Raspberry & Chocolate Brownies

Raspberry and Chocolate are one of my favorite combination in desserts.  I love the smell of baked fresh raspberries with the chocolate aroma altogether, smells delicious!  Enjoy as much as I do!

Raspberry & Chocolate Brownies
Ingredients

2 Stick/8oz - Butter
7oz - Dark Chocolate
4 Large - Eggs
3/4 Cup - Light Brown Sugar
1 1/3 Cups - All Purpose Flour
1/3 Cup - Cocoa Powder
1 tsp - Baking Powder
2 Cups - Fresh Raspberries

Procedure

1.  Place butter and chocolate in a bain marie (aka double boiler) and melt until smooth, set aside.
2.  Whisk eggs and brown sugar until smooth, add flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and melted chocolate/butter and stir until combined.
3.  Place into a square pan and fill top with raspberries.  Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes, depending on your oven (make sure to not over bake it).
4.  Cool brownies on rack, cut and serve.

Baby Shower Sugar Cookies

Baby Shower Cookies! 

Teddy Bear

Elephant

The finished product!

Sugar Cookies 

6 Cups - All Purpose Flour

1 tsp - Salt

2 tsp - Baking Soda

2 Cups - Unsalted butter, @ room temperature

2 Cups - Granulated Sugar

3 - Large Eggs

1 Tbsp - Vanilla Extract

Green Pops!

What do you do when there's extra green smoothie left over?  GREEN POPS!

My daily dose of green smootie consists of:

12 oz - Unsweetened Soymilk (can split in half in replacement of water, but it tastes so much creamier with full dose of soymilk)
1 Cup - Kale, packed (substitute w/ Mustard Greens, Chard, Cilantro, Spinach)
1 Cup - Spinach, packed (substitute w/ arugula - gives it a nutty & earthy flavor)
1 Tbsp - Chia Seeds
1 tsp - Flaxseed (has a distinctive flavor, you may or may not like this)
2 - Persian Cucumber
2 - Peaches, rippened
1 - Banana, rippened (perfect sweetener to the mix)

Blend this altogether, serve approximately 32 - 40 oz.  I usually have 6 oz of this stuff as part of the breakfast (makes me full), save the 10 oz for late snack in the day.  My David drinks the rest of his share in the morning, I make the second batch above where mom gets one 16 oz in the morning and the other half is David's snack  of the late day :D.  Yum!

Masaman Curry w/ Quinoa

Tonight's dinner will be vegetarian curry over a bed of quinoa cooked in perfection by my hubby.  The last curry we made was green curry and although it tasted amazing, it was a bit spicy for me.  This time, we are going to make Masaman Curry.

The Masaman curry paste consists of the following ingredients:
Shallot - 24%
Dried Red Chilli - 21%
Garlic - 20%
Lemon Grass - 12%
Salt - 12%
Galangal -5%
Other Spices - 3%
Coriander Seed - 2%
Cumin Powder - 1%
Total:  100%

Isn't it lovely to know exactly what goes in this curry paste?!  Although that 1% of "Other Spices" may be a secret ingredient?  I used the AROY-D brand (I love the flavor of this brand).

Masaman Curry

Ingredients:
Veggies
2 Cups - Eggplants, cubed (1/2")
1 Bundle - Green Onions, chopped (1/2 - for garnish)
1/2 - Red Onions, chopped (1/2")
4-5 - Cloves of Garlic, minced
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1 - Package Squid Nuggets (May substitute with fish balls, shrimp, meat, etc.)
50g - Masaman Curry Paste
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2 - Cans Coconut Milk (13.5 oz each, may substitute 1/2 with low fat milk)
4 Tbsp - Brown Sugar
4 Tbsp - Fish Sauce
2 Tbsp - Tamarind Paste

 Yay, Eggplants!  1.  Dice them and set aside.

2.  Chop green onions and 1/2 the red onions, set aside.

3.  Put 1 - Tbsp Oil and stir in garlic, red onions, green onions until translucent.  Then add squid nuggets and combine the masaman curry paste.

4.  Add the coconut milk, let simmer, add brown sugar, tamarind paste, fish sauce, eggplant and cook until desired tenderness of the eggplant.  (Once you add the tamarind paste, it creates a wonderful golden/red hue to the curry).

5.  Yippie!  Top the curry over a bed of Quinoa and sprinkle some green onions!

Banana Nut Bread

My mom bought a little too much fruits lately. 2 bags of bananas last week and we still couldn't finish the bundle as we use 2 bananas every morning for our daily dose of green smoothies before heading out the door.  It was funny how my mom was waiting for her smoothie yesterday to realize that David and I don't work on weekends, sorry mom, I'll make a large cup of green smoothies for you tomorrow morning! 

It's Sunday tonight, and it's time to clear out the bananas because they are getting very brown.  The perfect color for awesome banana bread!  I usually do not like using the loaf to make the bread, because it gets a little crispy on the edges, and the center is harder to cook.  Hopefully by using a tube pan, it will cook much better.  This is one of my mom's favorite, it's scrumptious!

 

The Finish Product!

Banana Nut Bread
Yield - 1 Tube Pan

Ingredients:

10 oz - Butter, @ room temperature (72-76F)
10 oz - Granulated Sugar
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3 - Large Eggs, @ room temperature (72-76F)
1 tsp - Vanilla Extract
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1lb, 4 oz - Cake Flour
2 tsp - Baking Soda
1 tsp - Baking Powder
0.25 oz - Salt
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1lb, 4 oz - Banana, puree and ripped
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4 oz - Walnuts, coarsely chopped and toasted

Procedure:
Creaming Method

1.  Cream butter until light and fluffy (airing it to produce bubbles for fluffy rise of the bread).  Add sugar slowly until combined.  Make sure to scrape the bowl occasionally.
2.  Add eggs one at a time until combined, add vanilla extract.
3.  Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt altogether, add to the mix while alternating with the banana puree + water.
4.  When all combined,  add walnuts and fold into the batter.
5.  Grease pan with butter and then flour, pour in the batter, place in an oven at 350F for 40 minutes. 
6.  Cool on rack for 15 minutes, then release from pan.
7.  Ready to serve warm!