Coconut Poppy Seed Cake

I recently bought Nick Malgieri's Perfect Light Desserts book. Recipes included in this book are for cakes, cookies and pies, all made with without synthetic or artificial sweeteners or substitutes. This cake is fine crumbed, moist and the poppy seeds add a nice crunch to it. I have used Greek yogurt in this recipe ( Fage brand) which is widely available in most grocery stores. I prefer Greek yogurt because it is creamy and has a wonderful flavour. Traditional Greek yogurt is made from ewe's milk, but the ones mostly available in the USA are made from cow's milk.

You could also try other cake recipes - Tiger cake, Semolina Cake with candied blood oranges, apple spice cake, coconut cake with buttercream frosting.

Coconut Poppy Seed Cake - Nick Malgieri
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup poppy seeds
3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut - packed lightly
1 tsp baking powder
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup fat free yogurt -Greek style preferred


Butter and flour a 9 inch spring form pan.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift flour and stir together poppy seeds, coconut, salt and baking powder and set aside.
I used a stand mixer to whisk eggs and sugar until light and pale. Pour in vegetable oil and whisk well for 2 minutes .

Using a spatula, fold in flour mixture in three stages and gently mix in the yogurt.

Pour batter into prepared spring form pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. As you can see, they also make adorable little cakes.

Savoury Bread Pudding

I have made many versions of bread puddings for dessert in the past. Bread pudding was the dish to make for breakfast when I had a house full of room mates ( nothing wrong in having dessert for breakfast ;). All I needed was stale bread, eggs, milk, sugar, a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg and chocolate chips or nuts to make the custard that is poured over the bread cubes. Let the mixture sit for at least half an hour so that the custard is absorbed by the bread cubes. Some recipes will require the pudding be baked in a water bath but this recipe doesn't require that step, the addition of cream and half and half adds richness and creaminess to this dish. I am not sure how this recipe would turn out if you were to use whole milk or soy milk.

This is my first attempt at making savoury bread pudding.....I will be definitely making this again. There are some recipes out there that call for different kinds of cheeses for the custard. I have used just half a cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese as I did want to be weighed down by a heavy brunch (I will then have to spend rest of the day snoozing on the couch!) You could use any leftover bread, but I prefer to use challah . It is best to use stale bread or at least day old bread for this recipe.

Savoury Bread Pudding



4 cups bread cubes - day old
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup minced shallots
1/2 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley
2 garlic cloves - finely minced
2 cups half and half
4 large eggs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
a pinch of grated nutmeg
2 cups spinach, washed and loosely packed
3 Tb sweet butter
1/2 tsp black pepper


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 by 9 baking pan and set aside.
Heat butter in a saute pan. Saute shallots, garlic, flat leaf parsley and mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper, add in washed spinach and stir together. Take off heat.

In a separate bowl mix together eggs, half and half, grated Parmesan cheese, cooled sauteed vegetables, a pinch of nutmeg. Pour over cubed bread in the prepared pan. Let mixture stand for at least 20 minutes before baking. Bake in a preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until custard is set. Serves 4 to 5 servings.

Ayam Masak Merah

I was craving for some spicy comfort food. The first thing I did was walk into my pantry and pull out the large bag dried chillies that my sister in law had included in a care package for me. I went through a mental check list my favourite sambal dishes as I soaked the spicy dried chillies in a bowl of hot water.





Ayam Masak Merah (red cooked chicken) is a popular Malaysian dish. What makes this dish different from other sambals is the use of aromatic spices such as cinnamon sticks, star anise, cloves and cardamom pods. The spice paste also includes coriander , turmeric, cumin and fennel, all in powder form.



This is a three part recipe. Soak the dried chilies first in hot water until softened and gather all the ingredients to make the spice paste. Give it a whirl in a blender and set aside. Then marinate chicken pieces in salt and turmeric powder for at least one hour before deep frying the chicken briefly. This ensures the juices of the chicken are sealed in and also to prevent the chicken pieces from falling apart while cooking in the spicy paste.

Ayam Masak Merak
You could de-seed the dried chillies if you wish to temper the heat. This dish will be quite spicy otherwise.

Spice Paste (A)
7 small shallots - peeled
5 cloves of garlic - peeled
1 Tb minced fresh ginger
10 - 12 dried chillies - soaked in hot water for at least 20 minutes
1 Tb coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp fennel powder
1 Tb vegetable oil
3/4 cup water

Drain the chillies, place all ingredients in a blender and puree ingredients till smooth.

Chicken (B)
1 medium sized organic chicken (around 3 pounds) - I cut mine into 14 pieces
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
oil for deep frying

Wash and pat dry chicken. Cut into pieces and mix with salt and turmeric powder. Set in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Bring chicken to room temperature. Heat oil on medium high heat. Fry chicken pieces 1 minute on each side. Drain fried pieces on 2 sheets of kitchen paper.

Saute ingredients
1 small can of tomato paste
4 whole cloves
1 star anise
4 Tb vegetable oil
2 pieces of cinnamon stick
3 cardamom pods - bruised
400 ml coconut milk
salt to taste
2/3 Tb sugar

Heat oil in a large pan or wok. Saute cloves, cardamom pods, star anise and cinnamon sticks for 3 minutes on medium heat. Pour in the pureed spice paste (A) and saute for 15 minutes stirring constantly. Watch that the spice paste does not burn. Add in one small can of tomato paste, salt, sugar, mix well and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Add fried pieces of chicken and coconut milk and cook covered until chicken is cooked through. Life the cover and stir occasionally. Lift the cover and cook until sauce thickens. Adjust seasonings and serve with steamed white rice.

Stuffed Mushrooms

I made these stuffed mushrooms on New Years' Eve celebrations that we had at home. I bought medium sized baby Bella mushrooms because I wanted one bite appetizers. The filling consisted of some breadcrumbs, fresh flat leaf parsley, scallions, freshly grated Parmesan cheese and a bit of heavy cream to bind it all together.

You could prep the mushrooms, wipe them clean and brush the caps with some olive oil or melted sweet butter and set it aside. Then go ahead and make the filling and let it cool. This can be made hours ahead. Just bake the stuffed caps right before serving, these little gems are wonderful while still hot!


Stuffed Mushrooms
10 fresh mushrooms caps - medium sized
2 Tb sweet butter -
2 scallions - finely minced - green parts only
4 Tb unseasoned bread crumbs
1/4 cup + 1 Tb grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tb minced flat leaf parsley
2 Tb heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil/melted butter - to brush on mushroom caps

Clean mushrooms caps with a wet cloth and remove stems. Mince stems finely and set aside.

Filling
Melt butter in a pan on medium heat and saute the chopped scallions for 1 minute and chopped mushroom stems for 2 minutes. Add bread crumbs and minced fresh flat leaf parsley and season with salt and pepper. Take mixture off the heat and pour in cream to bind the ingredients. Add in 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese and set mixture aside to cool.

To assemble
Preheat oven to 370 degrees. Brush cleaned caps with some olive oil and stuff the mushrooms with filling. Sprinkle some grated Parmesan cheese on top and dot with a little butter before baking in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until the stuffing has browned lightly on top.

Pear & Radicchio Salad with Toasted Walnut Dressing

All that feasting over the holidays has left me craving for lighter meals. This salad is has some of my favourite ingredients. I usually snack on raw or toasted nuts , pear or apples and always have these ingredients on hand. Radicchio can be tad bitter but the sweetness of the ripe pear seems to balance out the bitterness. A shower of Parmesan cheese in the end brings it all together quite nicely.

Pear and radicchio salad with toasted walnut dressing
3/4 cup roasted walnuts
3 tb vegetable stock
3 tb red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tb walnut oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 ripe pears ( I used organic forelle pears)
3 tb freshly grated parmigiano Reggiano
1 small head of raddicchio and 4 cups mixed greens ( washed and spun)

In a blender combine 1/2 cup roasted walnuts, vegetable stock, vinegar both oils, vinegar, salt, freshly ground black pepper and pulse a few times. I like this dressing a bit chunky. If you like a smoooth dressing, then blend it till smooth.


In a large bowl, toss together winter greens, torn raddichio, and sliced pears. Dress the salad right before serving. I like to dress it with a light hand and then drizzle a bit more when serving. Scatter roasted walnuts sliced pears and grated cheese on top of salad right before serving. Makes five to six servings.

Other salad recipes :
Soba Noodle Salad
Endive, pear and roquefort salad
Roasted beet and walnut salad