Join Me for Merienda: V,GF- Malunggay and Turmeric Rice

Can you comprehend that this year is nearly over?

I think like most of us, we're not sure where the time has gone.

A lot has happened this past year for me personally and for the world. I have had so many stories to share with you, but I haven't been able to let all the flood gates open, just yet. They are coming, but for now, in my own way I am paying tribute and homage to the Philippines by sharing this simple recipe with you.

I was in the Philippines not that long ago, in Metro Manila,Baguio,Pangasinan, Cebu and Bohol. When I came back from my trip, not even a  week had passed when, the earthquake struck and it decimated a lot of the places that I had seen in Cebu and Bohol. The feeling of helplessness because I cared about the people in those places that I had just been to and spent time with was intense. It reminded me a lot of the dark pit in my being after the attacks of September 11th. I had been in NYC not long before the attacks and spent a lot of time there at the World Trade Center, and I just thought of all those nice people who I met who were probably all gone. How does your heart not break or just turn to dust when bad things happen? Then Typhoon Haiyan struck and it was just senseless. Again the feeling of helplessness and anger of not being able to be there to physically help. It is now a month after the typhoon struck and everybody is still struggling. I am upset about so many things about how things were mismanaged for the preparation, the answer to the calls for help, basic needs and so on. I will be writing more about this in the future, but for now in my own way by sharing a part of my culture and experience from my trip, I remind myself and the people of the Philippines that they are never forgotten.

If you are inspired to help by giving a donation; the one that I can assure you is a 100% donation going towards the peopl is through the greatergood network. Please take a moment and follow this link to the greatergood network.

My brother also posted an entry about his experience and feelings about the current situation in the Philippines and you can check that post out, by clicking on The Canary Files.

Mahal kita, Pilipinas <3 I love you, Philippines

There are so many recipes that will be shared with you all, but today it will be a Malunggay and Turmeric Rice. This recipe was inspired by a meal that I had while I was in Baguio City. We had arrived in Baguio at 5am and visited the Ben Cab museum (which is tremendous and anybody who visits Baguio; should definitely go there for the art and also the food in the restaurant below it) went to the local markets and then came back to the hotel to rest a bit. My cousin had wanted to try and take us to a Vegetarian restaurant, but she had to leave early; so we couldn't go with her. We walked to the restaurant she suggested and the place was very interesting in décor, but the food was a bit lacking and they didn't seem to want to adjust anything on the menu for us (so it was difficult for us to really have a true meal, specifically for my brother and I). Then we headed downstairs (yes, we had to walk 5 flights of stairs to the restaurant!) and I reminded my brother about a deli with the name 'Greens,' in it and asked him if he wanted to check it out before we headed back to the hotel. Thank goodness we did because it was a revelation. Night and day in comparison to the experience that we had at the restaurant 5 flights above us. The service was awesome, the servers were willing to do whatever it took to make sure that we had a good meal, answered all our questions and always had a good attitude. True we had 'eaten,' upstairs, but we truly had a meal downstairs at the wonderful Azotea Greens Resto and Café.

Aside from the main dish that we chose, (I think it was called Tokwa sa Tinuktok) they had a choice of different types of rice: malunggay, turmeric, garlic ( of course) and plain. If you know my brother or myself; then you know that we ordered both malunggay and turmeric rice. Soooooo goooooooood! They were a perfect compliment to the main dish that we ordered which was tofu steaks that had been stewed in a coconut milk with chili based broth wrapped in nori. Naturally, I also tried mixing the malunggay and turmeric rice together and another lovely combination was born.

And now a photo show:

My brother standing in front of some of the dining area in the 'upstairs,' restaurant that was interesting, but didn't fit our bill.

My Dad, standing near some of the interesting décor in the 'upstairs,' restaurant.

At Azotea Greens Resto and Café, interesting art everywhere you look.

We had supernatural service! =)

Alkaline water for the win!!!

I will take that and then some, thank you very much!

One of the lighting fixtures. So cool.

The stars of my inspiration: The main dish was called Tinuktok and you can clearly see which type of rice is which.

Gorgeous Tinuktok

This is a real, 'Happy Meal.' 

Yesssssss!!!!

Is my brother tweeting about his glee?

Incredible meal, service and really affordable. We of course, left an awesome tip for them!

 Now back to the recipe and such. While I was in Cebu, we had a kitchen to use at our hotel and quite a few times I made a version of Malunggay rice, quinoa and so forth, using fresh malunggay leaves, but we although tasty; it wasn't the same as the experience at Azotea Greens.

Naturally, I bought a myriad of native ingredients to take back home to my 'lab,' with which to create and experiment. One of those ingredients was malunggay in powdered form. It was simply dried maluggay that had been pulverized. It looks similar to the green color of matcha green tea.

Back at home, I decided to bring it out one day and make a special rice. I went to my fridge and pulled out my turmeric that I had previously chopped and kept in olive oil. I sauteed about a tablespoon of chopped turmeric with some minced garlic and then added in some cooked short grain brown rice, coating it evenly and seasoning it with some pink himalayan sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. To finish it I added a heaping 2 tablespoons of malunggay powder and stirred it in to coat each kernel and added in a few splashes of water to 'revive,' it. Voila, my malunggay and turmeric rice was born.

As I went to eat it, the memories of Azotea came flooding back. Hurray!

Oh and I should include some links to what Malunggay and Turmeric are, just in case you are not familiar with these ingredients. If you're able to; please thank Wikipedia by donating a few bucks. Everybody uses it all the time; so if you're able to give a little; you know you'll get a lot back in return.

Malunggay is my type of gulay!

'Harvesting,' malunggay from a local tree in Villasis =)

Darasem!

Malunggay!!!!

Turmeric is terrific!

Turmeric in its fresh and dried/powdered form

V,GF - Malunggay and Turmeric Rice

Ingredients:

2-3 C Cooked short grain brown rice
1-2Tb Olive or any neutral oil
1 Tb of chopped fresh turmeric*
1-2 Cloves of Garlic minced
1-2Tb of Malunggay powder
2-3Tb of filtered water as needed
Himalayan Pink sea salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper, to taste

*A pinch of turmeric powder can be substituted, but the flavor will not be the same.

Method:

In a large skillet, sauté the turmeric and garlic together for a few minutes, just until you smell the turmeric and garlic. Immediately add in the cooked brown rice, moving it around to coat all kernels, seasoning it as you go. Let cook for a few minutes and then sprinkle the malunggay powder on top, stir it around to coat the kernels and then add in a few tablespoons of water to 'revive,' the rice. Stir around a few more times and then turn off the heat, leave on burner for a few minutes to settle and then it's ready to serve.

One of the most recent versions of my Malunggay and Turmeric rice. This one was made with an addition of scallions.

This is the current brand of Malunggay powder that I am using. I think I was able to buy it for less than 6  USD. You might be able to find this at Filipino/Asian markets, but if not; I guess you might be able to substitute chlorella or spinach powder, but it wouldn't be the same. Try it though!

One of the many versions of my Malunggay and Turmeric rice. Look at the gorgeous color and those toasted bits of turmeric and garlic dotted throughout it. Heaven =)

What can you serve this malunggay and turmeric rice with? The better question is, 'What can't, you serve this rice with? =)

I eat it along with any type of vegetables. A quick meal, I might add in some pepitas or sunflower seeds into it and mix it with some fresh salad greens etc. Yum, yum in my tum and it keeps me from feeling gutom (Gutom is Tagalog for 'hungry)!

So, this is my simple recipe for you that was inspired by the Philippines and their good will and upbeat attitude. I know that they are struggling right now, but they can never be broken. I will never turn a blind eye to them and I know that they can feel my love for them.

If, I don't post again before the end of this year; I hope that you all will have a wonderful new year filled with good health and lots of prosperity. Remember to always pay it forward and do whatever you can to help in whatever capacity that you can.

Wishing you lots of love and good health,

Jessica  <3

Reflections: The Philippines

Hello again, people of Cyberia and the Blogosphere,

I've written previous drafts about the Philippines on a number of topics, but I was never satisfied with what I had tried to explain and paint with words to describe the Philippines. So, instead of trying to plan out too many things or find just the right photos to go with this and that, I think that I'll return to my impromptu approach and write whatever my conscious decides to bring to to the surface. This is just a tiny reflection about what the Philippines means to me.

Repúblika ng Pilipinas

The Philippines is important to me because it's where my parents and most of my close relatives grew up, it's their homeland. So, I can never forget my roots or my family's culture. I grew up bilingual, knowing both English and Tagalog.

 Growing up as the first generation of my family in the United States was new ground for my parents and for their children too. Where we grew up was fairly homogeneous and we were one of just a handful of 'diverse,' families in the neighborhood or school district. This led to some interesting interactions at times with people at school.

Whenever we had a chance to share our culture at school my parents would be more than glad to help. (I'm pretty sure that I've previously written about some of this background, but like I said I'm following whatever comes to mind). We explained how Christmas was celebrated in the Philippines, my Mom came to my music class one time to demonstrate how to dance Tiniklilng and I sold lumpiang shanghai for a school marketing project (everybody loves an egg roll).

I've only been to the Philippines a total of 3 times now; so you can imagine that for most of them there was a wide gap of time between visits. I've seen changes in the geography and culture (the most dramatic being from the 1980's and the 2000's) .  If it were up to me; I would be visiting more often, but since nobody offers free flights back and forth (as far as I know) there has to be some stretch of time in between visits.

I'll be going on my fourth voyage to the Philippines, very soon. My last visit was filled with heartfelt reunions, lots of laughter and a few tears too. My last visit to the Philippines was the last time that I saw my last living grandparent, my Lola Frances, it was also the last time that I saw my cousin Jojo. I also lost one of my Aunt's from my Father's side of the family. If you've read my previous posts about them, you already know that it was bittersweet and heartbreaking when they left this world.

When I return to the Philippines; it will be bittersweet once again because I go there for the christening of new life and lives. My cousin's son is getting married and another of my cousin and her husband just had their first child.  I also return there to pay my respects at my cousin Jojo and my Aunt Irene's graves and at my Lola's columbarium.

I know that life is always a combination of joy and pain. We see it each day when we watch the news and see both wonderful and also terrifying things that are going on in the world. So, I cannot let myself feel too joyous or overly sad at the prospects of going back to the Philippines, knowing what I will face.

I recognize the natural beauty of the Philippines that allures so many people, but I think what I always look forward too is seeing my family, relatives and hearing new stories about my parents or 'the good old days, ' from my relatives. I of course cannot deny the glee of being able to enjoy all of the fresh vegetables and fruits that would cost me 2 arms and 2 legs over here, but it's in the sharing of the experience with others, that really makes me happy.

It's never really where you are, it's the people with whom you share the experience, that makes all the difference.

There's something that I noticed when my parents, relatives or family friends mention the Philippines about somebody taking a trip there, they always say 'We're going home/I'm going home or We went home, etc. '
Even, when my parents talk about us, their children; if we go the Philippines, they say that 'They're going home.' I always found this funny because as their children who grew up in the U.S., I don't think that I could really refer to the Philippines, as 'home.' I think that maybe the reason why they still might consider the Philippines as 'home,' for us, is that maybe they know that it's a place that's familiar to them and it's where a majority of our family still are. Maybe, it's because they know that their homeland will always have a place for us and show us the Filipino 'Mabuhay,'  warm spirit of welcoming. You never know, we may fully validate their stance that The Philippines, is our home ; if my siblings and I were to apply for dual citizenship ;)


The Philippines is more than just a place to me. It's where my cultural roots are, where loved ones are where memories were made and will be made.

Mahal kita, Pilipinas - I love you, Philippines <3

See you soon!

Love,
Jessica

Jess' Collection: Interesting Kitchen Tools - Mamoul Moulds and Falafel Mould/Dispenser

Hello again,

While I contemplate my other writings for a future entry about the Philippines, here is a short diversion about some interesting kitchen tools that I own and use. I guess I just introduced a new series about my various collections.

In this installment I'll show you some moulds ( I prefer to use the British spelling of mould because it looks better than typing 'mold,' (also looks similar to the way I spell Mamoul too!) in my opinion anyway) from my collection.


One of the fancier types of cookies/biscuits that I make are Middle Eastern style Mamoul. Traditonally they are made out of a basic kind of shortbread dough made with semolina and filled with different types of filling (see the captions of the photos for more information).

You already know that I do not usually follow the traditional recipes for anything; so of course in my version of Mamoul, the dough and fillings are both Vegan and Gluten Free. If you've ever scrolled through my photo gallery or previous posts; you've probably already seen photos of the Mamoul cookies that I've made.

These moulds are all handcarved and are quite beautiful as they are. Even if you didn't use them for actual, Mamoul making; you could definitely have them as works of art in your collection.


I cannot tell you all about the history about Mamoul and how they started making them, but I can tell you that they are just as tasty as they are beautiful. They are wonderful with a cup of tea and good company.

You have to fill a ball of pastry with the filling before you press it into the mould and then you tap it quite jarringly to release it from the mould. It takes some practice to get the technique down, but once you get it; you never forget it. Just like riding a bike!

These are not, bowling pins.

These are wooden moulds for making Mamoul

This is the traditional design used for date filled Mamoul

This is the traditional design for  walnut filled Mamoul.

This is the traditional designed for pistachio filled Mamoul.

The cookies in the background are Mamoul using the mould for the walnut filling.

These were made using the mould for date filled Mamoul.

Falafel! I think that the first falafel that I really thought was super fantastic was from a local place where the mix was just right, the spices didn't over power the nuttiness of the chickpea/fava beans, it contained chlorophyll from chopped parsley, maybe a bit of mint, but above all it would be well cooked and super crispy. Eating falafel when it's super fresh is one of those magical gleeful experiences.

I have made my own homemade falafel before and it can be tricky if you don't have everything prepared to go. There is a lot of preparation time in order to let the falafel mixture set (especially if you are really following the traditional way of soaking and grinding the beans yourself instead of using bean flours) and getting the oil temperature right and maintaining that perfect temperature.

The raw falafel mixture is rather sticky; so you definitely cannot use your hands to form the patties. You can use two spoons in the same way you make a 'drop donut,' or cannelles, but a falafel mould/dispenser is far faster and more efficient. I always remember Alton Brown, droning on about Uni-taskers, but honestly you could use this mould for other applications (think a cookie mould or maybe to form perfect little circles of rice or any other grains etc.

The best part of all is that this tool is not very expensive. In fact, this falafel mould/dispenser came with an instant mix for falafel, I think it was less than 4 dollars all together.

This photo is from a previous post where I gave a recipe for Indian style carrot and scallion bhajis.  You can check out that post here : http://ohthehumanitea.blogspot.com/2012_03_01_archive.html   The falafel are the ones that are dark brown colored with green throughout them.

These are not the perfect falafel, but they were tasty!

This is a falafel mould.

It looks a bit like a telescope in this position.

When you press on the spring loaded lever; it slides back the flat surface. I had a small metal spatula (that you use to fill the empty mould)  that came with this mould, but it was buried in the kitchen drawer. Alas it did not make it to the photo shoot in time. 

Once you let go of the lever; it pushes the formed falafel patty out of the mould and straight into the hot oil.

So, those are just a few of my interesting kitchen tools from my collection. I hope that you found it somewhat interesting. What about you? What are some of your more interesting kitchen tools that you use in the kitchen or for culinary uses?


Until next time, peace, good eating and happy cooking! ( I know that I'm channeling Ming and Jacques again...... ;p


Love,
Jessica

Join me for Merienda: Jess' 2 Kinds of Sweet Tamales: Almond,Pepita and Mulberry & Walnut/Sunflower, Fig and Cinnamon

Saludos Amigos!

You have entered Jess' Sweet Tamale Town. I hope that you enjoy your stay and of course, enjoy the food.

I was making corn tortillas from masa the other day and seeing as how simple that was; decided that I would try to make Sweet Tamales. I knew I wasn't going to make the traditional Mexican style Tamales because I didn't have any dried corn husks, but I did have banana leaves in the freezer. I don't consider this some kind of 'Nu-Asian' or 'fusion' cuisine because people in the Philippines do make Tamales wrapped in Banana or Palm Leaves.

This is a very easy snack to put together and the most time consuming thing is probably the time it takes to steam them, which is about 30 to 40 minutes depending on what kind of steamer that you're using.

Gracias por su ayuda!!!

Maseca! If you don't have the luxury of being able to purchase freshly made masa from a tortilla factory or local Latino market; the next best thing is to use Masa flour, also sometimes known as 'Maseca.' It's very easy to work with as you only need to add water and a pinch of salt to create your masa.

I only took photos of the batch that I made with the wild mulberry jam, almonds and pepitas; so those will be the ones that you see below. Once you have mastered this recipe; you can let your creativity run wild and come up with some really wonderful combinations for yourself. Right now, I'm thinking of making a batch of Chocolate Tamales; so that will be another interesting time in the 'lab.' ;p

Jess' Sweet, Almond, Pepita and 

Fresh Mulberry Jam Tamales-V,GF

Yields around 8 Tamales

Prepare your Steamer of choice

Ingredients:

*Freshly made Masa  for 8 Tortillas (Prepared according to the instructions on the package of the Maseca)

1/2-3/4C Organic Unrefined Sugar

Pinch Himalayan Pink Sea Salt

1/2 C coarsely ground almonds

Handful or two of organic pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

1/2 C Fresh Mulberry Jam

Pinch of Nutmeg

1tsp Baking Powder

4-5 Tb Organic Ground Flax Meal

1/3 C Neutral Oil such as Canola or Grapeseed Oil

Banana leaves cut into appropriately sized squares. Washed, dried and then oiled on the filling side.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jess' Sweet,Fig, Walnut/Sunflower Seed 

and Cinnamon Tamales-V,GF

Yields around 8 Tamales

Ingredients:

*Freshly made Masa  for 8 Tortillas (Prepared according to the instructions on the package of the Maseca)

1/2-3/4C Organic Unrefined Sugar

Pinch Himalayan Pink Sea Salt

1/2 C coarsley chopped Walnuts or  Organic Whole Shelled Sunflower Seeds

1/2 C Organic Fig Preserves or chopped reconstituted dried figs

1 tsp Cinnamon

1tsp Baking Powder

4-5 Tb Organic Ground Flax Meal

1/3 C Neutral Oil such as Canola or Grapeseed Oil

Banana leaves cut into appropriately sized squares. Washed, dried and then oiled on the filling side.

*I was just talking to my brother and asking him what a good substitute for masa would be (for those who want to avoid corn) and he said that he thinks that Amaranth flour might be a good substitute. I think it could work because Amaranth has a nutty and earthy flavor.

Method:

This is a very quick recipe if you have everything ready to go, especially the steamer and the banana leaves.

In a big bowl mix all ingredients together, being sure that all ingredients are evenly distributed. I like to add in the jam/preserves, once the dry ingredients have been mixed in because it seems to mix more evenly that way. Add about 2 to 3 tablespoons worth of filling in each Banana leaf. You want to wrap it as neatly snugly as possible without squeezing the filling out.

Banana leaf that has been washed, dried and oiled.

Homemade Wild Mulberry Jam. 

This is what the masa mixture looks like before I add in the Wild Mulberry Jam.

The Wild Mulberries have come to town!

Mulberry Jam has been evenly distributed throughout the masa.

Masa that has gotten the banana leaf wrap treatment and is waiting for the sauna

This recipe should yield around 8 tamales, but it depends on how big or small you've decided to make them. If you have any leftover filling; no worries, just use oil small oven safe ramekins and fill those in and steam those separately from the banana leaf wrapped tamales for the same amount of cooking time.

I start from the edge and then roll it up and then tuck in the two ends underneath.

You don't really need to oil your steamer basket; if you have a liner in there, but you might want to just lightly oil it just to be sure that nothing sticks.

I arrange them evenly  in the basket and then I set the timer for 30 minutes.

I use an electric steamer because it's more energy efficient and much easier to heat and clean up as opposed to the stove top version, but you can use whatever you have. However, if you have the money to invest in a premium rice cooker/steamer; I would highly recommend buying one. I cook so many things in my cooker/steamer, way beyond just rice and steaming vegetables and dumplings. There will probably be a future post about electric steamers, but let's get back to to the tamales!

Serving:  You can serve them as is, but if you're plating them I would open up the Tamale leaving the Banana leaf underneath it and slicing it on the bias in 3 or more sections and then topping it with more Preserves or fruit.

Naked tamale fresh out of the steamer.

Dressed tamale with more of the homemade Wild Mulberry Jam.

Storing: If you plan to eat them within a few days, I would store them in an air tight container in the fridge, but if it's any longer than a week; you should individually wrap them and freeze them in a zip top bag. Always label and date whatever you're freezing . To reheat them from the freezer, I would put them in the steamer for 15-20 minutes.

I shared both kinds with a friend the other day and they tasted just as good from the freezer as they did when they were freshly steamed for the first time.

So, that is all from Jess' sweet tamale town for now. Perhaps in the future there will be a visit from Jess' savory tamale town, but in the meantime; please do, give the sweet tamales a try and let me know what you think of them.

Wishing you all good health and happy cooking!

Love,

Jessica

Join me for Merienda: Jess' Baked Individual Chocolate Mochi Cakes

Hello to you, dear reader. Thanks again for stopping by to spend a little while with me in the blogosphere.

Today, we're going to be making a really simple and delicious recipe for baked, individual, chocolate mochi cakes. They are not overly fancy, but you can certainly dress them up; if you choose to take them to get glamour shots or hire a food stylist =p

I have always had an affinity for Mochi. I didn't grow up with that Japanese term /concept of it,though.It was known to me in their Pilipino embodiments as Malagkit,Suman,Bibingka,Tambo-Tambo, Bilo-bilo,Espasol or Palitaw (Note: the following photos of these various Pinoy desserts and the Japanese mochi ,were not made by me, unless otherwise indicated). I'm not sure when exactly was the first time that I ate Japanese style Mochi. It was probably Daifuku, from a local Asian market. Then, later I became familiar with the many other styles and a fun version of Mochi; where you would cut squares from a hard block of Kakumochi, and bake them and they would come out puffy, crunchy and chewy in the middle. Heaven.

Uncooked Malagkit rice

One version of Suman

Bibingkang Malagkit

Do you see the round fluffy balls of mochi in this bowl of Ginataan? Heaven.

Espasol

Espasol as its sold at the market and from street vendors in the Philippines

Palitaw

A version of Daifuku, filled with sweet bean paste

Kakumochi shown as being cut and grilled

Over the years, I have experimented (when have I not been toiling away in my Food lab?) with different ways to make Mochi in its various international guises. I can tell you that making Daifuku, is some tricky business. People who are experts at making Daifuku, must have asbestos hands. You have to work quickly and you can easily mess up a whole batch of them; if you don't seal them properly. So, I prefer to make cakes out of Mochiko aka Glutinous Rice Flour (which is actually a misnomer because there is no gluten in rice. It's just that it's so pliable and sticky like a ball of gluten, but its elasticity can be attributed to the (here's a copy/paste of scientific babble from the Wikipedia page for Mochi:

'Mochi is a multicomponent food consisting of polysaccharides, lipids, protein and water. Mochi has a heterogeneous structure of amylopectin gel, starch grains and air bubbles.^[3] This rice is characterized by its lack of amylose in starch and is derived from short or medium japonica rices. The protein concentration of the rice is a bit higher than normal short-grain rice and the two also differ in amylose content. In mochi rice, the amylose content is negligible which results in the soft gel consistency of mochi.'

Don't you feel super scientific now? =p Anyway, let's get back to talking about mochi cakes. I have made this recipe quite a few times now and most people who've eaten them have loved them. I think that they're used to eating Mochi in its various other forms, but my style is different because its baked. I don't think my method is novel at all, but I can tell you that it is tasty =)

Buchi/Botsi

A batch of Chocolate, Coconut Milk Mochi Brownies that I had previously made

Other than just straight chocolate mochi cakes, I have made Banana Chocolate Chip Mochi cakes,Spongy Mochi cakes topped with fruit preserves, I even made my version of oven baked Botsi-Botsi/Buchi-Buchi and pan versions of mochi brownies, but I prefer to bake the cakes individually because I like the fact that they each get their crunchy outer shell, rather than just a few lucky people getting corner pieces. No fancy equipment needed for this recipe, you just need the ingredients, a mixing bowl, wooden spoon for mixing and a muffin pan and maybe an ice cream scoop too; if you have one to your avail.

A note about the flour: Make sure that you are using a fresh package/box of Mochiko; if you use old flour (as with any other recipe) it won't taste right. It'll taste okay, but it will still taste a bit stale and you don't want to waste all your hard energy to produce just 'okay' mochi cakes. You want to make fabulous tasting mochi cakes.

I give Blue Star Brand, Mochiko, 4 Stars =)

For those of you who follow a gluten free regimen: While most of the Glutinous Rice Flour aka Sweet Rice Flour is naturally gluten free and may even say it on the packaging; you should always check to see if it states any other allergy warnings. Such as 'Produced in a factory that also processes, soy, wheat and tree nuts,' something like that. The Blue Star Brand Mochiko's box states that they are a dedicated factory where all they process is rice; so you might want to stick to that brand. It is more expensive than the other brands, but it may be worth its weight in gold; if you have problems with gluten.



Individual Baked Chocolate Mochi Cakes-V,GF

Preheat Oven to 375F

Preparation Time: Approximately 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:
2 C Mochiko aka Glutinous Rice Flour aka Sweet Rice Flour

3/4-1 C Dark or Pure Cocoa Powder*
3/4 C Unrefined, preferably organic sugar

4-5 Tb Organic ground flax meal

Pinch of Himilayan Pink Sea Salt

1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda

Wet Ingredients:

2 C Water or your liquid of choice (almond milk, hemp milk etc.)

1/4C or less of a Neutral Oil such as Canola or Grapseed Oil

1/2 tsp Pure Vanilla (Optional)

*If you can't have chocolate; you can always substitute it with carob powder, but you will probably want to adjust your sugar content as carob powder is much sweeter tasting than the naturally bitter cocoa powder.

Method:

Prepare you muffin pan by wiping it down and then oiling it up with either your preferred spray or by brushing the nooks and crannies with your choice of neutral oil. In a large mixing bowl sift all of the dry ingredients together until evenly distributed. Add your oil and optional vanilla extract and then slowly incorporate the water adding 1 cup at a time. You may find that you might need the full 2 cups depending on the weather/humidity in the air. You want to mix  everything together until it is just slightly thicker than a regular cake batter. You do not want to add too much liquid; so add in that water carefully. Once you've mixed the batter well; let it rest for about 5 minutes.

Batter up! 

I like to use an ice cream scoop to portion out the batter into the muffin pan/s to just a tiny bit more than half way filled (I have a 12 cup muffin pan and I still end up with enough batter for at least 2 more cakes) and set the timer for 25 minutes. If you have leftover batter; you can either pour it into another small pan and bake it or you can even actually cook it in a greased bowl in your microwave for 2-4 minutes depending on your power setting, but the real oven method is better.

When they are done baking, they have lovely domed tops and just look totemo kawaii desune! (so cute).
I usually give them 5 minutes to rest and then I de-pan them and let them cool to room temperature before storing them. I recommend that you store them in an air tight container in the fridge. They will last for about 2 weeks maybe longer, but they're usually all gobbled up before 2 weeks have passed) I haven't tried to freeze them because they're usually all eaten before I would even consider freezing them, but if you need to freeze them; I would recommend that you wrap them individually and seal them in a zip top style bag, before putting them in the freezer.

Why, hello there! Would you like to get to know a chocolate mochi cake better?

Chocolate Mochi cake being overtly brazen and showing off its bottom! =o

How to serve them? These cakes are great to have with tea or coffee. As they are a bit dense, I usually cut them into quarters. They hold up well during travel and can be easily stashed in a sandwich bag for a quick merienda on the go. If they're coming out of the fridge, I usually pop one in the microwave for 30-45 seconds, but you can figure out how you like to eat these lovely baked chocolate mochi cakes, for yourself.
You might even like eating them straight from the freezer, but I would be careful with that. You wouldn't want to get brain-freeze or lose a tooth ;)

I hope that you have fun making these easy and delicious mochi cakes. You can have a lot of fun experimenting with this recipe.

Stay tuned for next week's merienda. As of right now it is scheduled to be my version of sweet tamales done two ways:  Mulberry Almond and Fig Walnut Spice =)


Wishing you good health and happy cooking!

Love,
Jessica

Jess tells tales: Culinary Audacity!

Did somebody say, culinary audacity???!!!

Good morning/afternoon/evening everybody! (I think this is the fairest way to address all of you out there since; most people don't keep the same exact schedules, live in the same time zones or parts of the world).

There are always little bits and pieces of personal anecdotes floating around in my brain and today the one that I've decided to share with you all is about a time when I performed an act of culinary audacity.

A couple years back, I used to spend time in France off and on during holidays/school breaks because during that time I was in a relationship with somebody, who was originally from France. Yes, I had a transatlantic relationship; which sometimes is a bit odd even  to me when I think about it now, but let's get on with the story.

My culinary skills were blooming during this time and the house where I was staying had this really fantastic convection oven. It was awe inspiring to me, especially when I compared it to the boring electric stove and oven that I had back at home. I think that my partner might have even been jealous of the oven, especially when i was busy in the kitchen, having a ball with the awesome kitchen equipment. "Je suis desolée, mon cher, mais tu dois me partager avec la four!' (I'm sorry, darling, but you have share me with the oven! =p

During one particular day, I was making a quiche from scratch and although that doesn't sound outlandish at all, if you've ever eaten or read about my food; you know that I always cook/make everything in my own special way. So, you kn ow already that the crust wasn't made from a rolled out butter/pastry dough and the filling wasn't made with cream or whole fat milk or a billion eggs (I must disclose that I was still just a vegetarian back then; thus the dairy and eggs were not yet excluded).

Here is the breakdown of the recipe/method:

Crust:

I guess this method would be similar to a pâte brisée (this is in a different font because I couldn't remember the alt + shift # for the 'a' with the l'accent circonflexe)  method, but instead of using butter; I used a vegetable oil. When you use oil instead of butter/shortening; the dough is softer and more malleable. I still was careful to not over knead the dough; so that the pastry would still be flaky. The fact that the dough was soft, made it easy to press into and unfluted glass casserole dish (yes, a glass casserole dish!, what a maverick move!)

These are not photos of the quiche I made. These were definitely prettier  than the one that I made, but  in this photo they are using glass bakeware is a bit similar to the one I use, except that the dish was not fluted.

Again, this is not a photo of the quiche that I made. I chose this one from the search because it shows the traditional fluted edges of the quiche crust and the filling reminds me of what my quiche filling looked like.

Filling:

I don't remember all of the vegetables that I used, but I remember there being tomatoes, mushrooms, broccoli, onions and some sort of cheese. The custard was made out of low-fat milk and a few fresh farm eggs, salt and pepper.


I remember that while I was making this quiche; that I was looked upon with frantic eyes worried about time constraints because we had to go to a dinner party at a relative's house. It was totally crazy because the party was only a few hours away and this quiche still had to be cooked. I reassured them that it would be cooked and ready to go before we had to leave. Ahahahahaha, you would normally let a quiche rest until a least room temperature before thinking of trying to serve it!

Qui est cette fille qui n'est pas française qui veut faire une quiche à sa façon et le servir à de vraies personnes françaises?Who was this non French girl attempting to make her own style of quiche and to serve it to real French people! Elle est tellement folle! She's mad, I tell you! Maaaaaaaad!!!! =p

Relax though, the quiche was cooled down to at least room temperature before we headed out for the party. I cut it close though, the cooling time was only 30 minutes before we had to leave. When we got to the dinner party; it was setup outside in their yard on a long picnic table setup family style. We placed the food that we brought in the middle of the table. We did the obligatory kiss line as you do in France (a tip for those of you who aren't used to kissing people to greet them: Make sure that if you're getting 2 or more kisses; that you turn your head properly; so that you don't end up kissing somebody's nose or even directly on the lips by accident =0 ) and then found our places at the table. There was a bit of banter and then we started to serve the food. The relatives saw the quiche and asked who had made it and it was explained that I had made it and they seemed surprised. They started to cut into the quiche and thank goodness it held up and the crust did as well. The quiche looked good and there were no complaints, but I do remember explaining that it was a different style of quiche ;) It was 'nouvelle quiche.' =p One of the Aunts really enjoyed it and I think that was good enough for me.

My culinary audacity was not received with a riot of French people leading a revolt trying to corner me into the bastille, until I came back out wanting to cook in the traditional style. No, instead, they were smiling, happy, had no problem eating a piece of two while carrying on a conversation with me.

Zut alors! J'ai gagnée! ( I won! *insert metaphysical victory lap here *) ;p

What can I say? I was audacious in a culinary way back then and I continue to be as such, at present. There are no limits as to what you can and cannot cook (or do in general, for that matter). You may be better at making some things than others, but just because I'm not Korean, doesn't stop me from making my own versions of Kim Chi and Gochujang. The way I make my Vegan,Gluten Free, Kim Chi would certainly be called audacious in comparison to what the traditional method/ingredients. Even the Pilipino dishes that I make are considered pretty audacious  to those relatives who can't  quite wrap their heads around that I don't use any meat, seafood, patis (fish sauce), bagoong (fermented fish paste) in my cooking. I have fans though who who really enjoyed my version though and that's a nice feeling =)

So what can you take away from this tale? I guess that you shouldn't be afraid to go for it. How I didn't feel intimidated to make a non-traditional quiche for actual French people; is a bit of a puzzle for me, but maybe it can be chalked up to being young and brash. I was passionate about something and had enough confidence in something to share it with everybody. 

Well, that's it for my tale of my culinary audacity. I know that when I was thinking about this earlier in the day that it made me smile and laugh.. I was standing back and looking at my younger self and saying 'Wow, that was a bold move. You crazy girl.'

 Je vous souhaite à tous une bonne santé et de bonheur! (Wishing you all good health and happiness)

Jusqu'à la prochaine fois  <3  Until next time ,

Jessica

Je t'aime et j'aime l'audace culinaire ainsi ! <3