Harvest Scones

After I made the banana chocolate chip scones (my girls had that for their lunch at the school).

I wanted to make something different by attempting to use the dried fruits. All I have was those dried apples and peaches in my pastry shelf. It popped up in my mind that apples and peaches are somehow "harvest" so that why I decided to name this.

This is little different than what I had first made the banana chocolate chip scones by switching the sugars and egg. Of course increased the cups of flour to make it as 8 sections instead of 4.

Here's the recipe:

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup gratulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

6 tablespoon of cold butter, cut into cubes

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

For mine- I chopped mostly of dried apples and peaches so it's like approximately 2/3 cup each.

Preheat oven at 400 degree

In a bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients except the dried fruits. Put those cubed butter into the flour mixture and mix it together with your fingers until it gets smoothly.

Put those dried fruits into the flour mixture and add the egg and milk until the dough comes together (to let you know it's very sticky).

Dust the counter with some flour to make sure that dough comes together well enough to cut into 8 sections.

Spray the cooking oil on the baking sheet and place the 8 sections on it. Bake it at 400 degree about 15 to 17 minutes or until light golden. Don't be alarm if the bottom can burn a little bit- you can cut it off thinly to remove those burn bottoms.

It tastes so wonderful with those dried apples and peaches with those flavor of cinnamon and nutmeg.

You can add any dried fruits as your choice like cranberry, cherry, blueberry and/or etc..

Hope you like this..

Banana Choc Chip Scones

Can you image having mashed banana, enrich chocolate chips and basic scone to mix it altogether?

As you know mostly scones that are well-popular at the stores like: blueberry scones, cranberry orange scones, maple flavored scones and a few others.

But have you ever seen any banana scones at all? You have know that banana walnut, banana chocolate chip and plain banana breads are well popular and easy to make.

So why not to make it? I had adapted this recipe from someone who had broke the traditionally regarding about dried fruits vs mashing fruits. I decided to add cinnamon, nutmeg and chocolate chips instead of using ground ginger.

Here's the recipe:

1 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 tablespoon cold butter, cut into cubes

5 tablespoon milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 whole banana, mashed

bunch of chocolate chips

Preheat oven at 400 degree. In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients except the chocolate chips. Put the cubes of butter into the dry ingredient and rub those ingredients and cubed butter altogether with your fingers until it becomes smoothly.

Mix milk and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Pour half of the milk mixture into the flour mixture and stir until it comes together. Add the mashed banana and chocolate chips and fold it altogether. Pour rest of the milk mixture until the dough comes together.

Dust your counter with some flour (FYI the dough is very sticky) so you may want to put some flour so the dough can form well enough to cut into 4 equal sections. Don't use too much flour- just some of it.

Put it on your baking sheet (I spray it with cooking oil) and bake it at 400 degree for 17 to 20 minutes or until it becomes light gold (Also you can use a knife or toothpick to make sure it comes clean but will expect some melting chocolate on it).

Quinoa

I never had quinoa in my life until few months ago when my friend makes her well-famous quinoa salad with artichokes, feta cheese, cherry tomatoes and dressing along with spring leaves. It caught my eyes to try that for a first time. I was so in HEAVEN and learned it was quinoa. I had learned that mostly of my friends use it part of their diet. It can be ANYTHING from breakfast (cereal with fruit and honey to dinner (casseroles, salad, stuffed peppers and etc).

Brief history

Incan folks had used quinoa of their diet more than 5,000 years (wish they had told us). They worship the quinoa and used it partly of their religious ceremonies. Even they called it as "Mother of the Grains". Incan emperor traditionally sow the first seeds of the season by using golden implements. No wonder that they called it as a "golden grain". When Europeans conquered South America. Spanish colonists used the quinoa to trade in with Indians as a "food". They will punish Incan folks if they try to grow quinoa. Incan folks were forced to grow corns instead and used the potatoes as their second nutrition in their diet. It has grown way up to the Equator to the United States and Canada. It has grown so popular due of nutty flavor and nutritious alternative to the rice, pasta and other grains.

It's gluten-free and easy to digest. It enriches with high proteins and iron even consist all nine essential amino acids and many mores. It also releasing slow-releasing carbonhydrates and maintain the blood sugar levels.

It's a great for folks who suffers glutens, migraine headaches, cardivascular problems and diabetes.

It comes in variety of colors- white, transparent yellow, orange, pink, red, purple and black.

But all I see was ivory white, red and black.

Ivory white- less earthier flavor

Red- slightly earthier flavor

Black- darker in color, crunchier in texture and stronger grain-like

Pre-rinsing vs rinsing quinoa:

Try to find a package containing seeds that had their waxy outer coating removed through rinsing or some other process ( Simple to look at the box says "pre-rinsing")

If you buy quinoa with its coating on then you have to do the rinsing. You need to rinse it vigorously in a strainer (make sure it has a smaller hole or something to prevent any seeds coming out while rinsing- you don't want to lose more seeds) then soak it for several hours in water then rinse it again.

Remember if you leave any behind of the coating, then it will lead bitterness because it consist saponins which it will taste terrible after cooked it.

How to cook quinoa?

Simply treat it as what you normally cook with the white rice. You can use the saucepan or rice cooker. For example: 1 cup quinoa then use 2 cups of water. Pretty simple and easy eh?

Bring the pan to a boil, cover and turn down the heat to a low simmer. Let it cook for 15 minutes then remove from the heat.

It should be slightly transparent tiny curl and fluffy.

Be creative by adding anything with your quinoa :D..

Now you know what quinoa is about. Hopefully you will including the quinoa into your diet.

Word for a day- Julienned

Wondering what a word, julienned mean?

It means any vegetable and meats that are cut into long thin strips

Now you know a word, julienned :D

Ginger

Rooting for Ginger~ Go Ginger Go Ginger Go Ginger.. Can you give me a spell? Spell G, Spell I, Spell N, Spell G, Spell E and Spell R. What it stand by spell it? GINGER! YAY Go Ginger!

Wait a min, Am I nutso cheerleader? Probably YES! *chucking*

One of my friends wanted to know which ginger and how to use it. I told him that I would do that on my blog.. Here's it goes...

There are six types of gingers in case if you may, might or didn't know about that.

FRESH GINGER

There is two types of fresh gingers are young and mature.

Young ginger root- It is known as "green or spring". It has a pale, thin skin that requires no peeling. It's a very tender and has a milder flavor. It can be grated, chopped or julienned.

Mature ginger root- It has a tough skin that must be peeled right away to get the flesh. It can be grated, chopped or ground.

DRIED GINGER

It can be find in whole fingers or in slices. You need to soak the dried ginger into the liquid before using it.

PICKLED GINGER

It's pickled in sweet vinegar. It usually shows the color of bright red or pink. It's very familiar for Sushi. Also it's a great to refresh your breath by eating those pickled ginger- natural remedy than those minty candies.

PRESERVED GINGER

It has been preserved in a sugar-salt mixture. It can use as a confection or added to desserts. Something I had learned that it marries to melon magnificent.

CRYSTALLIZED GINGER

It's a common to know as a "candied ginger". It has been cooked with a sugar syrup until tender then coated with gratulated sugar. It can use for dessert or pop it into your mouth by thinking it's a candy. Also it's easy to make it at home.

GROUND GINGER

It is known as a "powdered". It is different than fresh- OF COURSE. You can find it easily at the supermarkets. Use it for sweets and curry mixes.

Now you know those six types of gingers so it may help you to know which ones that you can use it for your cooking.

How do I find a good fresh ginger root?

It's a year-around at the supermarkets (maybe a few markets that don't carry that). Look for smooth skin with a fresh and spicy fragrance. Yes, you may smell. Who cares if folks thinks you are nutso! You rather to find a good one instead of bad one! Tubers should be a firm and feel heavy. AVOID those with wrinkled flesh because it shows an indication of aged ginger past its prime.

How do I storage those types of gingers?

FRESH GINGER

For unpeeled part, you can wrapped it in paper towels, place in a plastic bag and refrigerated up to 3 weeks. It can be tightly wrapped and frozen up to 2 months (you may want to slice off any unwanted root before)

For peeled part, you can store it in madiera or sherry wine in a glass container in the refrigerator up to 3 months. But remember if you plan to cook with any wines- recommend you to not use it if you mix the peeled ginger root that has been preserved with madiera or sherry wine because it will impact the flavors.

DRIED and GROUND GINGER

It can stored in a cool and dark space with an airtight container.

PICKLED and PRESERVED GINGER

It should kept in its original container in refrigerator.

CRYSTALLIZED GINGER

It can storage in an airtight container in a cool and dark space up to 3 months.

Now you know to find a good fresh ginger root and methods of the storage for those gingers.

Lastly, ginger can be healthy benefit for us. It helps to soothing any stomach upsets, motion sickness, morning sickness and cold/coughs.

You can even make your own ginger tea by slice some ginger root and put into the tea ball (in your own cup or a teapot). Pour the boiling water over the tea ball and let it sit for 10 minutes. You can even drink straight from it or sweeten up with honey. But remember to use it as moderation to avoid any gastric irritations. It's a wise to check with your doctor if you are unsure if you have any gastric problems or any medical issues.

Go Go Go GINGER!

Mediterranean Meatballs

Can you image the ideal of having a meatballs into a mediterranean way? I DO.. I had created this recipe by knowing the simple basic what mediterranean normally cooked with.

Mostly of you already know, might or not that lemon, garlic, spices and olive oil are the most essential items in order to cook any mediterranean dishes. Italians use breadcrumbs, eggs, spices, tomatoes and etc to make those well-famous meatballs.

I decided to use ground turkey instead of ground beef because I wanted to make it more lighter and tasty. Ground beef can use for this recipe as long go for more lean ones.

1 pounds -1.25 pounds of Ground Turkey

1 soaked bread (White or Wheat)- soaked with a water and squeezed the liquid out

1 egg

2 to 3 teaspoon of grated garlic- more if you are a totally garlic lover or less if you are not crazy over

Couple squeeze of fresh lemon

Couple dashes of coriander (dried cilantro) and marijoram

Bunches of chopped fresh cilantros

Mix it all up and shape it into the meatballs. Bake it at 350 degree until it's fully cooked.

Put all of cooked meatballs into the spaghetti sauce - ANY sauce even it could be organic, homemade or anything as your preference. For this recipe, I used the Merzzetta Napa Valley Bistro All Natural Homemade Style Marinara. I love this flavor of the sauce because it's all natural even it's no sugar and paste involved. Also it's GLUTEN FREE too.

Cut slice of baguette and bast it with little bit of Olive Oil. Put it into the oven (400 degree) until it gets little bit of golden brown on each sides.

Put 2 meatballs on each grilled baguette (each) with some of the sauce. Sprinkle some of cheese (your choice or none) with fresh chopped cilantros on top.

I did enjoyed eating those and would make it for sure! It's a perfect for light summery meal because it's not too heavy.

καλή όρεξη! It's a greek word for "Enjoy your meal!"

Homemade Flour Tortillas

Homemade Flour Tortillas

I was in the MOOD for the chicken soft tacos and didn't realized that I don't have the store-bought flour tortillas in my home. Time wasn't permitting for me to go to the food store along with three hungry girls. Suddenly it came up in my mind -WHY DON'T YOU LEARN HOW TO MAKE IT? I have most ingredients at home so WHY NOT?

I know that flour tortillas is made of the all-purpose flour so I decided to add a few ingredients in order to make it. It works!

It's a pretty simple and easy. At first, I had tasted it and it was like 100 percent pure of flour-flavored tortillas which it amazed me. My girls had tasted it for the first time and my jaw dropped down on the floor by heard "I want more". From there, I knew it was all worth of my timing to make it than jump into the car to drive all way to the food store (Also you know how the kids can change their mind of wanting to eat different than what you are originally planned to cook for dinner heh).

2 cups all-purpose flour (don't use BREAD FLOUR)

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

3/4 cup lukewarm milk (2% is fine)

Mix the dry ingredients then add the vegetable oil. Slowly gradually pour the lukewarm milk into the dry ingredients/vegetable oil to make the mixture into a sticky dough.

Dust on the counter and roll out the dough with a teensy bit of flour. Knead the dough vigorously by fold and press. Return the dough back into the bowl and cover with damp towel to let it rest for 15 minutes. It won't rise the dough but want it rest for a bit.

Divide the dough into 8 of equal size, cover them with damp towel and let them rest again for 20 minutes. Don't let it stick each other.

Dust the counter with a little bit of flour (you don't want to increase more flour flavor). Work one at a time by pat a little bit then rolling it until the dough is about 1/4 inch thick. You can put the thin tortilla on the damp towel and cover while you work on the second, third and etc so that way it won't dry it out.

Put it on the hot griddle and cook for 30 seconds. It will get blisters on each sides. You may want to cook until it gets little golden brown.

If you want the wheat tortillas- use the 100% wheat flour. My next project is to make the corn tortillas since it only needs 2 ingredients - 100% corn flour and water.

Enjoy learning to make ones and let me know what you think of that.

Balsamic Vinegar

Balsamic Vinegar- Can't live without having one in the kitchen!

Have you gone to the italian restaurant by served the olive oil with droppings of Balsamic Vinegar that you can dip with the fresh bread? Have you gone to the fancy restaurants that served a wonderful aroma dish of seafoods, poultries and/or beef that are being marinated with teensy bit of Balsamic Vinegar? Or you had made your homemade salad dressing by using that product as well?

I will make Balsamic Vinegar as an abbreviation as BV ok?

I was told by someone that having an expensive BV is worth to have because of the sweet flavor.

It made me thinking about this. Am I willing to break my money shell to buy like $50 dollars or higher for that special bottle of BV? Some people would buy it for sure but not all of them willing to buy that expensive bottles due of their budget reasons.

I had that thoughts and want to educate you to understand the two types of BVs and the AIB four leaf rankings before you buy a right product at the grocery store, healthy food store or online.

Two types of BVs:

1- Traditional (made in Modena, Italy that follows a strict process)

2- Commerical/Untraditional (it's blend of artisan-made or boiled grapes with wine vinegar added)

Now you had learned 2 types of BVs. Now how do I know which one is right for me? It's pretty easy simple to know a few things before you buy.

1- Look for AIB certification. AIB stands for Italian Association of Tasters for Balsamic Vinegar of Modena. It had created in 2002.

2- If you are unsure of your taste toward to BVs then you can request a few sample of it. Mostly speciality/healthy food stores do offer some samples. It will save you from buying a wrong one and wasting your money to invest into.

Also you need to know about AIB four leaf rankings that would help a lot to know by purchasing a right one.

ZERO LEAF- it is made of 95% of red vinegar with a very little traditional added along with some caramel coloring

ONE LEAF- it is a light typed with a flavor of sweet and zesty

TWO LEAVES- it's a brisk and vibrant flavored

THREE LEAVES- it's a full and smooth flavored with tangy accents - more like syrup-typed

FOUR LEAVES- it's a sweet and complex flavored with syrupy-typed.

Also please remember that AGING is important to know. Aged 12 years or higher produces more flavors, acidity, aroma and many mores. Once the aging increases then prices increases. It can be higher like $80 or even hundreds depending on which name of the BVs. It's the same ideal of making wines (you had seen the prices ranges that can be from "damn too cheap to sky-rocketed high prices").

REMEMBER that expensive ones isn't the only best ones.. Never know that inexpensive ones can be good as equilvalent as the expensive ones as LONG you are well known about the AIB certifications, the four leaf rankings, aging process and your taste buds.

Go check out the speciality stores and have those samples like William Sonoma or any stores that carries the BVs products.

Lastly, you need to know how amount that it should be added for cooking:

If you buy the BVs that are aged higher like 25-50 years then a drop or two would be enough because it's a very strong ones. It is a good for making a homemade vinaigrette or olive oil with a drop of BVs for dipping with breads.

If you buy the BVs that are aged 12 years/higher or less than 12 years then 1/4 cup of BVs would be enough to make anything as you prefer like sauce for your meats, dipping and many mores.

It will RUIN the flavor if you use too much of BVs as well.

Now you able to buy a right product that fits your taste buds!

Enjoy the shopping for BVs!