Scallion Pancake

Harvested some spring onions from my garden pot to make these Scallion Pancake (pajeon).  This is one of the snack that we would sometimes order when eating out at Korean restaurant.

I've added a medium onion, peeled, cut in half and sliced very thinly into half-moon slices.

Served with spring onion dipping sauce. These pancakes makes for a perfect light lunch. Yum!

Scallion Pancake
(Seoul Food Korean Cookbook, Naomi Imatome-Yun)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 eggs, beaten
1-1/2 cups water
6 scallions, cut into 2-3 inch lengths
1 medium onion, peeled, and sliced thinly into half-moons (my addition)
1 teaspoon salt
vegetable oil for cooking

1. In a medium bowl, mix together all of the ingredients except for the vegetable oil, and let sit for about 10 minutes. Check the consistency before cooking. The batter should be  little bit runnier than American pancake batter, so the pajeon cooks quickly and evenly.
2. Heat a medium skillet over medium heat and coat with a thin layer of vegetable oil.
3. Pour the batter into the skillet, coating the bottom of the pan in a thin layer (about one-third of the batter should fill a medium skillet).
4. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the batter is set and golden brown on the bottom. Turn over the pancake with help of a spatula or plate and finish by cooking 1 to 2 more minutes, adding more oil of necessary. Transfer the pancake to  warm plate. Repeat, to cook the remaining pancakes.
5. Before serving, cut into triangles (like a pizza). Serve with seasoned soy sauce or spicy dipping sauce.
   

I've used my favourite dipping sauce from another cookbook, the recipe can be found here.

Join us at Cookbook Countdown #39

Zucchini-Cornmeal Cakes

These cake patties are originally served with Mint Chutney and Yoghurt, but I have taken the easier route of serving them with Thai Chilli Sauce instead.

The only spice used is a small amount of ground cumin (1/4 tsp) , but I have added more of it. Grated zucchini are mixed with some salt, then let sit for 10 minutes. Squeezed out the juice as much as possible, and there will be a lot of juice. Then mix the squeezed zucchini with the rest of the ingredients as per the recipe instruction. Make 2 tablespoons size balls, place in hot oil, flatten with the back of the ladle and fry until brown on both sides. Drain on absorbent paper towel.

I serve the Zucchini-Cornmeal Cakes with Thai Chilli Sauce and some fresh cilantro. The cornmeal adds an interesting texture. Nice cakes.

Zucchini-Cornmeal Cakes
(Dinner : Changing The Game, by Melissa Clark)
2 medium zucchini, grated (about 3 cups)
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 large scallions (white and green part), minced
1 small garlic clove, grated on a microplane or minced
extra-virgin olive oil, for frying

1. In a large colander, toss the grated zucchini with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt. Let it sit in the sink (or in a bowl) for 10 minutes to drain.
2. In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, cumin, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt; mix to combine.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with the melted butter. Then add the egg mixture to the cornmeal mixture, whisking to make a thick batter. Squeeze as much of the remaining moisture out of the salted zucchini as possible, and then add the zucchini, scallions, and garlic to the batter; fold everything together gently.
4. In a large skillet over medium heat, add just enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the skillet. When the oil is hot, drop as many 2-tablespoons-sized balls of the zucchini batter into the skillet as you can to form a single layer, without the balls touching. Flatten each one with the back of a metal spoon. Fry until they are deep golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer the zucchini cakes to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain, sprinkling them with salt to taste while they're still hot. Repeat with remaining batter.

I'm linking this post with Cookbook Countdown #32 hosted by 

Kitchen Flavours and Emily's Cooking (Makan2) Foray
Theme for August 2018 : Cooking With Spice!

Green Onion Pancakes

These green onion pancakes is a Chinese savoury flatbread. The dough is made with only flour and warm water. Dough is rolled out thinly, brush a thin layer of oil, then scatter with some finely chopped spring onions and some salt. Roll up like a swiss roll, then roll into a spiral, then rolled out to flatten into a round disc. They are then pan-fried in a little oil on both sides until golden brown. Cut into slices to serve. The slices are eaten dipped in the very tasty Soy-Ginger Dipping Sauce. 

To make the dipping sauce, combine soy sauce, rice vinegar, chopped green onions, finely chopped garlic, chopped fresh cilantro and minced fresh ginger. 

They are perfect for tea-time, or an afternoon lunch  and even for breakfast. Do not skip the Soy-Ginger Dipping Sauce, they go perfectly well together. 

If you would like to try at making this pancake, the full recipe and instructions can be found here.
Or from the book Chinese Soul Food by Hsiao-Ching Chou, page 90

As for me, I'll be making this again when the spring onions in my garden pot are ready for harvest, which will be quite soon! And I would love to try with fresh coriander greens, my favourite herb.

I'm linking this post with Cookbook Countdown #31 hosted by 

Kitchen Flavours and Emily's Cooking (Makan2) Foray

Zucchini Pancakes

It's Potluck week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC). We are free to choose any recipes from IHCC current or past featured chefs. And I've made Ina Garten's Zucchini Pancakes for our brunch snack. 

Zucchinis are grated using the coarse side of the box grater. Stir the grated zucchinis together with grated onion, eggs, flour, baking powder and salt. I've added red chillies to the batter, deseeded and thinly sliced.  I find that the batter is quite runny and have added a few extra tablespoons of flour. The next time I will squeeze out some of the juices from the zucchini. Scoop heaping tablespoons of the batter and pan-fry in hot oil on both sides until golden.

These may be eaten with sour cream, or with your favourite sauce. I've made one of our favourite and simple dipping sauce, a mixture of mayonnaise and Sriracha sauce, which we love to dip our fritters or savoury pancakes. These pancakes are delicious and makes a wonderful brunch snack.

Zucchini Pancakes

(recipe by Ina Garten, from foodnetwork.com)

2 medium zucchini (about 3/4 pound)

2 red chillies, deseeded and sliced thinly

2 tablespoons grated red onion

2 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten

6 to 8 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

unsalted butter and vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Grate the zucchini into a bowl using the large grating side of a box grater. Immediately stir in the onion and eggs. Stir in 6 tablespoons of the flour, the baking powder, salt, and pepper. (If the batter gets too thin from the liquid in the zucchini, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour.)

Heat a large (10 to 12-inch) saute pan over medium heat and melt 1/2 tablespoon butter and 1/2 tablespoon oil together in the pan. When the butter is hot but not smoking, lower the heat to medium-low and drop heaping soup spoons of batter into the pan. Cook the pancakes about 2 minutes on each side, until browned. Place the pancakes on a sheet pan and keep warm in the oven. Wipe out the pan with a dry paper towel, add more butter and oil to the pan, and continue to fry the pancakes until all the batter is used. The pancakes can stay warm in the oven for up to 30 minutes. Serve hot.

I'm linking this post with I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), theme for this week

November 2017 Potluck

Buckwheat Crepes with Ham, Cheese And Egg

This was supposed to be a Friday post for Cook The Books Friday (CtBF), an online group of bloggers, currently cooking from David Lebovitz's cookbook, My Paris Kitchen. I am late in making this crepe and thus late in posting.

The batter for the crepe is made up of buckwheat flour, eggs, water and salt. Whisk everything well, keep covered in the refrigerator for at least an hour and can be refrigerated overnight. I have kept mine for 3 days! I mixed the batter at night, intending to make the crepe for breakfast the next morning, but somehow that did not happen, and I've only managed to make the crepe on the 3rd morning. The batter is still fine even on the 3rd day. 

Just as David says, the first two crepes are usually "a dud, so don't worry"! haha! Those are my two "dud"! Above crepe was made with 1/4 cup of batter, which is rather difficult for me to make into a large thin crepe.

So, I have used 1/2 cup of batter! Well, this seems to work out for me. It may not be perfect, but it is thin and large!

A piece of the crepe is then placed in the saucepan in hot foaming butter, slices of ham is then placed in the center of the crepe, sprinkle with shredded cheese (I've used Mozzarella), and break an egg in the middle. Cover the pan and continue to cook on low heat until the cheese melts and the egg whites are set. Serve immediately. I did not fold the four sides of the crepes over. 

We love our egg yolks runny! We've enjoyed these buckwheat crepes very much. I like the wheatie aroma of the crepes while it is cooking. Smells really nice.

Please stop by CtBF to see this delicious crepe that everyone has made.

Kimchi Pancake

I'm sharing one more of Donna Hay's recipe I've tried, for this week's theme "Monthly Featured Chef : Donna Hay" at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC).  I've made Kimchi Pancake.

Kimchi is a favourite in my house. Ever since I made my first kimchi almost two years ago, I'm hooked! There's always kimchi in my refrigerator ever since then. I have made kimchi dozens of times over the last two years. Right now, I have a new batch of kimchi in my refrigerator, which I've just made almost a week ago, and looking forward to make a pot of kimchi stew, our favourite kimchi dish. For now, it's Kimchi Pancake time.

Kimchi Pancake, served with Kimchi.

The pancake batter,  with lots of chopped scallions and chopped kimchi. After mixing everything together, the batter turns a lovely shade of red from the kimchi.

These are delicious. I've made some of the pancakes a little thicker and some a little flatter, to see which one we like. And we prefer the flatter ones! These pancakes looks rather nice with the red hue from the kimchi. I made these pancake on the weekend for a brunch snack and they are really perfect with a cup of warm tea. Do you like kimchi?

Kimchi Pancake
(from donnahay.com)
Makes 12
1-1/4 cups (185gm) self raising (self-rising) flour
2 eggs
2/3 cup (160ml) buttermilk
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1-1/2 cups (420gm) kimchi, chopped
2 green onions (scallions), sliced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
kimchi, extra, to serve

Place the flour, eggs, buttermilk and fish sauce in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Add the kimchi and onion and mix well to combine
Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. In batches, cook 2 tablespoons of the mixture for 2 minutes each side, or until golden brown and cooked through, adding the remaining oil as necessary. Serve the pancakes with the extra kimchi. Makes 12.

I'm linking this post with I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), theme for this week

Monthly Featured Chef : Donna Hay

Ham and Green Coral Blini Sandwiches : IHCC

"Sandwich Sensations!", our theme for this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC). I think most of us love sandwiches, burgers or wraps. They make a great meal for breakfast, lunch, and even dinner. I was looking through Donna Hay's website, and found this wonderful blini recipe that makes a delicious sandwich.

The original name of this sandwich is Smoked Chicken and Fennel Blini Sandwiches, which uses smoked chicken slices and young baby fennel. I do not have both these ingredients and have replaced with sandwich ham and green coral leaves instead. 

First, make the blinis. Very simple and easy, these are actually a thicker and bigger version of pancakes. The recipes uses plain flour with a little amount of buckwheat flour, but I have used all plain flour instead. Mix the dry ingredients, flour, salt, yeast in a large mixing bowl. In a small saucepan, heat the milk and sour cream (I used homemade yoghurt) until lukewarm and whisk in the egg yolks. Stir into the dry ingredients, and keep covered with a damp tea towel in a warm place for 30 minuts until bubbles appear on the surface. The egg whites are then whisked to soft peaks and stirred into the mixture to combine. Grate two garlic cloves and add that to the mixture, mixing it well. Heat a saucepan, lightly greased, and scoop about 1/3 cup, spreading the batter into a round. Cook until bubbles appear on surface, flip blini over, and cook the other side. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

I have made double the amount of recipe for the blinis, and got me 5 large blinis (about 18cm diameter).

Prepare the mayonnaise spread. Mix the mayonnaise (I use the regular mayonnaise) with grated lemon zest in a bowl. Both my kids and myself, love this mayonnaise-lemon zest mixture! It is so good, I would use this combination when I use mayonnaise for sandwich the next time! Smells so lemony nice!

To assemble the blini sandwiches : Spread a generous amount of the mayo-lemon mixture on one blini, place some salad greens over, top with some sliced deli ham, and sprinkle some shredded basil leaves over. Top with another piece of blini over.

Ham and Green Coral Blini Sandwiches

Slice to quarters and serve. This is so delicious! If you have not tried the combination of mayo-lemon zest, do give it a try. The blinis are soft-tender, very tasty and has a light fragrance from the garlic, which is really very pleasant, a great addition for a savoury touch. Though I have not used any fresh fennel, as it is not always available here, the green coral works very well, I guess, any green veggies that works in a salad would be great. I wanted to add some sliced cucumbers, but I have forgotten to buy them, only realised that when I reached home from the supermarket!

Overall review : A delicious blini sandwich. My kids and myself, we had a most delicious lunch! Yum!

note : my changes in blue
Smoked Chicken and Fennel Blini Sandwiches
(adapted from Donnahay.com)
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 quantity basic blini mixture, (see basic blini recipe)
1/4 cup (75gm) whole-egg mayonnaise
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind
1 baby fennel, thinly sliced (green coral leaves)
1/2 cup basil leaves
1x160gm smoked chicken breast fillet, sliced (sandwich ham slices)
1/4 cup chopped chives
lemon wedges, to serve

Fold the garlic through the blini mixture. Heat a lightly greased non-stick 18cm-frying pan over medium heat. Spoon half of the blini mixture into the pan and spread to cover the base. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip and cook for a further 3-4 minutes or until golden. Repeat with remaining blini mixture. Allow to cool.

Place the mayonnaise and lemon rind in a bowl and stir to combine. Spread one of the blinis with the mayonnaise mixture and top with fennel, basil, chicken and chives. Sandwich with the remaining blini, cut into wedges and serve with lemon. Serves 4.


Basic Blini
(adapted from Donnahay.com)
2/3 cups (100gm) plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted
1/4 cup (35gm) buckwheat flour, sifted (plain flour)
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup (125ml) milk
1/3 cup (80gm) sour cream (homemade yoghurt)
1 egg, separated

Place the plain and buckwheat flours, salt and yeast in a bowl and stir to combine. Place the milk and sour cream in a saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until lukewarm. Add the egg yolk and whisk to combine. Gradually add the milk mixture to the flour mixture, stirring until smooth. Cover with a clean, damp cloth and set aside in a warm place for 30 minutes or until bubbles appear on the surface.

Whisk the egg white until soft peaks form, add to the mixture and stir well to combine. Heat a lightly greased, large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Cook teaspoonfuls of the mixture for 1-2 minutes or until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip and cook for 1-2 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool. Makes 30.

To see what everyone are having for breakfast, drop by IHCC. You might just be inspired to join us! For more details about joining in, click here.

And I'm sharing this post with :
See Ya In The Gumbo @ Ms. enPlace
Souper Sundays @ Kahakai Kitchen

Blueberry Pancake : IHCC

"Up & At 'Em", our theme for this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), it's breakfast time, the most important meal of the day, the one that sets you up and about! It was a public holiday yesterday, the family woke up later than usual, it was a lazy morning, and these Blueberry Pancakes makes a lovely breakfast on such mornings. These are great eaten warm for those who are up and about to start the day, and are just as delicious when eaten later, at room temperature, for those who want to sleep in a little longer!

These pancakes uses the basic ingredients, flour, baking powder, milk, sugar, melted butter and frozen blueberries, but these simple ingredients makes really good pancakes!

The original recipe calls for some icing sugar to be sprinkled over the top before serving with a drizzling of maple syrup. My family had this with some honey drizzled over instead. They have always love pancakes with honey!

I prefer eating the pancakes as it is, it already is very good on its own, with a mug of hot coffee.

These pancakes are just so delicious. They are tender, not-too-sweet, and the sweet blueberries are just bursting with juice. Recipes calls for 3/4 cup of frozen blueberries, but I have used more than that, perhaps double that amount. Family approved! One that I would make again! Yums!

Blueberry Pancake
(source from donnahay.com)
2 cups (300gm) plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted
3 teaspoons baking powder, sifted
1/2 cup (110g) caster (superfine) sugar
2 eggs
2-1/4 cups (560ml) milk
75gm unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup (115gm) frozen blueberries
fresh blueberries, to serve
maple syrup, to serve
icing (confectioner's) sugar, for dusting

Place the flour, baking powder and sugar in a bowl and make a well in the centre. Combine the eggs, milk and butter, gradually pour into the well and whisk until smooth. Stir in the frozen blueberries. Heat a lightly greased non-stick frying pan over low heat. Cook 1/4 cups of the pancake mixture for 2 minutes or until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip and cook for a further 1-2 minutes or until light golden. Repeat with the remaining mixture. Stack the pancakes, top with the fresh blueberries, pour over the maple syrup and dust with icing sugar to serve. Makes 16.

To see what everyone are having for breakfast, drop by IHCC. You might just be inspired to join us! For more details about joining in, click here.

And I'm sharing this post with :
See Ya In The Gumbo @ Ms. enPlace
My Meatless Mondays @ My Sweet and Savory

Chocolates For Breakfast, Yum! Yum!

Serve a plate of this delicious Pancakes With Chocolate Chips topped with some Pancake Syrup to three kids and watch their faces when they take a bite. You will see three lovely smiles and three sets of expressions, "Mmm, yummy (my son) .... This is really good (my niece)........ Mommy, you are so clever" (my daughter)!  Hehehehe! Thank you, chocolate!

Toll House Mini Morsel Pancakes are so easy to make and so delicious. We have it topped with some Pancake Syrup, but it is actually good enough on it's own.

Yummylicious!

Chocolates for breakfast, anyone?

Can I have one more, please?

If you are baking or cooking from any of your cookbooks, it would be nice to share and link to  Cookbook Sundays over at Mom's Sunday Cafe.
Full Plate Thursday at Miz Helen's Country Cottage

Toll House Mini Morsel Pancakes
(adapted from "Favourite Brand Name Chocolate" by PIL Publications)
Makes 18 pancakes
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (6-ounces) NESTLE TOLL HOUSE Semi-sweet Chocolate Mini Morsels
1 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-3/4 cups milk
2 large eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
powdered sugar
fresh sliced strawberries
maple syrup

Combine flour, morsels, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Combine milk, eggs, vegetable oil and brown sugar in medium bowl, add to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter may be lumpy).

Heat griddle or skillet over medium heat; brush lightly with vegetable oil. Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto hot griddle; cook until bubbles begin to burst. Turn; continue to cook for about 1 minute longer or until golden. Repeat with remaining batter.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar, top with strawberries. Serve with maple syrup.

Fluffy Pancakes and Awards

Soft, fluffy and good! Extremely easy to make. Made this for breakfast and the kids enjoyed these with some warm blueberry sauce. I will be making this again,  yummy with some strawberry sauce  or honey and would be fantastic with chocolate sauce! I got this delicious recipe from Allrecipes.com , a great site to look for home recipes.

Fluffy Pancakes
(source from Allrecipes.com)
3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoon white vinegar
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt (use half if using salted butter)
1 egg
2 tablespoon butter, melted
cooking spray

Method :

1. Combine milk with vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to "sour".
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk egg and pour into "soured milk". Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until the lumps are gone.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cooked until browned on the other side.

************************

A W A R D S

These lovely awards are from two wonderful foodie friends, Jay of Tasty Appetite and Love2Cook.

Thank you ladies, for forwarding these awards to me, I'm honoured! Some of you may already know these two wonderful blogs, if you do not, then do stop by their wonderful sites. They have wonderful delicious yummies both in their cooking pot and in their baking pans! Once you pop over to their site, you will surely be back again visiting! Thank you again, Jay and Love2Cook.

A

Seven things about myself :

1. I'm addicted to cookbooks! But then, who doesn't??
2. I love watching "The Power Puff Girls" and "Tom and Jerry".. are you laughing?? 
3. I try not to watch sad story on TV, they make me cry..
4. I love coffee AND tea!
5. Stayed near the beach until I was fifteen, but never knew how to swim!!!!
6. The first book that make me cry when I was eight, "The Little Match Girl" by Hans Christian Andersen.
7. I read my first "Mills & Boons" when I was eleven, WOW! and never look back! 

I would like to pass on those lovely awards to the following fantastic blogs :

1. At Home With Rebecka
2. Angie's Recipes
3. Brenda's Canadian Kitchen
4. Cajun Delights
5. Canela Kitchen Recipes
6. Cucina di Barbara
7. les reves d'une boulangere
8. Miz Helen's Country Cottage
9. Mom's Sunday Cafe
10. scrambled hen fruit

Do visit these fantastic blogs, they are all truly wonderful! 

Thank you!

Swedish Pancakes

A great after school snack. The kids are always hungry when they reached home, it is way after lunch time and not quite dinner time yet, so I have to constantly think of a light snack until its time for dinner. This is supposed to be small round pancakes, but I only have a small round saucepan and it would take "forever" to finish off the batter. So I make them bigger, and roll them up like a crepe. Fantastic, finish it in no time at all! Just in time when they reached home, still warm, drizzle with honey, they love it!

The batter is easy and quick to put together, but the batter is quite thin, not like other pancakes which has a thicker consistency. This produces a soft and light pancake which is absolutely delicious with honey, there is no sugar in the batter itself, so the pairing with honey is perfect.

Swedish Pancake
(adapted from "The Cake Bible" by Rose Levy Beranbaum)
Ingredients :
room temperature :
4 large eggs
1/2 cup (116 gm) heavy cream
1 cup + 2 tbsp (145 gm) cake flour OR 1 cup (measured by dip and sweep method) 145gm all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups (363 gm) milk
3 tbsp (43 gm)unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
2 tbsp (25 gm) clarified butter **

Method :
In large bowl beat the eggs and cream. Add the flour and beat until smooth. Beat in the remaining ingredients. The batter is quite thin.

Pour 2-1/2 inch rounds of batter (1 tbsp) onto a hot griddle, lightly greased with clarified butter between each batch. Cook over medium-high heat 1-1/2 minutes or until golden brown. Turn and cook the other side for 30 seconds or until lightly brown. The pancake will be 1/8 inch thick.

Remove the pancakes to warm plates and keep warm in a low oven while cooking the remaining batter. Makes 4 dozen pancakes.

** If you do not have clarified butter on hand, you will need to clarify 3 tbsps (43 gm) unsalted butter. In a heavy saucepan melt the butter over medium heat, partially covered to prevent splattering. When it looks clear, cook, uncovered, watching carefully until the solids drop and begin to brown. Pour immediately through a fine strainer or a strainer lined with cheesecloth.

(my notes : I skipped the clarified butter! Too lazy!)