granny smith apple crumble bars

*burp* A bunch of us girls just gathered together for a very big lunch. Candy made delicious eggless omelette and Jayce made ondeh-ondeh! Check out their blogs- I helped them create it today! *excited smiles* Well, as usual, i had something up my sleeve. *mischievous look* I made granny smith crumble bars and steamed turnip cake. (the turnip cake was for Jayce since she didn't get to try it last time). I decided to make these bars when i stumbled upon Cream puffs in Venice recipe last night. They looked good and I had all the ingredients in my fridge. Another article that I have to shared is from Tim's blog called, "A man worth marrying." Single girls, this story puts things into perspective. Hmm..I wonder who and how my future husband will be? *_^ *big laughs*

I modified it by reducing the amount of sugar, omitting brandy and using grape seed oil instead of melted butter for the topping, Threw in some shortcuts...they are described below. It is not as much work as it looks.

my modified recipe::::
Sweet Pastry Crust
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar ( or 1/4 cup)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large egg yolk
5 tsp. cold water (the original recipe requires 2 tsp.)
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and place a rack in the centre of the oven. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch square baking pan.
Mix together flour, sugar and salt. Add the butter pieces to the flour mixture and using a pastry cutter, knead it until the mixture resembles coarse oatmeal.
Whisk together the egg yolk, water and vanilla extract. Add the yolk mixture to the flour mixture. Mix until the dough begins to come together. More water can be added if the dough is still dry.
Using your fingers or the back of a spoon, pat the dough into an even layer. Bake until the crust is golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool completely. Prick with a fork.

Apple Filling
1 1/2 pounds Granny Smith apples (4 to 5 medium)
3 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tbsp. frozen apple juice concentrate
2 tsp. cornstarch
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Peel and core the apples and then cut into 1/2-inch pieces.
In a bowl, mix the apples, lemon juice, concentrate, cornstarch.
In a large skillet, melt the butter and then add the brown sugar. Stir well and be sure that there are no lumps.
Add the apple mixture to the skillet. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the apples are soft, but not too soft.
Transfer mixture to a bowl and set aside.

Topping
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar ( can be omitted)
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
7 tbsp. grape seed oil

In a bowl, combine all of the topping ingredients. Mix well so that all the ingredients are thoroughly moistened. Set aside.

Sour Cream Mixture
1 large egg
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup currants /chopped raisins/ dried wild blueberry/ chocolate chips (optional)

Mix the sour cream into the cooled apple mixture. Spread this mixture evenly over the cooled pastry crust.
Sprinkle the prepared topping evenly over the apple and sour cream mixture.
Bake the bars for 35 to 40 minutes, or until golden around the edges.
Cool the bars completely before cutting into squares.

turnip cake "luo po gao"

It can also be called "Taiwanese luo po gao" because it is plain and does not contain ingredients like mushrooms or meat, which the Cantonese version usually have.

Jesse, a Taiwanese friend told me that she would simply eat it as it is, plain or pan fry it to make it crisp. It's great dipped in a sauce. *lick lips*

Well, her mum shared this recipe over the phone and hence, we had to decipher what exactly had to be done. It sounded easy, "1 cup flour to 1 cup water. Mix everything and steam." We made this several times before I felt confident enough to post this recipe up!

LOL ^___*

Food for Thought

" Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm"

- Winston Churchill

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This "luo po gao" is siMpLy EASY and qUiCk!!!

Ingredients:

white radish, 1 ( approximately 20 cm)

rice flour, 1 cup*

(as mentioned earlier, the ratio is about 1 cup flour to 1 cup water. However, i felt that 3/4 cup would make it more firm for pan-frying. The size of the turnip might also affect the amount of water/flour used)

water, 1 or 3/4 cup*

salt, dash

white pepper, dash

sesame oil, 1/4 t

onion, garlic powder, 1 t

*note: 1 cup used is equivalent to the chinese cup used for measuring rice, which is approximately 3/4 cup of american 8 oz cup

Directions:

Using a carrot peeler, remove the skin of the radish. Chop it briefly, large enough to be easily blended by the blender.

Add 1 or 3/4 cup water into the blender to allow smooth grinding of the turnip. When it is finely grounded, pour the mixture into a bowl.

Add 1 cup rice flour into the bowl. Add seasonings. Mix well.

Pour the mixture into a greased tin and steam it for approximately 20 minutes, or until it is firmed when pressed.

Slice and eat or an extra step would be to pan-fry it.

Sauce: Any kind of thick soy sauce. What i used was ABC kecap manis mixed with the chili paste that i made for chili tempeh.

vegetarian spring rolls

It's been a busy week. * so glad its friday*

^______^

Don't know why but i've been craving to make spring rolls ever since i ate the ones aunty Grace made. The one she made was super delicious and I had to ask her for the ingredients used. Apparently, it was the tofu or mock abalone that made it delish. ;p

So, here's what I made today!

Ingredients:

spring roll wraps (20 pieces)

tofu bean curd,

see diagram below, may be substituted with similar versions ::

marinated in chinese cooking wine(optional), sesame oil and salt

mock abalone, 1 can, sliced ( drained water)

shredded carrots

sliced Jícama (chinese call it' mengkuang')

5 ears of dried shitake mushroom, soak before slicing

3 cloves garlic and 2 shallots, chopped finely

1 T corn starch + 1 1/2 t water

Directions:

Pan fry shallots and garlic until golden brown. Add mushroom before mock abalone. Season with pepper, soy sauce, kecap mani sweet sauce. Add corn starch mixture. Cool it before wrapping.

Follow the picture directions below. It is good to add the ingredients in this order: carrots, mengkuang, tofu bean curd, mushroom/mock abalone. The reason is because carrots are dry and will not wet the spring roll wrap when it acts as a base.

Finally, deep fry it in HOT oil!

Eat immediately while its crisp and warm!

I love Spring rolls! YUM :p

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simple sauce:

Mix rice vinegar, brown sugar, ketchup, soy sauce, maggi chilli sauce

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After eating spring rolls, Jesse and I came up with some interesting ideas to make with spring roll wraps since there were 4 pieces left. LOL. Will post them up later when we make it again.

(hint: luo po gao wrap & banana wrap. )

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Shortly after that, Shevita and I made EGGLESS CAROB CAKE using a mix topped with indian spiced nuts! It was done in 9 mins using a microwave! haha

chili tempeh ( indonesian)

Ever experienced an intense burning sensation that nothing can soothe? Everything you touch feels "hot." This was what happened to my fingers the whole evening. Goodness....I will never remove chili seeds from soaked dried chili with my bare hands again. It wasn't a few chili but a whole bag full that caused my fingers to look swollen red. ( making chili paste for other dishes) Anyways, i guess it was worth the effort because i love aunty Rose's chilli tempeh!

Food for Thought: "Always remember that striving and struggle precede success, even in the dictionary." -Sarah Ban Breathnach, writer

I can still remember carrying this dish back to the US from Singapore in my luggage hoping that the customs will not know. haha. They didn't. It was so sweet of her to make a whole container for me just because I said I love it. I always believe that it is better to teach someone how to fish that give them the fish. Hence, I asked her for the recipe so that I can make it myself when I've finished eating the ones she made.
BTW, I did not follow her recipe word for word because I had extra of several ingredients. Play around with Asian cooking- you'll never go far off ^_____^

Presenting aunt Rose's recipe in her own words....

Ingredient:

16 dried chili soaked in warm water for 1/2 hour. Remove the seeds ( with plastic gloves! LOL)

1 big onion

20 small onions

3 garlic

blend everything together

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Fry a piece of galangal or lengkuas (powder form works too if you do not have a whole piece). Then fry the blended ingredients. Put 3 bay leaves and fry until the color turns darker. Add salt, palm sugar or sugar. ( i like gula melaka sugar). Off the fire and cool the mixture.

Deep fry the tempeh, peanuts and potatoes. Cool it.

Stir everything together. Able to last in the fridge for a month!

~~SPICEALICIOUS~