Pandan Marble Butter Cake

It has been a while since I baked a cake. With all the CNY cookies I can’t afford the extra butter in my body ha ha… I shared this cake with a friend of mine and also my neighbor. So not all consume by us :) . I love the look and taste of this cake. I used Golden Churn butter given to me by my good friend Shereen when she came to visit last September. Thanks Shereen for the butter and all the goodies that you’ve given us.

Fried Dumplings with Honey Mayo Dipping Sauce

This is one of dim sum favorite and it is usually served with mayo dipping sauce. For 4 pieces it cost around US$3.00 which I think it is too expensive. It is not difficult to make it yourself and with a few ingredients and a few bucks you can feed the whole family. It usually made from shrimps but you can be creative with the filling. I added some ground pork to it but it can be any combinations of your liking. I made these for our CNY dinner and we enjoyed it a lot. They are crispy on the outside and flavorful on the inside.

French Vanilla Pistachio Sables

I am hit by the lazy bugs and I don’t really feel like doing much nowadays. I usually get depressed during this time of the year as I will be thinking of home and family. With everyone posting their CNY gatherings with family and friends on FB make it worst. I wish I can be home with my family. Well, I guess this is what we have to sacrifice being away from home. Well, enough of my depressing feelings and let’s talk about this cookie. I don’t use pistachio much in my baking but I bought it to make Macaroons last year and I still have ¾ packets of the pistachio meal and shelled nuts sitting in my fridge. I decided to make some ‘sable’ out of it. The first time I heard about this cookie was from a French Pastry Chef whom I took bread lesson from. Sables, also known as a French Butter Cookie or Breton Biscuit, are a classic French cookie originating in Normandy France. The name 'Sables' is French for "sand", which refers to the sandy texture of this delicate and crumbly shortbread-like cookie.

 

Quinoa Patties

After all the CNY indulgence it is time to have some healthy. I’ve been adding quinoa into our diet a couple of months ago since it is much healthier than rice. You can read more about Quinoa here and here .

We like having these quinoa patties. They are hearty and savory which is a great accompaniment to any soup or salad. I don’t mind not having meat at all as I think this is great replacement for the meat patties on a burger bun. I like to cook the quinoa in a low sodium chicken or vegetable broth as it adds more flavors to it but you can always cook it in water but remember to add a bit of salt to it.

Happy Chinese New Year!

To my family, friends and blog readers, Gong Xi Fa Cai/Keong Hee Huat Cai. May the year of snake brings all of us joy, happiness, peace, prosperity and good health.

I didn't bake much this year. Just a few types of cookies like Almond Cookies ,Pistachio Sables, Kuih Bangkit, Date Rolls and 2 types of Pineapple Tarts .

Not forgetting some Bak Kua/Pork Jerky too.

Prawns Wrapped in Taro Paste

This is another prawn dish that is nice to serve for Chinese New Year. I made this dish a few years ago but never posted it in my blog. I am recreating it again so I could post it here for my record. This dish will be ideal as an appetizer too. The taro which is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside compliments well with the succulent prawn within.

Ingredients:

15-18 large prawns – shell,deveined and leave the tail intake
2 tbsp flour

New England Clam and Corn Chowder

This is a traditional cream base chowder with ingredients like onion, potatoes, clams and additional of corn in it. I made it a wee bit on the healthier side by using half and half instead of heavy cream. I always like clam chowder especially the one served at Boudin Bakery in San Francisco. Their clam chowder is the creamy kind serves on sourdough bread bowl while the Manhattan clam chowder is with tomatoes. Both are just as good as it is simply a matter of taste and preference. I used canned clams but you can always use fresh clams to make this. It’s serve piping hot with some crusty bread and just great for cold winter evening.

Almond Cookies

This year I decided to bake almond cookies instead of the regular peanut cookies after seeing Bee Bee of Honey Bee Sweets posted a pictures of her cookie on FB. Since I still have a packet of almond meal given by Oh Nuts in the fridge I like to use it up before ordering some new packets. The cookies turn out like how Bee Bee describes it. Buttery and melts in your mouth. Carlos love it a lot and I have to hide it away from him if not it will be all be gone before CNY.