Foodbuzz Recipes

When I first joined Foodbuzz I am not too sure what I am getting myself into. Foodbuzz is a foodies community from all over the world comprising mostly food bloggers and food site owners or foodies that love to eat out and give review on restaurant or foodies that simply love to read about food. I joined them since end of April and it has been really rewarding as I get to know a lot of food based blogs from all over the world. The program is designed to promote and drive traffic to your blog, foster blog communities and provide a way to monetize your site should you choose to.

Just look at what I they sent me recently. I received a cotton grocery shopping bag and also my very own business card with my name and web site address on it and last week I received a Foodbuzz apron and a spatula. Look like foodbuzz wanted me to churn up more yummy dishes for this blog.

So, if you are a foodie or run a food blog or have a food based site, go to this link and sign up or simply email me at Snwann (at) gmail (dot) com and I will give you all the details. Don’t forget to put diaryfoods.blogspot.com as your referral.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Loaf Recipes

This is a really quick and easy bread to prepare for your family breakfast or brunch. On weekends Carlos always like something sweet with his morning coffee so I will usually bake this. You can make and bake this in half an hour. The secret is using the store bought Pillsbury bread stick dough. I will always have a tube or two in my fridge for a quick and easy bread. You can make this into sweet or savory bread. For this bread I added cream cheese and blueberry to the filling.

Ingredients :

6 oz of low fat cream cheese
1 egg - separated
3 tbsp of powder sugar
1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberry
1 (11 oz) tube of bread stick dough

Glaze

1/2 cup of powder sugar
2 tbsp of lemon juice

(pix 1)
(pix 2)
(pix 3)
1) Preheat over to 350 degree F. In a bowl combined soft cream cheese, powder sugar and egg yolk. Mix until well combined.
2) Remove breadstick dough from the tube, unroll it and separate the dough and you will have two rectangles. Join the dough up by placing both dough rectangles horizontally on a lightly greased baking sheet. Press the steam together (refer to pix 1)
3)Spread cream cheese mixture onto the centre of the dough. Sprinkle the blueberry on top of the cream cheese. (pix 2) Separate the dough perforations up to the cheese mixture (You might need a scissors for this) Slightly pull and stretch the dough strips.
4) Start from the top and bring and braid dough strip to cover the filling. Make sure to tuck and seal both ends of the loaf (pix 3)
5) Beat the egg white and brush it all over the loaf. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool the loaf.
6) Combined the powder sugar and lemon juice. Whisk until smooth. Drizzle all over the cool loaf before serving.

Beef Curry in Peanut Sauce Recipes

This curry is deliciously rich and thicker than other Thai curries. I used the ready-made Thai curry paste which you can get from the Asian supermarket. As this is a quick curry dish so be sure to use good qulity meat. I used sirlion for this dish or rump steak will be good too.

Ingredients :

1 lb. beef (rump steak or sirlion), cut into thin strips
3 Tbs. red curry paste
3 kaffir lime leaves (torn)
1 fresh chili ( cut into strips)
1 lemongrass (bruise it)
2 cups coconut milk
1/3 cup water
2 Tbs. palm sugar
3 Tbs. fish sauce
1/2 cup of ground peanuts
Salt to taste

1. Put the coconut milk into medium-sized sauce pan over medium heat, add the curry paste, kafir lime leaves, lemongrass and slowly bring to a boil, stirring constantly for 5 minutes.
2. Put in beef strips and cook for 5 minutes. Then add in the water and cover to simmer.
3. Meanwhile in a bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients except for chili. Add this to the curried beef, and simmer about 15 minutes or until most of liquid evoporated. Add in fresh chili, stir well, and remove from the heat.
4. Ready to serve. It is best served with steamed rice.

I'm submitting this recipe to Weekend Wokking , a world-wide food blogging event created by Wandering Chopsticks celebrating the multiple ways we can cook one ingredient. The host this month is Preciouspea and the secrect ingredient is Coconut. The round up will be on the 1st October 2008 so do check out her blog.

Note : Sorry for the poor picture quality. The weather is really bad and gloomy and I just took a few shot of it.

Crispy Chicken with Mango Salad Recipes

I've eaten a Thai dish very similar to this back in Malaysia but the originally dish uses the whole fish. Since I don't have fish I just used chicken breast for this. The key to this dish is the mango salad. The mango should firm and not overly ripe. This dish tasted really good as the crunchiness of the chicken compliments really well with the sweet and sour mango salad.

Ingredietns :

2 chicken breast - cut to bite size pieces
1 tbsp of soy sauce
1/4 tsp of garlic powder
1 egg white
3 tbsp of cornflour
salt and pepper to taste

Mango Salad

1 firm mango - cut into strip
1 carrot - cut into thin strip
1 red chili
1 kafir lime leaf (finely chopped)
2 tbsp of sugar
1/4 cup of vinegar
2 sprigs cilantro - roughly chopped
some toasted sesame seeds (for garnish)

1) Marinate chicken with soy sauce, garlic powder, salt, pepper and set it aside to marinate for an hour.
2) Mix all the salad ingredients together except for sesame seeds and let in pickle in the refrigerator.
2) Heat up some oil for frying. Mix in egg white to the chicken and then stir in cornflour. Mix well and deep fry until golden brown. Drain the oil on paper towel.
3) Serve chicken and top it with mango salad. Garnish wth some sesame seeds.

Pineapple Tarts Recipes

With all our Muslim friends busy baking cookies for Hari Raya I thought I wanted to join in the fun. I baked some Pineapple Tarts. Of all the cookies this had to be my all time favorite and I just can’t have enough of it. Sometime I wonder why people sell or bake these tarts only once year. It’s such a treat and it should be available all year round. Maybe it’s because making this involves a lot of work, that is why it’s so special and you get to eat it only once a year.

Ingredients for Pineapple jam

2 medium-size pineapples, grated and drain the juice
300g sugar
A stick of cinnamon (optional)

1. Cook grated pineapple in a pot with sugar and cinnamon for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
2. Cook until the pineapple jam starts to leave the sides of the pot. Remove from stove and set aside to cool.

Ingredients for Pastry

2 stick/226 grm butter - room temperature
3 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp of salt
1 egg yolk
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tbsp corn flour
2 1/2 tbsp custard powder
2 tbsp milk powder
1 tsp essence vanilla


The tart mould
1. Cream butter and and sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy.
2. Add egg yolk and vanilla. Beat well.
3. Sift salt, flour,custard powder,cornstarch and milk powder. Mix flour mixture into the butter until it form a smooth dough.
4. Remove and let the dough rest for half an hour.
5. Roll out the dough about 0.5cm thick and cut into shape with a pineapple tart mould. Fill the center of tart with some pineapple jam. Repeat until the dough is finish.
6. Bake the tarts in a pre-heated 350 degree F until golden brown. This might take about 15 - 20 mintues. Cool tarts on rack before storing it.

Strawberry Daifuku Recipes

I love mochi especially the sweet stuffed kind known as daifuku. It’s a Japanese dessert that looks like a ball made out of glutinous rice flour. This dessert kind of reminds me of a Malaysian kueh that fills with ground peanuts and sugar that we can buy from the kueh seller. I am not sure what it's called but we used to call it 'powder kueh' or 'Chee Pah' as your face, hand and clothing will be full of white powder when you eat it. When Diana’s was in Japan I told her she doesn’t have to bring anything home for me except for some Mochi and she did. I get to eat it all by myself.

I was at Annie’s blog the other day and saw a beautiful picture of Daifuku and I was craving for it. Since I have some leftovers red bean paste in the fridge I decided to make some for myself. Actually it’s not that difficult to make. My daifuku didn't turn out perfect but nevertheless they were delicious and chewy. The sweetness of the red bean paste goes really well with the tangy fresh strawberry.

Ingredients :

1 cup glutinious rice flour
2 tbsp of sugar
2/3 cup water
Some cornstarch (for dusting)
some store bought red bean paste
6 - 7 small strawberries - cut the steam away

1. With wet hands, take a small amount of red bean paste, press it into a thin disk and wrap it around a strawberry. Repeat with remaining berries and set aside.
2. In a microwave safe bowl, mix together glutinious rice flour, sugar and water. Mix well.
3. Microwave the mixture on high for two minutes. Remove and stir quickly. Return to the microwave and cook for another 2 minutes. The dough will bubble up and inflate, but be careful not to overcook or the dough will be too tough.
4. Divide dough into 6-7 equal portion by use a tablespoon. Make sure the plate or counter top are dust with cornstarch as the dough is very sticky.
5. Dust your fingers and palms with cornstarch and flatten a piece of dough (it will be quite hot so be careful) and put in the filling, then wrap dough up and seal the opening with a tight pinch. Repeat until all dough is used up. Chill the mochis before serving.

Note : You can add different flavor and coloring to the mochi dough. Just add the flavor and color into the mixture before you microwave it.

Shrimp Paste on Lemongrass Skewers Recipes

This is a famous appetizer known as Choa Tom in Vietnam. Shrimp is minced into a smooth paste and coated around a sugarcane but since I can't find fresh sugarcane here I just used Lemongrass. It is better to simply grill it and eat it by itself, straight from the hot grill and enjoying every single bite of it. It will be great dish for a barbecue spread.

Ingredients :

1 pound of fresh shrimp - peeled and deveined
2 stalk of spring onions - finely chopped
a small bunch of cilantro - finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic - finely chopped
1 small red chilli - finely chopped
1 egg
1 tbsp of cornstarch
1 tbsp of fish sauce
1 tsp of sugar
salt and pepper to taste
8 pieces of lemongrass
1) Put shrimp in a food processor and pulse into a smooth paste. Remove into a mixing bowl.
2) Add in all the rest of the ingredients except the lemongrass and mix well. Set aside in the fridge for an hour.
3) Divide the paste into 8 equal portions and wet your hand with some water. Take a piece of lemongrass in your hand and mould a portion of the paste around the top part of the lemongrass. Press gently until the edges are sealed.
4) Place the skewer on an oiled tray, while you finish making the rest of the skewers.
5) Grill the skewers over medium heat for 5-6 minutes, turning them frequently until they are nicely browned all over. Serve immediately while its still hot.

Note: Make sure you wet your hand with some water before you mould the paste if not it will stick all over your hand. Alternatively you can cook the skewers under a broiler. You can replace the lemongrass with sugarcane for this dish.

Apple Crumble Bars Recipes

These bars make a delicious and easy alternative to apple pie. It combines two of my favorite food which is apple and the crumble topping. It is an ultimate comfort food served with a scoop of ice cream. You can used any kind of apple for this bars.

Base:
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter - room temperature
2 tbsp of sugar
1 1/3 cups flour
1 tsp of salt

Topping:
4 apples
5 tbsp of sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp cornstarch
2 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp of fruit jam (I used homemade plum jam)

Crumble :
1/2 cup flour
3 tbsp of sugar
4 tbsp butter - softened

1. Peel, core and coarsely dice apples. In a large skillet, combine apples, sugar and cinnamon. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally for 5-7 minutes, until apples are tender but still firm. In a small cup, combine cornstarch and lemon juice.
2. Add to the apple and stirring constantly for 3 minutes or until thickened. Dish out and set aside to cool.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 8" x 8" square pan and line the bottom with parchment paper leaving an overhang on both side (for easy removing your bars later)
4. In a medium bowl, combined flour, sugar and salt. Mix well. Rub in butter to the flour until its crumbly and resemble breadcrumbs. Press into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until lightly brown around the edges. Remove from oven.
5. Spread the jam evenly on the base while it's still hot and top it with the cooked apple.
6. In a medium bowl combine all the ingredients for the crumble. Mix until well combined and crumbly. Sprinkle over the apple. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and cool. Cut into squares and serve.

Arte-y Pico Award Recipes

I am really feeling lucky and happy to be receiving this award from my fellow bloggers. Thank you so much for your kindness. You guys are just wonderful.

I got this Arte-y Pico Award from the ever so talented Ching of Little Corner of Mine and my good friend and fellow blogger VG of My Household Capers .

Before passing this on, here are a few set rules to follow.....

1) You have to pick FIVE blogs that you consider deserve this award for creativity, design, interesting material and also contribute to the blogger community regardless of language.

2) Each award has to have the name of the author and a link to his/her blog to be visited.

3) Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given him/her the award itself.

4) Award winners and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of the "Arte-y-Pico" blog so everyone will know the origin of the award

5) In compliance with said RULES, the award winner must show the RULES.

Now, I would love to share this award with these five lovely blogs:

Salt and Tumeric
Beachlover Kitchen
Vanilla Kitchen
Easydoesitrecipes
Zuraida Recipe Collection

Cheese Scones Recipes

These delightful savory scones is great for breakfast or brunch with your eggs or breakfast casserole. It's very similiar to biscuit and will make a nice alternative to bread. Serve this scone warm with herb flavored butter for a special treat for your family.

Ingredients :

2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
5 tbsp cold butter
1 red chili - finely chopped
2 tbsp of freshly chopped herbs (chives, rosemary,thyme or parsley)
1/3 cup milk
2 eggs
1 egg - beaten for brushing
Some sesame seeds or parmesan cheese - garnish


1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Stir in cheese and mix well.
2. Rub cold butter into flour mixture until it resemble coarse breadcrumbs. Add in chili and herbs. Beat 2 eggs with milk and add to flour mixture to form dough. Dough should be wet but not too sticky.
3. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface; knead just until dough comes together. Pat out dough to 1-inch-thick round. Using 2 1/2-inch-diameter cutter, cut out scones. Gather dough scraps and repeat. Transfer to prepared sheet.
4. Whisk the 1 egg in small bowl and brush over scones. Sprinkle with sesame seeds or parmesan cheese.
5. Bake scones until golden brown. Cool scones on sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to basket. Serve warm.

Note : If the dough is too dry add a bit more milk.

Caramelized Onions & Tomato Focaccia Recipes

I like making focaccia over the weekend as Carlos and I can munch on it the whole day without me worrying about cooking lunch or dinner. If you're new at bread baking, focaccia is great way to start because it's pretty forgiving. As for the topping you can go minimal like brushing with a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper or you can pile up the toppings to produce a thick-crusted pizza.

Personally my favorite version is to drizzle the dough with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and add a thin layer of caramelized onions (3 onions cooked with olive oil until nicely browned) and top it off with some home grown cherry tomatoes and some olives. Bake until golden brown and then garnish the finished bread with a bit of shredded basil.


You can check out the recipe here

Sushi Roll Recipes

Carlos and I both love Japanese food. If we want some good Japanese food we will drive all the way to Delaware for it. There are times I will try to make some if I can find some very fresh tuna fish. This time I tried something different. I made some sushi with Prosciutto and lobster. Some of you might think its weird combinations but actually it turn out pretty well.

For recipe and step by step of making sushi please refer to this website