on a greased plate, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Remove the patties form the fridge after 30 minutes. Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a pan. Once the oil is heated up, place the patties. Do not overcrowd the pan. If your pan is small, do two or one patties at a time. Cook the patties for 2-3 minutes per side. When one side is done, flip over to the other side and continue to cook it for another 2 minutes. Once the patty  is done, remove from heat.

Place all the cooked patties in a baking tray lined with foil. Bake them for 10 minutes in the oven.

Remove the cooked patties from the oven and let it stand for 5-8 minutes before serving.

HOMEMADE CHICKEN PATTIES

+PRINT RECIPE HERE
INGREDIENTS:

400g minced chicken

1 red onion, grated

2 cloves garlic, grated

1/2 carrot, grated

1 tbsp spring onion, chopped

2 tbsp parmesan

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

1-2 tbsp oil, or more

METHOD:

1) In a large bowl mix well all the ingredients.

2) Divide the mixture according to the desired size of patties wanted. For large patties, I divided the mixture into 4.

3) Take the divided mixture and shape into patties.

4) Place the shaped patties on a greased plate. Cover the plate and refrigerate the patties for 30 minutes.

5) After 30 minutes, remove the patties from the fridge.

6) In a pan, heat about 1 tbsp of oil. Once the oil is hot, carefully place the patties. Do not overcrowd the pan.

7) Cook the patty 2-3 minutes per side. Once one side is done, flip the patty and cook the other side for another 2 minutes.

8) Once the patty is done, remove from heat and place on a plate. Repeat (6) & (7) for all other patties and add more oil if necessary.

9) Once all the patties are done, place the patties on a baking tray lined with foil.

10) Bake the patties for 10 minutes at 150 degree celcius.

11) Remove the patties from the oven and let it stand for 5-8 minutes before serving.

* This recipe yields 4 large patties.

Coconut Date Fritters (Cucur Buah Kurma Kelapa)

Today marks the first day of the Ramadan month and one of the popular food items this month would be dates/buah kurma. This recipe is really easy to make and very suitable for buka puasa/breaking fast.

Start by deseeding the dates and cutting it into strips. Really sweet dates are best used for these fritter and you would not need to add any sugar.

In a bowl, combine the self raising flour, atta flour and salt and make a well.

Slowly add some water to make a thick batter.

To the batter add the dates and mix well. Add some sugar if dates are not sweet and combine well.

Add the grated coconut and give it a good mix.

In a wok/pan, heat some oil. Once the oil is hot, spoon in about 1 tbsp of the batter into the hot oil. Be sure not to over crowd the pan. Spoon in only about 3-4 fritters at a time. Fry the fritters for about a minute or less and flip it to the other side. 

Once the fritters have turned golden brown on both sides, remove from the pan and place it on kitchen roll to absorb the excess oil and serve hot.

Selamat berbuka puasa to all my muslim brothers and sisters!

COCONUT DATE FRITTERS (CUCUR BUAH KURMA KELAPA)

+PRINT RECIPE HERE

INGREDIENTS:

10-12 dates/buah kurma, deseeded and sliced

1/4 cup grated coconut,packed

1/2 cup self raising flour

1/2 cup atta/whole wheat flour

1/4 tsp salt

Sugar to taste, if needed

1/2 cup water or as needed

Oil to fry

METHOD:

1) Deseed the dates and slice them. Do not slice them too thin, it should be of medium thickness. Keep aside.

2) In a bowl, combine the self raising flour, atta flour and salt and make a well.

3) Slowly add some water to make a thick batter.

4) To the batter add the dates and mix well. Add some sugar if dates are not sweet and combine well.

5) Add the grated coconut and give it a good mix.

6) Heat the oil in a pan, in medium low heat.

7) Once the oil in the pan is hot, spoon in about 1 tbsp of the batter in to the hot oil. Repeat this to make a few more fritters at a time.

8) Fry the fritters for 1 minutes or less. Flip the fritters to the other side and continue to fry for another 1 minute or less, or till golden brown.

9) Once the fritters turn golden brown, remove from oil and place the fritter on kitchen roll to absorb the excess oil.

NOTES:

1) The self raising flour can be replaced with plain or all purpose flour. If this is done, add 1/2 tsp of baking powder.

2) The atta flour can be replaced with whole wheat flour. If you can't find atta or whole wheat flour, you need not use a combination of flours. You can just use self raising/plain/all purpose flour.

4) Make sure to add the water in small amounts so that you don't end up with a runny batter. If you added too much of water, just add a bit more flour to make the batter thick again.

5) Make sure the oil is hot enough before you fry the fritters so that your fritter does not absorb excess oil and becomes soggy.

6) Make only about 4 fritter at a time and do not overcrowd the pan.

* This recipe yields 18-20 fritters

Linking this to: http://www.thelady8home.com/2013/08/16/weekend-gala-dinner-extravaganza-is-back-link-up/

Rustic Garlic Mashed Potato

Mashed potato serves as an excellent side dish for most meat western  dishes and it is very easy to make it. This time around, instead of making plain mashed potato, I added a bit if of garlic to give it an oomph. If you are watching your carb intake, you could easily substituted the potatoes used in this recipe with cauliflower and the butter with olive oil.

I started off by boiling a few peeled and cubed potatoes till fork tender in salted water. 

Place the cooked potatoes in a bowl, add the butter and start mashing up the potato with the back of the fork. 

Add in the milk, finely grated garlic and greek style yogurt and continue mashing the potato. The mashed potato need not be smooth, that's why I'm calling it rustic garlic mashed potato. But if you prefer it smooth, go ahead and make it smooth and if want the mashed potato a little more creamier, add a bit more milk.

Go ahead and taste the mashed potato at this point to check the seasoning. Add salt if necessary. 

Lastly, gently fold in the chopped spring onion. 

RUSTIC GARLIC MASHED POTATO

+PRINT RECIPE HERE
INGREDIENTS:
3 potatoes, peeled, cubed and boiled
3 cloves garlic, finely grated
3 tbsp butter
1 tbsp greek style yogurt
4-5 tbsp milk
1 tbsp chopped spring onion
Salt to taste

METHOD:
1) Peel and cube the potatoes. 
2) Bring to boil some water in a pan. Add about 1 1/2 tsp of salt and throw in the potatoes. Boil the potatoes for 10-15 minutes till fork tender.
3) Remove the boiled potatoes and place it in a bowl.
4) To the cooked potatoes add the butter and start mashing it up using a fork.
4) Add the greek style yogurt, milk and finely grated garlic and continuing mashing till desired consistency.
5) Add salt to taste and chopped spring onions and mix well.

* This recipe serves 3 

Vanilla Cupcakes With Vanilla Buttercream

I know I was supposed to post the Vanilla Cupcake With Vanilla Buttercream recipe, as I mentioned in my previous post and I apologise for the week long delay since I got cought up with work. The cupcake recipe is adapted from Pastry Affair and the buttercream recipe is mine. Lets just dive in straight into the recipe and method, shall we?

Start off by sifting together the cake flour, baking powder and baking soda and keep aside.

Next, in a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar till it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.

Add in the eggs one by one and beat well.

Go on to add the greek style yogurt, vanilla extract and vegetable oil and beat well.

Gradually add the sifted ingredients and mix well with a wooden spoon or spatula.

Lastly, pour in the milk and combine well to make a smooth batter.

Pour the batter into lined muffin or cupcake cups and bake in a preheated oven for 12-14 minutes or until a cake tester/toothpick inserted in the middle of the cupcake comes out clean.

Once the cupcakes are done, remove from oven and let it cool completely before frosting.

For the buttercream, start by beating the butter and vanilla till pale and fluffy. 

Gradually add in the sifted icing sugar and beat well. Add in food colouring if desired and mix well. 

Place the buttercream in a disposable piping bag with any tip of choice and frost as desired. I did a two toned icing with pink and white and I followed the exact method in this video here

attempted a rose swirl

normal swirl

couldn't resist a bite!

VANILLA CUPCAKES WITH VANILLA BUTTERCREAM

+PRINT RECIPE HERE
For the cupcakes
INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup salted butter, at room temperature 
1 cup fine granulated/castor sugar 
2 eggs 
1/3 cup greek style yogurt ( or plain yogurt or sour cream)
1/4 cup vegetable oil 
2 tbsp vanilla extract 
1 3/4 cups cake flour (NOT self raising or plain flour)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder 
1/2 tsp baking soda 
2/3 cup milk

METHOD:
1) Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius.
1) Sift together the cake flour, baking powder and baking soda and keep aside.
2) In a bowl, beat the butter and sugar till it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
3) Add the eggs on by one and beat well. Make sure one egg is incorporated well before adding another.
4) Add the greek style yogurt, vanilla extract and vegetable oil and beat well.
5) Gradually add the sifted ingredients and mix well with a wooden spoon or spatula.
6) Pour in the milk and combine well to make a smooth batter.

7) Pour the batter into lined muffin or cupcake cups about 2/3 full or less.
8) Bake for 12-14 minutes or until a cake tester/toothpick inserted in the middle of the cupcake comes out clean.
9) Once the cupcakes are done, remove from oven and let them cool completely before frosting it.

For the buttercream
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup salted butter
3 cups icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract

METHOD:
1) Beat the butter and vanilla extract till its pale and fluffy.
2) Gradually add in the sifted icing sugar and beat well to make smooth buttercream.
3) Add food colouring, if desired, and mix well.
4) Place the buttercream in a disposable piping bag with any tip of choice and frost as desired.

* This recipe yields 16 regular sized cupcakes or about 28 mini cupcakes.

Linking this to: http://www.thelady8home.com/2013/08/16/weekend-gala-dinner-extravaganza-is-back-link-up/